hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm martine croxall. today at 2pm: the prime minister tells nato leaders peace cannot be taken for granted as he tries to bring unity to talks in watford after several disagreements yesterday. we are rock solid in our commitment to nato and the giant shield of solidarity that now protects 29 countries and nearly 1 solidarity that now protects 29 countries and nearly1 billion people. meanwhile, after video emerged of leaders talking about donald trump behind his back, the us president hit back at canadian pm, justin trudeau. he is two—faced and honestly he has a nice guy but the truth is i called

him outand a nice guy but the truth is i called him out and i guess he is not very happy about it. i'm reporting live from the luxury hotel where the nato leaders have been meeting, they have issued a joint communique and we are expecting a news conference from borisjohnson expecting a news conference from boris johnson any minute expecting a news conference from borisjohnson any minute now. the white house accuses democrats of a "witch hunt" after they published a report which sets out the case for impeaching donald trump. calls for more to be done to tackle the continued growth in oil and gas consumption amid signs global c02 emissions are still rising. coming up on afternoon live all the sport withjohn watson, jose mourinho back to his old stomping ground. i know nothing about the sport but i will tell you all about the weather details coming up later on. well

recovered, john will be here with the sport. jose mourinho prepares to return to old trafford for the first time since his sacking as manchester united manager tonight. you know we liked to mix things up. hello everyone,this is afternoon live. borisjohnson has urged britain's allies to "stand together", amid tension among world leaders meeting near watford. the prime minister said nato, the west's central military allianc, had helped to protect the lives of nearly a billion people, and he warned that it needed to stay united to confront new challenges. but the gathering, on the 70th anniversary of the group, has been overshadowed by disareements between member states and strained exchanges among leaders.

ben brown is at the nato gathering. we are outside the luxury hotel by the leaders met for about three hours this morning. those talks have finished, they issued a joint communique, a london declaration, it is pretty bland to be honest. there are cracks and this is the 70th year of the nato alliance. 70 years since it was founded in 1949 but rather than birthday celebrations, really there have been a lot of anger about tu rkey‘s there have been a lot of anger about turkey's unilateral offensive into northern syria and also we had emmanuel macron saying that he nato alliance is brain—dead. he has repeated that since he has been here in the uk for this summit and that angered donald trump. he said that mr macron's comments were insulting and he didn't like them at all. so,

lots of arguments. we are expecting borisjohnson to talk at a news conference any minute now. we will bring that to you live. after that, in the middle of the afternoon, we will hear from donald trump himself but first let's get a report from the date of event so far. a new day, and another gathering of nato leaders. it has stuck together for 70 years, but for how much longer? here at a luxury hotel, more watford than london, the message from the host was unity. at the heart of it is a pledge that we will come to one another's defence. all for one, one for all. that is the core of the article five nato security guarantee. though an acknowledgement from nato's chief that there were divisions. it is nothing new there are differences in this alliance. when you think about the iraq war in 2003, the suez crisis in 1956, there have always been differences.

is that nato can overcome with these differences. the world's most powerful military has criticised members for not paying their way, but surprisingly here has found himself defending the alliance and crossing swords with the french president who described it as brain—dead. president macron, though, arrived on repenta nt. translation: i stand by my comment, yes, absolutely. in fact, it allowed us to raise some crucial debates. those included how to create a durable peace in europe. clarifying who was the enemy and how to act collectively it is true to say that nato is the most successful alliance in history and it now guarantees the peace and

prosperity of 1 and it now guarantees the peace and prosperity ofi billion people around the world. in the 29 countries, it will shortly be 30 now that north macedonia isjoining and there is solidarity in defence of out there is solidarity in defence of our values, freedom and democracy. the basic idea of all for one and one for all encapsulated in article five of the north atlantic treaty. we come to each other's mutual defence. that is why nato works and thatis defence. that is why nato works and that is why it is so powerful and so successful. 0f that is why it is so powerful and so successful. of course, the uk has long argued that you can't be complacent about that, you can't be remotely, take that for granted, you have to ensure that we continue to spend on our collective defence and thatis spend on our collective defence and that is why we have made the case for 2% of gdp as the minimum nato spend for every member and we have been successful in that campaign

because of view of what has happened since the cardiff summit in 2014, there has actually been a substantial increase in spending by out substantial increase in spending by our european friends. $133 billion, it will rise to $400 billion by 2024 and at this meeting here today, country after country pledged or gave an account of how they were going to meet the pledge of 2%. i was able to sketch out some of the ways in which the uk leads in for instance the european contribution to the nato readiness initiative and we are contributing, two squadrons of fa st we are contributing, two squadrons of fastjets, six major warships including the two aircraft carriers and several other delegations, several other nations also emphasise that they would step up their contributions to the initiative

amongst other things and there was a mood of very great solidarity and determination and a willingness to push nato forward, notjust determination and a willingness to push nato forward, not just for the next few years but for the next 70 years. a real belief in the long—standing value of this alliance and we also had good discussions on russia, how should we should collectively respond to russia, the need to be aware of russia but also the need to engage. we discussed cyber, the challenges of what is going on in cyberspace, the asymmetric warfare threat and threats that we face. they need to engage together is looking at the challenges of space and working together to develop a policy on space. we also agreed that we, we had a terrible account of the earthquake in albania and we also

agreed that we would act collectively to help the people there to get back on their feet. that was the essence of the discussion that i think was extremely practical and extremely harmonious. if there are any questions i will be very happy to ta ke questions i will be very happy to take them but i have a list of people i will come to first. i'm not sure why these have been nominated but i will try and take as many as i can. john of the bbc first. prime minister, the president of the united states has spoken of his admiration for you. do you believe that as a leader and as a man, that donald trump is good for the west and good for britain and if so, why? well i certainly think that the united state is the guarantor, a

massive contributor, to nato, has been for 70 years a pillar of stability for our collective security and if you want evidence of the willingness of the united states to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, i would to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, iwould point to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, i would point you to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, iwould point you back to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, i would point you back to what happened in the case of the poisonings in salisbury when, of course, poisonings in salisbury when, of course , you poisonings in salisbury when, of course, you may poisonings in salisbury when, of course, you may remember poisonings in salisbury when, of course, you may remember that country after country stepped forwards to expel russian diplomats in solidarity, russian spies, in solidarity with the uk and america, the united states actually expelled six and that was a fantastic testament to the transatlantic alliance. i draw an unhappy contrast with the posture taken by leader of the opposition who i seem to recollect decided that what we are best advised to do was comply with the wishes of moscow and send them

samples for checking independently in moscow. america stood shoulder to shoulder with us and has done for decades and is an invaluable ally and continues to be so. i... let's be clear this was under the current us administration and they were shoulder to shoulder with us. could not have been more supportive. debbie of sky news. thank you. you have been pictured in this buckingham palace reception with prime minister trudeau and others, a p pa re ntly prime minister trudeau and others, apparently having a joke, may be at mr trump's expense. do you not to ta ke mr trump's expense. do you not to take president trump seriously? that is complete nonsense and i don't know where that has come from. nine

nato countries are now meeting the 296 nato countries are now meeting the 2% target, 11 still have absolutely no plans to meet it. are you disappointed and what did you say to those 11 countries that still have no intent of hitting the target? president trump has just said that everybody he had spoken to so far will not go forward with who are way building theirfive g will not go forward with who are way building their five g networks and he spoke to you about it in number ten, did you decide you are not going to go ahead with huawei? on the other countries that are not meeting the 2%, there is a large measure of determination to do it and delegation of the delegation, leader after leader said that they did want to reach the 2% target by 2024 so we will see real progress being made. there is a pledge is for another $400 billion by eu countries by 2024. on huawei and 5g, i don't

wa nt by 2024. on huawei and 5g, i don't want this country to be unnecessarily hostile to investment from overseas. on the other hand, we cannot prejudice our vital national security interests but i ability to cooperate with the security partners and that will be the key criterion that informs our decision about huawei. can ijust get clarification on debbie's question, are you saying you weren't discussing donald trump last night and has the issue of foreign fighters come up? are you going to bring back the brits from syria? on debbie's question and your question, i really don't know what is being referred to but i can tell

you that on foreign fighters and bringing back foreign fighters from syria, it is of course i won't view that if people go to fight in syria, they are putting themselves beyond uk law, they are breaking uk law and they abdicate their rights to citizenship of this country. we have made that very clear. gordon from the telegraph. thank you. are you concerned about the way in which the us, uk trade minutes made their way onto the internet? have you asked the cabinet office to investigate and if not do you think they should be? asi and if not do you think they should be? as i understand it, that stuff has been online for months and the answer is no. harriet from pa. did

you discuss it with donald trump your to plans push ahead with the digital services tax and if so what did he say? my view about the digital services tax and that issue broadly is that we do need to be looking at the question of the vast revenues of big digital companies. they are not paying much tax in proportion to the huge sales that they make in this country and we need to address that and that is something that is obviously being raised with our friends in the us will stop. i'm from turkish media. you hit many issues with our president, how was your meeting with him that? can you please tell us a

little bit, where issues solved between you and him? we had a very good discussion with emmanuel macron, angela merkel and president ada won and we discussed the great complexity of the situation in northern syria. — — complexity of the situation in northern syria. —— president erdogan. we recognise the huge pressure that turkey faces and the huge amount of refugees that they are accommodating, the terrorist threat, that must be acknowledged, the real threat that turkey faces andl the real threat that turkey faces and i think what we were all trying to do is understand techie's plans for northern syria and what they wa nt for northern syria and what they want to do, and the way forward and i think what we want to do is avoid any misunderstandings between allies in nato about turkey's intentions.

what we have agreed is that we will continue that forward and continue to have those talks and i think it is an illustration that e3 plus turkey format is a good illustration of how the uk will continue to pay a cardinal role in discussions material to our interests in the european region once we get brexit done. a forest of hands going up. the situation in iran is tense and a popular demonstration... over 200 people were killed, have you discussed the situation in iran and inside iran with your counterparts or generally their role in the region. of course, it it didn't come out much today but my own feeling is

that this is notjust out much today but my own feeling is that this is not just about fuel prices, this is a sign of real... i am by no means surprised and i think iranians disruption in the region is a distraction from the failings of the iranian regime. you have committed a significant chunk of britain's power to this initiative. these quadrants are about a third of ourfighterjets, a these quadrants are about a third of our fighter jets, a significant fight of our service fleet and all this at a time when in are men and women, forces are significantly in strength on manpower, will be forces be stretched too thin or will this be stretched too thin or will this bea be stretched too thin or will this be a rebranding of contributions? obviously, we are going to keep our

forces up to strength and we are putting a 2.6 increase into defence spending, we are putting 2.2 billion more into our defence budgets and the uk as you know exceeds the 2% target. as for the iranians to initiative, yes those forces will be deployed as part of that initiative but also the uk will have other deployments as well. there will be exclusive for that purpose, obviously not. —— that they will not be exclusive for that purpose. obviously not. —— that they will not be exclusive for that purposelj wa nt to be exclusive for that purposelj want to ask something about china because china was on the agenda for this years summit. after the briefing from the secretary general, is china in the future the strategic

partner or strategic enemy? there is rio partner or strategic enemy? there is no support for the second thing. i think what people felt was that we should build a strategic partnership with china but also be aware of the challenges that china presents and particularly when it comes to areas of high technology. i think that would be a fair characterisation of the discussion. hi, just to clarify on foreign fighters. president trump has said that we should take more of them back, he suggested something about dumping them on our shores, you saying no, we went to do that or are you saying yes? one of the difficulties we have been taking these people back is that our legal systems make it very difficult for us systems make it very difficult for us to secure convictions and going back to what i said earlier, if people go out to break the law and fight in terrorist organisations then they have to face the

consequences. then they have to face the consequences. back on huawei, when did you decide on the most important criteria and why was that... we are going to make a decision and we are going to make a decision and we are going to make it based on the paramount importance of protecting our critical national infrastructure and our relationships and i don't think it had anything to do with the timing of the election. just a follow—up question on turkey, did the issue of techie's purchase of the russian and defence missile system of the russian and defence missile syste m co m e of the russian and defence missile system come up in the meeting and what is the uk's position on this? it didn't come out formally, i can tell you that. but, normally

speaking there is a convention in the nato alliance that we purchase defence equipment from other members of the need to alliance as everybody knows. —— the nato alliance. the prime president didn't said yesterday —— the president said yesterday —— the president said yesterday that he didn't know prince andrew, do you think trump is a liar? i think that comes under the effort of something that is a com pletely effort of something that is a completely extraneous to our dealings today. this is about strengthening the nato alliance, we had a very successful meeting, a very successful meeting of nato leaders on the 70th anniversary of

nato and none of those subjects, i can tell you with absolute confidence. none of those subjects we re confidence. none of those subjects were mentioned in any of the sessions, or the bilateral meetings that are taking place, to the best of my knowledge. prime minister, have you made crystal clear to president trump that neither the nhs nor pharmaceuticals should even be pa rt nor pharmaceuticals should even be part of the discussions and if so, do you accept that this time next year we could be about to fully leave the eu without a trade deal in place? i think that everybody by now, the nonsense that it is. i think i might wind up this press co nfe re nce think i might wind up this press conference now because i think we are starting to scrape the barrel andl are starting to scrape the barrel and i think with eight days to go until the selection we have a very clear choice before us in this country and distinguished representatives of international

media will have to forgive me for making this point that it is releva nt making this point that it is relevant to our concerns was that we have a very clear choice before this country. we have a deal that will enable us in the conservative party asa enable us in the conservative party as a conservative government to get brexit done by the end ofjanuary and that will allow us to get on and do all the fantastic things we want to do for our country, they invest massively in the nhs with the biggest investment in the nhs in modern memory, tear up funding for every primary and secondary school in the country, to invest —— give funding for every primary and secondary school. if we can get brexit done, and in the next eight days the choice is to get brexit done, moving forward, getting this future are achieved together or going through the groundhog day of more chaos with a corbyn sturgeon

coalition which would mean two more referendums, one on scotland and another one on the eu to keep our country back and prevent us from going forward. that is the choice andl going forward. that is the choice and i might go further and say that there is a choice between those who wa nt there is a choice between those who want to strengthen nato and those in the labour opposition who actually wa nt the labour opposition who actually want to destroy it, destroy this alliance that has kept us safe. i wa nt alliance that has kept us safe. i want to strengthen mi5 that keeps us safe. jeremy cumming and the labour party wa nt safe. jeremy cumming and the labour party want it installed a party that wa nt party want it installed a party that want to disband mi5. i want to make sure terrorists serve their full term, the corbyn doesn't agree with that. in this government, we have a clear plan to get brexit done and move clear plan to get brexit done and move forwards and get a parliament working for the people of this country and as far as i can see, as

i say, the only planet thatjeremy corbyn has apart from destroying nato is to have two more referendums which would have retired this country and keep this in total disarray. it would be another pointless hung parliament and i cannot leave you without getting that point across but i thank you very much for coming to this nato summit andl very much for coming to this nato summit and i look forward to seeing at least some of you back out on the campaign trail. thank you all very much. so, there we are, boris johnson ending that news conference. we were expecting the president trump to do a news conference in about an hour's time but it looks like that may not be happening but we will find out a little bit more about that in the next few minutes. anyway, borisjohnson saying that nato is the most successful alliance in history, it protects1 billion

people. he was asked about those controversial moments in a buckingham palace where he and justin trudeau from canada appeared to be laughing about president trump. he was asked, do you not take president trump seriously? he said com plete president trump seriously? he said complete nonsense and didn't know where that has come from. let's talk to our diplomatic and foreign affairs correspondent. they had had three hours of talks. have they papered over some of the cracks and divisions that we've been talking about over the last couple of days? an about over the last couple of days? a n exte nt about over the last couple of days? an extent yes but keep new divisions are an extent yes but keep new divisions a re clearly an extent yes but keep new divisions are clearly opening up if the comments of mr trudeau are correct. this was always going to be a difficult moment for nato, there are a lot of divisions going into this. macron described nato as brain you had that very serious row with the turks over what the americans and

the attacks have been doing over in syria but i think they have made some “— syria but i think they have made some —— americans and the turks. they have played a reinforcement plan for the baltics which turkey was holding a hostage to getting wedding on the kurds which they wa nted wedding on the kurds which they wanted was that they don't appear to have quite got the word they wanted but i understand the compromise was reached. they have set out a clear agenda for the future, new threats, cyber threats, demilitarisation in the space and the importance of arms control. it was also reaffirming that central basic element of nato, solidarity, which is the three musketeers. the all for one and one for all which the prime minister has been repeating. the problem is this, nato is now a much larger organisation today, 29 countries, soon to be 30. the world's security problems are so much more complex.

they look very different depending where geographically you sit in the alliance, whether you are in the north worried about russia, in the south worried about instability, north africa with migrant flows. are you turkey or the far east hard up against in the middle east with all of the problems of syria, iraq, and so on and so inevitably there are going to be differences and we may find that mr trump has a new ingredient, an additional ingredient to that mix so i think we will find her to a new late nato in a complex world is going to have public disagreements even if the brute foundation stays the same.|j disagreements even if the brute foundation stays the same. ijust wa nt to foundation stays the same. ijust want to tell our viewers that donald trump has cancelled his scheduled press co nfe re nce trump has cancelled his scheduled press conference this afternoon for that there is some speculation that it may be a fit of... concerning what happened at buckingham palace

yesterday when boris johnson and president trudeau seems to be gossiping, joking about donald trump and his long news conference and how that had overrun and made mr macron late. let's just watch that. donald trump has confirmed he has cancelled a news conference, he says, "i will be heading back to washington, we will not be doing a press co nfe re nce washington, we will not be doing a press conference at the close of nato because we have done so many over the last couple of days". in the wake of those scenes we just saw in the palace, he has described justin trudeau as "two—faced" after

the prime minister of canada was caught on camera peering to mock him. speaking to reporters, he also said he had called outjustin trudeau on defence spending and said that the canadian prime minister is not very happy about that: well, he is two—faced. and, honestly, with justin trudeau, he is a nice guy, i find him to be a very nice guy, but the truth is, i called him out on the truth is, i called him out on the fact he is not paying 2% and i guess he is not very happy about it. a couple of you were there, he is not paying 2% and he should be paying 2%, it is canada, they have money, he should be paying 2%. i called him out and i am sure he was not happy. that's the way it is. look, i am not happy. that's the way it is. look, iam representing not happy. that's the way it is. look, i am representing the us, and he should be paying more than he is playing and he understands that. i can imagine he is not that happy but thatis can imagine he is not that happy but that is the way that it is. there

was donald trump, with me now, to mull over all of this, diplomatic correspondentjonathan mull over all of this, diplomatic correspondent jonathan marcus, mull over all of this, diplomatic correspondentjonathan marcus, not very diplomatic language from the president, saying that the canadian prime minister is two—faced. you could argue that the canadian prime minister was not very diplomatic in what he appear to be saying at buckingham palace! it is all a bit of a mess, when nato is trying to show the world this huge solidarity. these things clearly happen, thinking back to the first time that donald trump came to the nato headquarters, when giving his speech, lambasted the other allies about spending, there were cutaway shots of many of some of the same individuals there, muttering behind their hands, laughing at what the president was saying. look, there is no doubt, donald trump is a disruptive influence in nato. some people would say that disruption is positive, others would say, of course, on the contrary, it is highly negative. now we know, you see footballers exchanging tactics with their hands covering their mouths, now we know why they do

that! laughter. it is difficult, public place, cameras on you, we are now able to deduce what people are saying, with lip readers, maybe it isn't the most sensible thing in what is, in effect, a public setting, to make these claims, these kinds of comments. donald trump is a difficult character, a very different character from the standard, this is an alliance of 29 different countries, they do not ee, different countries, they do not many different countries, they do not agree, many of them are of a very different ideological hue to that of the american president, and the problem for nato and stoltenberg, the secretary—general, is to keep that basic core of solidarity, even if, around the edges, on specific issues, whatever, there is going to be differences. this is a bit of an embarrassing way to end the summit, they did seem to have gathered around this london declaration and many of the disagreements of yesterday seem to some extent you have been resolved, not a great way

of sending everybody off home at the end of the day but as i say, that is the new nato, the new world, and they will have to get used to that, much less monolithic, much less... an alliance that speaks often, but with much less of a single voice. to confirm, we have had a tweet from president trump confirming he is not going to be having that news conference, it was scheduled to begin in about one hour, he says, "i will be heading back to washington. some people have been inferring, rightly or wrongly, that is a fit of pique, because of those scenes in buckingham palace, where the canadian prime minister and a emmanuel macron and indeed boris johnson seems to be laughing at the president's expense. anyway, as jonathan marcus was saying, not the ideal end to this nato gathering here in hertfordshire, but, from here, now, that is it, let's go to

the latest weather forecast. weather in hertfordshire did not look too bad, beautiful blue skies overhead, that is the case for many of us, not quite all of us, i will show you a picture that looks different, this is from kilmarnock early on, cloud, outbreaks of rain, satellite and radar pictures show a band of cloud and rain pushing across northern ireland and scotland, weakening as it slides into parts of england and wales, ahead of that, late sunshine, through tonight, band of cloud increasingly patchy rain, south—east across england and wales, some fog patches in the far south—east, touch of frost, not as cold further north and west, more of a breeze, showers and west, more of a breeze, showers and cloud rolling and by the end of the night. before tomorrow, the cloud will bring a lot of rain to northern ireland but particularly western scotland, localised flooding, travel disruption. very windy across the north and the west of the uk, not as windy further south and east, spells of sunshine, another fairly chilly day for many,

we will seat double digit temperatures in the west, we will get up to 12 in belfast. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. the prime minister tells nato leaders peace cannot be taken for granted as he tries to bring unity to talks in watford after several disagreements yesterday. we are rock solid in terms of nato, and thejoint we are rock solid in terms of nato, and the joint shield of solidarity which now protects 29 countries and

nearly 1 which now protects 29 countries and nearly1 billion people. meanwhile, after video emerged of leaders talking about donald trump behind his back, the us president hit back at canadian pm, justin trudeau well, he is two—faced, and honestly, with justin trudeau, well, he is two—faced, and honestly, withjustin trudeau, he is a nice quy: withjustin trudeau, he is a nice guy, i withjustin trudeau, he is a nice guy, ifind him to be a very nice quy: guy, ifind him to be a very nice guy, but i called him out on the fa ct guy, but i called him out on the fact that he is not paying 2% and i guess he is not very happy about it. the white house accuses democrats of a "witch hunt" after they published a report which sets out the case for impeaching donald trump calls for more to be done to tackle the continued growth in oil and gas consumption amid signs global c02 emissions are still rising. sport now on afternoon live with john and jose mourinho is going back to manchester united. always box office whenjose mourinho is involved, his return to old trafford as opposing manager for the first time since he was sacked by the club is going to offer something similar once the club is going to offer something similaronce again, the club is going to offer something similar once again, now the new manager of tottenham hotspur, having

overseen three wins from three since his appointment. mourinho, who's the new boss of tottenham, says he has no ill—will towards the club as manchester united host spurs. but it was a sour end to his time in charge. my book of experiences, that is in my history book. a bit like nelson mandela was saying some time, "you will never lose: you win, or, you learn. " at manchester will never lose: you win, or, you learn." at manchester united, i won, andl learn." at manchester united, i won, and i learned. that's one of six premier league games tonight, the merseyside derby is the opther standout fixture. —— that's one of six premier league games tonight.

merseyside derby is the other standout fixture, after city trimmed the gap at the top to eight points last night. rugby australia and their former player israel folau have come to a settlement in his case for unfair dismissal. the winger who's played both rugby league and union started legal action after he was sacked in may for writing anti—gay posts on social media. he argued that the termination of his contract was a case of religious discrimination. the details of the settlement remain private. the british and irish lions are expected to play in front of a record crowd of almost 90,000 at soccer city in soweto when they face world champions south africa in the first test of the 2021 tour. warren gatland says he is absolutely thrilled with the opening location, which staged the 2010 football world cup final. however, despite gatland's pleas, the lions will suffer from a lack of preparation time, with the first match taking place just a week after the 2021 english premiership final.

and the former scotland captain john barclay has announced his retirement from international rugby. he said he's "unbelievably proud" to have "lived his boyhood dream" to play for his country, winning 76 caps and competing in three world cups. that's all the sport for now. jeremy corbyn has sidestepped a question about whether he has changed his mind about disbanding nato but said labour was committed to remaining part of the alliance. the labour leader has previously said nato was "a danger to world peace" and should have been wound up at the end of the cold war but now he's said it was "important" to be part of it. chris mason is in the east midlands, perhaps he can unravel this riddle for us, how has this come about? yes, good afternoon, from nottingham

city centre, wherejeremy corbyn, a couple of hours ago, just down the way there, behind the castle, standing in front of a statue of robin hood, suggesting that he could learn a thing or two from robin hood in terms of his philosophy of taking from the rich and giving to the poon from the rich and giving to the poor. after a rally that was focused very much on the cost of living, the theme of the labour campaign, with john mcdonnell‘s speech in birmingham, and jeremy corbyn's appearance in nottingham, he was asked specifically about nato, given the leader summit that has been going on near watford, and as i say, he was equivocal. in 2011 he was very critical of nato, suggesting it should be wound up and is a danger to world peace, fast forward, 2019, page 101, of the labour manifesto, which is absolutely clear: "we will maintain commitment to nato and our close relationship with our european partners". so, which is it, mr corbyn? this was his answer to that

question: capital at our party is committed to remaining part of nato but it is also what we do in nato and what it does itself that is important. —— our party. that is why we must criticise human rights abuses, wherever they occur, including in russia but also in understanding another country so that we do reduce those tensions and do not recreate the of the cold war. what made you personally change your mind on nato? i have always been in favour of a policy of deterrence, and the lowering of tensions, and we have decided that we will remain in nato as a party, and that is it. —— a policy of detente. that is a nuanced position, labour are saying, that they will remain in nato but he is willing to criticise some of its actions in the past and how he would conduct himself as the leader of a nato member state if he was prime minister. but it is allows critics, and we saw this from borisjohnson,

we saw this from borisjohnson yesterday, it allows critics to make the argue that while he is representing the uk on the world stage, in the past, jeremy corbyn has articulated rules that suggest he would rip the uk out of the nato alliance. but the labour manifesto makes it clear they would remain in nato. as far as the labour campaign is concerned, a couple of other updates, in the last couple of minutes, ivan lewis, former labour minister, is running as an independent, he is advocating in his constituency of bury south that people vote conservative, quite something, when you hear a former labour minister make that claim, you can see a full list of candidates in that seat and every other on the bbc news website. let me bring you a nugget next, jeremy corbyn talking tojulie nugget next, jeremy corbyn talking to julie etchingham, an nugget next, jeremy corbyn talking tojulie etchingham, an interview due to go out tomorrow evening. this isa due to go out tomorrow evening. this is a little insight into christmas day, atjeremy corbyn's house. is a little insight into christmas day, at jeremy corbyn's house. do you sit down to watch the queen's

speech? we have it on some of the time, it is on in the morning... no, it is on at three o'clock in the afternoon. well, our christmas is sometimes... you don't watch it, do you? there's lots to do, i enjoy the presence of my family and friends around, as everyone else does, and i also visit a homeless shelter. so, the reflection there on what happens around... i think it must be a nut roast, becausejeremy corbyn isa a nut roast, becausejeremy corbyn is a vegetarian. he does not huddle around the television at 3pm, to watch her majesty the queen. another nugget from the labour campaign, which i can bring you, the new statesman, an organ of the left, for its entire time as a magazine on our shelves, is saying at this election that it shelves, is saying at this election thatitis shelves, is saying at this election that it is not endorsing labour. it does not think thatjeremy corbyn is fit to be prime minister, it is critical of him on the whole

question of anti—semitism, and also his equivocation on brexit. very heavily critical of borisjohnson as well, you would expect that from a magazine of its heritage, and it hopes the outcome of the election is one where borisjohnson is denied a majority. quite something when the new statesman does not wholeheartedly endorse labour, and says its leader is not fit to be prime minister. a little equivocal in 2017, it wholeheartedly induced labour and ed in 2017, it wholeheartedly induced labourand ed miliband in in 2017, it wholeheartedly induced labour and ed miliband in 2015. this election campaign is full of hair raising moments for a whole range of reasons, we should talk about the policy pledges to do with inequality and howjohn mcdonnell is saying that labour wants to abolish poverty once and for all, quickly, how will they do that? yes, that is the big focus, that is the big focus today with the speech thatjohn mcdonnell gave, with the speech thatjohn mcdonnell a . with the speech thatjohn mcdonnell gave, in birmingham, and then addressed to supporters thatjeremy corbyn dave here in nottingham, so, what they want to raise the minimum

wage, to £10 an hour, immediately, for all people above the age of 16. they want to get rid of universal credit, bundling together of half a dozen benefits into one benefit payment. they say they would put in immediate fixes to having scrapped it. they do not know what would replace it in the long term. they are of the view that the conservatives over the last ten yea rs have conservatives over the last ten years have been far too tolerant of widening inequality, and those who are trapped in poverty and they would address that. jeremy corbyn, interestingly, at the rally in nottingham, said one of the things he has often been asked on the campaign trail is, what would be your number one priority at the end of next week as prime minister if he finds himself in downing street? he said, eradicating street homelessness. that gives you some sense of absolutely where he sees his focus, that desire to cut down,

eradicate poverty and narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. thank you very much, chris mason, in nottingham. liberal democrat leader jo swinson says the party's climate change proposals are ambitious despite extinction rebellion protesters gluing themselves to the liberal democrats campaign bus this morning. she has also confirmed there will more support for young people with mental health issues. harrowing stories about teenagers who are facing mental health difficulties being told they need to wait six months or more to even start getting support, and that is possibly then being referred later to other specialists. it is just not acceptable, it is not ok. the leader of the scottish national party, nicola sturgeon, has reaffirmed her party's committment to nato, as world leaders meet to mark the military alliances's 70th anniversary. however, she emphasised the snp's policy of scrapping the trident nuclear deterrent. in scotland, i think the big

priority around defence is to make sure that we are spending money, investing money in the conventional defensive scotland needs and make sure we have defence levels that are at the right level for scotland's needs. the army footprint, for example, in scotland, is at a 200 year low. meanwhile, there are plans to invest considerable sums of money on trident, which i think is the wrong priority. bbc reality check is fact—checking the parties claims during the election campaign, looking at whether the evidence backs up what they are saying. you can find it at bbc.co.uk/news, or on the bbc news app. in a moment, business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live.

the prime mininster tells nato leaders the uk is ‘rock solid' in its support of the organisation, and warns that that peace cannot be taken for granted. after the democrats publish a report setting out the case for impeaching donald trump, the white house dismisses it as a ‘witch hunt‘ calls for more to be done to be done to tackle the continued growth in oil and gas consumption — amid signs global c02 emissions are still rising. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. google founders larry page and sergey brin have announced they are stepping down from top roles at the online giant's parent company. they will remain on the board but google's ceo sundar pichai will also become alphabet‘s ceo. the pair founded the company 21 years ago. an advert featuring a woman diving into a deliveroo delivery bag to retrieve multiple food orders has been banned. the advertising standards authority said it might mislead viewers to think they "could order food from different restaurants to be delivered together". it generated 300 complaints, the

third highest of the year so far. united airlines has ordered 50 long—range airbus jets, the latest us airline to snub boeing in favour of its european rival. the decision comes as america's boeing is hobbled by the crisis surrounding its 737 max planes after two crashes. all change at the top of google. the legendary silicon valley duo, they found the search engine back in their california garage, back in 1988 -- 1998, their california garage, back in 1988 "1998, they their california garage, back in 1988 —— 1998, they have announced they will be stepping down from top roles at the parent company which owns google, but they will remain on the board of the company, 51% voting rights, they will still have a big say in what goes on, and the google ceo, who many would argue has been the public face of alphabet for some time now, he will also take on the role of alphabet ceo. but, in the states itself, with more detail on all of this, we have vivian nunes. is at the end of an era, for these two

figureheads? these are two silicon valley figureheads, who famously founded google, the search engine company ina founded google, the search engine company in a garage in california backin company in a garage in california back in the 1990s when they were studying at stanford university and they went on to change the way that many of us interact with the internet every single day, now, in 2015 they created alphabet as a pa re nt 2015 they created alphabet as a parent company, separating google to search engine from the other endeavours that the company wanted to follow, and i became president and ceo of alphabet. -- vivienne nunis. today they have decided to step aside and hand over the reins to the ceo of google since then but they will still retain majority voting rights on the board of alphabet so they are not really stepping aside altogether and have assumed this —— described this as assuming the role of proud parents. it would be 21 today, 1998, they say will offer love and advice and will not carry on with the daily nagging! also, no great surprise as to who

will be the successor, sundar pichai, becoming ceo of alphabet, many would say that he is actually, he had that role in all but name for a while, now. yes, they would, sundar pichai took over as ceo of google back in 2015 when the transition took place, since then, he has been the public face of the company, larry page sergey brin and have been taking a back—seat since then. —— larry page and sergey brin. he migrated to the united states where he too attended stanford university, then joined google where he too attended stanford university, thenjoined google in 2004, rising up the ranks, all the way to ceo, so i don't think it is a surprise but he has a lot on his plate to deal with, as ceo of both alphabet and google from here on in. let's go straight to watford, where a emmanuel macron is speaking at the

nato alliance. translation: this is at the heart of the willingness i expressed, with chancellor merkel, we spoke yesterday at great length about france and germany, and we very much hope that in the next few months, europeans will enable coordination. as far as china is concerned, strategic discussion on the increase in military might of china, and its consequences, on the stability of the mid—atlantic region and we need to look at matters of technology including 5g, and i do not feel that china should be the object of our collective defence, however, so we need to look at certain strategic issues including matters of technology, which is fundamentally strategic in nature, but this cannot be defined as strictly in military terms. when we look at terrorism, especially terrorism from al-qaeda, and from daesh, this is the enemy, they seek to kill citizens, there is no

willingness to negotiate with us and forces are taking part in operations to destroy these organisations. each nation has its own counterterrorism policy to protect national territory against actions carried out by these groups in the nations but we have seen geopolitical territorial ambitions of these new forms of terrorism, we have an international coalition in the middle east, in which allies are involved. and, we see, in this region, counterterrorism efforts. here, once again, we have a very highly structured terrorist group, that threaten some allies and partners as well as our citizens, who are in those regions, i will come back to that in a moment regarding the sahara region. the third major component of the strategic reflection process, in our mind, has to do with the rights and

obligations of various allies. —— sahel region. collective defence requires that we be active involvement of the... requires that we be active involvement of the. .. inaudible as involvement of the. .. inaudible ...ashas involvement of the. .. inaudible as has been reiterated, france, without any ambiguity, will show full solidarity... and... inaudible same definition as others of terrorism, and... inaudible speaking about... studio: i'm so sorry, the sound quality is so bad, it is not worth carrying on, we will try to get a better version later on. let's take a look at the weather forecast. weather not looking too bad at all for many of us, beautiful blue skies in places but that has not been the story across all parts of the uk, parts of northern ireland and scotland have seen cloud and

outbreaks of rain. this is how it looked for a weather watcher in edinburgh. satellite and radar, band of cloud and rain, pushing east, weakening all the while, not much rain getting down into northern england and we will push that we band of cloud and rain south—east across england, some fog patches, showers pushing into the north—west, it is going to be windy here, and more generally cloudy weather as well by the end of the night, as a consequence of the cloud and breeze and showers, it will not be as cold across north—western areas. outbreaks of rain crossing northern ireland, heavy and persistent rain across the western side of scotland, there is the potential for flooding and travel disruption. generally very windy across western and northern parts, 40 to 50 mph, maybe 60 mph fora northern parts, 40 to 50 mph, maybe 60 mph for a time across the northern oils of scotland. find out the south—east, some sunshine, not as windy in the south—eastern corner, temperatures generally single digits for many, seven, eight, 9 degrees, 12 in belfast, western areas meant to be milder, as

western areas meant to be milder, as we head through friday, another fairly windy day, outbreaks of rain, cooler for some of us as we head into the weekend. i will have more weather right here in about half an hour.

hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at 3pm: the nato summit ends with borisjohnson insisting there was a mood of "solidarity" among its members. there is a mood of very great solidarity and determination and a willingness to push nato forward. meanwhile, after video emerged of leaders talking about donald trump behind his back, the us president hit back at canadian pm, justin trudeau. he is two—faced and honestly he is a nice guy but the truth is i called

him out on the fact that he is not paying 2% and i guess he is not very happy about it. i will be reporting from the hotel and donald trump has cancelled his conference. the white house accuses democrats of a "witch hunt" after they published a report which sets out the case for impeaching donald trump. calls for more to be done to tackle the continued growth in oil and gas consumption amid signs global c02 emissions are still rising. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. jose mourinho heading back to manchester united. almost a year after his last appearance, this time though as tottenham manager. thanks and ben has all the weather. it is time to wheel out that old weather cliche of a mixed bag but it

really is true. some rain, but also seems like this. also news of the rain in spain, there has been plenty of it. thanks ben. also coming up, after tens of millions of british elm trees were killed by dutch elm disease last century, hope that they can finally be reintroduced in the uk. hello, this is afternoon live. borisjohnson has described discussions at the nato summit near watford as "extremely practical and extremely harmonious". the prime minister said nato, the west's central military alliance had helped to protect the lives of nearly a billion people, and he warned that it needed to stay united to confront new challenges. but the gathering, on the 70th anniversary of the group,

has been overshadowed by disagreements between member states and strained exchanges among leaders. ben brown is at the nato gathering. it isa it is a gathering, it has been a gathering rather than a summit because actually the leaders have only been talking here for three hours and that has now finished. they ended with a joint declaration. it is called the london decoration, a communique which is pretty bland to be honest but really trying to paper over the cracks. there are divisions and in this 70th anniversary year of the existence of nato, this has been really about... we have had the french president saying that nato is strategically brain—dead. donald trump replied by saying that those comments were insulting and dangerous and we also have divisions about turkey and its unilateral military offensive in

northern syria so plenty of arguments. our defence correspondentjonathan beale has this report. a new day, and another gathering of nato leaders. it has stuck together for 70 years, but for how much longer? here at a luxury hotel, more watford than london, the message from the host was unity. at the heart of it is a pledge that we will come to one another's defence. all for one, one for all. that is the core of the article five nato security guarantee. though an acknowledgement from nato's chief that there were divisions. it is nothing new there are differences in this alliance. when you think about the iraq war in 2003, the suez crisis in 1956, there have always been differences. what we have proven and what we also

show today is that nato can overcome these differences. the world's most powerful military has criticised members for not paying their way, but surprisingly here has found himself defending the alliance and crossing swords with the french president who described it as brain—dead. president macron, though, arrived unrepentant. translation: i stand by my comment, yes, absolutely. in fact, it allowed us to raise some crucial debates. those included how to create a durable peace in europe. clarifying who was the enemy and how to act collectively against international terrorism in particular. so i think it was our responsibility to raise ambiguities that could be harmful and to tackle a real strategic debate. it has started, it will continue and i am satisfied. borisjohnson may have his own electoral reasons for keeping some distance with the us president but here he couldn't avoid it. and even the drums can't drown out the differences. the family photo of the increasingly

dysfunctional family. unity was easier when they were just 12 and their only enemy was the old soviet union. now they are 29, they see different threats. for turkey's president erdogan, standing next to president trump, its kurdish fighters in northern syria, friendly forces to most of those here in the fight against isis. then, like all large families, there is the gossiping. who do you think canada'sjustin trudeau was talking about here? if it was about him, 12 hours later, was this making up? despite the differences, they are still talking, and trying to present a united front.

as we were hearing there has been a bit of squabbling but in the past hour borisjohnson has reiterated his message of unity, reiterated his message of unity, repeating that mantra that the alliance is "all for one, one for all". following the public disagreements yesterday, he was keen to emphasise their togetherness. there is a mood of very great solidarity and determination and a willingness to push nato forward, not just for the next few years but for the next 70 years. a real belief in the long—standing value of this alliance. we also had good discussions on russia, how we should respond collectively to russia, they need to be aware of russia but the need to be aware of russia but the need to be aware of russia but the need to engage. so, that was borisjohnson. as we

are saying, donald trump has described justin trudeau is two —fa ced described justin trudeau is two—faced and donald trump has cancelled the news conference that he was due to give. speaking to reporters on the sidelines, mr trump had said he pulled outjustin trudeau on defence spending and mr trudeau on defence spending and mr trudeau wasn't very happy about that and as! trudeau wasn't very happy about that and as i say, the president cancelled his news conference and some speculation it was in a fit of pique about mr trudeau and others just saying, as mr trump said in his tweet, he feels that he has said everything he needs to say and will head back to washington. well, he is two—faced. do you think that germany is too... and honestly, with trudeau, he is a nice guy and i find him to be a very nice guy but the truth is that i called him out on the fact that he is not paying 2%

and i guess he is not very happy about it and you were there, a couple of you were there and he is not paying 2% and he should be paying 2%. it is canada, they have money and they should be paying 2% so i called him out on that and i'm sure he wasn't happy about it but that is the way it is. look, i'm representing the us and he should be paying more than he is paying and he understands that so i can imagine he is not that happy but that is the way it is. donald trump calling the prime minister two—faced, not what you wa nt to minister two—faced, not what you want to hear at the end of a gathering like this but this is the end of the nato summit. not morally —— not really a summit but more of session where they have been talking and trying to come up with some solutions because nato in its 70th year facing solutions because nato in its 70th yearfacing all solutions because nato in its 70th year facing all sorts of different threats from what it did originally,

it was set up to take on the soviet union underjosef stalin in 1949 as now it is facing threats like cyber warfare, terrorism, the rising military power of china. all of those have been talked about, either in the talks about here in hertfordshire or on the sidelines of this gathering. let's talk now to elisabeth braw, senior fellow on the modern deterrence project at the royal united services institute. thanks for being with us. do you see these divisions, that there clearly are within nato, no one denies it, is very damaging for the alliance or just inevitable in a group of 29 countries? it is a sign of old age. when someone has 70 they aren't as sprightly as that used to be but this alliance has been very successful and they have been successful and they have been successful doing one thing which is military defence defence against military defence defence against military attacks so now, as we have heard, it is 29 members, seem to be

30 and the threats have changed so it is not surprising that the leaders disagree about what needs to be done. one of the most important disagreements is on turkey and its offensive in northern syria. quite a lot of the countries are quite irritated and angered, especially france, irritated by this turkish demand that they should all call the kurds that turkey is fighting terrorists and president macron is a saying no, they are not terrorists, they have been allies in fighting islamic state. that is a really tricky problem. what do you do when one member act in a way that is very unpalatable and problematic for the other members and yet you can't really, you can't expel them, you can sanction them. you can plead with them to change their behaviour. a p pa re ntly with them to change their behaviour. apparently though, with regards to

turkey... if there is one major ta keaway turkey... if there is one major takeaway from this leaders meeting, that might be it. so, this mantra, or one for all and all for one which borisjohnson has or one for all and all for one which boris johnson has been or one for all and all for one which borisjohnson has been repeating time and time again today, does that still stand within nato alliance despite the behaviour of turkey?m does. imagine if there were to be an arms attack on nato member states tomorrow, there is no question that the others would rise to the occasion to defend that country but what if it is a cyber attack, and information attack and these may seem like a very minute or minor matters compared to a military attack but there are attacks and thatis attack but there are attacks and that is the question, what we do about that? but there is no doubt that the 29 member states will react as one if russia, was to attack

tomorrow. what are the... nato was set up to deal with stalin, what do you think of the key changes that nato needs to mate and the key threats and challenges that it does now face? the key change is that threats and form of aggression against our country so the west, don't really respect the rules of geography any more so cyber misinformation can hit any country regardless of where it is located. it used to be that the country is located close to russia had strong threats but now we have seen in the ukfor example, we threats but now we have seen in the uk for example, we can be subject to a cyber attack, as can the west or

any other country so it completely changes the question of what an defence alliance should be about and it changes the question of what is the threats? some quite chilly countries think that china is a country that there countries should cooperate with. in the 70th year of nato, we are discussing what it exists for because the world has changed, it has expanded from the original 12 countries that there we re original 12 countries that there were way back in the 19405 to now 29 countries, nearly 30, north macedonia will be joining the 30th country. some suggesting that maybe it is too big and if you have an organisation this big you are bound to get divisions? well, if you think about group a55ignment5 to get divisions? well, if you think about group assignments in primary school, they inevitably end with one of the kids saying i did much more than the other so why not give me

more credit because i did more? it i5 more credit because i did more? it is like that with any alliance and now with almost 30 member states, with a completely different national security realities. if you are north macedonia, your world it was com pletely macedonia, your world it was completely different than if you live in portugal so some people are saying it was a mistake to have all the5e saying it was a mistake to have all these countries as member states but currently they deserved it. they have done so much for their own defence and have contributed a great deal to nato and we also have to think about what would the world look like if they hadn't been invited tojoin look like if they hadn't been invited to join nato stop where would they have joined ? invited to join nato stop where would they have joined? would they have teamed up with russia or fallen through the cracks? the bottom line i5, europe would have been worse off

outside nato than in5ide nato. thanks for your time. the un secretary general jens stolenberg closed the summit a little earlier, here's what he said on the relationship with russia. we need to strive for a better relationship with russia. even if we are not able to get the better relationship with russia in that turn, we need to manage a difficult relationship with high tension5 turn, we need to manage a difficult relationship with high tensions and more exercises, we need to make sure that we have the transparency to avoid incidents, accidents and if they happen, to make sure that they won't spiral out of control and create dangerous situations. so, nato and i believe in an approach

that means the terrorist defence, a5 long as we are that means the terrorist defence, as long as we are strong, united and firm, we can engage including in arms control. we were saying earlier, it isa it is a uniting of 29 member states but it is about to get its 30th member, north macedonia. with me now is zoran zaev, prime minister of north macedonia. in february, you will become the 30th member of nato, what does it mean to north macedonia to become pa rt mean to north macedonia to become part of this huge alliance? for us, it isa part of this huge alliance? for us, it is a great honour because it is 25 years dream to fulfil all

conditions, all criteria also to make the friendship around us and have the agreements. we changed our name, we with the republic of macedonia now we are north macedonia. it was one of the conditions because we needed to support anonymously. we achieved the goals and the dream is to participate all around the world keeping peace. what are the threat to north macedonia? who are you worried about, are you worried about russia for example? we see the threats in the modern time, especially cyber threats which are happening all around the world. we area happening all around the world. we are a small country, we have a flexible army normally and we have nato standards which mean that the whole world needs to be faultless to preserve peace around the world. of course, in the balkans, there is...

we are here, nato for us also together with the european union, more democracy, more ruling of law, better freedoms, human rights, more democracy, more ruling of law, betterfreedoms, human rights, that is the western part of the world but for us, normally, participating with all other member parties like united states, germany, france, it is a great honour normally to participate in the positive things happening in the world. you are joining an alliance that is very successful and it is very long—standing. 70 years. but it is also quite divided at the moment, we have seen president macron over france saying that nato is brain—dead. donald trump are saying that mr makro is insulting when he says that. are you worried about all that squabbling and

division? —— mr macron. about all that squabbling and division? -- mr macron. it is nothing new. i follow division? -- mr macron. it is nothing new. ifollow things division? -- mr macron. it is nothing new. i follow things that have happened in the past year but that debate can improve nato because unity is very important. nato need for all its 30 countries because it is necessary for other parts of the world as well to be very helpful to act in the middle east and find a solution in a peaceful way to stop as much as possible walk where it happens so in this direction i know that we can contribute together because one of my debates today was there were countries that are prepared to change our name to join this alliance and they now celebrate 70th anniversary. and you change your name because of macedonia and

greece? yes. three disagreement, we achieved agreement. we achieved this agreement, we take the fact that... donald trump is very concerned that some member states are not paying enoughin some member states are not paying enough in terms of their spending on defence, he wants everybody to pay 296 defence, he wants everybody to pay 2% of their economy, their gdp into a defence spending. will you be paying 2%? of course. we take obligation and there are a lot of results. in my country there has been almost double participation in defence spending and the pledge has

been put in front of all member countries and europe also show a lot of results. since 2016, there are 130 lien more money and we need to achieve 400 million more in the alliance. have you enjoyed your time here in hertfordshire? historical for me. i want to send the message, we are very for me. i want to send the message, we are very happy and proud and that means more peace in the world in the south—east of europe and it is great for us to be acting as a player to keep peace around the world. thank you very much prime minister, as is the prime minister of north macedonia. back to you in the

studio. the white house has accused democrats of a "witch hunt" after they published a report which sets out the case for impeaching donald trump. the house intelligence committee says its inquiry found clear evidence that the president put pressure on ukraine to help his re—election next year. the committee also accuses him of obstructing their investigation. our correspondent nada tawfik is in washington. a new phase of this process and they have been hearing from for professors ? have been hearing from for professors? that is right, the first public hearing has just started which is the one tasked with drawing up which is the one tasked with drawing up those articles of impeachment after the intelligence committee handed over that report after months of investigation, it is now up to these congressmen, representatives, to basically look at what articles to basically look at what articles to put forward. they are going to be

hearing from four legal scholars, as hearing from four legal scholars, as he said stop three of which have been called by democrats without argument that the president not only obstructed justice but he used bribery and abuse of power in his misconduct and i think it is interesting to just read a point by michael who is a law professor at the university of north carolina. he said if congress fails then the impeachment process has lost all meaning and along with that our constitution carefully crafted safeguards against the establishment ofa safeguards against the establishment of a king on american soil. jonathan, who points out he isn't necessarily a supporter of donald trump, still thinks that if the house proceeds slowly on the ukrainian allegations that this impeachment would stand out amongst modern impeachment at the shortest proceeding with the thinnest evidentiary record and the narrowest

grounds ever used to impeach a president. so legal scholars are split but this is ultimately a political process with a republican—led senate. political process with a republican-led senate. what exactly have the white house said? they have denied the president has done anything wrong? yes, absolutely. when the democrats released their report they said it was basically a sham. a witchhunt that the democrats, it was their wish list of what they wanted to see rather than any strong evidence was that the white house has said all along that the president's intense woods never to look forward to 2020, he was concerned about corruption in ukraine and the republicans are really stood behind him with that argument. what will be interesting is that when this ultimately, because we do believe this will result in impeachment in the house, when this does go to the senate, the president has suggested that he will be open to having some of his close advisers who were forced not to

testify in the house, that he would be open to having them speak in the senate and it will be interesting to see if that really does go forward because the presidency is that this can bea because the presidency is that this can be a political win for him. that he will be eventually cleared of wrongdoing by republicans in the senate which can use to show that he is under attack by those in washington. thank you very much. a study suggests global carbon dioxide emissions have risen slightly this year, despite a drop in the use of coal. scientists at the global carbon project say they expect levels of c02 will have increased by 0.6 % in 2019. researchers have warned more needs to be done to tackle the continued growth in oil and gas consumption, as roger harrabin reports. fossil fuels made the world rich. but their carbon emissions are disrupting the climate, so we're shifting to clean energy. but, it seems, not fast enough. the world is responding to the need to cut emissions but the action is too low.

we are mostly investing in renewable technology at the moment, like wind and solar power and electric cars, but we are not putting enough effort into removing the old technologies, removing those power plants, removing those old cars from the market. so that at the moment the emissions continue to rise. they're going up in china, albeit more slowly than before. big cars are fuelling oil demand. gas use is on the rise too. in india emissions are expected to have risen, but more slowly, partly because of weaker economic growth. in europe carbon—based taxes on heavy industry have driven down emissions by almost 2%. much more is needed, but it's in the right direction. the usa will surprise many — its emissions overall fell by the same as europe. president trump promised to boost coal, but economics intervened.

coal is on its way out. essentially, we have other fuels like natural gas that are much more cost competitive. renewables, wind and solar, that are increasing across the united states and investors are increasingly uncomfortable around investing in coal. in the uk, emissions are falling, but not fast enough to meet targets. the prime minister borisjohnson refused even to discuss the issue last week. the world will have to work five times harder if it wants a stable climate. roger harrabin, bbc news. here is a reminder that the mediterranean is not a reliable destination at this time of year, to say the least. this is murcia in the south—east of spain and they

have had a lot of rain here over the past few days and the pictures speak for themselves. torrents of water running through the streets, it is not the first time in the last few months, there have been a few different bouts of flooding across that part of europe and, as you can see, this week has brought more of the same. how much rain have they had? not too far away from murcia, in valencia, they have had 322 millimetres of rain in 48 hours. they do december average should be 58 millimetres so they have had over 30 centimetres of rainfall and that is about 60% of what they would expect over a whole year so no wonder we are seeing scenes like that. why is it this way? the weather got stuck in a bit of a rut. i will show you the jet stream which is obviously, the winds in the atmosphere that control the weather systems around the world. look at this big dip in thejet stream here. that is quite extreme, isn't it?

yes, it gets a long way southwards and then gets stuck here and trapped within that dip in the jet stream we had all this unsettled weather, these lumps of cloud, it is like having a washing machine stuck on a wind cycle with lumps of clothing and moisture circulating in. moving on to the forecast, it is good news for this part of spain. the weather pattern is breaking down, that dip in thejet pattern is breaking down, that dip in the jet stream is a kind of breaking apart which means that the rain will ease. it does look a little bit better for the rest of the week. what about our forecast. nothing quite like that but some rain in the forecast for some of us. it is pretty mixed, certainly today isa it is pretty mixed, certainly today is a mixed day. beautiful scenes there in hastings with blue skies overhead. a little bit different for the north in edinburgh, we have seen some cloud and the odd splash of rain working through. i will show you the satellite and radar picture. you can see what i mean. this band of cloud with some ad breaks a rain siding across scotland, a little bit of rain in northern ireland as well. you can see the rainfall is now starting to fizzle away so what we will have through the end of the day

is this band of cloud, this patchy rain going... a touch of frost here, further north and west a scattering of showers and increasingly strong breeze, particularly across northern and western parts of scotland, quite when he had by the end of the night was not with the stronger winds and showers, a bit more cloud, not as cold across those north—western part of the uk put up as we go into tomorrow, here come a procession of frontal systems from the atlantic and that is going to drive a lot of rain in across the western side of scotland, could see 70, 80 may be hundred millimetres across the highest grounds so they could be some localised flooding and travel disruption put up some room for northern ireland, some parts of northern england and north wales was not a windy day in the west and north. could see cuts of 60 mph in at the far north of scotland. not as windy in the south—east, single—digit temperatures for many but in the west in belfast, it could get to 12 degrees. as we get into

thursday night, lucy's frontal system sliding through semi might get them outbreaks of rain but in between these frontal systems, there is this mild air which will be pulled up from the south—west so actually as we start the day on friday, these are the kind of temperatures we can expect. after a few foggy mornings, that will feel very different but with that outbreaks of rain, a few bands of rain working southwards and eastwards, maybe a little drive to the north west later on. again, they temperatures start to drop so after that mild stud, actually parts of the north—west of the uk might finish the day on a somewhat cooler note was up saturday and doesn't look too bad, we will see some spells of sunshine but here comes another frontal system, some cloud and rain into parts of northern ireland by the end of the day. and we are back to something a little bit cooler by this stage. looks like it is going to be pretty soggy on a saturday night as these are frontal systems that slide through. quite windy as well, behind that was under a low pressure still on charge. it is going to be a blustery day with a

mixture of sunshine and showers. though their awful lot going on, if you want to check the details for your area, going on to the bbc whether website or the app. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. the summit marking 70 years of nato alliance ends with borisjohnson insisting the discussions were extremely practical and extremely harmonius despite reported divisions.

there was a mood of very great solidarity and determination and a willingness to push nato forward. meanwhile, after video emerged of what appeared to be leaders talking about donald trump behind his back, the us president hit back at canadian pm, justin trudeau. well, he is two—faced, and honestly, with justin trudeau, well, he is two—faced, and honestly, withjustin trudeau, i find well, he is two—faced, and honestly, withjustin trudeau, ifind him to bea withjustin trudeau, ifind him to be a nice guy. but, the truth is that i called him out on the fact he is not paying 2% and i guess he is not very happy about it. the white house accuses democrats of a "witch hunt" after they published a report which sets out the case for impeaching donald trump. calls for more to be done to tackle the continued growth in oil and gas consumption amid signs global c02 emissions are still rising. and coming up, after tens of millions of british elm trees were killed by dutch elm disease last century, hope that they can finally be reintroduced in the uk.

sport now on afternoon live withjohn, and jose mourinho is taking his new team tottenham to his old team tonight, is that awkward? is reception will be very interesting, it will presumably be very interesting, it will presumably be very warm, interesting, it will presumably be very warm, and he's been very common entry about his former employers. he is now the new manager of tottenham, having overseen three wins from three since his appointment. his return to football made news around the world — speaking about his former club, he says he has no ill—will towards manchester united despite a sour end to his time in charge. it is in my book of experiences, it is in my history. it is in my history book. a bit like nelson mandela said once, " you never lose: you win, or you learn." at

manchester united, i won and i learned. back to his best since he has been appointed. hanging on every one of his words he has had to say in the build—up to this one. that's one of six premier league games tonight. the merseyside derby is the other standout fixture, after manchester city trimmed the gap at the top to eight points last night. in boxing, anthonyjoshua has been talking about trying to win back his titles. he's anticipating a tough fight but he's confident of winning back his heavyweight belts. it surprised almost everyone when he lost to andy ruinunior in june. now he's in saudi arabia for the rematch. joshua is the favourite but not by much this time. the press conference for the fight taking place right now, joshua has been talking about the challenge of mindset he has needed to prepare for this weekend's fight.

andy, is a respected heavyweight, knows that you always have to have a challenger mindset, all of these quotes, they are reality. i have always said that, when i had the belt around my waist. now i'm speaking to the existence, this is the challenger mindset. i call it, back to 16, back to my 16 fight: hungry, determined, focused on my goal. and he has turned down a little bit, we will see whether that will help him. —— and he has trimmed down a little bit. rugby australia and their former player israel folau have come to a settlement in his case for unfair dismissal. the winger, who played both rugby league and union, started legal action after he was sacked in may for writing anti—gay posts on social media. he argued that the termination of his contract was a case of religious discrimination. the details of the settlement remain private. the british and irish lions are expected to play in front of a record crowd of almost 90,000 at soccer city in soweto when they face world champions south africa in the first test of the 2021 tour. warren gatland says

he is absolutely thrilled with the opening location, which staged the 2010 football world cup final. however, despite gatland's pleas, the lions will suffer from a lack of preparation time, with the first match taking place just a week after the 2021 english premiership final. and the former scotland captain john barclay has announced his retirement from international rugby. he said he's "unbelievably proud" to have "lived his boyhood dream" to play for his country, winning 76 caps and competing in three world cups. the 2014 olympic silver medallist gus kenworthy has announced he's switching his allegiance from the usa to compete for great britain ahead of the 2022 winter olympics. kenworthy, who was born in britain, has denied claims he's only switching now because he might not make the american team in three years time. he will continue to be based in the us and says he has "no doubt in his mind" that he could still represent america.

that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, says the party's climate change proposals are "ambitious" despite extinction rebellion protestors glueing themselves to the liberal democrat campaign bus this morning. she has also confirmed there will more support for young people with mental health issues. harrowing stories about teenagers being told they need to wait six months or more, before they even start getting support, and then being referred to other specialist. it is not acceptable, it is not ok. the leader of the scottish national party, nicola sturgeon, has reaffirmed her party's committment to nato, as world leaders meet to mark the military alliances's 70th anniversary. however, she emphasised the snp's policy of scrapping the trident nuclear deterrent.

snp-sturgeon sot in scotland, i think the big priority around defence is to make sure that —— in scotland, i think the big priority around defence is to make sure that we are spending money, investing money the conventional defensive scotland needs and make sure we have defence levels that are at the right level for scotland's needs. the army footprint, for example, in scotland, is at a 200 year low. meanwhile, there are plans to invest considerable sums of money on trident, which i think is the wrong priority. with just over a week to go before voters cast their ballots, christian fraser has been considering what, if anything, can be gleaned from the state of the opinion polls. so, we are into the home straight of the election campaign, some signs in the election campaign, some signs in the past week that the gap between labour and conservatives has narrowing, but remember, we have to apply caution to individual polls, what we are looking for is a pattern or trend over time. here is the bbc

poll tracker, pulling together the data and aggregating it from those organisations which are members of the british polling council. you can see that through the autumn, the gas was starting to grow. —— polling. in the past week or so, it has narrowed ever so slightly and the poll tracker has the lead at the moment at ten points, at this moment in time, the conservatives predicted victory. some of you might be saying, didn't they get this wrong in 2017? you would be right, here is the poll tracker for 2017, these dots are where the parties finished, they slightly overestimated it for ukip, but they underestimated it for labour, that is because they overestimated it in 2015 and changed the modelling accordingly. what is interesting, looking at 2017, the size of the vote share, the two main parties are almost neck and neck, not that that really matters in a first past the post system, what we are looking for is

support in individual constituencies. 326 seats for a victory. back in 2017, the conservatives got 318, labour won 262, that meant the conservatives needed the support of the dup to get over the line for a minority government. so, have the pollsters learned any lessons and what does it mean this time around? the polls, certainly most though not all of them, underestimated the position of them, underestimated the position of the conservatives and therefore pointed to a tory majority when it did not materialise, however, the polls are not doing what they did in 2017, that led them to lead to that under estimate, so there is no reason to assume that they will get it wrong at least for the same reason once again. polls do not predict elections, they are a snapshot of the public mood at any one time, according to the british electoral survey, this is the most volatile british electorate in

modern times. so, as a betting man, iam going modern times. so, as a betting man, i am going to keep my £5 firmly in my pocket! we will see what happens come thursday week. best place for a fiver! bbc reality check is fact—checking the parties claims during the election campaign, looking at whether the evidence backs up what they are saying. you can find it at bbc.co.uk/news, or on the bbc news app. a person in england has been diagnosed with the rare viral infection monkeypox. the patient is believed to have contracted the disease while visiting nigeria and is currently being treated at guy's and st thomas' nhs foundation trust in london. public health england say monkeypox "does not spread easily between people and the risk to the general public in england is very low." transport spending in london is almost two and a half times more per person than across the north of england. analysis of treasury figures show that last year 903 pounds were spent in london for every resident, while the north had just £376 per head of spending. our correspondent spencer stokes has been to meet rail commuters in west yorkshire.

cannot get on. can you get on? no, it is full. it is disgusting, if this train has to break suddenly, it is dangerous. they cannot even close the door. short commute from dewsbury, to leeds, in west yorkshire but some days, passengers cannot even squeeze onto the train. the next train is meant to be here in the next 20 seconds but it is 15 minutes delayed. you not getting into leeds before nine o'clock. when the next service arrives, it is full of anxious commuters, worried that they won't be in work at one time. all these cancellations and delays affect my working week, i work at a hospital, i have considered changing myjob, resigning, hospital, i have considered changing my job, resigning, it hospital, i have considered changing myjob, resigning, it can be embarrassing to arrive this late. it

is every week. it is every week. would everyone agree? yes.|j is every week. it is every week. would everyone agree? yes. i have had somebody faint on me, and fainting ona had somebody faint on me, and fainting on a work colleague. i cannot really handle it. overcrowded and cancelled trains combined with expensive fares and out of date rolling stock have become routine for rail commuters across the north but the treasury own figures show that transport spending in london is almost two and a half times more per person than in the north of england. it is an issue that the left—leaning institute for public policy research has campaigned on for many years. we see pledges being made but we need to see that those promises are translated into action, and any investment needed in the north to improve the transport infrastructure has to materialise. the state of the ra i lwa ys has to materialise. the state of the railways has moved up the political agenda in recent years, especially in the north, where passengers have tried to escape road congestion only to find that trains are just as

full. inquests into the deaths of london bridge terror attack victims jack merritt and saskia jones have been opened in the last hour. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani is at the old bailey. this has been a very brief opening, into the deaths caused by usman khan last week. police need time to investigate how usman khan, a man convicted of a terrorism offence and out of prison on licence, was able to kill his two victims. what we had today was, the senior coroner for the city of london, alison hubert, taking very brief evidence from a senior metropolitan police

detective, superintendent des mccue, and he used today's hearing to give brief details about the deaths, said that saskia jones had graduated in a masters from criminology from the university of cambridge, last year, and had applied tojoin university of cambridge, last year, and had applied to join west midlands police, on the fast track stea m, midlands police, on the fast track steam, —— fast track scheme and wa nted steam, —— fast track scheme and wanted to use her experience to be a detective, in part as a phd in oxford, she was a high—flyer in the making. she was attacked within the menu at fishmonger soul, she was there because she was a volunteer at there because she was a volunteer at the learning together initiative, rehabilitation programme run by the university of cambridge. her fellow attendee, jack, was one of the organisers. she was pronounced dead at 225 tm, half an hour after the attack, is believed to have happen. a pathologist has carried out a

postmortem on the police. —— detective superintendent des mchugh. the pathologist found that the cause of death was haemorrhaging as a result of the stabbing to the chest and the same cause of death was given forjack merrick. —— pronounced dead at 2:25pm. jack merrick was also a graduate at the university of cambridge. —— jack merritt. we understand that he was moved on a stretcher out of fishmonger sold to a road north of the venue because of the ongoing major police investigation because they did not know what they were dealing with, there were multiple attem pts dealing with, there were multiple atte m pts to dealing with, there were multiple attempts to save his life at the scene, and sadly he died, his course of —— same cause of death, his time of —— same cause of death, his time of death was given as 4:14pm. the third inquest which has been opened and adjourned today separately to those of the victims, that is into

the 28—year—old attacker himself, usman khan, we learned that he joined the rehabilitation scheme while still in prison during the latter stages of his eight year sentence. he was taking part in the event sentence. he was taking part in the eve nt ru n sentence. he was taking part in the event run by this organisation, there to take part in workshops as a participant, there as one of the ex offenders learning about how to rehabilitate themselves into society, detective superintendent des mchugh gave very little detail about the circumstances, a lot of us have seen the video of what has happened, he was restrained by members of the public before being shot dead by armed police. the detective said: "the cause of death given by pathologist was shock and haemorrhaging due to multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen." all three inquests are adjourned. it will be a very long process to follow this, it'll take

some months and perhaps up to year before it comes to court. some important information and very distressing forjack merritt and saskia jones's family and friends to hear those details. away from the inquest, information has come to light about the lack of evaluation that has gone on, of these rehabilitation programmes. this is quite a complicated point, because the ministry ofjustice and the home office and other officials among the counterterrorism establishment have been doing a lot of work over the last decade or so trying to work out the best approach to reforming terrorist offenders while they were inside, there was two key schemes now in play, one called the healthy identity intervention, that is a scheme in prison, and another called distance and disengagement programme, which takes place in the community. what my colleague, the bbc‘s tony shaw, reported this morning is that neither of those two schemes have been through a full

evaluation to establish how effective they are. the simple reason for that is both schemes are relatively new, they have only been going a few years, it has been difficult with any kind of scheme like this to carry out that work. there was a progress evaluation which found that the scheme, the healthy identity intervention, actually had positive feedback from people who had taken part in it. this is going to be a question for the inquest about how effective these programmes are and whether it is too soon or whether we will even know if there is some kind of perfect way of trying to rehabilitate and change the minds of someone who is ideological driven towards violence. for the moment, thank you very much. ina in a moment, all of the business news, but first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live. can turn

the summit marking 70 years of nato alliance ends with borisjohnson insisting the discussions were extremely the summit marking 70 years of nato alliance ends with borisjohnson insisting the discussions were extremely practical and extremely harmonious despite reported divisions the democrats publish a report setting out the case for impeaching donald trump — but the white house dismiss it as a ‘witch hunt‘. calls for more to be done to be done to tackle the continued growth in oil and gas consumption — amid signs global c02 emissions are still rising. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live google founders larry page and sergey brin have announced they are stepping down from top roles at the online giant‘s parent company. an advert featuring a woman diving into a deliveroo delivery bag to retrieve multiple food orders has been banned. the advertising standards authority said it might mislead viewers to think they "could order food from different restaurants to be delivered together". it generated 300 complaints, the third highest of the year so far.

m&g investments has temporarily suspended dealing in the shares of its £2.5 billion pound m&g property portfolio fund. the surprise move is being attributed to the high number of outflows, which it blames on "brexit—related political uncertainty and ongoing structural shifts in the uk retail sector". it said the fund will continue to be actively managed while suspended, but m&g is waiving 30% of its annual charge. in the run—up to christmas, brands are trying to impress us with their best advertising efforts but one in particular has backfired a bit. the exercise bike company, pellet on, has been hit by a raft of social media protest about its latest advert, it is being called sexist, out of touch, even dystopian by critics, let‘s see if we can take a look at the advert. are you ready? now! give it up! right, first ride... let‘s do this. —— peloton.

the woman recalled her work out in a video blog which she records over the year, which she gives to her husband as a thank you present for the exercise bike. a lot of criticism. look how fit i am, you are welcome... not even particularly well acted, i hate to say! that is a whole different criticism! it is interesting, what the reaction to this has actually done for the company itself, because, company shares in the company, in peloton, have taken a knock, but the advertisement has received well over 1 million hits on youtube, although, interesting to note that the company has turned off comments on youtube as well. let‘s talk about this a little bit more, we can speak with caroline frost, a journalist and media commentator. it has put provoked a storm of criticism, but when you are trying to sell an exercise bike that costs $2000... you have to wonder, will all this negative attention actually help?

could it once again be the case that there is no such thing as bad publicity? i like that idea, gerald ratner would be the exception that proves the rule, but, however, general of thumb is, getting a lot of noise, people who did not know about the exercise bike a couple of days ago are now all too aware of peloton. what they need to do is to be seen responding to it, and perhaps showing that they have a sense of humour and do what perhaps the team behind the cats have done which is response to the wealth of commentary. lots of people have had a lot of fun with this, as long as peloton can get in on the joke, then they may well yet survive and see a whole load of bikes shifting out of the door which perhaps would not have done otherwise. certainly no shortage of memes doing the rounds! they could take inspiration from that. this is a sophisticated company, presumably a sophisticated marketing department and marketing budget so what went wrong in the decision—making and the team? what

did you make of it? i thought it was a spoof, this is an upmarket firm, sell bikes upwards of $2000 plus, this is not the first time they have run into trouble, early in the year they run an ad, someone responded by saying, i think i will get my exercise bike out in my $3 million house... they seem to be living an aspirational lifestyle with bodies and forms to fit that, but as you say, very sophisticated, this will bea say, very sophisticated, this will be a test of the sophisticated marketing brains in the next few days, just how they respond to this debacle. in this age of social media, how important is the traditional christmas advert for companies. really interesting, we know that people like john lewis have spent millions of pounds this year trying to get above the noise but this year it has been a £100 welsh hardware firm that have cut through and got people to hearts beating and reaching for

handkerchiefs, so, it shows that money is not everything. people do still consider extremely important, all hands on deck and if they cannot make money in this month, in the next two weeks, when can they make money? i have to continue to invest for the moment. we have seen, as we have seen with peloton and other complaints, social platforms, people will have their say, firms continue to listen. we are not passive viewers, as to listen. we are not passive viewers, as consumers. to listen. we are not passive viewers, as consumers. that‘s all for the moment, but we need to have a look at the pound, at quarter to five, because the pound has been on the rise. weather forecast with them. contrasting weather fortunes. -- with ben. more cloud, outbreaks of rain, that's how it looked in kilmarnock, you can see the cloud and rain on the earlier image, band of cloud and rain becoming

increasingly weak as it slide south—east during the evening and tonight, a lot of dry weather around, some fog patches on the far south—east, showers blowing across the north west, turning very windy, across north—west of the uk, but, with showers, with extra cloud, with brisk breeze, not as cold, could see a touch of frost across parts of the south—east. tomorrow, rain splashing in across northern ireland and western scotland, localised flooding and travel disruption possible in western scotland, a bit of wet weather into northern england and wales. for many northern and western areas, windy day, not as windy down towards the south—east, still breezy, largely dry, some sunshine, top temperatures between seven and 12 degrees.

hello, you‘re watching afternoon live. today at 4pm: the summit marking 70 years of nato alliance ends with borisjohnson insisting the discussions were extremely practical and extremely harmonius despite the divisions. there was a mood of very great solidarity and determination and a willingness to push nato forward. meanwhile, after video emerged of what appeared to be leaders talking about donald trump behind his back, the us president hit back at canadian pm, justin trudeau. he is two—faced and honestly he is a nice guy but the truth is i called him out on the fact that he is not paying 2% and i guess he is not very happy about it.

i will be reporting live from the luxury hotel well nato leaders have been meeting. donald trump has unexpectedly cancelled his final news conference. the victims of the london bridge terror attack, an inquest hears how jack merritt and saskia jones both died from stab wounds to the chest. a new stage in the impeachment inquiry into donald trump, thejudiciary committee takes over to decide on the charges lawmakers will vote on. calls for more to be done to tackle the continued growth in oil and gas consumption amid signs global c02 emissions are still rising. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. jose mourinho prepares to return to manchester united for the first tiem since his sacking, we‘ll be live at old trafford later in the hour. yes, he‘s preparing to return to his old club for the first time since his sacking. the weather for the

next few days is a real mixed bag, some rain in the forecast, some milder weather as well, i will unpick all the details later on. also coming up, after tens of millions of british elm trees were killed by dutch elm disease last century, hope that they can finally be reintroduced in the uk. hello, this is afternoon live. borisjohnson has described discussions at the nato summit near watford as "extremely practical and extremely harmonious". the prime minister said nato, the west‘s central military alliance, had helped to protect the lives of nearly a billion people, and he warned that it needed to stay united to confront new challenges. but the gathering, on the 70th anniversary of the group, has been overshadowed

by disagreements between member states, and strained exchanges among leaders. ben brown is at the nato gathering. yes, it is the 70th anniversary of nato‘s birth but this has been a meeting really with incrimination is as well as celebrations. the leaders are now leading, the 29 leaders who have been here in hertfordshire have been leaving this afternoon. they haveissued been leaving this afternoon. they have issued a joint declaration to try and show unity but as you say, there have been deep tensions will stop borisjohnson there have been deep tensions will stop boris johnson has there have been deep tensions will stop borisjohnson has repeated the message that the alliance, despite this tensions and divisions, is "all for one, one for all". there have been disagreements, the french president has said that nato is brain dead and president trump

has said that mr macron was being insulting and using dangerous language. today, borisjohnson who has been hosting this meeting in hertfordshire has been keen to emphasise the togetherness of the nato alliance. there is a mood of very great solidarity and determination and a willingness to push nato forward. not just over the next few years but over the next 70 years, a real belief in the long—standing value of this alliance. we also had good discussions on russia, how we should respond collectively to russia, the need to be aware of russia but also the need to engage. that was boris johnson after the leaders met. it wasn‘t a full—blown summit, it was really a pretty brief gathering. but in the meantime, us president donald trump has described justin trudeau

as "two—faced" after the canadian prime minister was caught on camera apparently mocking him. let‘s first take a look at that clip from the buckingham palace reception last night where mr trudeau, mr macron and mrjohnson were gathered. princess and was there as well and the dutch prime minister, while nobody mentions president trump by name, they appear to be talking about his impromptu press conference, as they discussed why the french president was late.

that was just a flavour of what happened at buckingham palace last night. speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the nato summit, mr trump also said he had called out mr trudeau on defence spending and that "he‘s not very happy about it." well, he is two—faced. do you think that germany is too... and honestly, with trudeau, he is a nice guy and i find him to be a very nice guy but the truth is that i called him out on the fact that he is not paying 2% and i guess he is not very happy about it and you were there, a couple of you were there and he is not paying 2% and he should be paying 2%. it is canada, they have money and they should be paying 2% so i called him out on that and i‘m sure he wasn‘t happy about it but that is the way it is. look, i‘m representing the us and he should be paying more than he is paying and he understands that so i can imagine he is not that happy but that is the way it is.

that was donald trump talking about justin trudeau, calling him two —fa ced. justin trudeau, calling him two—faced. in return to that, he tried to rush things aside, trudeau and said his relationship with trump was excellent. a short time ago president trump tweeted saying he would return to the white house without making any further remarks. some people suggesting that might be a fit of pique because of those remarks from justin trudeau. we don‘t know about that or whether mr trump did just indeed he had to said all he had to say. he posted...

he would have been talking right now had he been giving that news conference but we won‘t be hearing from him. we will be talking to our correspondence in paris and berlin with more about what their leaders have been saying. therefore we do that let‘s have a listen we need to strive for a better relationship with russia. listen with russia. even if we are not able to get the better relationship with russia in their term, we need to manage a difficult relationship with high tensions, with more exercises, we need to make sure that we have predictability, transparency to avoid incidents, accidents and if they happen, to make sure that they don‘t spiral out of control and create really dangerous situations.

so, nato and i, we believe in dialogue with russia and what we call the dual tract approach meaning the defence and dialogue, as long as we are strong, united and firm, we can engage including in dialogue with russia including on arms control. will be talking to our paris correspondent in a moment. president macron has because quite a few waves here. he likes to put the cat amongst the pigeons, doesn‘t he? yes. the quote that comes from him in all this is j‘assume, yes. the quote that comes from him in all this isj‘assume, i stand by what i‘ve said. he said nato was brain dead and also talked about the need for europe to build its own defence was to be talked about

europe becoming geopolitically redundant unless it can build up its military presence and act as an independent geopolitical forces so thatis independent geopolitical forces so that is the consistent message behind what he has been saying for some time and today. the question is whether it is useful for a leading member of nato to be quite so blunt about its prospects. clearly in some peoples eyes it gives succour to the enemy. in russia, no doubt, not that we know if the russia were delighted when he gave that. it gives an immense degree of moral uplift to the enemy but in his defence and certainly many people here would ta ke certainly many people here would take his defence, blunt talking is exactly what nato need right now because there are these glaring problems about its role, about what to do about turkey and russia and clearly that is also seen as very

important in macron‘s vision of the world. with russia, that is at the top of his agenda and won‘t necessarily go down well with other partners in europe. i‘m alsojoined by damien mcguinness in berlin. germany is very important in this as well because it is such a big country and president trump has accused it of not necessarily paying its way, not paying enough in terms of defence spending? yes, that is right for top it is all about the money for the german trump relationship right now. donald trump has always criticised germany for not spending enough military so germany pays about 1.38% of its gdp on defence, the nato target is 2%. angela merkel has said she agrees with donald trump and germany should spend more on its military. the political establishment here, the

mainstream parties centre—left and centre—right agree as well. there have been moved over the past few yea rs have been moved over the past few years to increase spending in germany on military, the target will probably be reached, the 2% target, by the beginning of the 20 305 but according to trump that is never going to be enough because he was throwing around the 4% figure earlier today which terrifies germans because the idea of spending more on military anyway is extremely controversial here. it goes down so badly with voters. for many people, the military of nato is at fault in their eyes for provoking russia so it is not an easy sell. others say that the spending that we have seen in germany in the military of the past few years has been incredibly wasteful because we have all sorts of scandals here ofjets and equipment being bought that doesn‘t work so it is a really tough sell to german voters to say that germany should spend more on its military

but angela merkel has been quite firm on this over the past few weeks and months and she has spoken in parliament saying, nato is incredibly important for european security and for germany and europe can‘t survive without it. political will is there, it is just that angela merkel doesn‘t have that much capital at the moment was captured coming to the end end of herfinal term and she is leading quite a fractious government and we could well see elections here at the next year or two so germany is not in a very strong position to start throwing money around which is what nato leaders know and which is why angela merkel has been rather reticent in this summit saying that she is going to stick to the commitment but properly not much more than that. let's talk a bit more than that. let's talk a bit more about the french attitude here. let‘s talk now to olivier—remy bel, a visiting fellow at the atlantic council and hejoins me now via webcam. as we were just talking to hugh in

paris, president macron has given nato a little bit of a kick up the backside, shall we say, with those remarks that it is brain dead which has caused quite a stir here and donald trump amongst others really not with the way president macron has been talking. what is interesting is that he got donald trump to defend nato which is quite a good sign that this meeting was a success but more seriously, what macron has managed is to set the agenda. we have been talking about what nato is meant for and the direction of the alliance. he has managed to keep that debate within nato and to give it a new dimension. that is actually led to something. if you look at the decorations by the media, there is the creation...

a group of experts who are going to be defining the goal of the alliance which has been done in the past in the 605. if you want to be an optimist, we have seen donald trump defend to some extent nato and we have seen emmanuel macron be satisfied because he has managed to enforce a strategic debate and on a military level, the nato machine level, nato has increased its readiness and address to china, a lot has happened at the summit. so you‘re saying it doesn‘t really matter if their arguments, divisions, squabbles of the kind that we have seen between mr macron and mrtrump. that we have seen between mr macron and mr trump. ? you look behind the

theatrics, the refs do not exist because leaders talk about it, the challenges exist because there are pronouncements. . . challenges exist because there are pronouncements... some it would be foolish of us to ignore these challenges and just pretend that nato is fine on its 70th anniversary. if we want to keep a strong nato then we need to address these challenges and i guess this is what macron has been able to do in this summit. thank you very much indeed for being with us. many thanks for your analysis. that is the latest from hertfordshire where the latest from hertfordshire where the nato leaders have been meeting, they met for about three hours, ended up with what is called the london declaration from a joint

communique which is trying to paper over some of those cracks that we have been discussing. mr trump, we think he is on his way and he did decide to cancel that news conference and boris johnson decide to cancel that news conference and borisjohnson are saying it has been a success and the nato alliance is as strong as ever. that is the latest from hertfordshire. the former england cricket captain bob willis has died, aged 70. he will be best remembered for an astonishing performance during the 1981 ashes series, taking 8 wickets in one innings. england went on to win that series 3-1. an attacking and tireless fast bowler, he represented his country

in over 400 tests in total and was voted as a member of ecb s greatest ever england 11. the announcement has been made by sky sports for whom he works as a commentator. 400 tests in total when he represented england. ‘s here about his life. it is 1981 and bob willis is bowling, fast. the ashes test, the game australia were certain to win. the match england seized. bob willis forced his weary limbs into a supreme performance. he took eight wickets in australia second innings. a man completely in the zone. this

day made his reputation. whilst the excitement world around him, willis remained locked in his mission, a relu cta nt remained locked in his mission, a reluctant hero. the decisive over was that last over before lunch, wasn‘t it? was that last over before lunch, wasn't it? i told him i was a bit old to be bowling into the wind so i we nt old to be bowling into the wind so i went to the other end. he first played for england in the early 19705 he enjoyed surgery and frequent pain to plate 90 test matches in all four copies captain for 18 of them full copy was a team man but also his own man. he is bowling and a historic moment for bob willis,. he officially added dyla n to bob willis,. he officially added dylan to his middle name as the bowler idolised the

singer—songwriter. he was never shy to express his opinion on a sky sports television, often employing a giant delivery. one of the most ridiculous selections i have seen in recent times. at his playing peak, bob willis stood above the crowd and against the odds. bowling, it is all over and it against the odds. bowling, it is all overand it is against the odds. bowling, it is all over and it is one of the most fantastic victories ever known. bob willis, eight wickets stop a fabulous performance. one performance amongst so many which proved anything is possible and that is the dream at the heart of all sports. let‘s talk now to editor of the cricketer, simon hughes. how does bob willis rate amongst all the greats? very highly. very fast

bowler, passionate, not always rapid but on his day as fast as anyone in the world. and when he takes 300 test wickets, especially in the old days before they played too many tests is phenomenal and the ability to sustain that the speed with really quite a spindly body, he had all sorts of injury problems during his career and i attempted to be a fast bowler as well, i know how much it hurts every day and he just put that beside him. he came in as hard as he possibly could for england with that passion and determination which, of course he then brought to the broadcasting world as well. he was a compelling guy to play with or against. he was nicknamed because of hisjerky head as against. he was nicknamed because of his jerky head as he against. he was nicknamed because of hisjerky head as he ran into bowl. he had a run—up that people mimicked. almost mess asleep but he

was happy with that, he was just happy to be a contributing member of the thame. those of us old enough to remember the ashes against australia where he played a vital role. he almost didn‘t get picked for that match because he had been no pulling and stepping over the line a bit but he was that cutting out that england needed and everyone remembers that but it was bob willis who won the game with that incredible eight wickets and actually i still have that image of him after the final wicket running off the ground so fast that no one could catch him. he was a man on a mission. he almost looked as if he was on drugs, the

way he bowled that afternoon. it was the passion and the desire to win a game for his team which was too much for even the australians. you mentioned the eight wickets but for only 43 runs, that is right. they we re only 43 runs, that is right. they were only chasing a low score to win but somehow he managed to bowl them all out and a great ashes series of 1981 would never have existed without him. 90 tests and he took 325 runs in that time with a bowling average ofjust over 25. even up against today‘s players who get the chance to play a far more, they are still stuck... was a you forget that

a guy like that had to pay a lot of cou nty a guy like that had to pay a lot of county cricket, he started in surrey and then went to warwickshire. you can getany and then went to warwickshire. you can get any time off. nowadays people hardly play any county cricket. they play for england in the negative week off but in those days bob would be charging in for england one day and then a couple of days later charging and for warwickshire so he took nearly 900 wickets for warwickshire as well so it was a phenomenal career. no wonder his knees hurt. when it came to his commentary, he took no prisoners full stop he was very direct which upset a lot of people but it sounds like he had a very dry wit of the pitch? he was a very funny man. told great stories, many against himself of the field. he was against himself of the field. he was a very great white cracker but i think the punditry, he set a new sort of tone, a new level of it really because he was so forthright

and brave actually and some of the things he said which were uncomfortable truths but they needed to be said. it was usually him that had the guts to say it and he often looked a bit command injury on telly, —— a bit grumpy but it was only because he wanted england to do well. when someone played really well, he gave them full credit and away from the tv cameras, he was smiley and great company. simon hughes, thank you so much for talking to us and just to say that bob willis‘s family have released a short statement and i have said that they are heartbroken to have lost their incredible bob. he made a huge impact on everybody he knew and we will miss him terribly. you‘re

watching bbc news. the next stage of the impeachment inquiry into donald trump has started in washington. thejudiciary committee has taken over, after the intelligence committee published their report on tuesday, saying evidence of the president‘s misconduct is overwhelming and so too is evidence of his obstruction of congress. president trump denies withholding aid to ukraine in exchange for dirt on a political rival. a lot of evidence it is claimed? that is right another goes to the judiciary committee which has started its first public hearings today on the key question, what constitutes an impeachable offence? it is this committee that will have to draw up articles of impeachment and already we have seen fireworks in this hearing full stop there are four micro legal scholars, basically acting as witnesses to pass president and whether his conduct

rises to the level of impeachment. one isa rises to the level of impeachment. one is a sole republican witness and one of those legal scholars hit back saying that this was all done because the democrats don‘t like president trump and there is no evidence. pamela from stamford university said she was insulted by the republicans comments that she had read through every single deposition of the public witnesses who testified and that she found that the president abused the power of his office and that that struck at the heart of what makes this country a republic. it was a very strong intervention indeed. but jonathan from george washington university he was testifying on behalf of republicans and made clear that he was not a supporter of president trump, said that essentially this was a rush to judgment, that there was not enough of the evidentiary record that the democrats are going too quickly through this and this could hurt future records to impeach president soa future records to impeach president so a lot of partisan bickering back and forth. a lot of different legal

opinions but ultimately this will be a matter for the senate which will be thejury, a matter for the senate which will be the jury, republican senate, a matter for the senate which will be thejury, republican senate, to decide. a line of breaking news before we go. we are hearing that the greetings card chain clintons has been sold back to original owners it will save two and half thousand jobs which has been confirmed by kpmg who have been dealing with demonstration process. cli nto ns dealing with demonstration process. clintons greeting card company sold back to its original owners. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with ben rich. some of us have had beautiful blue skies overhead but for others there has been mcleod, we have had some outbreaks of rain, that is how it looks in kilmarnock. you can see the cloud and rain on our earlier satellite image. this band of rain is becoming increasingly weak as it slides south eastwards during this evening and night full stop there has been a lot of dry weather and

fog patches in the south—east. turning very windy across the north—west of the uk. the showers with the extra cloud, not as cold here. could see a touch of frost across parts of the south—east. tomorrow, we will see rain splashing in across northern ireland and localised flooding and travel disruption possible in west of scotland, a bit of wet weather into northern england and wales, many of these western areas a bit windy, not as much to the south—east but lightly dry was some sunshine. tap temperatures between seven and 12 degrees.

this is bbc news, our latest headlines. the summit marking 70 years of nato alliance ends with borisjohnson insisting the discussions were extremely practical and extremely harmonius despite the divisions.

there despite the divisions. was a mood of very great solidarity there was a mood of very great solidarity and determination and a willingness to push nato forward. meanwhile, after video emerged of what appeared to be leaders talking about donald trump behind his back, the us president hit back at canadian pm, justin trudeau. well, his two—faced, and with trudeau, i consider him to be a very nice guy, but the fact is, i called him out for paying the 2%, and he is obviously not very happy about it. the victims of the london bridge terror attack an inquest hears how jack merritt and saskia jones both died from stab wounds to the chest. former england fast bowler bob willis has died at the age of 70. a new stage in the impeachment inquiry into donald trump, thejudiciary committee takes over to decide on the charges

lawmakers will vote on. sport now on afternoon live withjohn and sad news about bob willis. the former england bowler and broadcaster bob willis has died following a short illness. his family confirming the news this afternoon. he played 90 tests for his country, taking 325 wickets leaving him fourth on the list of all time english wicket takers. he produced a brilliant performance in the 1981 ashes, everyone refers to as botham‘s ashes but he took eight wickets in one innings in that famous match at headingley, his match winning performance also helping to win the match and the ashes.

former england captain as well, only last year he was named in england‘s all time test team, which is voted for by english cricket fans. he became a popular broadcaster since his retirement from the sport in 1984. manchester united will be receiving back theirformer boss manchester united will be receiving back their former boss jose manchester united will be receiving back their former bossjose mourinho when he takes tottenham hotspur to play, will they be welcoming him with open arms? it will be fascinating to see what kind of reaction he gets, first return to old trafford since his sacking by manchester united. we know that it did not end particularly well. you wonder whether or not that will have an effect on the fans. they will be waiting to see whatjose mourinho will produce later. let‘s head to old trafford. katie shanahan is there. great start to life at tottenham hotspur, what kind of atmosphere can he expect? well, it is interesting you say that, he has actually said that he will not be the enemy tonight. as he makes his first return since being sacked by manchester united one year ago. it is interesting because after

all he did win two trophies, the europa league and the league cup and actually took the club to second, highest league finish since sir alex ferguson retired, back in 2013. jose mourinho has even said he has two pictures of those two winning moments with those trophies actually hanging up in his new tottenham hotspur office, which might be a surprise two back to some people because at manchester united towards the end it got rather hostile and i don't think that was helped byjose mourinho living in a hotel during his two and year spell. now he is at spurs and since his arrival, he has really impressed, perfect start, three out of three, and he has lifted tottenham from 14th up to six in the table. when it comes down to business tonight, history aside, jose mourinho knows who this is fans will be supporting. iam not i am not an enemy, i am the coach thatis i am not an enemy, i am the coach that is trying to win against manchester united, however, and that is the way i think they are going to

look at it. at me. in relation to our local solskjaer, he is the guy that tomorrow, is going to try to win the game for united fans and of course they are going to support him. -- course they are going to support him. —— ole gunnar solskjaer. singing isa him. —— ole gunnar solskjaer. singing is a nice reaction, but i do not expect songs of support. there is nothing jose mourinho would like more than beating his former clu b like more than beating his former club manchester united, if he does, he will become the first tottenham hotspur boss to win his opening top—flight games —— opening three top—flight games —— opening three top—flight games. kick off, 7:30pm, full match commentary on bbc radio five live and you can keep up—to—date on the red button and on the bbc sport website. it's going to bea the bbc sport website. it's going to be a compelling viewing. as it a lwa ys be a compelling viewing. as it always is. also later it‘s the merseyside derby as league leaders liverpool host everton.

jurgen klopp‘s side can stretch their lead again at the expense of their city rivals who are just one place above the relegation zone. we expect everton to always be at their best, this is the standout game for both teams during the season, both teams always show that and respect that. oh, we have to make sure that we are ready. huge games ahead to come in the premier league. that is all from the bbc sports centre, for now. thank you. an inquest has heard that the victims of the london bridge attack saskia jones and jack merritt both died after suffering a stab wound to the chest. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani has more from the old bailey. this has been a very brief opening of the inquest into the terrible deaths of saskia jones and jack merritt, during the terror attack

carried out by usman khan and the reason it has been opened and immediately adjourned is because police need time to carry out an investigation into how usman khan, convicted of a terror offence and out of prison on licence, was able to kill his two victims. what we had today was the senior coroner for the city of london, alison hewitt, taking very brief evidence from the senior metropolitan police detective, detective superintendent des mchugh, and he used today‘s hearing to give brief details about the death, he said saskia jones had graduated in a masters in criminology from the university of cambridge, in last year. and had applied tojoin cambridge, in last year. and had applied to join west midlands police to become a detective effectively on their fast track scheme. also hope to use experience as a detective for pa rt to use experience as a detective for part of a phd in the future at oxford. clearly, a high flyer in the making. he said she was attacked within the venue at fishmongers hall, she was there because she was

a volunteer at the learning together initiative, a rehabilitation programme, run by the university of cambridge. fellow victim jack merritt was one of the coordinators. she was attacked at the scene, and she was pronounced dead at 2:25pm. about half an hour after the attack. —— about half an hour after the attack is believed to have happen. a pathologist has carried out a postmortem on the half of the police and the pulls of death was shock and haemorrhage haemorrhaging, due to sta b haemorrhage haemorrhaging, due to stab wounds to the chest. same cause of death forjack merritt, 25—year—old second victim of usman khan, he had been at the event to help relatives coordinate, it was a graduate of the university of cambridge and we learned today that jack merritt was moved after he was attacked on a stretcher, out of fishmongers hall, to a road to the north of the venue, that is because

ofan north of the venue, that is because of an ongoing police investigation, major police investigation, multiple attem pts major police investigation, multiple atte m pts to major police investigation, multiple attempts to save his life at the scene. “— attempts to save his life at the scene. —— fishmongers‘ hall. sadly he died, his course —— same cause of death, shock and haemorrhage during, due to a stab wound to the chest. his cause of —— his time of death, 3:14pm. a second inquest, into usman khan, we learned that he joined the learning together rehabilitation scheme while still in prison during the latter stages of his eight—year sentence, taking part in the event run by the investigation, he was there to take part in workshops as a participant. —— shock and haemorrhaging. he was there as an ex offender learning how to rehabilitate themselves into society, and detective superintendent des mchugh gave very little details about the circumstances a lot of us have seen the video of what happened, that he

was restrained by members of the public, before being shot dead by armed police. the detectives said that the cause of death given by the pathologist was shock and haemorrhaging, due to multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. so, all three inquests now adjourned to a further day, and it will be a long process to follow, this will take some momentum, perhaps up to one year before it comes to court. important information and distressing to hear for the families, information has come to light away from the inquest about the lack of evaluation that had gone on of these rehabilitation programmes. quite a complicated point, the ministry ofjustice and home office and other officials within the counterterrorism establishment have been doing work over the last decade to work out the best approach to reforming terrorist

offenders while they are inside. two key schemes in place, now the healthy identity intervention in prison and the second is the desist and sound disengagement programme, which takes place in the community. —— did assistance and disengagement programme. “— —— did assistance and disengagement programme. —— de assistance. the simple reason there has been no evaluation is because both schemes are relatively new, they have only been going a few years and it is very difficult with any scheme like this to carry out the work. —— desistence and disengagement programme... . the healthy identity investigation scheme has been found to have positive feedback from people who took part in it. but obviously this is going to be a question for the inquest when they come up about how effective these programmes are and whether it is too soon or whether we will even know if there is some kind of perfect way of

trying to rehabilitate and change the mind of someone who is driven towards violence. more than 40 migrants have been brought to shore by border force in kent today, on four small boats. one boat was found abandoned at kingsdown near dover along with a number of lifejackets. other boats have been intercepted at sea — and those on board brought to dover. yesterday 13 people from 2 boats were intercepted off the kent coast. firefighters say they faced challenging conditions while tackling a fire at a hotel in west london. more than 150 people had to leave the travelodge in brentford in the early hours. no—one was hurt. the fire service has said that early indications suggest the blaze was not what it described as "cladding related". now for a look at today‘s election news, the shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell made a speech in birmingham highlighting the scale of inequality in the uk. mr mcdonnell says the party wants to reduce the cost

of living for the majority and eradicate poverty. the shadow chancellor accused the conservatives of creating a "cost—of—living" crisis that has cost people thousands since 2010. the conservatives have promised £4.2 billion of new spending on local transport if they retain power in the election. the party says the cash would be available from 2022 and would help fund projects outside london. transport services outside of the capital have faced criticism, particularly in the north where fares are often higher and investment is lower in london. the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, says the party‘s climate change proposals are "ambitious" despite extinction rebellion protestors glueing themselves to the liberal democrat campaign bus this morning. she has also confirmed there will more support for young people with mental health issues. harrowing stories about teenagers who are facing mental health difficulties being told that they need to wait six months or more to even start getting support and that is possibly then being referred to

other specialists later, it isjust not acceptable, it isjust not ok. liberal democrat leaderjo swinson. the scottish government says it‘s planning to remove the charitable status of private schools next year which would mean they will no longer get relief on the payment of business rates. the change would have to be approved by a vote in holyrood. the leader of the scottish national party, nicola sturgeon, has also reaffirmed her party‘s committment to nato today, as the summit marks the military alliances‘s 70th anniversary. however, she emphasised the snp‘s policy of scrapping the trident nuclear deterrent. in scotland, i think the big priority around defence is to make sure that we are spending money and investing money on the conventional defence that scotland needs to make sure that we have defence levels that are at the right level for scotland's needs. the army footprint, for instance, right now, in scotland, is at a 200 yellow,

meanwhile, there are plans to invest considerable sums of money in trident which i think is the wrong priority. snp leader nicola sturgeon. dutch elm disease is one of the most serious tree diseases in the world — it‘s thought it killed around 30 million trees in britain in the 19605, 705 and 805. but now conservationists say they‘re hopeful that elm trees can be reintroduced. researchers at the future trees trust say they‘re now confident they can breed trees resistant to the disease. helen briggs reports. down comes the elm. dutch elm disease left a hole in the skyline of southern britain. more than 20 million elms lost across england and wales in the 705 and 805. it‘s caused by a rogue fungus spread by a beetle that burrows into the bark, eventually killing the tree. decades on, there is reason for hope. some mighty elms appear to have survived unscathed, and may hold untold secrets.

this mature elm has been here since before 1889. so we know that some elm trees can survive. the question is, how this one is still standing when millions of other elms have died ? conservationists say the offspring of surviving elms could replace the lost trees. work is under way to breed a new generation of trees with resistance to dutch elm disease. this is being done by crossing our native elms with species from elsewhere that appear to have a natural ability to fight off the pathogen. and according to a report by the future trees trust, we now have the means to restore elms to their former glory. we know a lot about where the mature trees are, and we know more than we‘ve ever done about opportunities in terms of the research possibilities. so we are in a really good place to go forward. experts say elms have shown they‘re tougher than we think, and it‘s time we gave them helping hand. and with threats to other trees

from disease, it‘s more important than ever that we preserve the elm tree for future generations. emma briggs, bbc news, cambridgeshire. ina in a moment, all the business news. first, the headlines: the summit marking 70 years of nato alliance ends with borisjohnson insisting the discussions were extremely practical and extremely harmonious despite reported divisions the victims of the london bridge terror attack, an inquest hears how jack merritt and saskia jones both died from stab wounds to the chest. and former england fast bowler and cricket commentator bob willis has died at the age of 70. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. google founders larry page

and sergey brin have announced they are stepping down from top roles at the online giant‘s parent company. kpmg has confirmed that clintons, the greeting cards retailer, has been sold out of administration to esquire retail limited, in a deal that safeguards all 2,500 jobs and which will see all 334 stores across the uk continue to trade. m&g investments has temporarily suspended dealing in the shares of its £2.5 billion pound m&g property portfolio fund.the surprise move is being attributed to the high number of outflows, which it blames on "brexit—related political uncertainty and ongoing structural shifts in the uk retail sector". it said the fund will continue to be actively managed while suspended, but m&g is waiving 30% of its annual charge. so it‘s been a good day for the pound and the ftse 100. seven for the pound and the ftse100. month high for thi against seven month high for the pound against the dollar and its highest level against the euro since may,

2017. stirling, many analysts think, hasjumped 2017. stirling, many analysts think, has jumped after opinion polls suggest the uk will avoid a hung parliament during the december election next week. —— pound sterling. the ftse 100 election next week. —— pound sterling. the ftse100 has sustained, managing to snap the four—day losing straight because usually, because so many of the companies that make up the ftse100 earn in dollars, it usually does better when the pound is weak. but, it‘s important to note that it has done well today but it has not done as well as lots of other european indices out there including the ftse 250, usually made up of other smaller british companies. more detail now on this. we can speak with the director of minerva analysis. good to speak with you. stirling has been rising steadily, ever since october, kathleen, gaining 6% in two months after the eu granted britain an extension to its departure from the block. but there has been a real spike over

recent weeks and days. what do you think that is down to? in the last couple of days, investors making bets that the tories will win the elections and a conservative majority is what is considered the most positive for uk asset prices. in political terms. they seem to be pricing that victory in already. adverstising giant m&c saatchi has seen its share price plunged by 45% after it admitted its accounting scandal was much worse than previously thought and issued a second profit warning in less than three months. it‘s expected to take an £11.6 million hit. can it weather this storm? this is a surprise, surely, that the scandal has escalated to this extent. yes, it is a surprise, the accounting error has more than doubled, from when it was first

reported back in august, that is quite bad form, but they have taken steps to address it, this is like a one—off charge, yes, it is going to hit the share price, as you can see, it has, the share price was down more than 50% today, so there has beena more than 50% today, so there has been a little bit of interest. the interesting thing is what the ceo, the chief executive, has come on board and said we will sort this out, they have changed auditors as well, they really want to get to the bottom of it. they have admitted this may not be the bottom of it, that there may be more charges down the line, this is all they know for now. they are really getting a handle on that and it may give investors some hope for the future. but it is a double whammy that is hitting the advertising industry generally, we have this one for a very specific company, the accounting problems, but also, a lot of advertising companies across the world actually who really cannot get to grips with the digital age. on top of saatchi's accounting woes, they also said the business was down 30%, rising cost in the uk company,

and they are going to have to cut up to 20 jobs and in some reports they have offered everyone redundancy. severe and risky situation for the company but the chief executive i think has taken the right strategy, let's get to the bottom of it, let's really try and do what we can, to get everything out in the open and work out how we can be a better company in the digital age, a new strategy, and that will be key for investor. for the advertising sector asa investor. for the advertising sector as a whole, challenging period of transition. in another surprise move, let‘s look at this. m&g investments has temporarily suspended dealing in the shares of its £2.5 billion m&g property portfolio fund. what do you make of this and is there a danger that other property funds might now close their doors? since the "brexit" vote, there has only been one positive month for

this fund, by and large, this year alone, 900 million of outflow, they cannot sell commercial property quick enough, it is an industrywide problem, but in other ways, this company was one of the weakest funds in that whole sector, which is experiencing a downturn. very low cash position, it could not really fund all these outflows and secondly, it has a huge amount, 40% of assets are in retail property, where houses, shops, etc, we have heard so much about the woes on the high street, it has really taken a hit from that as well. not just about brexit and what that means for the commercial property in the uk, it isa the commercial property in the uk, it is a structural issue, affecting many it is a structural issue, affecting any it is a structural issue, affecting many many cities in the uk, but also around the world, we just don't shop like that any more and has been caught on the fly. —— and the company has been called on the fly. very good to speak with you. many thanks. some of those numbers... as we we re thanks. some of those numbers... as we were saying, good day for the pound, experienced a rally. the highest level it has reached against

the euro since early may. first time that the pound has gone above $1.30, since may, a bit of a spring, not as much as other european indices out there. good to see you today, thank you very much. the uk‘s population of atlantic grey seals has reached record levels, increasing from a few hundred last century, to more than a hundred thousand today. it‘s the time of year when grey seals give birth to their pups, and modern technology is being used to help conservationists keep we‘re heading out to the farne islands, about two miles off the northumberland coast. it‘s seal pup season and we are in search of new borns. we‘re not made to wait very long, everywhere you look across these

islands there are grey seals with pups in their thousands. and these two young pups here, still with their white baby fur, are only a few days old. you can still see the umbilical cord just on the front of them, amazing. they will be some of the pups that are born this season, perhaps as many as 2700, that is how many were born last year. a record year for the islands. it‘s a frantic time for the seals as this is also mating season. which means potential partners seeing off rivals. the islands are closed to the public until the spring but the rangers who look after this area are flat out counting and marking the pups. and they‘ve noticed the population is increasing. we have seen this over the past ten years or so, the likelihood is this is the result of lack of predators, abundant food as well because seals will eat pretty much anything in the sea. lots of different fish species. they are increasing but there is a mortality rate of 50%, perhaps just over half of them will survive their first year. the islands are also renowned for their sea bird colonies.

so what about a bird‘s eye view of the grey seals to help the rangers conduct a count using state—of—the—art surveying technology? it‘s assisting the rangers by doing a lot more islands in one day. so i can cover a lot more space in the time it takes them to do a foot count. it will never replace the foot count because my photography is giving me numbers to give them but not the different ages or mortality rate of the seals. the pups spend just the first three weeks of their life with their mother. these days they have no natural predators but there are threats to them from ocean plastics, debris, and the hostile north sea environment. but safe havens such as these and protected status are helping seals notjust to survive but to thrive. although clearly some days are better than others. john maguire, bbc news, in the farne islands.

bbc news at five follows next with jane, after the weather forecast. cracking december weather around across many parts of the uk, this shot from hastings, blue skies overhead, was not like that everywhere, western parts of scotland saw cloud and outbreaks of rain, as we can see on the radar image, cloud and rain for northern ireland, across many parts of northern ireland and into the far north of england, england and wales ending the day fine and dry, this band of cloud, increasingly patchy rain, sinking south—east. far south—east and east anglia, potentially a touch of frost. further north and west, not as cold, because it will be quite breezy, shao was going through the night, and, cloud will begin to roll in by the end of the night, ahead of this frontal system, we have a pipeline of frontal systems pushing in from the atlantic. a lot of rain across

northern and western parts of the uk tomorrow, rain moving through northern ireland, western scotland seeing heavy and persistent rain that could cause some low lies flooding. further south and east, largely dry, breezy in the south—east, but the further north and west you are, a windy day, with gusts of 40 to 50, may be 60 mph or more for a time in the northern isles, temperatures in many spots on the low side but notice, more and more places getting into double digits as the day wears on. as we move digits as the day wears on. as we move through thursday night, frontal systems continuing across the country, many will see outbreaks of rain but between these weather fronts here, there is going to be a wedge of really mild hour, so, many of us on friday morning will start the day in double digits, 12 degrees in plymouth, for example. as we go through the day, outbreaks of rain pushing south—east across the country. behind all these various rain bands, turning a little drier, wind to the north—west, turning cooler, places like stornoway, for

example, probably ending friday with a lower temperature than they have at the start of the day. as we go through saturday, a lot of dry weather around, we will see more cloud, back into northern ireland, another frontal system pushing in here, temperatures back down to single digits for many, a little bit milder towards the south. as we go through saturday night, another dollop of heavy rain crossing just about all parts of the country. behind that for sunday, brisk wind, and elements of sunshine and showers. —— and a mix of sunshine and showers.

today at 5pm, nato leaders end their 70th anniversary summit, boris johnson insists they stand together despite tensions. there are smiles for the camera — as the prime minister tells leaders that peace cannot be taken for granted. there was a mood of very great solidarity and determination, and a willingness to push nato forward. meanwhile, a video emerges that appears to show leaders talking about donald trump — the us president hits back at canada‘s pm, he is two—faced and honestly he is a nice guy but the truth is i called him out on the fact that he is not paying 2% and i guess