BBC News with Stewart Macintosh.
Donald Trump has accused the U.S. intelligence agencies of leaking a dossier which alleges that Russia has gathered compromising information on him. In his first
formal news conference for nearly six months, the U.S. president-elect said if true, the leak would be a tremendous blot on their reputation.
Donald Trump's choice to be U.S. secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has told a Senate confirmation hearing that America and its allies were right to be alarmed at
Russia's resurgence. But he said Washington needed an open and frank dialogue with Moscow about its ambitions.
Volkswagen has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay 4.3 billion dollars to settle the emissions rigging scandal in the United States. Volkswagen, the
world's second biggest car maker, admitted in 2015 that it had installed software in hundreds of thousands of diesel cars in the U.S. to cheat emissions tests.
The President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has ordered the government agency to offer free contraceptives to an estimated 6 million women who can't obtain
them. Successive governments have faced fierce opposition to attempts to extend the use of contraceptives, particularly from Roman Catholic Church.
The main index on the London Stock Exchange is closed at a record high for the tenth consecutive day for the first time ever with a total gain of 3.5%. The market has
been helped by Britain's economic growth and a boost in the U.S. after Donald Trump's election win.
Norway's Attorney-General has told a hearing that the imprisoned mass murderer, Anders Behring Breivik, has to be kept in isolation to stop him from spreading far-
right ideology and inspiring further attacks.
And the large number of birds flying over a rubbish dump near Beirut's international airport are posing a danger to aircraft. The dump was created nearly a year ago to
help tackle a waste disposal crisis in Beirut.