hello, i'm martine croxall. donald trump has dismissed as an �*illegitimate political attack�* a manhattan judge's order for him to be sentenced onjanuary 10th in the hush money case, ten days before his inauguration. mr trump was convicted in may on 3a felony counts. his lawyers had argued the president—elect was protected by presidential immunity. justicejuan merchan rejected this, but indicated he was not inclined to impose a jail sentence and he would likely give donald trump an unconditional discharge. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. donald trump and stormy daniels, the adult film star with whom the president—elect is accused of having a sexual encounter in 2006. a decade later, in the final days of the 2016 election campaign, the then—republican candidate attempted to buy her silence with a so—called hush money payment of more than $100,000.

his conviction last year was for falsifying business records to try to cover up the payment. he's always denied any wrongdoing, but the guilty verdict meant donald trump was facing a possible jail sentence or a hefty fine. he attempted to use his second presidential election victory to have the case thrown out, but the judge refused. instead, he said mr trump would receive an unconditional discharge, so no jail time and no fine, but the guilty verdict remains. donald trump is appealing it, but it means he will be sworn in as president later this month as a convicted felon. in a statement, his spokesman said...

that's a reference to the other criminal cases brought against mr trump after his first presidency, one involving claims he mishandled classified documents at his mar—a—lago home in florida and two relating to his alleged efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election and the subsequent january 6th riots at the us capitol building. for the most part, the cases have already been set aside since the usjustice department has a long—standing policy that a sitting president cannot face federal criminal prosecution. it all paves the way for a stunning turnaround in fortunes for donald trump, a second presidency free from the legal woes that once threatened to put him behind bars. peter bowes, bbc news. the republican congressman mike johnson has narrowly won re—election to the most powerful seat in the us house of representatives. mrjohnson was donald trump's

pick for house speaker but in a tense first round of voting, three fellow republicans cast ballots for someone else. at the very last minute, two of them switched their votes to support him, just before the gavel went down. let's take a listen. house will be in order. mr norman, johnson. mr self, johnson. applause and in his maiden speech, he thanked members of congress for re—electing him. today, my friends, our nation is the envy of the world. why? because we have been marked by a spirit and a people who are explicitly that. we are explicitly american. we do not try to be like other

nations and we recognise that a strong america is good for the entire world, and everybody around the globe knows that. that's right. 0ur north america correspondent rowan bridge sent this update from washington. this is always going to be a day of high drama and say it was. you can feel the tension in this area as their weights cited. at first it looked like my doctor was self through on the fuzz weights and ends if few of his critics voted against it. it was enough to get a few of them to hand —— doesn't this bigger �*s cover. it now holds the most important position in politics and he echoed up much of the american first and wish that donald trump is much of the campaign trail. this election means that donald trump is a key ally in a key position when it comes to pass partners legislation and is able to help push forward donald trump's agenda in 2025.

daniel lippman is white house reporter for politico. he told us his throughts on donald trump likely reaction to the sentencing date. he did not want this to be on his record, on his resume, for americans to be hearing about his extramarital affair, allegedly with stormy daniels. and so, i think it's embarrassing to his wife as well. melania, i think she's had years to get over it, but he did not. he thinks that this is a blemish on his record, or he would not be fighting this as hard. butjudge merchan said, hey, we can'tjust let people who were convicted in a jury to be scot free. when trump himself and the supreme court said, hey, you're not. they did not weigh on state charges. and so he said, there's no get

out ofjail free card in this instance. it's called an unconditional discharge. and so it's almost like a slap on the wrist. it's saying, hey, for people who are committing crimes like this in the future, which was business fraud charges and you're found guilty, you know, we're not going to wipe the slate clean for trump. we're not going to say this verdict in this conviction did not happen at all. and so in reality, he's not going to get prison time. he's not going to get probation time. he is not going to even get a fine. so he doesn't have to pay a penny to new york state taxpayers or the court system. but he will appeal this conviction, likely. and it may go all the way to the supreme court, and we'll have to see what they say. but for at least a certain amount of time, it looks likely that he will be a felon on day one, which is not what his voters would have wanted, especially since those federal charges went away and even after his presidency in four years, unlikely that he would go to jail again. and so, i think this is, you know, quite the history—making moment, but not the type of history he wants to be making.

funeral services honouring former us presidentjimmy carter will begin today following his death on sunday, aged 100. carter served as the 39th us president from 1977 to 1981, and is being remembered with a national day of mourning and state funeral onjanuary 9. a number of tributes will take place before then, starting today with a funeral procession from his home town of plains, georgia to the state's capital, atla nta. thomas higgins, who was deputy cabinet secretary in the carter white house told me more about what it was like to work for late president carter. it was the privilege of my life, of course, to work for him, to serve him in the white house. it was a tense time. i suspect it usually is in the white house, but for us at least, there was a lot going on. i always found president carter to be remarkably calm and disciplined, no matter what the crisis

was that we were dealing with. you know, he had kind of the soul of an engineer. he was very analytic, very disciplined, but he also had the heart of a true populist, an authentic populist who really was in touch with, with the average person, i think, owing largely to how he had been raised. a remarkable man. remarkable... um, you know, we were very, very proud to work for him. it's hard for us now, in the early part of the 21st century, maybe to fully appreciate what it meant to be born and reared in a very rural part of america, uh, a different pace of life entirely, but also very, very strong community bonds that crossed any class distinction. and carter had that. i mean, hejust...he got it

intuitively and could relate to people from every walk of life and see the larger issues. maybe that were at play in their life. there's a lot of fake populism in the world today, notjust in the united states, but in other places in europe, for example. and it's faux populism. it uses some of the language, but not really the policies that are important to people in their day to day life. carter was not one to wear anything like that on his sleeve. he just lived it. he was authentic. and, you know, ifound working with him, for example, that he didn't really care about the politics of any given situation we were in. he was a man of very firm principles, uh, and he lived by them. and if you didn't like them,

well, that was too bad for you. he did what he thought was the right thing to do. a british national has been named among the 1a people killed in the vehicle attack in new orleans on new year's day. london's metropolitan police says 31—year—old edward pettifer from chelsea in west london was among those killed. the uk foreign office says it's supporting his family. during the attack, a man in a pick—up truck drove through crowds on the city's bourbon street before being killed by police. an american college football player, a young nurse, and a mother of a 4 year—old were also among the victims. a warning this report from simonjones does contain some disturbing pictures. described by the fbi as "a premeditated and evil act," a pick—up truck driven into crowds. people running for safety, but 1a were killed and at least 39 others injured. among the dead was edward pettifer, who was 31 and from chelsea. in a statement, his relatives said: the metropolitan police in a statement,

his relatives said: the metropolitan police said officers from its counter—terrorism command were supporting mr pettifer�*s family. the new orleans coroner gave his cause of death as blunt force injuries. the driver, named by the fbi as shamsud—dinjabbar, was shot dead in a gunfight with the police. an islamic state flag was found inside his vehicle. he was a us army veteran. others who were killed include matthew tenedorio, an audio—visual technician, aspiring nurse nikyra dedeaux, hubert gauthreaux, who was 21, and university student kareem badawi, mother of one nicole perez, reggie hunter, described by his family as "being full of life" and

martin bech, a former american college football player. hubert gauthreaux�*s family visited bourbon street, the scene of the attack, their grief clear to see. and the former partner of reggie hunter paid tribute to him. it's devastating. this is my child's father and my son's 11 years old, so it is devastating to come and see what someone would do to other people and they don't deserve it. as the investigation continues, the police say family liaison officers are helping edward pettifer�*s family with the process of returning his body to the uk. simon jones, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news now. the families of israeli hostages held in gaza have welcomed a decision by prime minister benjamin netanyahu to resume indirect ceasefire talks with hamas in doha. hamas said discussions would focus on a complete end to hostilities. so far, israel has rejected any deal that guarantees a permanent end to the conflict before its war aims are achieved. the us has called for

a new agreement to achieve the release of the remaining israeli hostages. at least 13 people have been killed in a bus crash in colombia. it was travelling to a popular tourist area near the border with ecuador. 28 people were also injured in the crash. police say they're investigating whether a mechanical problem caused the bus to veer off the highway. dozens of soldiers from guatemala and el salvador have arrived in haiti to restore security and combat armed gangs. haiti has experienced a rise in violence, despite the presence of a un—backed international force. the soldiers willjoin the mission led by kenya, which sent nearly 400 police officers last year. since the multinational deployment, the un estimates that gangs have increased their control to about 85 percent of the capital port—au—prince. myanmar�*s military government says it'll release almost 6,000 prisoners, including 180 foreigners, under an amnesty marking the southeast asian country's independence day. myanmar has been in

turmoil since early 2021, when the military overthrew an elected civilian government and violently suppressed pro—democracy protests, sparking a nationwide armed rebellion. among those still imprisoned by the junta is the country's former leader, nobel laureate aung san suu kyi. the met office says large parts of the uk could face disruption from heavy snow and freezing rain this weekend. it has issued two amber weather warnings, predicting some areas could see up to a0 centimetres of snow and temperatures as low as minus ten celsius. the weather could lead to treacherous driving conditions, power cuts, and even some rural areas being cut off. joe inwood reports.

the conditions much of the uk are braced for have already hit parts of wales. snow and ice can bring rural areas to a standstill if you're not prepared. here in ceredigion, they're doing what they can. you have to look at the staffing levels to make sure that there are sufficient numbers of staff available to come in and make sure that the lorries go out there. and in terms of making sure that the rock salt is put on the road network that we have in place for ceredigion. the road network is vital to a lot of users. if its health service, if it's mainstream users, we need to make sure that, you know, we have procedures in place. it's a picture being repeated across the uk this weekend. a yellow warning for ice is in place for large parts of the country, with an amber warning for snow and ice coming infrom 6:00 pm. a yellow warning for snow covering most of scotland then comes in at midnight tomorrow until monday afternoon. while the snow is still on the horizon for many, the bitter cold is already here. it's a worrying time for care agencies who cover rural areas. many of those they look after, including pensioners who have lost their winter fuel payments, are not properly heating their homes.

we have had clients who have been afraid to put on their heating, because they can't afford to pay the bills. and if they're not warm, then we have to try and encourage them to put on the heating over this period. and if not, if they have hot water bottles, we will have to check the hot water bottles very carefully. are you sure you're 0k? but it's notjust those who are housebound who suffer in this weather. 0k, everybody, come on in. at the eastbourne salvation army, they've opened their doors to the homeless, providing beds and a hot meal. it's good to see you. but it's not every night, it's just when the temperature gets too low. and it really is physically so cold that we just want them to come in. we'd like to do it more, but financially we can't do

it as many. so we just do it as much as we can. for those taking shelter here, it is a literal lifeline. so without this place, probably i would be frozen right now. i so without some support - where you can actually maybe wash your clothes or like, i don't know, . take a shower or eat something, there is no way you are going. to survive for long. the advice as the temperatures drop is to stay inside only, travel if necessary, and look out for those who can't look out for themselves. joe inwood, bbc news. earlier, we spoke to our reporter, phil mccann, whojoined us from a library in warrington and brought us more on this. this is a warm hub. it's also the library here in padgate in warrington. but one day, every single week there is a library or a community space that is designated as a warm hub. and while this place is designated as a warm hub on saturdays, and that means that you can'tjust come here to look at the books, you can also get a cup of tea or coffee and, well, there's support on offer to people who are struggling.

but perhaps even more importantly than that, you can just come along and have a chat and get warm. ann marie works in the library here. ann marie, so when the warm hub is on here in a couple of hours, just tell me what's going to be happening and where. yeah, we normally have drinks for people, warm drinks, cold drinks for the children. um, and it's a nice, warm, welcoming space with comfortable chairs. you can access the services for free. we've got free access to the computers, books. it's going to be over here, isn't it? yes. over here. um, and we normally have, um, sort of, you know, the children can read the books, they can play board games, and they can actually access any it, um, and printing that they feel that they need at the time. and cheryl's from livewire, which is the body that runs the libraries here in warrington. um, and so just tell me about some of the things that you do for the people who come to the warmth...

well, first of all, actually just what's the atmosphere like? as you'll see from today, it's a really, really lovely atmosphere. it's dead friendly and informal. there's no pressure. come along, get a drink, chat to people, read a paper. you can be what you want to be when you come into the building as part of the warm hubs, or when you just come to a library at any time of the week. the things that we do, specifically during a warm—up session, is really around supporting people with some of the financial challenges that they might face at this time. because you can't have people coming here, of course, who are in very vulnerable situations. yeah, they're very, very vulnerable. very vulnerablem some of our users. so we'll invite partners over to come and support them and talk to them. so we've had united utilities come over to talk about how to make savings around energy to be more cost effective

with your household bills. we've also had the police come and do some talking to the community around staying safe during these periods of times, you know, to make _ sure that they've got a whole offer, to make sure that they're managing all the bills and to just to be safe during these challenging periods, really. all right. thanks. so this is just one of a whole network of places of warm hubs across the country that really sprung up after the pandemic in 2022. the big energy crisis, price crisis then that you might remember to give support to people. because later on tonight here and into midday tomorrow, there's going to be a severe weather warning for snow and ice here and exactly whatever falls from the sky. one thing we do know is that it will be very cold. and that, of course, is where places like this come in. eleanor stack is 0perations lead at the crisis & emergency response of the british red cross. she stresses the importance of being prepared for the cold snap. you always say stay informed. so however you get your information, the weather warning should be that trigger for for paying extra attention to whether it's travel advice or impact in terms of your local community, whether it might be advice from utilities companies. so weather warnings are those triggers. and then the next step

is to think about, well, how can i prepare for the weather that's coming? so do i need to get in extra food? do i need to think about my medicines? about stocking up in terms of power and resilience items like torches, chargers? is my community is susceptible to power outages? and then, also thinking about support. we heard that fantastic piece earlier about the warm hubs. and do i need to think about where i can find warm welcome spaces? how do i find that information and thinking about support that you might need, but also support that you might be able to offer other people, whether it's vulnerable family, friends, neighbours or other people in your community. we know, of course, that people worry enormously about heating their homes, particularly at this time of year. but there are some simple, inexpensive things that people can do. i mean, even moving your furniture, which hadn't occurred to me. exactly. and on on our website at redcross.org.co.uk,

we've got some very simple, cost—effective tips, but there are, just as you say, if if you have particular draughts in your home, things you could do, just roll up a towel, pop that against where the draughts coming in and opening your curtains in the morning to let any any warmth come in from the sunshine, closing them as soon as it starts to get dark, and thinking about how you're layering your clothing rather than just wearing big chunky bits, layer your clothing, but also thinking about if you are struggling with heating your home. hot water bottles is a nice, simple way of keeping yourself as warm as possible in these times. you mentioned travel. the temptation is to think, well, i'll nip out. it'll be ok. but your advice would be think carefully. absolutely. and the met office advice on this is very clear. um, when we're seeing the timings of those weather warnings, please, unless it's critical, stay at home, stay safe. 0nly travel if absolutely necessary. and if you do need to travel, think about how equipped is your vehicle and do you know which roads the met office, or the travel authorities are recommending? and think about if you're having to travel with young people or people with vulnerabilities and the impact on them.

so please take on board all the advice before you even think about travelling anywhere. when we think of the red cross, it's often about emergencies and disasters abroad where we see your colleagues overseas very much in evidence. but obviously you're the british red cross. how are your response teams going to be working this weekend? well, as you as you say, we are the british red cross. 0ur uk operations teams and our emergency response teams are on standby this weekend and actually already deployed in london last night. 0ur teams were deployed helping those who do not have the luxury of any shelter in homeless centres in southwark last night, but whether it's from shetland to cornwall, enniskillen to norfolk, our emergency response teams are on standby to work alongside local authorities, emergency services and other voluntary community sector organisations to help people support them

and respond where we're needed. and just a final piece of advice... if people are at home, the temptation when you're cold is to sort of huddle down. but actually moving might be counterintuitive but sensible. if able to do so, please keep moving and keep yourself warm, fit, and active as much as possible. that's not an option for everyone. so again, if if you need more advice, look on our website to see what the advice is. but really keep as active as possible. keep keep your body moving and try and keep. think about all the different things that you can keep warm this weekend while we brace ourselves for the impact of this weather. the bbc news website has a live

page “p the bbc news website has a live page up and running and will tell you all about what is forecast in different parts of the country and in particular, which areas are under those amber and yellow weather warnings for ice and snow. also, a really interesting explanation of what freezing rain looks like and how it occurs. rather different from snow and rather dangerous too. this is bbc news. hello. the wintry weather through this weekend could well cause some significant disruption. the met office have issued amber warnings across parts of england and wales for snow and for ice too. we could see problems on the roads, the rail network, perhaps the airports, potential for power cuts as well. so do be prepared for some disruptive weather, particularly tonight into tomorrow. we've got a couple of amber warnings, the first one for wales into the midlands for snow and ice,

valid from 6pm. 9pm then a second amber warning comes into force across northern england for heavy snowfall. for the here and now, though, we're in a cold air mass. relatively quiet conditions at first, but milder air is working in from the south—west, along with these weather fronts. they're initially going to be falling as rain, quickly turning to snow as that system pushes its way northwards and eastwards. so there's the rain just lurking in the wings, pushing into the south—west of england through the middle part of the afternoon, turning to snow, certainly over the higher ground. to the north and east of that, a drier picture for much of the day. a bit of sunshine across eastern scotland, north—east england too, but feeling really chilly, just freezing across parts of eastern scotland. let's turn our attention to the afternoon, when that rain turns to snow as it pushes across wales. some snowfall for kent, london, for instance, could be up to 30cm for the highest ground in wales and the peak district, but potential for 40cm of snow across the northern pennines. so significant disruption to those higher routes, i think, across the pennines, through this evening and overnight as well. these are the temperatures as we start sunday.

still really cold for many of us, but milder in the south—west. so any snow in the south turns back to rain quickly through tomorrow morning. it's going to be really mild. blustery with rain showers in the south, but more snow continuing to pile up across the pennines, the southern uplands, could be some snow for the mourne mountains in northern ireland as well. to the north—west of that, sunshine and wintry showers. still some icy conditions on offer, but further south, very mild indeed. 12,13 degrees for some of us, southern england and wales. contrast that to just 2 or 3 across parts of scotland, so real contrast in temperature. mild air not with us for very long, gets cleared away towards the east through monday. by tuesday, the doors are open again for that arctic blast of cold air to move in right across the uk. so some really disruptive weather through the weekend. into next week, it does look a little bit drier and brighter, but temperatures still remaining on the chilly side. bye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ajudge has ordered donald trump to be sentenced on 10th january in his hush—money case in new york, less than two weeks before he is set to be sworn in as president. but new yorkjustice juan merchan has signalled that he won't send him to prison. weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued for parts of the uk. the met office says heavy snow over the weekend could affect travel. the most severe warnings cover northern england, the midlands and much of wales. teenage darts sensation luke littler makes history, becoming the youngest ever world darts champion at age 17.

stargazers around the globe were treated to a stunning celestial scene on friday as venus appeared shining brightly above a crescent moon. the planet was visible to the naked eye from the uk to the us, turkey and china. this is bbc news. hello, i'm martine croxall. let's return now to the weather situation here in the uk now. amber and yellow weather warnings for snow and ice are in place for england and wales this weekend, with heavy snow and icy rain forecast. for more on this now, i'm joined by our weather presenter louise lear. it is serious stuff when there is an amberwarning. it is serious stuff when there is an amber warning. it is, the middle tier, so we could go red, it is unlikely at the moment, but amber red, it is unlikely at the moment, butamberwarnings moment, but amber warnings really moment, butamberwarnings really need to be taken serious consideration and they start from six o'clock this evening,

so six o'clock this