out who in his government is leaking this vital information? welcome to bbc news — i'm mike embley. our top stories: diego maradona — world cup champion and for many the greatest footballer in history — dies at the age of 60. president trump pardons michael flynn — his first national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. and — the duchess of sussex talks of the ‘unbearable grief‘ she felt when she suffered a miscarriage earlier this year. tributes have poured

in for the footballer, diego maradona, who's died of a heart attack at the age of 60. the argentine president, alberto fernandez, declared three days of national mourning, saying maradona had ta ken his country "to the top of the world". maradona led argentina to victory in the world cup in 1986 — a campaign that included the so—called ‘hand of god' goal. here's our sports editor dan roan. uniquely talented, deeply troubled and at times, simply untouchable. diego maradona played football that defied belief. to his left. he won't need any of them. 0h! you have to say that's magnificent! argentina against england in the 1986 world cup quarter—final, in what was later voted "the goal of the century". and yetjust four minutes earlier, maradona had become one of sport's most notorious cheats. commentator: maradona! the two extremes of

a footballing force of nature. replays showed he had scored with his arm, or the ‘hand of god', as he infamously described it. but maradona had no regrets. translation: i couldn't reach it and shilton was already there, so i couldn't head it so i did like that. i believe it's a craftiness. it's not cheating. tonight, one of the men who failed to stop maradona that day recalled an iconic performance. as much as he cheated then, the second goal was pure genius from one of the greatest footballers who ever walked the planet. maradona's spellbinding skills propelled argentina to the trophy — the pinnacle of a remarkable journey that began in the slums outside buenos aires. at his first world cup in 1982 came signs of his flawed genius, making an impact for the right and wrong reasons. after a world record transfer to barcelona came more magic, but chaos and controversy were never far away — the skill often

overshadowed by scandal. at unfashionable napoli, maradona guided the underdogs to their first league title. but gradually the dream started to sour, a tearful runner—up at the 1990 world cup and the next tournament, this celebration hinted at the demons within. he failed a doping test and was sent home in disgrace. without football his addictions grew, battling both drugs and alcohol, his weight ballooned. he was rushed to hospital after an overdose. while recovering in cuba he befriended then president fidel castro. maradona went on to coach the national side, but it is as a player he will always be remembered. this evening, as thousands of fans gathered outside one of his former clubs, boca juniors, and argentina declared three days of mourning, tributes from the world of football poured in. pele, the other icon with who, he will forever be compared, said: " i've lost a friend and the world "has lost a legend. "one day i hope we can play together in the sky." argentina's superstar lionel messi meanwhile wrote: "he has left us but he has

not gone, because diego is eternal." tonight across europe, a minute's silence was held at every champions league match for a man that was short in stature but became a sporting giant. all too human off the field, his place among the pantheon of footballing legends is secure. commentator: brilliant run by maradona! fantastic goal! unbelievable! arguably the greatest ever, his brilliance beyond dispute. in argentina large crowds of fans have been gathering around the bombonera stadium, where maradona played for boca juniors. also near the obelisk monument — natalio cosoy has been there. it is interesting the stature of maradona but at the same time, a celebratory mood, as if trying to remember how a big figure he was in life.

and i think this is what we will see today and in the coming days from cars like this gathering in buenos aires and other places in argentina. gone too soon but what a life and a life that touched so many other lives. what would you say he meant for argentina? the same for everyone, indeed, some people probably don't care that much. but most argentinians are very aware of maradona's figure and most, somehow, relate to him. plenty do love him. of course, he is a football legend who was massive on the pitch but also a particular character, controversial but at the same time very charismatic. someone who was not afraid to speak out and say what he thought. something that is not very often seen in football. i think that also made him

very close to people here in argentina and, somehow, i would risk to say that maradona helped define some beats and somehow argentina's character and culture are. what a life! like a movie script, he came from the slums to such a high. his addictions, what is the filling, where they always there or did it come from the life which had so many natural highs but also had absolutely no privacy for so many years? it is understood and something maradona said, he said he started life of drug use in barcelona — something that diego maradona said, and it is something that continued through his life. it's not easy to explain why someone was addicted

but he was very open about that and about the difficulty to leave that behind. he became later to addicted to alcohol, which was a recent problem of his and something that some, yes, may lean to the fact that he was faced with a massive exposure from the media and always scrutinised by society and by everyone and criticise continuously but difficult to pin down to a single reason. it is something that will be remembered of maradona as much as everything else in his life and if anything he lived a very intense life indeed. donald trump has pardoned his former national security adviser, michael flynn. general flynn served just three weeks in office at the start of the trump administration before pleading guilty to lying to the fbi during the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. the president wrote on social media, "it is my great honor to announce that general michael t

flynn has been granted a full pardon. congratulations to general flynn and his wonderful family, i know you will now have a truly fantastic thanksgiving!" sorry for the vision there, we we re sorry for the vision there, we were having some technical difficulties copy the former white house senior adviser a little earlier to the bbc about the pardoned. i worked with michael flynn during my year in the white house and it's no surprise his loyalty to donald trump has certainly paid off, and expect to see more of these types of pardons for trump loyalists, no matter how grievous their crimes were. but really, donald trump is laying the groundwork for what we expect to be a very dramatic end. donald trump, the tv show host

— he likes to have a dramatic finale. and what more of one that will top the fact that donald trump will proactively protect himself from any potential crimes at the federal level by pardoning himself. well earlier i spoke to max kutner who is a us political commentator and journalist. i asked him that even though michael flynn has been issued a pardon it still doesn't change how he plead guilty to the original crime. this is a big deal, it is the end of this saga that we've all been watching. michael flynn was one of the very first people charged in the mueller investigation almost three years to the day back in december 2017. he really for a while was seen as a fringe figure. we know that when president trump met with president 0bama during trump's transition four years ago, 0bama warned him about two things — north korea and michael flynn. and yet, as his case dragged on, he developed a really loyal following.

i spoke with a woman in 2017 who donated to his legal defence fund who said that she gave the money to flynn instead of buying christmas presents for her husband. he really developed a following. i've spoken with his family over the years, they have wanted this day for years and now the day has finally come. you don't have to look far on social media for any number of people saying he was just the fall guy. and that's whatjoseph flynn, his brother said, years ago when he told me the same. he tweeted out to president trump, "please grant him a pardon, he took the fall for all of you." that's whatjoseph flynn said in a tweet and then expanded on that, speaking with me. this is how everyone has felt for years and it's also a way of undoing the russia investigation and undoing the power of the mueller probe. president trump has tried to undo it for years.

he feels like he was exonerated by it and now he wants to exonerate other people. he commuted the sentence of roger stone, who was another mueller defendant a few months ago. so this wasn't entirely unexpected but this is something his loyalists, flynn's loyalists have wanted for years. max, mr trump certainly wouldn't be the first outgoing president to do this but this looks like the first of a whole series of pardons, possibly there's speculation for mr trump himself. yes, mike, it's not unusual for a president in his last weeks and months in office to give out a flurry of pardons or commutations. but to do so for people who were involved in crimes in which the president also was allegedly involved — that's a bit unusual. that is what we are now going to be looking towards in the coming weeks and months before inauguration in january. who else will president trump pardon? will he pardon other people facing charges like the ones flynn did? or will he even pardon himself?

that is a big topic of debate amongst constitutional law scholars. i've spoken to some of those people and some people say he can and others he can't. a couple of governors have gotten away with it before so maybe he will look to those cases for some support for a pardon for himself. a british—australian academic, kylie moore—gilbert, has expressed relief and thanks at her release from two years detention in iran on charges of espionage. ms moore—gilbert, who always denied wrongdoing, was freed in exchange for three unnamed iranians imprisoned abroad. the australian government praised diplomatic engagement with their iranian counterparts. mark lobel reports. the first pictures of kylie moore—gilbert, an australian academic on her way to freedom. releasing her face mask in front of the australian ambassador to iran after two years in prison. she was facing another eight yea rs she was facing another eight years in an iranian prison, and

it is incredibly essential that we did the work that was done to secure her release and see her coming home. state tv also reveals three arrivals, seemingly in exchange for the british—australian's released, being heralded by iran's deputy foreign minister. the melbourne university lecturer‘s exit comes after she was tried in secret on charges of spying, which she denies. she was held in a notorious prison in the desert and let it be known, she had rejected an offer from iran to become a spy. in a statement, dr moore—gilbert thanked australian officials and said: the prison conditions would not have been good that kylie had

been living through, especially with the section with the revolutionary guard where she had been detained because we know that ill—treatment and torture is quite prolific there. the british government has yet to secure the release of a charity worker who was jailed on spying charges in 2016 and has always maintained her innocence. her husband, richard ratcliffe says this latest release shows deals are being done, but didn't know what it meant for his wife's situation. iranian state media insists they had exchanged a zionists spy but dr moore—gilbert supporters say they are over the moon, an amazing friend and colleague is on her way home. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: as the uk tries to get a grip on public spending, following the covid pandemic, the government

decides to cut foreign aid. president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world. the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes but nobody seemed to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90.

castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 1960s. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, with the cuban missile crisis. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: one of the most famous footballers of the past fifty years — and one of the sport's all—time greats — diego maradona has died. president trump pardons michael flynn — his first national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about his contacts with russia. presdient—elect, joe biden has called for an end to what he called the grim season of division which he said would give way to light and unity. the president—elect urged americans to recommit to the fight against coronavirus. and on the eve of thanksgiving called on them to forgo high—risk holiday traditions as cases of the virus continue to surge. well earlier i spoke to dr william schaffner, who's professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at vanderbilt university school of medicine. i asked him how he planned

to spend thanksgiving amid the current pandemic. very quietly, is the answer! we are not having the whole family around the table, we are having a small intimate group of three, who will share the family cocoon at thanksgiving and we may see some of the rest of the family for about an hour, wearing masks, social distancing and only for about an hour. we are being very careful. so you are setting a good example. what are the chances do you think of many people doing the same? there are millions already on the move for thanksgiving, perhaps not as many as previous years but an awful lot of people. an awful lot of people but many are being careful so we have divided ourselves into two groups, the careful and the carefree. and we are concerned that two, three weeks down the road, we will have more cases, a surge upon a surge that is there already, creating more illness, more hospitalisation and stress on our hospital system and the people

who work within it. so you do anticipate thanksgiving and christmas being super—spreader events? oh, yes, i'm afraid so. the people who are carefree now are carefree in the daily lives, they are the very ones who may not have the symptoms, that have the virus, bring to the thanksgiving table and the christmas tree and then spread it among the intimates with whom they share this wonderful occasion, inside for prolonged periods of time. lots of hugging and kissing, the virus loves that. it must be so frustrating for people in your position, even with cases and deaths urging, hospitalisations more seriously on the rise, so many people still do not accept what is going on.

we hearfrom medics saying they have people seriously ill in hospital, operating them and the nursing staff saying it cannot be covid that has got me, it does not exist. it is really rather remarkable. of course our response to covid has had a great political veneer, right? and that really is strongly embedded in people's minds and when they get information contrary to that, the psychologiss tell us, all of us, you, me, everyone, will double down on our original belief. it's very hard to change people's minds and attitudes and they have to change before behaviour changes. so do you see any chances of putting the brakes pandemic before there is a vaccine? i think a little bit. the vaccine won't be available to everybody immediately, we can't vaccinate 330 million in the us in a week and a half.

this will take months, and i hope the notion that we are all working together, wearing the imposition of the mask, social distancing, that those things will begin to penetrate, i hope, as a get into the new year. the british government has been unveiling a new comprehensive spending review — following a year when their borrowing has risen sharply to try and combat the effects of covid. one of the more controversial elements of the spending review was chancellor rishi sunak‘ss decision to cut the amount of money the uk gives inforeign aid. the decision has been widely criticised and a minister at the foreign office has resigned in protest. mr sunak told mps that to carry on spending abroad when there was a domestic emergency was difficult to justify. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale has more details. for years, the sight of a plane delivering british food and medicine has brought hope to millions. the humanitarian assistance

that can, for some, mean the difference between life and death. but now the government's cutting back, to the fury of the man who championed aid in office. well, i think it's a very sad moment. it not just that we've. .. we're breaking a promise to the poorest people and the poorest countries in the world, a promise that we made and a promise that we don't have to break, it's that that 0.7% commitment, it really said something about britain. last year, the uk spent £15 billion on foreign aid, about 0.7% of national income. the government is now cutting that legally binding target tojust 0.5%. that means spending only £10 billion next year. this would be less than germany on 0.6%, but more than france on 0.4%. those who work to reduce poverty and disease say these cuts will bite deep, particularly during the covid—19 pandemic. this is the last time we should be cutting aid. cutting aid will make it harder

to get vaccines to people all over the world, harder to get the treatments that people need and, ultimately, it will extend the lifetime of the pandemic. this is a little bit like cutting funding to the raf right in the middle of the battle of britain. my lords, existing humanitarian disasters and conflicts... the foreign office development minister lady sugg was so unhappy she resigned, saying the cut was fundamentally wrong. but the aid budget has long faced questions about priorities, such as why some goes to india, with its own space programme. questions that are harder to answer when the country's facing such an economic emergency. this is not something that anybody wanted to have to do, but the truth is that the nhs and helping people who are unemployed has to be the priority next year. for years, britain's had a reputation as an aid superpower. and that's got the uk a hearing on the international stage. it's opened door for ministers and officials here at the foreign office.

the question is what impact the possible decision will have on that reputation just as britain tries to carve a new role for itself after brexit. to spend less on aid, the government will also have to change the law — and that means a long parliamentary battle ahead. james landale, bbc news. the duchess of sussex has described the ‘almost unbearable grief she experienced when she suffered a miscarriage in july. writing in the new york times, shesaid that talking about losing a baby was still something of a taboo and led to what she called unwarranted shame. 0ur correspondent sarah campbell reports on meghan‘s decision to speak out. wait, listen, did you hear that? i heard duck sounds. quack, quack, quack! archie‘s first birthday in may. two months later, his mother, the duchess of sussex, suffered a miscarriage, revealing today in a newspaper editorial the impact on her and her husband, prince harry. she described how, after changing archie‘s nappy, she felt a sharp cramp... "and yet," she added... her words have resonated

with those all too familiar with pregnancy loss. if i had seen this essay when i had my first pregnancy loss, i would‘ve felt a lot less isolated and a lot less alone. because although i knew that the loss of pregnancy was common, no—one really talked to me about it, and no—one actually really knew what to say to understand what i was going through. meghan joins a number of high—profile women who have opened up about the loss of a child. chrissy teigen was widely praised for sharing intimate pictures in the aftermath of a stillbirth. michelle 0bama wrote of her miscarriage in her autobiography. and zara tindall, prince harry‘s cousin, revealed she‘d suffered two miscarriages before the birth of her second child.

it‘s estimated that up to one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage. all couples will cope in their own way. but experts agree it‘s important those that want to talk about it feel that they can. there is a lot of pressure that is put on women to be able to conceive, and conceive successfully, and when we don‘t talk about it, unfortunately, we can hold a lot of that shame and stigma within us, within ourfamilies and sometimes within our communities and particular cultures. the sussexes stepped back from royal duties earlier this year but as this article illustrates, meghan hasn‘t stepped back from public life. sarah campbell, bbc news. the former president of the world bank, james wolfensohn, has died in new york at the age of 86. he ran the bank for ten years from 1995 and was instrumental in bringing tens of billions of dollars in debt relief

to 27 of the world‘s poorest countries. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i‘m @bbcmikeembley. hello. we‘ve plenty of fine weather in the forecast for the uk for the next few days, thanks to a building ridge of high pressure. but that ridge of high pressure will bring with it an increased chance of many of us seeing frosty nights. could be some chilly days, as well, as under the ridge of high pressure, there‘s an increasing chance of us seeing fog developing by night and lingering into the coming days. today perhaps not so bad, though. we will have a weather front still pushing a bit more cloud into southernmost counties of the uk first thing, a little bit of rain for kent. 0n the whole, though, the majority seeing sunshine from the get—go. but even with the sunshine, after a chilly start, our temperatures won‘t recover to the heights we‘ve seen previously this week. we‘re looking typically at highs of 7—9, the odd spot

getting up to 10—11. you may all notice this weather front trying to come into the northwest. these two fronts tend to try and squeeze the high through thursday and friday, but through the centre of the high, we have the greatest risk of seeing some fog as we move into the small hours of friday. and here, too, our chilliest spots, dipping down below freezing. a little bit more cloud to the far southeast and the far northwest will perhaps mean our temperatures may stay above. and through friday daytime, those fronts, as you can see, just cap either end of the uk. through the core of the uk, you may think we‘re set up for a lot of sunshine. some areas will get some decent sunshine, but some of that fog will really struggle to clear. there‘s not much breeze set to work on it, and the sunshine isn‘t particularly strong

at this time of year. and if the fog does stick, temperatures at 2—3 celsius are possible. as you can see, even in the best of early brightness on friday, we‘re looking at 6—7 celsius. as for the weekend, i suspect fairly similar temperatures and a fairly similar—looking picture overall. some chilly nights to come. you‘ll notice that our high looks a little different for saturday and sunday, but it stands across us from the continent. just a chance as well on sunday that we‘ll see a weather front trying to push into the northwest. but the effect overall is still the same — a lot of fine weather, light winds, but the chance of some fog forming by night that lingers through the day or lifts up into low cloud — hence sunshine for many parts of the uk may well be at a premium as we head on into the weekend.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

argentina has been plunged into mourning by the death of arguably its most famous son — the football legend diego maradona. people have poured out onto the streets to express their grief at the loss of the star whose sublime performances secured victory in the 1986 world cup. president trump has granted a full pardon to his former national security adviser — michael flynn. general flynn served three weeks in office at the start of the trump administration before pleading guilty to lying to the fbi during the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. president—electjoe biden has used a televised address on the eve of thanksgiving to urge americans to recommit to the fight against coronavirus. mr biden said a grim season of division would give way to light and unity. americans, he said, were at war with coronavirus and not each other. now on bbc news — click.