laura bicker in washington.an get more detail on our top stories on the website. there is full coverage of the rex tillerson dismissal reports, as well as all the latest on donald trump. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the north korean leader's half—brother, who was killed in malaysia in february, was carrying an antidote to the nerve agent that caused his death. it was in his backpack. a prosecution witness revealed this at the trial of the two women accused of kimjong—nam's murder suggesting mr kim knew he was a target, and the method of possible attack. zimbabwe's new president, emmerson mnangagwa, has named two senior military officers in his first cabinet. the army general who appeared on tv to announce that the military had taken control of the country from the former leader robert mugabe has been named as the new foreign affairs minister. some close allies of the former president have been dropped from the cabinet. pope francis has thanked bangladesh for its humanitarian re

with me now is our washington correspondent laura bicker. a lot of people saying it is rather odd that a lawyer would have drafted a tweet like this in the first place? it is rather odd. we didn't know that donald trump handed over his twitter account to anyone, but now it appears that his personal lawyer john dowd drafted this particular tweet, which is odd in itself because it seemed to imply that president trump knew his national security adviser had lied to the fbi which is a criminal offence, and then remember the day after he fired michael flynn, he has allegedly gone to james comey the former fbi director and urged him to drop the investigation into his former adviser. and then of course he fires james comey. that sequence of events has is what has led to many reason a few eyebrows and wondering whether or not because of this tweet president trump is guilty of obstruction of justice. president trump is guilty of obstruction ofjustice. now his personal lawyer says he wrote it. he says, "i am out of the tweeting business. i did not mean

laura bicker, bbc news, washington.oke with jacob shapiro, who is the director of analysis for the intelligence firm, geopolitical futures. i began by asking him about the significance of these exercises. i think exercises are significant, i don't think this size is. size doesn't really matter. he had massive exercises in august. the important thing is the us isn't giving up its security guarantee to south korea or removing from the peninsula which is the thing that north korea is after. if the scale of the drills don't matter, the north koreans are describing this as deliberate provocation. have they got a point? if you look at it from their perfect, of course. from their perspective, it is surrounded on all sides by enemies, the us has troops in south korea, japan, military assets all over. north korean view the military drills the family as the military drills the family as the us views the missile launchers. this is why you get into this back and forth and had never ending circle of provocation. but how close are we

laura bicker reporting. well, donald trump has been tweeting again in the past few hours.ichael flynn's life has been "destroyed", and contrasts that with the way he says hillary clinton was treated by the fbi in a different investigation when she was allowed to give a voluntary interview over a july 11th holiday weekend. he asks, what are thejustice department going to do about that matter, drawing attention once more to hillary clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. children will be able to get access to mental health support at schools or colleges in england under plans announced by the government this morning. £300 million of funding will be made available in a joint initiative between the departments of health and education. campaigners say the measures are welcome, but long overdue. edward curwen reports. i didn't have any therapy, it was just to talk about things... sienna, not her real name, has had an eating disorder and depression for the last five years, but for nearly half of that time she was waiting for the right kind of help

laura bicker.r prime minister ahmed shafik has given a phone interview on television denying speculation that he was kidnapped. he went missing after arriving in cairo at the weekend. mr shafik was deported from the united arab emirates to egypt on saturday, just days after he announced he intended to run for the presidency. his family raised the alarm when they couldn't contact him after he landed. sahar aziz is a law professor who was born in egypt and now senior fellow for the centre for global policy. shejoins me from boston. good to see you. take us back to basics, and why was he in self imposed exile and while berger concerns when his family could not contact him. your viewers may know that he was a finalist in the 2012 presidential elections and barely lost to mohammed morsi who was ousted in a military coup injuly 20 13. so when he was no longer going to be president there were fears he would be prosecuted along with all the other former mubarak regime would be prosecuted along with all the

from washington, laura bicker reports.xperts have described the latest north korean missile as "a beast," capable of striking the us mainland. there were celebrations in pyongyang, a staged event to declare that north korea is becoming a nuclear nation. this is something the trump administration has said it will not accept. the greatest immediate threat to the united states, and to the world... speaking at a defence forum, the us national security adviser had this warning. china has tremendous coercive economic power over north korea. you cannot shoot a missile without fuel. there are ways to address this problem short of armed conflict. but it is a race because he's getting closer and closer. and, umm, there's not much time left. the us is keeping a show of force in the korean peninsula, and stealth fighters have been deployed to the region as part of the largest air exercise ever held with south korea. they've been dubbed as "war games." but a north korean television broadcast described the drills as provocation. the us

laura bicker, bbc news, washington.n now speak to drji—young lee from the school of international service at the american university. she joins us from seoul. are we really that close to a war?” are we really that close to a war?|i think it is a very alarming situation. no question. what has happened is that it is not new for north korea to behave in a provocative manner. but this time it's capabilities have increased to potentially pose a threat to the national security of the us directly. it is alarming. but if you have the us and south korea perform the largest ever air drills, is that not a provocation in its own right? it is, in fact, going to be taken as a gesture that, you know, the us alliance is threatening the national security of north korea. having said that, though, military exercises are nothing new. it is part of regular us alliance relationships. the context of this military exercise is what is key. the context is that the beast, the latest north korean missile described as a beast, is capable of hitting

laura bicker, bbc news, washington.stands that britain and the european union are close to reaching an agreement that will clear the way for the second phase of talks on the uk's departure from the bloc. eu officials have told the bbc that deals have now been reached on the bill britain must pay, and on citizens‘ rights. the outstanding issue is the border with ireland. prime minister theresa may travels to brussels on monday for talks with the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker. here's our political correspondent alex forsyth. when these two meet tomorrow, it will take more than polite greetings. his verdict will be crucial in deciding if they have edged close enough together on key issues for eu leaders to agree to start talking trade when they meet later this month. meanwhile, a handful of brexit—backing conservative mps have increased the pressure on the prime minister, signing a letter setting out their demands, including a promise that the european court ofjustice will cease to have any juri

let's go back to laura bicker in washington.ather untenable, despite the public notice from the state department and the white house, that it is business as usual. that the secretary of state will travel to europe in december. that the announcement made today. i think he has been undermined on a number of occasions, though that you mentioned in tweets from donald trump on north korea and then there was that rift after rex tillerson allegedly described the president as a moron. the relationship seemed to fail to recover after that. donald trump wasn't happy with his performance. that was at a press conference. the truth also is that rex tillerson isn't very popular within his state department. he has concentrated on budget cuts. a number of those remain unfilled. and a number of senior staff have been let go. so there is a lot of unrest there. there have been reports of low morale. those reports have not been denied. so when it comes to whether oi’ denied. so when it comes to whether or not he will be in place, they think it's a

laura bicker, there. let's look at some of the other news making the news is sour.d in honduras‘ presidential election have turned violent leaving one person dead and 20 injured. supporters of the opposition candidate, salvador nasralla, have blocked major highways, set vehicles on fire and attacked property across the country. mr nasralla has accused the electoral court of manipulating the vote counting system to favour presidentjuan orlando hernandez. german police have evacuated a christmas market in potsdam near berlin after a suspicious parcel was found nearby. they later confirmed that the package contained an improvised nail—bomb. security has been stepped up at christmas markets across germany, after 23 people were killed in a terrorist attack on a market in berlin last year. us media are reporting that president trump is likely to make a speech recognising jerusalem as israel's capital on wednesday. the international community does not recognise israeli sovereignty over the entire city. palestinian authorities want eastjerusalem to be the capital of a futur

laura bicker, live in washington.hed into stationary traffic on the m6 after apparently falling asleep at the wheel has been jailed for 16 months at wolverhampton crown court. police have released footage of the incident. this was the moment mariusz wlazlo smashed his hgv into two cars at 43 miles per hour in march this year. he admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving. a woman awoman in a woman in her 50s was in hospital for weeks receiving treatment for broken ribs and fractured vertebrae. children are to get access to mental health support in schools and colleges in england. £300 million of funding will be made available over three years, in a joint initiative between the departments of health and education. a waiting time of four weeks for those who need specialist support will be tested in some areas. labour says the plans don't go far enough. here's our health editor hugh pym. young fashion designer george discovered the harsh reality of young people's mental health services. very long waits in many

our correspondent laura bicker is in washington.weet yesterday, where he said michael flynn was fired for lying to the vice president and to the fbi, which seemed to imply that donald trump knew michael flynn had lied to the fbi, which certainly causes a lot of problems. then this morning we have had this range of twitter stormer on the fbi, and james comey the former head of the fbi, on why hillary kenton was not prosecuted further for a misuse of e—mails, and he described his own intelligence agency as in tatters but he said it would get better under his administration. taking all of those tweets, significant one yesterday, legal analysts wonder if he could have got himself into hot water. it turns out in a new twist that that tweet was sent by his own lawyer, john dowd. he himself has responded today saying, it was my mistake, iam responded today saying, it was my mistake, i am out of the tweeting business and i did not mean to break news. we will see if that lasts! he says the reputation of the fbi is in tatters. yet this invest

our washington correspondent, laura bicker reports. for a much—needed win on tax reform, he brushed aside questions about his former national security adviser lying to the fbi over his meetings with russians. what has been shown is no collusion, no collusion, there has been absolutely no collusion, so we are very happy. but then he issued another controversial tweet, one that could cause him a real headache. he said he had fired michael flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. many people are asking why michael flynn, a former three star general, did not tell the truth to the fbi about his meetings his actions were not againsttherlaw, . buldonaldtrum p‘sl tweet leads to a bigger question, did you know michael flynn have lied to the fbi? this is a problem because a former head of the fbi james comey has testified under oath that the president asked him to drop an investigation into michael flynn. legal analysts are now wondering if the president was trying to stop an inquiry into his former adviser, knowing he was guilty

laura bicker there.arried out their first official public engagement since they announced they were getting married earlier this week. the couple were greeted by crowds of well wishers in nottingham as they visited a world aids day charity fair and then met local teachers and children at a school nearby. from nottingham, here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. as an actress, she's been used to a public stage. she's accustomed to meeting crowds and dealing with fans. little surprise, then, that meghan markle handled her first official public appearance in her new role with considerable confidence. husband—to—be was on hand, solicitous and supportive. there was a lot of eye contact between them and supportive arms going around each other‘s backs. at times they met the crowds together, but then meghan branched off on her own, stopping and taking time with people. while harry did the same thing on his side of the street. moments later they were reunited, the queue for more back—rubbing. this clearl

let's hear from laura let's hearfrom laura bicker. let's hear from laura bicker.y are going on about this today, there is a rush to get tax reform done because of what happened in alabama last night. the senate majority for republicans has been cut to just one vote here. they are trying to get tax reform through within the next couple of weeks before doug jones, the new democrat, ta kes before doug jones, the new democrat, takes his seat. plus, of course, by having this press conference, by showing he is trying to give hard—working showing he is trying to give ha rd—working families tax showing he is trying to give hard—working families tax break, he is trying to wipe away everything that has happened over the last 2a hours. he is also trying to distance himself from roy moore, who many republicans believed was a flawed candidate. he did take time to endorse him, but when he did, he full throated the endorsed him, went down to the border of alabama and had a rally and called on voters to vote for roy moore. now he is saying, i was right all along, she shouldn't ha

our washington correspondent laura bicker reports. donald trump's started the day on a bullish note.

let's speak to laura bicker, who's in washington. ura, who's in washington. these are sobering words fro the laura, these are sobering words from the general. he told the audience here in washington never other options to deal with north korea but he said there was not much time left. in another very serious warning in the last few hours, the republican senator lindsey graham has said that he thinks the threat is so serious he will be earning the bashers are urging the pentagon to ta ke bashers are urging the pentagon to take american dependents out of south korea. —— urging the pentagon for that this comes at a time when the us believes north korea is getting closer to achieving its nuclear ambitions after the rocket launch earlier this week. these warnings are not just launch earlier this week. these warnings are notjust aimed at the regime of king john un, they are aimed at china for that they want china to step up pressure on its neighbour and stop crude oil supplies to north korea. china so far has seemed unwilling to do so put u

and their rallies, doug jones and roy moore, waiting for one of them to appear, your colleague, laura bickernaround in a deep red state. but roy moore was a flawed candidate and it is not easy to draw conclusions. he said muslims should be banned from congress, homosexuality should be illegal, the last time america was great was during the time of slavery, but what seems to be the problem is his failure to brush off the allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers which he denied but many white conservative voters stayed at home because of those. that may well be the case. this is a win— win for democrats. yes, he was a flawed candidate to be absolutely. these eight or nine women who came forward with allegations against him unquestionably put this race into a competitive state in a way that it should not have been. but bear in mind, this, roy moore, he followed the form of donald trump's insurgent republicanism, he persuaded the president eventually to get on side. the republican national committee eventually put its money back into the state. donald trump's very own key strategist, stev

well, let's get some reaction to this from laura bicker in washington. of reaction have we been hearing from america's allies? the uk has said that it has no plans to move its embassy. when it comes to the un, you heard from my colleague, the un, you heard from my colleague, the list of those opposing this move. within the last few hours, there has been a call for a un security council meeting to take place by the end of this week and joining those asking for that meeting, bolivia, egypt, france, italy, uk and europe an saudi arabia have labelled the move irresponsible. saying it regrets the decision and the kingdom has already warned of the serious consequences of such an unjustified and irresponsible move. condemnation from so many quarters at how popular a decision in the us? this was a campaign promise. he made it on many podiums and his campaign have released a statement saying promise made, promised kept and that seems to be the important thing for president trump, that he is at least being seen to be doing exactly what he said he would do. he aske

our correspondent laura bicker has more from washington. that mike flynn spoke to the russian ambassador about russian sanctions, about sanctions imposed on moscow for, at the time, when intelligence community is came up when intelligence community is came up with the findings, they said that russia had interfered in the presidential election and president obama had reacted by slapping on the sanctions. the conversation that michael flynn was told to have with the ambassador at the time was "do not react to those sanctions", and russia did not. the problem for the white house is, who directed them to have those conversations. but there we re have those conversations. but there were other conversations michael flynn had with the russian ambassador about un votes per instance, and with that possession it seems that jared kushner is being reported as the person who urged him to go to the russian ambassador to talk about a un vote on israel. so it seems that when it comes to various conversations he had, there are various members of the trump t

laura bicker has the latest from washington.ts between the president and his secretary of state for a number of months now. first the president has undermined rex tillerson‘s foreign policy in tweets and then there were those reports that rex tillerson called the president a moron, something he failed to properly deny during a press conference. during a press call at the white house, the president didn't exactly quell rumours that he might be about to oust his secretary of state. the only comment he made was that rex was here, he said. however, there are a number of reports suggesting that rex tillerson could be replaced within a matter of. and when it comes to the state department, rex tillerson is not exactly popular. he has concentrated on budget cuts and a number of those have gone unfilled and there have been reports of low morale. so when it comes to his perhaps replacement, the rumour is it made the cia director mike pompeo, a much betterfit within the trump administration. he currently briefs donald trump daily. they sha

our washington correspondent laura bicker reports.e day on a good note, on course for a much—needed win on tax reform. he brushed aside questions about his former national security adviser lying to the fbi over his meetings with russians. what has been shown is no pollution. no pollution. there has been absolutely, there has been absolutely, there has been absolutely no collusion so we are very happy. but then he issued yet another controversial tweet, one that could cause him a real headache. he tweeted that he had fired general flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. it isa to the vice president and the fbi. it is a shame, he said, because his actions during the transition were lawful, it was nothing to hide. lock him up! many people are asking why michael flynn, a former three star general, didn't tell the truth to the fbi at his meetings with russian ambassador, as the president said, his actions were not against the law. but mr trump's tweet leads to a bigger question — did he know mr flynn had lied to the fbi? t

from washington, laura bicker has the story. finally donald trump on course for a much—needed win.like he will claim a victory on tax reform. we past the largest tax cuts in this country's history along with other things. the vote was close. there we re things. the vote was close. there were so many things. the vote was close. there were so many last—minute changes to the bill that senators had to scribble them in the margins. democrats say the package will benefit big business and the wealthy. republicans believe it will help the middle classes. for the administration, it was a welcome distraction from the other drama. donald trump's former security adviser michael flynn pleading guilty to lying about the fbi about his meetings with russians. the former three star general played a key pa rt former three star general played a key part in mr trump's campaign and lead this chant about hillary clinton which will live in infamy. ifi clinton which will live in infamy. if i did clinton which will live in infamy. ifidida clinton which will live in infamy. if i did a tenth of what she did,

our correspondent laura bicker has more from washington.reporting that jared kushner may be one of the people that directed flynn to make contact with the russians, how significant is that? it takes the investigation even closer to the oval office. what we are hearing is that michael flynn had several contacts with the russian ambassador, one on the charge that he says was from a senior adviser in the trump campaign, the other was a very serious adviser. —— senior. one of the directions to contact russia is said to have come from jared kushner, donald trump's son—in—law. these are obviously us media reports at this time, but it is not an offence to ask someone to get in contact with members of other countries. what is an offence is lying about it to the fbi. and that is what michael flynn has been charged with today, and pleaded guilty to. i think the significant moment is seeing a senior member of the trump campaign, a senior member of the trump administration walked into court to plead guilty. the other thing that is swelling right around

son—in—law, jared kushner, has been implicated in the investigation. 0ur washington correspondent, laura bickerael flynn, a retired three—star general, left the court in washington to a familiar chant, "lock him up." he'd once encouraged donald trump supporters to use a similar version against rival hillary clinton. the 58—year—old played a key part in mrtrump's campaign and often travelled with him. if i did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, i would be injail today. he was rewarded with the post of national security adviser, but was forced to resign afterjust 23 days, when his contacts with russia to discuss us sanctions were disclosed. 0n the 29th of december, michael flynn spoke to the russian ambassador on the phone in the first of a series of calls. 0n the 15th of january, vice president mike pence said that sanctions were not discussed in those calls. only after the 9th of february, when a newspaper revealed general flynn did discuss sanctions, did pressure increase and michael flynn lost his job. as part of his guilty plea, prosecutors said mr flynn is now cooperating with the investigat

laura bicker reports from washington. finally donald trump is on course for a much—needed win.like he will claim a victory on tax reform. we passed the largest tax cuts in this country's history along with many other things. the vote was close. the arm—twisting continued until dawn. there were so many last—minute changes to the bill that senators had to scribble them in the margins. democrats say the package will benefit big business and the wealthy. republicans believe it will slash corporation taxes and help the middle classes. for republicans and the president, it was a welcome distraction from the other washington drama. donald trump's former security adviser michael flynn pleading guilty to lying about the fbi about his meetings with russians. the former three—star general played a key part in mr trump's campaign and led this chant about hillary clinton which will live in infamy. if i did a tenth of what she did, i would be injail today. in court, mr flynn apologised about lying with his meetings with russians but more worryingly for the white house, he will testify that h

well, let's get some reaction to this from laura bicker in washington.how isolated is the us now over this? you heard from our colleague that the un, nato, the arable world had united against this decision. the united kingdom has also released a statement saying that it has no plans to move its embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. and tonight, members of the un security council are calling for an emergency meeting to discuss this decision and let me give you a list of those countries. bolivia, egypt, france, italy, senegal, sweden and uruguay want a meeting by the end of the week. now, donald trump. to where he is in the white house because of his policy of america first. ——. to. this was a campaign promise that he made. within the last hour there has been a press release from his campaign saying promise made, promise kept. so when it comes to keeping his domestic audience happy, that is what he is seen to do. but it looks like the america first policy looks increasingly like america alone. how does he see this as helping at vance his other aim to finding

laura bicker reporting there. viewers on bbc one for a round—up of all the day's news. good afternoon. all four board members of the government's social mobility commission have resigned in protest at what they believe is a lack of progress towards what they call a "fairer britain". the commission's chairman, the former labour cabinet minister, alan milburn, said the current focus on brexit meant ministers were unlikely to have the energy needed to tackle "one of the biggest challenges" facing the uk. downing street said it had already told mr milburn that the commission was to have a new chairman. jonathan blake reports. your chances of getting a job, finding a good school for your children, and being able to afford somewhere decent to live, issues at the heart of social mobility. and from day one in power, tackling inequality was a personal priority for theresa may. the mission to make britain a country that works for everyone, means more than fighting these injustices. if you are from an ordinary working—class

earlier i spoke with our correspondent laura bicker in washington about those reports jared kushner mayrected flynn to make contact with the russians. well, it takes the investigation even closer to the oval office. what we're hearing is that michael flynn had several contacts with the russian ambassador, sergey kislyak. one on the charge sheet says it was from a senior adviser in the trump campaign, the other was a very senior adviser in the trump campaign. what we understand is one of the directions to contact russia came from jared kushner, donald trump's son—in—law. now, obviously these are us media reports at this time. it's not an offence to ask someone to get in contact with members of other countries. what is an offence is lying about it to the fbi, and that is what michael flynn has been charged with today and pleaded guilty to. i think these significant moment is seeing a senior member of the trump campaign, a senior member of the trump administration walk into a court to plead guilty. the other thing that's swirling around washington right now is after this guilty plea, just

laura bicker is in washington. a new development, latest development. it is developing quite fast.test name to be thrown very squarely into the ring. just take us through the context. there could be a number of officials certainly involved in this. but this was in regards to who told michael flynn to contact the russians. now according to the charge sheet, there was a senior official and a very senior official. us media here are touting jared kushnehs us media here are touting jared kushner‘s name is one of those who told michael flynn to contact the russian ambassador. now, we have not got that independently confirmed but he is just got that independently confirmed but he isjust one name got that independently confirmed but he is just one name that the us media are putting out there. that would be significant. it takes this trail closer to the oval office. but remember, when it comes to this investigation, it is worth looking exactly what robert mueller is trying to figure out. he is trying to look at whether or not russia couuded to look at whether or not russia colluded with the

in a moment we'll speak to laura bicker at the senate in washington, but first to gary o'donoghue innceded defeat yet? no, he hasn't. but he is clutching at straws. he is still 1.5% still behind in the overall tally. he is 20,000 votes a jerk. the last time -- 20,000 20,000 votes a jerk. the last time —— 20,000 votes a drift. the republican party in alabama has said that they respect the voting process and that suggests they are not prepared to pay for a recount. he would have to be within half a percentage point for the state to decide to do that so he is nowhere near that. he may not concede for a few days but i think his senate run is over at this stage. alabama has its first democratic senator in a quarter of a century. president trump has already taken to twitter trying to distance himself from roy moore. how significant is this defeat for him. he said he didn't back roy moore in the first place because he knew he wouldn't win. you are right he is trying to distance himself. the republican party will see this as a weak candidate rather than a referendum on president trump's poli

implicated in the investigation into claims of collusion with russia. 0ur washington correspondent, laura bickerast minutes donald trump, asked about the plea entered by general michael flynn, the former national security adviser, who is cooperating with the investigation into links alleged between the trump campaignfor into links alleged between the trump campaign for the presidency and russia, said there was absolutely no conclusion, though he did not engage with suggestions his son—in—law may be the subject of interest. donald trump saying there was no conclusion with russia in the course of his presidential campaign. more now from oui’ presidential campaign. more now from our correspondent in washington. michael flynn, a retired three—star general, left the court in washington to a familiar chant. in washington to a familiar chant, "lock him up." he'd once encouraged donald trump supporters to use a similar version against rival hillary clinton. the 58—year—old played a key part in mrtrump's campaign and often travelled with him. if i did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, i would be injail t

big legislative achievement of his presidency — a tax reform bill. 0ur washington correspondent, laura bicker tax reform, he brushed aside

joining us now from capitol hill is the bbc‘s laura bicker. they make of this on the democratic side? i have been listening to one senator who has been speaking to the networks and talking about a grassroots movement in alabama. he said they were on the ground way before the sexual allegations came to light. they're saying that this is the path to victory when it comes to 2018, but they can wrestle back control of the senate. the republicans are throwing a bit of cold water on that because they are saying when it comes to this victory it was a one—off, it was extraordinary circumstances and thatis was extraordinary circumstances and that is what caused their man to lose. that he was the wrong candidate in the first place. when you look at the numbers and break it down it is interesting to see that the democratic vote came from predominantly african—american voters, 90% of them of african american women voted for dowjones and on the other side looking at roy moore most of his vote was predominantly white and over 65. when you look at where the