how living near major roads could put you at higher risk of developing dementia. and six letters from princess diana to a buckingham palace steward are sold at auction for more than £15,000. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news, sir andy murray's through to the qatar 0pen semi—finals after beating spain's nicolas almagro. he'll face eitherjo—wilfried tsonga or tomas berdych in the last four. good evening. american intelligence officials have given a stark warning about the threat posed by russian cyber attacks. the outgoing us national intelligence director, james clapper, told a senate hearing he hasn't come across a more aggressive campaign to interfere with an american election than russia's actions in last year's race for the white house. mr clapper — who will brief donald trump about his findings tomorrow — said the hacking of democratic party emails had been ordered by the kremlin. washington is investigating what could be the biggest political break—in since watergate. in the 70s it was the building belonging to the democratic national committee that was burgled. in 2016 it was the computer system at the party's present headquarters. a robbery in cyberspace rather than in person. and us intelligence believes it was orchestrated by vladimir putin, from the kremlin, to help donald trump win the election. i want to welcome all our members back to the committee. today, those allegations were aired publicly on capitol hill at this republican—controlled congressional committee. every american should be alarmed by russia's attacks on our nation. there is no national security interest more vital to the united states of america than the ability to hold free and fair elections without foreign interference. that's why congress must set partisanship aside, follow the facts and work together to devise comprehensive solutions to deter and defend against and, when necessary, respond to foreign cyber attacks. america's director of national intelligence, james clapper, said he stood more resolutely by a statement released in october, before the election, that moscow was interfering to help donald trump. he was asked if that was an act of war. whether or not that constitutes an act of war i think is a very heavy policy call that i don't believe the intelligence community should make, but it would certainly carry, in my view, great gravity. the president—elect has repeatedly rubbished the notion that he achieved a kremlin—assisted victory and has publicly poured scorn on america's spies. he's also spoken approvingly ofjulian assange, the founder of wikileaks, who released the hacked e—mails and claimed the russians weren't involved. that's enraged senators from both parties. who actually is the benefactor of someone who's about to become commander—in—chief trashing the intelligence community? i think there's a difference between scepticism and disparagement. director clapper, how would you describe mr assange? i don't think those of us in the intelligence community have a whole lot of respect for him. then, this blunt and direct message for president—elect trump from a senior member of his own party. i want to let the president—elect know that it's ok to challenge the intel, you're absolutely right to want to do so, but what i don't want you to do is undermine those who are serving our nation in this arena until you're absolutely sure they need to be undermined. and i think they need to be uplifted, not undermined. trump tower these days has its own microclimate of twitter storms and today was no different. the president—elect took to social media to complain thatjournalists were being dishonest in saying he agreed withjulian assange and that he was a big fan of the intelligence community. donald trump will receive the treatment tomorrow. will it alter his thinking, that the russian hacking claims are a cock—up along the lines of iraqs weapons of mass destruction, rather than pointing to a kremlin conspiracy. and confirmation that theresa may is heading to washington in the next month or two to see donald trump? you remember the first conversation and donald trump delivered the casual invitation: if you travel to the us, you should let me know! well downing street wanted to firm up the details, especially at the time when donald trump was tweeting that nigel farage would make a great uk ambassador. so meetings with donald trump's transition team. a vague date in the diary, it may happen in spring or next month. tony blair met george w bush in february for the first time, gordon brown met president 0bama in early march, so this is the same sort of ball park. but it could be that the first british politicians to get to shake the hand of president donald trump will be nigel farage as it was announced today he will be attending his inauguration in 15 days' time. thank you. jill saward, the woman who became a renowned campaigner for survivors of sexual assault after she was raped during a burglary at her father's vicarage, has died. she was 51 and had suffered a stroke. she became the first rape survivor in the uk to waive her right to anonymity — and spent much of the rest of her life crusading for better treatment of survivors of sexual assault from the courts and police. the archbishop of canterburyjustin welby described her as a heroic and remarkable campaigner. here's our home affairs correspondent june kelly. jill saward was 21 when, in 1986, she became the victim of a crime which caused revulsion across the country. there was horror that in a suburban vicarage in ealing in west london, a young woman was dragged into a bedroom at knife—point and raped repeatedly by two men. it began to be serious when mantu took when man two took me upstairs and brought me into this room, the spare room, basically, and told me to undress. her attackers were part of a three—man gang, who broke into herfamily home. her father, the reverend michael saward, and her boyfriend were badly beaten. jill saward's rapists tied her up with a skipping rope. in the criminal trial that followed, the judge caused outrage when he said that jill saward's trauma — had not been so great — and he gave her attackers, lighter sentences than the gang member, who be didn't rape her. my response to what the judge said about me, that i had suffered no great trauma, or that the trauma was not so great, again, don't think words could have expressed how i felt in that situation. i don't think thejudge had a clue what i went through. as a rape victim, jill saward's name was kept secret but she took the decision to write a book and speak publically about what she had endured. i want people to be able to understand just how much of a trauma rape is, and just what you do go through when you're being raped, and i hope that what i've done will help other people. having been exposed to the realities of the criminal justice system, jill sawa rd became a pivotal advocate of better treatment for other victims. she was at the vanguard of a successful campaign to stop defendants in rape cases from cross—examining women bringing complaints. tonight fellow campaigners pay tribute to her. and one of the most important things she did, of course, was to try to dispell the stigma and the taboo around rape and sexual violence, because as a survivor herself, she very strongly and rightly, repeated the message, the survivor, the victim, has nothing to feel ashamed about, it is always the perpetrator who has the reason to feel shame. jill sawa rd leaves husband and three sons. a husband and three sons. the attorney general said she had opened the eyes of many politicians and helped to ensure that victims we re placed at the heart of the criminaljustice system. the campaignerjill saward, who's died at the age of 51. the way domestic abusers are dealt with in family courts in england and wales looks set to change. the justice secretary wants to stop the growing practice of abusers questioning their own victims — adding to their ordeal. one woman in four can expect to experience domestic violence during her lifetime. at the moment two women are killed every week in england and wales by a current or former partner. now a pilot scheme backed by the home office — has brought northumbria police and several other agencies together in a new way of tackling the problem. as our uk affairs correspondent jeremy cooke reports, the early signs are encouraging. they're on the road. and on the doorstep. i'm just going to try around the back. northumbria police, tracking down those guilty of a crime often unseen — domestic violence. the lad we're going to see is no stranger to the police anyway. it's a volatile relationship, erm, so there's physical violence, emotional violence. this time, he's not there. but the cops will be back. the key is intelligence—gathering, a task that goes well beyond the police. his father believed he may have been recalled to prison... in this one room are councils and probation workers, victim support groups, the nhs and more. six police events on our system are all down to domestic abuse. all of it designed to identify suspects. we wouldn't have a domestic abuse victim if we didn't have a perpetrator. therefore, if we want to stop domestic abuse, we need to stop the perpetrators. the work could hardly be more urgent. this police force alone has dealt with almost 30,000 domestic abuse calls in the past year. we were standing in the kitchen just talking, and then next thing, he just flew for me. was biting us, punching us, grabbed us by the throat. ijust thought she was in the wrong, i was blaming her for everything and i punched herand kicked her and i physically assaulted her. i don't know what i done it for, just something flipped, or clicked, and ijust went absolutely berserk. back on the street, the police are still on the case. and finally, they track down their man and the woman he's abused many times. they've slipped out of the house into the back alley. hiya, folks, you all right? this is to inform you that northumbria police have identified you as a domestic abuse serial perpetrator. what's different here is that these cops are not making an arrest, they're trying to get him to engage in a programme to stop the violence. we can offer you these courses now, and... what kind...? is it a big project? it's things like, they're looking at things like anger management, drug and alcohol misuse, and it's like, you want to make that step. and that step is this. you recognise the behaviour before it escalated towards being abusive... it's a key element of this new home office—funded pilot scheme. aggressive behaviour is a choice. every man on this course had admitted domestic abuse, physical or mental. your body tenses up, your fists will clench. the numbers are impressive — for men who complete this course, rates of offending have reduced by 61% — enough to make a difference. i love him, and we've got four children together. that to me is enough to try to make things work. and thank goodness it did. thanks to this course. some people watching this who will say, you shouldn't be on this course, you should be injail? yeah. well, to be honest with you, i think i should have been injail. i think anyone who hits anybody or abuses anybody or anything else, should go to jail. but obviously, i've had a second chance. ultimately, those behind this programme want one thing — to stop the abuse. they're doing all they can, but there are warnings that the process can only be as strong as its weakest link. we've taken the initiative, and i want the courts to follow suit and take the initiative, too. perpetrators need to be stopped. and it is a nasty course of conduct that's changing vulnerable victims‘ lives and the courts need to intervene, understanding that. the police here stress that whenever possible, perpetrators will still face arrest and prosecution. it's a zero tolerance message, and it's all about protecting victims. details of organisations providing support for victims of domestic violence are available at: bbc.co.uk/actionline or you can call 0800 888 809. two people have been killed and five have been wounded in a car bomb explosion in the turkish resort of izmir. the blast took place outside the city's courthouse, with armed attackers opening fire before detonating a bomb. two of the attackers were shot dead by police and a third is said to be on the run. britain's service sector grew rapidly last month, at its fastest pace for almost a year and a half. that's according to a survey published today. services, which cover everything from retail and transport, to banking and accounting, make up three—quarters of the uk's economy. the chief economist at the bank of england, andy haldane, welcomed the figures, but warned that the next two years could be more difficult. here's our economics editor, kamal ahmed. the great british shopper, still confident, still spending, still the motor driving the uk economy, which, despite all those gloomy forecasts, now looks set to be one of the fastest—growing in europe. with interest rates low and employment levels high, for these shoppers in birmingham, it's time to splash out. i just spend all the time, because i get paid weekly, so as soon as i get paid i spend it all. i'm not very good at saving. i'm the kind of person, if i like something, i'll go and buy it anyway, whether it's in the sale or not. but i think i am still a bit careful, yes. i'm not as freewheeling as this one. cashing in for the moment, the high street shops like this one in glasgow, that are the mainstay of the service economy. it was a good christmas for us, which is a very important part of our business. going forward, i'm not so confident that things will hold up as well as they have been. the reason being that a lot of our suppliers have already announced price rises for 2017, most of them across the board. here's the chief economist of the bank of england, an organisation that warned before the referendum that things could get pretty tough pretty quickly. that tune has changed. if you look at how the british consumer performed during the course of last year, it's almost as though the referendum had not taken place. and of course, in terms of many of the real things, like pay and jobs, not very much happened. do you feel more confident now about the uk economy in 2017, given the very positive figures this morning on services, very positive figures on construction, very positive figures on manufacturing, than you and the bank did pre the referendum, if there was a vote to leave the european union? we are still expecting this rather difficult balancing act, with a slowing, not a huge slowing, but nonetheless a material slowing during the course of next year, as the effects of higher prices in the shops begin to chew away a little at the spending power of consumers. andrew haldane welcomed today's good economic news, based as they are on the resilience of the great british shopper. but in those figures today, a note of warning. inflation in the services sector, the biggest part of the uk economy, is now rising at rates not seen since april 2011. and that could lead to higher prices. add that to increasing household debt and brexit uncertainty, and that all—important consumer confidence could dim, as 2017 gets into its stride. kamal ahmed, bbc news. the number of new cars sold in the uk hit an all—time high in 2016. the increase, of more than 2%, was mainly due to high demand from business customers, according to the society of motor manufacturers and traders. but sales are expected to fall sharply this year, as our industry correspondent john moylan reports. 0nce, new cars were the preserve of the privileged few. not any more. these days, we buy cars like mobile phones. the reason we're all buying so many new cars is because the industry makes it so easy for us. in fact, the vast majority of customers are now effectively leasing new vehicles for an affordable monthly payment, rather than worrying about the overall sticker price. ivan foreman used to buy cars second—hand. now he doesn't have to. all of the options are now available with leasing and financing. i can now pay less overall on a monthly basis but still go home with a brand new car. you can probably now have a car like that for £10 a month more than your golf. this shift in how we buy cars is also changing the type of car we're buying, too. there's a real trend for people to buy more upmarket cars, because the monthly payments are usually not that much greater than buying a more mainstream vehicle and people are very badge conscious and they want the latest technology and that's what these premium manufacturers are offering. last year, total sales hit almost 2.7 million cars. that was up 2.3% on the previous year, which was also a record high. but the industry now expects sales to fall by more than 5% in the coming year. that's because consumer demand has been falling. it could get worse, amid the economic uncertainty ahead. what's more, higher prices are coming to forecourts. the pressure that comes from a lower value pound, to a certain extent does help exporters but the converse is it makes imports more expensive. around six out of seven cars we sell here are imported, so the pressure of that depreciation in sterling will undoubtedly flow through into price rises. the rising price of fuel won't help either. petrol and diesel have hit an 18—month high. after five years of growth, the car market could be in for a bumpy ride. john moylan, bbc news. a brief look at some of the day's other other news stories. a 30—year—old man has been charged with firearms offences in relation to a police operation in which another man was shot dead by an officer on monday. moshin amin from dewsbury will appear before magistrates in the morning. a postmortem has found yassar yaqub died from wounds to the chest after the car he was in was stopped on a slip road off the m62 near huddersfield. the rmt union has accepted an offer from the transport secretary, chris grayling, to discuss the long—running dispute over operating train doors on southern rail. unions are arguing that the extension of driver—only services, where drivers rather than guards open and close carriage doors, is unsafe. southern insists it's not. a transgender prisoner has been found dead at a jail in south yorkshire. jenny swift, who was a9, was transitioning from a man to a woman, but had been on remand at doncaster prison, which only holds male inmates. the death is not being treated as suspicious. people who live near major roads could be at greater risk of developing dementia. that's according to a decade—long study by scientists in canada. they say air pollutants caused by heavy traffic could get into the bloodstream. but the researchers say more work is now needed to understand the link. fergus walsh has the story. air pollution and noise, two of the downsides of living near a major road. but a greater likelihood of getting dementia? well, that's the theory behind a new study. this research shows, i think for pretty much the first time, there is a link between living near a busy main road, we're talking a busy a—road or dual carriageway, and having an increased risk for dementia. which i think shows that it could be a new risk factor we hadn't really considered before. a study of 2 million canadians found around 10% of dementia cases in urban areas could be linked to exposure to heavy traffic. researchers found that living within 50 metres of a major road increased the risk of dementia by 7%—11%. at 100 metres, the increased risk was 4%. leeds is like any urban centre, congested and polluted. keeping the mind active is one of the benefits of this crossword club. so are members worried that city living might be harming them? i try to live a healthy lifestyle. i eat very well, i exercise regularly. and yet, you know, you can, just by living near a main road, you can do yourself a great deal of damage. yes, that is concerning. it wouldn't be a great shock to me, in the same way that when unleaded petrol was introduced, the connection between lead and brain damage was then proven. so i wouldn't be at all surprised. around 850,000 people in the uk have dementia. it gradually robs them of their memories and brain function. but the origins of the condition are not well understood. this research doesn't prove that heavy traffic causes dementia. it makes a fascinating link that requires further investigation. but there are already many reasons to avoid the polluted air in our cities. it can cause serious breathing difficulties and trigger a heart attack or stroke in those already at risk. last year, british scientists found tiny pollution particles in samples of brain tissue, another hint there may be a link between traffic and neurodegenerative conditions. for now, the best advice to reduce your dementia risk is to exercise and eat healthily. fergus walsh, bbc news. artificial intelligence is set to play an ever greater role in our lives, and nowhere more so than in our homes. smart household appliances are the big draw at this year's technology show in las vegas. rory cellan—jones is there. this giant show is notjust giant show is not just about the distant future. most of the products are likely to be in shops within the coming months. 0ver are likely to be in shops within the coming months. over the 50 years that the show has been taking place, everything from the compact disc right through to four k tv has been here first. this year it is all about artificial intelligence coming into more and more products. from 110w into more and more products. from now on, just about every device that you own is likely to be a smart device. in a penthouse suite at a ritzy las vegas hotel, smart home exhibits are on show. there's a smart speaker for children where each toy is a playlist. # everybody is kung fu fighting...# alexa, trigger lock. a voice—activated door lock. alexa, what's the weather like in las vegas? and here's another giant step towards a world where we talk to our devices. alexa, ask lynx to dance. in a world first, this chinese robot is controlled by amazon's alexa system. artificial intelligence helps it move and interact with humans. it will be able to detect that you are perhaps having a bad day, and it will try to cheer you up. and that's all about, that is a! that is doing that? that's an interaction with software that is unscripted. out on the road, cars are getting smarter. this bmw prototype is the company's most radical step so far towards making the driver redundant. so i've been told that it's perfectly safe for me to do this, take my hands off the wheel and turn all the way around, look around me, not actually concentrate on the road. a safety adviser is ready to take the wheel and order me to brake, but how many years before the car can really be trusted to do everything? i think bmw believe that starting ‘21, roughly like that, we start with highly automated driving, not fully automated. fully automated driving will come up until, let's say 2030. bienvenue a las vegas. out on the las vegas strip, a young entrepreneurfrom manchester thinks he has a very smart idea. welcome to las vegas. danny's instant translation headphones aren't quite ready. they'll eventually be tiny earbuds, but he's still looking forward to ces. it's really important to us because we'll be able to showcase what we've been working on to the whole public and the whole world, to let them know that this is something we started years ago as a small team, as a small start—up, with dedication, passion. with giants like apple and google competing in the same field, the odds are against danny, but like plenty of people here, he's betting he has the product that can change the world. rory cellan—jones, bbc news, las vegas. six handwritten letters from princess diana to a former buckingham palace steward have sold for more than £15,000 at auction. the letters include some revealing insights about the then young princes, william and harry, with one revealing that prince harry was constantly in trouble at school. sarah campbell reports from the auction house in cambridge. are we finished now? no we're not. £3,000, £3,200. all done this time, the hammer is up, and it's going to go at £3,200. estimated values were quickly exceeded, as the world snapped up a little bit of royal memorabilia. as expected, it was diana's heartfelt letters to palace employee cyril dickman, the head steward at buckingham palace, which fetched the most. she was a mother who obviously cared about her children. and she was very generous, and she wasn't afraid of putting her thoughts down on paper. and that was shown in some of the lots we sold today. september 1984, and prince william's eagerness to see his new baby brother was plain to see. five days after the birth, diana wrote, "william adores his little brother and spends the entire time swamping harry with an endless supply of hugs and kisses, hardly letting the parents near." that letter sold for more than five times the guide price... selling this time... ..at £3,200. bids are coming in online and on the phone from across the world, i'm told particularly america, japan and australia and all the lots so far have easily exceeded their reserve price. another letter, this time from 1992. alluding, perhaps, to the troubles in her marriage, which were about to be made public, she thanks cyril for thinking of her at this "difficult period" and writes that the boys are well and enjoying boarding school a lot, although harry is constantly in trouble. again, this sold for more than £3,000. cyril died in 2012. today, his grandson watched nervously as the family collection went under the hammer. it means a great deal. i mean, it's a good thing my grandfather's name's ben spread, and, again, myfamily. and, again, itjust raises the profile of what a great royal family we have. the royal family is a source of fascination around the world and, almost 20 years after her death, it appears the interest in diana and her life has barely lessened. sarah campbell, bbc news, cambridge. newsnight‘s coming up on bbc two. here's kirsty. as european capitals talk of the danger of a train crash brexit, one of britain's senior eu officials tells us the uk isn't