And london, this is bbc world news. Its newsday. Its 9am in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in washington where a vicious war of words has erupted between President Trump and the chief strategist he fired back in august. Mr trump is denouncing steve bannon saying he had nothing to do with his election victory. Its all because of comments from mr bannon describing a meeting between the president s son, son in law and a russian lawyer during the president ial Election Campaign as treasonous and unpatriotic. Its understood the comments will be published in a book next week. President trump hit back with scathing comments saying, when he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind. When asked if the president s son, Donald Trump Jr had, in fact, committed treason, the White House Press secretary had this to say. I think that is a ridiculous accusation, and one that im pretty sure weve addressed many times from here before, and if that is a reference to comments made by mr bannon, i refer you back to the ones that he made previously on 60 minutes. He called the collusion with russia about this president total farce. So i think when we look back to that, if anyone has been inconsistent, it has been him, it certainly has not been this president or this administration. I spoke with Laura Trevelyan in washington about why these comments have sparked such a strong reaction. What has really upset the president , it seems, is this description of that meeting that took place in trump tower during the president ial Election Campaign. When donald trump was still a candidate, when Hillary Clinton was ahead in the polls and thought to be favourite, donald trumpjunior, the president s son and his son in law, Jared Kushner, took a meeting with a russian lawyer who they knew to be offering dirt on Hillary Clintons campaign. Now, bannon describes the decision to take that meeting as treasonous and unpatriotic, and he says that what those two individuals should have done immediately was to call the fbi. Bannon goes on, in the book, to say the chances that donald trump junior and Jared Kushner did not take the russian lawyer and her retinue up to meet donald trump he describes that as being a very slim chance that they did not do it. So, this meeting, which is the closest thing that has come out in the Public Domain about contact between the russians and the trump campaign, is something that is of great interest to robert mueller, the special counsel who is investigating links between the president and russia. And the president himself drafted a statement about this meeting, which was released to the press when it was subsequently reported by the us media much, much later that this had happened. So, that is why the president is so worried, because and as Sarah Huckabee sanders says, bannon has completely changed his tune on the Russian Investigation from saying it is a farce to now saying that the trump family are standing on the beach as a category five hurricane comes towards them, the hurricane being the mueller investigation. He has had an extraordinary outburst, even by his standards. Do Steve Bannons allegations come as a shock to the president . Well, they have had a gradual falling out since steve bannon was either fired or left of his own volition, depending on who you talk to, in the summer. But they did remain on decent terms for a while and there were phone calls between them. This explosive book, that is just about to come out, does reveal that they kept in contact. The president is known that he does like to keep in contact with old foes. What he calls ethno nationalism, what his critics call racism and being against immigrants, he really propelled that strain of the trump campaign, took it nuclear and helped donald trump get elected. He gave more of a vision to the basic trump message. So now that they have fallen out, what are the implications of this feud . Where does the alt right go . Does that go with stephen bannon, does it stay with donald trump . That is why donald trump has made these comments. He feared the damage that he could do with the Breitbart News website. So, now it is open warfare. Over the past hour the white house has announced that President Trump has announced that President Trump has dissolved the electoral fraud panel that he set up after becoming president that was looking into allegations of electoral fraud during the elections but many states provided to refused to provide it with daughter data. President trump believes widespread fraud could have cost him 3 million votes but experts say voter fraud is rare in the United States. Lets take a look at some of the days other news. Un secretary general Antonio Guterres has welcomed the re opening of a hotline between north and south korea. He says he hopes more diplomatic initiatives will go ahead to end the peninsulas nuclear standoff. Earlier north and south korea conducted their first direct communication in nearly two years, reviving the dormant hotline. Its use was ordered by the north korean leader, kim jong un. The bbcs sophie long reports from seoul. That is the first direct telephone call to take place between the two countries for nearly two years, and it is being seen as another step towards the reopening of dialogue between north korea and south korea. South korea offered what it called high level talks to the north yesterday. We still do not know whether the north will accept that offer but it has been proposed for the ninth of january, next tuesday, in fact, ahead of the Winter Olympics getting under way here in south korea. As those talks take place, it is expected that that is what they will discuss, whether north korea will send a delegation to the Winter Olympics. South koreas president has said previously that he really feels that these games could mark a turning point in relations and help de escalate tensions here on the korean peninsula. Also making news today, the United States may withhold Financial Aid to palestinians. On twitter, President Trump said the us received no appreciation or respect from them in return for the money. He also asked why future payments to them should continue, while theyre no longer willing to talk peace with israel. The iranian authorities have intensified their efforts to end several days of Anti Government protests. State media have been showing pro government rallies. The head of the revolutionary guards said the unrest was now over. But social media has continued to report more demonstrations against the government. Thieves have outwitted sophisticated Security Systems at the doges palace in venice to steal jewellery on loan from a member of the qatari royal family. Police say at least two thieves took a brooch and earrings that had a minimum value of a million dollars. The theft was on the last day of an exhibition called treasures of the mughals and the maharajahs. Now if youve ever got annoyed during a flight, i suspect youve never considered doing this. After being delayed getting off a ryanair plane this man decided to leave through the emergency exit, and then went on to sit on the wing. The flight from london had reportedly been delayed for an hour on departure, and another thirty minutes on landing. Not unexpectedly, he was arrested by airport security. The problem of plastics and the impact theyre having on our planet is a subject weve been exploring this week. According to a recent study 95 of plastic pollution in the worlds oceans comes from just ten rivers. One of them is the ganges in india. Our correspondent, Sanjoy Majumder reports from the banks of the holy city of varanasi. This looks like a drain carrying sewerage, but its actually a tributary of the ganges. The waste along its banks choking and contaminating one of the worlds greatest rivers. Every day wrappers, bottles, cups and other Plastic Waste is deposited here, slowly sliding into the water and then eventually flowing into the ganges. For centuries, some of indias greatest cities have been built along its banks, varanasi the oldest one of them. Its only when you come to the ancient city of varanasi that you realise how this mighty river, thats so central to the hindu faith, that sustains the lives and beliefs of nearly half a billion people, is as polluted as it is. The ganges is more than a river to indians, it is sacred to hindus who pray and worship along its banks and cremate their dead in it. From the time it flows out of the icy heights of the himalayas, until it gets here, its Crystal Clear waters give way to a fetid, muddy flow, contaminated by the millions who live along its banks. Five generations of sanjits family have lived along the ganges in varanasi, living witnesses to its gradual degradation. Translation theres an old saying here that the ganges belongs to everyone. You are free to do what you want, throw what you want, cremate dead bodies, bathe, wash, and youll achieve salvation. But we are being irresponsible, we do not have the right to pollute the ganges this way. Three years ago, the Indian Government pledged more than £2 billion to clean up the ganges, but much of the money remains unspent and the focus, in any case, is on treating sewerage and industrial effluents. So the only people trying to prevent Plastic Waste being dumped into the river are these scrap pickers. Translation every day we pick up about ten to 20 kilos of plastic. We have to sift through the rubbish and segregate the plastic. It is estimated that every year, 1. 2 billion pounds of Plastic Waste is dumped into the ganges, much of it carried into the bay of bengal where the river eventually empties out. Sanjoy majumder, bbc news, varanasi. Youre watching newsday on the bbc. Still to come on the programme. Well be live in sydney where australias air accident investigators will try to raise the seaplane which crashed on new year. Also on the programme, it looks like Science Fiction but its real. We report on the first trials outside the laboratory, of the bionic hand which lets the user feel what theyre touching. The most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. Tomorrow in holland, were going to use money we picked up in belgium today, and then we will be in france and again it will be the same money. Its just got to be the way to go. George harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. A 33 year old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. I think it was good. You. Just good . No, fantastic thats better. This is newsday on the bbc. Im rico hizon in singapore. And im kasia madera in london. Our top stories donald trump accuses his former chief strategist of losing his mind after steve bannon reportedly accused mr trumps son, and son in law, of treasonous behaviour. North korea dials a number it hasnt used for two years, as kim jong un reopens a special hotline with the south, sparking hopes of a new diplomatic initiative. Lets take a look at some newspapers from around the world. The front page of the New York Times is reporting on the mexican authorities interfering in the countrys press. The article says the government spends billions on advertising and dictates what should be reported. The Philippine Daily Inquirer says elections in the country could be dispensed with. The paper has a report from congress, which is considering extending the term of president Rodrigo Duterte as well as lawmakers. Elections are due next year. And the gulf news has a warning for chocoholics. It seems the favourite treat could be no more by 2050, with cacao trees struggling to grow in the warming climate. The operation has begun to recover the wreckage of a seaplane that crashed near sydney killing five members of a british family. The aircraft has been submerged in 13 metres of water after coming down in the Hawkesbury River on new years eve. The british catering tycoon Richard Cousins died with his two sons, his fiancee and her 11 year old daughter. Joining me from west head, sydney is our correspondent, phil mercer. Its just after midday in eastern australia. The operation to recover the wreckage of the seaplane began at dawn so about six hours ago and we understand Police Divers forced to the north of where we are at the moment are on the riverbed trying to fit inflatable bags to lift the aircraft to the surface. When the wreckage is brought to the surface, it will be pulled from the water by a crane put onto a barge and to keep the aircraft in as intact with the investigation and we understand when the operation is finished, the barge will then travel to pittwater that you can see behind me to a wharf as the investigators will take the plane to canberra and air crash investigators say a preliminary report will be due in a month. They will want to recover the digital dato, the so called black boxes, to find out what happened. Digital data. We are not sure if these kind of aircraft have a black box recorder. There might be other digital material which could show how and why a routine flight from syd ney how and why a routine flight from Sydney Harbour to jerusalem how and why a routine flight from Sydney Harbour tojerusalem bay endedin Sydney Harbour tojerusalem bay ended in artic taste to be with the death of five members of a british family and the pilot as well. Endedin family and the pilot as well. Ended in catastrophe. The background and experience of the pilots will be looked at. What the investigative tea m looked at. What the Investigative Team is hoping to recoverfrom the aircraft is any mobile phone footage the passengers may have taken which could yield valuable clues as to why this aircraft crashed when conditions at the time appeared to be pretty good. Lots of questions to be pretty good. Lots of questions to be answered but also, the critical clue in all of this has been at the bottom of the Hawkesbury Riverjust to the north of others and a few hours time, we expect that retrieval operation will be completed. The company which runs this plane, are they still not flying . Syd ney are they still not flying . Sydney seaplanes has been in operation for about 12 years and its in this aftermath that it said its in this aftermath that it said it would be suspending services until further notice. We it would be suspending services untilfurther notice. We have been at west head for the last power and have seen at least one seaplane flying overhead so certainly plights are continuing but not from the company involved. Worth pointing out that sydney seaplanes has previously said Safety Record has been unblemished and its pilots, some of the most experienced in the world. As far as the company is concerned, it has suspended all flights but we have seen others in the area. A new type of bionic hand is being tested in the real world for the first time. The extraordinary thing about it is that the person wearing it can actually feel what theyre touching. But until now it has only ever been used in labs. Our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, has been to rome to meet the woman whos been using it to see what difference it makes to her life. Heres his exclusive report. A bionic hand with a sense of touch, and heres the proof. Blindfolded, almarina mascarello knows whether what shes holding is soft or hard. She gets it right every time. Over lunch, she told me that nearly 25 years after losing her hand in a factory accident, its almost like its back again. Translation the feeling is spontaneous, as if it were your real hand. Youre finally able to do things that before were difficult, like getting dressed, putting on shoes. All mundane, but important things. You feel complete. The worlds first feeling bionic hand, given to this danish man, never left the lab, the technology was just too bulky. Now nearly four years on, it is portable, allowing almarina to go back to her hobby of car mechanics. All the electronics are in her rucksack. Heres how it works. Sensors in the fingertips are linked to a computer, this converts the signals into a language the brain will understand. The information is relayed to it via tiny electrodes implanted in nerves in almarinas upper arm. This represents a significant advance in neuro prosthetics, the interface between machine and the human body. The next patient wont need to have a rucksack to carry these electronics because theyre going to be miniaturised and implanted under the skin, and the team here are hoping to do the same with a bionic leg which will have pressure sensors in the foot. Engineers, computer scientists and surgeons from several countries are involved in this eu funded research. A truly human like bionic hand is still decades away, but the team here think it will happen. You see that we are going more and more in the direction of Science Fiction movies, like star wars, Luke Skywalker after the amputation of the hand. So fully controlled, fully natural, fully sensorised. Prosthesis very similar, identical to the human hand. Since we filmed with almarina, shes had to give back her bionic hand because its still in the research stage, but she says when its commercialised in a few years, she wants the feeling bionic hand back for good. Fergus walsh, bbc news, rome. A polar bear cub has been born here in the uk for the first time in 25 years. The parents are both well and looking proud. But the cub itself has not yet been seen. Staff at the highland wildlife park say they first heard the babys cries in late december. But they dont expect the cub or possibly cubs to emerge until march. Up in the snowy hills of highlands, listen carefully. A sound which has not been heard in the uk for 25 years the cries of a new born polar bear cub emerged from this den the week before the christmas. And they have been heard every day since. This is dad arctos, he is in a separate enclosure. He can feed and play. For new, mum victoria must not be disturbed, but the park is very excited. We discovered the cub when my colleague nicky went up there on one of my days off and she rang me very excitedly to tell me that she could hear a cub in the den. It is a very distinctive, very loud noise that the cubs make. So she was incredibly excited and then the next day i heard the noise for myself. Arks to and victoria mated last year. This footage shows a Polar Bear Club born in the netherlands. They have a high mortality rate in the first few weeks, due too their underdeveloped immune system and the mothers need for privacy means any disturbance risks cubs being killed or abandoned. Some conservationists do not believe polar bears should be bred in captivity. What we are doing here is replicating as much as we can possibly the Natural Habitats and i think you have seen for yourself today the conditions that our polar bears are in the space that they have and the enjoyment and the freedom of movement they have here. Male polar bears have no involvement with offspring. He will never actually meet his cub and the rest of us will have to wait until the end of march or beginning of april when hopefully victoria will emerge from her den with her baby or even babies. You have been watching newsday. Stay with us. We speak to the British International trade secretary on his trade trip to china and find out why chinese firms are jostling to do business with the uk after brexit. When you talk to chinese investors and ask why the united ask about the United Kingdom they say, we understand your legal system, its parcel, be trusted, a skilled workforce, a low regulation economy, a growing tech capability. And before we go, rico, weve been talking a lot about weather today, so it makes sense to finish on one of the most beautiful urban settings for a rainbow. As the sun set over rio dejaneiro, this rainbow appeared above sugerloaf mountain. But we havent received any reports of a pot of gold, at least not yet. Well keep you posted. Thats all for now. Storm eleanor brought some damage and destruction to ireland and the uk. It has continued to move away into the Baltic States as you can see here. It is weakening now. To the west, this next area of low pressure is showing signs of deepening. Strengthening all the while as it could bring severe gales during the course of this afternoon. Initially, it is going to send a weather front out ahead of it. Some of the rain will be fairly heavy and persistent over the overnight period and to start this morning. But further north and east, a dry and chilly start to the day with a little bit of frost and fog potentially in Northern England and scotland. So, today, theres going to be that Early Morning rain. Then, the afternoon, winds pick up across the south. A wet note to start with this morning in the south east, east anglia, pushing in to the north east midlands. Those winds behind the rain band picking up. Particularly towards wales. The rain will be persistent and fairly heavy in Northern England, pushing into northern scotland and northern ireland. With elevation, and cold air around, we could be looking at some snow over the Higher Ground here. A dry and cold start in northern scotland with a bit of mist and fog around too. Showers in the northern isles. That rain band will move north and grinds to a halt in the far north of england, central and southern scotland, and northern ireland. Behind that, for much of england and wales, sunshines but those gusty winds touching 60 miles per hour, maybe more in exposure in the south west and into the south east. A mild 12 13 degrees. A bit cooler further north. That area of low pressure clears away, and on friday, then another feature running off the atlantic. Another spell of wet and fairly windy weather to our shores. A bit of snow to start in the Northern Hills first thing on friday and then those winds picking up. Into the south east. Some sunshine around as well. Much more cold air begins to push into would scotland with an increasing chance of wintry showers. That cold air spreads right across the uk for the weekend. Ill distinctly cold. Much, much colder. A strong wind. Bitterly cold, in fact. Sunshine around. Wintry showers in eastern areas. 6 7 degrees at best. Light winds across the board on sunday. But it is going to feel even colder despite there being plenty of sunshine. This is bbc news. Al top story. Our top story. Donald trump has attacked his former chief strategist, steve bannon, after mr bannon was quoted in a book as saying mr trumps son and son in law had held a treasonous meeting with a group of russians. The president said mr bannon had lost his mind after being sacked from his white house post and had leaked false information to make himself seem more important. North korea has placed a call with south korea, reopening a hotline which was closed almost two years ago on the orders of the norths leader, kim jong un. And this video is trending on bbc. Com this very disgruntled ryanair passenger was arrested after leaving his plane through the emergency exit. He was angry following a number of delays at take off and landing. Thats all from me for now. Stay with bbc news. And the top story here in the uk here, the Health Secretary has apologised, after nhs england postpones tens of thousands of non urgent treatments, until february, after a surge in admissions