21/01/2018 Breakfast

Hello, this is Breakfast

with Christian Frazer

and Babita Sharma.

The siege of a luxury hotel in Kabul

has come to an end -

12 hours after it was stormed

by heavily armed militants.

Five people were killed

but security forces

were able to free

more than 100 guests.

Good morning, it's

Sunday 21 January.

Also this morning:

New plans to make sure faulty goods

are removed more quickly from shops

and homes.

The Ukip leader Henry Bolton fights

to keep his job as the party holds

an emergency meeting

to discuss his future.

Blue badge permits for free parking

are to be made easier to get

for people with

dementia and autism.

And in sport, England struggle

batting first in the third one day

international as they bid to clinch

the series against Australia.

Thomas has the weather. Be prepared

for a bit of snow this morning.

Quite tricky on some of the roads.

The snows will not be the same

everywhere. More later.

Good morning, first our main story.

The authorities in Afghanistan say

a siege of a luxury hotel in Kabul

has come to an end,

more than twelve hours

after it was attacked by gunmen.

An interior ministry

spokesman said five civilians

including one foreigner were killed

at the Intercontinental Hotel,

along with all three attackers.

More than 100 people

have been rescued.

Andrew Plant reports.

The Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul,

at dawn on Sunday morning,

blackened and smoking

after an 11-hour siege that's seen

at least five people killed

and several more wounded.

The shooting started

after nightfall on Saturday,

several gunmen armed with grenades

and automatic weapons.

TRANSLATION:

At first,

I heard some gunfire and then,

after 15 minutes, a worker

from the hotel approached and said

that suicide attackers

entered the hotel.

Security forces were fighting

the gunmen floor by floor

with reports of

hostages being taken.

We now know that around 100 guests

have been allowed to leave.

It's thought the security guards

at the entrance to the 5-storey

building are among those

who came under fire.

The Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul

is popular with foreign guests.

Situated on a hilltop a few

miles outside the city,

it has been the target

of an attack before,

in 2011, when 21 people died,

including nine attackers.

Security forces said two

of the gunmen had been shot

and killed, two more were thought

to be hiding in the building.

It is not yet clear

whether they are still on the loose.

The attack comes days after the US

embassy in Kabul issued a warning

about hotels in the city,

saying extremist groups could be

planning an attack, saying hotels

as well as public gatherings

could be potential targets.

Officials have not yet said

if all the guests and staff

With the procedures come to an end.

This is a shot in the centre of

Kabul. The Intercontinental Hotel.

This comes days after warning about

hotels in the city. An investigation

is under way to find how the

attackers were able to get access to

that hotel in the centre of Kabul

city.

The second time it has been hit.

There was an attack at hotel in

2011.

Large-scale recalls of dangerous

and faulty goods will be managed

by a new body from today.

'The Office for Product

Safety and Standards'

will ensure they're removed

from homes and shelves more quickly.

Our business correspondent

Joe Lynam reports.

In recent years, there have been

notable product recalls such as the

Samsung Galaxy Note and some

whirlpool tumble dryers. Now the

government hopes to accelerate the

time between recognising the problem

and removing the product from shops

and homes. The new 'The Office for

Product safety and Standards' will

primarily cover electrical white

goods like washing machines or

produce and will have a panel of

experts to decide whether a minor or

local issue requires a national

recall and will ensure that imported

EU goods will be properly checked

once the UK leaves next year.

What

this new body will do is ensure the

know-how and technical expertise is

available to prevent any delays and

keep the public as safe as possible.

Hundreds of products are recalled in

Britain every year but this new

agency hopes to prevent these kinds

of incidents.

The future of the UKIP leader,

Henry Bolton will be up

for discussion when the party's

national executive holds

an emergency meeting later today.

There have been calls

for him to step down

after it was reported his girlfriend

had sent offensive texts,

including racist comments

about Prince Harry's fiance Meghan

Markle.

Let's talk to our political

correspondent, Emma Vardy.

If he did go, this would be the

fourth leadership contest in two

years.

This is a crunch moment in a

saga that has been playing out since

Christmas. Henry Bolte and has been

under pressure to step down ever

since his relationship hit the

headlines and those of offensive and

racist text messages were leaked to

the news papers. Henry Bolte and

says he wants to keep his job that

he was spotted in a bar just days

after with Jo Marney, after

declaring their relationship is

over. He says he has been supporting

her during death threats and said

that text messages that were leaked

did not represent her core beliefs.

Nonetheless, Henry Bolte and has

lost the confidence of many people

in Ukip. It would have to go to a

vote of the wider party but he may

decide to step down and if he does,

is going to compound what's been a

pretty catastrophic yet the party.

Difficult time the party. We will

speak to Gerard Batten, the party's

Brexit spokesperson after eight

o'clock.

Turkey has warned that it

could deploy ground forces today

after launching air attacks

against Kurdish fighters in northern

Syria.

More than a hundred targets

were bombed in the Afrin region

with the Syrian Kurds backed

by the US, but Turkey

calls them terrorists.

People with hidden disabilities

in England could soon be entitled

to blue badge permits

for free parking.

The Department for

Transport said the change

would make it easier for those

with conditions such as autism

and dementia to access

services they needed.

Helena Lee has this report.

The blue badge scheme was first

introduced in England in the 1970s.

Today, around 2.4 million people

with disabilities have one. It

allows them to park free of charge

on roads and normally without time

limits. The government is now

proposing to extend the scheme. It

wants people with disabilities and

conditions like autism and dementia

to be able to qualify for a blue

badge so they too can enjoy the

freedom to get out where and when

they want. The Department for

Transport says only some councils

recognise hidden disabilities under

the current scheme because they

interpret the existing rules

differently. The proposals would be

the biggest change to the scheme

since it was first introduced. The

plans will now go through in a tight

public consultation. Helena Lee, BBC

News.

They say a man's home is his castle,

and for one artist in Brazil

it really is.

Marcio Matolias has lived

in a sandcastle for 22 years

in an upmarket neighbourhood

of Rio De Janeiro.

It isn't huge inside,

but he has everything he needs.

Marcio says if there is heavy rain

he just sculpts himself

a new sandcastle.

He compares his style

to Niemeyer and Gaudi,

and makes money from donations

and runs a book exchange.

I am glad he has built it far enough

back from the tide.

You're on that beach, won't you?

Yes. You see these incredible

sandcastles and they truly are works

of art. And that's pretty

phenomenal. Let's just take a look

at the papers this morning. Start

with the Sunday Telegraph.

with the Sunday Telegraph. Having

this headline about Boris Johnson.

Ties for America are vital.

Extraordinary economic relationship.

The Sunday Times. After 50 -- up to

50 Labour MPs on the deselection hit

list. Moderate Labour MPs have been

warned that Jeremy Corbyn allies

want centrist candidates replaced

with more left-leaning ones. And the

Observer is talking about Theresa

May's government planning to

announce irresponsible company

bosses who fail to protect workers

pensions will be hit by huge fines,

coming in the way of the collapse of

Carillion, of course, and the fact

that 20,000 members of the company

are expected to face huge cuts to

their retirement funds. The Sunday

Express, Brexit. Demands that

Theresa May to end free movement the

second we leave the European Union

on March 29 next year. They also say

inside that they want the transition

period to finish much sooner than

2021. It will probably finish after

a year if they had their way. Let us

catch up with the weather. He was

Thomas.

A cold morning? Yes, it is. Is the

coldest night of the winter so far

in Scotland, -13 degrees, really

cold but the contrast across the UK

where it is mild and colder are huge

at the moment and that is leading to

ice and snow, a battleground between

the cold in the north and mild in

the south. Quite tricky to some of

us. If you are happening to travel

this morning. This is what it looks

like around nine o'clock. By this

stage, I think it's starting to turn

to rain across Northern Ireland and

has been snowing here very heavily

in the last few hours or so. But

look at that. We've got some snow

across mostly the hills of Wales,

certainly through the Midlands which

cuts off for the snow around here

somewhere. Southern Wales through

Bristol down into central and

southern parts of England and

probably the M4 northwards. If we

are north of that, some sleet and

snow falling today. How much?

Probably covering some areas but the

amounts that will get on the ground

will vary greatly, particularly

across Scotland, up to ten

centimetres and some freezing rain

so really messy. But this is only

temporary because that weather front

is out of the way through this

evening and overnight and you start

getting much milder row coming off

the Atlantic. It is going to snow

today. A bitterly cold day but this

is only temporary through this

afternoon. Tomorrow, a completely

different story. We have much milder

row coming off the Atlantic. The

difference between today and

tomorrow across the UK will be

absolutely huge and in fact as we

head into Monday in the week ahead,

we start to see milder air pushing

in the Atlantic. That means things

are going to turn quite a bit

milder. The temperatures around 13

degrees in London. Much milder as

well. There is some snow on the way

this morning. There will be a

covering. Some of us no doubt will

go out and build a snowman but stay

careful on the roads and by

tomorrow, a lot of it will be gone.

How are we supposed to dress that?

Winter wardrobe, summer wardrobe.

Don't ask me, I'm just the reporter.

We want everything from you Thomas.

It is set to be cold today.

It was cold on the way in.

The bitter blame game over

the government shutdown

in the United States

could be over today.

The Senate's will be back in session

to try and break the impasse

on spending legislation.

It all started when a bill to fund

the federal government

did not get the number of votes it

needed by the deadline

of midnight on Friday.

Joining us now from Washington DC,

is David Smith, who's the Washington

bureau chief for

The Guardian newspaper.

David, good morning. For those of us

who want familiar with the workings

of the Federal Government, what is

this shutdown about?

It's a

fundamental failure for agreement on

the government's Budget, where it

will allocate its money, and without

Republicans and Democrats in the

house and the Senate reaching an

agreement, there is and money for

government functions, some

government agencies. It is not

literally mean that absolutely

everything stops. I was out and

about in Washington today. Some

things were going on as normal.

Essential services such as the

military and the police carry on.

But to give you one example, this

particular shutdown, national parks

would also remain open but litter

would not be collected, toilets

would not be cleaned. For tourists

in New York, the Statue of Liberty

has closed down. Also, around

800,000 federal workers who might

not turn up on Monday, it is

ultimately very costly to the

government until the Budget is

agreed upon.

And it is costly

because time is money, the clock is

ticking. What is the latest you are

hearing?

Hour by hour, it's been

changing on Capitol Hill. At one

point, things seemed quite hopeful

that an agreement would be reached,

perhaps before the end of the

weekend, however those hopes have

gone backwards again. Really, the

Republicans and the Democrats, they

are digging in their heels, blaming

one another for this impasse and

nobody seems willing to give an inch

and as you can imagine, it's

overshadowed the first anniversary

of Donald Trump's inauguration.

How

significant you think it is a Trump

administration and the Donald Trump?

It is terrible timing that he marks

one year in office with the

government shutdown. The Democrats,

unsurprisingly, have been very quick

to blame him for that, pointing to

remark he made a while ago saying

that what this government needs is a

good shot down. -- shut down. The

infamous meeting at the White House

about ten days ago where he used

some very derogatory language about

immigrants from Haiti and Africa,

has come back to haunt him. It's

from that moment that we saw a

downward spiral in the negotiations

and bitterness on both sides. It

really has undermined what he would

like to see as his unique selling

point which is a businessman and

dealmaker. This was one deal he

spectacularly failed to pull off.

David, is a deal imminent?

No, not

particularly. I think they will get

there eventually, as they always do.

Right now, it's hard to see who is

going to blink first on this. I

suspect it will depend on pressure

from the public, which ever party

thinks it's losing the of public

opinion may have to budge.

David

Smith, thank you. I have an alert

system on my Twitter feed, I can

tell you who he is blaming added the

Democrats, believe me.

We'll be back with

the headlines at 6.30,

but now it's time for

the Film Review with Jane Hill

and Mark Kermode.

A warm welcome to The Film

Review on BBC News.

To take us through this week's

cinema releases is Mark Kermode.

What have you been

watching this week?

Very exciting week.

We have The Post, starring

Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.

Coco, the new animation from Pixar.

And The Commuter, the new Liam

Neeson action vehicle.

And The Post, it's about journalism.

I can't wait, I'm excited.

Did you like it?

I really did, it's a newsroom

thriller about the revelations

of the Pentagon Papers,

a report which basically said that

successive US administrations had

misled the country about the Vietnam

War.

The film is largely set in 1971.

Tom Hanks is Ben Bradley,

the editor of the Washington Post.

He is eager for a scoop.

Meryl Streep is Catherine 'Kate'

Graham, the publisher and proprieter

of the Washington Post.

It's going to the stock

exchange, so its finances

are slightly precarious.

After the White House gets

an injunction on the New York Times,

after they publish some

of the Pentagon Papers,

Ben Bradley wants to publish.

But Meryl Streep says, hang on,

there are reasons why we can't do

this, not least of all that it might

actually endanger the paper.

Here is a clip.

Do you have the papers?

Not yet.

Oh gosh, oh gosh, because you know

the position that would put me in.

You know, we have language

in the prospectus.

Yeah, I know, I know

that the backers can

change their mind.

I know what's at stake.

You know, the only couple I knew

that both Kennedy and LBJ wanted

to socialise with was

you and your husband,

and you own the damn paper.

It's just the way things worked.

Politicians and the press,

they trusted each other

so they could go to the same dinner

party, and drink cocktails and tell

jokes, while there was

a war raging in Vietnam.

I don't know what

we're talking about.

I'm not protecting Lyndon.

No, you've got the man

who commissioned the study,

he's one of about a dozen party

guests out on your...

And protecting the paper.

The thing I like about this

film is it has a number

of intertwining stories.

One is the story of Kay Graham

finding her own voice.

She's surrounded by men

in boardrooms at the beginning.

She doesn't really speak,

she's slightly like a fish

out of water.

But during the course of this,

she has to step up to the mark

and decide what's

the right thing to do.

Second thing is, it runs

almost like a prequel

to All the President's Men.

The end of this film runs

right into the beginning

of All the President's Men,

which is a film that I was really,

really affected by in

the 1970s when it came out.

I was a kid when I saw

it, and loved it.

There's great period detail,

sequences in the printing presses

of the Washington Post.

We're looking at the hot metal

machinery, the old linotype

machines.

On a third level and most

importantly, it's a really

contemporary story.

Yes, it's set in 1971.

Yes, the period detail is great,

the performances are great,

Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks

are fantastic, the whole ensemble

cast is great.

But this is a really

contemporary story about,

in this particular case, a corrupt

president in the White House

attempting to stop the press

from expressing you know,

the right of free speech.

And you look at that,

and you look at what's happening

today, in which the press is under

attack, all the stuff

about fake news.

Recently we had the so-called

Fake News Awards.

It's a film almost like a call

to arms for the press,

the independent press.

From a free press,

to truth to power.

And it's interesting that

what Spielberg has done is to take

a period piece and tell

the story straight, you know,

it's not twisted in any way at all,

and tell it in a way which makes it

seem urgently contemporary,

in terms of its gender politics,

in terms of its newspaper politics,

in terms of the way it talks

about the necessity for a free

speech and good reporting,

good factual reporting,

to keep check on authorities.

I mean, I - I've seen the film twice

now, and would happily go back

and see it a third time.

And you don't need to be

interested in journalism,

or in the issues you've just raised,

to like it as a film?

I think that helps, and I certainly

know some people who aren't

interested in those things,

and aren't interested in that

particular bit of history,

who have said, why would you go

and see it?

You see it because it is a personal

drama about those two characters,

but also something that leads

you very much by the hand.

It does assume from the beginning

you might not know this stuff,

so it gives you a primer.

It starts you in a battlefield,

and it leads you and tells

you all you need to know.

I would encourage anyone to go

and see it, because I think it's

a film that is timely,

although it is a period piece.

And I think you don't have to be

specifically interested in that war

or the Pentagon Papers or journalism

to find it a gripping drama.

And the performances are just great.

OK, fantastic.

An animated film

is your second choice.

And a really good one, Coco,

the new film from Pixar,

set at the Mexican Day

of the Dead festivities.

So 12-year-old Miguel

longs to be a musician,

but his family have banned music,

because his great-grandfather years

ago chose music over family.

So therefore there was no more music

in the family anymore.

On the magical Day of the Dead,

Fate takes a hand in the land

of the dead.

I thought this was terrifically

entertaining, and also very,

very touching fare.

On the one hand, it has lovely

animation and slapstick sequences,

and all the sort of stuff you would

expect from a Pixar vehicle.

More importantly, it has

great songs, great music.

But it's dealing with some very

difficult subjects -

it's dealing with dementia,

it's dealing with memory,

it's dealing with death and life,

it's dealing with loss.

It's dealing with the way people

live on, as long as they live

on in our memory.

And also the way songs and music

will linger in our minds sometimes,

you know, if anybody has had any

experience of people with dementia,

music somehow cuts through.

Cuts through, doesn't it?

There are moments that will make

you weep, moments that

will make you laugh.

In the end, it'll make you cheer.

If you liked this film,

you see it and you like it,

and I really think you will do,

there's another film from a few

years ago, from 2014,

called Book of Life,

which got overlooked.

It does have thematic depth.

They make a nice companion.

Go and get Book of Life on DVD,

because it's a different film,

but there are great similarities

and they are both terrific.

OK, The Commuter.

The premise of the story

is quite gripping.

The Commuter - does it deliver?

Liam Neeson is a ex-cop working

as an insurance salesman.

The beginning of the film,

he loses his job, he's

doing his commute.

He needs money because he has to pay

for his kids' tuition.

Suddenly, Vera Farmiga turns up

and says, I want you to find

someone for me.

I can't tell you who they are,

or what they look like,

but if you do it there

will be a reward.

Here's a clip.

Someone on this train

does not belong.

All you have to do is find them.

That's it.

This person is carrying a bag.

You don't know what it looks like,

but inside that bag is something

they have stolen.

This person goes by

the name of Prynne.

It's not a real name.

They will be on this

train until Coldspring.

You find them, you find the bag,

the $100,000 is yours.

Don't leave the train

before finding the bag.

Don't tell anyone about this offer.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

Simple.

I thought this was hypothetical.

It's just a little thing.

Shouldn't be too hard for an ex-cop.

How did you know?

Oh, that's me.

You're being serious, right?

You have until next stop to decide.

What kind of person are you?

OK, so it's intriguing setup.

They're strangers on a train.

She has this - find the person,

can't tell you why,

there will be reward.

Hitchcock thrillers -

you set up those rules.

The rules have to make sense,

and you have to obey the rules.

What happens, it has

an interesting premise and setup,

and 20 minutes in it goes,

none of this makes sense,

and actually, we don't care.

It throws the rules out the window.

Why would he do it?

That is thrown out.

And it just gets back

into Liam Neeson walking around

the train punching people.

And the most frustrating thing

is that when you see that clip,

you think it's intriguing.

What's going on?

It's literally 20 minutes in,

the film goes, I don't care.

I don't think these rules

add up to anything.

The whole scenario doesn't make a...

Shall we just have him

punching somebody?

And you get the first punching

sequence, and then you go,

OK, fine, it is Taken on a train.

It's that film you've seen

all those times before,

except on a train.

It reminds you, what happened

to that really interesting idea

you threw out the window?

OK, fine, moving swiftly on.

Clearly not a patch on the film

of the week, Three Billboards,

which I have not...

I've thought about it every

single day since I saw it,

which is interesting in itself.

Brilliant performance

by Frances McDormand,

Who has a strong chance of winning

the Best Actress Oscar.

Martin McDonagh, who wrote

and directed, has done

a really terrific job.

Made a tragicomedy that is comic

and genuinely tragic.

I know it is divisive.

Some take against it,

and don't get on at all.

But I laughed in the bits that

are funny, but I also cried,

because I think it really deals

with tragedy, it really

deals with loss.

It's really well filmed.

There are moments in it that

are almost transcendent.

They are about, like with

Coco, life and death.

The Chaucerian ear for obscenity

that Martin McDonagh has rings true.

Did you love it?

With hindsight, I loved it,

I wasn't sure as I was watching,

but I think the script is terrific,

and it's really stayed with me

in a positive way.

Don't take somebody

who doesn't like swearing.

That goes without saying.

That's the only caveat, isn't it,

it's a very striking film.

For DVD?

So I Am Not a Witch.

It turned out in the Outstanding

Debut category at the Baftas.

A satirical, surreal tale of a young

girl who is given the chance

to accept life as a witch,

or turn into a goat.

The director has done

a brilliant job.

I thought it was a really remarkable

feature, something which,

yes, it's funny, yes,

it's satirical, but it's also

about misogyny and magic.

One of those films, again,

sometimes you're watching it

and don't know whether to laugh

or cry, and end up doing both.

It's really well worth checking out.

Thank you, Mark.

A really, really intriguing week.

And many more like that to come,

because we're building up

to awards season.

Plenty to come.

A reminder, before we go,

you will find all of the film news

and reviews from across

the BBC on the website.

And you can find all our previous

programmes on the iPlayer as well.

It's a cracking week.

Enjoy your cinema going.

Thanks for being with us.

Bye-bye.

Hello, this is Breakfast

with Christian Fraser

and Babita Sharma.

Here's a summary of today's main

stories from BBC News.

Afghan security forces say the siege

of a luxury hotel in Kabul has come

to an end more than 12 hours after

it was attacked by heavily armed

militants. Five civilians were

killed at the Intercontinental

Hotel. More than 100 people

including 16 foreigners have been

rescued.

Let's now see the scene

live in Kabul.

You can see the Intercontinental

Hotel there in the background,

where security services have now

brought that 12 hour seige

to an end.

The smokers stopped but this went on

for 12 hours. There are some reports

that the attackers managed to get

through the backdoor. We understand

the siege is over. There will a huge

investigation into exactly what

happened at the hotel and how the

attackers managed to gain access.

A new body for product recall is has

been set up called the fice for

Product safety and Standards, and it

will take over the monitoring of

goods imported from the EU after

Brexit.

Ukip's National Executive Committee

will meet discussing the controversy

surrounding the party's leader,

Henry Bolton. He faced calls to step

down after it was revealed his

girlfriend sent a series of

offensive texts including racist

messages about Prince Harry's

girlfriend, Meghan Markle.

More than 100 targets were bombed in

the Afrin reason -- region. A fresh

attempt to break the deadlock which

has led to the shutdown of parts of

the US government. A fresh vote is

set to take place in the Senate.

Democrats say Donald Trump blocked

the deal but the

claim has been denied by the White

House. People with hidden

disabilities in England could soon

be entitled to blue badge permits

for free parking. The Department of

Transport said the change would make

it easier for those with conditions

such as autism and dementia to

access services they needed. The

proposals would be the biggest

change to the blue badge scheme

since it was first introduced in

1970.

They say a man's home is his castle

and the one artist in Brazil, it

really is. He has lived in a San

Castleford 22 years in an upmarket

neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro. It

is a very big inside but it has

everything you could possibly think

of. He says if there is rain, he can

sculpt himself a brand-new

sandcastle. Impaired his style to

Gaudi and runs a book exchange. He

has the weather for it but running

repairs would take a ball his time.

The view is not bad though. JJ is

here with the sport. A busy day in

Australia?

Certainly. Cricket and tennis. The

British number two, Kyle Edmund.

He's been doing very well in the

competition so far.

Yes let's start with tennis

because Kyle Edmund is attempting

to reach a Grand Slam quarter

final for the first time.

Britain's number two has already

seen off the eleventh seed

Kevin Anderson and dealt with some

incredibly hot conditions

in Melbourne on his way

to the last sixteen.

It's much cooler today,

just 26 degrees.

But the battle is just as intense

against Andreas Seppi.

Edmund is 26 places

above the Italian in the world

rankings, although you wouldn't know

that from watching so far as it's

been incredibly tight.

England's cricketers can

clinch their one day series

with victory over Australia

in the third one day

international in Sydney.

Australia won the toss

and put England into bat.

They've not had an easy

time at the crease.

Six wickets have fallen,

captain Owen Morgan out for 41 //

and Moeen Ali didn't last much

longer after replacing him.

Gone for just six.

Jos Buttler is there and keeping

England ticking over.

He's just got his half century

in the last few minutes.

England 201/6 with

ten overs to play.

Alexis Sanchez is on the verge

of joining Manchester United

from Arsenal, after United

midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan agreed

to be part of a direct swap.

The players will both

have their medicals today.

Mkhitaryan's paperwork for his

transfer was completed yesterday.

The length of the Armenian's

contract at Arsenal,

and his salary, is undisclosed.

Sanchez missed Arsenal's 4-1

win over Crystal Palace

because he was travelling

to Manchester.

The Premier League paid

tribute to Cyrille Regis,

with fans across the country taking

time to remember the former England

striker, who died last week.

On the field, there were few

surprises with those fighting

for a top four finich all winning,

as Drew Savage reports.

Before the action, time for

reflection. Football took a minute

to celebrate the life of West Brom

commentary and England striker

Cyrille Regis who died this week at

the age of 59. And then, business as

usual. Manchester City took another

step towards the Premier league

title with scorer Sergio Aguerro at

it again. Last week's game against

Liverpool a distant memory. Beaten

3-1.

It is so important because we

need goals and we score in the past

and present and we will score the

future.

It is an important finish.

City are still 12 points ahead of

Manchester United. Family had two on

target.

target. Lukaku put on the hard

yards. Martial put it away. That

puts the site in second place,

points ahead of Chelsea. They

started with five draws and struggle

to goals. In Brighton, that was no

longer a problem.

There is a lovely

flow about Chelsea here, absolutely

sensational, what a wonderful goal.

A great afternoon for Hazard, he

scored to make himself and made this

young man's day. Arsenal reacted to

last week's lost the Bournemouth by

destroying Crystal Palace. Goals in

the first few minutes although there

are a few -- our long way from

Champions League places. And Stoke

responded to their new manager with

their first win in months. It means

they are out of the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Leicester are up

to seventh after beating Watford.

Everton versus West Brom

and West Ham versus Bournemouth

both finished 1-all.

Southampton hosts Spurs later today.

Celtic cruised into the Scottish Cup

fifth round with a 5-nil thrashing

of Brechin City.

The Scottish Premiership

champions have had a 3-week

winter break, and looked

refreshed at Celtic Park.

Brendan Rodgers fielded a strong

team, despite his opponents

currently sitting bottom of Scottish

football's second tier,

without a league win all season.

Saracens are still in with a chance

of retaining their Champions Cup

trophy, after beating

Northampton Saints 62-14.

The defending champions had

to win against Saint

to have a chance of making

the quarterfinals.

But they still need other results

to go their way today

if they are to make the last eight.

Scarlets have no such worries.

They beat Toulon to become the first

Welsh side to qualify

for the quarter finals since 2012.

Bath and Ospreys are out though.

England's Ross Fisher is tied

for the lead heading into the final

day of the Abu Dhabi International,

with Rory McIlroy also

in contention.

McIlroy, who's only just

returned from injury,

is third - one shot off the pace,

after hitting eight birdies

in his third round.

Fisher produced some of his best

golf, hitting a round of seven under

par to take the lead -

and move to 17 under

for the tournament.

There will be a new name

on the Masters trophy this evening

with Mark Allen taking

on Kyren Wilson.

Neither player has reached

this stage before.

Allen knocked out two-time winner

John Higgins in his semi-final,

having already beaten

Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Wilson defeated world number three

Judd Trump to make his first

Masters final.

England won their opening match

of the Netball Quad Series

against New Zealand 64 points to 57

at the Copper Box Arena

in London last night.

The match had to go to extra

time after the score

was level at 49 points

all at the end of regulation time.

It's the fourth edition

of the round robin format series

between England, South Africa,

New Zealand and Australia,

with all the teams preparing

for April's Commonwealth Games

on the Gold Coast.

History was made at Ascot

yesterday as Un De So won

the Clarence House Chase

for a record third time.

In testing conditions,

jockey Paul Townend patiently guided

the favourite home.

It's the 8th grade one win

for Un De So who's trained

in Ireland by Wille Mullins.

How's this for impressive driving?

A mistake in heat one saw

British Bobsleigh duo Meesha McNeill

and Montell Douglas nearly come out

of their sled at the final World Cup

event before the Winter Olympics,

but thanks to McNeill's quick

reactions the pair

narrowly escaped crashing.

A walk in the countryside -

a simple activity that has inspired

Goodness me, that puts me on the

edge of my seat. It makes me feel

uncomfortable. We have lots of that

kind of thing to look forward to.

Indeed. Are we all excited for the

coming curling experts? Thank you

very much.

A walk in the countryside -

a simple activity that has inspired

artists, writers and even

the Prime Minister!

Now a 2004 trek taken by a group

of men has been turned into a play.

Black Men Walking covers a few miles

in the Peak District,

but 2,000 years of black history.

Ali Fortescue put on her walking

boots to meet the cast and the real

men they portray.

We are all.

We are home.

We are

home.

2000 years of black British

history told on a walk in the Peak

District.

We walked England before

the English.

It's a play inspired by

a real walking group and just days

before the first curtain call, the

cast of come back to where the story

started for a final run through and

to meet the man who inspired the

play. The story takes place on the

day when the walkers probably

shouldn't be going out because of

weather warnings and along the way,

they encounter over 500 years of

Black British history, characters

from the past emerging.

Watch the

play is really looking at is how

long do you have to be in a place to

be part of it? How long do you have

to be in Yorkshire to become a

Yorkshireman?

Today is all about

getting the actors into characters

so here we are in the Peak District

and this is of course all about

walking group so shall we do some

walking? We are joining the original

walkers on the route they have done

many times. It's a long stretch

along the Yorkshire Derbyshire

border, more than enough time to the

actors to get to know the walkers

and the story they will be bringing

to the stage. You are one of the

founding members of the original

group?

Why was it started? Something

healthy, something that gave as an

opportunity to share and talk and

discuss with each other because it's

something that men don't do,

particularly men within perhaps the

black community and we felt that we

wanted to continue to develop our

friendship.

And they have inspired a

play.

It's amazing, to think that is

the case. So we are looking forward

to seeing what the play will do and

say about the group but also what it

has to say about living in Britain

today in the 21st century.

There is

a real kind of misunderstanding that

the black community has just arrived

recently on -- on Windrush, for

example. We have been here for

centuries. I wanted to reflect that,

tell those stories, the hidden

British history is in my thesis.

Those of the stories we are telling.

More than ten years since they

started walking, this is one they

will never forget. As the Sheffield

walkers bid farewell to the actors

will be taking their story around

the country. BBC News.

Black Men Walking is on at

the Royal Exchange theatre

in Manchester until the 3rd

of February before going

on a nationwide tour.

Really looking forward to seeing

that. Absolutely. It is a day for

walking, it's nice and fresh but

it's very cold. Some freezing rain

on the way and how much snow are

going to get today?

on the way and how much snow are

going to get today? This picture is

pretty good. It gives you an example

of the amounts of snow that some of

us are getting through the course of

this morning. A lot of areas have

not had the snow yet. At the moment,

it is across some of the western

areas. Look at coal that he is in

Scotland. And it is the coldest

night of the winter so far. But some

of the weather then around one

o'clock in the morning. By this

stage, milder wearer has reached a

Northern Ireland. We are talking

about rainfall. The weather front is

just about approaching the

north-west of England, Lancashire

here, turning to snow across

northern parts of Wales through the

Midlands, just about almost into

central and southern England.

Cornwall in Devon, no snow for you.

It's going to be rainfall. The mild

air is coming in. Look at what

happens. You get this whole line of

snow. This is the weather front

which is basically moving in,

sliding into that cold air is

sitting across eastern parts of the

country. And you know, it's going to

be a real headache to predict who

actually gets the snow and who gets

the street. Who gets the snow

turning to rain. One of those messy

pictures where if you want to snow,

you might be disappointed. And the

other way around as well. Really

messy, wintry picture. But it's only

going to last for a few hours. That

means by tomorrow morning, we are

all in the milder Atlantic SO no

snow in the forecast for tomorrow in

a very different dates are many of

us. So much better tomorrow. A lot

brighter. A couple of light show or

showers. Then the weekend is looking

different. Milder rare from the

Atlantic. -- milder out.

Temperatures climbing. When we get

milder coming in off the Atlantic,

it's not ideal. You can see cloud

and rain coming in. Over the next

few hours, a period of snow in the

recap. Clicking on the roads. I

surround. The most of us, is just

going to come and go. Hot, cold.

We'll be back with

the headlines at 7:00.

But first, It's time

for Click with Spencer Kelly.

At the oily roads mixed with fresh

water have become a lethal recipe

for disaster. The Veide Highway

Patrol, it is someone calling 911 or

driving apps. It provides him with

details and the best route to get to

the scene.

the scene.

It will show that any

responders.

It'll tell me the location,

what kind of accident,

if it's debris, how long it's

going and if there's any responders

that are assigned to the call

that are on their way.

It constantly updates him

on the situation as it develops.

Having a robust system

in place doesn't just help

with weather-related collisions.

With our Route 91 shooting

that we had at Mandalay,

for the portion that we handled

in the Highway Patrol,

it's really getting the public

that's on the strip off the highway

as quickly as possible,

or closing off the freeway

so we can have those

critical resources, fire,

medical, ambulances,

to get people to the hospital

and get there quickly.

In 2017, 15,000 crashes were tended

to, with over 300 people dying

on average each year in road

accidents in Nevada.

Getting emergency services

to the scene as quickly

as possible is critical.

We're gonna send injury to it

and it's camera 217.

The system has been running

through the Regional Transportation

Commission's Traffic Management

Center for the past three months.

Now because we're getting

information through so many

different data streams,

not just the dispatchers,

but we're getting it

through social media,

things like the Waze app,

so people are tagging them

in as they're driving.

Because all of this is happening

so quickly, we might have already

sent out all of that information

and had everybody in this room

aware before the first

911 call comes in.

So we're talking about possibly ten

to 15 minutes of improvement

in response time in some

of these incidents.

That's major when you're dealing

with traffic incidents.

Waycare pulls in data

from several sources -

traffic signals, CCTV cameras,

in vehicle sensors and information

from driving apps.

It factors in things

like what day of the year it is,

the time of day and the weather.

Responding to incidents

rapidly is one thing,

but the point is to be able

to predict incidents before

they happen, so the responders

can be better prepared

and in the right location.

Using deep learning,

what we do is we look

at the historical data,

run it through algorithms to develop

patterns that are emerging and tie

it to what's happening now

on the road.

By doing that we're essentially able

to look forward in time to identify

where these incidents

are likely to occur.

Unfortunately, Waycare wasn't able

to predict this one.

The trooper's taking pictures.

It looks like it's the rear.

You see how she was spinning out?

She did a full 180

and struck right here.

Being able to foresee accidents

here could really save lives.

The hope is that as the data

gets more sophisticated,

the predictions

will become more accurate.

Every day we get more and more

evidence about what causes...

..what triggers an incident

and the artificial learning gets

smarter and smarter

and more capable.

For Nevada now, though,

the initial results are promising.

They get there faster,

we clear it faster and that

means less secondary accidents and,

if you think about it,

secondary accidents have...

Basically 18% of secondary

accidents are fatalities.

So we're reducing the

fatalities on the roadway.

And of course the goal is to prevent

accidents altogether

and Richard Taylor and Lara

Lewington have been looking at some

in-car technologies that may help

make that a reality.

At CES, as you might expect,

there's a lot of interest in self

driving cars and it's pretty clear

that we are on a one-way street

towards full autonomy.

But that does still seem to be a way

off, although we don't know

exactly how far.

In the meantime, though,

there is plenty of innovation to be

seen before we reach

our final destination.

Unsurprisingly, the move

towards autonomated driving

is focused largely on safety,

with Hyundai creating a system

to intervene when we

need it the most.

The car's fitted with a combination

of biometric sensors in the seat,

they're tracking heart rate,

and a low resolution camera

which is tracking your

facial movements.

The reason it's low resolution

is so that the refresh

rate is quicker.

So if there's a problem,

if it seems you've lost

concentration or you're

drifting off to sleep,

then the car can quickly react

toautonomously be moved off

the road to a safe spot.

And the basic premise of this

technology could be available

in just a year.

Meanwhile, Nissan has a different,

even more futuristic twist

on biometrics, using my grey matter.

The idea of this system is really

to provide an interaction

between man and machine,

between my brain and the AI.

And the concept here with Nissan

is that even in a world

of autonomous vehicles,

there will be roles

for humans to play.

After all, a lot of people do find

driving quite a positive experience.

It can interpret the signals coming

from the human and actually

enhance the ride.

This so-called brain to vehicle tech

currently involves wearing

this bizarre looking electrode

studded helmet to capture my brain

activity and interpret the signals

as much as half a second

before my muscles do.

So, as I'm about to say "change

lane" or "hit the brakes",

it will initiate the action for me,

giving me a smoother ride,

and yet still allowing me

a sense of control.

They do need to sort out

that helmet, though.

LAUGHS

Oh, dear.

I'm not driving very well here.

Yet what we can't hide away

from is the fact that when full

autonomy does come to pass,

it's not simply about cars.

This is Yamaha's concept motorbike.

A self-driving racing vehicle that

should be able to do speeds of over

120 mph, although not

on actual roads you'd hope.

But whatever the form

of autonomous vehicle,

it'll need to interact

safely with pedestrians

and cyclists too, a challenge that

Ford are hoping to overcome

in their vehicles.

Initially, cyclists will have to be

seen by the vehicles

and we are building perception

into our autonomous vehicle that

allows it to detect the cyclists,

objects, to understand their intent

and ensure that we can be safely

navigating in the same space.

And Ford are just one of the big

brands who've called

on the help of Nvidia,

whose processes, combined

with intelligence software,

can make the environment

around the vehicle safer.

For example, using LiDAR

sensors to alert a driver

who is about to open a car

door onto a cyclist.

And AI is fuelling other experiences

inside the car, too.

Speech recognition specialists

Nuance power many of today's in-car

interactions and they showed off how

they'll look in future as well.

Today we think about the assistant

as something that we interact

with using voice, but we can

add other modalities.

Of course we have the screen,

we have touch, but maybe we can use

gestures and in this specific

prototype we introduced eye

tracking, as a way of helping

the assistant understand what am I,

as a driver, looking

at and then I can ask questions

about my environment.

So if I see a coffee

shop in front of me,

I can just ask

a question about it.

What is the user rating

of this coffee shop?

Starbucks coffee has a user

rating of three stars.

Until when is it open?

It closes at 11pm.

Send a message to Frank Baker,

saying, "Let's have coffee tonight".

OK, sending a message

to Frank Baker, saying,

"Let's have coffee tonight".

Ready to send it?

Yes.

So the other part of this system

is that there are microphones placed

in different parts of the car,

which means the AI can respond

according to where the

different passengers are.

So here on the passenger

seat I can say, "hello,

Dragon, I'm cold".

OK, raising the temperature in zone

two to 71.0 degrees.

There's definitely a trend

towards making our journeys more

enjoyable as well as safer.

Toyota have even updated

their happiness tracking concept

car, aiming for a more

pleasurable journey and even

suggesting where you

might want to go,

for anyone who needs

their car to tell them.

Since you are a foodie,

I'll tell you something interesting.

There are many options around

Union Square from casual dining

to Michelin starred.

High-end restaurants

as well as popular cafes.

Do you like it?

Yes.

That was a bit of fun,

but I didn't need the AI to tell me

that I was ready for dinner.

Sushi?

Yeah, let's go.

Let's go.

And, from Boeing to boozing,

I'm on my way to the Tipsy Robot,

where mixology has been

given a hi-tech makeover.

Here, the drinks are shaken

and served by these two chaps.

I can even invent my own cocktail,

by choosing from some of the 120-odd

spirits hanging from the ceiling -

or, I assume, all of the 120-odd

spirits in one.

Can I do that?

No, I can't do that, apparently.

These droids can mix 100 cocktails

an hour between the two of them.

That sounded impressive,

until I discovered some human

bartenders can do ten times that.

And that's it for Click

in the US for this week.

Don't forget you can

follow us on Twitter,

where you can see loads of extra

backstage videos and photos.

Although, trust me, you don't

want to see what happens

after I have one or two of these.

Cheers, see you soon.

Oh, fruity!

Hello, this is Breakfast

with Christian Frazer

and Babita Sharma.

The siege of a luxury hotel in Kabul

has come to an end -

12 hours after it was stormed

by heavily armed militants.

Five people were killed

but security forces

were able to free

more than 100 guests.

Good morning, it's

Sunday 21 January.

Also this morning:

New plans to make sure faulty goods

are removed more quickly from shops

and homes.

The Ukip leader Henry Bolton fights

to keep his job as the party holds

an emergency meeting

to discuss his future.

Blue badge permits for free parking

are to be made easier to get

for people with

dementia and autism.

And in sport, Britain's Karl Edmund

loses the first set of his last 16

match against Italy's Andreas Seppi

at the Australian Open.

Tomasz has the weather.

Be prepared for a bit

of snow this morning.

Quite tricky on some of the roads.

The snows will not

be last everywhere.

It may turn milder tomorrow.

Good morning, first our main story.

The authorities in Afghanistan say

a siege of a luxury hotel in Kabul

has come to an end,

more than twelve hours

after it was attacked by gunmen.

An interior ministry

spokesman said five civilians

including one foreigner were killed

at the Intercontinental Hotel,

along with all three attackers.

More than 100 people

have been rescued.

Andrew Plant reports.

The Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul,

at dawn on Sunday morning,

blackened and smoking

after an 11-hour siege.

The shooting started

after nightfall,

several gunmen armed with grenades

and automatic weapons.

TRANSLATION:

At first,

I heard some gunfire and then,

after 15 minutes, a worker

from the hotel approached and said

that suicide attackers

entered the hotel.

Security forces were fighting

the gunmen floor by floor

with reports of

hostages being taken.

We now know that around 100 guests

have been allowed to leave.

It's thought the security guards

at the entrance to the 5-storey

building are among those

who came under fire.

The Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul

is popular with foreign guests.

Situated on a hilltop a few

miles outside the city,

it has been the target

of an attack before,

in 2011, when 21 people died,

including nine attackers.

Security forces said two

of the gunmen had been shot

and killed, two more were thought

to be hiding in the building.

It is not yet clear

whether they are still on the loose.

The attack comes days after the US

embassy in Kabul issued a warning

about hotels in the city,

saying extremist groups could be

planning an attack, saying hotels

as well as public gatherings

could be potential targets.

It has been a long night of the

Special Forces. You can see the

Intercontinental hotel. The smoke

has been pouring from the roof. Very

lucky to get out alive. We

understand they were at least 40

foreigners inside the hotel but were

rescued. One foreign national was

killed in the attack. We have not

yet heard the nationality of the

foreign national. We understand the

security forces are carrying out an

investigation.

investigation. No group has claimed

responsibility yet.

Large-scale recalls of dangerous

and faulty goods will be managed

by a new body from today.

The Office for Product

Safety and Standards

will ensure they're removed

from homes and shelves more quickly.

Our business correspondent

Joe Lynam reports.

In recent years, there have been

notable product recalls such

as the Samsung Galaxy Note and some

Whirlpool tumble dryers.

Now the government hopes

to accelerate the time

between recognising the problem

and removing the product

from shops and homes.

The new Office for Product Safety

and Standards will primarily cover

electrical or white goods

like washing machines or fridges

and will have a panel of experts

to decide whether a minor or local

issue requires a national recall

and it will ensure that imported

goods from the EU will be

properly checked once the UK

leaves next year.

What this new body will do is it

will ensure that the know-how

and the technical expertise

is available to prevent any delays

and to keep the public

as safe as possible.

Hundreds of electrical products

are recalled in Britain every year

but this new agency hopes to prevent

these kinds of incidents.

Joe Lynam, BBC News.

The future of the UKIP leader,

Henry Bolton will be up

for discussion when the party's

national executive holds

an emergency meeting later today.

There have been calls

for him to step down

after it was reported his girlfriend

had sent offensive texts,

including racist comments

about Prince Harry's fiance Meghan

Markle.

Let's talk to our political

correspondent, Emma Vardy.

It seems they are dammed if they do,

dammed if they don't. There are some

who are worried about another

leadership contest.

As you say, the

fear of yet another rather

embarrassing leadership contest

under the circumstances might just

save him but we will have to wait

and see the outcome of that meeting

today. He will certainly be fighting

to try to save his job. He is

expected to face a vote of

confidence from the NEC committee,

the party's ruling body at the NEC

don't have the power to sack Henry

Bolton, that would have to go to a

vote of wider members in the party.

This is all coming to a head because

the saga has been unfolding since

Christmas over the relationship with

his girlfriend, Jo Marney, and those

text messages which were released to

the press. He says the relationship

is now over yet many people, he has

lost the confidence of many people

within Ukip. If he does go later

today, he will see what that meeting

brings, leaving you keep looking for

its fifth leader in just over one

year. -- leaving Ukip.

The party's

Brexit spokesman will be on were

last later, Gerard Batten.

Turkey has warned that it

could deploy ground forces today

after launching air attacks

against Kurdish fighters in northern

Syria.

More than a hundred targets

were bombed in the Afrin region

with the Syrian Kurds backed

by the US, but Turkey

calls them terrorists.

The first strikes of the new front

in Syria's war. Turkish F-16s

pounding Kurdish positions from the

air. Thick plumes riding -- rising

above the enclave Afrin held by the

YPG. Turkey sees them as terrorists

linked to the Kurdish militant group

the PKK which has waged insurgency

in Turkey since the 1980s. The

strikes were backed by Turkish

artillery from the border, tanks in

place, ready to roll in. The aim of

Turkey is to stop the Kurds

extending their territorial control

in northern Syria. Standing

side-by-side with Turkey, Syria and

rebel fighters leading the ground

offensive now. The incursion is