clive coleman, bbc news.ocket launch since a dramatic failure in october. two astronauts from the us and canada and a russian cosmonaut lifted off from kazakhstan, this time without incident. 0ctober‘s aborted trip saw two cosmonauts forced to make an emergency landing just minutes after take—off. england will host the uefa women's european championships in 2021. the tournament will be played at eight venues across the country, with wembley stadium used for the final. 16 teams will take part, and england will qualify automatically as hosts. her visit nine years ago had a profound impact on many of those she got to meet and now former first lady michelle 0bama is returning to london to to be reunited with some of the schoolgirls who described her as an inspiration back in 2009. mrs 0bama, who's just published her memoirs, will be speaking at an event in front of nearly 3,000 people. our community affairs correspondent adina campbell reports. i like michelle 0bama because she's a strong woman. to see her succee

clive coleman, bbc news.derbyshire with what she's got coming up in her programme at 10:00am: good morning. join us at 10am with our audience here in birmingham eight days before one of the most significant votes in the history of our country takes place in the house of commons. as you know mps vote a week tomorrow on whether to accept or reject the prime minister's brexit deal. those mps who will be taking that momentous decision are your public servants. we will ask our audience, gathered here in this cash and carry in birmingham, and you, where ever you are around the uk, how do you want your mp to vote? send us an e—mail at victoria.bbc.co.uk. use the hash tag victoria live and join us at 10am on bbc two, the bbc news channel and online. now it's time for a look at the weather. we can cross the newsroom to sarah keith lucas. mixed bag out there today. this picture comes from north yorkshire. some clear blue skies, cloud around and the cloud is thickening from the west as we have this area of rain. it has

but first to our legal correspondent clive coleman is in westminster. most significant for you? when lawyers are asked to give legal advice, they are asked to speak frankly and i think many people will conclude that the language and tone of this legal advice is far more stark and frank than the government's presentation of the legal implications of the withdrawal agreement. in particular in relation to the northern ireland backstop, these words, despite statements in these words, despite statements in the protocol that it is not intended to be permanent, and the clear intention by the parties that it should be replaced by alternative permanent arrangements, in international law, the protocol would injure, indefinitely, untila superseding agreement takes its place. there it is in black and white. and in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the backstop will continue indefinitely. the uk can't force the eu to conclude that kind of agreement. essentially what i think that does, it punctures the government's optimism on that issue, whereas article 5

clive coleman, bbc news. to speak at an event in front of almost 3,000 people. among the guests will be some pupils from a south london girls school. our community affairs correspondent adina campbell has been talking to them. i like host because she is a strong woman. she makes me feel like i can also succeed in life —— i like michelle 0bama. michelle 0bama. michelle 0bama. michelle 0bama is not only beautiful on the outside but she is beautiful on the outside but she is beautiful on the outside but she is beautiful on the inside, too. we have secured what many say is a golden ticket, to write these girls will be in the same room as michelle 0bama. has it sunkin same room as michelle 0bama. has it sunk in yet? when i told my mum, she was so jealous. she was so excited, we told everyone. we were so excited, i couldn't believe it. literally. i feel special right now because i'm going to meet michelle 0bama. i know lots of people aren't going to get that opportunity.” 0bama. i know lots of people aren't going t

clive coleman, bbc news.imate talks begin in poland they're described as the most critical since the 2015 paris agreement. the deal is the deal and i will see it through. theresa may says she still expects to be prime minister in two weeks' time — even if she loses the brexit vote in the commons. oliver robbins, the top civil servant who's been advising theresa may on brexit, tells mps that the irish backstop is not the future relationship either the uk or the eu want. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. thomas cook shares are down almost another 20% today. you might remember that last week the travel firm warned that profits would be weaker than expected this year. that was its second profit warning in two months. since last week's warning, shares have plunged almost 50%. crisis on our high streets — figures compiled by bbc news suggest 40,000 jobs have been lost or put at risk in the retail sector this year. qatar has announced it is pulling out of the organisation of oil exporting countries —

clive coleman, bbc news., northumberland and we are introducing you to the bbc breakfast bin. the idea is that one family will collect all that plastic rubbish for one month to see how much they will collate. why are you doing this? we need to see how much we use in one month instead of throwing it in the bin. we need to see how much we are going through. it's see how much we are going through. it‘s under way. let‘s get some of the plastic in now. the month of december has yielded this much plastic and it‘s only a few days. it's plastic and it‘s only a few days. it‘s quite chilling. more later. first, the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news, i‘m sonja jessup. the mayor sadiq khan has warned the number of met police officers will drop to its lowest level since 2002 unless hundreds of millions of pounds in new funding can be secured. city hall claims as things stand, scotland yard is required to make a further £335 million worth of savings over the next three years. that‘s

clive, thank you very much, clive coleman.f political correspondent vicki young... an interesting premises questions, brexit hardly came up forjeremy corbyn. he went in a different direction, and the issue in labour circles was that universal credit is in some ways more meaningful to people's lives than the brexit debate, but i think this was still some surprise with the difficulties the government is in and with those votes being lost, he didn't even mention it in any sense at all. so that debate on the brexit withdrawal agreement is going on today, the second day of course of that. people still feeling that the numbers are not swinging behind theresa may in the way she would have wanted at this point before that vote on tuesday, and there are certainly mps coming up with plan b. one of them is oliver letwin, the senior conservative backbencher. what do you think should happen if theresa may's deal does not get voted through on tuesday, what would you like to see happen? the first thing to make clear, i am going to be voting