democratic republic of congo. checkpoints are operating in the country and there are apparently thousands of security forces out and about. the president says he will not step down, despite his term coming to an end today. there has been a crackdown on social media. the philippine star headline reads "duterte wants six executions daily". it's looking at the president's so—called war on drugs, reporting that he wants capital punishment restored. an emergency meeting between asean countries is being held to discuss the rohingya population. the independent shows protestors criticising nobel peace prize winner and myanmar‘s de facto leader aung san suu kyi for not doing enough over allegations of violent crimes against rohingyas. the financial times has a survey of economists who believe the us federal reserve will wait half a year before raising interests rates again. some say they're watching to see what president—elect donald trump will present in his economic package. the paper also reports on the 10,000 robots

sold by japanese company softbank. the robots can perform roles in sales, marketing and customer service. buyers include companies nestle and eli lilly. the la times pays tribute to actress and socialite zsa zsa gabor, who has died at the age of 99. she made more than 60 films and none of us can name she made more than 60 films and none of us can name any she made more than 60 films and none of us can name any of them, but she was famous. joining us isjoel kibazo, an independent media and public affairs consultant. you are also the former director of communications of the african development bank, so what a perfect story to start with. indeed. why is joseph kabila refusing to step down? iam afraid joseph kabila refusing to step down? i am afraid he has been trying in all sorts of way to make sure that his mandate is in some way renewed.

i'm afraid that hasn't happened and so i'm afraid that hasn't happened and so that's where we now come to this stalemate. it is terribly u nfortu nate, stalemate. it is terribly unfortunate, but they are clinging onto this constitution provision that says unless a new president is elected nobody else can come into assume that role. of course the elections won't organised and the government says it was due to troubles in the eastern region, because of problems with the electoral commission, no money, so a host of reasons are being brought up. this provides a real challenge for the continent, especially the african union. what do you do? of course this comes just days after we've seen the situation in gambia where and other elected leader admitted they had been beaten, but then said he wouldn't go. so we have echoes in west africa now, trying to see what can be done. we have the situation in the drc, which is going

to bea situation in the drc, which is going to be a real challenge to the region for a number of reasons, not least economic. the congo is facing terrible pressures. there have been evaluations. people are living on less tha n evaluations. people are living on less than $2 a day for the majority of the 70 million people. and then of the 70 million people. and then of course now this political situation. for a country that is so wealthy and rich in minerals, i'm afraid it is potentialfor congo, but nothing else. you think it will turn violent? apparently planes going into the capital are practically empty. people are scared. i think it will depend on the way the opposition can galvanise the way the opposition can galvanise the people. the problem with the drc has always been that it has been a disparate opposition, unable to challenge the governing body with a single voice. if we can get that this type will see what happened. single voice. if we can get that this type will see what happenedm itfairto this type will see what happenedm it fair to say, just reading this article saying the drc is not seeing the peaceful —— has not seen a

peaceful tra nsfer of the peaceful —— has not seen a peaceful transfer of powers in the 19605 when it gained independence. is it your point that there isn't a strong and valid opposition? is that the case in many countries? there is opposition. however, it's a disparate opposition and very ethnically based. so in these kinds of situations, the strongman is able to ta ke of situations, the strongman is able to take advantage of the situation and it shows that they are disparate. if we can get the opposition to come together, you will see the protests gain some kind of credence and gain some kind of traction. but i'm afraid i'm not so sure that that will happen in this way in the drc. so, rabri go -- rodrigo duterte had admitted he killed people. he said he used to go around ona killed people. he said he used to go around on a big bike looking for confrontation. he wants to reproduce the death penalty and he is turning out to be a character who seems to

enjoy violence, if i can say it like that, because he is always challenging. he recently told america, we don't need you, don't need your money, because they are worried about this aspect of his war on drugs and apparently he is killing people extrajudicially.” think a number of things about this story. i think there's a limit how controversial you can be. he hasn't beenin controversial you can be. he hasn't been in powerfor very long. i think in year3 orfourwhen been in powerfor very long. i think in year 3 or four when you been in powerfor very long. i think in year 3 orfour when you are delivering to your people and things are going wrong, this kinds of things will come back to haunt him. there is a second point. the president of the philippines wants the return of the death penalty, but he has already set himself he will be executing people. the question is, where you administer... who administers the law? in almost every constitution that i know what the president is a guardian of the constitution and the law of the country. he says and admits openly

that he has violated that without much care. even if you bring back the death penalty, it will be almost pointless because he willjust say, well, the president has done it, what next? what do you make of this headline in the independent that says a hero under attack, sue chee the site over atrocities. —— aung san suu kyi criticised. you can see somebody beating the soul of a shoe, which is a sign of dishonour. this was going to come. explain that problem. the rohingya are the muslim minority in myanmar, as opposed to the majority, the buddhist part of the majority, the buddhist part of the country. they've been under attack and it is said that they have been clearing them. it is said 27,000 people have escaped across the border to bangladesh. these are

people who are originally of bangladeshi origin, but we are talking about many decades since they've been in myanmar. so the thing is that the claims that there's been no protection from aung san suu kyi... there's been no protection from aung san suu kyi. .. they hoped she would. well, this is a person who came to prominence very much on the human rights ticket. she won the nobel peace prize for her humanity and i'm afraid it seems as if she has kept very quiet since taking effective leadership of myanmar. to be fair to her, she is caught between a rock and a hard place because she has got the military which has been in power for most of the year in myanmar and it is the military that has been leading the charge very much against the people of the rohingya people in myanmar at least, and it is the rohingya claimed that the army has been persecuting them. so she has

this very difficult line to walk between them, those two. two minutes, three stories. we are going to drop one of them. what do you like? the story about the us economy 01’ like? the story about the us economy or robots? let's talk about the fed. there is the view that interest rates... well last week janet there is the view that interest rates... well last weekjanet yellen raised interest rates. economists, however, as we pointed to the day in the ft, said the rises would be cautious and the caution is that eve ryo ne cautious and the caution is that everyone is expecting a stimulus from donald trump, tax cuts as well. however, they are being cautious saying that won't happen. for africa, the dollar is very much the main currency across the continent

and the currency of business. absolutely. zsa zsa gabor was one of the old—timers, when glamour was different. ijust the old—timers, when glamour was different. i just love the old—timers, when glamour was different. ijust love the the old—timers, when glamour was different. i just love the fact that when she says all of those 1—liners, iama when she says all of those 1—liners, i am a marvellous housekeeper. every timei i am a marvellous housekeeper. every time i leave amount i keep his house. how about this one, i want a man who is kind and understanding. is that too much to ask of a millionaire? it is the first time i've had you in the studio and honestly i really enjoyed your company. thank you very much and have a very merry christmas. thank you and sent to you. we've got a couple of days to come. see you tomorrow. hello. a huge week of pre—christmas travel plans, and with different weather challenges either end of the week. now, what we'll see later in the week is actually governed by what's happening in us

and canada at the moment. a big freeze at the moment. much of the continent starts below freezing, but the temperature contrasts in the south—east. this fires up a jet stream that will charge towards us this week bringing ever deeper areas of low pressure later on. that will give us a challenge later in the week. the challenge again this morning is contesting with the fog. having an impact on some of the roads and airports. probably worst across parts of western england and wales this morning. some dense patches of fog in places across the south—west. a pretty grey and dismal start for many. maybe not quite as foggy as east anglia and the south—east has been in recent days, which could be good news in the airport. some of the higher ground will see some fog and we will see some fog in the higher ground of northern england. the fog not as much of an issue in scotland and northern ireland. maybe even north—east england. but here the sunshine will start the way and western scotland cloud. patch and drizzle affecting northern ireland. not a huge amount of wet weather. we will finish the day with some brightness. elsewhere, though, remains cloudy and misty in some western areas and later on in eastern england,

patches of light rain or drizzle. temperatures to finish monday, where they should be for the time of the year, but feeling cool where the mist lingers. heavy rain developing in the south on monday night. patchy rain in england and wales. misty over the hills. but clear england and wales skies. scotland and northern ireland, and here, coldest night of the week, with frost in places, and for northern ireland, could be a foggy start to tuesday morning. still fog an issue for one or two of you for tuesday. probably worse in northern ireland and in the hills with outbursts in the south. through central and eastern england, brighter afternoons in store than we've been used to for a while. but, at last, the arrival of some sunshine. some sunshine for eastern parts of scotland, but in the west, we start to see some rain. a cooler day by and large, but let's focus on that rain. western scotland and northern ireland, not just rain but strong winds.

the strong winds are back. gale force across many areas into tuesday evenings rush hour. severe gales, if not storm force, across the north, thanks to this weather front bringing rain across the country and increasing winds as we go through the night and into wednesday. and that links into weather systems waiting in the wings being fired up by the jet stream i mentioned. so it is that big challenge to start the week. fog could be an issue. strong winds and heavy rain later on. we'll of course keep you updated and take you through it each day step—by—step. hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. thousands of workers launch a wave of strikes, hitting postal services and rail companies in the run up to christmas. services at some of the post office's larger branches will be affected, and passengers on the rail network in the south east of england are also being told to expect disruption. good morning, it's monday the 19th of december.

the evacuation of thousands of people trapped in eastern aleppo has resumed with around 350 moved out on buses last night. i'm live with durham constabulary during one of the busiest weeks