mrtrump resigned at the president's plans.r trump says he is in no hurry to find a permanent successor to general mattis, a sign he intends to push forward with what he thinks is right. it is reported that the pentagon has been asked to draw up plans to severely reduce the number of american troops in afghanistan. many in the military feel there is still much work left to be done there and in syria. and there has been widespread criticism of mr trump of suggestion that the so—called islamic state group have been defeated. this was the first trip by this commander in chief to see his soldiers in a combat zone, but mrtrump see his soldiers in a combat zone, but mr trump has given every signal that he wants to be less involved in the middle east. a president who seemingly believes in america first, and getting involved in other countries only as last resort. even with questions about his foreign policy, mr trump may well feel his trip to iraq might be a breakfrom feel his trip to iraq might be a break from some battles he faces i

saying he had been living in a state of personal and mental incarceration ever since working for mrtrumpince working for mr trump and he said he had a witness, a blind loyalty to the president. michael cohen ended his statement in court by apologising to the american people, saying that they deserved better than being lied to. michael cohen is the first of mr trump's inner circle to be sentenced to prison. he will be able to voluntarily surrender himself on march six. it has not been sent directly to prison yet. it is no wonder that the president has distanced himself from michael cohen. these crimes have implicated the president directly. and it's still uncertain what possible consequences could come of this. justice department guidelines say that a sitting president cannot be indicted, but there is nothing stopping prosecutors in the future when mrtrump is stopping prosecutors in the future when mr trump is out of office from bringing a case forward if they feel it is warranted. that was nada tawfik reporting from the courts. also making news today: the european parliament has ratified

sitting president cannot be indicted but there is nothing stopping prosecutors in the future, when mrtrumptors in the future, when mr trump is out of office, from bringing case forward if they feel it is warranted. also making news today: the european parliament has ratified the eu's trade deal with japan — the largest it has ever struck. it's been called the cars for cheese deal, with drastically cut tariffs on both sides. the european commission estimates that eu exporters will save more than $1 billion a year on duties. seven mass graves have been discovered in a former islamic state group stronghold, syrian state media says. they contain hundreds of unidentified bodies that seem to have been tortured. a syrian red crescent official told reporters there were several women among the dead, and said some of those killed "were blindfolded and handcuffed." two cardinals facing allegations linked to sexual abuse have been removed from pope francis's inner circle, the vatican said. australia's george pell and chile's francisco javier errazuriz will no longer sit on the council of cardinals, se

mrtrump, who has to sign off any deal refused to approve a short—term funding deal which has cross—partyon needed to build a wall along the us border with mexico. 0ur washington correspondent, chris buckler has been explaining exactly what this means. the christmas holidays are about to begin but with about 800,000 federal workers not knowing if or when they will get paid, some of them being told, in fact about half being told not to come into work and the other half being told to work, but does not know when that paycheck will come through. ultimately the christmas holidays are having to be suspended here for a while. the president had planned to go to the mar—a—lago in florida, his resort that he will traditionally goes to and instead however he is still in the white house and as you mentioned the white house and as you mentioned the senate is about to these discussions to try to find a compromise over this whole issue of the border wall. it is something of a battle, something the president has said time and time again that he will campaign for, but inside congress there does seem to b

but mrtrump has given every signal that he wants to be less involved in the middle east. a president who seemingly believes in america first is getting involved in other countries only as a last resort. even with those questions about foreign policy, mr. ump may well feel that the trip to iraq is a brief break from the battle he is facing in washington, the questions about the stock market, the economy, and the partial government shutdown that is leaving hundreds of thousds of workers either on unpaid leave or not knowing when they will get paid. of course, mr. trump insists he will only acpt any deal that ves him $5 billion for border wall with mexico, and democrats say that is not going to happen which gives idea that the shutdown and questions on all these different issues are not going to end for mr. trump anytime soon. ben: you alluded to the domestic pressures. trip like this over the holiday does come with a certain amount of feel-good factor, and it is certainly good publicity as well, isn't it? very: yeah, and it is important for the president as well to eeat tim

minister has urged donald trump not to interfere in french politics after the us president posted tweets mrtrump domestic american politics into account, and we want that to be reciprocated. leave our relation be. —— believe our nation be. the headlines on bbc news. downing street says mps will vote on theresa may‘s brexit agreement on tuesday — as borisjohnson insists the uk can negotiate a better deal. a body is found by police investigating the murder of british backpacker grace millane in new zealand. france‘s prime minister calls for unity as 1,700 people are arrested in a fourth weekend of violent protests. sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s 0llie. good morning. anti—discrimination charity kick it 0ut says “'yet another great day of football has been damaged by prejudice". manchester city‘s raheem sterling was the target of alleged racist abuse at stamford bridge. the metropolitan police and chelsea are investigating an incident in the first half. a group of men in the home end hurled abuse at sterling as he went to collect the ball for a corner. no arrests h

mrtrump, who has to sign off any deal, refused to approve a short—term funding deal which has cross—party the $5 billion needed to build a wall along the us border with mexico. 0ur north america correspondent, david willis, explained what's likely to happen next. both houses of congress are set to reconvene in the morning at noon and they will presumably start all over again to try to find an agreement. white house representatives, including the incoming chief of staff, mick mulvaney, and the president's son—in—law, jared kushner, have been on capitol hill. they spent about five hours at congress throughout the day, basically shuttling backwards and forwards between senate, republicans and democrats, trying to get beyond this impasse, but with both sides fairly entrenched it's looking increasingly unlikely there will be some sort of solution to this any time now. president trump, though, did put out a video on his twitter feed this evening and he said in that that he thought — or hoped — that the shutdown would not last long, in his words. two teenagers have been killed in a road crash in

world leaders like president macron, who have made their view clear they are concerned about how mrtrumpey are concerned about how mr trump is viewing foreign policy at the moment. this trip and it is something that has been done by presidents over the years. it is something done to boly up morale. is also showing the president wants to shore up foreign—policy, that he was foreign—policy to be as he thinks. there is no doubt that many in washington thinks that is what you be more isolationist as before and that certainly american interests, in front of other countries. douglas ollivant was the directorfor iraq at the national security council during both the bush and obama administrations. hejoins me now from washington. were there any big policy announcements during this trip that we heard? the only thing that came close to that was the president making clear he does not intend to pursue a troop withdrawal in iraq in the model of syria or afghanistan. that's news. other than that he appeared mostly in his ceremonial chief of state roll, showing the flags, speaking ceremonially for all o

previously served as homeland security secretary, recently had to deny reports that he privately called mrtrumpe broken down at the united nations climate change conference in poland. as protests went on outside, delegates at the conference fell out over wording which would fully commit them to the guidelines set out in a leading report to reduce emissions in an effort to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees over the next century. but delegates from the united states, saudi arabia, russia and kuwait objected, saying that the report should simply be noted. here, an 18—year—old teenager has been stabbed to death at a block of flats in south—east london. paramedics from the london air ambulance were called to the scene in greenwich last night but were unable to save him. a 17—year—old boy has been arrested. police are studying video footage thought to show racial abuse being aimed at manchester city's raheem sterling. the incident was highlighted by twitter users following the game between chelsea and city at stamford bridge yesterday. police say they are checking to see if a criminal off

mrtrump, who has to sign off any deal, refused to approve a short—term funding deal which has cross—partyse it doesn't allocate the $5 billion needed to build a wall along the us border with mexico. 0ur washington correspondent, chris bucklerjoins us now. i understand that there have been alternatives that have been put on the table to mr trump. what has his response been to them? the senate is expected to get back ina the senate is expected to get back in a short amount of time to discuss whether or not there are any new proposals, whether they can find some solution to this. but here is where we stand at the moment. they seem to have come up with an idea of potentially 1.6 border security. —— $1.6 billion. but donald trump is pushing for a $5 billion for this long health the mind of his for a border wall, and $5 billion something that the democrats say they will not accept. republicans inside congress are trying to come up inside congress are trying to come up with some compromise. you do get the impression the negotiators have three different parties to satisfy, democrats, republicans,

was appointed as national security adviser despite president's predecessor, barack obama, warning mrtrumpdecessor, barack obama, warning mr trump against giving michael flynn a top job. obama, warning mr trump against giving michael flynn a topjob. it was in the post forjust 23 days. sacked by donald trump and it was revealed he had discussions with the russian ambassador to washington about lifting us sanctions on russia before mr trump took office. he had also came out he liked the us vice president mike pence about the conversation. last december he pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to the fbi about his contacts with russia and he became the senior member of trump administration to be indicted. since then he has been incorporated with the investigation led by the special counsel robert mueller looking into whether the trump campaign included with russia. earlier this month, mr mueller said mr flynn provided assistance to the enquiry with first—hand details of contact between the president's transition team and russian government officials. as a result, the special council has said

during a long series of tweets warning about the dangers of illegal immigration, mrtrump said, "we willrced to close the southern border entirely if the obstructionist democrats do not give us the money to finish the wall." the president and his opponents are in a stand—off, that has already ended funding for about a quarter of government programmes. some national parks, federal buildings, and even the national christmas tree have faced closure as a result of the shutdown, leaving hundreds of thousands of government workers either on unpaid leave or not knowing when they will get paid. we made an offer last saturday night, they told us that they'd get back to us by the end of the week, they got back to us last night and said, "we're leaving. that's it, no more discussions." so, the discussions have broken down, we do expect this to go on for a while, we do expect to manage it. a small number of politicians did return to washington immediately after the christmas break to discuss the shutdown. but despite some shouted objections, congress only ended up meeting for a matter of minutes. th

mrtrump there, marginal mr trump there, marginal indeed. you can reach me on twitter.nt on in north—west scotland, the temperature hit plus 1a celsius. most of us had a mild, dry christmas day and that is how it will stay for boxing day. high pressure in control. spanning from the continent across the british isles. most of us will be dry in the day ahead, but not all of us. this weather front will change things for north—west scotland. if you are close to that, you will see rain at times. and this is how the day is starting. but very mild with it. north—east scotland still close to freezing. so this is where boxing day starts with a frost. elsewhere, a good few degrees above freezing, plenty of cloud, drizzly in places, misty for many of us as well. as the day goes on, more rain in north—west scotland. elsewhere, we will see some sunshine towards north—east scotland. parts of north—east england, north—east wales, should see sunshine developing more widely across southern counties of england during the afternoon and into the channel islands as well. almost across—the—b

government shutdown and reopen the parts of government that have been closed down, then frankly, mrtrumpbeen closed down, then frankly, mr trump, you had to abandon your wall. it gives you a real sense that if anything they're you a real sense that if anything they‘ re really far apart, you a real sense that if anything they're really far apart, and there isa they're really far apart, and there is a sense this could well roll on beyond today, perhaps into january. as really all that's been talked about at this point between republicans and democrats have been a sum of $1.6 billion. the president wa nts a sum of $1.6 billion. the president wants $5 billion, and he doesn't seem to want to compromise in any way. he says he wants this wall, he wa nts way. he says he wants this wall, he wants the border between mexico and america. it is something he promised, and as i speak he is in the white house having a working lunch, holding discussions about that very subject, but there is a risk for him. there could well be political blame, it is going to land on one of two parties, either the democrat

appointed as national security advisor despite the president's predecessor, barack 0bama, warning mrtrumpb. he was in the post forjust 23 days, sacked by donald trump when it was revealed he had discussions with the russian ambassador to washington about lifting us sanctions on russia before mr trump took office. it also came out that he'd lied to the us vice president mike pence about that conversation. last december, he pleaded guilty to charges that he'd lied to the fbi about his contacts with russia, and he became the most senior member of the trump administration to be indicted. since then, he's been corporating with the investigation led by since then, he's been cooperating with the investigation led by the special counsel robert mueller looking into whether the trump campaign colluded with russia. earlier this month, robert mueller said mr flynn has provided substantial assistance to the inquiry with first—hand details of contacts between the president's transition team and russian government officials. as a result, the special counsel has said michael flynn should not go to jailfo

but mrtrump said and several corners of the world.of people were going to come round to his way of thinking. he went on to insist that it is time for us to start using our head. one person remains unconvinced as the outgoing defence secretary, james mattis, who resigned over the president's plans. mr trump says he is in no hurry to find a permanent successor to general mattis, a sign that he intends to push forward with what he believes is right. it's reported that the pentagon has been asked to draw up plans to severely reduce the number of american troops in afghanistan. many in the military feel there is still much work to be done that and in syria. and there has been widespread criticism of mr trump's suggestion that the so called islamic state group have been defeated. even with those questions about his foreign policy, mr trump may well feel that that trip to iraq has been a brief break from the battles he is facing year in washington. there are concerns about the economy, the stock market, and the economy, the stock market, and

mrtrump appears, as mr trump appears, as he's speaking to reporters, to be playing down any significanceis. it's business as usual, i'm moving the chess pieces around, to deal with a less powerful white house and administration next year, the democrats have got more power. is that really the case? well, it has become business as usual because there have been so many departures from this white house. donald trump asturias form his team for the new year because there is a fresh challenge. the democrats having control of the house of congress will make life more difficult for the president. he's going to need a new approach to actually get things done. that may be part of the reason why he is rebuilding his team, why there have been some more high—level departures and changes in the last few weeks. the chief of staffjob is unimportant, insider role, somebody prepared to tell the president thinks he doesn't want to hear, to give him the hard truths. that is something john kelly did, and it is perhaps whyjohn something john kelly did, and it is perhaps why john kelly something john kelly did,

mrtrump mr trump denies asking michael cohen to make the payments.ck on land in chile. just days after four chelsea fans were suspended for racist taunts, the club has said those who sang an anti—semitic chant during a match last night have "shamed the club". let's cross to the bbc sport centre and join adam. the former england spinner ashley giles has been confirmed as england's new managing director of men's cricket, starting his role next month, being responsible for the strategy coaching and management of england's men's teams. his appointment comes at a critical time with a home world cup and home ashes series against australia next summer. he replaces andrew strauss who stepped down in october with his wife undergoing treatment for cancer. the anti—discrimination group fair believes some football fa ns group fair believes some football fans are using the political atmosphere as a cover for their own racism and prejudice. it comes after chelsea condemned a minority of theirfans for chelsea condemned a minority of their fans for anti—semitic chan

so if mrtrump his position in the 2016 election.if mr trump and his children are saying they have done nothing wrong, what are they saying the foundation was actually doing? well, president trump says the foundation actually gave out far more money than it took in giving to charitable organisations. he himself started this foundation with money he got from his book the art of the deal backin from his book the art of the deal back in 1984 and he for many years was the kind of sole person to contribute but for more than a decade now actually so contributions have come from people like president trump's friends, places like nbc that worked very closely with president trump on shows like the apprentice when they wanted to donate to a cause and so there is a big dispute here obviously between the president and the attorney general‘s office about how the president used that foundation. thank you very much indeed. 0n president used that foundation. thank you very much indeed. on most days that would be a huge story in its own right for the

was appointed as national security adviser despite the president's predecessor barack obama warning mrtrumpa warning mr trump against getting michael flynn a top job. obama warning mr trump against getting michael flynn a topjob. he was in the post forjust 23 days. sacked by donald trump when it was revealed he had discussions with the russian ambassador to washington about lifting us sanctions on russia before mr compton glovers. it also came out that he had cited the us vice president mike pence about that conversation. last december, he pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to the fbi about his contacts with russia and he became the most senior member of the companies jason to be indicted. since then, he has been cooperating with the investigation led by the special counsel robert miller, into whether the trump campaign concluded with russia. earlier this month mr miller had said that the stuff and had provided substantial assistance to the inquiry, with first—hand details of co nta cts the inquiry, with first—hand details of contacts between the president's transition team and russian

mrtrump not going to say yes to the wall, are they?ump as saying, he's fighting really ha rd mr trump as saying, he's fighting really hard for border wall and democrats have said absolutely not, we will not put any money towards this border wall. then it plays into a game of how does this play out would—be american people and whether 01’ would—be american people and whether or not people will support the president for being strong on immigration and border security, or they will blame democrats for not allowing the government to continue its funding. there will be a lot of negotiation from here on in, is basically what i am saying. how com plete basically what i am saying. how complete shutdown will it be? will it bea complete shutdown will it be? will it be a complete one or has quite a lot of the funding going to enable the government to be able to work? it is going to be a partial shutdown isafunding it is going to be a partial shutdown is a funding the us government is complicated and it happens in patchwork. parts of the governmen