lying to the fbi about his contacts with the russian government. the president's comments have turned the focus back to the ongoing investigation just hours after what most agree is the first big legislative achievement of his presidency. his fellow republicans in the senate have pushed through a sweeping tax bill, which promises a sharp cut in corporate taxation, plus cuts for many including some the richest people in america. laura bicker reports from washington. finally donald trump is on course for a much—needed win. it looks like he will claim a victory on tax reform. we passed the largest tax cuts in this country's history along with many other things. the vote was close. the arm—twisting continued until dawn. there were so many last—minute changes to the bill that senators had to scribble them in the margins. democrats say the package will benefit big business and the wealthy. republicans believe it will slash corporation taxes and help the middle classes. for republicans and the president, it was a welcome distraction from the other washington drama. donald trump's former security adviser michael flynn pleading guilty to lying about the fbi about his meetings with russians. the former three—star general played a key part in mr trump's campaign and led this chant about hillary clinton which will live in infamy. if i did a tenth of what she did, i would be injail today. in court, mr flynn apologised about lying with his meetings with russians but more worryingly for the white house, he will testify that he was told to contact russia by officials. one of those is thought to be donald trump's son—in—law jared kushner. but the president remains defiant. what has been shown is no collusion. no collusion. absolutely no collusion. so we are very happy. president trump tweeted that he fired general flynn because of his lies and said it was a shame because his actions were not unlawful and had nothing to hide. this should have been a momentous day for mr trump. the republicans finally united behind tax reform but the spectre of the russian investigation continues to loom over the white house. natasha bertrand joins me from new york city. she is the political correspondent for business insider, and has been following the michael flynn investigation closely. please just explain where we are up to with all of this and john potter are very latest tweet saying michael flynn was sacked because of his actions but it was lawful —— donald trump's latest tweet. this was remarkable. trump says he fired the national security adviser michael flynn because he lied to the vice president but he added something interesting that haven't been disclosed before because of he also fired him because he lied to the fbi. legal experts said that is a clear indication from news that flynn had lied to the fbi when he asked the former fbi directorjames komi to drop the investigation into michael flynn. that signal intent on trump's part to obstructjustice, this could be legally precarious as he moves forward with the investigation which is looking into obstruction. just explain what michael flynn is accused or pleaded guilty to doing? he has done a deal hasn't he, whereby he is going to we expect get a lesser sentence. this will complicate all of this, so explain all of this. it's extremely conjugated but basically, flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about talking to russians. he said he did not disclose the full conversation to russia when he had. the question is why did he lie about these conversations at all. people say it would have been acceptable for the incoming national security adviser to discuss sanctions with his essentially his counterpart. it is about as major foreign policy changes that happened three weeks before the trump white house was due to be coming in. the real question is why flynn felt the need to live, who he was best acting, and who directed him to speak to the russian ambassador about sanctions because those people could be vulnerable. will we get answers to those questions and why does all this leave the trump administration? questions and why does all this leave the trump administration7e trump's son—in—law jared kusher leave the trump administration7e trump's son—in—lanared kusher is very bad position because he was communicating with flynn about russia, had told him from early on with communicating with russia about the un resolution on israel. he was looped in, they met in early december where they talked about setting up a back channel to moscow. what flynn could do because he was charged on such a low—level crime, it isa charged on such a low—level crime, it is a federal crime to lie to the fbi but there is so much more that he could have gotten to involve. that is an indication that he gave can give muller much biggerfish about people like the president. we can expect to see in the coming weeks and months, muller really closing in on trump's in a circle and potentially getting to president himself. interesting times ahead, thank you. that's tuchel a reporter in washington, dc, covering congress. he explains the significance of the bill passing. this is the tax bill. it got through through the skin of its teeth, didn't it? explain how important victory this isn't how it got through because there's an awful lot of last—minute wrangling? through because there's an awful lot of last-minute wrangling? it was a 51-49 of last-minute wrangling? it was a 51—49 votes are very slim, itjust got past. the political ramifications are major. as laura described earlier, this was a much—needed victory for the president and it's a first time in the ii president and it's a first time in the 11 months or so he has been in office, that one of his big legislative priorities has got through both the house and the senate. you remember the health care battle of the summer, the house passed the version but the senate could not. this is a victory for the president, and the way the senate republican leadership secured this was adding these sweeteners in the legislation that one over certain key senators that were holding out up key senators that were holding out up to the last minute. the democrats are saying that these deals only benefit the rich and nonpartisan committee says the measures will add $1 trillion to the budget deficit. republicans say it will benefit working families, who is right here? who will get something out of this? a lot of this depends on how the economy ends up going here in the us in the coming years. this is a ten year plan and the joint committee on taxation report said was that $1 trillion will be added to the deficit over the next ten years. evenif deficit over the next ten years. even if you account for economic growth. republicans discount that very strongly. they believe the economy will grow as a result of tax cuts and that will bring in more red killing the government. a lot will rely on the government. a lot will rely on the government. a lot will rely on the government growing. there were trying to figure out a mechanism to raise taxes or cut spending if growth does not meet projection. others did not make it into the bill. the senate ruled it was not allowa ble bill. the senate ruled it was not allowable in terms of the senate procedure. as you were saying, president trump badly needed this win. but it's not over yet. he wants is enacted before christmas, there could be hurdles along the way? the house and senate bills are pretty different. there are some small and major differences. the major one is the senate version includes a repeal of the individual mandate on obamacare, the of the individual mandate on obamaca re, the affordable of the individual mandate on obamacare, the affordable care act which is what requires people to pay a penalty if they don't buy health insurance. that will have to be reconciled. the house could pass the senate bill and send it to the resident desk but the attention from what i'm hearing is they will go to a conference committee is the last that i could tell you, i was there till 3am at the capitol, republican senators were elated, senatorjohn isaacs and smiled when i asked what have the field to pass this in light and does the recent sale is on health care. he said i wasn't a great english student but it doesn't get any better than this. republicans are high on it and hope they can get it done by christmas. thank you. still to come... jose mourinho get one over arsene wenger as manchester united win against arsenal in the premier league. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. there've been clashes between german police and demonstrators outside the far—right alternative for germany party conference in the city of hannover. police used water cannon to clear a path for delegates. the conference re—elected joerg meuthen as a co—chairman, a victory for the party's more pragmatic wing. the former egyptian prime minister, ahmed shafik, is back in egypt after allegedly being deported from the united arab emirates. his return comes a few days after he declared his intention to stand in egypt's presidential election next year. on thursday, mr shafik said he wanted to return to egypt, but the uae authorities were preventing him. the argentine navy has sent an unmanned search vehicle to check what it describes as a deformed shape on the south atlantic sea bed which might be the wreck of the sanjuan submarine. an international search has failed to find the submarine which had 44 crew on board when it went missing 17 days ago. because bbc world news today, the latest headlines. president trump has said the actions of his former national security advisor, michael flynn , who admitted to lying to the fbi on friday , were lawful. us republicans celebrate passing of a sweeping tax reform bill but democrats complain it was a rushed job. the saudi—led coalition has welcomed an offer of talks made by yemen's former president, ali abdullah saleh, whose forces — along with the houthi rebels — have been fighting the coalition for more than two years. in the past few days, fighting has broken out between the former allies. rhodri davies has more. there are only fighters on the street of yemen's capital. and this time, its allies fighting each other. gunmen loyal to the former president saleh are now trying to force houthi fighters out of the city. the beauty of ancient sanaa is scarred by bullets. already a complex struggle, it has become even more so. complex struggle, it has become even more so. on one side is president who has force is control of the land in red. he is backed by saudi arabia. as and eight other mostly sunni arab states. as posing them are sheer houthi rebels who are backed by alarm and have built a alliance with saleh which appears to be breaking down, now fighting the houthis and hinting they could do a deal with saudi arabia. it will not end. it turns right now but the alliance will continue but the only change to happen is that saleh is more influential, more powerful and has the power to announce the initiative to end the yemen war.l critical humanitarian situation remains. the conflict has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced over two million and triggered a cholera epidemic. the latest violence and only further pressure. we are currently receiving more requests for medical supplies from two main hospitals that are actually supported by the international red cross in yemen. my colleagues now are doing their utmost best in order to meet the needs and to help the wounded because of the clashes. yemenis once the country's almost three years of water come to an end. but that may rose five the dominance ofa man but that may rose five the dominance of a man who until the arab spring spent 33 years of their president. —— as their president. we can now talk to yemeni journalist afrah nasser — she joins us from sweden. thanks forjoining us. has significant is this offer to talk by saleh? this is absolutely a defining moment not only on the course of yemen war but also on the course of post—yemen 2011 uprising period in my opinion. the saudis are clearly not only succeeding in starving yemen into negotiations but also into returning yemen to pre—2011 uprising political reality where we are facing the lesser of two evils situation. now it is whether saleh who is also, his hands are full of blood as well. he is supposed to be the rescuer for blood as well. he is supposed to be the rescuerfor yemen. rescuing yemen some being the world provides a humanitarian crisis over the course of i think the past six months, he has been ongoing on public speeches, really reflecting and expressing his concerns and worried about the humanitarian situation in the country. that is fully what triggered him to propose negotiations in many eyes, he is now a hero. what needs to happen now for this reaching out to bring an end to the war? in my opinion, we are seeing the death of the coalition and houthis. now there is a coalition between them and the saudis. it's up to them to decide the trajectory of the coming days and hours. as we speak, there are major developments happening within a few hours. it remains to be seen but there are definitely the final say will be the other side, which is the saudis and saleh. now do you feel that a man you said had blood on his hands, is becoming a peacemaker? —— how do you feel. on his hands, is becoming a peacemaker? —— how do you feellj think the blood and sacrifices of all my generation who took to the streets in 2011, i think it has all gone to waste. in my opinion, i think we are going to block zero. there was never an uprising. it seems like stockholm syndrome that a lot of people are turning blind to the violations this man has done over not only the past few years but the last three decades. it's a very confusing moment, ithink the last three decades. it's a very confusing moment, i think in yemen's history. 94 sharing your thoughts. —— thank you for sharing your thoughts. let's get this board with jessica. we stuck with the ball where manchester united have close the gap on manchester city after winning 3—1 at arsenal. they got the ideal start in 50 minutes, alexandre la cazette ideal start in 50 minutes, alexandre lacazette got ideal start in 50 minutes, alexandre la cazette got a ideal start in 50 minutes, alexandre lacazette got a goal back before they secured the points. it could be one of the matches of the season. it wasn't all positive for united because paul pogba was sent off, he will miss the manchester derby. amazing attitude from everyone. the quality that they showed. the quality that they showed. the quality of many things. the show also amazing character in the difficult moments of the game. it gave us difficult moment. arsenal gave us difficult moment. arsenal gave us difficult moment. arsenal gave us difficult moment. they had attacking quality and the difficult moment of playing with ten men for quite a lot of time. amazing character by the players, i think they deserve your words that are similarto my they deserve your words that are similar to my work when i met them in the dressing room. elsewhere in the premier league liverpool are into the top four after a 5—1 thrashing of brighton. sam allardyce marked his first game in charge of everton with a 2—0 win over huddersfield. swansea are bottom after their defeat against stoke. barcelona are still unbeaten at the top of la liga after being held to an entertaining 2—2 draw by celta vigo. iago aspa put celta ahead after marc—andre ter staygun failed to keep hold of the ball. but barca levelled moments later as lionel messi converted paulinho's pass for his 17th goal this season. luis suarez had a goal maybe harshly ruled offside and messi hit a post. then suarez put barca ahead... but gomez later equalised for celta to the rugby league world cup final where australia beat england 6—0, in one of the lowest scoring rugby league world cups in history. delight and jublilation for the australian team. understandably, this is their second year unbeaten as a team. it was boyd cordner who got the only try of the match and secured australia's11th world cup title, theirfirst on home soil since 1977. that was one of the toughest trouble games are played in my career. as really pleasing victory for the boys. like i said it's been a fairly ha rd boys. like i said it's been a fairly hard road for this one over the last two years. hard road for this one over the last two yea rs. we hard road for this one over the last two years. we want to put ourselves back to number one. with got back world cup victories now and very happy to have the kangaroos is the best tea m happy to have the kangaroos is the best team in the world. australia just have the edge after day one of the second ashes cricket test in adelaide. after winning the toss and putting the aussies into bat, england were gifted an early breakthrough when cameron bancroft was run—out by chris woakes. england then got the wicket of dangerman david warner, three runs short of his half—century. but, a 50 from usman khawaja settled down the hosts, before he went, and then debutant craig overton took the prize wicket of captain steve smith. the hosts finished on 209 for four. and that's all the sport for now. north korea's nuclear programme has caused shock waves abroad and made some big cracks in the international community, but now it could be having an impact much closer to home. let's ta ke let's take a look. now witness and we're heading back to 1957 when a huge science city was built in the middle of siberian forest. they called it academic city. dozens of research institutes were built, and top scientists were enticed to come to work in this harsh inhospitable region. victor va rand was one of the first research chemists to move to academic city. he told witness what it was like to live and work in such an unusual place. a town of 25,000 inhabitants. a town where nearly everyone is a scientist or hoping to become one. a new town called academic city. translation: my first impression was that of bewilderment, to be honest. everything was different here. the houses were right in the middle of the forest. it was so quiet and the air seemed so fresh. what used to be thought of as a wasteland has turned out to beat the soviet union's greatest treasure house. a land unbelievable rich in mineral. they thought there was no oil here, now it's floating on it. there are diamond fields that could be as surge of south africa's. and gold and platinum two. —— as rich as south africa's. i worked in academic city for 46 years since 1962.” south africa's. i worked in academic city for 46 years since 1962. i was a research chemist at the institute of inorganic chemistry. in 1963, i thought my beloved subject matter analytical chemistry at the university there. since the times of the czar, people were axar out to siberia, would you excel to anyone toa siberia, would you excel to anyone to a good place? that was the idea of siberia, that wall street people. —— walls eight people. our salary was only 10% more than others, but we got separate apartments. in the yea rs, we got separate apartments. in the years, there was an acute shortage of housing. they didn't attract is worth housing, they attracted us with in accommodation and good work. no other research laboratories are so no other research laboratories are so lavishly equipped and nowhere else other students so carefully selected or recently examined. this is what is called a colliding beam accelerator, the only one of its kind in the world. designed to hurl particles of matter and particles of antimatter. our institute of nuclear physics is a globally recognised research centre. its scientists have collaborated in the construction of the large hadron collider in switzerland. but many of the inventions in breakthroughs happened in secret research projects for the ministry of defence. of course, the creation of academic city was a great achievement. a new generation of scientists has been nurtured here. most people who worked there and now an graduate of our university, and what does russia live on today? gas and oil, of course karanka found and explored those resources? our siberian scientists. that's it for me for now. goodbye. good evening. it's been gradually turning milder the past 24 hours or less cold. but there's been a lot of cloud with that change. we had a lovely su nset cloud with that change. we had a lovely sunset this evening in kent and sunday promises more sunshine for many of us. currently however, you can see whether from the week as they are draped across the country sinking southward. they give some grey and murky conditions if you are out and about travelling. there will be some light rain drizzling, the cloud is low enough for the hills, but later denied we will start to see things clearing out. we could just about get a touch of frost in the north—east, and early on in the south east. for most of us, after what has been a jolly chilly week, it will look lively frost free, but it will look lively frost free, but it probably will be got a murky start to the day. especially across the southern half of the country. this week whether funds will move fairly quickly to for part of pembrokeshire and south—west england. for most of england and wales, it will be brighter and drier there. not so cold either, to the starting 4—5d, for northern ireland thatis starting 4—5d, for northern ireland that is close by. scotland team, a few shallow fog partridges in the south of england but they should clare. it topples back into their but it tinkerfor clare. it topples back into their but it tinker for northern ireland. for most of us, it's a bright afternoon with some good spells of ihsan sacko chilly today in the north—east because we are back into cooler air, but better in east anglia. into sunday evening and overnight week whether funds so cloud comes in by what we find is probably a little bit of forward as we go through to monday morning rush hour, particularly in east anglia and the south east, in the west we have some showers but a lot of dry u nsettled have some showers but a lot of dry unsettled weather will greet us on monday and slightly milder weather and we had in the weekjust gone. that is because we have hired pressure, but mine conditions, pushing to north and west and we have to wait till mid week to see something more turbulent. that is wednesday, it looks set to turn wet and windy about that stage. but a quiet start for the week for goodbye. —— for many of us. goodbye. president trump has said the actions of his former national security advisor michael flynn during the presidential transition period were lawful but he had to sack him because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. the us senate has passed a sweeping bill paving the way for the first big legislative victory of donald trump's victory. democrat said it would only benefit the wealthy and big business. there is growing criticism of two former police officers who leaked information pornographic images had been found on the work computer of damian green. he has denied