this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 11:00. sir tim barrow sir — a former ambassador to russia — becomes the uk's new top civil servant at the eu, where he's expected to play a major role in negotiating brexit. a vigil‘s held on the m62 slip road where a 28—year—old man was shot dead by police, as his father speaks out for the first time. how can you kill someone like this ata time how can you kill someone like this at a time like this without giving him a chance to get out or anything? a bullet through the windscreen and that's it? and coming up on newsnight, we'll be looking at what's in store for france — our nearest neighbour and closest rival. the presidential election there could end up as a contest between the far right and a thatcherite — making for interesting times. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. the government has moved fast to appoint a new ambassador to the european union after the surprise resignation of britain's top diplomat in brussels yesterday. sir tim barrow — a former ambassador to russia — will begin work next week on the complex brexit negotiations ahead. his appointment comes after sir ivan rogers stood down suddenly — and then accused the government of muddled thinking over brexit. his departure led to accusations that he'd lost the trust of the prime minister. our diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. until today said tim barrow was one of the most senior officials at the foreign office, always on hand to advise his boss. tonight he's our new ambassador to the european union with the awesome task of getting

the brexit preparations back on track. his former boss said he was the right man for the job. he's an absolutely classic, tough civil servant. very experienced. knows the eu very well and will go in there and do a good job. i think he will say honestly to ministers what he thinks the position is, when they take a decision on the project and plan, then he will implement it very loyally. sir tim is a former ambassador to moscow and has spent much of his career working in brussels. while ukip criticised what they saw as another foreign office insider, tory campaigners for brexit were relaxed about the appointment of a career diplomat with a natty line in waistcoats. and a record for delivering. i think it makes sense to get this resolved swiftly, but what matters most is getting it right, not quick, and i think sir tim is the right guy to bring some fresh thinking, a whole range of experience, and lead the team in brussels. this is the man whose shoes sir tim is filling commissaire ivan rogers, —— sir ivan rogers.

who resigned unexpectedly, attacking what he called the government's muddled thinking and ill founded arguments over brexit. the ambassador'sjob was to be theresa may's eyes and ears at the negotiations in brussels, but in a blunt resignation letter, sir ivan spelt out the challenges facing his successor, revealing even he did not yet know what the government would set in negotiating objectives with the uk's relationship with the eu after brexit. that plan has been kept hidden, or at least is still being prepared behind closed doors in downing street. foreign secretary, have you pushed aside, who will replace him? ministers today refused to give, yes, a running commentary. for months last year ivan rogers traipsed fruitlessly between london and brussels trying to reform the eu ahead of the referendum, but said in his letter the government was not prepared for the even bigger talks ahead. serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in whitehall. the structure of the uk's negotiating team needs

rapid resolution. the most worrying thing in ivan‘s e—mail to his staff on leaving office was a confession that he is ambassador to the eu did not know what the government's negotiating objectives were. that makes us all believe what we already suspected, that the government doesn't have a plan. the government has moved very quickly to replace sir ivan rogers to try to draw a line under a row that has not only exposed tensions in whitehall but has posed questions about the government's preparations for brexit. tonight ministers are rallying round the appointment of sir tim barrow. they know in this building he's hugely rated. but the questions posed by his predecessor remain. mps hope theresa may will provide some answers on a speech on brexit to be given scene. one she will have to write with a new ambassador at her shoulder, who is playing catch—up just weeks after negotiations begin. james landale, bbc news. a 38—year—old man from oldham

has appeared in court, charged with causing the deaths of two young cousins. helina kotlarova, who was twelve, and eleven—year—old zaneta krokova, were hit by a car on new year's eve. three other men are charged with perverting the course ofjustice. all four were remanded in custody. the retail chain next has warned of a difficult year ahead after reporting disappointing figures for christmas. in the three month run up to the festive season, sales slumped by 3.5%. share prices fell by 12% in response. next is usually seen as an indicator of how things are going on the high street. dozens of people have attended a vigil tonight in memory of yasser yaqub — the man shot dead by a police marksman as he drove off the m62 slip road in huddersfield on new years day. speaking at the roadside where his son died, mr yacub‘s father told the bbc he believes his son was killed unlawfully, and that the police have questions to answer. danny savage reports.

at the exact spot where yassar yaqub died, there was a vigil tonight. friends and family gathered quietly and respectfully to lay flowers and light candles. for his mother, it was overwhelming. crying the mood was polite, but his brother—in—law and father told me they were angry and want more information. we want to know what happened. from start to finish, nothing hidden. my message is that he has been killed unlawfully. how can you kill someone like this at a time like this without giving them a chance to get out or anything? three bullets through the windscreen and that's it. we are not in america, not in a third world country. yassar yaqub was shot dead by police on monday night, the gun was found in the car he was in. in 2010 he was cleared of attempted murder and a firearms offence after it was alleged he opened fire

on a car in huddersfield. some local people told us he was a renowned drugs dealer but others didn't think he was involved in any criminal activity. people living close to his home also say that his house was targeted by gunmen more than a year ago. the house now has obvious security cameras on the outside. his family insist he wasn't trouble. all i can say, i've known him for a very long time, spent every day with him and i know that he's not a person who would shoot at anybody. because there are lots of reports suggesting he was a bit of a bad lad. what would you say? he's never been charged with any of those offences that have been reported. he hasn't got a bad past, he has never been convicted of anything. there was a very different tone 15 miles away in bradford last night. an angry demonstration about the killing blocked a main road, "police don't shoot," said one of the banners.

they have killed an innocent brother! a police car was attacked at one point, with an officer inside. a local mp has appealed for the community to remain calm. we need to wait to see what comes out of the investigation and that's really important for the community and in terms of the police, they have my confidence, they have regular conversations with me. if we need to have more conversation between the community and the police, we must have them. the independent police complaints commission is now overseeing this investigation. five other men were arrested at the time on suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear. two were released on bail today. understandably there is no running commentary from investigators but that is leading to many different theories as to how yassar yaqub died and why. danny savage, bbc news, huddersfield.

with less than three weeks to go until he leaves office, president obama says he plans to release more inmates from the guantanamo bay detention centre — after vowing to shut it down when he took office. but the president—elect donald trump has taken issue with his decision — tweeting that the inmates are ‘dangerous people' who shouldn't be released. guantanamo bay was opened injanuary 2002 to hold terror suspects after the september 11th attacks and the subsequent us—led invasion of afghanistan. at its peak, as many as 779 prisoners were held there. during his time in office, president obama has released 179 inmates. our security correspondent gordon corera who first visited guantanamo bay 15 years ago has been back inside to report on its future. the evening call to prayer from inside the cells of guantanamo bay. for everyone here, these are uncertain times. president obama promised to guantanamo when he first took

—— to close guantanamo. office but he was frustrated by congress and it's a promise he was unable to keep. he is still trying to transfer some of the remaining 60 men to other countries. but during our visit, the admiral in charge admitted no—one knows what's coming next. you know the detainees have questions, are the transfers going to stop when the new president takes charge on january 20th? we don't know, they don't know. their lawyers may speculate but nobody knows. but in a tweet, donald trump has now made clear what he thinks. "there should be no further releases from guantanamo. these are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield." the uncertainty hanging over the base was clear as we toured the detention block. we were allowed to film detainees

through one—way glass. we can't show their faces. one realised we were on the other side and displayed a hand—painted sign, a question—mark with a padlock underneath. 15 years ago, this is how it began. i watched some of the first detainees arrived at camp x—ray in the hot cuban sun. it was the early days of what was called the war on terror. now we found camp x—ray abandoned, steel cages, overgrown. permanent structures took its place but they've largely been emptied out. this block in guantanamo used to house 100 detainees but since last summer it has been empty and silent, part of president obama's push to close the camp. that's failed and the question now is whether, under president trump, these cells will once again be filled with detainees. this morning i watched president obama talking about gtmo, right, guantanamo bay, which, by the way, we are keeping open, which we are keeping open. and we're going to load it up

with some bad dudes, believe me, we're going to load it up. the colonel in charge of day—to—day operations told me they could take in new prisoners straightaway if they receive the orders. we'd be prepared to receive some, in the short term, if that was required to us and the orders were given to us. if it were to become an expensive thing, then there would need to be some additional changes to the structure since we've closed one of the facilities down. —— if it were to become an extensive thing. we'd have to find a way to open that back up. president obama has said guantanamo, because of its reputation around the world, undermines rather than advances america's security but it will now be up to a new president to decide what to do with those america is fighting. where to put them, how to treat them. and so, for now, the future of this place hangs in the balance. gordon corera, bbc news, guantanamo bay. a brief look at some of the day's other other news stories. turkey's foreign minister says

officials know the identity of the gunman who carried out the istanbul nightclub attack on new year's eve, but he's stopped short of naming him. no further details about the inquiry into the murder of 39 people at the reina club have been given. so—called islamic state has said it carried out the attack. police in germany have detained a tunisian man — who's suspected of being involved in the lorry attack on a christmas market in berlin just over two weeks ago. the authorities say the 28—year—old had dinner with the attacker anis amri the night before he killed 12 people. 13,000 people have had their holidays cancelled, following the collapse of the travel company, all leisure holidays limited. customers who had booked cruises with swan hellenic and voyages of discovery will be given full refunds. let's have a quick look at some of the front pages of the morning's papers. the metro claims private companies are being employed to block nhs patients being referred to hospital by their gps. theresa may is set to reveal her

vision for brexit in a speech later this month, according to the daily telegraph. millions of people living near busy roads are at risk of dementia, so reports the express. and that story is the preferred front page choice of the daily mail. the times carries claims that senior retired civil servants and diplomats are concerned about the government's lack of direction over brexit. the sun has a story of a syrian refugee allowed into britian, despite using a fake passport. that's a summary of the news, newsday is coming up at midnight — now on bbc news it's time for newsnight with evan davies. is that the low rumble of an earthquake we can hear, rattling the elysee palace, shaking up france? could she really win the presidential election in 2017? and what on earth would

she do if she did? but, even if she loses, france could be changing direction. and changing europe, too. we'll try to work out where the country is going and what it means for the rest of us? also tonight: you must continue to look for work or your benefit payments will be frozen. it must be some mistake. the sanctions regime: life for those who've had welfare taken away from them. ken loach, the maker of i, daniel blake, will be here to discuss whether benefit sanctions have a place. they come from the same background, maybe they went to the same university together, um, and you know,