30/12/2016 BBC News

Russia and America, locked in a diplomatic row,

following allegations of Russian interference in the

President Putin says he won't respond to the expulsion

of Russian diplomats from the US, until President Obama is replaced

But the American sanctions are going ahead.

Removal vans have arrived at two Russian compounds in the US,

which are being closed down within hours.

Also today, a coach overturns in Oxfordshire, as fog and freezing

conditions cause difficulties on roads and disruption at airports.

New light is shed on the poll tax riots of 1990, in official

government files released for the first time.

And how Cristiano Ronaldo turned down a record-breaking deal to play

Russia has announced it will not be expelling any

American diplomats, despite a decision by

President Obama yesterday to send home 35 Russians

in a row about cyber espionage and hacking.

Mr Obama had accused the Russians of interfering in the US

presidential election by hacking into

The Kremlin has always denied any involvement

and President Putin said today he looked forward to

rebuilding links with America, when Donald Trump becomes president.

Our Moscow correspondent Steve Rozenberg has the latest.

Near the Kremlin tonight, they were putting on a seasonal show.

Ahead of the New Year celebrations, there was

song and dance and some musical theatre.

But that was nothing compared to the political theatre

First up on stage, the Foreign Minister who advised

President Putin to expel 35 US diplomats.

But, no, Vladimir Putin said, he wasn't going

to stoop to the level of irresponsible diplomacy.

He wasn't going to expel any Americans.

He even invited the children of all US

diplomats in Moscow to a New Year's party here in the Kremlin.

But it didn't change what America's top intelligence

agencies believe to be true, that state-sponsored hackers backed, by

the highest levels of the Russian government, had interfered in the US

With a cyber attack on the Democratic party.

And last week, I got a chance to ask him myself.

Mr President, your country has been accused of state-sponsored

hacking with the aim of influencing the result of the US presidential

President Obama revealed that he told you personally to "cut it out".

So, what did you tell him, in response?

The Kremlin leader refused to tell me.

Dismissing all the talk of hacking as sour grapes

"The losing side always tries to pass the buck", he said.

But President Obama had decided there was enough evidence

As well as expelling diplomats, he ordered Russian government

compounds in New York and Maryland to be shut down.

US officials believe they were being used for intelligence.

Washington has announced sanctions against individuals, too.

Including these Russian nationals, wanted by the FBI for cybercrimes.

But today, President Putin said he would work to restore relations

What Putin and Trump expect from each other

And no hypocrisy and no political correctness.

By not expelling diplomats today, the Kremlin was sending a New

A sign that Moscow wants a new relationship with Washington.

Could 2017 be the year that Russia finally comes in from the cold?

Our correspondent Laura Bicker is in Washington.

Laura, what's been the latest reaction in Washington to what's

came out of Moscow, today? We've had no official reaction from the White

House as yet. But those sanctions are well underway. While Vladimir

Putin is extending party invites to the children of American diplomats,

here State Department employees are clearing out Russian compound in New

York and Maryland. But by taking this action just 20 days before he

leaves office, it's almost like President Obama is saying to

President-elect Trump, your move. This is a Mr Trump who has in the

past dismissed the allegations that Russia was behind the hacking,

during the US election. In fact, he said these were the same

intelligence officials who told us that Saddam Hussein had weapons of

mass destruction. He has suffered that stance a little in the last 24

hours, saying he will meet with intelligence officials. But he said

in the same breath that it was time to get on with our lives. But the

pressure is growing on him to say something. Senator John McCain has

scheduled hearings in January where Congress will discuss this

intelligence. And President Obama's opponents, Mr Trump's supporters,

have said that he's done the right thing. They maybe believe he's done

it a little too late. Mr Trump has a dilemma. Does he dismissed the

intelligence from 17 agencies and risk the rash of his political

supporters? Or does he continue and push forward with these sanctions?

And perhaps risk a frosty, rather than a fresh start, with Vladimir

Putin. Thanks for the latest in Washington. Our correspondent.

Russia is asking members of the UN Security Council to consider

a new resolution that would endorse the ceasefire in Syria that came

The ceasefire agreed by the Syrian government and some opposition

forces appears to be holding, despite reports of sporadic fighting

Fog and freezing conditions have caused difficulties on the roads

and severe disruption at several airports.

A coach overturned on a slip road of the M40 in Oxfordshire.

16 passengers and the driver were injured in the accident

Our correspondent Helena Lee reports from the scene.

It was in the early hours of this morning in thick fog that coach

veered off a slip road off the M40 before rolling into

Its mangled remains and the damage done clear

16 passengers were on board, travelling from Heathrow to Oxford.

Remarkably, none were critically injured.

But all were treated in hospital, some for broken bones,

The bad weather made the recovery operation challenging.

All three emergency services attended with 17

Very intensive for the paramedics and ambulance crews that attended.

Assisted by fire and the police services as well.

Obviously, probably a chaotic scene to start with.

The Oxford bus company said the driver was very experienced

and had been doing overnight shifts for a number of years.

Now the coach has been taken away, the investigation turns

And why did the coach come off a junction earlier

For drivers in parts of southern and eastern England and Wales,

conditions on the roads today have been challenging.

Heavy fog has meant visibility has been poor in some places,

And the fog is expected to linger throughout this evening.

It's been causing problems, too, at airports.

At Heathrow, there's been cancellations and delays

The same at City Airport in London and Gatwick, with thousands

of passengers' plans before New Year's Eve disrupted.

The advice, to check with the airline before

A postmortem examination carried out as part of the investigation

into the death of George Michael has proved inconclusive.

Further tests will now be carried out.

Police are treating the singer's death in Oxfordshire

on Christmas Day as unexplained but not suspicious.

On the financial markets, the FTSE 100 Index has ended

The index of leading shares closed at 7,142 points,

beating the previous record set yesterday.

The sharp fall in sterling, following the Brexit vote has

boosted the value of many global companies that generate much

The Government is giving renewed consideration

to allowing learner drivers to have lessons on motorways in England,

Other changes affecting motorcycle learners are also being considered.

The lessons won't be compulsory, and driving instructors will decide

Ministers hope the move will make roads in Britain safer,

as our correspondent Daniel Boettcher reports.

17-year-old Hannah Spicer is practising driving

She started in September and has had 20 lessons.

She hopes she will be ready to take her test soon.

She will not be allowed to drive on a motorway until she passes,

The Government is considering proposals to allow supervised

learners onto the motorway for the first time,

Coming onto the motorway for the first time with your

instructor next to you would be easier, and you have a second

pair of eyes looking at everything that is around you.

If you go on your first time alone, it's going to be

Learner drivers would only be allowed on motorways

They would have to be with an approved driving instructor,

the lessons would be voluntary, and the instructor would

They would also have to be in a car with dual controls.

You can't make it compulsory for practical reasons.

Large bits of the country have no motorway access.

And if you allow it to happen, the people who are nearest

the motorways, those most likely to be using them, will get to learn

This would covering England, Scotland and Wales.

Northern Ireland has its own plans to allow learners onto motorways.

The Government says Britain's roads are already among the safest

in the world but these measures could improve that record further,

and it proposes changes not just for drivers

They would have to take a theory test online and those holding

a provisional licence could have their compulsory basic

training certificate revoked if they get more

Hannah expects to have passed before any of the proposed changes come in.

This is a consultation at the moment.

It will also consider a target number of hours before

a test can be taken, and some argue that could make

learning too expensive, but the Government insists

there are no plans to make that target compulsory.

The latest files to be released by the National Archives shed

new light on the political turmoil of 1989 and 1990, as

Margaret Thatcher's period as Prime Minister came to an end.

The files reveal attempts by Mrs Thatcher to modify

the Community Charge, widely known as the poll tax,

her controversial plan to replace local authority rates.

The policy led to rioting and was a key factor in her downfall,

It was the biggest political misjudgement

The poll tax provoked outraged opposition.

The files show her normally self-confident government

These are all files dealing with the poll tax over

a period of 18 months, hundreds of pages of documents.

It's an indication of how much time Mrs Thatcher herself spent

worrying about the problem, how complex it was, and how

difficult it was to find a way out of the mess.

Many of the documents are covered in Mrs Thatcher's characteristically

The government tried some desperate expedients.

At one point she herself floated the idea of letting councils put

an extra penny on a gallon of petrol to raise more cash.

The poll tax was meant to force Labour councils to spend less.

Instead, the government got the blame when millions found

they were paying more, and Mrs Thatcher realised

it was hitting what she called the conscientious middle,

One turning point came with this letter in March 1990,

from an elderly Conservative voter in Norfolk.

He and his wife were paying twice as much under the poll tax.

He accused the Prime Minister of behaving like a dictator,

Michael Portillo was the local government minister who had the job

He says there are lessons to be learnt today.

Well, there are lessons to be learned, of course,

I think the Conservative government's commitment to introduce

a poll tax in the 1980s without thinking it through is quite

strongly paralleled by David Cameron's commitment quite

recently to hold a referendum without thinking through

As for Mrs Thatcher, the poll tax ended her career,

but not before the files reveal Westminster Council threatened her

with a fine if she didn't complete her own poll tax

The Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has turned down

an offer worth ?85 million a year to play in China,

The deal would have been a major coup for the emerging

Chinese Super League and would have smashed the world transfer

China wants football, it wants footballers.

Earlier this year, BBC Sport filmed at one of China's first

designated football schools, two hours east of Beijing.

But the country can't simply wait for its grassroots to grow.

Whipped across, and Ronaldo's met it.

According to his agent, Cristiano Ronaldo turned

down ?85 million a year, offered by a club in

Well, maybe, but the relocation is already happening.

Here's Carlos Tevez, once of Manchester United and City,

saying goodbye to his beloved Buenos Aires, to begin the New Year

in Shanghai, apparently becoming the world's highest-paid footballer.

?32 million a season in the CSL, it's rumoured.

Trevor Watkins, a sports lawyer who's worked in China,

told me these deals will force the world to pay attention.

We have a situation where the CSL is commanding the way

in which the transfer market is moving.

They are the ones with the big money, the ones prepared to put

They have a slightly different transfer window

to European football, and arguably they are distorting,

or actually advancing the European market.

Consider Oscar, 25, at his peak, and leaving Chelsea to join

So, are Chinese clubs now a threat to the Premier League?

Sam Allardyce said today he'd rejected a chance to manage

in China, but thinks more players will go there.

With their population and the fact that the people will go out

and watch football at that level, only time will tell whether it's

But the clubs are not going to turn that money down,

It's possible to build a successful football league

with foreign talent in a country where the national team fails.

If so, the next generation must be better than the current one.

In a recent World Cup qualifier, China lost to Syria.

A ?5 note engraved with a tiny portrait of Jane Austen and said

to be worth up to ?50,000 has been found in a Christmas card.

The second of four special ?5 notes featuring art by specialist

micro-engraver Graham Short turned up on Thursday in

The first was found earlier this month in a cafe in South Wales.

Two more remain in general circulation.

There's more throughout the evening on the BBC News Channel,

and we'll be back with the late news at 10.50pm.

Now it's time for the news where you are.