because i'm being told he can sense if i'm worried. and a rare encounter with the australian drop bear. and the reporter who lived to tell the tale. hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. the queen wants a quick solution to the problems presented by the duke and duchess of sussex but it is not entirely straightforward disentangling senior royals from the firm. and so what we have tonight from the palace is a holding statement. the queen, says she is fully supportive of harry and meghan‘s desire to create their new life together, although she makes no secret of her sadness they will not be working as full time members of herfamily. in the statement her majesty said today's meeting at sandringham, attended by prince harry and the senior royals had been constructive. but there are, she said, complex matters to resolve. the final decisions will be taken, we are told, in the coming days. the duchess of sussex was not at the meeting, she is in canada where the couple will spend a large part of their time adjusting to this new life. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has the latest from sandringham. within the seclusion of sandringham house, a family summit, chaired by the queen and attended by the prince of wales and his two sons, prince william, duke of cambridge, and prince harry, duke of sussex. two discuss how to accommodate the sussexes‘ wish to step away from the royal family. although we would've... —— "although we would have preferred them to remain full—time working members of the royal family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family, while remaining a valued part of my family. she went on to say that it had been agreed that there would be a period of transition in which the sussexes would spend time in canada and the uk. whatever the precise reasons for the sussexes‘ disenchantment, it's clear from the statement that the royal family is determined to find practical solutions. the key issues are well established. money. the statement says that the sussexes not wish to rely on public funds. royal titles. it seems that they will remain his and her royal highnesses. security. this is one of the complex matters still to be resolved. earlier, william and harry had come together to denounce a newspaper story which suggested the sussexes felt they had been pushed away by the "bullying attitude of william." the story was false, offensive and potentially harmful, the brothers said. today's talks and tonight's statement from the queen have emphasised the family's understanding and sympathy for harry. people who know him believe his loyalties must be in turmoil. i think harry would be hugely conflicted at the moment. he loves his wife. he wants to protect his wife, and she, it would seem, is very unhappy living here in our royal family. on the other hand, he was born into the royal family. he has served it. he has served queen and country in a military setting. he expected to spend his whole life working for the royal family. and while harry may be conflicted, meghan feels wounded by criticism which, in some cases, she believes has been racially motivated. however, the home secretary believes this is mistaken. i'm not in that category at all, where i believe there has been racism, at all. you know, i think we live in a great country, a great society, full of opportunity, where people of any background can get on in life. as the talks ended and members of the royal family left it is clear that there is more work to be done, but the queen says in her statement that she wants final decisions about the sussexes to be reached in the coming days. nicholas witchell, bbc news, sandringham. watching events for us at sandringham today is our royal correspondent daniela relph. let's go back to the statement for a second. i sense there is a personal touch in this from the queen. she's had some input into this. yes, absolutely. it's not that often that we get a statement directly attributed to the queen herself in this way. it's extremely personal in the way that it's worded. as well as the tone of it. even the fact that she uses harry and megan rather than the duke and duchess of sussex, there's a lack of formality to this particular statement, which is quite noticeable. also, it's tinged with regret. saying that's coming you know, she would've liked them to remain as full working members of the royal family, that's what she wanted, but that clearly hasn't been possible. they haven't been persuaded. so a real personal tone to the words of the queen, and what she has set in the statement that makes it really quite unusual. daniela, you have covered the royal family for a while now, how serious is this to the british royal household that this couple is stepping back, and effectively moving away from the country for half of the year? it's really significant, because they were seen as such a valued brand in terms of the british royalty. you know, harry and megan are sort of sprinkling a bit of star dust on the british monarchy particularly in the aftermath of their wedding command i think there was a real view that they could do some really good and different kind of work on behalf of the british royal family, which is why the queen and her statement said, you know, she did want them to remain full working members of her family. you know, they were given, my sense in the past couple of years as they were given quite a lot of freedom to pursue the projects that they wanted. they were given some freedom in terms of the way at their office was set up but clearly, it wasn't enough. they did not want to leave that kind of lifestyle. they wa nt leave that kind of lifestyle. they want to forge a new kind of role and life for themselves, and everybody is now accepting of that and wants to move forward, but it is an extremely significant moment in terms of the british royal family commanded and also the making of a modern monarchy. so i will ask you the question that i've been asked co nsta ntly the question that i've been asked constantly over the course of the last few days by american friends here, if they were given that freedom, and if that contributor was saying in nicholas witchel‘s reports, areas conflicting loyalties, he has served his country and his clean, you know, for so many yea rs, and his clean, you know, for so many years, how bad was it that they chose to do this? how desperate must the situation have been, or they felt it was, that they chose to make the split, do you think? it must have been pretty bad, and it may have been pretty bad, and it may have been pretty bad, and it may have been things going on behind the scenes that we are not aware of. but, clearly, they felt stifled by the kind of life they would have to have led as working royals. they didn't want to pursue some of the protocols and traditions that would've come with that. clearly, megan has ambitions and has the prospect of doing other kinds of commercial work, and other kinds of projects that she wants to pursue, lots of which would not have been possible within the confines of a working british royal here in the uk. you know, also, you have to rememberthe line of uk. you know, also, you have to remember the line of succession here. british royalty is all about continuity and stability. as things move forward, as prince charles becomes king and prince william and then prince and megan would sort of fall away slightly, despite the fact that they are extremely popular you know, have been extremely popular —— meghan and have us thinking of star dust and celebrity about them, they would've sort of diminished in terms of the line of succession, and i'm not sure they wanted that for themselves. they felt that they could do other things, pursue philanthropic projects, follow the causes that they are so into, and i think they thought there was a better way for them. daniela ralph, thank you very much for that this evening. joining joining us now is royal editor at hello magazine, emily nash. this is very complex, emily, i suppose the questions that need to be answered first is how they are going to finance this new life, and indeed whether they will keep the royal titles ? indeed whether they will keep the royal titles? well, we haven't had much clarification today from the queen's statement. what she does say is that they do wish to work independently of the public funding that they have received up until i'iow. that they have received up until now. it's a period of transition, i think while these details are sort of neck sorted out. the title seemed to bea of neck sorted out. the title seemed to be a bit ofa of neck sorted out. the title seemed to be a bit of a hint of neck sorted out. the title seemed to be a bit ofa hint in of neck sorted out. the title seemed to be a bit of a hint in that she ke pt to be a bit of a hint in that she kept referring to them throughout her statement as period megan... meghan, buti her statement as period megan... meghan, but i think it's too soon to speak to back him i think she was speaking as a grandmother, rather than... it was quite an informal way of speaking, something that we are not used to hearing from the queen. it speaks volumes about how strongly she feels about know, this is her grandson, and the fact that she's used the word family throughout it also explainsjust how used the word family throughout it also explains just how insensitive all is. emily, is the conclusion from this that it is just too hard foran from this that it is just too hard for an outsider, a foreigner, who is not brought up in britain, steeped in the traditions of the british royal establishment, to join this family? is that what people are thinking now? i don't think that is, you know, that's not the full story. i think that lots of things have been going on behind the scenes, which we are hearing little bits and pieces of the moment. but, you meghan, when she came onto the scene, enjoying the family, she was in credibly enthusiastic. she talked about being boots on the ground, travelling all around the uk. she really has given this a good shot. but we know that she is also incredibly driven, and both her and harry are real doers. they are very much about being dynamic and doing what they can. they have great ideas and great enthusiasm for the charity projects, and perhaps they have felt slightly stifled by the institution, which moves at a slower pace than megan is used to. what's you know, the heart of this as well, their son, archie, they will have enjoyed theirtime son, archie, they will have enjoyed their time away son, archie, they will have enjoyed theirtime away in son, archie, they will have enjoyed their time away in canada as a family in relative seclusion. and i think that they are also you know, very keen to make sure that his future is normal and as secure as possible. we talk a lot about the firm and the institution, and, of course, the queen is very much the chairwoman of the sperm. but there is a chief operating officer, and he is edward young, the man that keeps it all on the rails. when you look at the last three — four months, what happened with prince andrew, the newsnight interview, and then this, in the way that it was announced, is he in a sticky position here? look, i think it's an incredible position for anyone, it's an incredible position for anyone , excuse it's an incredible position for anyone, excuse me, incredibly difficult position for anyone to be m, difficult position for anyone to be in, we have had unprecedented events in the family history. very different, we must say, as well, in terms of the circumstances. but it's true, there have been some moves within the palace, which you know, perhaps have meant things have been on more public display than they would traditionally have been, but then we have also seen this from harry and meghan themselves, they are keen to put their own message of the chemicals back to them communicating primarily through instagram them putting up their statements, 0k, it was perhaps not the best way of delivering this news, probably in hindsight they ee, news, probably in hindsight they agree, it would be better to talk it through in person with members of the family before now, but you know, they feel very strongly that they have something to say, that they need to say it. i don't think we can be singling out members of the court behind the scenes for everything that's going on now. 0k, emily, thank you very much. and as he said, christian, so many questions still around us about what they will do about security, jobs, finances, and that is in issue of, you know, what happens, why they came? i have been watching the american press here, it's been so different. the american press coverage and the canadian press coverage and the canadian press coverage compared to the british press coverage , coverage compared to the british press coverage, perhaps, look at this, black britain wonder, what took harry and megan so long, how racism in britain contributed to this, the dark side of their escape. megan gets the blame, and it's because of her race. that story is definitely the predominant one here in the states —— meghan. less of talking you know, talking to people overin talking you know, talking to people over in the uk and london. i think that's right commander think anecdotally, it it's his i don't think they are too concerned about the fact that the sussex six want to go off and forge their own path, or indeed how they go about that. i think it was more in the way that it was announced and the timing of the announcement so soon was announced and the timing of the announcement so soon after prince andrew and the fact that the queen had asked them to wait until a lot of these details had been hammered out. it's not so much the fact that they are going up to do this on their own that upsets a lot of people, i think it is the style of the manner in which they've gone about it that it has irritated a lot of people. yeah, and clearly, a clash of modernity and trying to move things faster and do different things coming that's difficult and that set up. other news now. iran is denying it tried to cover up the shooting of the ukranian airliner in which 176 people died. the government spokesman said it was lack of information not deliberate deceit that caused tehran to initially say it hadn't fired a missile at the plane. after three days of protests, police are denying they've used live ammunition against demonstrators. videos posted online though — which the bbc has verified as far as possible — appear to show gunshots during a protest on sunday in central tehran. what's clear is that anger is growing against the ruling establishment — both inside and outside iran. there are reports that five of the countries whose nationals died in the crash are thinking of taking legal action against the iranian government. rana rahimpour, from the bbc‘s persian service, has been following developments. there is a story from president honey that he didn't know that this missile had been fired until friday, and yet we have elements of revolutionary guard who are saying, actually, we did know about this, and we knew about it on wednesday, and we knew about it on wednesday, and we knew about it on wednesday, and we told them on wednesday, so what is the truth? that's a question everybody is asking. and what makes people very angry is that not only we re people very angry is that not only were they lied to for three days about the cause of the crash, the lies are not over, and they are continuing. so as you mentioned, the president has set until friday afternoon, none of the members of the cabinet, nor the afternoon, none of the members of the cabinet, northe president afternoon, none of the members of the cabinet, nor the president knew that the real cause of the crash. this is unbelievable, because already people on social media started talking about it on wednesday, hours after the crash happened. videos were circulating. eyewitness accounts recirculating social media. and ordinary people we re social media. and ordinary people were discussing the fact that they have seen that the fires had been shot at this aeroplane. we haven't heard from the president, and many iranians are comparing his behaviour withjustin trudeau, the canadian prime minister's behaviour and saying, look at him, he has been to many memorial services, he is clearly sha ken by many memorial services, he is clearly shaken by this, he has promised there will be investigation for me and we still haven't even heard from the iranian president. that fuels the anger that we are already seeing on many streets all over the country. so, how much pressure does this actually put on the regime, we saw millions of people turn out for the funerals of the general command that seemed to consolidate iranian public behind the government. is this really put considerable pressure on the top leadership in the government?m certainly is. i'm not sure whether you have seen the videos of these angry protesters tearing apart posters of soleimani who was assassinated last week, it means that anger is out there, and it is notjust a section that anger is out there, and it is not just a section of the supporters of the authorities in iran are angry and they cannot defend the fact that not only civilians have been killed in this incident, but they have been lied to. the other thing they're talking about is that this is a so—called war or fight with the united states. this was supposed to bea united states. this was supposed to be a revenge for the killing of soleimani. iran launched attacks on us bases in iraq. no american has been killed, not even a nosebleed, and so far, at least 176 innocent iranian civilians have been killed. that creates a huge amount of anger among iranians commander think the iranian authorities will struggle to calm that down. thank you very much, thank you. british defence secretary ben wallace says the prospect of america retreating from the world stage gives him sleepless nights — and faced with the prospect of the us withdrawing from conflicts around the world the uk needs to be able to operate fully without its assistance. writing in the sunday times yesterday the defence secretary said, "the assumptions of 2010 that we were always going to be part of a us coalition is reallyjust not where we are going to be". in the runup to an expected defence review — he warns: "we are very dependent on american air cover and american intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets. we need to diversify our assets". joining us now to discuss the future of the uk and us's strategic partnership are former us defence secretary william cohen, who served under bill clinton, and liam fox — conservative mp who among other cabinet roles in theresa may and david cameron's government served as defence secretary. and later chris is the international trade secretary. welcome to both gentlemen, and can i start with you doctor fox, the defence secretary she points to a series of recent events, the abrupt withdrawal from syria that donald trump ordered. the criticism is more generally of the nato alliance, the fact that he said at the beacon that they need to do much more in the middle east. in short, he goes a lot further than anyone else in the british government to say that actually, the special relationship is very much frayed at the edges. special relationship is very much frayed at the edgeslj special relationship is very much frayed at the edges. i think it is frayed at the edges. i think it is frayed at the edges. i think it is frayed at the edges. in all the conflict that we've had, including the libyan conflict for example, we we re very the libyan conflict for example, we were very dependent upon american intelligence, and that was forthcoming. i think it's a legitimate criticism from the united states that european countries are not carrying their full share of the load in nato. when i was defence secretary in 2010, the american defence secretary then was complaining that europe wasn't carrying enough of the load, and sooner or carrying enough of the load, and sooner or later, the us taxpayers would start to lose patience, because america is carrying something like 69% of all nato defence spending. so we need to have a rethink about nato, we need to think about the roles, the defence secretary is correct. we need to have some change in our configuration, not least because much of the conflict and threat that is coming to us is not in the traditional defence base, but what you might call the wear of the invisible enemy in cyberspace, so we do have to have a lot of rethinking, and perhaps resetting of our assets. secretary cohen, specifically though, what mr wallace is talking about is the british american relationship and the prospect of america pulling back. when you have a british defence of the very same we have got to diversify our assets, because we cannot depend on the americans any more, how much concerned with that because in the building at the pentagon where you use to run? well, i think it runs contrary to everything that we have believed in for the past 70 years. in terms of that relationship, and not only are british friends, but also the nato members. the president has indicated that he is not a strong proponent of nato, the president has also taken action which has caused nervousness on the pa rt of which has caused nervousness on the part of our british friends, for example, when the president announced we will unilaterally pull out of northern syria, gave no notice whatsoever to any of our allies, including the british. so there is a genuine concern that the united states is putting more pressure on others to do more, and frankly, as he mentioned, iwas urging the same thing back in the late 905, but nonetheless, the relationship between the us and our briti5h friends has been strong. one other thing i would point out is the briti5h other thing i would point out is the british government has to undergo a bottom5 up review in terms of exactly how they are going to allocate their resources, but a lot of pledges made about going to increase funding for the elderly, increased funding for infrastructure and other things. 2% on defence spending will not get you a replacement of the assets that are missing from the british inventory. that's going to take a lot more money, so it's going to be a much bigger challenge to say we are going to replace the isr, the intelligence and surveillance and reconnaissance and surveillance and reconnaissance and aircover. and surveillance and reconnaissance and air cover. you don't have enough money in the bank in order to do that, so it's going to require a lot of thinking. a5 minister fox has said, the other threats that are facing you are quite different. facing all of us now are quite different in terms of terrorism. those are all debates that will no doubt come up with the defence spending review, but mr wallace was surprisingly... how aggressive the trump administration has been about theissue trump administration has been about the issue of huawei and i'm sure you've been involved with discussions of this in government, there is a decision coming in the next week or so, the problem for the uk of courses that they want to keep open trade route to china, and if they cut off china, and huawei, they imperil that. well, i think there are two things come to the specific concern about china which says that any individuals or organisations can be compelled to carry out work in terms of security for the state, that in itself is a concern really about any chinese entity. but secondly, there are wider issues about the security of our national infrastructure. and i think what we have to be clear is that we have objective criteria, they are not designed to exclude anyone company or any one country, but there are certain risks that we cannot take in that critical national infrastructure. do think there will be repercussions if we did get into bed with huawei?|j think we need to set out what is right for the uk, and that surely means that we cannot incorporate elements into the vital parts of our infrastructure that could be used for intelligence purposes or another state. but i think that we should draw them up objectively to ensure that we've got the right protections for the uk. i that we've got the right protections forthe uk. i don't that we've got the right protections for the uk. i don't think we should see it primarily isjust a chinese issue, but as i say, the chinese intelligence law does bring an into it, there is no other consideration also a. secretary cohen, you mentioned there the drawdown of british resources, was that already diminishing the special relationship? well, i think that's the case, as it is with the british, they have been certainly much more robust and funding than a numberof the much more robust and funding than a number of the other nato members. at the fact is that there has been a, over the years, reduction capability on the part of our european friends. but i want to back to the notion of the brits and the nato members being on their own. when a british ship was taken hostage by the iranians a short time ago, secretary of state, pompeo, said it's up to the british to share responsibility initially. i think that he could've said yes, each country has their own responsibility to take care of its ships and personnel, but we are with you. we are with you was absent, so i think that's also contributing sing, numberone, we i think that's also contributing sing, number one, we are not giving you notice on key matters that may affect your own security with your troops in the field, as in syria. we are not giving you notice about we are not giving you notice about we are going to take out soleimani, although, that's not really compelling, and then to say you are on your own as far as defending your ships in the gulf, where we have a major interest as well, just sends a signal that the europeans are going to have less reliance upon the united states going forward. secretary gary, doctor liam, very grateful for your time, secretary gary, doctor liam, very gratefulfor your time, thank secretary gary, doctor liam, very grateful for your time, thank you both this evening. very interesting that huawei issue american sending people over this week to put the case. i'm not sure that they are going to get their way on this, it does seem to me, i don't know, it seems that the british government is going to allow a certain amount of imports from waterway in this country, and there could be repercussions because of that. you know, as mr wallace said in his article, there has already been repercussions that the americans are suggesting that if britain does allow them some kind of participation, that could... as we are moving away from europe and moving away from the united states, looking for allies and other places, perhaps. we will keep our eye on that. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news — borisjohnson visits stormont, to meet members of the newly—restored northern ireland assembly, after three years of political deadlock there. and joker leads the pack in the oscar nominations, but the race is wide open as the irishman, 1917 and once upon a time in hollywood all receive ten nominations each. that's still to come. hello there. it's been a stormy start to the week, and there's more wind and rain on the way for tomorrow. let me show you the satellite picture. go all the way to the other side of the atlantic and that area of cloud is developing for tomorrow. this area of cloud, quite clearly, is storm brendan. that has brought some damage and some travel disruption, and it's still very windy outside of the moment. these are the sort of gusts we're looking out for the next few hours through this evening. those strong winds around the coast coinciding with some high spring tides as well. so it's been very windy in the western isles of scotland, staying that way for a little bit longer, but we will see the winds gradually easing down a bit overnight. that band of rain, which has been heavy and squally, should clear away from the southeast of england. clearer skies follow. showers, those will be wintry in the north, and there will be quite a bit of snow, actually, falling over the hills of scotland, north of the central belt, icy conditions here as well. a bit milderfurther south across the uk. let's set the scene then for tomorrow. that's what's left of storm brendan to the north of scotland. the next area of low pressure comes in from the southwest, strengthening the winds and bringing some rain. it won't be as windy by the morning, perhaps there will be some sunshine around, some showers too. then we see the winds picking up from the southwest. this is the rain that's coming in as well. some heavy bursts of rain in the southeast of england, the wetter weather heading up toward southern scotland and northern ireland. strong winds though across england and wales, and for some areas, in the east, it may well be windier than we've seen today. it's all pretty windy in the northwest of scotland. and still cold in scotland and northern ireland. it's milder further south across england and wales, where we are into that wet and windy weather. now that will tend to push away from most areas during tuesday evening. and tuesday night, the weather front lingering in the southeast for a while. and close to that area of low pressure to the north of scotland, more wet and windy weather towards the northwest corner of scotland. some rain clearing away from the southeast of england. in the afternoon it should be dry and quite sunny, and for many parts of the country, it's a chance to take a bit of a breather. those temperatures will be down to about 7—8d, but a lot more dry weather, and it won't be as windy. perhaps only briefly, mind you, because there's more wind and rain coming in from the west on thursday. by the end of the weekend, the weather looks very different. much drier, quieter winds and much colder. this is beyond 100 days. with me, katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london our top stories... the queen agrees to a "period of transition" in which the duke and duchess of sussex will spend time in canada and the uk. police in iran deny using live ammunition against protesters outraged by the shooting down of a ukrainian airliner killing all 176 people on board. coming up in the next half hour... the house of representatives will send the month—old impeachment articles over to senate this week. the trial would take place over 6 days each week until donald trump's fate is decided. plus the japanese billionaire looking a female life partner tojoin him on his trip to the moon. any takers? the iowa caucus — the formal kick off to the us some news just some newsjust coming in some news just coming in after a some newsjust coming in after a big fbi investigation, the pensacola naval base shooting was indeed an act of terrorism. it was committed bya saudi. act of terrorism. it was committed by a saudi. interestingly the lawyer said that 17 of the saudi cadets who we re said that 17 of the saudi cadets who were there as visiting foreign trainees had social media containing some jihad trainees had social media containing somejihad he or trainees had social media containing some jihad he or anti—american content but the attorney general and fbi don't think this was a coordinated attack or that the assailant had any assistance. that is the ruling on that. december six and onlyjust getting this news. that will have implications for the training cadet and vetting process for the cadets. and america's relationship with saudi america at the moment. the iowa caucus — the formal kick off to the us presidential election — is three weeks today and in the final stretch, everything is changing. senator cory booker, the democrat from newjersey, has just pulled out of the race. mrtrump was quick to mock the departure. actually the president had fun mocking other democrats today too, tweeting about... several of those democatic candidates have more serious worries right now though, the impeachment trial is set to start in the senate next week, which means all sitting senators will have to stay in washington to take part. that's bad news for senators elizabeth warren, bernie sanders and amy klobuchar. good news forjoe biden and pete buttigieg who will have the iowa cornfields to themselves. for more on all this, we're joined now by ron christie, former adviser to george w bush. how much impact as the impeachment trial and i don't think we have ever had an iowa caucus or the beginning ofa had an iowa caucus or the beginning of a primary season where we have an impeachment trial going on at the same time. how will it impact ioane? significantly. as you mentioned, you will have a handful of us senators who will literally be sitting as jurors in an impeachment trial of the president of the united states which means they can do the retail politicking which is so critical from when the caucus starts that they can connect with those potential voters and share their vision and ideology. so i think there are a number of unhappy us senators. the jury is out on whether nancy pelosi has played this right, delaying seeing the articles of impeachment to the senate but she knows how to press the president buttons. let's be optimistic about the future, a future that will not have donald trump in the white house. one way or another, ten months now, we will have an election, if we don't have him removed sooner. but, again, he will be impeached forever. president trump is in talking about the stain of impeachment but he has changed this tactic hasn't he? because he wanted this great set piece show trial and now he is talking about dismissing it altogether. good evening at happy new year to you too. he has shifted his tone. originally he was going to go out in a blaze of glory, let's have the witnesses and trial. i think it isjust have the witnesses and trial. i think it is just sinking have the witnesses and trial. i think it isjust sinking into him that he will have been the third president of the united states have been impeached, right or wrong whether or not you agree with what nancy pelosi has done, this will be a stain on his presidency and american history so the notion that he is now behind a dismissal of the trial itself, he still will have been impeached, those articles will still have been delivered to the senate and he is going to have to do deal with that as part of historical record for the rest of his life. can you just not go on holiday any more because i have a feeling you have been sitting on a beach for the last couple of weeks and look what has happened, everything falls apart. we get close to work. could you just stay here. i am happy to report i am here. we came close to a war, we have impeachment trials and we have the democratic primaries in a huge election campaign, can anything else happened? i am afraid to answer that question but do you know what? we have eric work cut out for us, i am back for the start of a new year, yes i was sitting on a bench, i am rested and ready to play. yes i was sitting on a bench, i am rested and ready to playlj yes i was sitting on a bench, i am rested and ready to play. i am coming super bowl weekend. did you watch the game last night?|j coming super bowl weekend. did you watch the game last night? i watched both of the games last night, yes. i can hardly wait for you to come over here. with apologies to people who do not watch american football but it last night was one of the most amazing games, the kansas city chiefs, that versus the houston texa ns. chiefs, that versus the houston texans. by the end of the second quarter, the kansas city chiefs were ahead, they scored on every drive, six tries and i read —— drives, and i read that patrick mahon is scored or through more touchdown passes than at any time in the last 30 yea rs. than at any time in the last 30 years. what about that? he tied the record of throwing four touchdown passesin record of throwing four touchdown passes in one period, only doug williams of the redskins had that record. moving along. this is not a sports programme. goodbye, guys! goodbye, see you. northern ireland has not had an assembly or an executive for three years. but today stormont was up and running, thanks to an ambitious agreement, brokered by the irish and british governments, which all parties have now signed up to. the british prime minister was in belfast to shake on the deal; for him an unmissable photo opportunity to underscore his commitment to the union, amid all the concerns that were raised by his brexit deal. never mind the hand of history on my shoulder. i see the hand of history... no, i see the hand of the future. i see the hand of the future beckoning us all forward, i hope that with goodwill and compromise and hard work on all sides it will be a very bright future indeed. joining us now from belfast is elodie fabre, a politics lecturer at queen's university. good to have you with this. some buy pledges in this agreement made by the british and irish government. i think they are talking about £2 billion but some very vague details on where the money is coming from and how it will be spent. yes, we're talking big numbers because there are some big needs in northern ireland. there are disputes with teachers, nurses, the nhs is in crisis and needs money, as you said, there are some doubts as to where there are some doubts as to where the money is coming from, whether it isa the money is coming from, whether it is a package of money coming straight from the british government, which is what we initially thought. today boris johnson has said this would be money at least in part coming from the spendings, the spending promises made by the british government in england and that has consequences for the way the devolved administrations are financed. when you don't have an executive for three years, a lot of things fall through the cracks. when stormont fell, if we go back three years, it was over this cash for ash scandal and some say the reason it happened was there was this culture instrument that treasury money was free money for northern ireland and there was not the right accountability for how it was spent. while things have to change? yes, eve ryo ne while things have to change? yes, everyone expects things to change and hopes that things will change. one way things may change is the fa ct, one way things may change is the fact, all the parties are in government together so sinn fein and the dup cannot just government together so sinn fein and the dup cannotjust do things together. but also this agreement includes recommendations to increase transparency, particularly during metres with ministers and civil servants, they have had a habit of not taking notes, that was bad in terms of accountability so there are hopes things will change in this sense. the prime minister certainly sounded hopeful today. it sounds like you are suggesting that even though there has been three years in which they could not share power, you think that now there are reasons to believe, to be more hopeful and think now they can? they had before. so, there is hope that they can again. not for three years? not for three years but back in 2016 we were nearly reaching a ten year period where we had devolution, there was quite a lot of optimism that these things had become quite normal. that three—year period was a bit of a disappointment for everyone. these people mostly know each other, they have worked together in the past and there is hope they can work together again, and this agreement is hopefully a good template for them to work on. there are also some mechanisms, designed to help them i note any difficulties. also the agreement includes things on the irish language for instance which was one of the hurdles that have prevented an agreement in the last three years. thank you very much for joining us. there are now five candidates competing in the race to be the next leader of the uk labour party. the shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry, secured enough nominations from fellow mps in the last ten minutes of today's voting to scrape through to the next round of the contest. it means that she can join jess phillips, sir keir starmer, lisa nandy and rebecca long bailey — who'd already got the backing of 22 mps and meps — on the ballot. clive lewis — the lowest ranking candidate — assuming the candidates receive the necessary support from trade unions or 5% of the constituency parties, they will appear on a preferential ballot that is open to labour party members, as well as registered and affiliated supporters. the result will be announced on april 4th. let's speak now to our political correspondent chris mason. it is very complex this next stage. there are five but keir starmer still probably everyone's favourite? possibly. certainly the favourite among parliamentary labour party, i think we both got to the number of where british politics is in the early weeks of january 2020, we have been obsessed with the existence or otherwise by a hyphen in one of the candidates surnames rather than the tummy out of 2019. where you stand? —or tummy out of 2019. where you stand? — or not? tummy out of 2019. where you stand? - or not? i am very bbc so varies. a bit of this and a bit of that. you have no opinion? none whatsoever, i would observe as was pointed out in the newspapers yesterday, which would point out that pages need filling, it is that apparently rebecca long—bailey has told some people that it does involve a hyphen, the thing between long and bailey but a photo appeared on social media of her constituency office in salford in the north west office in salford in the north west of england in which it did not feature. so i am not entirely sure her policy on hyphens is entirely clear, let alone the scrutiny that will come under... let's get to her message, is her message right? rebecca long—bailey is the closest candidate on this list of five to jeremy corbyn. and she is proud about that. she said in an interview last week that she would give jeremy corbyn ten out of ten which raised the odd eyebrow given thatjeremy corbyn, whatever his fans might say, lost to general elections in a row. she said she wrote most of the policies labour campaigned on in the general election but she is her own woman and from a different generation tojeremy corbyn and she would not come with quite so much of the baggage that critics were able to throw around jeremy corbyn's net. if you can throw baggage around annex. . . if you can throw baggage around annex... can we get back to questions first serious question before we get back to weather not as a hyphen in her name. you suggested amongst parliamentarians that keir starmer is the favourite but once this opens up to labour party members, what happens then? that is the absolute crux of all of this, and that is why this focus on rebecca long—bailey even if we were focusing on her surname is importantly because the central question in this full contest that will run until the 11th of april and i know i should not describe that as a long period of time relative to the primary process in the united states, the central question is what does the make—up of the labour party look like now? we know that literally hundreds of thousands of people were drawn to it byjeremy corbyn. they sign up to the labour party because they believed in jeremy corbyn, they wanted a labour party that was in his mould and in his image. how many of them are still there? it is questionable one. how many of them who are still there would still like a labour party, led by someone broadly in line with his politics, or perhaps some have changed their mind as a result of what happened in the general election. that is a crucial question and the crucial battle in what could bea and the crucial battle in what could be a face—off between sir keir starmer, the winner among the supporters and the parliamentary party at the stage and rebecca long—bailey, more on the left. party at the stage and rebecca long-bailey, more on the left. thank you. i would like to talk about this for a lot longer but we have a very, very important story we have to get to. all of it. we cannot miss this last story. but one of christian's questions went on so long we had to stop. one of the great survivors of the australian bushfires is the "drop bear". a close cousin of the koala, it is seldom seen, but very dangerous around humans, dropping from trees without warning. it has sharp claws and a vicious temper. so when itn reporter debi edward was told she'd be meeting a ‘drop bear‘ while reporting from australia's kangaroo island — all necessary precautions were taken. at the moment ok because there's nothing near me but it is a bit like a batman suit so i'm a bit worried as to why i need this level of protection. right arm. suited and booted, ready for the battle. good of the australian crew to help her out. so let's see how she gets on. i have just been i havejust been handed it, i had to put on this protection gear because of what it might do to me. i am not quite sure what it is doing right now. . . beep i thought he was gonna get you. want to take it off now. please take it off me. you were kidding me! you are kidding me! laughter yes you may have guessed, that is a koala bear, there is no such thing as a drop bear. it is a myth which the aussies like to bring out to torture their unsuspecting visitors. i love the fact the koala bear was looking around, why is she wearing all this gear? this is beyond one hundred days. still to come. the 2020 oscar nominations have arrived, who's up and who's shut out. we'll take a look. talks took place between the royal family at sandringham today to try to agree a plan for the future of prince harry and meghan. after a difficult year for the monarchy, how significant is tonight's development? reeta chakra barti reports. how quickly things have changed. in the autumn of 2017, harry's whirlwind courtship of meghan markle fascinated and beguiled the british public. that has all now gone, replaced by headlines proclaiming crisis, family schism and even a threat to the monarchy. at the royal family has faced major threats before. the last century alone brought the abdication of edward viii. 60 years later, the sudden and violent death of harry's mother diana. last year, prince andrew stepped down from his royal duties after a bbc interview about his links with a convicted paedophile. all moments which tested the monarchy‘s resilience. but harry and meghan's decision to step back as a senior royals is unprecedented in this era. we are seeing a whole pandora's box, all kinds of problems are coming out, talking about rifts. what the monarchy want now is to shut it down and create a blueprint for the future of harry and meghan as quickly as possible so they will create this blueprint that's going to work for them and for other minor royals in the future. what went wrong? despite smiles for the cameras, reports suggest frustration on harry's part at the constraints of his position. the intensity of the spotlight and media treatment of meghan, who is mixed race, infuriated them. harry lashed out at the press, accusing it of hounding his wife as it had his mother and meghan launched legal action against one newspaper. harry and meghan already move in different circles, but their bid for independence will undoubtedly test the royal family's capacity to adapt. today the 92nd academy award nominations were released and one thing was very clear. its going to be a battle between the old and new in hollywood. netflix collected 2a nominations including best picture for the irishman and marriage story. one film got a staggering 11 nominations. for my whole life, i didn't know if i even really existed. joker is up for best picture, best director and best actor amongst other categories. for all the top oscar lines, i'm joined from new york by hunter harris, associate editor of vulture at new york magazine. iam i am whizzing through the list here. having gone from the golden globes i am surprised joker is doing so well in the nominations, aren't you? i was shocked. 11 nominations is impressive for a movie that i did not love but it might be a frontrunner. what other surprises are there? my biggest surprise was jennifer lopez not being nominated for best supporting actress for hustlers, she has been going total with laura dern for much of the oscar season and so not getting a nomination this morning was kind of a big snob, something else i was surprised by was 1917 doing so well. marriage story and the irishman, we knew they were big contender so far but 1917 is a later release in the calendar and after the strong golden globes, it was kind of interesting to see it show up so highly here. globes, it was kind of interesting to see it show up so highly herem laura dern the new hollywood royalty? she is in so many good things. she is great in little women and she is nominated for marriage story as a supporting actress role. she isjust story as a supporting actress role. she is just hot property at the moment? at the moment, for her whole life, she is the daughter of two very successful actors but there is a bit ofa very successful actors but there is a bit of a reticence for her happening right now. ifeel like a bit of a reticence for her happening right now. i feel like the oscar is basically hours, it might as well be engraved already. and well—deserved, electron in marriage story as the very snippy and assertive divorce attorney on scarlettjohansson. assertive divorce attorney on scarlett johansson. we should talk a bit scarlett joha nsson, she scarlett johansson. we should talk a bit scarlettjohansson, she is the first double nominee since, nominated as best actress and best supporting actress forjojo rabbit. i don't know how i feel aboutjojo rabbit. it divides critics, doesn't it? it does. it is not to my taste also i don't think it is as sly as it thinks it is, as a movie. at the same time, scarlett joha nsson's nomination just same time, scarlett joha nsson's nominationjust shows same time, scarlett joha nsson's nomination just shows how much of the academy really love this movie. i think her performance injojo rabbit was really buoyed by each overwhelming support for the film. can we talk about social media reaction to the fact that female directors in particular apart from greta gerwig and little women and it was not nominated in other categories, they are just not present in the next picture and best director category is. and i think even though people are tooting saying, don't watch the oscars at all, boycott the oscars and watch a film directed by a woman instead?m is embarrassing. there are so many good and impressive and also movies that made a lot of money directed by women this year. i am thinking of honey boy, hustlers. the fact that we still have only men being nominated for directing is kind of insane. but then again... one, it is not the first time this has happened, they haven't criticised for this in the past. i was countersigned, this has been a problem since the academies inception, they are not nominating or rewarding the work of female directors and this year it is a contrast that seems very start. thank you very much for that. i still don't know how you nominate little women for best picture and yet greta gerwig does not get a best director nomination. if she directed it, how does she not get best director nomination? right katty, much as i love having you around, how do you fancy being the first woman to be sent to the moon? i am thinking of entering you for a competition. there's a fashion mogul injapan who is searching for a female life partner to accompany him on his trip. you will do anything to get rid of me. who is he? what's his pitch. and most importantly is there a return ticket guaranteed? so he is called yusaku maezawa and he is going to be the first non astronaut aboard the space x rocket when it makes its maiden tourist voyage in 2023. and he is looking for a "special" woman. and i think you are that very special woman, the deadline's friday. no such luck, you are stuck with me, iam not no such luck, you are stuck with me, i am not going anywhere, let alone the moon. get over it, i will be here tomorrow not going anywhere. see you tomorrow. it has been astonished out to the weekender is more wind and rain on the way for tomorrow. let me show you the satellite picture, going to the other side of that athletic and that area of cloud is developing for tomorrow. this area of cloud is quite clearly stormed brendan. that has brought some damage and travel disruption and it is still very windy outside at the moment. these are the gusts we are looking at the next few hours through this evening. those strong winds coinciding with some high spring tides as well. very windy in the western isles of scotland, saying that way for a little while longer. we will see the winds gradually subside. it should clearly from the south—east of england, clearer skies follow, showers, they will be wintry in the north and quite a bit of snow falling over the hills of scotland north of the central belt. icy conditions as well. a bit milder further south across the uk. for tomorrow, that is what is left of stormed brendan, to the north of scotland, the next area of low pressure comes in from the south—west strengthening the wind and bringing some rain. one bs when you buy the morning, perhaps some sunshine around, some showers and then we see that when picking up from the south—west, this is the rain coming in as well. some heavy bursts of rain in the south—east of angen bursts of rain in the south—east of anger, wetter weather into southern scotla nd anger, wetter weather into southern scotland and northern ireland. strong went across england and wales and for some areas in the state may well be windy then we have seen today. still windy in the north—west of scotland, still cold in scotland and northern ireland. milderfurther south across england and wales where we are into that wet and windy weather. that will tend to officially foremost areas during tuesday evening and tuesday night. the weather and lingering in the south—east for a while and close to that area of low pressure, to the north of scotland, more wet and windy weather towards the north—west corner of scotland. someone clearing away from the south—east of england in the afternoon it should be dry and quite sunny, and for many possible country, it is a chance to ta ke possible country, it is a chance to take a bit of a breather, temperatures will be down to about seven or 8 degrees but a lot more dry weather and it won't be as windy. only briefly mainly because it is more went in and coming from the west on thursday, by the end of the west on thursday, by the end of the weekend that we can, the weather looks very different, much drier, quieter winds, much colder. this is bbc news. the headlines: the queen issues a statement about harry and meghan's future, she says she'd have preferred them to remain full time members of the royal family but supports their wish for an independent life. princes charles, william and harry were also at the talks today at sandringham, the queen says the couple made it clear they don't want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives. borisjohnson at stormont as assembly members return for their first day of work there in three years. and then there were five, the hopefuls who've made it through to the next round of the labour leadership contest. storm brendan sweeps into the uk, battering