north and south korea as the winter olympics come to a close, pyongyang says it will now sit down for talks with the united states. on meet the author this week my guest is sirjohn tusa, broadcaster and man of the arts whose own story, making a noise, is also a portrait of modern britain. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. labour would keep britain in a customs union with the eu — according to the party's brexit spokesman. sir keir starmer told the bbc‘s andrew marr show that a new treaty, replicating the existing customs arrangement, would be best for the economy and would respect the referendum result. the prime minister is committed to leaving both the single market and the customs union — she's expected to outline the government's position in more detail this week. our political correspondent emma vardy reports. after months of uncertainty over labour's position, now the party is moving decisively away from a so—called hard brexit. it has been unanimously agreed, according to the shadow brexit secretary. sir keir starmer said jeremy corbyn will announce tomorrow that a labour government's policy would be for the uk to enter a new customs union with the eu after brexit. we've long championed being in a customs union with the eu and the benefits of that, it is the only way realistically to get tariff—free access, really important for our manufacturing base and nobody can answer the question of how you keep your commitment to no hard border in northern ireland without a customs union. staying in a customs union would mean britain continuing to trade freely with other eu countries. this, says sir keir starmer, would be best for britain's manufacturers. but it would limit our ability to strike new trade deals outside europe. brexit—supporting labour mps say staying so closely tied to the eu does not keep to the spirit of the referendum result. what is wrong with it is the country voted to leave and while it is really important we negotiate a free—trade agreement with europe, the eu is a bankrupt organisation, it has never had its accounts signed off, it needs our money. the conservatives have been warned it is crunch time for theresa may. the pro—eu mps could defeat the government in the commons when parliament votes on the terms of the final brexit deal. but the trade secretary, liam fox, encouraged remain supporting tories to unite behind theresa may when she sets out the government's plans for the future relationship with the eu next week. i think when the rest of the parliamentary party hears on friday as the prime minister sets it out at... she will win over anna soubry, do you think? i hope they will have an open mind and listen to what the prime minister says. labour's efforts to persuade conservative rebels to resist the government's plans are set to intensify now there is a clear difference between the tories and labour on brexit. well, earlier today i spoke to the telegraph's brexit commissioning editor asa bennett. liam fox and fellow ministers are using a very curious way of keeping discipline among the tory party, which is basically to remind them thatjeremy corbyn is over there and, yes, they may have ideological overlap and that tory remainers may want to back them on the idea of keeping britain as some sort of of keeping britain in some sort of customs union but then all this would really undermine the brexit strategy at a critical moment and thereby destabilise the government, and increasing the chance of prime minister corbyn happening. well, that kind of makes sense if you're a corbynite, doesn't it? absolutely, that's the thing. you have to look at the wings of the party. the corbynites have a demented obsession to get the tories out and to get their man in. and so they are willing to pay the price to have remainers like kier starmer, someone who never wanted brexit to happen in the first place, kind of dictate the brexit strategy, which essentially keeping britain in the customs union, effectively nullifies any reasonable purpose of having brexit in the first place. in other words, independent control of your trading policy. so, if that means that they can lure some tory remainers over, and as you were saying, the parliamentary arithmetic means they only need a few of them to come over and then they can inflict a humiliating defeat on the government, then they are willing to go for that. i'm surprised to hear you say that it's somehow a kind of demented strategy to want to get your party leader into power. that seems to be normal parliamentary liberal democracy as we know it. but turning to the question of whether they are being opportunistic, how they are chopping these kind of options, managed divergence as we heard from the chequers meeting, that is not particularly clear either, is it? well, they're clear that on the end state in terms of how fast it will be, you're quite right, that has to be decided over the brexit negotiation process. so people like phillip hammond are now agreeing that at some point there will be fields of industry where britain will seek to not be the same as our european neighbours if that is a concession the brexiteers are willing to take. but of course people like borisjohnson know they have to concede some ground too because, shock horror, he is not the prime minister. theresa may is. and the thing is, the only reason why, coming back to my previous answer, when i was saying that it was somewhat sacrificing principles of the corbynites, trying to get corbyn into power, that's because they are all very eurosceptic. as corbyn has said so himself. he feels the customs union is something that is highly unfair and they are deeply sceptical of the european project but they are willing to put that aside in order, looking at parliamentary mathematics, to try and get one over the tories. so having presented them as unprincipled, let's deal with the pragmatic question, which is, is it going to work? labour policy? yes, this policy of dividing and ruling the tory rebels away from the government. knowing from last month that dominic grieve managed to secure such a concession on the idea of having a meaningful vote at the end of the brexit presses, yes, the numbers can go that particular way. but given the critical nature of living the customs union for theresa may's brexit policy, as dictated at lancaster house and repeated at florence, that to have her lose on that, that would be a whole new level, and that's why effectively it is almost a matter of confidence of the government, if they can't get their customs policy through parliament then the whole thing collapses. the german and french leaders have urged russia's president putin to exert maximum pressure on the syrian government to observe a ceasefire. the three leaders spoke by telephone earlier today. syrian government forces have continued air strikes in the eastern ghouta district, despite a un security council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. ground battles have also intensified today as the syrian military tries to advance into the rebel—held area. china's state news agency says the ruling communist party has proposed a change to the constitution that would allow the president and vice—president to stay in power for more than two terms. the current president, xi jinping, is due to step down from his role in 2023. earlier i spoke to tania branigan who is foreign leader—writer at the guardian and was the newspaper's china correspondent for many years. she told me that this move from china's governing communist party is not a surprise. it confirms what we thought was the trajectory, which is that xi jinping has established power in a way that nobody really foresaw when he took overin nobody really foresaw when he took over in 2012 and that he might well continue. i think there is very little doubt he will continue beyond two terms, and the question is how long he might stay on for. do you think this is going to be a leader on the president putin model, or on the chairman mao model?” on the president putin model, or on the chairman mao model? i certainly think he is not a chairman mao figure, although it is so striking he has amassed this power that we have not seen previously, he is not a disruptor as chairman mao was, it's about an assertion of control. chairman mao olver said he was both monkey and type de mactaggart, he liked up evils but also to be in charge and xi jinping liked up evils but also to be in charge and xijinping is liked up evils but also to be in charge and xi jinping is very much a tiger. —— monkey and tiger, he liked to be in charge. it now looks as if xijinping thought to be in charge. it now looks as if xi jinping thought is to be in charge. it now looks as if xijinping thought is going to go into the national constitution. just what is xijinping into the national constitution. just what is xi jinping thought and what is going to mean? that is a very good question and one that people are still trying to figure out. i think what we have seen is this great sense of china re—emerging as a force in the world, which he has beastie promoted very strongly and very successfully, and he's had a great opportunity to do so, of course, because we have seen the trump administration with brexit and the rise of populism elsewhere, the sense there is a space in which china can sell its vision much more powerfully. but it's also really an ideal about greater sort of purity at home, a return perhaps to some of the guiding thoughts of the parties after an age which was about cash and economic prosperity. one of the striking things at the moment with china is the emerging kind of communist party structure with the state structure. when you think back to after the chairman mao years when they try to separate those things out and formulas state power, to say we must have procedures so that we don't have a cult of personality ever again, to now we seem to be welding the party back with the state commander beastly if we go to a more than terms president as well as indefinite communist party leader, it's a recipe for that kind of strongman rule. i think it is really interesting that the party obviously, as you say, made this decision to collectivise and institutionalised power. but i think what is important to remember is xi jinping is one man and there is a reason he's been able to do this. in other words, the party clearly made a decision that they wanted a change. i think that reflects a sense that, although there had been a time when you really needed to collectivise power, there were concerns that there was really stasis, too many vested interests, that corruption had crept in, and perhaps a sense that it really wasn't a sustainable model anymore. i don't think anybody anticipated quite the changes and speed of changes we have seen. do you see it as then a change from weakness, or a change from strength? is this because he can do it, or is this because he can do it, or is this because they really weren't making the structure work along that kind of collective leadership model?” think as always with these things there is sort of pressure from both sides, so i think he's obviously a very confident figure with a very strong family background, a very deep knowledge and deep connections right across the party. at the same time, ithink right across the party. at the same time, i think there was this feeling in the party that it wasn't working, and certainly one of the things she —— xi has tapped into very effectively is more broadly this sense that, as historians beautifully put it, that the middle kingdom had lost its middle and it had become all about money and prosperity and people didn't really know what they were full, what china was for, what the party was for anymore, and that's something he's tapped into. he is a man with a compass. —— what they were for. what about the strongman rule china will rememberfor those old about the strongman rule china will remember for those old enough to remember, chairman mao, the bad history has been raised largely in terms of the terrible famine and the excesses of the cultural revolution, the sensors, not being allowed to be talked about in china. those who remember the way china lost its feedback, there was no way of criticising or inputting to policy m ista kes criticising or inputting to policy mistakes or correcting policy mistakes. is that something people observing china today and seeing it asa observing china today and seeing it as a return to strongman rule, something they need to worry about? i think that is where you get these very mixed reactions because some people have these potent memories and they say this is exactly what we we re and they say this is exactly what we were trying to prevent from happening again. in a sense it is not even how somebody uses power, or what their intentions are but it's inherently dangerous to have somebody who has amassed this control. there are people on the other side who will say, look, things were not working as they are, it isa things were not working as they are, it is a very different age, people are much more savvy and much more experienced and it is just fundamentally different time. i think what we do know is now we are ina think what we do know is now we are in a position where any critics there are in the party will find it much more difficult to come forward. tania branigan. a british skier has fallen to his death in the french alps. mountain rescuers in grenoble said three skiers had got into trouble after venturing off piste in the alpe d'huez region yesterday, and that two of them had fallen from a cliff. the foreign office said it was providing support to the family of the skier who had died. over 1,000 people have taken part in a march in the centre of belfast calling for more to be done to deal with the legacy of northern ireland's troubles. the time for truth march was organised by a number of groups representing people who died in the fighting, and who claim the government has failed to deliver on promises around legacy issues, including a five—year plan to complete outstanding inquests. the sinn fein leader michelle o'neil was among those marching, we have called for the british government to move forward this week and bring for the consultation but most importantly bring forward funding for the legacy for this to happen now, there is no reason for a delay, the money should be released immediately and these people should not be treated in a disgusting way. michelle o'neill. the headlines on bbc news: a shift of policy on europe by labour, the shadow brexit secretary says the party would keep britain in a customs union. china's president xijinping could serve indefinitely, under changes that the communist party is proposing to the country's constitution. eastern ghouta under siege — syrian jets continue pounding the damascus suburb despite a un—agreed ceasfire. the west appeals to russia to put pressure on the regime. bollywood superstar sridevi kapoor has died of a heart attack at the age of 5a. the actress — who starred in more than 150 films — was considered one of the few in her generation capable of huge box office success without the support of a male hero. rajini vaidya nathan looks back at her life. for decades she was bollywood's leading lady. sridevi's combination of charisma and comic timing won herfans around the world and in a male—dominated film industry she was one of the first women to become a megastar in her own right. sridevi was attending a family wedding with her husband and daughter in dubai when she suffered a heart attack late on saturday night. in a tweet india's prime minister narendra modi said he was saddened by her death. my my thoughts are with her family and admirers, he wrote. ithink my thoughts are with her family and admirers, he wrote. i think the passing of sridevi kapoor in such a shocking way means the industry has lost a true icon who was completely and utterly a force of nature on her own. india is mourning the loss of one of its brightest stars. one film producer described the impact of sridevi's death, saying that she was a pioneer who put the early cracks in the glass ceiling of bollywood that paved the way for today's female film stars. her death is a loss to our country, to the film industry, she was such a role model to all women across the country. so, yes, i'm sure it's going to have an impact on all of us. of course, like, now, you've got a lot of famous leading ladies in bollywood but back then in the 80s and early 90s there weren't too many of them and she was one of the first, and so i think that's why she matters so much. sridevi will be remembered for the way she lit up the screen. she left the world of bollywood way too soon but her legacy is enduring. bollywood superstars river dee kapoor who has died at the age of 54. -- kapoor who has died at the age of 5a. —— sridevi kapoor. the closing ceremony of the winter olympics has taken place in pyeongchang. russian athletes were banned from parading under their flag because of drug violations, but the international olympic committee says it could allow the country to compete at the next games, providing no more of its competitors are found to have committed doping violations. andy swiss reports. the sound of defiance. over a neutral anthem, the russian anthem being sung by the gold—medal—winning ice hockey team of the olympic athletes from russia on the very day their nation was getting a reprieve. 160 of their athletes have had to compete here under a neutralflag. while russia wasn't granted their flag for the closing ceremony, their olympic ban is now set to be lifted, despite two russian athletes, including curler alexander krushelnitsky, failing drugs tests here. these are cases of negligence, but there is no indication whatsoever for a systemic or systematic doping. as for team gb, well, it was a disappointing final day. their bobsleighers finishing 17th and 18th. but with five medals, including lizzy yarnold's gold, it's been their most successful winter games ever. we're very happy. this is a historic games for us, it's our best ever winter olympics. we had three medals in one day on that saturday, we had back—to—back gold medals with lizzy yarnold. but these games have been about politics as well as sport. president trump's daughter ivanka among those attending the closing ceremony. while after parading under a unified flag at the start of the games, the north and south korean athletes once again entered the stadium together, embracing the spirit of celebration. the large contingent from team gb also enjoyed their moment. finally, a chance to relax. for the hosts who have been widely praised for their organisation, it's been a memorable fortnight. but at last, it was time to lower the olympic flag and hand it over to beijing who will hold the next games in four years' time. it has a tough act to follow as pyeongchang put on a dazzling spectacle. a games which has made so many headlines is saying goodbye in style. andy swiss, bbc news, pyeongchang. the closing ceremony was attended by president trump's daughter, ivanka, as well as a delegation of north koreans. the us ruled out meeting any representatives from pyongyang, but north korean officials indicated they were open to talks with the americans in the future. our correspondent in south korea, stephen mcdonnell, is following developments. i think serious negotiations, we are still some way off. given where we were with north korea not talking to either south korea or the united states just months ago, i think those in favour of the dialogue path would say that president moon has done a good job of using this winter olympics to at least try to bring both sides together. we have heard this before from north korea. more recently we have heard it from the vice president pence. "we'll talk to the north koreans." we just have to see if these talks come to anything — if they are prepared to sit down with one another. president moon was elected. he has a mandate really to try and reach out to the north koreans. that is what he went to the south korean people and said he would do. i think he would probably be quite proud of what he has been able to achieve at these games. we have seen those kind of strange situations in the stadium behind me. even tonight, there is ivanka trump. she is sitting in the front row. behind her, a north korean general, who is accused of two attacks on south korea, including a torpedoing incident, in which 46 south korean seamen died. a lot of people think he should not even be allowed in the country. yet he is trying to bring the two camps together. it is still a very tough ask. when it comes down to it — the cynics will say, "is north korea really going to give up its nuclear weapons? are the americans put up with anything less than them giving up their nuclear weapons?" these are massive hurdles both sides must cover. at least they have potentially come some way towards talks at these games. steven mcdonnell in pyeongchang. a new £13—million fund to fight child sexual exploitation and drugs crime is being launched by the home office. ministers want social workers, police and nurses to help protect children, and young people at risk from sex gangs and drug dealers. anisa kadri reports. society's most vulnerable, those at risk of grooming, exploitation and being drawn into a life of crime are among those supported by children's homes like this one, visited by home office minister victoria atkins. £13 million of government funding has been made available for projects aimed towards at—risk young people in england. we want to encourage local authorities to work with charities and other organisations to try and reach these children before harm is done. we are calling out to local authorities and charities for their ideas. if they have a scheme that is already working, come and talk to us to see if it fits in with the fund. if somebody has a bright idea out there about what may work in their particular market town or locality, do come and talk to us. it doesn'tjust have to be about residential homes, even though these are incredibly important. it could be all sorts of other ideas as well. to access funding, councils must be able to show how projects would improve well—being and self—esteem, facilitate more trusted relationships and reduce exploitation, abuse and criminality. what we're realising is a lot of young people have misssed childhood experiences such as going to the park or having somebody sit with them at night and actually those little things make so much of a difference. having positive experiences is really powerful. some have questioned how far the government funding will stretch. but staff in this home say any support offered can't come soon enough. in egypt, archaeologists have revealed a recently—discovered tomb, which is thought to be more than 2000 years old. it's about 120 miles south of cairo, beside the nile at tuna al—gabal, and contains dozens of ancient burials. it's hoped it'll boost tourism. bill hayton reports. eight metres below ground, buried treasure, centuries old. stone coffins, carved sarcophagi, ancient stones and jewellery. this was a burial place for priests from a nearby city. it's only the beginning. i think we need at least five more missions to work. but we are going to add very soon a new archaeological attraction in middle egypt. amongst the many fines were the remains of sacred animals, preserved as offerings to the afterlife. and about 1,000 small statues known as ushabti, intended to act as servants to the dead. and one very special piece of jewellery: an amulet with a message. translation: on the 31st of december, a colleague alerted me to a scarab which had the message happy new year in hieroglyphs. it felt like a message sent to us from the afterlife. it was a wonderful coincidence. the government hopes discoveries like this will improve tourism in egypt. visitor numbers are rising, but they are only half what they were before the arab spring, seven years ago. on its own, this term is unlikely to unlikely to attract many foreigners. it is in middle egypt, a long way from the pyramids and the ancient city of luxor, and tourism facilities are poorly developed. but it is a reminder the pharaohs left plenty behind, and in places that are easier to see. bill hayton, bbc news. here is tomasz schafernaker with the weather. the advice in our forecasts has not changed, destructive winter weather through the week and different parts of the uk will get snow at different times during the week but there will be sunshine around as well so it won't be snowing all the time. the cold air out of russia has established itself across the continent moving across the uk, and even hat into the atlantic so cold enough for snow everywhere across the british isles, which doesn't often happen. through this evening and overnight, snow showers will be settling across some eastern counties of the uk, so some of us first thing in the morning will wake up first thing in the morning will wake up to first thing in the morning will wake uptoa first thing in the morning will wake up to a fresh covering of snow, very cold, of course, the ground frozen. the main message for monday is most snow showers will be light, fleeting, like here on the picture, and there will be plenty of clear, sunny, crisp weather as well, so on monday most snow showers in the east, some of them making their way inland as well, parts of the midlands, the south, south west as well, northern ireland too, pretty much anywhere, anywhere from edinburgh down towards norwich. it is going to feel cold, temperatures as low as —5 in some areas because of the strong easterly wind. on monday night into tuesday we watch the snow clouds developing across the snow clouds developing across the north sea and this is what could bring some problems during tuesday. from early tuesday morning throughout tuesday there is an amber warning in force already from the met office for parts of yorkshire, lincolnshire, into the midlands as well, all the way up to birmingham. we could have a real dump of snow during the course of the day had some snow will fall in other parts of the country as well. you can see the snow showers in the north sea being driven by that strong east, north—easterly wind, continuing into wednesday and in some areas they will become relentless. you get the message that it is eastern areas initially in the first half of the week that will get the most amount of snow. these are day temperatures generally below freezing, around 3pm. by the end of wednesday there was a large variation in snowfall, across the uk, 2—10 centimetres in some western areas, possibly in excess of 20 centimetres in the east. then it becomes problematic towards the end of the week, potentially a full—blown blizzard heading to the south. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. a shift of policy on europe by labour. the shadow brexit secretary says the party would keep britain in a customs union. china's president xijinping could serve indefinitely, under changes that the communist party is proposing to the country's constitution. syrian jets continue their bombardment of eastern ghouta despite a un—agreed ceasefire. france and germany appeal to russia to put pressure on damascus. one of bollywood's most famous actresses, sridevi kapoor dies, aged 5a. she starred in more than 150 films. a show of unity between north and south korea as the winter olympics come to a close. pyongyang says it will now sit down for talks with the united states. shall we catch up with the sports news? manchester city are leading arsenal 1—0 at half time in the carabao cup final at wembley. a goal from top scorer sergio aguero, who lobbed the keeper after latching onto a long ball from claudio bravo separates the two sides at the interval. manchester united have moved back to second in the premier league after coming from a goal down to beat chelsea 2—1. jessie lingaard scored the second—half winner as jose mourinho and chelsea boss antonio conte renewed rivalries at old trafford. ade adedoyin was watching. match up is as much about the rivalry between two teams as the managers. a brief handshake, but jose mourinho and into o'neill condy‘s relationship has been like the weather, frosty. a lively start with the bar are being rattled in three minutes. eden hazard put chelsea ahead later. conte would not be happy with what happened next, as romelu lu ka ku scored be happy with what happened next, as romelu lukaku scored his first goal against the side, to make it 1—1 at the break. he nearly made it two, with this acrobatic effort. a few minutes later, rob lukaku —— romelu lukaku... afine minutes later, rob lukaku —— romelu lukaku... a fine cross and finish. jose mourinho's men hung on for the win, with victory against his old club. very special because we beat the champions, we beat a fantastic team that is very difficult to beat. these three points are the ones that keep us in second position, which is the position we're fighting for. that opens up the gap a little bit to chelsea. it is a very important result for us. the problem as you must be the best team at the end of the game, not only after the first half. we had a great chance today to get three points here. but we were not able to do this. chelsea's defeat means they've been overta ken by tottenha m, who left it late to beat struggling crystal palace. it threatened to be a frustrating afternoon for spurs, despite their dominance. even harry kane wasn't at his lethal goal—scoring best. although perhaps that miss doesn't look so bad up against serge aurier‘s bungled effort. but kane did come up with a goal for tottenham in the 88th minute, heading in christian erikssen's corner for the 150th goal of his club career. i feel really bad for the players because i think that after the game, you see them in the dressing room and how disappointed and flat they are, and how frustrated that they could not just see are, and how frustrated that they could notjust see the game to be the last few minutes, and as a coach and manager you do not quite know what to say to them because praising them for the performance does not mean much when you know that the performance is not giving you anything in terms of points. celtic have restored a nine—point lead at the top of the scottish premiership after beating aberdeen 2—0 at pittodrie. moussa dembele headed injames forrest's cross from close range to give celtic a 1—0 lead at half—time. he then set up kieran tierney for their second, giving celtic their tenth win in a row against the dons — who stay in third place in the league the winter olympics has drawn to a close in pyeongchang with the final medals decided. the men's ice hockey final was a classic as the olympic athletes from russia came from behind to beat germany 11—3 in overtime in a thrilling climax. there were jubilant scenes as the oar won their second gold of the games and 17th medal overall. the winning team proudly sang the russian national anthem, as the olympic flag was raised in honour of their win. following that, it was the traditional closing ceremony. the unionjack was carried by snowboard big air bronze medallist, billy morgan. a colourful light show and south korean music brought 16 days of action to a conclusion. the international olympic committee has vowed to end russia's ban — if there are no more positive tests from their athletes in pyeongchang. this is the final medal table. norway top with a record 39, ahead of germany and canada. great britain have had their best winter games with five medals, including lizzy yarnold's gold. they finished in 19th place. and though britain have been criticised for investing more in winter sports, the chair of uk sport think this performance represents good investment. there is an amazing reaction from people who see the olympic games, whether they love sport or do not follow it. the winter olympics, summer olympics and paralympics, people get very engaged, people feel united, people get inspired and influenced. when you try to put a number on, is it worth the value we see? i think it is so much more complicated than just it costs that many millions that medal, or otherwise. the money is buying into a huge system of sport across the country, which huge benefits. six nations rugby have confirmed they will investigate an incident in the tunnel between england and scotland players before yesterday's calcutta cup match which was won by scotland at murrayfield. while in domestic rugby union, second place saracens are in action against leicester. while earlier bottom of the table london irish beat worcester 22—9. elsewhere, bottom side london irish gotjust their second win of the season against the team just above them in the table, worcester. south african piet van zyl got the game's only try. irish are still some way off safety though — they remain 12 points behind worcester at the bottom. meanwhile, in the pro 1a, cardiff blues came out on top in a low scoring affair against zebre. an owen lane try and two jarrod evans kicks earning them a 10—7 win. ireland have moved to third in the women's six nations. claire molloy scored two tries as the irish pulled away in the second half to beat wales 35—12. england lost a thrilling first one—day international against new zealand. the kiwis chased down 285 to win with four balls to spare in hamilton. ben stokes was making his first appearance since he was involved in an incident outside a bristol nightclub back in september. and although he madejust 12, he helped an england fightback with the ball taking two wickets. latham for 79 then got de grandhomme cheaply caught behind by buttler. new zealand won by 3 wickets mitchell santner finishing it in style in the final over. now, in athletics, the glasgow indoor grand prix has taken place today. in the men's 60 metres, there were four brits in the final but adam gemili, cj ujah, ojie edoburun and reece prescod all finish outside the first three places. china's bingtian su was the winner. in the women's 60 metre final, britain's dina asher smith went into the race in fine form with a personal best in the heats but she was pipped by the ivory coast's marie—josee ta lou on the line — just two hundreths of a second ahead of asher smith. there was some british sprinting success, with paralympic champion sophie hahn in the women's 60 metres t37—38. she'll be making her debut at the commonwealth games in april. iam i am absolutely delighted, i had time to do some training this week, iam time to do some training this week, i am delighted. to do this on the track is brilliant. one of the big reasons as to get ready for the commonwealth games. how are you going? i am so excited, not long to go. just a train hard and get ready for the commonwealth games. greg rutherford came fourth in the men's longjump, rutherford came fourth in the men's long jump, after fighting to rutherford came fourth in the men's long jump, afterfighting to gain fitness. he settled for a best of 8.79 metres. england's eddie pepperell has claimed his first european tour title after holding off compatriot oliver fisher to win at the qatar masters. the pair shared the lead overnight, but pepperell carded a two—under final round to finish on 18 under and secure victory. fisher could have forced a play—off but missed a birdie putt on the 18th to finish one behind his playing partner on 17 under. i knew i was playing quite well on the green, so i expect a lot of myself this week, and to bullet off was amazing. i put myself under a lot of pressure, so i am happy to be off the golf course. ronnie o'sullivan needs just four more frames to win snooker‘s world grand prix in preston. up against china's ding junhui, the first four frames were shared. but o'sullivan exerted his dominance after that, winning 4 out of the next 5 frames — including this break of 120 — to take a 6—3 advantage into this evening's final session. the winner is the first to 10 frames. that's all the sport for now. at wembley, manchester city lead arsenal 1—0. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. i'll have more for you in sportsday at 6.30pm. let's get more now on sridevi kapoor — the bollywood star who has died at the age of 5a. earlier my colleague ben brown spoke to the british film director gurinder chadha — who knew sridevi and gave her reaction to the news of herfriend's death. i was just appalled and shocked when i heard the news last night, and reached out to my colleagues in india, some of whom had not heard the news. suffice to say, i think eve ryo ne the news. suffice to say, i think everyone is walking around in a cloud right now in india. a real shock. a complete shock because this isa shock. a complete shock because this is a woman who is really an icon. and i do not use that word lightly. she really did break new ground pioneering new ground. particularly in the 80s. she had been acting since she was a child. since the age of four. absolutely, she had been active for five decades. in of four. absolutely, she had been active forfive decades. in hindi cinema she became a megastar, and she was the first actress to command the same respect and dignity as the men ina the same respect and dignity as the men in a very male dominated industry at that time. so she could open a film and everyone was amazed at her power. what was it about her power, as you put it. why was she so stunning and successful? when i first met her, i met her in the 19805. i first met her, i met her in the 1980s. i was a bbc reporter at the timei 1980s. i was a bbc reporter at the time i met him! she would sit in the corner, she was a mousy little lady when you met, but when you put a camera in front of her, she was a different person. i think the screen presence she had at that time to everybody —— to everyone by storm because she was really versatile and good at comedy, an excellent answer, excellent actress, and it was the combination of all things that bring her movies to life. and very prolific, and her short life she packed in a lot of movies. yes, she was able to do it in five languages. she had recently made a film that had brought her back. she had her heydayin had brought her back. she had her heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, then she got married. i remember being in india ina she got married. i remember being in india in a hotel, in mumbai, in the early 2000, and i was sitting by the pool early 2000, and i was sitting by the pool, and there was a woman who kept walking down the hotel grounds, upstairs, downstairs, although around about 20 times, and that was srivedi, and she was back contract and wanting to get back into movies to this dedicated work—out everyday in the hotel, and then she brought herself back and she had another burst of excellent career, and she has recently made another movie, and i had met her last year when i was in india, i met her in the studios, where we were doing the music for my film, and she had come there with her husband to doc about music for another film. her husband to doc about music for anotherfilm. she her husband to doc about music for another film. she was very active in the business, so it is devastating to see her go. she was about to launch her daughter as well. she had great producing credits as well, and you could see that she was going to fly that flag for women load and bright. you spoke earlier about how she came to broke through in the male dominated bollywood. what sort of strength and resilience did that require, do you think, as a young actress forcing her way through that? tremendous strength, it really was the time of big iconic male heroes, who were tough and, you know... they commanded the scene, with dramatic performances, and iconic performances to this day. but i think with srivedi, she was able to capture something in the audiences who were looking for something different to this match will kind of hendy hero of the time. -- hindi will kind of hendy hero of the time. —— hindi hero. she was extremely beautiful, but at the same time she did comedy, so did not have to look beautiful all the time. she had great comic timing and she was in a clip of a famous film that a lot of people might have seen. they used a film of srivedi in that film, where the young boys are watching her and you see them all enjoying themselves. she bought something new to hindi cinema at the time, and we had great heroines before. very classy actresses. but i would say srivedi was more streetwise, if you like. she understood what the audience wanted and had certain talents, and she used those to great effect to be able to be a pioneering women to command her own space in a male dominated industry. she has revolutionised in a way hindi cinema? i would see most women today will look at her and say, when can i open a movie like? now it is time for meet the author. john tusa has been broadcast, bbc executive, a tsar in performance and in academia, but now he's brought it all together in a memoir called making a noise. from his own experience, getting it right and getting it wrong, as he puts it. and from the people he has worked with. it's more than a personal portrait, it's a picture, drawn from an intriguing angle of what kind of country we live in today. welcome. it is a story of modern britain, isn't it, seen through some of our institutions in the arts? and of course, here in the bbc. yes, i think it is, and i think that what it is is trying to understand what makes major organisations work. this tussle over the last 20, 30 years as to how efficient organisations have to be. the answer is, yes, of course, everybody has learned about how to run an organisation properly, but the interesting question... and i hope it comes out in the book. ..is how do you combine being efficient with being true to what the organisation is about? the values. and we always believed, and i think the bbc used to, it certainly did, the world service did, that values and efficiency can go hand in hand and i think that organisations... and i'm not talking about the bbc now. but organisations which lose touch with their values do get stuck. and i think this is a continuing tussle in britain today. let's just take your story through to remind people. you were a journalist for the bbc for a very long time, and you were there particularly on the screen, as many people will remember, at the very beginning of newsnight, which was a difficult birth, which you described in great detail there. and then of course you got the job you really wanted and didn't expect to get, which was running bbc world service. now, where do you think it sits in the panoply of, you know, broadcasting in the modern era? well, there is absolutely no question that the trust that audiences had for the bbc world service was higher than for anybody else, and the voice of america and all that would tend to get larger audiences and that was probably because they were more propagandistic, and people liked that. that was fine, but audiences knew what they were doing. but the trust level of the bbc world service was greater than for any other broadcaster, and when communism fell, almost all the world's broadcasters, certainly the ones in the communist block, just collapsed. and even the voice of america and liberty and radio free europe lost their purpose because there was no longer a propaganda war to fight. but bbc world service continued, because what we always said was, "we are giving information to audiences," and that was true then and i think it is true now. there's an interesting other side of the coin that you pointed in your story that when government ministers said, "well, why can't all the bbc be like the world service?" this was code for the fact that they didn't like the bbc, because it was saying things about government that they didn't approve of. this was mortifying, and also a lot of government ministers, bbc governors, when they were giving the board of management at the bbc a particularly hard time, and then saying, "but of course, the world service is marvellous," and i hated that. the world service being held up as some sort of goody—goody bit of the bbc when frankly a lot of the governors were attacking the bbc quite, quite unfairly and unreasonably. well, this is something... you look into this in excruciating detail, but there are passages in the book where you talk about the extent which there was in your view a great lack of affection, almost hatred in some cases, for the institution which they were supposed to be guardians of as governors of the bbc. time and again, governors of the nonexecutive body would say things like, "well, of course the bbc won't exist in six or seven years' time." now, as an informed comment or a judgment, you say, "well, maybe yes, maybe no." it has been proven very, very wrong. they would say that. but then the other times, when the remarks they would make really indicated they were completely out of sympathy with what the bbc stood for. and to have people in the nonexecutive body, the board of governors, who really disliked what the bbc stood for, and this is one of the reasons why the relationships between the board of governors and the executive board fell apart in those years, 1992, 1993 under the chairman. you know, you've got to respect an organisation if you are responsible for it. your subsequent career, of course, took you into the arts. you ran the barbican centre. you had a great commitment to the arts. you then worked in academia in the same university of the arts. when you moved from the bbc with all its difficulties and always bureaucratic problems, trying to deal with artists and artist management, and produce a programme that he plays like the barbican with all its different aspects, what was the difference? i always thought there was a lot in common, because both artists in their totality... a lot of hysterical people. and journalists in their totality. they all do things which they believe in. they are on the whole not very well paid, and they are acutely aware of the need to relate to the audience, to the public. so from that point of view, i felt completely at home with artists as with journalists. putting together the artistic programme was something that i didn't do. i tried to create the atmosphere within which an organisation could exist, and then the artistic field under graham sheffield did that, but you did need both. your own story is a fascinating one. born in czechoslovakia. although you say one of your regrets in the book is that you never learned to speak czech. you might have been delivered by tom stoppard's father. you may have been. yes. there were two doctors on duty that night and one of them was his father. that's right. did you find when you came, and of course were educated wholly in this country and so on that you still had the perspective of an outsider simply by the accident of birth? i think i always have done. i mean, iam british. i'm not english. i can't be english. i think british intellect is a wonderful, inclusive identity. part of that britishness, which i think many people will feel, is the ability to use your origin — in my case, czechoslovakia — as a way of looking at life in a slightly, slightly different way. and, you know, bits of czechness crop up, appear here and there. ifeel a huge identity with, for example, the great national hero, the good soldier, svejk. svejk survives dictatorship and autocracy by pretending to be an idiot, and saying, "i am an idiot." and there's something about that defensive strategy which i find very, very attractive. you say you're british, do you feel european? i feel intensely european. one of the reasons that i'm now applying for my czech passport, which of course i never had, but i never abandoned czech citizenship, is that i do not want to be cut out from europe if, i would say, the worst comes to the worst, and britain leaves the eu. i am intensely european. i travel there a great deal. european culture in all its aspects... and it's notjust my culture. it's britain's culture, for heaven's sake. you know, britain is part of europe. and i don't want to be cut off from that in any way at all. it's a glory and a privilege. and yet, the picture of the country that you portray here is, for all its difficulties, for example here at the bbc or in funding for the arts, which you are intensely passionate about, it's nonetheless a rich, diverse and culturally alive place, isn't it, which you continue to celebrate? you are not someone who is depressed. no, i refuse to be depressed. and i don't think... i think there are many reasons for not being depressed, and the sheer intense variety of the culture of this country. the diversity of this country. i mean, the way that london hasjust accommodated people, nations, whole wodges of other nations‘ and london is the rich. and london is the richerfor it. you know, in history, all the evidence is that city nations which take in outsiders, strangers, they are the ones that flourish. they flourish economically, creatively and intellectually. there is a lesson there for us. john tusa, author of making a noise, thank you very much. thank you,jim. the cold snap is up on us, but this is no may not get to you till later on in the week. monday morning, some others may be waking up to snow on the ground, and the ground is frozen solid so there will be no problem for it to settle pretty much anywhere. through the course of the day, the easterly winds will... tomorrow, there could be some flakes of snow. by monday there could be covering in some areas, but particularly across the east of the country. monday into tuesday, that is when snow showers start to develop across the north sea, starting to be blown in further inland, and there is already an amber warning inland, and there is already an amberwarning in inland, and there is already an amber warning in force from the met office for first thing on tuesday morning. this is bbc news. i'm carrie gracie. the headlines at 6pm. a shift of policy on europe by labour — the shadow brexit secretary says the party would keep britain in a customs union. china's president xijinping could serve indefinitely, under changes to the constitution put forward by the ruling communist party. syrian jets continue their bombardment of eastern ghouta despite a un—agreed ceasefire. the west asks russia to put pressure on damascus. labour would keep britain in a customs union with the eu — according to the party's brexit spokesman. sir keir starmer told the bbc‘s andrew marr show that a new treaty,

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