and tyson fury is getting underway. the fight in riyadh is tomorrow, between arguably the two best heavyweights in the world. night life? a special christmas programme coming up at 6.30. good evening. two men have been charged over a fight with police at manchester airport injuly, which happened before an officer was filmed stamping on a suspect�*s head. brothers mohammed amaaz, who's 20, and muhammed amaad, who's 25, were charged with assaulting police officers. they'll appear at liverpool magistrates�* court injanuary. alison freeman has the story. got him on the floor. stop being aggressive. these were the images that sparked anger back injuly. a man apparently being assaulted by a police officer as he lay on the ground at manchester airport.

but days later, footage of what happened in the moments before emerged. three police officers appeared to try to restrain a man before a second man intervenes. a fight then breaks out. two police officers are seen to be punched to the ground. today, the crown prosecution service said it had charged two men with assaults on police officers. mohammed amaaz, who's 20, faces a total of four charges including assaulting an emergency worker, and muhammed amaad, who's 25, is charged with causing actual bodily harm. the cps has said no police officers are to be charged in connection with what happened at manchester airport. but the police watchdog,

the independent office for police conduct, says its investigation into the use of force by the police is still ongoing and would end soon. the original piece of footage caused protests outside rochdale police station and in manchester, and today the lawyers representing the men who've been charged released a statement. in it, they said they and their family felt betrayed and would be requesting a victim's right of review of the cps decision not to charge any of the police officers. the two men are due to appear before liverpool magistrates injanuary. alison freeman, bbc news, manchester. lord mandelson says it's a great honour to serve this country as he's confirmed as the uk's next ambassador to the united states. the labour veteran served in the cabinets of both sir tony blair and gordon brown. but tonight, the co—campaign manager of us president—elect donald trump has been disparaging about him. here's our political correspondent, damian grammaticas. 1997, labour's election triumph. at the heart of it, peter mandelson. he helped engineer that victory, political cunning his hallmark. since then, despite repeated scandals, he's proved a survivor.

fast forward 25 years, and once again, he's worked his way to the heart of things. the labour party is genuinely back now as the political arm of the british people. his admirers see in him an unusual ability to get close to those in power and a deep knowledge of business. he served in successive labour cabinets and in brussels in a top eu trade role, something that makes him perfect to be our ambassador in the age of donald trump and possible tariff wars to come. he's got really strong experience in trade. he was, of course, an eu trade commissioner. he's got very good political contacts in washington dc, and i think his appointment would be a reflection of the importance of the us—uk special relationship. but in stark contrast to donald trump, peter mandelson is a believer in the importance of the eu, thinks brexit has done colossal damage to the uk, wants engagement with china,

and he's described mr trump in unflattering ways. an american president who is little short of a white nationalist and racist. responding to that today, a senior member of the trump team called peter mandelson an absolute moron who should stay home. so could he be a liability? is yourjob safe, mr mandelson? twice as a minister, he's had to resign over scandals, and more recently he's cultivated business links with the super wealthy, ties some think should be scrutinised. contacts both russia, china and the middle east. we need to know a little bit more about that and understand, do these and will they cause a problem? we don't want it exploding in our faces a year, two years later. but then his experience navigating the worlds of wealth and power, playing high stakes high politics, may also be what equips him to advocate for britain in trump's white house. damian grammaticas, bbc news, westminster. politicians in washington havejust hours left to stop the shutdown

of the us government after interventions by donald trump and elon musk scuppered a budget deal. dozens of republicans in congress have defied the incoming president by refusing to back a new deal, because it would allow increased government spending. without agreement tonight, many government services will be suspended and millions of workers may go unpaid. john sudworth is in washington. on capitol hill, republican leaders are still talking up the chance of a breakthrough. we're expecting votes this morning, so y'all stay tuned. we've got a plan. "we've got a plan," speaker mikejohnson says. butjust hours before, his last—minute bill, introduced at the urging of donald trump, was defeated. the rules are not suspended and the bill is not passed. democrats, as expected, voted against, but so did 38 republicans. things began to unravel two days ago after the intervention

of the world's richest man and now trump team insider tasked with cutting government costs. in a storm of posts on his own platform, elon musk told republicans to block an earlier bill that had bipartisan support. at 1,500 pages long, he said it was full of irresponsible spending. donald trump quickly followed suit, backing mr musk�*s calls and leading some democrats to wonder which of the two men was really calling the shots. it was a republican—drafted bill that was posted by house republicans, and then one or two puppet—masters weigh in, and the extreme maga republicans decide to do the bidding of the wealthy, the well—off, the well—connected millionaires and billionaires, not working class people. mr trump's authority is in question, too. i am absolutely sickened!

the republicans who voted against are furious, seeing hypocrisy in their leaders' claim to want to cut spending at the same time as demanding congress suspend the limits on government borrowing. a shutdown would have real impacts — travel disruption, the non—payment of government wages, and the closure of nonessential services like national parks. mr trump's not yet in office, but his disruptive approach is already being keenly felt. and johnjoins us now — lots of relationships for president trump to deal with as he prepares to take office, not least with the new uk ambassador. how has that gone down? yeah, well, already, this sense of uncertainty, chaos and confusion, very much in keeping, of course, with the style of mr trump, relationships with the opposition and with his own party in flux. the republicans are currently huddling in congress working out what the next steps will be over the

government spending crisis, but into the mix comes these comments from a senior trump adviser. the current ambassador was soon as somebody who had a very good relationship with the trump team, a good relationship with both sides of the aisle. some people had thought she might stay on through the trump administration. but these comments are of course very inflammatory, very undiplomatic language. we do not know if this is a sentiment shared by mr trump, and we don't really know what impact will be. it could of course blow over, but i think one thing it tells us, sophie, without doubt at all, which should not be a surprise to many people, is that comejanuary and the inauguration of donald trump, we can expect a very different kind of politics. johnson's worth, thank you. —— john sudworth, thank you.

eight west yorkshire police officers have been dismissed following an independent office for police conduct investigation into discriminatory, offensive and bullying messages they shared on whatsapp. the ruling followed concerns raised by a number of officers about the behaviour of a group of officers based in pudsey, leeds. the disciplinary panel found a total of 67 allegations proven of gross misconduct. all eight officers will be prevented from being employed in policing in the future. the government has announced that it will allocate £1.6 billion to fix potholes in england. hundreds of you have been in touch with us through your voice, your bbc news with concerns about this very issue. here are a few of your messages. i had an accident back in october involving a pothole in harpenden. unfortunately, the damage sustained to my wheel means that it needs to be replaced. if it's left like that for weeks or even months or potentially years, that happens in chelmsford in the local area, the holes become so big that they're going to cause great damage to any vehicle that hits it at any speed. back in may, i fell down a pothole.

i fractured my ankle bone. so please, please, - please get this sorted. councils, get them potholes filled. well, the prime minister says councils need to get on with it and start fixing the potholes, but local authorities want longer—term investment. the midlands will get the biggest share of the funding, with the north of england coming second. 0ur reporter danny savage has spent the day in north yorkshire. the scarred road surfaces in the village of birstwith. it's what gets people round here complaining. some even have the scars to prove it. anne broke her leg on the uneven surface. i tripped on a pothole and severely broke my ankle. i actually had open surgery to repair the tendons and repair the bone, which was 18 months after the incident in the village.

so what does she think of the prime minister urging councils to get on with fixing potholes? get out here, get your wheelbarrow, and come and see the holes, because i bet you don't have them in downing street. yeah, i'd make him a cup of tea, you know, and make him very welcome, but they're just temporary fixes all the time. they need to spend millions of pounds resurfacing. so this one, for example, is about 60cm wide by 30cm. it's only about 3cm deep. but what you find is that there's quite a few of these in this village, and the drivers know where they are, so they simplyjust dodge round them most of the time. like so many places, birstwith needs a bit more of this. the latest work was just two days ago. first of all, it's great that they've been. david is a local parish councillor who has to request for the work to be done by the county council. they've patched that, they've patched that. but then there's an 18—inch gap in the middle. and my guess is by spring it'll need doing again because what they tend

to do is patch rather than resurface and therefore they'll be back. and it'sjust a continual treadmill of repatching and repatching. this is a typical failure of like a pothole. and the worst potholes cause damage. john has been a local mechanic for 28 years. it's definitely got a lot, lot worse. if it's a tyre and the wheel, then the tyre is damaged and the wheel, it could be £500 or £600, and it's a lot of money for someone to pay forjust driving through a little hole. £1.6 billion has been allocated for fixing roads in england next year, but it's up to local authorities to prioritise the locations most in need. danny savage, bbc news, harrogate. the government has appointed 30 new labour peers to the house of lords. they include a string of sir keir starmer loyalists and ex—mps. let's talk to our political correspondent, iain watson. 0ne prominent name — sue gray.

yes, secure —— sir keir starmer�*s former chief of staff, and the head of the partygate inquiry. in the 13 new labour lords who have been appointed i think will all be very loyal to the labour leadership. they include keir starmer�*s director of strategy when he was in opposition, a smattering of mps who have been critical ofjeremy corbyn as well. but i think what is very interesting is just to but i think what is very interesting isjust to remember, with but i think what is very interesting is just to remember, with all these new appointments, labour is still formally committed to completely replacing the unelected house of lords. but a labour source said to me, the conservatives have been stuffing this place with their supporters for years, so it would seem that labour are not opposed to doing some pre—christmas stuffing of their own. i think that tells us that they are going to keep their manifesto promise to axe hereditary peers, but i think it also signals that any wider reform of that place

over there, and is still some way off. . . ~' over there, and is still some way off. . ., ~ , ., the time is 6.14. our top story this evening — two men are charged after a fight with police at manchester airport, which happened before an officer was filmed stamping coming up on bbc news... chairman of the rfu, tom ilube has stepped down after it was revealed that he, along with chief executive bill sweeney were paid huge bonuses — despite the organisation making redundancies and losses of a0 million. christmas with one of the stars of the video. the christmas getaway is under way with a record number of drivers expected to hit the road this weekend. the rac says there'll be 14m car journeys on this final weekend before the festive period and traffic congestion will be worsened by a number of rail closures due to engineering works. and the damage from storm darragh has left one of the uk's busiest

ports, holyhead in anglesey in north wales, closed to ferries until at least the 15th of january. some hauliers say it could be for longer. from anglesey, here's our wales correspondent, tomas morgan. holyhead's port is a ghost town. two weeks ago, storm darragh caused structural damage and a partial collapse of one of its terminals, forcing it to shut for safety reasons. it's inflicted a headache for many families. mum's 91. she's very independent. she lives in her own home. anne was meant to be visiting her elderly mother just outside dublin, but living on anglesey and other commitments meant the alternative crossings from liverpool or west walesjust weren't an option. we were only going for two days. the distance, if we were going for a week, yes, i would have definitely considered them because i would have lost two days travelling. yeah, i'm very disappointed. on average, two million

passengers use holyhead each year and, every day, usually, over 1,000 lorries and trailers also make the crossing. this haulage company's depot on the island is full of vehicles, as you can see. and of course it shouldn't be, especially at this time of year. and even though there are alternative routes available from liverpool and pembroke dock over the irish sea, this company, bm transport, says it's still only able to operate at half capacity. every day that goes by at the present time, it has a detrimental effect on the irish economy, but it also has a knock—on effect on the uk economy also. we are hearing it will not be reopened this side of st patrick's dav _ in a statement, stena line, the port's operator, said the port wouldn't be open until at least the middle of january, have offered alternative sailings and apologised for the inconvenience.

sailings and apologised when do you think you'll be able to see your mum again now? i would like to go and see her in january, but whether that will be from holyhead, i do not know. for all of those affected, holyhead's closure hasn't been the gift many would have wished for. tomas morgan, bbc news, anglesey. 0n the railways over christmas, some services will be reduced. west midlands railway services will be affected by engineering works and last—minute cancellations are possible. london paddington is closed between 27th and 29th december, which will hit the heathrow express and some other services. and today it was revealed the north west of england has the highest rate of train cancellations in britain. mairead smyth is at manchester victoria station for us, and manchester is the worst affected area?

iamat i am at victoria station and when it comes to cancellations this station is the worst in britain and staying in manchester, manchester piccadilly is number three on that list and as you say the north west is the worst affected region when it comes to cancellations which of course has such a huge impact on people who rely on trains to travel to work, to study and of course just to enjoy the city of manchester and other towns in the north of england. i have spoken to staff here who have told me that at this time of year this station is particularly busy because people come through manchester victoria to enjoy the christmas markets in the city centre. northern rail are one of the main operators here and they say they are sorry for the service but they are sorry for the service but they are sorry for the service but they are working to improve things. there are lots of other cancellations and impact across the country, the west midlands and london paddington station which will

be closed between the 27th and 29th of december, so check ahead before you travel by train or road over the next few days. the french president emmanuel macron has paid tribute to gisele pelicot for her courage, calling her a "trailblazer for women". he said she had "moved and inspired" people around the world. yesterday, gisele pelicot�*s former husband dominique pelicot was jailed for 20 years for organising her repeated drugging and rape by dozens of strangers. all 50 of his co—defendants were also found guilty, but many in france are now wondering how much real change the case will bring. from avignon, here's andrew harding. it's market day in the town where dominique and gisele pelicot used to do their shopping — locals here not convinced yesterday's 51 guilty verdicts will transform france. no, i don't think it'll change much, says brigitte. women often report abuse

to the police, but nothing happens. a few years in prison — that's notjustice, says reda, complaining that the sentences were too light to discourage others. at the end of the trial yesterday, gisele pelicot left the court a french hero. but it's clearly not a role she relishes. translation: she's very happy to be going home. | she's relieved. she doesn't want to be seen as an icon. in reality, she remains a very simple person. in the village of mazan, where gisele pelicot was repeatedly drugged and raped, many remain shocked by the words of the local mayor, who told me at the start of the trial that gisele's suffering had been exaggerated. translation: yes, i'mj diminishing it because it could have been a lot worse. no children were hurt. no—one died.

did you see the interview that we did with the mayor of mazan? yes. i think it's a perfect proof that. a lot of political men, especially, uh, absolutely doesn't realise the problem. l the problem is huge. there's no doubt that what happened in this one small village has shocked france profoundly. the question now is what practical steps the authorities here can take to address the issues that gisele pelicot fought so courageously to expose. this french mp was drugged by another politician last year. he's denied wrongdoing. she feels the system remains stacked against most victims. translation: it's a disaster, a disaster, because very few l victims ever get to trial. there is a lack of evidence and a lack of medical and legal support.

plenty for france to work on, then, as gisele pelicot�*s international admirers continue to gather here. andrew harding, bbc news, avignon. there are fears that the fall of president assad could mean the islamic state group will re—emerge. the leader of the syrian democratic forces, which is led by the kurds and backed by the united states, has told the bbc that what's happening in syria has made a resurgence much more likely. nearly a decade ago, islamic state controlled almost a third of the country until the group was defeated in 2019. our senior international correspondent, orla guerin, has travelled to the north—east of syria, an area controlled by kurdish fighters. she was given rare access to the largest is jail in the city of al—hasakah, where around 5,000 is suspects are being held.

the fall of assad has not freed all of syria's prisoners — with good reason, we were told. this is al—sinaa, a maximum securityjail. around 5,000 men are detained here, including some britons. cut off from the outside world and a changing syria. but local authorities warn is planning its next moves and could use the current chaos to try a jailbreak. it's very rare to get access inside these walls. this is the biggest prison for is detainees. the men being held here — most of them were with is until its last stand. kurdish security sources tell us that they were deeply committed

to the ideology of is. we were taken to meet a detainee. hello. who didn't want to be identified. he's 28, from australia, and said he was speaking freely. do you have blood on your hands? were you involved in killing anybody with is? no, i wasn't. no, i wasn't, he said, barely audibly. on the key questions, he had little to say. this was is in its heyday. it brutalised one third of syria and iraq. now there are warnings that it's gearing up again. so general mazloum abdi is facing into battle. he helped defeat isis in 2019 with his mainly kurdish forces, backed by the us.

translation: of course, | since the fall of the regime, there are more factors allowing is to get stronger. they have more capabilities and more chances. the prisons are more dangerous and face more threat of attack. the danger has doubled compared to before. and behind the wire, hope has grown that freedom is coming — somehow. this is roj camp, which holds families of is — around 3,000 women and children. saeeda, from dagestan, tells me she hopes syria's new rebel leader will bring freedom for her and her son, ali. others believe is is coming, says the camp manager, who hides her identity

because she fears for her safety. translation: they've - packed their bags, ready to go. they say we will get out of this camp soon. even their children have changed. they will say some slogans and swear at you and say "it", meaning is, is coming soon. we will come back soon and get you. the new syria has inherited plenty of threats and much unfinished business. orla guerin, bbc news, north—east syria. london fire brigade is warning about the dangers of buying cheap e—bikes and e—scooters online after a family house was destroyed at the weekend when an e—bike battery exploded. the blaze in catford in south—east london spread quickly. one person escaped but two others were trapped in the loft — one man fell and a woman was rescued by firefighters. an inquest into the death of broadcaster dr michael mosley has

not been able to determine a cause. the 67—year—old science journalist went missing injune on the greek island of symi after going for a walk. the coroner said the cause of death, while unknown, was most likely heatstroke or an undiagnosed health condition. to boxing now, and britain's tyson fury and urkaine's oleksandr usyk have been weighing in ahead of tomorrow night's world heavyweight title in the saudia arabian capital, riyadh. here's our sports reporter ade adedoyin. the last time these two faced each other, it was a fight for the ages — a brilliant and brutal contest under a heavy barrage of punches, fury wilted, his unbeaten record and air of invincibility gone. usyk has accomplished everything in boxing, so why continue? it's not easy. it's hard. boxing is a hard sport. it's a tough sport. when my phone alarm talked to me, "hey, oleks, oleks, wake up. "please wake up! "time for training!"

you know, like, at 5am. i don't like training, but i like boxing. do you visualise the fights? do you think about it? yes, yes. of course. what do you see? i see a winner. while the ukrainian has exuded a champion�*s confidence and swagger, fury has looked a little on edge. i've got nothing to say, apart from there's going to be a whole lot of hurt and pain in this fight. you watch! that's all i've got to say. talking's been done, you know. the first fight, i talked, ijoked all my career. this time i'm serious. only three men have ever won the heavyweight title three times — muhammad ali, evander holyfield and lennox lewis. so a chance for fury to join a very exclusive club. tyson fury is out there, trying to make history. i will he do it? he has to do some work, a lot of work, to do it. i and he's going to be in the battlefield. i so how does tyson fury win this? he's the bigger man. he's going to go out. there and use hisjab. he's got to throw a lot more punches than in the first fight. _ he can't muck around.

he's got to be totally serious. i think the fight's going to be even better than the first one. - a face—off between the two lasted over 11 minutes with neither man wanting to blink first. tyson fury is a man on a mission, but is that mission impossible? ade adedoyin, bbc news, riyadh, kingdom of saudi arabia. there were tears this morning as radio 2's breakfast queen zoe ball left the show after six years. she thanked listeners and said she hoped she'd brought them some sunshine. i can't believe we are nearly there! and there was a surprise message from her son woody. hey, mum, you've done such an amazing job on the breakfast show. and i just want to say thank you for making everyone's mornings a little bit more magic. and here's to a healthier sleeping schedule. love, woody. # cos i need you today, oh... # zoe.# cheering and applause. time for a look at the weather. here's elizabeth rizzini.

perhaps you are doing some christmas shopping over the course of the weekend, there will be plenty of us travelling, it's a huge weekend for travel, and the weather could cause some disruption potentially because of the strength of the winds. so do keep an eye on the forecast. the other issue is, there could be icy surfaces as it turns cold on saturday night and into sunday, more on that injust saturday night and into sunday, more on that in just a moment. it will feel chilly as well overnight tonight for many of us, that rain clears away from south—east england, clears away from south—east england, clear skies, temperatures will rise again through the night as we see that rain moving from the west and the winds will pick up again, bruce westerlies. this is how we start of saturday morning. the winds will be strung out towards scotland tomorrow. 50—60 gusts across north—west england and northern ireland, blustery showers in the north and west, further south cloud,

outbreaks of rain in southern