sportsdirectjust seems quite a jump from house of fraser. it doesn't really, in my mind, really fit together very well. mike ashley has been a big player in retail this year. he snapped up evans cycles out of administration and has stakes in a host of other chains too. a lot of people are wondering what mike ashley is really up to. he's made a series of investments in major high street retailers, and also, he's invested in department stores, which — as we all know — are struggling at the moment. they are facing a number of challenges. and, you know, the big question on everyone‘s lips is, "can he turn them around? will he turn house of fraser into, in his words, ‘the harrods of the high street‘?" it was a bold move. and by december, mps wanted to know his plans for the stores, his employees and the future of the high street. it's not my fault the high street's dying, is it? it's not house of fraser's fault, it's not marks & spencer's fault, it's not debenhams' fault the high street is dying. it's very, very simple why the high stre

what doctor fraser pointed out this something that spins like a rotary pump which isll now in cs all over the place. i hate to use this term but does anybody here have an l. bag? they support the left side of the heart they are complex but they've been boiled down and the one that is my main character in the book besides doctor fraser is about this big and has one disc inside that spins one way and another way and the original artificial hearts were about this big so most people couldn't even wear them. >> there was initial resistance not just to artificial parts but the idea of an artificial heart transplant because the heart is sort of the seat of our school for many people so talk about the challenge people had in terms of the sort of spiritual component of working on a heart. >> heart surgery i didn't realize this until it started in world war ii a surgeon realized he could pick shrapnel out of the heart was fought for mostly thai memorial if you cut into the heart of killing the soul it was seen as turnbuckle drama coh drove him insane. they could work on the system and then beg

have speaking to us there from singapore thank you for your thoughts fraser u.s. airstrikes have killed more than sixty people in somalia the military says all but fighters from the group al shabaab the pentagon says the attacks over the weekend engender a win in coordination with somalia's federal government a somali intelligence official told me that military vehicles and a camp were hit. has this update from washington d.c. . there's military not giving out a ton of details but they do say that on december fifteenth air strikes were launched at about forty kilometers southwest of the capital mogadishu and that thirty four fighters were killed airstrikes the following day on the sixteenth killed another twenty eight fighters for al shabaab the u.s. military says they don't believe any civilians were killed or injured in the bombing campaign the press is reporting that sources inside the somali government say that the reason for the attack was they believed al shabaab was about to launch an attack on a somali government military facility so the air strikes were c

and christian fraser spoke to renowned author doris kearns goodwin. her latest book focuses on the character of foupresidents including abraham lincoln. katty: you areg watch -- you were watching today's funeral. you met george herbert walker bush. does he fit your definition as a great american leader? doris: he certainly has a number of the qualities. he has humility, that is one of the most important things. his mother told him "don't speak about i. when he came home from a soccer game and he scored three goals , she asked, how did the team do. he had empathy for people. evyone who knew him knew how kind he w was that person. he had resilience. he came back from nearly dying in world war ii. ise one problem that was not really bridged was communication skills with the american people. he was so good when he talked individually with people. he built a coalition tally worked and other leaders knew him. i think he fits pretty well. however,nt would be,

rajini: the bbc's christian fraser has been following events in parliament and was mr. and i spoke with him earlier. quite dramatic day. what have people been saying to you in westminster today? veristian: on the conserva bench, they are happy that theresa may is finally listening because they've bying the last week that this vote has been unwinnable, but frustrated that it has been this long to come around to their position. 164 's have spoken in the course of this debate over the last few days, andhey won't get a vote on the debate that they have heard. on the lor bench, they are very unhappy about that. they forced an emergency brexit debate tomorrow but that is nonbinding on the government. in the meantime, theresa may heads off to europe again to try to get something that will h reassu wavering backbenchers. but it is difficult to see at this moment what she can get that will force them to vote the way she wants, cause donald tusk has said we can meet on thursday, we will call a brexit summit if you want in brussels, but we are not reopening the wifdrawal agreement

end fraser among them. something memorable about the notions they tried. a society was deeply stratified. one of the people was in reward and i was very sad. but they tried to do something in the midst of segregation, someplace taken him a a sense of accomplishment even if they don't quite agree with the way they went about doing it. what else do we have? >> experiences being admitted as solomon new york. >> i haven't told you much about education. she went to smith college, graduated in the class of me teen 21. her education was probably paid for by a very prominent smith graduate who is quite wealthy, wealthy activist and socialist and we believe she paid for unison on education at smith. when she left, she tried nina teacher in the south, washington like that very much. she returned to new york and became part of the renaissance spirit she was actually inducted into the guild, which at the time was the top of what later became the renaissance. all the people you can imagine where members and they were inducted at the same time, which led to write a lett

i've got a direct quote from you, you wanted to turn... the house of fraser into the harrod's of the high street and hope to keep 59 stores open. so somewhere someone is wrong. as many of the 59, and everyone knows i set a target of 80%. everybody knows i set a target of 80%. what person could keep 59 stores open? besides god. it's impossible. it cannot be done. why do you want to drag me to these committees and try to get me to commit to things that cannot be done? there is no point. let's be realistic. if i manage to save 80% of them, by the way that might be a godlike performance and before anybody says it i am not comparing myself to god... ok, brilliant. laughter. i don't think anybody else in the committee did either. every big retailers as the way to fix this is business rates and free parking. and where's that money going to come from? is not as simple as that though, is that? no. it is actually if you provide one that will provide it whether it is on the internet or in your store, buy an experience like you are saying. correct. but not enough experiences for the big retailer

he has a big stake in debenhams and he is also now owning house of fraser others. 0ur our top story — president trump says he has reached an agreement with china over the tariffs. the european markets are all up over 296. among the winners today, the big oil stocks. moisturisers and face wash are part of the daily routine for many men, as more and more are choosing to spend money on sprucing up their appearance. last year, the global market for male grooming was worth $57 billion, and some projections expect it to reach almost $80 billion in the next five years. growth is expected to surge in latin america, asia pacific, the middle east and africa over the next few years, but sales are also rising steadily here in europe, too. 0ne firm which is trying to capitalise on the expanding market is heath — it was founded 18 months ago by a father and son team. with us now is harry aaronson, co—founder, heath. good morning to you and you have brought in a few of your products. you started this company, what...?. year and you started this company, what...?. yearand a you started this compa

this is bbc news, i'm christian fraser. the headlines at eight. i still believe there is a majority to be won in this house in support of it if i can secure additional reassurance on the question of the backstop, and that is what my focus will be in the days ahead. the government is in disarray. uncertainty is building for business, people are in despair at the state of these failed negotiations. the european council will hold an extra session later this week to try and help theresa may secure parliamentary approval, but eu leaders stand firm saying the deal itself can not be renegotiated. it took over a year and a half to negotiate and it is not possible to reopen any aspect of that agreement without reopening all

simon fraser, thank you for coming let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the japanese government says it will give tax breaks to car buyers to offset the impact of a sales tax hike planned for next year. it comes amid the looming threat of tariffs on the country's car exports to the united states. the new tax breaks are aimed at those who buy cars after the sales tax hike kicks in october 2019. the international monetary fund says global debt hit a record $181; trillion last year. that's well over double the size of the world economy — and equivalent to more than $86,000 per person. the biggest borrowers are the world's top three economies — the us, china and japan. earlier this month the imf warned the "storm clouds of the next global financial crisis are gathering", with excessive debt one of the big risks. the french government is seeking candidates to replace renault boss carlos ghosn, according to a report by reuters. at a board meeting on thursday, renault directors were briefed on an investigation by their alliance partner nissan, that led to gh

i am katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. after an extraordinary day of blood—letting in the conservative party, theresa may was back in brussels today at a crucial eu summit, trying to get something, anything, that will break the brexit deadlock back at home. she wants a guarantee that any backup plan to keep the border open in ireland, will be temporary. and she needs more than fine words. the bbc has seen the draft conclusions of the summit which suggest the 27 leaders will try to offer mrs may some new assurances. but downing street says it's not expecting any immediate breakthrough. we were told this afternoon a meaningful vote on mrs may's brexit deal will now not be held until after christmas. theresa may made it clear to tory mps last night that she would step down before the next election — though she gave no timetable for her departure. our deputy political editorjohn pienaar looks at what may lie ahead for the prime minister in the weeks to come. it is getting hard to keep up. the drama yesterday was exhausting

christian fraser is in london. next week the house of commons will vote on the eu withdrawal agreement, 585 pages of legally binding text. and if it is approved then it will form part of a future international treaty, between the united kingdom and the european union. so, on what basis are mps making their decision? today the government published an overview of the legal advice given by the attorney general. here are the salient points. the irish backstop — the position of last resort, designed to maintain an open border in ireland — would tie the uk to a customs union "until it is superseded, by a subsequent or alternative arrangement." the uk could only cry foul about the eu's negotiating position, if there were "clear basis for doing so," which could, he admitted, be hard to prove. it is not possible, he says, under international law for one party to withdraw from this agreement unilaterally. but it is still in his view the best compromise. gradual loosening and removal of the legal ties that have bound us t

rob watson and christian fraser will be with us to try and make sense of all this. evidently theresa may realise what eve ryo ne evidently theresa may realise what everyone had been saying for days, that she simply could not win that vote scheduled for tuesday on the brexit deal, so it is off at least for now. here is what she said earlier. i have listened very carefully to what is being said in this chamber and out of it... laughter. ..to what is being said in this chamber and out of it by members from all sides. from listening to those views it is clear that while there is broad support for many key aspects of the deal... on one issue, the northern ireland backstop, there remains widespread and deep concern. as a result if we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin. we will therefore defer the vote scheduled for tomorrow and not proceed to divide the house at this time. jeremy corbyn, the leader of the uk's opposition labour party, was first to respond to the prime minister. mr speaker, this is a bad deal for brita

let's ring back fraser howie in singapore to talk about -- bring back fraser howie. tradewinds,t the but it is really domestic agenda that is continuing to threaten domestic growth we are seeing. certainly that is true. the deleveraging campaign. you did that segment on properties sector, everything is tied up with leverage because so much of the property sector is driven by it leverage and borrowing by other local governments or property companies or homeowners. there is this very difficult balancing act trying to clamp down on deleveraging and worrying and too much bad debt in the economy. same time keeping growth going, the party the show on the road. muddling through is the best scenario china will get. shery: will all of this economic slowdown in china push beijing ,o reverse economic reforms instead of opening the markets, trade tensions will cause the opposite? i don't think so. they are already refolding -- rolling back reform in some ways. they need for money. they no longer have the surplus they once did. they need to attract funds. that will continue. hard

someone else with some pretty specific example this is george nicholas he's an archaeologist and simon fraser university in canada and this is what he told the story. native medicines such as use a little o'barr have contributed to the development of modern aspirin and other products but also root and birch bark and other plants that were traditionally used for healing are known to have antimicrobial and antifungal properties as demonstrated by laboratory x. studies and are now being examined by pharmaceutical companies and here in the north west coast seems the practice of constructing clam garden.

callum wilson and ryan fraser got their goals as they ended a run of four successive defeats. huddersfield stay fourth bottom for now. it wasn't a vintage performance for us it wasn't a vintage performance for us you're thinking hopefully we can go on and make it a memorable night but it wasn't they did well in past very well and created chances. but we did defend her ugly a second half, and we managed to avoid conceding and get a big win for us. brighton beat crystal palace at home despite being down to ten men for more than an hour of the game. a glenn murray penalty had put them ahead before shane duffy was sent off. but two more first half goals, from leon balogun and florin andone — made it three nil at the break. palace pulled one back from the spot through luka milivojevic but it finished 3—1 to the home side. we we re we were outstanding today, i thought from start to finish, 11—11 we were better side, and certainly will we we nt better side, and certainly will we went down to ten men, it becomes a different game you'll have to defend more they have good football

his company, sportsdirect, which rescued house of fraser, had a stark warning for its wounded rival. we've put this offer in to invest another a0 million, and it really is kind of the electric shock to wake them up to what is probably the last chance saloon. some suspect mr ashley, who was already debenhams's largest shareholder, wants the first claim on its assets if it collapses — an allegation the company rejects. but well debenhams and other struggling chains mightjust be able to afford to keep the billionaire at bay, neither they nor mr ashley's retail empire can afford a disappointing christmas. joe miller, bbc news. chester zoo says it is "devastated" by the loss of some of its animals inafire. the blaze broke out in the monsoon forest area on saturday, destroying much of its roof. 0rangutans, macaques, gibbons and larger birds were saved, but some frogs, fish, insects and small birds died. cheshire fire said the blaze was "accidental" but it needed more time to determine the exact cause. an online appeal launched by the zoo, which reopened now on bbc news, it's time for spo

with me, katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. our top stories, us presidents past and present gather to bid farewell to george hw bush at his state funeral. venezuela — a country in economic crisis — turns to russia for help. but what does this mean for people living under nicolas maduro's regime? coming up in the next half hour. a woman in brazil gives birth to a healthy baby girl, following a womb transplant from a dead donor. doctors say it's a world first. and the bollywood celebrity wedding causing quite a stir, because of the bride's enormous veil. george hw bush was renowned for his thank—you notes. he wrote thousands in his lifetime expressing his appreciation for kindnesses large and small. there was within him a commitment to duty and a requirement to live up to certain expectations. he served bravely in one war, and as president led his country to victory in another. but he was a much shrewder and tougher politician than we might remember today. so — where does he fit in the pantheon of american presidents? dor

someone else with some pretty specific examples this is george nicholas he's an archaeologist and simon fraser university in canada and this is what he told the stream native medicine such as use a little bark contributed to the development of modern britain and other products well she rude and birch bark and other plants that were traditionally used for healing are known to have an edge of microbial and fungal properties as demonstrated by laboratory studies and are now being examined by pharmaceutical companies and here in the north west to see initial practice in its construction clam gardens increase shellfish part of djibouti for harvesting it is now being put back into practice thousands of years later however too often just knowledge is exploited without acknowledgement or recompense it's communities that hold the knowledge it's critical that they benefit from outsiders use of their cultural heritage system and that i for one did not know that aspirin originated with willow bark can he does that resonate with you are there other examples within what he said there are constructing clam g

on that plunge and others before it, sergeant elliott joined my colleagues katty kay and christian fraser for their program "beyond 100 days." katt i imagine, sergeant ouelliott,ight have been a little bit nervous skydiving with the 41st president of the united states when he was 90 years old. >>et honestly, i was comy nervous on all three of his oubs, but a little more ne on the 90 because he is 90 years old, and he is not a young man anymore. it is quite a big task when you find you are going to jump a 90-year-old formof president out n airplane. katty: yeah, what did his wife say to you? >> [laughter] the first time i met mrs. bush, her exact words to me, "if you hurt him i will kill you," and i think she would ive killed me ad hurt him. christian: presumably, even if he was 90 years old, he was involved in the landing. >> absolutely. both parties, when you are doing the job,he 41st president is not a small guy. he is 6'2", 0 pounds. dealing with parkinson's disease, he didn't have the muscle ability. so it was a lile difficult to itd, but we accomplished together and he had a big smil

sir richard spoke to the b's katty kay and christian fraser earlier about the launch. richard: iwas just magnificent to see it go into space today. it's the first time i think that anyce sip has been into space from american soil since 2011, and the first time that a commercial spaceship company has put people into space. a day to celebrate. katty: sir richard, tell us whae the pass will see. what will they be able to see? richard: i talked to astronauts, and they were looking at mexico in one direction, canada in another direction, and they came with big, big eyes, and just said it was utterly awesome. i am really looking foto go up myself sometime next year toxperience it. obviously, we hope in time to enable thousands of people watching this ogram to go up. initially, as u say, it is not going to be cheap. we have invested a lot of money into this program. the initial people will help us get that money back. and then in time as we build more and more spaceships will be able to bring the price down. hopefully a lot of people watching this program one day itll become

we have an interesting interview with ryan fraser, bournemouth are playing really well and ryan fraser more than anyone else has more assists in the premier league than anyone so we're talking to him today about individual, the way he has played as an individual the season with one of her playing and we were talking to him about one element, family sacrifice, what his family have done to give him the opportunity to clean the premier league. when i was younger my dad quit hisjob, i used to live in the middle east, i used to live in mind. there was no football out there. he gave up his job there was no football out there. he gave up hisjob with good money and came back home and try to get me in a local team and it went from there, he never knew i would become a professional footballer. into foot ball professional footballer. into football himself, but when he saw me enjoying a ball in the back yard he wanted, your parents alike, they give up anything for you, so it makes it all the more special when you score your scotland: anything they can give back i will. point him from him, and we h

hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in washington, and christian fraser is at westminster. theresa may went cap in hand today to europe's biggest power players looking for help. from the hague, to berlin, and tonight to brussels. if the prime minister was hoping for a diplomatic breakthrough she will be disappointed. the message from europe is consistent. the substance of the brexit deal will not be changed. the deal is the deal. take it or leave it. and while mrs may was on that grand tour of europe, angry tory mps here at westminster were plotting how best to remove her. we are told the rebels are feeling more bullish tonight, that this time they will force a vote of no confidence in her. the european summit which comes at the end of this week could be her last chance to save her political career. neighbour thought which is the issue of parliament has raised is a mentoring guarantee for the people of muller allen. whatever outcome and relationship you with europe in future, there is an ideal of doesn't doesn't have a backstop within it. but, we don't want the backstop to

there were white folks who were afraid of michelle and fraser and southside and i want us to hold on to that because that still goes on with the notion that people look at the color of your skin and make assumptions of who you are. they didn't know we were kids striving to be good at our father was hard-working. they didn't care but they were running from our race and we still do that. >> - - just a portion of her talk in new york city watch for more in-depth coverage saturday december 1:58 o'clock p.m. and sunday december 16 on book tv. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning. we will get our program started now. that there will be coffee and food in the back if you want to get up please do so. thank you for coming to this forum discussing his new book on john marshall and a special welcome to our friends at the manhattan institute our cosponsor today and our c-span audience i am president of national review institute the nonprofit organization supporting the national review mission it is my pleasure to welcome you. national review magazine over six years is an mission to preserve

katty kay colleagues and christian fraser spoke to corey lewandowski, author of the new book "trump's enemies." they asked if the president is nervous given his former aides are cooperating with mr. mueller. corey: i think you have to y lok rself and ask yourself what are the crimes paul manafort has been guilty of an same with michael cohen. none of them have anything to do with russia collusion. paul manafort was guilty of tax evasion and bank fraud and same as michael cohen, problems with taxi cap -- taxi medallions in new york city and lying on his banking statements. what does that have to do with russia or any potential interactions in the presidential election? christian: from this side i have always wondered, when we talk about the investigation -- the president is adamant on twitter there iso collusion, but i wonder if part of the problem is that he -- the people he circulates with an talks to at omnight he white house -- one of those is roger stone, someone you fired from the campaign in 2015, but you weret le to control the phone calls. i wonder if you think the phone calls

someone else with some pretty specific example this is george nicholas he's an archaeologist and simon fraser university in canada and this is what he told the story. native medicines such as use a little bark have contributed to the development of modern britain and other products well some rude and birch bark and other plants that were traditionally used for healing are known to have been to microbial and enjoy some cool properties as demonstrated by laboratory studies and are now being examined by pharmaceutical companies and here in the northwest to see initial practices constructing clam gardens increased shellfish product of a need for harvesting it is now being put back into practice thousands of years later however too often just knowledge is exploited without acknowledgement or recompense it's communities that hold the knowledge it's critical that they benefit from outsiders use of their cultural heritage system and that i for one did not know that aspirin originated with willow bark can he does that resonate with you are there other examples within what he said there are constructin

mike ashley's sports direct, which rescued house of fraser, says it wants to lend a hand to a wounded competitor, debenhams. we put this offer in to invest another £40 million and it is kind of the electric shock to wake them up to what is probably the last chance saloon. mike ashley has suggested debenhams has zero chance of survival without his cash, but the chain has rebuffed his proposal, and some suspect the billionaire, who is already debenhams largest shareholder, wants to get his hands on its assets if it collapses, a claim sports direct denies. for now, debenhams and other struggling chains mightjust be able to afford to keep mike ashley at bay, but neither they nor mike ashley's retail empire can afford a disappointing christmas. joe miller, bbc news. now, strictly come dancing, the final, was last night. if you have it recorded, possibly don't watch this piece coming up! david sillito our entertainment correspondent has all the details. it's the final! four couples, three dancers and from the very beginning, it was actually a former pussycat doll who set the standard. the

his company, sportsdirect, which rescued house of fraser, had a stark warning for its wounded rival. we've put this offer in to invest another a0 million, and it really is kind of the electric shock to wake them up to what is probably the last chance saloon. some suspect mr ashley, who was already debenhams's largest shareholder, wants the first claim on its assets if it collapses — an allegation the company rejects. but well debenhams and other struggling chains mightjust be able to afford to keep the billionaire at bay, neither they nor mr ashley's retail empire can afford a disappointing christmas. joe miller, bbc news. diane wehrle is marketing and insights director at springboard — a retail analysis firm. thank you for talking to us here at bbc news. foot fall in the high street, they have fallen out of step, really. yes, this year footfall has been step, really. yes, this yearfootfall has been hit hard. it is poorer than we anticipated, and we forecast for december is a drop of 4.2% and it would be in line with that or possibly even more. the first half of the month was ver

his company, sportsdirect, which rescued house of fraser, had a stark warning for its wounded rival. we've put this offer in to invest another a0 million, and it really is kind of the electric shock to wake them up to what is probably the last chance saloon. some suspect mr ashley, who was already debenhams's largest shareholder, wants the first claim on its assets if it collapses — an allegation the company rejects. but well debenhams and other struggling chains mightjust be able to afford to keep the billionaire at bay, neither they nor mr ashley's retail empire can afford a disappointing christmas. joe miller, bbc news. 11.7 million people watched the final of strictly come dancing on bbc one last night. the documentary presenter, stacey dooley, won the series with her professional partner, kevin clifton — who'd been a losing finalist on four previous occasions. our arts correspondent david sillito has all the details. it's the final! four couples, three dancers and from the very beginning, it was actually a former pussycat doll who set the standard. the big lift from dirty da

sales throughout the year, there is the demise of the biggest sort of department stores like house of fraser, debenams, and a lot of those, so it is quite an interesting time, i think —— debenhams. yesterday the government announced there will be a fund that councils can apply for. but i think we have got to have another think about how we shop, and actually, in about how we shop, and actually, in a sense, if people were going to greengrocers to buy their fruit and vegeta bles greengrocers to buy their fruit and vegetables instead of supermarkets, they could get things in a paper bag and they wouldn't. .. they could get things in a paper bag and they wouldn't... they they could get things in a paper bag and they wouldn't. .. they would actually have a reason to go into the high street. it would regenerate the high street. it would regenerate the high street. it would regenerate the high street, exactly. donald trump has been on his travels, a surprise visit to the troops in iraq. he suddenly popped up there. this comes against a backdrop of announcements of withdrawing troops from syria

here in camberley, the council not only bought this mall, but also the house of fraser building right next to it. not long before the retailer collapsed. they could have bought it for a lot less now. there is risk attached to local authorities intervening, and if they are simply doing this to try and make quick profit then that is the wrong motivation. but if it is doing it and being done in order to regenerate the towns, then that absolutely is the right thing. because no one else is going to do it? the private sector can't take that long—term view, it is not viable. it used to be so easy attracting people into our town centres. it's a real problem today though, but bolton council's bold purchase is kick—starting crucial private investment to help make this place fit for the future. emma simpson, bbc news, bolton. a man has been killed following an explosion which destroyed a house in hampshire. the blast happened in the early hours of this morning in andover. a number of neighbouring properties had been evacuated. gas firm sgn said its engineers were helping with the investigati

house of fraser is going to close within the next month. the troubled chain is having some of its stores closed and the metrocentre is one of those. on the metrocentre is one of those. on the hole it is too early to say how well jobs the hole it is too early to say how welljobs are going to do here but so welljobs are going to do here but so far so good and they think it is looking pretty good so far. thank you. let's get more on this with consumer and retail expert kate hardcastle, who joins us now from wakefield. although footfall will be high editors at a discounted rate for many retailers and far more discount than they want to be offering. it used to be called the golden quarter, from september to december, a time when you could make the most profit. now that is heavily discounted due to black friday in mid—november witches held on discounted rates through the christmas period and we are seeing larger discounts on boxing day. retailers do not want to sell at reduced rates. they would rather get profit and that is what makes businesse

his company, sports direct, which rescued house of fraser, had a stark warning for its wounded rival. we have put this off into interest another 40 million and it really is kind of the electric shock to wake them up to what is it in the last chance saloon. some suspect mr ashley, who is already debenhams largest shareholder, wants the first claim on its assets if it collapses, an allegation his company rejects. but while debenhams and other struggling chains mightjust while debenhams and other struggling chains might just be while debenhams and other struggling chains mightjust be able to afford to keep the billionaire at bay, neither they nor mr ashley's retail empire can afford a disappointing christmas. joe mellor, bbc news. it's the bbc‘s sports personality of the year awards in birmingham tonight. but as the format has changed this year we won't know who's been nominated until the programme tonight. 0ur sports correspondent joe wilson is in birmingham. yeah, you know sport is all about drama and unpredictability, it's not quite like the fact that i am standing here this close t

this is bbc world news — i'm christian fraser. our top story comes from here in westminster. where theresa may has cancelled tomorrow's crucial vote on her brexit deal. this is why. a little redhead and held video tomorrow, the deal would be rejected bya tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin. the uk opposition is not significant margin. impressed. we re were end in an extremely serious and unprecedented situation. the government has lost control as it is and is in complete disarray. the prime minister says she'll now take politicians‘ concerns to eu leaders ahead of a summit later this week. but this is the message from brussels. this deal is the best and only deal possible. we will not renegotiate. the debate is still going in the house of commons — welcome to westminster and this bbc news special on a dramatic day for brexit. at the 11th hour, the premise that has pulled it. perhaps inevitable. 106 before mps have risen over the past week to give their thoughts on it. today, the plan is to set up how top cabinet colleagues to defend the deal. this

here in camberley, the council not only bought this mall but also the house of fraser building right next to it, not long before the retailer collapsed. they could have bought it for a lot less now. there is risk attached to local authorities intervening, and if they are simply doing it to try and make a quick profit, then that's the wrong motivation, but if it's being done in order to regenerate the towns, then that absolutely is the right thing. because no—one else is going to do it. the private sector can't take that long—term view, it's not viable. it used to be so easy attracting people into our town centres. it's a real problem today though, but bolton council's bold purchase is kick—starting crucial private investment to help make this place fit for the future. emma simpson, bbc news, bolton. the search is continuing for a 20—year—old british cruise ship entertainer, who went overboard in the caribbean on christmas day. the us coastguard was alerted after arron hough didn't turn up for his shift on "harmony of the seas". royal caribbean, which operates the ship, said

we know the chain house of fraser has had a terrible time. we know mike ashley has bought them out. this store is going to close. it is a massive shame. it has been years since 1986. initial signs are good here. we have spoken to people today and they said they are spending money on themselves, when they have been buying presents for christmas, and coming to get a bargain in the flesh and not on mine. first signs are that it has been a good day. it is always easy to be sceptical when they see it is going to be a bumper day. it is busy there but not very busy. what do people say whether talk about their finances? there is uncertainty about how we are doing. yes, talking to people here this morning, it is not something people are worried about, brexit. it is people saying they wa nted brexit. it is people saying they wanted to get out and spend the christmas money. there was a sense people felt positive. people who are concerned are not here to tell me they are concerned. people who are here are committed shoppers. i know it doesn't seem that busy hiding to me but on a normal saturday

the house of fraser has been in the metrocentre since 1986 is now facing closure because mike ashley could not come up with a plan to save it. the problems that are being phased throughout the country are reflected here. chatting to people, they said they were coming here to spend their money and spend it on christmas presents they baby did not get yesterday and also christmas money that they were given as a gift. we asked them if they were worried about brexit and uncertainty about the finances of the future, that they wanted to be here today, the one to dispel the money today. alison, thank you very much. —— they wa nted alison, thank you very much. —— they wanted to spend their money today. katy austin is on oxford street in central london. enough around today? absolutely. you can see the crowds around me. it has got busier and busier today. judging from this, the tradition of boxing day sales is alive and well. yes, the west end shops are reporting they have been very busy. i 10:30am, it was noticeable that footfall was noticeably up from last year. up 1596, noticeably up