that is their decision in the last few seconds from the ioc. with a uniform says the statement bearing the same, olympic athlete from russia and there will run under the olympic flag. and the olympic anthem will be played at any ceremony and not the russian national anthem. in addition just going through the details now, the minister of sport from russia, and also the deputy prime minister, someone very close also the deputy prime minister, someone very close to vladimir putin, he and his deputy have been excluded from any participation in all future olympic games. and that is quite the punishment, quite the sanction. for a man who of course is alleged to have been at the centre of russia and its dublin operations, allegations that it was state organised and further evidence of his participation being brought forward over the last few weeks. so we will go through this in some detail. —— doping operations. so russian athletes will be able to go to the winter olympics but they will compete as neutrals and will not be hearing the rational —— the r

we have agreed with the ioc manipulation. we have agreed with the 10c athletes commission that for the 10c athletes commission that for the reallocation of medals we will do our best to organise a ceremony for athletes during the olympic winter games in 2018 to try to make up winter games in 2018 to try to make upfor winter games in 2018 to try to make up for the moments they have missed on the finishing line by the podium. the ioc has proposed and has undertaken measures for a more robust anti—doping system under the leadership of wada so that something like this can hopefully not happen again. you have already received the decision of the 10c executive board and you have received the full report of the commission presided by mr schmidt and this is exactly the report which the 10c executive board had this afternoon when taking the decisions. so please allow me to summarise these decisions. the russian 0lympic summarise these decisions. the russian olympic committee is suspended with immediate effect. individual clean russian

they are stealing money, cheating the ioc.e are not fitting in this perfect expectation of german public opinion and german media to deliver a perfect world cup. as atheless, for me russian citizen, it will be a huge event. peter: are you enthusiastic about the upcoming soccer world cup? erik: absolutely. i covered it in germany and in brazil four years ago. i think the world got to see what real germany is like in 2006 with the world cup here. there were a lot of outdated views of germany. seeing what a frfriendly, smilig country this is, it was a great tournament and hopefully will be a great tournament in russia as well and the world will get to learn more about russia away from putin and away from politics. that exact right. world cup 12 years ago was not about miracle and the world cup putin.ia is not about i'm saying that german public opinion is kind of obsessed by putin. even if you talk sports and soccer, all the way, we are coming back to putin. germany with a kgb agent here. there is an obvious fascination. is more

the ioc have been congratulated for a show of strength.an delegation after the ioc executive board decided, when i announced the decision to them. there are, i was informed that there would be a meeting on the 12th of december next week including athletes and sports leaders in russia. this question would be discussed and there is maybe a decision. we are confident that the clean russian athletes will seize this opportunity. now to cricket and australia are on the verge of regaining the ashes after a comprehensive i20 run win over england in the second test at the adelaide oval. england succumbed on the final morning to lose their last 6 wickets forjust 57 runs with the hosts leading 2—0 heading to perth for the third test of the five match series starting next thursday. 0ur sports correspondent andy swiss is in adelaide. england now know they have a mountain to climb if they are to retain the ashes. they now have a 2— day warmup game in perth this weekend before the third test gets under way next week and they a bit of australia win that t

many critics will say that the ioc should have done as last summer, before the rio olympics.ve done it now and the ratification should not be underestimated. now to football news. —— and the ramifications. tuesday brought the completion to four of the eight groups as the champions league moves towards the last 16 knockout stage. the big news is that atletico madrid who've played in two of the past four finals have failed to make the knockout phase and our football reporterjohn bennett has been explaining what happened to diego simeone‘s side. i think the champions league will miss atletico madrid. they did well in the night, getting a 1—1 draw at sta mford in the night, getting a 1—1 draw at stamford bridge. they took the lead through summer games. it was not enough. they had to win against chelsea and hope that roma slipped up. roma got a decent game, but in the end, diego bharati got the only goal ina the end, diego bharati got the only goal in a game. a win for roma. they goal in a game. a win for roma. they go through to top spot. they needed a win to go through to top sp

ever. >> the story chronicles in the netflix documentary, icarus which became part of the ioc's casest russia. >> day after day. >> the film maker and amateur cyclist said he initially set out to understand how his hero, lance armstrong, had managed to get clean drug tests for years, despite his doping. dan harris sat down with fogel last summer. >> if lance had been able to do this and everybody else, forget about cycling. what did this mean for every sport planett earth? >> i'm going to do an injection. >> so he decided to make himself a guinea pig. he would take performance enhancing drugs, or peds, and then see if he could pass the drug test. filming every step along the way. >> i was very interested to see if it was still possible to evade detection. >> for help with his project, he was referred to the doctor who ran the anti-doping lab. >> gregory agrees to help smuggle my urine into his moscow laboratory to figure out when i would test negatively. that in and of itself was pretty mind-boggling. because he should not have been doing that to begin with. >> this is my morning pil

matt, the ioc has decided to ban russia.an athletes will be able to compete under the neutral olympic flag. so, was the evidence so overwhelming, and do we actually know what the evidence was? matt: yeah, we have a very good idea what the evidence was. through the efforts of some investigative journalists as well as whistleblowers from the russian side of things, we understand there was a systematic state-sponsored program of doping in place, at least as far back as the sochi olympic games and probably much more than that. in which the russian state security forces, the russian sports ministry collaborated for a system in which no russian athlete could give up a tainted sample. basically they would have clean urine stored in advance and it would be swapped with the tainted urine, so that when the tests were undertaken, russian athletes would always pass with flying colors. this evidence was out and has been out for at least a year. the ioc wanted to take another closer look at the evidence. the evidence held up, and here we

and they won't be at the olympic games, because the ioc decided there had been state—sponsored dopingwn in the end to a report written by a former swiss politician who was looking at whether, between 2000 and 2015, there had been a state led conspiracy. he said there was manipulation of the anti—doping rules by russia, so they are banned. what does this mean for the individual athletes? some will be allowed to compete. there will have to pass a very strict vetting process which will be run by the ioc, not the individual sports federations. so when they get to pyeongchang, they will have to wear neutral vests. there will be no russian national anthem or russian flag flying for those who may win medals. the focus will now shift to moscow and whether vladimir putin will accept these terms and the decision. there has been talk of a boycott. at least one senior sports official from russia has boycott. at least one senior sports officialfrom russia has described the decision as insulting. the next few days will be very interesting. now to the football. it is the final round of matches in th

they say they will appeal what the ioc handed down today. reporting live in san jose, scott budman. >>> a major move for the olympics thank you. >>> up next we follow the multiple fires in southern california. 150 structures damaged or destroyed so far. and it's spreading. this is a live look from our nbc chopper. we're having an update from the fire lines. >>> also, a grim discovery as students arrived at school this morning. what led to a young man being shot to death near a san jose high school. >>> clear and 59 in san jose right now. what's causing all of this dry weather? my new update pat 5:19 tonight. breaking news... this is a live look from our nbc chopper in southern >>> i want to get back to our breaking news now. this is a live look from the nbc chopper in southern california. four separate fires. this is the biggest one, the thomas fire racing through ventura county. as we pull up you can see the flames in the distance, a lot of smoke and a lot of homes in the path of the fire. this is about 35 miles from santa barbara to give y

i don't think anyone was surprised, everyone knew the ioc was surprised, everyone knew the ioc was poisedtake this unprecedented step and so the reaction here has been pretty measured. the head of the committee here said it was the second best alternative, a reference to the fact russian athletes deemed to be clean will be able to attend, lee hee—beom welcomed the decision and there was a statement from the organising committee, we accept the decision of the ioc and we will work with the ioc and other relevant stakeholders accordingly to ensure all athletes and officials attending are given the best possible experience. i don't think anyone here was blindsided by this, they could see it coming and they are very keen to emphasise these games go ahead regardless. are they concerned that russia's absence would affect ticket sales or television ratings? obviously russia has been a big olympic nation and that's bound to have some kind of impact. the head of the organising committee said he wasn't particularly worried about the impact on ticket sales, he said he felt those were going reasonably

here's the ioc president thomas bach.y lays out an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the olympic games and support. the report includes in particular the manipulation of the anti—doping love for tory at the olympic winter games in sochi, 2014. as an athlete myself, i am feeling very sorry for all the clean athletes. —— anti—doping lavatory cleaner never before has a country been banned by anti—doping violations. this is an olympic superpower, a real heavyweight. it has proved in the end that the ioc had no choice but to issue the sanction. it was expected given the evidence had been mounting, which had always denied state—sponsored doping, and crucially a report given by our previous swiss president looking into the wider issue of whether this doping had been a state led conspiracy between the years of 2011 and 2015, as laid out in professor mclaren's report last year, he agreed with him. it was systemic manipulation, of the anti—doping rules, russia was guilty of that, it was state—sponsored doping and that's why

the ioc executive board, after following olympic winter games 2014.rd, afterfollowing due process, has issued a proportional sanction for this systemic manipulation while protecting clean athletes. the ioc has also fined the russian olympic committee over 11 million pounds to cover the costs of the 17 month investigation, key figures from within russain sport have also received suspensions and bans. . .. russian athletes, who can prove they are clean, will be allowed to compete as neutral atheltes at the winter games. full details of today's ioc sanctions can be founbd on the bbc sport website. it's the final round of champions leahue matches this week. manchester united need just a point from their match against cska moscow. england's luke shaw is starting a match for united for the first time since april and the full back‘s come closest to opening the scoring. this left foot volley well saved by cksa goalkeeer igor akinfeev. 0—0 it remains. united can equal a club record 40—matches in a row unbeaten at old trafford. chelsea are already guaranteed a

ioc accused russia of an unprecedented systematic manipulation of the anti— doping system.the work of leonardo da vinci is heading to the move to derby. the museum may be an announcement on twitter without specifying whether it had bought the painting at auction. it was purchased by a saudi prince —— louvre abu dhabi. the work was sold for a record $450 million. a former volkswagen executive has been jailed for seven years in the us to his role in the diesel gate commissioned scandal at the german carmaker. oliver schmidt was also fined $400,000 after admitting he helped the firm said clean air laws. —— said. —— evade. the latest on volkswagen is our top story in business in 20 minutes and also, we will discuss the fact it is ten yea rs will discuss the fact it is ten years since the financial crisis and until now there has been no agreement across europe on how to stop it happening again. it could change later today in a meeting in frankfurt, central bank chiefs are set to decide new rules on just how much cash banks have to keep on hand foran much cash banks have to keep

burke, ceo of shery: the ioc has suspended the russian olympic committee effective immediately, the ioc'sfollowing widespread doping scandals of the sochi games. the investigations have continued for three years into organized doping in russia. we are now hearing from the ioc, the international olympic committee of the russian olympic committee has been suspended, effective immediately. coming up, the pressure is right back on u.k. prime minister theresa may as brexit talks teeter ahead of the eu summit, facing increasing pressure from within the united kingdom. can she hold her party together? we discussed. this is bloomberg. ♪ david: this is "bloomberg markets: balance of power." i'm david westin. shery: i'm shery ahn. theresa may says brexit talks with the eu will resume this week. a statement from downing street says an agreement concerning outstanding issues is close, but those issues, including the future of the irish border, could be tricky to solve. joining us is david merrin. will they be able to rescue the brexit talks? deal, without we had a but it turns out it was a deal betwe

. >>> calling it an attack on the integrity of the ioc is coming down on russia. not be allowed to compete in the upcoming winter games. the committee charges more than 30,000 athletes conspired to conceal positive test results. if the russian athletes can prove that they're clean, they will be allowed to compete, but only as independent athletes under the olympic flag. among those reacting to the ioc's decision, bay area olympic figure skater paulina edmunds whose family is from russia. >> it comes down to hard work and luck to be able to have that timing every four years and to be selected for the team. so i think that clean athletes should be able to go to the games and compete under a neutral status. >> some russian athletes are saying they will appeal today's decision. >>> well, just in time for the holidays, cyberscalpers. the so-called grinch bots are using automated programs called bots to scoop up toys, and then reselling them at sky-high prices. fingerlings, normally around 15 bucks is selling for $100 on amazon and a thousand on ebay. consumer groups ar

it is exactly what the ioc do.s not possible especially for clean athletes, who have dream about the olympic games. there are three british clubs in champions league action this evening. chelsea are already through to the knockout stages. manchester united willjoin them even if they lose 6—0 at home to cska moscow. celtic, meanwhile, only have the europa league to look forward to after christmas provided they avoid a 3—0 defeat at home to anderlecht. we wa nt we want to give the supporters champions league victory at home. we have been in two campaigns, this being the last game of the champions league campaign. it has been absolutely brilliant. supporters have been brilliant, home and away. it will be nice to finish this campaign witha it will be nice to finish this campaign with a victory at home and ta ke campaign with a victory at home and take us to six points, which would show great level of progress for us at this level. five—time winner ronnie o'sullivan is in action at snooker‘s uk championship. he's playin

the ioc saying, quote, innocent athletes will be allow to compete under the olympic athlete of russiaey had a doapg free background. so i hope that these athletes will take these chance to present a new and clean generation of russian athletes. but at this point it's unclear if russian president vladimir putin will even allow them to compete. put in has previously said it will be humiliating to compete without russia's national sympathomimetic dolls. months quow has refused to accept that any state sponsored doapg system has existed. they're calling tuesday's ioc decision quote, controversial and the president of the russian skating union is calling it offensive and insult ing. an olympic boy cot has never served anything. the clean russian athletes will have the opportunity to participate. >> us senator john mccain prais ing the ioc saying community means abiegd by rules, norms and standards. in washington, leland variety earth , fox news. >> up next at 10:30, some air b and b guests say they have been spied on. >> cases of those finding cameras inside the rental homes. >> don't be s

it's very important, i think, for the ioc that each country had its own flag. history books. russia topped the table in sochi, but after the retesting of samples a host of athletes have been stripped of medals. prior to today, the olympic flame burned a lot less bright, but today people know that integrity matters, fair play matters, athletes rights, that ultimately falls this decision, they matter. last week, russia's olympians unveiled their kit for the winter games. tonight, they learned they would not be needing it, their country out in the cold. the punishment meted out to russia todayis the punishment meted out to russia today is unparalleled in olympic history, hewnly embarrassing and —— hugely embarrassing and painful for a country organising the world cup next summer. they will appeal. president putin is said to be considering whether to boycott the games and stop any athletes from competing even as neutrals. the ramifications of this dispute should not be underestimated. dan, thank you. president trump has confirmed his intention to move america's emb

the ioc will decide whether state—sponsored doping is still part of their regime.rnoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. "the show is now in london." that's what the european commission said this morning, as they made it clear that they were ready to resume talks as soon as the uk was ready. when that will be is unclear. this morning theresa may has been briefing the cabinet after yesterday's crucial talks in brussels ended without a deal allowing brexit negotiations to move onto the next stage. the prime minister had to pull out of a deal that would have kick—started trade talks after the democratic unionist party stepped in and rejected it. our political correspondent iain watson reports from westminster. labour has branded the government and embarrassing and, but the brexit secretary who was confident of sufficient progress this week. —— an embarrassment. it is 320 miles long with almost as many crossing points, but the british and irish governments do not wa nt british and irish governments do not want this to become a so—called hard border after brexit with

great britain look set to win a bobsleigh bronze medal, the ioc banned three more russian athletes foroping. we've been stolen our moment, basically. i feel like we fought so hard, knowing we were good enough to get on the podium. it's hard to take. as we're seeing across all sports in the world right now, this is happening all too frequently. it's a really sad state. it would have been a massive family achievement, more than anything. there's no escaping that, it would have been different. the funding would have been much higher. obviously, the personal reward of it. potentially, though, there would have been opportunities for us to further our careers. we did come third but until we've got the medal... how much would you like it to be resolved by pyeongchang? one of the things that is mentioned is, how do you feel about your moment being stolen away from you? in some cases, that could be corrected by being presented the medal in the pyeongchang. silver for great britain. bronze last week. you have another chance to do it at the games themselves. the team is going in the right directi

banned from taking part in next yea r‘s the ioc.ssian athletes who prove they are clean are at the moment likely to be able to take part. the ioc president thomas bach says a final decision on that will be made next week. this week great britain's kelly southwark and was awarded a heptathlete runs from 2008 after a russian athlete lost an appeal against a retrospective disqualification. i personally think it should be a total ban. regardless of the few athletes in russia who are potentially clean, or who can prove they are, they are still rationed. if they compete it will be under the banner athletes from russia, rather than neutral athletes and that may well suggest the ioc has agreed some kind of deal with vladimir putin to avoid what would be the first boycott of the games since 1984. could we be seeing a return for england cricketer ben stokes? the english fans have their fingers crossed for it. after defeat in the first two english tests there is a criticism over a lack of fighting spirit in the team at the moment and what they

unrolling next february, when the winter olympics gets underway, with the russian team banned by the iocrning to german online publication deutsche welle. this story trending on their site, ‘german pilots refuse to carry out deportations.‘ it's been revealed 222 asylum seekers have had their deportations stopped by pilots not wanting to take the refugees back to afghanistan, where violence is still rife. at the same time, refugees are appealing their deportation orders in record numbers and winning. now to the front page of the financial times. it says: the irish premier has raised the prospect of the brexit divorce talks stretching into the new year. it comes after theresa may struggled to come to a deal with northern irish unionists yesterday. and finally, time magazine. we were discussing yesterday, now it's been announced time's "person of the year" is the ‘silence breakers‘ — the women and men who spoke out against sexual abuse and harassment prompting the #metoo movement. so let‘s begin. with me is geraint anderson, a writer and former banker. let‘s begin with a sensitive issue of

well, to the ioc it's punishment for state-sponsored cheating. to the russians, it's unjust, humiliating collective punishment. to the russians, the ioc ban is part of an international campaign to belittle the country. the ban means russia as a country will not be represented at this winter's games. its olympic committee has been barred and certain officials suspended for life. individual athletes with no doping history can apply to compete, but as olympic athletes from russia. no anthems will be played at ceremonies if they win. the russians have long dominated many winter sports, but they apparently weren't taking any chances at the last games in sochi. the ioc says a state-sponsored scheme swapped out any positive samples and swapped in clean ones to ensure no positive tests for russian competitors. and the man who ran the scheme says the order came right from the top. grigory rodchenkov. >> we have to show the best result in sochi. >> vladimir putin did not take an opportunity to comment on the ban, but the kremlin continues to deny there was

russia will allow neutral athletes to compete at next year's winter olympics after the ioc banned theue to a state—sponsored doping programme. and england head to perth for the third test against australia knowing they're on the brink of losing the ashes after the hosts won the second test to take a 2—0 lead in the 5—match series. hello and welcome to the programme where we start with champions league football in europe and liverpool have qualified for the knockout stages top of group e after a 7—0 victory over spartak moscow at anfield. jurgen klopp‘s side move through to the last 16 with phillipe coutinho grabbing the first of his hat—trick from the penalty spot before adding two more while sadio mane notched a double, the first of which was a wonderful volley and add in a goal each from roberto firmino and mohamed salah and it's easy to see why the manager was happy.

the international olympic committee banned russia for violating anti-doping rules and the ioc says testsian athletes revealed they cheated. putin calls these accusations baseless. >>> one of our area's biggest sports stars is opening up about his home country's ban. >> alex is revealing that he does not want the russianoc >> he's behind his fellow russian hockey players if they want to compete under a neutral flag in february. it's so special to him, who you might remember was pretty upset by the nhl's decision to not allow players to compete in the 2018 games. he shared his thoughts this morning on the ioc's ruling and russia's next move. >> i would say it's hard for athletes. some athletes that work out like maybe three years and get ready for the olympics and it's a frustration but i think an athlete has to go and do their best. >> do you support the russian athletes playing under a flag? >> no, i support that and i'm pretty sure they are going. >> ovechkin's teammate says it should be a team decision if they play under a neutral flag but added personally he'd probably go because for

in the moscow times, of course, all the reaction from russian athletes after the ioc banned russia frominter olympics. some say they're not shocked by the decision but are still deciding whether to compete under a neutral flag. on the front page of the guardian, theresa may facing mounting pressure to secure a breakthrough as brexit—supporting tories say the time has come to walk away from the negotiations. in thejapan times, it talks about the un political chief during the visit to north korea for rare talks following last week's long—range missile launch. and lastly from the wall streetjournal. it's latest blog has many talking online. the publication says it'll refrain from categorising people born from 1980 to 2000 as "millenials" — it describes the term as "snide shorthand" and "snotty". so let's begin. with me is doctor stephanie hare, who is the principal director at accenture research. let's start on the story that is in all the front pages here in the uk. but this is so there we need to be careful with because this will be read later in court today. yes, and this is obviously t

ioc banned russia from the upcoming 2018 winter olympics for their failure to apply with the anti-doping michelle: let's test it. erin: okay. [laughter] good move! michelle: there we go. nancy: on that note. all right. bill: raining out there tonight. end by tomorrow. 49 for the high temperature. 47 on thursday. couple of cold fronts in there. the numbers will drop a little more and more. remember that 70 we had. michelle: memory lane. erin: left me hanging! oh! michelle: "world news tonight" with david muir coming up next. >>> tonight, as we come on the air, the state of emergency. multiple out-of-control infernos in the west. not far from los angeles. tonight, we fly you right over the scene. >>> also tonight, president trump and his former national security adviser michael flynn. our reporter asking the president, are you preparing to pardon flynn? >>> the president's phone calls today rattling some world leaders, is the president now preparing to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. tonight, the u.s. military preparing for any

the head of the russian 0lympic committee has accused the ioc of punishing clean athletes.day is coming up at midnight. now on bbc news, it's time for newsnight with evan davies. ireland is unhappy. the dup is unhappy. we want there to be a sensible brexit. and we will continue to work... and now some of the brexiteers in her own party are very unhappy. this is a game being played out over power and the answer at the end boils down to who will call the shots on this, and right now we have to say, not good enough. you need to change this process and to back off, otherwise we get on with other arrangements. can theresa may escape the tangle of competing demands on her brexit vision? the clock is ticking. we hearfrom the european parliament and from a prominent brexiteer. should britain or the eu make the next concession? a doctor made a series of mistakes. a six—year—old child died. should the doctor be allowed to practise again? we hearfrom the mother of jack adcock, who died at the leicester royal infirmary, and a doctor who wants the nhs to learn lessons rather than punish

the ioc is also considering that these are excellent athletes, and if you want to have a meaningful olympices and you have athletes who can prove they have done nothing wrong, maybe there is a case for saying to them, you can participate. and others who might otherwise be tempted to do something they should not be doing will think twice, because there are consequences. it is right that you have this decisive action. but maybe we have a bit of carrot and stick here. the carrot is, if you are clean... some of them they believe, if we tinker with the edges, we can get away with it. let's move on to the times and something people will not get away with, this extraordinary story. it makes you wonder whether this has been fed to the papers because of the critical report into mi5 and the abedi case, the suicide bomber in manchester. that is possible. the abedi case and the khalid masood, boasts of those we re the khalid masood, boasts of those were possibly missed opportunities, but thousands of people are under surveillance and you can't be everywhere at all times. but we are seeing that two men

vladimir putin has called the decision of the ioc to ban russia from the winter olympics politicallyan russians competing at the games as neutral athletes which they are allowed to do. former british heptathlete kelly sotherton is set to be given a bronze medalfrom the 2008 summer olympics after her russian rival tatya na 2008 summer olympics after her russian rival tatyana chernova was stripped of her third—place finish. the button says the russian ban at the winter olympics does not go far —— kelly sotherton said. -- kelly sotherton said. they have not been complied and learn from their lessons so why should they only be banned again and allow some of the athletes to potentially represent them under a neutral banner? for me i personally think it should be a blanket ban, no russians, and for the sake of the many clean athletes that will be at the winter olympics, you sacrificed a few to save the many. serena williams is targeting a return to court next month could it —— to defend her australian open title. she won in melbourne injanuary for a seventh time. that was while she was in

this has happened and the ioc have takena stand. this has happened and the ioc have taken a stand.s. yes, absolutely. my main olympic one was absolutely. my main olympic one was a silver behind one east german and we have the rlts of what she was taking and when she was taking it and she admitted it herself and the ioc have done nothing about that period whatsoever. it is frustrating. they often really shirk their responsibility with regards to drugs in sport and i think now they are being forced to do what they should have been doing for a long time. you have to understand also there are two groups of people here that the ioc should be looking after, clean athletes who are trying to compete on a level playing field, but the other athletes are the withins coerced into taking things and we don‘t know what long—term side—effects there are. the east german athletes had nasty drugs which affected their lives forever. mark, do you accept there will a lwa ys mark, do you accept there will always be cheats? even with a deterrent like this from the ioc, there will be somebody who thinks th

unrolling next february, when the winter olympics gets underway, with the russian team banned by the ioctrending on their site, ‘german pilots refuse to carry out deportations.‘ it‘s been revealed 222 asylum seekers have had their deportations stopped by pilots not wanting to take the refugees back to afghanistan, where violence is still rife. at the same time, refugees are appealing their deportation orders in record numbers and winning.

his comes just three weeks after he was handed a lifelong ban by the ioc for his alleged involvement in the state-sponsored doping of russian athletes. despite the interim resignation, he will remain the chief of the world cup organizing committee, the tournament will take place in june. time for some business news and it has been a mixed holiday season for retailers. >> he has made his list, checked it twice and now father christmas can put his feet up. retailers will be taking stock of the run up to today's festivities. here in germany, small shop owners said sales were below expectations but major retail chains and department stores sold a lot of books, toys, clothes, gadgets and cosmetics, more people than ever before also went online to buy items for their families and friends, the german retail associations as online sales increased by 10% this holiday season to 12 billion euros. many of the big my spending products are from the world of tech, both the serious and the silly. >> look at the little drummer boy to -- playing without a drum set. he's playing on free drum, using sen

yesterday the ioc banned russia and its sports leaders from the games because of state-sponsored doping at the sochi game. all athletes will also have to pass drug tests. i'll be headed to pyeongchang in february to bring you reports live from south korea. >>> i-n-q-u-i-e-p-u-d-e. >> correct. >> thank you. >> that's exactly how i would have spelled it. beautiful. more impressive kids like this will be able to compete in the scripps national spelling bee thanks to a rule change. that change is creating a new path for spellers to compete in the finals. now, scripps plans to hand out 225 wild card spots to spellers who don't win their regional contest but won at their school level. now, this could double the number of spellers who come to washington each year from just under 300 to more than 500. previously spellers had to win their regional bee to make it to the nationals but a few regions are so competitive that some spellers who made the national finals one year couldn't make it out of the regionals the next year. so, they think it might sort of level things out a little bit and we'll s

very little doubt he would get re-elected to do that, and incensed over the ioc decision, so he'll noto subtly twist arms of allied countries or those he's done business or lent money to pull out as well. do you see that escalateing? >> yeah, it very well could and the viability of the olympics goes down hill. you want to see the world's best compete against the world's best. if it's just a bunch of countries without the united states and russia, it's like playing the world series without the two teams who won the pennants. it doesn't work. neil: you might be up to speed on this despite your age. thank you very much, always good seeing you. >> you too, buddy. neil: thank you very much. we got lot more coming up. in case you had any doubts where the president was coming from on the alabama senate contest, he simply tweeted vote roy moore. that removed all doubt. he'll be at a rally tonight very near alabama, not technically in alabama, but i think within inches of it. after this. neil: is it in the water on capitol hill? my goodness, congressman trent franks now the third lawmaker in as

the ioc saying "innocent athletes will be allowed to compete under the title olympic athlete of russia>> so i hope that these athletes will take this chance to present a new and clean generation of russian athletes good at this point it's unclear if russian president vladimir putin will even allow them to compete. putin has previously said it would be humiliating to compete without russia's national symbols. moscow has refused to accept that any state sponsored doping program existed. the now suspended head of russia olympic committee is calling "controversial" and the president of the russian skating union is calling it offensive and >> olympic boycott has never served anything. clean russian athletes will have the opportunity to participate. >> u.s. senator john mccain took to sweater with praise following the announce many saying "the ioc's decision to ban russia welcomed step in serving justice to putin's gost and for elaborate doping scheme. add this to the list of reasons why fifa world cup should not be held in russia "the up coming winter games are slated to open on february ni

the ioc says some russians will be allowed to compete if they meet several requirements.y would be designated olympic athlete from russia, but without the national flag or anthem. a spokesman for vladimir putin says the kremlin will analyze the ioc ban before taking steps. >> massive issue for them. they are just about to host world cup coming up. >> yes >> there were questions internally at fifa about how that process was awarded in the first place. raises broader questions, i guess, about the quality of governance et cetera in russian sport. definitely a black eye for them as they come in to host a different and important international sporting event. >>> still ahead, how the rise of amazon, google and facebook could mean big changes. >>> first as we head to break, here's the national weather forecast from bill karins. >> good wednesday morning to you. we are watching the situation in southern california. with all those horrendous fires yesterday. we don't want more dusty winds that's what we'll get. critical to extreme fire weather conditions from los angeles to apartm

ioc rules allow for transgender athletes to compete as their preferred gender.dal in a women's event now seems a matter of when. not if. joanna harper is transgendered an an athlete. and argues that transgender competitors don't enjoy any advantage. joanna, there are a lot of people who in this age of gender fluidity take a relaxed view of it and accept that you choose which bathroom to use and all that. but when it comes to sport, when it comes to who is the fastest, who is the strongest, when you are running around a 400-meter track, that basically from gender fluidity back to two biological sexes. have male have distinct advantage. where are they going wrong on that? >> well, first of all, biology is actually quite complex. and so to suggest that biology is dimorphic is incorrect. it is learn i true that people gone through male pursuant, especially do have substantial advantages. and to be clear, the ioc rules say that transgender women can only compete in women sports after they have gone through a year of low testosterone due to hormone therapy. and that a

. >> it's a significant victory for clean athletes that the ioc listened to their voice. >> reporter: no anthems or flagged or accreditation for officials. fined $15 million. some individual russians can compete under the olympic flag and strict guidelines. several russians have been stripped of medals from sochi, leaving americans like skeleton racer katie uhlaender in line for retroactive medals. all but one member of the track and field team banned from summer games. head of the team telling me country has a doping problem. >> do you expect doping has been widespread in russia? >> also in -- mainly yes, think mainly yes. >> reporter: but state-sponsored doping is vehemently denied by the kremlin. tonight russian channels are vowing not to show the games. president putin claims it's an american attempt to influence his election next year. keir simmons, nbc news. >>> there are new signs that special counsel robert mueller's russian investigation may be expanding to president trump's bank accounts. despite denials from the white house and president's private council. hallie jackson wi

the former president of the soviet union, mikhail gorbachev, said the ioc took account of only part offor goodness' sake," he said. "without russia, this is a crippled 0lympics," said 0lympic pole—vault medalist, yelena isinbayeva, who now chairs the supervisory board for the russian anti—doping agency. the chair of the russian bobsleigh federation, alexander zubkov said "i am simply shocked by what is happening. it's a punch in the stomach." zubkov, who was russian flag—bearer at the 2014 olympics, and won two gold medals at sochi, was last month disqualified for doping violations. he is one of 22 russian athletes who have today filed appeals at the court of arbitration for sport. france's biggest rock star, johnny hallyday, has died from lung cancer at the age of 74. known as the french elvis, he achieved huge popularity at home, even if that never really translated beyond the french—speaking world. georgina smythe reports. the curtain falls on one of france's favourite voices. hallyday sold more than 100 million albums in his career, and starred in severalfilms. born jean—philippe s

the ioc says that some russians will be allowed to compete, but really not for russia.eral requirements, and they would be designated an olympic athlete from russia, but without their national flag or anthem. >> they get the olympic flag if they win what do he this play the olympic theme? what do they play if you win has this happened before >> a neutral athlete >> a spokesman for russian president vladimir putin says the kremlin will analyze the ioc ban before it takes any steps. >> they were saying this was the united states as a way of fighting at them also, he vladimir putin said this is a way to hurt him in the elections happening there. >>> director of legislative affairs mark short will join us after the break to talk about the president's tax plan and where lawmakers stand on the issue. right now, though, as we head to a break, take a look at the u.s. equity futures a little under pressure. dow futures down by 40 s&p off by 4.5 the nasdaq off by 23 what's critical thinking like? a basketball costs $14. what's team spirit worth? (cheers) what's it worth to talk t

looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life no matter where he is. >> russia can challenge any ioclenge by appealing to the court of arbitration for sports but consider this. russia won a record 13 gold medals in sochi putting the team in first place. once the doping program was exposed russia was stripped of four golds and its first place standing. >> i can tell you russians take their sports very seriously especially vladimir putin. thank you. >> a kentucky lawyer who disappeared after his conviction in a massive social security fraud case is in a hon dur ran jail this morning. he escaped house arrest in lexington before heading to mexico. he spent the last three months in honduras. >> good morning. he pleaded guilty in march to stealing from the federal government and bribing a judge in a a $550 million social security fraud case. but before he could be sentenced he cut off his ankle monitor and ran. >> a honduran swat team caught him as he came out aftof a restaurant. police were reportedly given his location after he connected to the wifi. >> reporter: touting him as mr. socia

that's after the ioc banned russia because of systematic state sponsored doping over a number of yearsre clean. ronnie 0'sullivan is through to the second round of the scottish 0pen, continuing his excellent form after winning his sixth uk championship. the ‘rocket‘ beat michael georgiou by 4 frames to 1 finishing with a break of 136. former chelsea and brazil manager luiz felipe scolari could manage australia at the world cup in russia next year. scolari has held talks over replacing ange postecoglu. johanna konta has spoken for the first time since parting with coach wim fissette. konta enjoyed the most success of her career under the belgian's guidance, but her form faded towards the end of the year. she will now work with american michaeljoyce who also coached victoria azarenka. first and foremost, i think he's a great person and i'm feeling very positive about him because he's not only a great coach but he was also a great player. i'm feeling very positive about him. he is not only a great coach, he brings bad experience through that and also he was a great player. i look forward

russia denies the allegations and accuses the ioc of trying to damage the country's reputation and curbss. the winter games get underway february 9th in south korea. >>> wind driven wildfires is destroying homes and property in southern california. flames nor scorched more than 50,000 acres. 150 homes and businesses have been reduced to ashes. and several school districts are closed. emergency officials have ordered tens of thousands of people from their homes in ventura county. >> some houses have burned and you can see that here. but as for our house, we really have no idea. >> the fire has breached the inside of the house. all we can do is go defensive and prevent it from spreading to other homes. >> just awful. wildfires burned down a dozen homes in sylmar, california. and fierce winds whipped up the flips in santa clarita. >> that is not good. >> not good at all. >> what does it look in terms of the forecast. >> not good. >> it is going to stay dry for a while. for us, we have a pattern change. it was 60 today. it will be maybe 50 tomorrow. and then 30s by the weekend. >> so get th