you're watching beyond 100 days. president trump calls his middle east peace plan the deal of the century. the palestinians say it is an ultimatum, no basis for an agreement and they will not sit down to discuss it. the peace plan calls for creation of a palestinian state with its capital in portions of east jerusalem. it demands a four—year freeze on israeli settlement activity, and a $50 billion economic package for the palestinians. after 70 yea rs of little after 70 years of little progress, this could be the last opportunity they will ever have. the peace proposal is a convenient distraction for president trump, in the midst of impeachment, and for prime minister netanyahu,

who faces his own domestic politcal problems. we will get the views of former british prime minister tony blair, who spent eight years as the middle east envoy. the palestinians will feel it goes far too far the palestinians will feel it goes fartoo far in the palestinians will feel it goes far too far in the israeli direction. i understand that, but it is unwise to leave that proposal on the table and not engage with it. also on the programme... huawei will be allowed to build part of the uk's superfast 56 network, a move that could do real damage to trade and intelligence ties with the united states. for anyone stashing their cash around their home, we have an important lesson for safeguarding your fortune. hello and welcome — i'm michelle fleury in washington and christian fraser is in london. in the last hour, the us president has been setting out his plans to secure peace between israel and the palestinians. he announced the proposals at the white house alongside the israeli prime minister,

benjamin netanyahu, who has been deeply involved in the negotiations. the palestinians have not and have already rejected the proposals. the two sides have been war since the creation of the state of israel in 1948. today, palestine theoretically includes the west bank, a territory dividing modern—day israel from jordan and the gaza strip the land sandwiched between israel and egypt. but it is a complex evolving situation. the borders aren't formally set, and many areas claimed by palestinians have been occupied by israelis for years. the so—called settlements. also at the heart of the conflict is jerusalem, which both the palestinians want as the capital of any future state. 0ur middle editorjeremy bowen has been looking at the trump proposals and how it relates to the facts on the ground. president trump calls it the deal of the century. benjamin netanyahu said it was an historic day for israel

and one of the most important days of his life. mr trump has absorbed the israeli agenda and started with one of its top priorities. under this vision, jerusalem will remain israel's undivided, very important, undivided capital. benjamin netanyahu compared this day to israel's independence day in 1948. for too long, far too long, the very heart of the land of israel, where our patriarchs parade, our prophets' preached and our kings ruled, has been outrageously branded as illegally occupied territory. well, today, mr president, you are puncturing this big live. you are puncturing this big lie.

this offer of a palestinian state does not go anywhere near what the palestinians want. it is hedged with conditions no palestinian leader could accept. jerusalem is at the heart of the conflict, wholly to christians, jerusalem is at the heart of the conflict, holy to christians, jews and muslims. the palestinians have pushed for a sovereign, independent state, with a capital injerusalem. it is hard to see how the trump deal will persuade them to give that hope up. nearly two years ago, the us said jerusalem was off the table, when it moved its embassy there from tel aviv, accepting israel's argument thatjerusalem is its indivisible capital. more than 50 palestinian protesters were shot dead by the israeli army on the gaza border that day. many palestinians in gaza and elsewhere are refugees

from families who fled, or were driven out of the land that became israel in 1948. they want the right of return. israel does not want to grant it. since the oslo accords were signed at the white house in 1993, the international consensus has been that peace is only possible if a sovereign palestinian state is established alongside israel. the trump plan seems designed to create a new consensus. the timing of this announcement looks tailored to the short—term needs of the two leaders. they're both facing elections — and serious charges. high crimes and misdemeanours for trump, bribery and corruption for netanyahu. the stakes are high, the chances of success are low. jeremy bowen, bbc news, washington.

0ur correspondent, barbara plett usher, is in ramallah for us. the are about to hear from tony blairon the are about to hear from tony blair on the programme. he has told me that the palestinians need to start engaging with a new plan that isa start engaging with a new plan that is a reality. yes, well, the palestinian authorities and the palestinian authorities and the palestinian leadership are meeting now to decide how exactly they are going to respond but if the responses for them to engage, i think they have a very difficult agenda to work with. you have not only got the issue ofjerusalem whichjeremy was only got the issue ofjerusalem which jeremy was talking only got the issue ofjerusalem whichjeremy was talking about, the undivided capital of israel, as donald trump said and if the palestinians get a capital, it will be some of the eastern part of it, thatis be some of the eastern part of it, that is undefined, but before they even get to that phase, they have to meet conditions that will eat —— they will find hard to meet. hamas has to recognise israel. and so on.

they will have to make sure there is no security risk to israel at all. evenif no security risk to israel at all. even if they do get a stay, the israelis will have complete security control of it, including early warning systems inside of it, which is something i think no palestinian administration would easily be able to accept. we also hear benjamin netanyahu to accept. we also hear benjamin neta nyahu was seemingly to accept. we also hear benjamin netanyahu was seemingly believing that this gives him or israel the right to extend its sovereignty overalljewish settlements, not only certain settlements, no people will be moved, donald trump said. it looks as if the israelis will immediately get what they want, which is control of large parts of the west bank and it is going to be extreme difficult for the palestinian authority to engage with that sort of proposal. indeed. thank you very much for that. the former prime minister tony blair was middle east envoy to us, russia, the un and the eu for eight years. i spoke to him a little earlier.

tony blair, from what you have seen of this proposal, would it in your view do say two state solution with a viable palestinian state? the proposal, it is an 80 page document and it has got to be studied in detail and there are a lot of questions and clarifications that have still got to be answered. it is a plan for have still got to be answered. it is a planfora have still got to be answered. it is a plan for a two state solution, it isa a plan for a two state solution, it is a plan for an independent palestinian state, west bank and gaza, with land swaps and the protection of the holy sites, the status quo in respect of those, but there are obviously... it is a proposal and there are questions on the palestinian side that they will wa nt to the palestinian side that they will want to ask and there are issues that still have to be negotiated and i think what is quite important is the sense is it is a sort of plan, ta ke the sense is it is a sort of plan, take it or leave it, but it is not really. my understanding is that there are things that can be negotiated and things particularly

in the palestinian interests that can be negotiated and i think it is important that we study the detail and then frankly come to a view. we will come to the substance and a second. are you not concerned that in setting out terms, not dealing with the palestinians at the same time, it makes it harder down the road for israel to make what will be some painful compromises question mark yeah, sure and it is a big problem because the reasons i understand that i don't agree with, the palestinians are not engaged with this american administration of the last 18 months and what is really important is the engage going forward. this is the first time any administration has put down a map, so that you can actually see what the palestinian state looks like, you see where the land swaps are. there are big issues for the policy news, of course, because for example on the jordan valley, news, of course, because for example on thejordan valley, they will say, whatever the security concerns, you should not transfer security but my view is in those circumstances, come and argue that case i think there is and argue that case i think there is an urgency care for the palestinians

to do this, even though i understand their initial reaction will be to refuse a completely but i think it is important to study the detail and then come forward and say, here are then come forward and say, here are the areas which make this unacceptable the areas which make this u na cce pta ble to the areas which make this unacceptable to us and here is where we wa nt unacceptable to us and here is where we want to negotiate. you know the reason why they have not done that. i don't see the americans as honest brokers. but the fact are the americans are the brokers. you can argue whether you agree they were honest or not in relation to this but the only way you will get a palestinian state in the end as if that state can be brought about by a process of negotiation and part of that negotiation is bound to be with the united states of america. that negotiation is bound to be with the united states of american that negotiation is bound to be with the united states of america. if you are living in the west bank and you are living in the west bank and you are sandwiched between thejordan valley, which you are having to leave behind and the state of israel, with no control over the borders, no army, no say in your security matters, are you really a viable state? you are not a viable state unless you are able for example to develop the land that is necessary for you to be... that land

they want to develop is the jordan valley for the returning refugees. here is the thing that is really important because they have a legitimate right to say we need to develop that, how can we have a state without that innate and without the ability critically if refugees are going to come back into the state of palestine, how can we do that unless we are able to develop area sequence two that is what is important for them to go on to make these points. if you put this as a proposal and not a fixed in stone plan, treated as a proposal and say, here are the following areas that are unacceptable for the reality of politics in the policy and community is as it is. the likelihood of it is that the police —— peace proposal does not fly because doctor this go on the shelf and visits a plan the oslo accord. is this new reality for the policy news, whether they like it or not? if you do not engage with it, over time it does become the new reality because you are not part of an act

of process. and this is why the internal politics of the palestinians is so important because the moment you have got one administration in ramallah and another in gaza under hamas. i personally think there is the possibility of a genuine change in hamas over time, certainly elements of it, that realise the whole region is changing and they should be part ofa is changing and they should be part of a new palace and in politics but it is vital to do that and so i think the thing with this administration... it is the first time anyone has put down a map and in one sense it is a bold move to do that and i know in one sense people will criticise because it is coming from the trump administration and so on but there is a detailed proposal on but there is a detailed proposal on the table. i mean, all the hard choices and challenges are there and expose. the palestinians will file close far too far in the israeli direction. 0k, close far too far in the israeli direction. ok, i close far too far in the israeli direction. 0k, iunderstand close far too far in the israeli direction. ok, i understand that. but it is and what —— and wisely that proposal on the table and not engage with it because if you do

that, exactly have you —— as you have just implied, the that, exactly have you —— as you havejust implied, the risk that, exactly have you —— as you have just implied, the risk with the policy and is itjust becomes... they exclude themselves and the state does not get any nearer for them. without in mine, what should them. without in mine, what should the uk possibly has posture to this plan b? i think it should be to say we support the idea of publishing a competency plan, everyone should engage with it to make sure it is fair, if there are issues that the policy news have and there are obviously that they are going to see are unfairabout obviously that they are going to see are unfair about this plan, then get to the negotiating table and negotiate. on a final note, in light of what you have said about president trump standing with benjamin netanyahu president trump standing with benjamin neta nyahu today president trump standing with benjamin netanyahu today to unveil this, has he made a mistake with the optics question mark one of the things with this administration is they will do what they are going to do and you know, it is a different form of diplomacy and international policy in one sense but what they will say is, look, we offered the

palestinian president the chance to engage and he has not engaged and therefore, we are just to do like this. i think i therefore, we are just to do like this. i thinki completely understand how the palestinians will view that and look at it, but they have got to think strategically at this moment in time, what their options are, and what is the right way to put this on the agenda with all the concerns that they have and to mobilise support from frankly the only people who are really going to help them here. they are going to be the arab nations and the united states of america itself and of course, the british and other europeans, they can intervene or say things but in the end, it is going to be the americans, the israelis and the arabs and the palestinians. and i think that is why, you know, when i look at this now when you see this planet obviously has i say, there are all sorts of things that have to be bolted down, take it,

argue about what is wrong or unacceptable about it and mobilise support in favour of your position. but there is i think a real commitment on the part of the united states and this administration, despite what everyone might think, if the palestinians do engage, i think from the conversations i have had in this administration, they will be more supportive than the palestinians think, but i don't know whether i am right or whether they are right. my point is, test it. there is only one to test it and thatis there is only one to test it and that is to engage with it. tony blair, really grateful for your time. thank you. had that not been our top story, we would have been starting with huawei. as expected the british government has given limited approval for the chinese tech giant huaweii to roll out 5g technology across the uk. under the agreement,

huawei will not be allowed to install any kit in the so—called core of the networks, which is where most data is processed, and they will be kept away from critical services, like power stations, or high—security locations, such as military bases. the decision comes just ahead of the us. secretary of state mike pompeo's arrival in the uk tomorrow. the threat this poses to future trade negotiations with the us and intelligence sharing is well documented. here's our security correspondent, gordon correra. 5g offers the promise of the connected future. more than just faster speeds, it will allow billions of devices to talk to each other. from self driving cars to automated factories, to smart homes filled with sensors. unlocking economic potential, but perhaps leaving us vulnerable. and today, we learnt that in the uk commit this feature, at least in part, will be made in china. the secretary of state to move. in what may prove to be one of the most significant national

security decisions of recent times, the government today said huawei would be given the green light, but with limits. to ensure the security of 5g and full fibre networks, it is both necessary and proportionate to place tight restrictions on the presence of any companies identified as high—risk. but not everyone was convinced those limits would be enough. bear in mind, huawei has tens of thousands, if in as many as 80,000 researchers. they have got more researchers than we have got soldiers. but a huawei executive told me accusations of spying were groundless. it is definitely not the truth. huawei is a company over the past 30 years, there are no cybersecurity accidents. so we serve one third of the world population who have a very strong track record. the fear is huawei's role could allow beijing to spy on communications or even turn off the technology on which our lives will depend. but the government says the uk's

network can be protected through a series of measures. to avoid dependency and one company, other suppliers will be used and huawei capped at 35% of the total. the company's equipment will be banned from the most sensitive locations like near nuclear or military sites. and it will not be allowed at the heart of the network known as the core, which controls where data flows. today, the government will hope it has done enough to convince sceptics at home and abroad that it has got it right, but if it hasn't, the costs may be high. gordon corera, bbc news. of course, one of the reasons the uk government is ploughing ahead with huawei as that considers it the only viable option for taking the country into the 5g era. the reason for huawei's innovation in 5g? money. in 2018 the telecommunications giant spent over $15 billion

on research and development, with chinese government backing. in comparison, nokia and ericsson, the firm's main 5g competitors, each just spent one—third of that on their own r&d. the us has also woken up to the importance of providing an alternative to huawei. but in legislation proposed to congress this month, only $ibn was outlined for annual 5g investment. peanuts compared to huawei's annual spend. a short time ago i spoke to huawei's communications director, ed brewster. i asked him if the company was only ahead because of the support it had received from the chinese government. no, absolutely not. huawei is ahead because of the amount of money we have invested into research and development. in 2018, we invested over $15 billion into research and development and in 2019, that number will have been even higher. 0ur leadership comes from the commitment investment and innovation and development of new technology. that

is what has given us leadership in mobile technologies. what we offer is the network equipment that telecoms operators use right across europe, as well as in the uk. you cannot shake off those national security consensus top let me read you something from a us senator,... imean, are you something from a us senator,... i mean, are you disappointed that you have been labelled a high—risk provider? no, we are reassured today that the uk government has looked at the evidence and taking... look at the evidence and taking... look at the facts and take an evidence—based decision for the uk and chosen to allow huawei to continue to provide telecoms network equipment to the uk telecoms network equipment to the uk telecoms operators. 5g, new technologies go to be fundamental to how we are all communicating with each other and it is important that we have a fact —based debate, that is the really important thing. very briefly, huawei now finds itself

seemingly caught in the middle of what is a much broader technology cold war. technology, it is affecting all our lives and it is really important to us all. but the thing i would really emphasise is that we have got to look at the fa cts , that we have got to look at the facts, look at the evidence and look at the choice that is right for the operators, the telecoms operators, as well as the consumers and that is why we are pleased with what the uk has done today. we are ready to provide the 5g network equipment right across europe and we look forward to doing so. and joining me now is mike butcher, editor at large at tech crunch. listening there, he says it is not state backing from the chinese government, this is research and development. i would say that is a lot of money on research and development. does the company have that sort of firepower? you don't just magic up $15 billion just from reve nu es just magic up $15 billion just from revenues and selling a few mobile phones in this —— and ifeel masts. this is quite clearly a huge conglomeration between the chinese

government and huawei. huawei spend that money because it is backed by the state to put that money into research and develop in. 5g is one of the most technically difficult and sophisticated technology projects of our time and you have to do that research. that is why eriksson has put money in, that is why nokia and samsung have but they just don't have the state backing that huawei does. the truth is, although mike pompeo will come in tomorrow and say this is a disastrous decision, the americans had been asleep at the wheel, so have the uk. there is not a coherent strategy in either country to deal with the future. the americans have been concerned about this, companies are putting in kit and software from the likes, as i mentioned, nokia, samsung and ericsson, to try and avoid this problem. they have also talked to people like cisco. 0f

course, huawei has managed to undercut the market, its kit is —— it's hardware and its network are cheap, and they have used things like 3g and 4g to become a trojan horse inside western telecoms networks. i am curious, how much choice or options does the british government really have on the table or even british telecoms operations quite remarkably decision to invest in huawei infrastructure was taken yea rs in huawei infrastructure was taken years ago in huawei infrastructure was taken yea rs ago because in huawei infrastructure was taken years ago because it was cheaper at the time. that did not raise this level of security concerns and now it is very hard to kind of reverse that. the thing is, you have got to realise that there is a difference between a0 and 5g. it is notjust one better. 5g is fundamentally new technology, it is going to be running internet things, manufacturing, robotics, autonomous drones, autonomous cars, and so it

isa drones, autonomous cars, and so it is a step change in the type of technology we are talking about. but built on existing infrastructure. yes, absolutely, built on infrastructure but the way that you use technology today is notjust putting in extra masts marked 5g, you are running a network that is really fundamentally different to what ag was. that is why it is so critical and we are talking really about the uk and the us and international and national infrastructure here. and that is why people are calling this the technology equivalent of the space race. absolutely. and the space race and telecommunications, they are all com pletely and telecommunications, they are all completely interconnected. and the issue is, do we want the chinese government to be running this next era of medications or do we want western governments to be in control of that future —— communications?

lots of talk about on huawei and no doubt they will be part of the discussions with mike pompeo tomorrow. some breaking lines from ramallah, you will be aware that the palestinian leadership are meeting tonight with hamas and islamicjihad and we are hearing from president abbas, he is saying that the middle east deal is a conspiracy, he says, it will not pass, jerusalem, he says, is not for sale. and so the tone very much coming out of ramallah tonight is contrary what to tony blair was saying in that interview, they are not going to engage, they are not going to sit down and talk about this plan and for them, it is not in the words of donald trump, the deal of the century. coming upfor century. coming up for the us on the bbc news channel and bbc world news, china is trying to contain the spread of coronavirus. we will speak to a

scientist breaking through the false information to show its actual spread and it is referred to as the domesday glacier, it is the size of britain and it is melting. we will tell you all about that. it has been a day of contrast. to the far north and west, many were greeted by a dusting of snow, even several centimetres to higher ground. further east, fewer showers and plenty of sunny spells, a beautiful afternoon in leicester. most of the showers were out along west facing coasts with a bit of exposure to the wind and they are going to continue through the night tonight. elsewhere, we will cease and clearer skies and temperatures are likely to fall away. attempt is get down tojust are likely to fall away. attempt is get down to just below freezing in the north. again, we could see further snow showers around. if we get some showers through the night, that could lead to some icy stretches as well first thing. that

is certainly worth bearing in mind if you are up early tomorrow morning. there is a brief ridge of high pressure to start the day on wednesday. 90 of isobars. it is still noticeably breezy. windy on the far north—west but this weather front, that is going to arrive a little bit later on. we start off with some showers. more persistent rain moving on into northern ireland, scotland and north—west england. across england and wales, isolated showers but largely dry and bright. the rain into the afternoon could be quite heavy. as much as an inch of rain in places. and gusts of wind in excess of a0 mph for a time. pretty miserable end to the day. a little bit milder further south. pretty miserable end to the day. a little bit milderfurther south. dry with sunshine coming through and highs of up to 11 degrees. milder air is gone to flood in as we move out of wednesday into thursday. that is because of the wind direction changing to a south—westerly, pushing milder air. a real

difference from thursday onwards. they will be rain in scotland and some running through the channel coast but sandwiched in between, a slice of cloudy conditions, misty and murky to start with, but look at the difference in temperatures, nine to 13 degrees. as we move out of thursday into friday, we have still got weather fronts pushing thursday into friday, we have still got weatherfronts pushing in thursday into friday, we have still got weather fronts pushing in from the atlantic and that still bring some wet windy weather to come on friday. it does look as if it is good to stay mild for the end of the working week but they will be some rain, some of it heavy, particularly for scotland. that is it, take care.

this is beyond 100 days with me michelle fleury in washington, christian fraser is in london. our top stories: president trump unveils his long—awaited middle east peace plan, calling for the creation of a palestinian state with its capital in portions of east jerusalem. after 70 yea rs of little after 70 years of little progress, this could be the last opportunity they will ever have. huawei will be allowed to build part of the uk's superfast 5g network, a move that could do real damage to trade and intelligence ties with the united states. also on the programme: hong kong announces plans to slash cross—border travel between the city and mainland china as coronavirus continues to spread.

more than 100 people have died so far. welcome to just a welcome tojust a minute. nicholas parsons, the host ofjust a minute for more than 50 years, has died at the age of 96. in his honour, christian will subject himself to the minute challenge. i'm nervous already. the us is preparing to airlift its citizens out of wuhan, the chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak. the reported infection rates increased by nearly 60 % overnight, to over a000 cases. hong kong is cutting ferry and rail links to the mainland, and russia has closed most of its border with china. according to the world health organization there have been more than 50 confirmed cases outside china. today germany confirmed the first human to human transmission in europe.

a man infected by a work colleague who had returned from china. thailand has the most cases with eight at the moment. australia, singapore, and japan all have four. as yet, there have been no deaths outside china. but all these other countries have confirmed cases. you might remember in last night's programme we showed you this data map developed by scientists atjohns hopkins university in the us, showing cases, new infections, locations, deaths and recoveries. it's updated hour by hour using sources from the who, the us centre for disease control and chinese health sources. lauren gardner leads the team who created the dashboard — she's an associate professor in civil and systems engineering atjohns hopkins and shejoins us now from baltimore. lovely to have you on the programme. your map has stirred great interest around the world. tell me about the

data collection. let's start with china. tell us about the official figures and what you are estimating. the data is collected from a few different sources so we are collecting, that is one of the biggest challenges actually, for china we are collecting data from a, an online website there that is collecting reports at real time and doing a really good job aggregating those and providing those at province level in china so that is our resource for there. the challenge has really come in the last few days as we have seen more and more cases reported outside of china and because there is no one good reference for these sources that we are really having to go to different countries and regional

health departments and get their real—time situation reports. health departments and get their real-time situation reports. just looking at that graph, sorry to interject, your predictions of what is really going on in china, that top line there is very different from what we are getting officially from what we are getting officially from the chinese government.” from what we are getting officially from the chinese government. i don't think the numbers are very different actually. 0ur think the numbers are very different actually. our data is from the national health commission reports, it is just that those are coming from the local level first and then working their way up to the national reports on the national situation reports on the national situation reports come out on a daily basis so there is a bit of a delay but the data, there is on to big discrepancy in what china is reporting at what we are reporting. they are aligned. when you are looking at outside of china, where you drawing your sources from, is it from individual governments, airlines, travel associations? there is nothing from

airlines, they are all from health departments so that is coming from local cdc offices, different local sources. we had a graph just now showing some of the countries or regions where unsurprisingly i guess is still very heavily concentrated in asia at the moment. yes, very much so. definitely at the moment the majority of cases are in china, not even asia, they are really in china and then there is just a small fraction of reported cases outside of china. just looking at this last one here, you have picked out the highest risk international airports so just highest risk international airports sojust explain highest risk international airports so just explain that to us. this is where the most travel from these areas are is it? sorry i can't see exactly what you're looking at. it's the map of highest risk

international airports. the dashboard is real—time data, the other graphs in the report that i did is results from a very different analysis so all of the results in the report are actually something that we have modelled so those aren't based on real—time case reports at all. that is based on a mathematical model that we developed along with some colleagues in australia and that is basically a global outbreak tool that looks at if you have an infectious disease somewhere in the world, how is it then going to spread so the different graphs and the 50 dots representing that risk is representative of predicted importation risks on that model. we are going to have to leave it there but thank you so much and a map that is being heavily viewed at the moment has people try and figure out what is happening with this outbreak.

here in washington, donald trump's legal team wraps up its opening arguments today. but the real battle over whether witnesses will be called to testify in the senate impeachment trial remains to be settled. after reports of explosive allegations from former national security adviserjohn bolton in his upcoming book, republicans are now facing growing pressure from democrats to call witnesses in the president's impeachment trial. i think it is very hard for them to maintain that they wanted a fair trial, wanted to know all the facts when there is a witness who has said, i'm ready, i have something to say, we have an outline of what he has to say. it is really hard to say we are not going to hear that. after the president's team finishes its case, the senators will get 16 hours to question both sides. for more on what we can expect ahead of tomorrow's session, we are joined now by elisabeth bumiller, washington bureau chief for the new york times. talk us through it. how is it going

to look different from what we have seen of the last couple of days? starting tomorrow if not later this afternoon here, we are going to see questions. we are going to see both sides submit written questions to their respective party leaders and those will be chosen and then the chief justice those will be chosen and then the chiefjusticejohn roberts will read aloud the questions and they will be a nswered aloud the questions and they will be answered so it could be far more lively than it has been so far. what we have seen of the last couple of days as both sides just with 2a—hour is of three days of opening arguments with no interruptions so it should get more interesting fairly soon. of course, all of the attention has centred onjohn bolton and what he has got to say. that's likely to play into these questions all the luck to be kept to this battle of what witnesses are

allowed ? battle of what witnesses are allowed? because it will be in the question but what also will happen is as early as friday there could be a vote on whether or not there will be witnesses and that will be quite a lively debate in quite an important vote. at this point, we think there are two senators, the need for, they have two so far he would vote for witnesses but we are seeing cracks in the republican wall. 0ne senator said that she would be interested in whatjohn bolton has to say. some other republicans have said they will be interested in seeing the manuscript of the book so the best laid plans on the part of the republicans in the white house is for this thing to be wrapped up on friday, that is not the way it is playing out right now. of course, those with the best laid plans of the senate leader and by all accounts he is feeling pretty handy that he was blindsided because

they had a copy of this manuscript a few months ago. yes, it was delivered to the white house on december 30. did anyone report it to the president? where they deliberately keeping it secret? it is hard to imagine why a white house would not have at least told the senate republican leadership about it because their entire defence of the president up until the revelations became public was that the president did nothing wrong and there was no direct evidence, there was no direct witness who heard the president to say, i will not release the military aid to ukraine unless ukraine investigates my political rivals. john bolton, in his book says, according to our sources that in fact the president said that very

thing to him. just quickly, the idea from the white house's perspective is to get this all done and dusted this week just is to get this all done and dusted this weekjust in time for the state of the union address on tuesday? yes, the white house would find that an ideal situation to be certain that president dry mcrae would go on a victory lap and say that the end of the hoax which is what he is calling the impeachment trial. —— president trump. that is likely to happen even if there are witnesses because the senate need 67 votes. you can be sure that if the democrats get 51 votes to convict the president they would certainly campaign on that but for the rules of this majority, the two thirds vote, president trump would not be in office. we have a busy week ahead of us.

here in the uk, government advisors have warned against a new points—based immigration system. borisjohnson's proposal, based on australia's scheme, was one of his key pledges during the recent election. a report by the migration advisory committee has called the proposal a "sound bite" without a clear meaning. it also recommends cutting a controversial salary threshold, this is for skilled workers coming to the uk with a job offer, in order to help recruit enough teachers and medical staff after brexit. it says the current rate of £30,000, that's 39,000 us dollars, should drop by more than £a,000 pounds or 5,000 dollars. the home secretary has said the government will carefully consider the committee's recommendations but she stressed the report was "advisory". let's get more now from katy balls in westminster — she's the deputy political editor of the spectator magazine. going back to the election pledge, we know from boris johnson going back to the election pledge, we know from borisjohnson they talked about an australian style

points system and they would bring down immigration, how does this report i guess contradict that? or does it? the report which the home 0ffice does it? the report which the home office is keen to stress is guidance only isn't against a point per space system in part, but that it will work in times of high skilled labour. where they are saying it wouldn't work and wear full points based system wouldn't be a good idea is talking about low skilled labour. that is interesting because the government is really keen, to move from salary based system in terms of ranking individuals to skills based and that is why they have been looking for a skills points based system so if you are to have a salary threshold involved, i don't think that is quite what boris johnson appeared to have in mind during the general election

campaign. though that said and is picked up as this report, it is still scant on exact details i think there is space for the government to ta ke there is space for the government to take ona there is space for the government to take on a lot of what is in this report but the question is whether or not they actually want to. i'm guessing right now there are company bosses across the uk basically ready to cry skill shortages. this idea of focusing on a skills rather than salary threshold is address some of those concerns or are we going to hear that same row going on?|j those concerns or are we going to hear that same row going on? i think you will hear lots of businesses in the months to come voicing concern about the government's immigration system and i think there was going to happen long before this report even came out. i don't think that's necessary due to the skills focus but i think if you do look at where the garment is putting a lot of its focus in terms of how it wants to form the system, it is quite clear that big business wants to have flexible immigration systems that would allow them to have the skills

and labour they want. —— where the government is putting a lot of its focus. what they want to do is get businesses to work on training up the workforce that is already here as part of the government's levelling up agenda so i think that is the clash, i think that this report doesn't change much in relation to that. there are some references into the report about how a points—based system wouldn't necessarily improve economic growth but i think where the government wa nts to but i think where the government wants to go with this new immigration system is one of the big benefits they see from having a points—based system is it would help the current workforce in training them up and i think therefore such warnings aren't going to have as much force is perhaps previous governments. so summing up, where do you think the uk's immigration system will be going? what we going to see when the policy comes out?” think we are looking at a sector by sector points based skills based system and i think the? is, does the

government agree to the minimum salary threshold? i think the 30 k minimum at the moment has gone. not just because the report suggests that but because it suggests boris johnson has been unhappy with that, it isa johnson has been unhappy with that, it is a bad johnson has been unhappy with that, it isa bad johnson has been unhappy with that, it is a bad deliver places with a low threshold at around £25,000 or do you get rid of it completely and go sector by sector? think that is still undecided. katie, thank you very much. you don't need to be a businessjournalist like me to know that you get very little return these days from your average savings account. and there are some people, who think their cash is safest at home, under the mattress, or in the sock drawer. except sometimes, it is not that safe is it? spare a thought for the grandmother from scotland who stashed her 20,000 pound life savings inside a bisto gravy tins.

must have seemed a good idea at the the time. until the family came round to clear the house, unaware of the contents of the tins. yes, they got chucked away. off they rushed to the dump to the recycling centre where they had just deposited a small fortune. but i'm pleased to say, that after two hours picking their way through the rubbish, refuse workers kenny mcadam and tony scanlon found the tins. ahh bisto. £20,000. that's what you call real gravy! i have been there, to the recycling centre to find something i chucked away. i did that with my passport once, luckily i found it.

still to come a glacier the size of britain is rapidly melting in antarctica — we'll have a special report from this remote and complex part of the world. the grenfell tower public inquiry, has been shown emails suggesting that companies directly involved in the building's refurbishment knew the cladding they'd specified would fail in the event of a fire. the evidence was highlighted by the firm celotex, which manufactured the insulation panels, as it defended suggestions it hadn't made clear the product would burn. here's tom symonds. the morning after the worst fire in british peacetime history, already the question is being asked, why did it spread so fast? the enquiry‘s answer so far, the grey cladding panels were largely to blame. good morning everyone, welcome to today's hearing. the key question for the next phase is why they were used? craig represents celotex.

celotex's sole role was as a manufacturer and supplier of insulation products. today, he revealed e—mails about the cladding from 27 months before the fire. in one, the technical manager of harley facades, which designed the cladding said it would be gone rather quickly in a fire. the same month, the fire consultant exova writes that if there were flames, this would cause zinc cladding to fail. an architect responds, thanks, this was my point as well. metal cladding always burns and falls off. none of the individuals involved in that march 2015 e—mail exchange have yet sought to explain how their knowledge that the cladding would fail in the event of a fire with external flaming can be reconciled with their responsibilities. now, who was responsible and for what are two other key

questions for this enquiry and those e—mails will be closely scrutinised in later in the hearings. but the survivors and bereaved are increasingly angry at the evidence they are hearing. tomorrow the enquiry will hear from the royal borough of kensington and chelsea. a major scientific field project has confirmed fears that a glacier in west antarctica, the size of great britain, is disappearing more quickly than previously thought. understanding of what is happening with the thwaites glacier is essential for accurately predicting sea level rises around the world. the melting of the glacier already accounts for a % of water level rises. until now, no—one has attempted a large—scale scientific survey on this remote glacier, which is more than 1,600 kilometers from the nearest research station. 0ur chief environment correspondentjustin rowlatt travelled across west antarctica, to witness the huge and complex project.

until this year, only four people had ever been here. the front of what they call the doomsday glacier. but understanding what is happening here is crucial for us all. this ice here is very accessible to change. and so if we're thinking about what is sea level going to be like in ten years, this glacier is the place to be and this is the location to be asking these questions at. we're standing right on it. the chaos of broken ice at the front of thwaites is almost 100 miles wide and it's collapsing into the sea at two miles a year. it sits at the heart of a vast basin of ice in west antarctica. the glacier is the size of britain and contains more than half a metre of sea level rise. but if thwaites goes, much of the west antarctic ice sheet will too and there is three metres more locked up in that. it's enough to swamp many of the great cities of the world and drive hundreds of millions of people from their homes. getting here is not easy,

it takes five weeks just to get the science teams and their equipment to the front of the glacier. this is a historic moment, the first time anyone has tried to drill down through this glacier. beneath the 600 metres of ice below me is the most important point of all, the point at which the ice meets the ocean water. it is difficult work, but deploying instruments under the ice is the only way to begin to understand the processes at work here and to make accurate predictions of how sea level will rise in the future. this is a world first, the first time anyone has seen the place where this glacier goes afloat, the point where it begins to melt. i was yelling and screaming, like, "oh, my god, we're there, "we're there, we're there!" you can kind of see the water, the water column narrowing and the ice coming down at you and this sea floor coming out

at you and just this huge rush of energy. the bed of a glazier is a place we've just really never been and in particularly right here where it starts to go afloat. and thwaites really matters because it's so vulnerable. strip away the ice from west antarctica and look, most of this part of the continent is below sea level, that means the glacier, indeed the whole region, could begin to retreat increasingly rapidly. this year's work has already confirmed the scientist's worst fears. the deep, warm ocean water that circles antarctica is flowing into the coast here and because the sea bed slopes downwards, as the ice melts it willjust expose more and more ice to that water. it will take decades, may be more than a century for thwaites to melt, but it is melting and we need to know how quickly if we'ree going to protect ourselves as the world's oceans rise. justin rowlatt, bbc news, west antarctica.

you may have heard the news that one of our much loved former colleagues, nicholas parsons, has died at the age of 96. he was best known for hosting the popular radio a showjust a minute since its inception in 1967. for those not familiar with the format, guests are asked to speak for a full minute on a single subject without hesitation, deviation or repetition. and so christian, i have that very challenge for you. how prepared are you feeling? not very. your topic is... what will britain look like after brexit? as you know, i spend a lot of time covering the brexit negotiations. that is a hesitation and deviation there, keep going.|j spent many a night on college green covering the negotiations in

westminster, i only have seven toes andi westminster, i only have seven toes and i have suffered frostbite was about the only recorder... that is deviation there for your toes. about the only recorder... that is deviation there for your toeslj about the only recorder... that is deviation there for your toes. i am the only correspondent that covered all of these and lived to tell the tale so this friday i go to london bridge with... i'm sure that that was a moment of hesitation, just a hint. it is harder than it looks, right? it is much harder than it looks. 0k, tell me aboutjohn bolton's new book and what we know about it so far. the new york times has been covering what we think is extracts from john bolton's book. it had been eagerly anticipated and of course the biggest mystery going on in washington at the moment. we are beginning to discover some detail... where's my buzzer? that sounded a

bit like repetition to me. we are going to have to keep doing some work on this. i will be at london bridge on friday night to talk about brexit but we will be back before that with another programme tomorrow. see you then. many were greeted with a dusting of snow as you can see in this weather watcher picture. further east, fewer showers, plenty of sunny spells, it was a beautiful sunny afternoon in leicester. most of the show were out along west facing coast with a bit of exposure to the wind and then it is going to continue through the night tonight was not elsewhere we will see some clearer skies and temper it is unlikely to follow a set temperature is get down to just below freezing in the north, again we could see some further snow showers around. if we get some showers around. if we get some showers through the night, that could lead to some icy stretches as

well first thing. that is certainly worth bearing in mind if you are up and almost anywhere is at risk of seeing some icy stretches, particularly on rural roads. there isa particularly on rural roads. there is a ridge of high pressure to start the day, plenty of isobars, it is still noticeably breezy, windy and the far north—west but this weather front is going to arrive a little bit later on so yes, we start off with some showers before more persistent rain visit to northern ireland, scotland, north—west england. across england and wales, few isolated showers but here largely dry and bright. the rain into the afternoon, it could be quite heavy, as much as an inch of rain in places, perhaps in west scotla nd rain in places, perhaps in west scotland and gusts of wind in excess of a0 mph for a time. pretty miserable end to the day here. a little bit milder further south, againa drier little bit milder further south, again a drier some sunshine coming through and highs up to 11 degrees. milderair is through and highs up to 11 degrees. milder air is going to flood in as we move out on wednesday into thursday due to the wind direction changing to a south—westerly, pushing milder air and yellow tones

right across the country. a real difference from thursday onwards, some rain in scotland and some running through the channel coast but sandwiched in between the two, a good sliced of cloudy conditions. misty and murky to start with, look at the differences in the temperatures, nine to 13 degrees was up temperatures, nine to 13 degrees was up as we move at a thursday into friday, we still have weather fronts pushing in from the atlantic and that will still bring some wet and windy weather to come on friday. it does look as if it is going to stay milder to the end of the working week but there will be some rain, some of it heavy, particularly for scotland. that is it, take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm. donald trump unveils his plan for middle east peace — with the proposed creation of a palestinian state — and jerusalem remaining the "undivided capital" of israel. forging peace between israelis and palestinians may be the most difficult challenge of all. all prior administrations from president lyndonjohnson have tried and bitterly failed. but i was not elected to do small things or shy away from big problems. applause but the deal is automatically rejected by the palestinian authority president — mahmoud abbas

the foreign office has tonight warned against all but essential travel to mainland china, and insists britons stranded