he points the finger at arklow for that contract cancellation.it really a good time to further the insult the irish? this transport secretary's approach to transport and wider brexit contingency planning is off the richter scale of incompetence. and for the good of the nation, and for the sake of some resemblance of faith to be restored in this shambolic government, shouldn't he now long last do the decency and go? well, mr speaker, i have to say that the honourable gentlemen brings a new meaning to the words utter hogwash. does my right honourable friend share my disappointment that arklow shipping, a very major irish shipping company of port and main backers of seaborne, have pulled away from this contract? but can he give assurances to counsel and local taxpayers that the cost of brexit contingency planning by keeping a state of readiness, that we are all happy to do, will not fall upon local taxpayers? mr speaker, i have to say that i share my honourable friend's disappointment. we are spending a lot of money on contingency planning in kent a

i don't know the commercial reasons why arklow have pulled out.eady for brexit resilience. however the cash—strapped local authority is considering a cut to the port's funding which might prevent a ferry service starting in the future. rob young, bbc news. and before we go, i want to show you some pictures we've had in from chile which has been hit by heavy rain in the past few days. this is the moment a waterfall was re—activated by a torrent of rain. the atacama desert is normally one of the driest places on earth and the 60 metre waterfall had run dry for ten years. a lot of dirt in that waterfall. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @regedahmadbbc. i'll be back at the top of the hour with a full bulletin. now on bbc news, a special edition of global questions from rome. with brexit approaching, will the remaining nations of the european union bind themselves together ever more closely, or are there insurmountable fault lines that will continue to divide europe? hello, and welcome to roma, the eternal city. it is a city steeped in romantic history

it is thought that backer, arklow shipping, has withdrawn for commercial reasons.services haven't operated from ramsgate since 2013. the government hopes the port could offer extra capacity should dover become clogged after brexit. so it is still possible ferries will once again sail from here. the department for transport says it's in advanced talks with other companies to supply freight services. with less than two months to go until brexit timing is tight. robjoined us from ransgate, to talk about the reaction from the town. well, the decision to award a £14 million contract to a shipping company that had no ships was controversial from the start. critics derided the government for doing that, some in the town say that this decision to end the contract was perhaps inevitable. the local authority is considering cutting the amount of money it gives to the port, because it says it is strapped for cash, if it does decide do that, the decision it may take in the next month or so, that may mean at some point in the future it would be impossible for ferry services to r

i don't know the commercial reasons why arklow have pulled out.e this port is ready for brexit resilience. however the cash—strapped local authority is considering a cut to the port's funding which might prevent a ferry service starting in the future. rob young, bbc news. our political correspondent, iain watson, is in westminster for us this evening. pretty strong political fallout on this? if you are to award a contract toa this? if you are to award a contract to a ferry company that has no ferries this was always going to be contentious. labour are calling for chris grayling to go this evening and privately some conservative mps agree for the buck downing street say that the prime minister still has full confidence in the transport secretary. but this is again putting the spotlight on the government preparations for no deal. the institute for government saying that now preparations for a no—deal brexit cannot be limited to minor disruption. there are a range of government ministers meeting with their continental counterparts in their continenta

i don‘t know the commercial reasons why arklow have pulled out. which might prevent a ferry service starting in the future. rob young, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster for us this evening. what‘s the political fallout to today‘s news? well when you award a contract to a ferry company that simply does not have any ferries and so it was a lwa ys have any ferries and so it was always going to be politically contentious so no surprise that labour tonight is calling for the transport secretary chris grayling to resign. they say the contract being cancelled is a humiliation. of course he has survived other controversies including his handling of the real timetable fiasco and tonight downing street instead of the confidence in him. but there‘s puts the spotlight back on the government reparations for a no deal scenarios about independent institute for government has suggested it was just too late now to have only been disruption if this happens and mps who are quite relaxed about the idea of leaving the with no deal are

i don't know the commercial reasons why arklow have pulled out.e cash—strapped local authority is considering a cut to the port's funding which might prevent a ferry service starting in the future. rob young, bbc news. in turkey, the president visited fit them is in hospital and the funeral of people who lost their lives in the accident. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: if sliding down a mountain standing on skis isn't tricky enough — try doing it sitting down — our intrepid correspondent shows us how. there's mr mandela. mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'baby doc' duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse

i don't know the commercial reasons why arklow have pulled out.is port is ready for brexit resilience. however the cash—strapped local authority is considering a cut to the port's funding which might prevent a ferry service starting in the future. rob young, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is at westminster. he explained what the political fallout has been to today's news. i guess, if you could award a contract i guess, if you could award a co ntra ct to i guess, if you could award a contract to a ferry company with no ferries of its own this was all was going to be critically contentious but labour privately agreeing with them. downing street says the prime minister has full confidence in the transport secretary. this episode is once again putting the spotlight in the government ‘s preparation for no deal. some suggesting the effect of no deal must not be disruptive. an attempt to get a deal, michel barnier is being visited on another range of meetings with continental counterparts. the unofficial deadline is the end of the mont

i don't know the commercial reasons why arklow have pulled out.or brexit resilience. however the cash—strapped local authority is considering a cut to the port's funding which might prevent a ferry service starting in the future. rob young, bbc news. the left—wing democratic senator, elizabeth warren, has announced that she's standing for the us presidency in 2020. mrs warren, a former law professor at harvard university, is expected to make the fight against economic inequality the centrepiece of her campaign. she's been speaking at a rally in the city of lawrence in her home state of massachusetts — at the site of a historic labour strike in 1912 that was led by women and immigrants. look at any other major issue in america. gun violence. student loan debt. the crushing cost of health care. mistreatment of our veterans. a broken criminaljustice system. an immigration system that lacks common sense and under this administration lacks a conscience. cheering and applause. 0verwhelming majorities of americans want action. huge crowds march on washin

i don't know the commercial reasons why arklow have pulled out.ce. however the cash—strapped local authority is considering a cut to the port's funding which might prevent a ferry service starting in the future. rob young, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is at westminster — he explained what the political fallout has been. i guess, if you could award a contract to a ferry company that has got no ferries of its own this was always going to be politically contentious, but labour are calling for chris grayling to go this evening and privately some conservatives mps agree with them. nonetheless downing street says that the prime minister still has full confidence in the transport secretary. but i think this whole episode is once again putting a spotlight on the government's preparation for no deal. for example, the independent institute for government has suggested that now the effect of no deal cannot be simply limited to minor disruption. so there's going to be a renewed attempt to try to get a deal, by government ministers. the br

i don't know the commercial reasons why arklow have pulled out.lience. however the cash—strapped local authority is considering a cut to the port's funding which might prevent a ferry service starting in the future. rob young, bbc news. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: artwork by adolf hitler went under the hammer today — the auction sparked outrage, but none of the paintings sold. we'll be live in the netherlands to find out more. a free man taking his first steps into a new south africa. ayatollah khamenei has passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many must say is blasphemous. the people of haiti. because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the central block. he was driven when a that the thieves thieves brought with them. they stepped down from a plane the figure in one, elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc world news today. the latest headli

he points the finger is at arklow for the contract, mr speaker, is it really is the time to further insultforces so britain can redefine its role in the world after brexit. he said a bolder and stronger military was needed, ready to use its power — or risk being seen as a paper tiger. a teenager has gone on trial accused of abducting, raping and murdering six—year—old alesha macphail on the isle of bute. her body was discovered in woodland last july. a 16—year—old boy — who can't be named because of his age — denies the charges at glasgow high court. president trump will travel to el paso in texas today, to hold his first rally of the new year. he has controversially claimed that the city's 78—mile border fence with mexico is the reason why crime rates have fallen in the city. it's just four days before the us government is due to shut down again, if there is no agreement on funding for a wall that extends right across the border. our correspondent gary o'donoghue reports. this is the fence that transformed el paso from one of the most violent cities in america to one of the safest or at l

it is thought that backer, arklow shipping, has withdrawn for commercial reasons.from ramsgate since 2013. the government hopes the port could offer extra capacity should dover become clogged after brexit. so it is still possible ferries will once again sail from here. the department for transport says it's in advanced talks with other companies to supply freight services. with less than two months to go until brexit, timing is tight. rob joins us now from ramsgate. rob — what's the latest? the decision to award a £14 million contract the decision to award a £14 million co ntra ct to the decision to award a £14 million contract to a shipping canteen —— company that had no ships was controversial from the start. critics derided the government for doing that. some in the times said this decision to end the contract was inevitable. the local authority is considering cutting the amount of money it gets to the port because it says it is strapped for cash. if it does do this, the decision could be taken in the next month, that might —— might mean it could be impossible f

it is thought that backer arklow shipping has withdrawn for commercial reasons.rry services haven't operated from ramsgate since 2013. the government hopes the port could offer extra capacity should dover become clogged after brex. so it is still possible ferries will stale from here. the department for transport says it in talks with other companies to supply service, with less than two months to go until brex timing is the owner of topshop paid a female employee more than £1 million to keep quiet after she accused him of kissing and groping her. the daily telegraph says the senior female employee , which it hasn't named for legal reasons , was one of five members of staff , who signed gagging orders after being bullied or harassed , by sir philip green. chi chi izundu has more. aggressive and intimidating. sexual harassment and racism. both are the accusations making headline news on the front of the telegraph newspaper. details of the allegations against sir philip green one of britain's best known businessman involving five employees we re businessman involvi

company, which had no ships and no experience in the sector, parted with its backer, irish company arklowyling had said no public money had been spent during the process, but a report from the national audit 0ffice revealed it had cost £800,000 in consultancy fees. the secretary of state may wish to argue that you got this £100,000 worth since echoes of to come back with findings, including that seaborne freight presented steve get execution risks and that a basic blush test was the most that could be carried out on the company's financials. which of these two findings did secretary find it most reassuring when deciding to go with seaborne freight? the bit i found reassuring was that we had a contract with there was no upfront commitment to taxpayers and we paid nothing towards service and delivery. this secretary of state is never wrong reasonably. what about the multiple transport and justice contracts come of the book balance business, court fees it puts the innocent to plead guilty and catastrophic privatisation and perversion of prisons. his ongoing presence in government makes an in

he points the finger at arklow but isn't this a distraction from this decision? the contract to seaborne. his personal intervention to hold the vote last thursday has compounded those losses. two days later he pulls the plug on seaborne leaving the council i jay with mounting plug on seaborne leaving the council ijay with mounting losses. tax payers face a legal bill so can she say how much cancelling the contract will cost the taxpayer and specifically the costs incurred in his own department? he simply cannot keep blaming others for his own mistakes stop this decision sits squarely with him. this transport secretaries approach to transport and contingency planning is off the richter scale of incompetence. and for the good of the nation and for the sake of some semblance of faith being restored to this shambolic government, shouldn't he know do the decent thing and go? the honourable gentleman brings a new meaning to the word hogwash. he clearly wasn't listening when i said we have spent no money on this contract. my department is doing a lot of work on your dea

clear that the company would not be able to meet its contractual requirements after another company, arklowegedly withdrew its support for seaborne freight. what the government is saying is that it is 110w government is saying is that it is now in the advanced stages of looking at a number of other companies to cope with additional freight capacity in the event of a no—deal brexit. it could be tricky though. we have already had concerns from the council in ramsgate that the airport won't be ready by the end of march and also the mayor of ostend in belgium has said his port won't be ready by the end of march to cope with a new very light being set up. 0k, thank you for explaining all about. just over a thousand stabbing victims, aged between ten and 19, spent at a least one night in hospital in the 12 months to last march. there's been a 54% rise in the number of young people treated for knife wounds in england over the past five years, according to nhs figures. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw reports. the youngest victim to die in a knife attack this year, jaden moodie, was stabbe

and that that has happened because another company, who we were not really aware lower —— whereof, arklowir hacking off the seaborne freight deal. the mayoral ostend has said he is port won't be ready to support a new very line. —— the mayor. there been concerns raised in govett as well. it is in advanced stages of negotiating with other companies to provide additional freight service in the event of a no—deal brexit. never have negotiations been so crucial. thank you very much, jon donnison there. we stay with brexit. theresa may continued her efforts to secure a brexit deal, meeting the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, in dublin last night to discuss her hopes of securing changes to the agreement. the irish government insisted the talks were not part of the official eu negotiations and the meeting was described by sources as "very warm". we're joined now by our political correspondent matthew cole. good morning, matthew. she had, what was it, it was a dinner, officially, and there were various clues as to what they would or would not be talking about. are we any the wiser this mornin