ed thomas, bbc news, burnley.hing to do with the poisoning in august of the prominent kremlin critic alexei navalny. mr putin said if they'd been behind the attack on mr navalny, who's still recuperating, they would have finished the job. president putin was appearing at his annual news conference in moscow. steve rosenberg went along and spoke to the kremlin leader. this was something new. video conferencing with vladimir. due to the coronavirus pandemic, for his annual end of year news conference, russia's president took social distancing to the extreme and stayed at home. forfour and a half hours, journalists competed for a chance to ask the kremlin leader a question. he speaks russian. mr president, i ask, after 20 years in power, don't you accept at least some responsibility for the new cold war between russia and the west? or are the russian authorities squea ky—clean? translation: i feel responsible for what is going on in russia, for its people, and i will do everything in the interests of russia. as for b

ed thomas, bbc news, burnley. story format — a mini masterpiece that has a powerful, often poignant, message. but, as 2020 comes to an end, we thought perhaps it was time for people to use just six words to say something hopeful. some celebrities — and key workers — have given it a go. # joy to the world...# gardening brings great comfort. thanks, monty. the vaccine's coming, that's great news. midwinter miracle. blackbird song at dawn. hugging friends. sharing chocolate. live performance. music is creativity... peace, change. love. renewed appreciation for what's actually important. dear older me... ..don't look back. always remember, this too shall pass. trees, birds, sky, mud, dog, relax. covid vaccine, the best christmas present. thank god it is nearly over. let's see if darren has anything hopeful for let's see if darren has anything hopefulfor us? let's see if darren has anything hopeful for us? thank you. let's see if darren has anything hopefulfor us? thank you. earlier today we had a brief respite from th

that report from ed thomas received plaudits from a number of newswatch viewers, including gillian robbinste... jane brown agreed, and made a plea shared by other viewers. well, for all of those who wanted to know how they can help some of those in need for the charity featured in that report is called church on the streets ministries in burnley. finally, a follow—up to last week's item about coverage of the chancellor's spending review. and of economics in general. on monday, it emerged that 2a leading economists had written to the bbc director general, tim davie, following these comments by laura kuenssberg on politics live. i mean, isjust absolutely, eye—wateringly enormous, and if you think the debate that we had, really from the late noughties, all the way through to the 2015 election, you know, that was defined by, how is the country going to pay back what we had to borrow, and the credit crisis. this is that, and some. this is the credit card, the national mortgage, everything absolutely maxed out. well, according to that group of economists, this was an inappropriate way to describ

now on bbc news...bbc special correspondent ed thomas spends time with those helping people in burnley are facing severe financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic. in poverty and the pandemic: burnley‘s front line i'm a broken, recovering drug addict... ..that got a second chance and, ah, i love the poor... ..because i know i am the poor. and as long as i breathe, i'll serve the poor. no need to push, there's plenty! you see all these people? they have children, hungry children. we need social distancing or we're gonna get in trouble! it's hard to keep your distance when you're cold and hungry. politicians say that it was a leveller, this coronavirus, it's a lie because if you're poor, you've got no chance. there's tuna pasta bake and all sorts here. people are coming down here for hot food that they could eat now. i'm unable to get a job because caring for a disabled person's like a full—time job. it's really hard to get food for myself because haven't got much money on me and i can't go out anywhere. couple of days' food would mean everything to us. we've got nurses over the

ed thomas reported from a hospital in lanarkshire and the experiences of a wide range of patients young covid—i9? yes. look beyond the daily statistics. these are the lives changed forever. that's you completely breathing on your own. i'm a lucky one. i'm seeing my family tomorrow. from those trying to save the sickest... we've had three deaths, which has totally floored the staff today. it's probably the most amount of deaths in one shift that we've had so far. ..to the eldest, most vulnerable. and the youngest. the last thing you want to hear when you pick up the phone is your baby's got coronavirus. mums and dads of babies kept in for observation can only visit for an hour a day. what was it like being away from your baby for 15 nights? couldn't sleep, it was so hard. it was so hard. but these babies are never alone. receiving constant care. what have the nurses and doctors been like here? honest to god, they've been a treat. they deserve a medal, every one of them. to contain the virus, the maternity ward is now divided. it's to isolate coronavirus right there? payton is three weeks

ed. thomas freeman hitting the wires. make a good point, it is not going to be a reversal.ake is thee does fact he thinks the policy needs to be dictated not just by the united states, but on board with u.s. allies alongside the united states in terms of a more multinational approach to a china policy. manus: indeed. you go back to john. go to quicktake. about whathief, drives policy in the united states of america. that is about look overseas. it is a bloomberg opinion which is like looking overseas in terms of other covenants. the other thing is the repricing of markets. it jacked. a knife jack in the middle of n95. the dollar so drop. you have to ask yourself the question, is bond market repricing on term premium o inflation riskr? annmarie: inflation which has been nowhere. the market is starting to price it back in. it is not just the dollar that has moved. look at what the metal market is doing. we will have a guest? about this. metal usually moves about in tandem. if you believe that, inflation is coming back. one individual said this, mike mccormick, the market is f

this morning, one of your fellow "new york times" op-ed writers, thomas friedman, made a bold prediction which i would like to quote. keepsd if trump delegitimizing joe biden's presidency and demanding loyalty for his extreme behavior, the gop could fully fracture, splitting between principled republicans and unprincipled republicans. trump might then have done america the greatest favor possible, stimulating the burnt of a new principled conservative party. do you think that is possible? how would you describe the difference between what he characterizes as a principled republican and an unprincipled republican? like toll, i would think that a principled republican is someone who, from the beginning, understood that donald trump represented a threat to a set of values that transcend partisan questions. and that have to be opposed at any cost, including the cost of office and reputation. and so, you know, whatever else people might think of me and my opinions, one way or the other, i have always felt that my duty a to have maintained consistent stance about the unacceptability -- i don't

mozart's and newton's and einstein's genius, 10% inspiration and 90% percent per ration to quote thomas ed son. and james madison changed the world. his hard work makes another point as well. he was often ill, leading many historians to say he was sickly. you come across that again and again. that he was even a high pro con decr hyper con decree yak. he traveled 1,000 miles, traveling through the blizzard to new york. simply getting from montpelier to philadelphia was quite a challenge. his trips were over roads that wouldn't be called roads today. he often traveled in the rain. i'm struck by how often it was muddy on those roads and one time it was worse than that. he was forced to dismantle his carriage, take the whole carriage apart, make three trips with it in what he called something like a boat over a swollen pond and then he had to swim his horses across. so this is an extraordinary amount of energy to spend if you were sickly. it's true that madison had the gastrointestinal problems that plagued almost everyone in the 18th century. this was a time, remember, when people believed th

that report from ed thomas received plaudits from a number of newswatch viewers, including gillian robbinsconomics in general. on monday, it emerged that 2a leading economists had written to the bbc director general, tim davie, following these comments by laura kuenssberg on politics live. i mean, it'sjust absolutely, eye—wateringly enormous, and if you think the debate that we had, really from the late noughties, all the way through to the 2015 election, you know, that was defined by, how's the country going to pay back what we had to borrow in the credit crisis. this is that, and some. this is the credit card, the national mortgage, everything absolutely maxed out. well, according to that group of economists, this was an inappropriate way to describe the public finances. in response, a bbc spokeswoman said... thank you for all your comments this week, if you want to share your opinions about what you see or hear on bbc news on tv, radio, online and social media, e—mail us at... or you can find us on twitter at... you can call us on... and you have a look at our website... that's all from

thomas, thanks very much. >>> we now have that fallout from that op-ed about incoming first lady dr. jill biden.use she is not a physician. many calling the article sexist and now former first lady michelle obama is among those who have something to say about that. rachel scott is in washington with more on this first. good morning, rachel. >> reporter: robin, good morning. she does and so do so many other women this morning. the opinion editor for "the wall street journal" is standing by publishing those words calling it fair comment but many are saying what was written about dr. jill biden would have never been written about a man. this morning, women are rallying behind dr. jill biden, speaking out against that controversial op-ed calling for her to lose the "doctor" from her title. it was this opinion piece in "the wall street journal" that triggered the backlash. joseph epstein writing a wise man once said no one should call himself a doctor unless he has delivered a child. epstein referring to the future first lady who has a doctorate in education and two masters degrees as kiddo, asking,