first up is the taoiseach, leo varadkar.rliament with references to your‘s big figures past and present and threw his support behind a pet project of many meps — european white candidates for the parliamentary elections. white candidates for the parliamentary electionslj white candidates for the parliamentary elections. i support a europewide list of the european parliament. i would like to get people in cafes in naples and restau ra nts people in cafes in naples and restaurants in galway talking about the same election choices. perhaps thatis the same election choices. perhaps that is an ambitious idea but i think it is one we should strive for. the eu needed to be ambitious too about security, cutting the cost of medicine, helping the rest of the world. but there were limits to integration. all future holds, europe needs to be competitive economically. and one of the ways to ensure this is by allowing competition among member states. and i think this is particularly important for peripheral and less developed countries. wh

leo varadkar there.ull. hundreds of people have been turning up to see it on a disused bridge. the artist appeared to confirm it's his work on social media, although not everyone is happy about it. matthew bone has the story. the bankside area of hull is no stranger to graffiti, but this latest addition is a little different. the artwork certainly looks like a banksy, and the artist seemed to confirm its identity on social media. it's caused a lot of interest. this is a quiet, old industrial part of hull, but ever since rumours of the banksy appeared last night, a steady stream of people have come here today to check it out for themselves. it's really good. fantastic. i also like the way that the writing in it is like writing that's on a chalkboard or in a school, like when you see that sort of thing. i like his shoes. i think he has got a nice pair of shoes on. you've got to wear a nice pair of shoes, haven't you, rosie? of the hundreds of people who have come along to see it, gavin is more excited than

leo varadkar says he will campaign for liberalizing abortion which is forbidden by the nation's constitutions suggest a majority in favor of reform. the russian billionaire billionaire and chelsea football club owner roman abramovich has been named on u.s. treasury list targeting russian elites for possible sanctions igor sachin the c.e.o. of the state owned oil company ross nafta's also on that list that names two hundred other tycoons with ties to the kremlin well later tonight u.s. president doll trump is set to deliver his very first state of the union address throughout today will be taking a look at some of his policies like his stance on so-called dreamers children of undocumented migrants who are living in the u.s. illegally the president has suggested he is open to protecting these seven hundred thousand dreamers but in return donald trump wants the senate to approve billions of dollars and border security funding this move has some latinos questioning their support for the president just five miles from the white house it's lunch time that poor rico restaurant a favorite spot for th

she's become a robust parliamentary adversary of the prime minister, leo varadkar.ers to talk about the present rather than the past. as well as being the second biggest party here in northern ireland, it is also now the third largest in the republic. the first challenge for mary lou mcdonald will be negotiations to restore power sharing with unionists at stormont. but in the coming years, she'll be talking a lot about brexit, which republicans believe has changed the picture and renewed the debate about irish unity. chris page, bbc news, belfast. the international olympic committee has approved plans for north korea to participate at next month's winter olympics, and agreed teams from north and south can march under the same flag at the opening ceremony. the agreement comes over months of heightened tension on the korean peninsula over the testing of nuclear weapons by north korea. imogen foulkes reports from ioc headquarters in the swiss city of lausanne. two koreas face—to—face, as the 7-7 tension on 1; two koreas face—to—face, as the 7-7 tension on if korean pen

leo varadkar had previously said the laws were "too restrictive".ace this summer on whether to repeal a constitutional amendment that effectively bans terminations. the entire us gymnastics board is to resign because of its handling of the sex abuse scandal involving the former team doctor, larry nassar. the country's olympic committee had threatened to strip the organisation of its powers if the directors failed to stand down. nassar has been given a prison sentence of up to 175 years for abusing more than 150 female gymnasts. peter bowes reports. as larry nassar begins to what amounts to a life sentence, the fallout from the abuse scandal has been swift and decisive. the entire board of usa gymnastics has gone and there have been other resignations too. mark hollis was the athletic director at michigan state university when nassar worked there. he and another official have decided to quit. it's been an absolute honour to guide the athletic department for the last decade. that being said, today i'm announcing my retirement. i'm not running away fro

the programme, we'll be backin and later in the programme, we'll be back in davos to hear from leo varadkarirish prime minister. the entire board of the us gymnastics authority is to resign in the wake of the scandal involving former team doctor, larry nassar. on wednesday, he was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 150 female gymnasts. earlier i spoke to our correspondent, peter bowes in los angeles. he said the resignations were no surprise. usa gymnasics were put under pressure by the us olympic committee that presented them with an ultimatum. and that was if the board members did not all resign, well, the body would be stripped of its power to run gymnastics in the usa. it did not take long before the announcement was made that the remaining board members, five of them, had already resigned, in the wake of what happened over the past week. they have now all decided to resign and they will be replaced with interim members over the coming months. us gymnastics has also been told that it must co—operate with an independent investigation into what has happe

she's become a robust parliamentary adversary of the prime minister, leo varadkar.s continuing to defend the ira campaign, but it prefers to talk about the present rather than the past. as well as being the second biggest party here in northern ireland, it is also now the third largest in the republic. the first challenge for mary lou mcdonald will be negotiations to restore power sharing with unionists at stormont. but in the coming years, she'll be talking a lot about brexit, which republicans believe has changed the picture and renewed the debate about irish unity. chris page, bbc news, belfast. six women from the british army have become the largest all—female group to ski coast—to—coast across antarctica. the ice maiden team began the 1000—mile expedition on november 20. they've been battling winds of up to 60 mph and temperatures as low as —40. breaking news this hour, the siege in kabulat breaking news this hour, the siege in kabul at the intercontinental hotel has ended according to newswi res. hotel has ended according to newswires. you are looking at live

the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has said he will campaign for ireland's abortion law to be liberalisedhether to repeal an amendment of the irish constitution which in effect bans terminations. mr varadkar was at the world economic forum this week, where he took a break from trade talks to set out his plans to the bbc‘s mishal husain. as i've said on many occasions, i believe ireland's abortion laws are too restrictive and need to be liberalised. we do however, unlike other countries, have a constitutional ban on abortion, in our constitution. and the only way we can change our constitution is by referendum. so we'll have that referendum hopefully this summer, and we shall be in a position to make a decision on that in government next week. so, when you say they are too tight, are you saying you will be campaigning for the abortion laws to be relaxed? i will be campaigning for them to be changed and to be liberalised, yes. ok, because you said in 2014 that you were pro—life. so your view has changed since then? i suppose, in that period, it's fair to say that my own views on this matter

she's become a robust parliamentary adversary of the prime minister, leo varadkar.nks to the ira and sinn fein is continuing to defend the ira campaign, but it prefers to talk about the present rather than the past. as well as being the second biggest party here in northern ireland, it is also now the third largest in the republic. the first challenge for mary lou mcdonald will be negotiations to restore power sharing with unionists at stormont. but in the coming years, she'll be talking a lot about brexit, which republicans believe has changed the picture and renewed the debate about irish unity. chris page, bbc news, belfast. pope francis has celebrated a huge outdoor mass in peru's northwest coastal region of trujillo, which was badly hit by floods last year leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless. from there, the pope will head for lima, the final stop on his week—long south american tour. mend ,dedicatitm and t e, ,dedicatitm and $4.32]; byi :§ an ,dedicatitm and $4.32]; byi zjég an estimated ,dedicatitm and $4.32]; byi _v:§ an estimated 200,000 the se

leo varadkar had previously said the laws were "too restrictive".is summer on whether to repeal a constitutional amendment that effectively bans terminations. the prime minister has welcomed a landmark ruling by trade authorities in the us, overturning a decision to impose huge tariffs on planes which are partly built in the uk. the aerospace firm bombardier won a surprise victory in its dispute with the american company boeing, about selling its passenger jets to us airlines. the wings for the planes are manufactured in belfast, as our ireland correspondent, chris page, reports. workers, politicians and business leaders had feared one of bombardier‘s biggest projects would be grounded. the firm in belfast has 4,000 employees and a quarter of them work on the c series jet. but the programme was under threat after boeing claimed it was unfairly subsidised because of financial help from the canadian and british governments. the authorities in washington initially proposed to impose tariffs ofjust under 300% on imports of the c series. but last night,

leo varadkar had previously said the laws were "too restrictive".r on whether to repeal a constitutional amendment that effectively bans pregnancy terminations. new research suggests that plastic found in many second—hand toys could pose a risk to children's health, as it doesn't meet current safety standards. scientists tested 200 used plastic toys they found in nurseries, charity shots and homes for nine hazardous elements. twenty toys had traces of all nine elements, with some concentrations high enough to fail european standards. earlier my colleague nick owen spoke to dr andrew turner, who was behind that research. i started by asking him what kind of toys we should be concerned about. we are talking about toys which were manufactured before the original european toy safety directive, which was 1994. we are looking at chemicals which have toxicities over a sustained period of time. the risk is ingestion or exposure to these very small quantities over a period of time. he wouldn't have any immediate, let's say, physical signs, but the impact cou

leo varadkar had previously said the laws were "too restrictive".r on whether to repeal a constitutional amendment that effectively bans terminations. paris is on alert as the level of the river seine has continued to creep higher, with forecasters warning the river could stay high throughout next week. the river could stay high throughout next week. leaks have started to appear in some basements, while many residents on the city's outskirts have been forced to travel by boat through waterlogged streets. our correspondent kevin connolly reports. first, some live images from paris. the river is creeping up those steps. people have been coming to these steps just to see how far the water is rising. our correspondent was saying earlier that, really, the full picture will be known late tonight as to whether it will actually rise high enough to flood the streets. this is the live image coming to us from paris of the fast flowing and very full river seine, as you can see. our correspondent kevin connolly reports. on patrol on the rising waters of the rive

leo varadkar had previously said the laws were "too restrictive".m will take place this summer on whether to repeal a constitutional amendment that effectively bans terminations. one of the world's richest men held an anti—corruption drive, has been freed. meanwhile, saudi billionaire prince alwaleed bin talal, who was also detained in the crackdown says he too expects to be cleared of wrongdoing and released. it is believed a financial settle m e nt it is believed a financial settlement was agreed in return for his release. the prime minister has welcomed a landmark ruling by trade authorities in the us, overturning a decision to impose huge tariffs on planes which are partly built in the uk. the aerospace firm bombardier won a surprise victory in its dispute with the american company boeing, about selling its passenger jets to us airlines. the wings for the planes are manufactured in belfast, as our ireland correspondent, chris page, reports. workers, politicians and business leaders had feared one of bombardier‘s biggest projects would be grounde

leo varadkar had previously said the laws were "too restrictive".ummer on whether to repeal a constitutional amendment that effectively bans pregnancy terminations. paris is on alert as the level of the river seine has continued to creep higher, with forecasters warning the river could stay high throughout next week. leaks have started to appear in some basements, while many residents on the city's outskirts have been forced to travel by boat through waterlogged streets. our correspondent kevin connolly reports. on patrol on the rising waters of the river seine. a police launch on the front line of the flood defences of paris. water levels are expected to peak this weekend. tourist boats are tied up. they can't pass under the bridges on the swollen waters, leaving tourists to make the best of things. it's scary, because you don't know when it's going to stop. i'm not really worried. i think we have reached the maximum for the moment. i mean, it's natural, for the moment you have strange things going on on the planet. for me, that's natural and i don

the hold a referendum on reforming the country's near complete ban on abortion prime minister leo varadkar says he will campaign for a change in the vote at the end of may arland currently has some of the strictest support for malls in europe all suggest a majority in favor of reform of course romania has sworn in its first female prime minister amidst the wave of anti corruption protests eureka on c.l.a became the third had of government within a year european union has criticised new legislation which opponents claim will make it harder to prosecute high level corruption while later today u.s. president donald trump will deliver his very first state of the union address laying out his government's agenda for the year ahead ok let's have a look now at some of the key issues the president is likely to address on trade it is of course america first staring his speech at the world economic forum in davos trump said that the american economy remains his top priority and that the nation was open for business. but america for years does not mean america alone when the united states so does the

island's prime minister leo varadkar says they'll be a referendum at the end of may on whether to reform the country's near total ban on abortions you know drought has says he will come paying for a full every single right and currently has the strictest abortion laws in europe. cokers schumann a holocaust survivor and one of germany's most celebrated jazz musicians has died in berlin at the age of ninety three schumann who survived time in a concentration camp and a prison is death march said that music had saved his life. the diesel scandal deepens take a long deep breath reports out today that german call make has tested dirty diesel take on humans but also coming up one step closer on the road to nailing down not to report on progress when it comes to key sticking point. british caffeine out explain where breaks it might mean your favorite coffee barrister's to go hope. this is your business update i'm going to hold free in berlin great to have you with us superfluous repulsive absurd and inexcusable that is just some of the reaction to newspaper reports that the german called giants