That the book by Michael Wolff was a work of fiction. Mr trumps lawyers had tried to block the publication of the book, fire and fury. Heres david willis in washington. Boarding a flight to camp david for meetings with senior republican leaders, the image donald trump was seeking to project was one of order, professionalism and control. Instead, he finds himself battling claims contained in a book, claims which question his mentalfitness. I went to the best colleges, or college, i went to. I had a situation where i was a very excellent student, came out and made billions of dollars, became one of the top business people, went to television, and for ten years was a tremendous success, as you probably have heard. Perhaps the most damaging allegation, shared, claims the author Michael Wolff, by all the president s senior advisers, is that the leader of the free world lacks curiosity, doesnt read, doesnt listen, is like a child. They all came to the conclusion, gradually at first and then faster and faster, that something was unbelievably amiss here, that this was more peculiar than they ever imagined it could be. Fire and fury also quotes Donald Trumps former senior aide steve bannon, the man credited with getting him elected, as describing a meeting between a russian lawyer and mr trumps son donald junior as treasonous. Other revelations paint a picture of a chaotic white house at the mercy of a petulant, easily distracted commander in chief. Having achieved a major success just before christmas with the passage of tax reform legislation, Senior Republicans had hoped that the new year would mark a new start for the trump administration, but instead of moving forward on key issues such as immigration reform, the focus, it seems, is yet again on the president himself, his personality, and his mental competence. David willis, bbc news, washington. Lets get an idea of how this is playing internationally. Joining me is an author on us iranian and israeli relations and the president of the israeli american council. Thank you forjoining us. First of all, this book and Donald Trumps reaction to it, how do you think it is being seen by the rest of the world 7 is being seen by the rest of the world . I think its a continuation of what the world has already been observing for some time, which is that this is a highly dysfunctional administration. Perhaps most dangerously, it is not pursuing any strategic objectives internationally, but rather is co nsta ntly internationally, but rather is constantly using International Affairs to react and to score domestic political points. As a result, it has become reckless internationally. This is particularly dangerous for those states that have ended up essentially aligning themselves traditionally with the United States and are now finding the United States, rather than being something that can provide them safety, is the source of some of the dangers they are facing. I would imagine that donald trump would argue the opposite. We saw at that press conference that he delivered a few hours ago that he believes the discussions between north and south korea are because of his strength with north korea. He is probably the only one who thinks this. What we have seen is that in almost every International Affair he has got himself involved in, the situation has become much worse and much closer towards a military confrontation. We see that his decision onjerusalem confrontation. We see that his decision on jerusalem has confrontation. We see that his decision onjerusalem has further increased tensions in the region and further isolated the United States. We saw how they tried to use the Security Council yesterday to score points against the iranians for their clear human rights abuses, but how that backfired and instead, it became a session was largely critical of the United States. This is not good for the us or international ability. How much is this to do with Donald Trumps style, and how much is it to do with the way the administration is being run . Can we separate the two . |j dont run . Can we separate the two . dont think you can. Everything the administration is doing is an extension of donald trump himself at the end of the day. The greater danger is that people are starting to conclude that while this is clearly a n to conclude that while this is clearly an extreme case, the rest of the world has to be ready. U nfortu nately, the world has to be ready. Unfortunately, the type of mindset and outlook that donald trump represents is not one that is necessarily a small minority in the United States. This is something that could continue beyond donald trump. We saw what the German Foreign minister said in december, warning that this is not something that will be overjust because donald trump leaves the political scene. Donald trumps supporters could argue that he just has a different style, that nothing he is doing is terribly different. Hes just being a bit more honest about america putting its own interests first when it to foreign policy. The very idea of putting America First the way donald trump is kotze leaving it is actually to put the United States at odds with the rest of the world the way donald trump is conceiving it. Every country puts its interests first, but the idea that there is no such thing as Win Win Solutions means that there is no reason for collaboration on the international scene. Donald trump is transforming the idea of the International Community into just a big battle zone for all countries to settle scores against each other. That certainly is not a vision that will bring about greater stability in the world. We will have to see how the second year of the administration plays out. Trita parsi, an author on us iranian relations, thank you very much. Reports from syria say 17 people have been killed in air strikes in rebel held eastern ghouta. The british based syrian observatory for human rights says another 60 people were wounded in the besieged rebel stronghold, close to the capital damascus. More strikes in this area and in the rebel held, Northern Province of idlib have been reported by aid workers. They say ten hospitals have been hit by Syrian Government and russian bombers over the last 10 days. The race through the smashed streets. The dash into a ruined building. For the rescue workers, after the bombs fall, the routine is all too familiar here in the rebel held enclave of eastern ghouta. Higher up, people emerge from what might be a flat. Perhaps they were at home when the bomb crashed down. The cries of shock and horror at it all echo through the wreckage. The injured are gathered up. But there have been reports of deaths, too, on this day of many air strikes in the enclave. Translation we have received more than 50 people today in the Emergency Department because of the massacre. We documented ten victims, and we have ten others who are severely wounded and may die at any moment. Aid workers say ten hospitals have been hit in recent days in ghouta, and here, in the rebel held province of idlib. Eastern ghouta lies on the edge of damascus. From here, rebels can fire into the capital. Government forces have had this area under siege for years. People here come under attack almost daily. There is every danger that tomorrow, there will be more of the same. Alan johnston, bbc news. Lets take a look at some of the other stories making the news. After the biggest Anti Government protests for years, iran has seen a number of pro government rallies on saturday. Those taking part pledged solidarity to the regime and chanted anti western slogans. State television showed marches in iranian cities including amol, semnan and shadegan. Germanys foreign minister says hes agreed with his turkish counterpart to do all they can to improve relations between the two countries. There have been numerous disagreements, notably over the arrest of german journalists in turkey following the abortive coup in 2016. Saudi arabian media report that authorities have arrested 11 princes for holding a protest against the governments austerity measures. The group were said to have been angered by the governments decision to stop paying the water and energy bills of royals. The government is attempting to reduce its dependence on oil revenues, and therefore lifting some government subsidies. Police in cyprus say theyre holding an israeli citizen whos accused of organ trafficking. Moshe harel was allegedly involved in luring donors to kosovo a decade ago to sell their kidneys for transplants needed by rich israelis. Many of the donors remained unpaid. A Cypriot Police spokesman said he was arrested at larnaca airport in late december. The east coast of north america is shivering in a record breaking freeze. It comes after a massive snowstorm that reached as far south as florida. In parts of the us, temperatures are forecast to fall below 30 degrees celsius. The extreme weather has so far been linked to up to 19 deaths in the us and two more in canada. Tom donkin reports. Its been called a bomb cyclone, and its a weather system which has lived up to its name. On thursday, warm air carried an area of low pressure up the east coast of america to meet the already icy conditions. That combination exploded in snowfall and Hurricane Force winds to a large part of the us and canada. Residents of boston were blanketed in more than 30cm of snow. And while thats largely stopped falling, the plummeting temperatures are now the biggest concern. Here, its forecast to drop below 30 degrees celsius. Add to that the strong, icy winds, and these are temperatures which feel more like 70 degrees, cold enough to freeze and burst pipes, like here in cincinnati. For some, a life on the streets has turned into a fight for survival. Right now, this homeless shelter is taking in more than 100 people extra each night. People in the neighbourhood have been looking out for us. They brought us clothes. Theyre totally looking out for us. Socks, sweat pants, i mean, more than we even need. Here in washington, the offer of a hot meal is not just an act of kindness, but a lifeline. Forecasters believe these dangerously low temperatures are set to linger through the weekend, the hope being that by early next week, we may see a return to readings somewhere above freezing and much closer to the seasonal norm. With me is Sarah Keith Lucas from our bbcs weather service. Why is it so cold . It is down to what is happening with the jet strea m what is happening with the jet stream at the moment. The jet stream isa stream at the moment. The jet stream is a ribbon of fast moving air high up is a ribbon of fast moving air high up in the atmosphere. That drives weather systems around the world. What is unusual at the moment is that that jet stream has what is unusual at the moment is that thatjet stream has plunged really far south, much further south thanit really far south, much further south than it usually does. So there is a kink in thejet than it usually does. So there is a kink in the jet stream. That is what drove the explosive cyclogenesis, the rapid deepening of the storm we saw. And because it is so far south, it is allowing all the actors bill down from the arctic across Eastern Canada and the Eastern States. How rare is it to see Something Like this . Every winter, we do see very low temperatures across the Eastern States and Eastern Canada. But this kind of storm system happens every 25 to 30 years. What is unusual about this particular system is firstly how far south it has got, as far down as florida. It is also affecting the weather in the caribbean, bringing heavy rain there. And also the duration. It has been going on for quite a while now and we have more cold weather to come in the next few days. How long is this going to last . Things will slowly start to pick up between, but certainly tonight, saturday night will be exceptionally cold, with potentially record breaking temperatures. Sunday will be another very cold day. It is not until tuesday that we will just about see temperatures in new york above freezing by day, but it will still be bitterly cold, down to around 14 celsius overnight for the next few days. So it is only a very gradually warming trend. It is extraordinary what we are seeing, but are we going to see more of this in the coming months and years . Well, as the waters of the worlds oceans are warming upa waters of the worlds oceans are warming up a bit, that does give more fuel to these kinds of systems. So it is likely that we will see increased frequencies of these events, strong and rapidly developing storms and severe cold snaps. In the meantime, lots of warm coats for people in the us and canada. Thank you. Now lets check on the sport. Mark hughes has been sacked as manager of premier League Strugglers stoke city. It came just hours after the clubs fa cup third round exit to League Two Coventry city. The end of hughes four and a half year reign at the potters. After the game, hughes seemed to know the writing was on the wall. When a premier league side goes out toa when a premier league side goes out to a lower side in the third round, it is news. It is not the news we wa nted it is news. It is not the news we wanted to create prior to the game, but it has happened. We just need to pick ourselves up and understand why it happened. There are things we need to address. I have already touched on our defensive work not being where it needs to be. All in all, credit to coventry. They deserved to win. Philippe coutinhos four and a half year spell at liverpool is at an end after he joined barcelona for a fee worth up to 192 million. The brazilian playmaker quickly became a Firm Favourite at anfield afterjoining the club from inter milan. He made 201 appearances for liverpool and he was the clubs leading goalscorer last season with 1a. Australias batsmen made englands bowlers toil in the ashes fifth test as Usman Khawaja extended his overnight 91 into 171. The marsh brothers inflicted more pain, with shaun smashing an unbeaten 98, while mitch is on 63 not out. Australia lead by 133 with six wickets in hand at the scg and thats where Patrick Gearey was watching on a day thats turned traditionally pink. A brutal day for england, a wonderful one for australia. Only two wickets taken all day. Australia 133 runs ahead and england had to toil in the sydney hit. This was the peak day of the test match, the tenth such day in honour of jane mcgrath, the late wife of the australian fast bowler glenn and her Breast Cancer foundation. The crowd we re Breast Cancer foundation. The crowd were soon on their feet to claim 100 from Usman Khawaja in the city he grew up in. They expected to be back on theirfeet grew up in. They expected to be back on their feet not long waited for steve smiths100, but he was out, caught and bowled by moeen ali. England thought they had another one when mason crane pilfer and lbw against khawaja. The review showed it would have hit the stumps, but it was given as a no ball somewhat co ntroversially. Was given as a no ball somewhat controversially. Khawaja went on to make 150 before crane got that first test wicket when he had him stumped for 171. The marsh brothers then started to take the game away from england as they increasingly attacked towards the end of the day. England must go back into the field day four, when the temperatures will be even hotter. They will be drained. Australia very much the advantage. Play gets under into hours time. And thats all the sport for now. The american astronautjohn young, one of 12 men to walk on the moon and who flew the first Space Shuttle show, has died at 87. He had the longest career of any space astronaut, serving nasa for 42 years and visiting space six times including on the apollo and gemini missions. On his retirement in 2004, nasa described mr young as a true american treasure. This is bbc world news today. Stay with us. An nhs trust blames pressures on the service after an elderly woman dies in her home while waiting for an ambulance. Paramedics, dealing with thousands of 999 calls, took almost four hours to reach the pensioner. Im furious. It shouldnt happen. We need an inquiry to get to the bottom of it and find out what happened and make sure it never happens to anybody again. Donald trump rejects doubts over his mental stability and says an extraordinary new book about his presidency is a work of fiction. The Department Store house of fraser seeks to cut its costs in another sign of the pressures facing shops on the high street. And mark hughes is sacked as stoke city manager after being knocked out of the fa cup by League Two Coventry. Good evening. An Ambulance Service has apologised to the family of a pensioner who died after waiting nearly four hours for help to arrive. The 81 year old woman had rung 999 complaining of chest pain. The east of England Service said it was stretched and had warned of the pressures its staff and the nhs were facing. Our correspondent Sarah Campbell reports from clacton in essex. We dont know the name of the woman who died, but we do know some of the details of her tragic death. She rang 999 on tuesday evening, and waited and waited. After around an hour and a half the Ambulance Service did ring her, but it wasnt for a