Finalfor eight years, they havent met in a grand slam final for eight years, but they havent met in a grand slam finalfor eight years, but in they havent met in a grand slam final for eight years, but in the next half hour Serena Williams takes on her sister venus for the australian title and a record breaking 23rd major crown. And chris has the weather. It is not as cold as has been over recent days, but we have got some rain to contend with today and it is still just about code rain to contend with today and it is stilljust about code and for some of that rain to fall as snow in the hills of scotland. Good morning. First, our main story. The actor Sirjohn Hurt Has died. He was 77 and had recently been ill with cancer. He starred in around 200 films including harry potter and was nominated for an oscar for his roles in The Elephant Man and midnight express. Our correspondent nick higham reports. Everything seemed to come to a head today. John hurt, as the political diarist alan clark. Both my back wisdom teeth have disintegrated into blackened stumps, or stalagmites. Not a nice man, but unexpectedly sympathetic one, the sort of complex Characterjohn Hurt played with such ease and subtlety. His talent was spotted early in a succession of leading stage and Television Roles. His first big breakthrough came in 1966. In a man for all seasons. A small part, but in a high profile, oscar winning film. A few years later, he was starring opposite Richard AttenboroughIntel Rillington place. He played the illiterate timothy evans, wrongly hanged for a murder he didnt commit. On television, he was the mad Roman Emperor caligula in the bbcs i, claudius. Mad Roman Emperor caligula in the bbcs i, claudius. You order does not to order any. And you took me at my word, didnt you . And then came the naked civil servant. My word, didnt you . And then came the Naked Civil Servantlj my word, didnt you . And then came the naked civil servant. I wear roush, i wear mascara on my eyelashes, i dye my hair, i buy fla m boya nt clothes, eyelashes, i dye my hair, i buy flamboyant clothes, far more outre than those i am wearing out. Many people said dont do that, you will never work again. But i said, it is not about homosexuality, it is about the tenderness of the individual as opposed to the cruelty of the crowd. He earned an oscar nomination for midnight express, in which he played a Heroin Addict in a turkish prison. And there was another oscar nomination for his performance as the hideously disfigured john merrick in The Elephant Man. His lined and weathered face meant he was perfect in the film 1984 as george or dwells reluctant rebel winston smith. George orwells rabble. He accepted all the Television Roles he was offered, although that meant stage appearances like this were rare. He played stephen ward, Society Schema and later victim of the Profumo Affairand and later victim of the Profumo Affair and scandal. I can do wonders with you, little baby. Youre my future selves . Late in his career, he made a Guest Appearance in doctor who. Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that . Almost 200 screen roles alone. Few actors were as reliably and engagingly watchable. John hurt, whos died aged 77. Theresa may and donald trump have stressed their commitment to nato in talks at the white house. The Prime Minister and the president both reiterated the importance of the Special Relationship in the first visit of a foreign leader to washington since Donald Trumps inauguration. Theresa may urged the United States not to lift sanctions against russia. The us president is due to speak to Vladimir Putin today. Ill be representing the American People very, very strongly, very, very forcefully, and if we have a great relationship with russia and other countries, and if we go after isis together, which has to be stopped, thats an evil that has to be stopped, i will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing. Theresa may has travelled from washington to turkey for talks on trade and security with president erdogan. The Prime Minister is also facing pressure to discuss concerns about alleged Human Rights Abuses. Our turkey correspondent mark lowen is in istanbul. Is she there already . Give us a sense of what the discussions might include. She lands in about an hour and she will be focusing very much on trade with president erdogan and the Prime Minister during talks here. It is a quick visit, four or five hours in turkey. The two countries are already big trading partners, but they want to increase trade, especially when the uk leads the european union. It and take you will be on the fringes of the eu and they want to increase trade. They will also be addressing so called islamic state. Both of them are part of the coalition against is. They will also be talking about ongoing attem pts will also be talking about ongoing atte m pts to will also be talking about ongoing attempts to reunite reunify cyprus. There are also calls on theresa may to address more difficult issues here of Human Rights Abuses and the fact that 140,000 people have now been arrested, dismissed or suspended since the failed coup last year. So she goes from one controversial president to another, and there are calls for her to raise those issues. Downing street Officials Say she will reiterate support for the turkish government, but also stressed that turkeys response to the failed coup needs to be proportionate. Thank you. A Growing Number of labour mps have said they Will Denyeremy Corbyn and vote against triggering the formal process to leave the eu. Yesterday, a member of his Shadow Cabinet resigned from the front bench over the issue. Our Political Correspondent ellie price is in our london newsroom. If so growing dissent amongst the labour party . Thats right. Yesterday, The Shadow Welsh Secretary resigned, saying she thought brexit would be a terrible mistake. Intriguingly, two of the labour whips that they would vote against triggering article 50. In political terms, it gets complicated because it is theirjob to enforce party discipline. Jeremy corbyn has tried to be conciliatory. He said he has told his mps from prop remain constituencies that he understands they are torn. But he needs to provide labour with a coherent position on brexit. He says he wants labour to respect the outcome of the Eu Referendum and it is important to remember that the majority of Labour Constituencies voted to leave the eu. So it puts him in a difficult position with his mps. Number crunching suggests that 70 mps represent Labour Constituencies that voted to remain. Not all of those will defy voted to remain. Not all of those Will Denyeremy Corbyn, but a number will. So it Providesjeremy Corbyn with some difficult navigation through these brexit times. A draft letter of application from king george iii has been made public for the first time. The unsent letter, including crossings out, read drafts, blotches and scrolls, was written during the American War Of Independence and is one of thousands of his private papers released by the Royal Archives. Later this morning, we will take a more detailed look at some of those extraordinary documents. The uks 2017 Eurovision Entry has been decided. Former x factor Contestant Luciejones will represent the country in kiev in may with the song never give up on you, which was written by a former eurovision winner. Lucie was chosen after winning the combined public and jury vote at the end of a live tv show in which six singers performed. All of the potential acts were former x factor contestants. The we wish her well, albeit it hasnt gone too well recently at eurovision. But things can change. Change is a mantra at the moment. Nothing is predictable. Now back to one of our lead stories. It started with an Oval Office Photo call in front of the bust of sir Winston Churchill, and ended with agreement on the importance of the so called Special Relationship. Theresa mays visit to President Donald Trump is the front page of most of the papers, but was it a success for the Prime Minister . Here is a recap of some of the key moments. This is the original, folks, in many ways. It is a great honour to have Winston Churchill back. Today, the United States renews oui back. Today, the United States renews our deep bond with britain military, financial, cultural and political. We pledge our lasting support to this most Special Relationship. On defence and security cooperation, we are united in our recognition of nato as the bulwark of our collective defence. Today, we have reaffirmed our unsha keable today, we have reaffirmed our unshakeable commitment to this alliance. I think brexit is going to bea alliance. I think brexit is going to be a wonderful thing for your country. I have been listening to the president and the president has listened to me, that is the point of having a conversation. listened to me, that is the point of having a conversation. I can tell how i will get along with somebody very early, and i believe we are going to have a fantastic relationship. American journalist Beth Gardiner joins us from our london newsroom and political commentator Charlie Woolfjoins us on the sofa. Charlie, lets get one thing out of the way first, the handholding. It is on the front page of all the papers. This was after the Press Conference. Many will have seen it already. They were just stepping out of the white house along one of the verandas, and donald trump laid his hand on theresa mays wrist to help her down the steps. But that is the shot everyone has taken. The man is a gentleman, and that is why he did it. We will make sure he knows not to do that with her majesty when he comes for the state visit, although Michelle Obama did that and got away with it. I think it was a win win from both sides. The speech mrs may gave to the republican retreat, where she talked about not making the world in our image any more, and minor pointi the world in our image any more, and minor point i disagree with, but i guess if you can put 1000 mcdonalds in iraq, it is not going to turn into america. That went down pretty well. In the Press Conference, you could see that Great Britain is in prime position. This is the ally. He wa nts to prime position. This is the ally. He wants to roll his sleeves up. Beth, what are your thoughts on it . A people are talking about how trump was very calm. We certainly saw the well behaved trump yesterday. I think he kept his cool in a way that we certainly didnt see at his Previous Press conference a couple of weeks ago in new york before his inauguration, where he really lashed out at some of the questions that we re out at some of the questions that were asked. We will have to wait and see how this relationship pans out. Theresa may has clearly decided to cast her lot with donald trump. As you said, that handholding photo was on the cover for the papers this morning. And i think it may become an indelible image. We will have to wait and see, as this president moves forward, whether that is a relationship she may come to regret Patty Implements some of the contentious policies he has outlined, starting this morning with the news of a clamp down on refugees with a religious caste to it. Issues immediately arise. During the Press Conference, we know that President Trump is going to be speaking to Vladimir Putin by phone today. A very direct question was asked about what to do about russia. Theresa may gaveit what to do about russia. Theresa may gave it a straight answer we believe sanctions should remain. Donald trump has a different standpoint, and they stood together on stage saying different things. But there was a Mutual Respect. Everyone was saying, she should tell him what to do. Instead, i think she has built a relationship where i could see him picking up the phone after talking to putin or before talking to him, saying, what do you think . The sort of relationship iraq obama had with mrs merkel. That is a good position to be in the position barack obama had with mrs merkel. Already, the us papers, who probably weeks ago didnt know who mrs may was, now consider her to be margaret thatcher. I think it has done well for both her and for him. The question from Laura Kuenssberg, from an american sense, i thought it was a bit on the edge. That said, he handled it. He gave that new york laughed and said, this is the first question you give me . It is worth reminding people of that question from Laura Kuenssberg from the bbc. It was the one about, maybe people find you, looking from overseas, it is hard to understand you as the leader of the free world when there are things you said that people mightfind hard are things you said that people might find hard to understand. That was a moment when he could have gone ina was a moment when he could have gone in a different direction, but he showed a sense of humour. He did try to deflect the question with a joke that his guest, theresa may, in an uncomfortable spot, as well as Laura Kuenssberg, who asked it. A more mature leader might have taken that question as an opportunity to try to reassure some of question as an opportunity to try to reassure some of the people who are, as laura said, deeply frightened and concerned by some of the things we have heard from donald trump over the past 18 months of his ascendancy. Trump did not do that. What he did was reflective of what we have seen from him all along. He told usjust a week we have seen from him all along. He told us just a week ago that he was ina running told us just a week ago that he was in a running war with the media at that Press Conference in new york. He lashed out in a Shouting Match with the cnn reporter. We saw him over the course of the Campaign Lead arenas full of thousands of people in chants against journalists. He likes to turn the tables and use journalism as his whipping boy. I think Laura Kuenssberg, with her question, was trying to hold him to account for some of the things he said. He doesnt like that. He is going to find that as president , there are going to be hard questions. It is a twoway street. For instance, the whole dossier turned out to be fake news. So they will have to develop a Mutual Respect for each other. I think he handled it well and mrs may handled it well. We have to leave it there. Thank you. Venus and Serena Williams are no strangers to Sibling Rivalry on a grand scale. They have played each other in eight grand slam finals. But todays Australian Open is a special one. Whoever wins will be making history. Lets have a look at whats at stake for the sisters. When i am playing on the floor with her, i think i am playing the best competitor in the game. I never lost hope of us being able to play each other in a final. I couldnt write a better ending, so this is a great opportunity for us to start our new beginning. Former british number Onejohn Lloyd who will be commentating on the match joins us now. It really is a big day. We have been talking about it over the last few days and saying it feels really retro to go back to grand slams with the williams sisters in the final. To me, it is the greatest sports story in history, the williams sisters. When they finally make a film about them, it will be just reward and i hope they do them justice because it is the most extraordinary sports story, what they have achieved. To be in the finalagain, particularly from venus side, with the il