a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: a final farewell to the white house press corps, but barack obama says he will still speak out to defend his "core values." i think we are going to be ok. we just have to fight hard and work for it. and not take it for granted. and i know you always do. troops mass on the border of gambia, ready to force president jammeh to accept electoral defeat and step down. britain's foreign secretary appears to compare the french government to nazis. european leaders say brexit won't be easy. once a frontline in the syrian civil war, now very quiet. we have a report from the city of aleppo. president obama has held his final press conference in the white house,

ranging widely from the middle east to chelsea manning's prison sentence to voting rights and beyond. his successor has promised to dismantle his legacy, and barack obama was asked what he'd told his daughters about donald trump's victory. he said "i tell them the only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world. i think we're going to be ok." he wished the press good luck. our north america editor, jon sopel, was there. for one last time, barack obama came to the white house briefing room to joust with the press. good afternoon, everybody. but amid reports that his successor wants to limit access and regularly accuses journalists of being dishonest and liars, the outgoing president spoke of the importance of a strong and free media. you're not supposed to be sycophants, you're supposed to be sceptics. you're supposed to ask me tough questions. you are not supposed to be complimentary but you are supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power. this picture was released

today of donald trump preparing his inaugural address. barack obama was asked what advice he would give his successor. on this, he steered a diplomatic course. this is a job of such magnitude that you can't do it by yourself. you are enormously reliant on a team. that's probably the most useful advice, the most constructive advice, that i have been able to give him. and then the final question. come on, mr president, are you really as sanguine as you are saying publicly about donald trump taking over? this is notjust a matter of no drama obama. this is what i really believe. it is true that behind closed doors i curse more than i do in public. laughter.

sometimes i get mad. and frustrated like everybody else does. but at my core, i think we're going to be ok. thank you very much, press corps. good luck. barack obama will spend the next year writing and being around more for michelle and his two daughters. he says he won't be a back seat driver. but he's given this warning, if he sees things that he really doesn't like then he will speak out. it seems that friday won't be the last we see of barack obama. but in the meantime, there's a new home to get ready. moving house is said to be one of life's most stressful experiences. but when you have been president for eight years making life and death decisions, where to hang your favourite picture is probably unlikely to keep you awake at night. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. as washington gears up for friday's inauguration, there was news today that former president george hw bush has been moved to intensive care at a houston hospital. he's 92, and suffering from pneumonia, but is said to be in stable condition. a procedure was performed to clear his airway. his wife, barbara, has also been admitted to the same hospital,

as a precaution. she is said to be very fatigued and coughing. troops are massing on the border of the gambia, in west africa, ready to force the president to accept electoral defeat, and step down. his elected successor is due to be inaugurated today, but president yahya jammeh has refused to leave office, and declared a state of emergency. he took power in a coup in 1994. the economic community of west african states has mandated senegal to intervene militarily, if necessary, because the gambia is almost surrounded by senegalese territory. an ecowas deadline for mrjammeh to go expired in the past few hours. last month's election winner, adama barrow, is currently in senegal. as the crisis deepens, thousands of gambians and foreign with their safety under threat, many gambians have decided they have little choice but to abandon the country. more than 25,000 have crossed the border into senechal. they are not the only ones who have left. planes have been flown in to pick up tourists, mostly from the uk

and the netherlands.” pick up tourists, mostly from the uk and the netherlands. i think it is necessary at the moment. but i understand that we need to do it. this will all be over within 24 hours to 48 hours. this crisis centres on one man refusing to buckle to pressure from a regional alliance now surrounding this tiny nation. senegal, nigeria, and ghana, are among those who have ordered him to step down. he initially conceded defeat in last month's election after 22 years of power. he quickly changed his mind, claiming the vote had been forged. the man who beat him fled to senechal, but remains confident he will be sworn in on wednesday. it is clear. i confident he will be sworn in on wednesday. it is clear. lam confident he will be sworn in on wednesday. it is clear. i am the president. what if he does not

co—operate? president. what if he does not co-operate? he will have to co—operate. co-operate? he will have to co-operate. troops from senegal and ghana are now gathered on the gambian border. nigeria has sent ships to the border. they have asked others to intervene now that he is power has expired. the president of mauritaria has flown in to talk to him. he once said he will not leave his country's power for a him. he once said he will not leave his country's powerfor a billion yea rs. his country's powerfor a billion years. he has been given 24 hours. saikou suwarehjabai is a journalist in the gambia and hejoins us from nemakunku in the west coast region. it always brings a alarm bells when this happens. how do you think this

will play out? hello? can you hear us? yeah. there is obviously concerned when a leader who took power in a coup 22 years ago refuses to a cce pt power in a coup 22 years ago refuses to accept the result of a democratic election. how do you think this will play out? the president is not accepting this any more. the situation has been tense politically with a lot of pressure from domestic and international communities, negotiating for the president to accept the will of the people. it has been interesting, negotiations back and forth. all those talks, and we arejust

back and forth. all those talks, and we are just two hours in, back and forth. all those talks, and we arejust two hours in, and he is still holding power. the gambia has a very small military. what part do you think they may play in this? well, according to reports, the military is presently divided. there have been military officerfor the past two or three days now talking to him. senior offices and captains. this is a clear indication that a faction of the military are in control of the president. and yet we are being told that the election winner, adama barrow, will be sworn in. how will that work? the spokesman said plans are made for the president—elect to be sworn in

in gambian soil. but he was quick to add that if resident —— president jammah refuses to stand down it will have to be done in the gambian embassy. thank you for that. more main news for you now. at least 50 people have been killed in northern mali in a car bomb attack on a military base. a vehicle packed with explosives detonated at a camp housing soldiers and members of rival armed groups in the region's main city, gao. a mauritanian news agency, al akhbar, is reporting that the jihadist group al mourabitoun carried out the attack. a prominent mexican environmental activist and indigenous leader, who had been fighting illegal logging, has been shot dead. isidro baldenegro was killed in his home state of chihuahua, in northern mexico, after receiving death threats. he had spent many years in peaceful protests against illegal logging in the sierra madre mountains. latin america tops the list of the most deadly places for conservationists.

nasa scientists have confirmed 2016 was officially the hottest year chinese president xijinping has used his final speech on his swiss trip to talk about creating a ‘circle of friends' around the world, as he aims to build new relations with the us. mr xi's speech also called for the major powers — who he said should ‘keep their differences under control.‘ britain‘s foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has been criticised after appearing to compare the french government to the nazis. he said the uk should not be threatened with "punishment beatings" "in the manner of a world war ii movie" for wanting to leave the eu. during the day european leaders have been giving their reactions to prime minister theresa may‘s speech on tuesday, outlining her brexit ambitions. our political editor

laura kuennsberg reports. watch out, chaps, i‘m worried about you falling over. "watch out, foreign secretary," more like. it‘s his job to win friends and influence around the world. on tour in india today. but as the delicate process of leaving the eu begins, rather indelicate words about our old friends and foes, the french. if monsieur hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who chooses to escape, rather in the manner of some world war ii movie, i don‘t think that is the way forward. i think, actually, it is not in the interests of our friends and our partners. from thousands of miles away, he was slammed as crass. "not exactly what you would expect from a foreign minister," one diplomat told me. awkward, when back home the prime minister is urging everyone to play nice. the point he made was a reasonable one, but the language has got to be extremely careful in dealing with colleagues and friends. what does boris do? he comes up with these extraordinary phrases of which we should all be ashamed. borisjohnson‘s team says he was just making the point that it makes no sense for the rest of the eu to treat britain harshly. but only yesterday, theresa may publicly reminded ministers

here at home of the need for discipline. and with a difficult deal ahead, britain needs all the friends it has. language matters, but it‘is the words and attitudes of european leaders that will prove vital. yesterday, the prime minister appealed to her eu counterparts, urging them to behave as good friends, even as we leave. the arch european. jean—claude juncker, who leads the commission that will manage the deal was suing for peace. we are not in a hostile mood. we want a fair deal with britain and a fair dealfor britain, but a fair deal means a fair deal for the european union. yet europe‘s leaders are in no mood to let britain divide and conquer. their goal right now is sticking together. "we now have a clearer idea of what britain wants," angela merkel said, "the most important thing is that europe is not divided." and in public and private, here is the reality. whatever the uk asks for, the rest of the eu will not do a deal where the terms of trade

are as cushy outside as in. we want a fair deal for the united kingdom, but that deal necessarily needs to be inferior to membership. are you playing hardball, prime minister? she may well smile, her speech yesterday pleased most of her party, but theresa may‘s still under attack for not giving mps enough of a say. it‘s not so much the iron lady as the irony lady. i've got a plan. he doesn't have a clue. next tuesday it‘s over to the courts, who could force the government to give detail, much more detail, to parliament, before the technical process of extricating ourselves from the eu begins. in these negotiations it will not always seem that ministers are in charge. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. leading firms are now weighing up moving thousands of staff out of the uk following prime minister theresa may‘s announcement to leave the european single market as well as the eu. the boss of hsbc said he‘s preparing to move around 1000 of his 5,000 london staff to paris. swiss rival, ubs, also told the bbc that 1000 jobs may go in london as a result of brexit. stay with us on bbc news. three diseases that could become global killers, but almost half a billion dollars hasjust been

pledged to defeat them. the people of saigon have just heard there is to be a ceasefire. the reaction of american servicemen was predictable. i‘m going home! demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with teargas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him the butcher of lyon. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia they called him the butcher of lyon. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia but the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot, a tide of humanity which is believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: at his final news conference, president obama has said he will continue to speak out to defend what he called "core values" after he leaves office. a deadline has passed for the president of the gambia to step down or face possible military action by west african powers. the united nations officials believe 40,000 people have returned to their homes in eastern aleppo, the syrian city devastated by years of civil war. government forces cut off rebel supply lines and in just a few months were able to take full control. our middle east editorjeremy bowen sent this report. this is the calm after the storm. the final battle for aleppo swept through the city like a man—made malevolent tornado. all sides in this war were prepared to destroy aleppo to possess it. in the end, the firepower of the regime and its russian and ukrainian allies was too much for the fractious rebel coalition

that controlled east aleppo. this city is the key to northern syria. right across the country, rebels who are still fighting are on the defensive. the battle for aleppo lasted four years. more than 200,000 civilians were trapped in the heat of the fight. attacks on civilians by any side in the war are crimes if it can be proved they were deliberate. zakaria mohammed juma lost his leg in east aleppo three months ago. at a clinic run by the international committee of the red cross, he is being measured for a prosthesis. rehabilitation is painful. when you can‘t walk, supporting a family is even harder.

it will take years and billions to rebuild. the east side of aleppo and much of the old city in ruins. with a photo of his clothes shop, salah stood in front of where it used to be. i‘ve seen this much damage elsewhere in syria, but never in such a wide area. abu mahmoud is one of the first to return to his neighbourhood. if only they‘d take away the rubble, he said, all the neighbours would come back. this corpse was still lying on the road a month after the battle. more are certain to be buried in collapsed buildings. abu mohammed, collecting firewood, showed where a mortar fragment had hit him.

look, he said, they took out my spleen, kidney, and part of my intestines. i‘ve had many operations. in every queue for emergency aid there are tragedies. this child, who is 12, has seen more than anyone should in a lifetime. her grandmother is using all the strength she has left to care for her surviving grandchildren. translation: my daughter's 15—year—old girl and her son, who was seven, were killed. my son‘s three—year—old daughter lost a leg. another grandson, aged seven, lost a hand. my family‘s houses were all destroyed. translation: we don't know what's hidden in our future.

the war has damaged all of us. my cousin lost her leg. i saw with my own eyes my other cousin, his intestines were out of his body. president assad‘s resurgence in aleppo means talk about forcing him out sounds more hollow than ever. he is the strongest he‘s been since the war started. the empty, ruined, silent streets on the former front lines feel oppressive. no one has tried to move back here. it‘s haunted by violence and death. that is a home—made mortar, designed and built by the rebels. in itself, it‘s a fearsome weapon. but it is nothing compared to the power of the russian air force and the military know—how of the iranians and their lebanese allies.

foreign intervention has transformed this war. and the way it‘s looking right now, foreigners, not syrians, will dictate the way the war ends. the sun sets in aleppo on a dark, cold and broken place. it feels like a post—war city, but this is not a post—war country. syria has a fragile partial truce. for the first time, the president and his allies can smell victory. but they are not there yet. jeremy bowen, bbc news, aleppo. it‘s a race against time for scientists to come up with a vaccine before the next global epidemic strikes. they named the diseases they‘re targeting.

what was will be the next global epidemic, a virus we already know about, ora new one? the ebola outbreak in west africa exposed how utterly unprepared the world is for new epidemics. more than 11,000 people died, partly because there were no vaccines to protect them. the research charity the wellcome trust is part of a new coalition urging people to look at a new epidemic being even more deadly, especially if it is airborne. we are lucky that the world has reacted so well. but this could happen again. this puts the world in a very vulnerable place. scientists have identified three obscure viruses they want to fast track vaccines for. nipah virus, spread to humans from from fruit bats.

it can cause swelling of the brain and is mainly common in bangladesh. lassa fever is common in west africa. the last is middle east respiratory syndrome. it‘s believed to be spread by camels. it‘s killed more than 650 people, mostly here in saudi arabia. this lab in oxford is one of the research facilities trying to come up with a vaccine to protect people from mers. this is the clinical by manufacturing facility. this is the basis for the mers vaccine. it will be scaled up over the coming months and it‘s expected that hundreds of vials will be ready for human trials in the coming year. is this vaccine does work, it could still take a decade or so to get to those who needed.

historically, money for these obscure viruses has not been forthcoming and the regulatory process is long. these labs are also working on an ebola vaccine. we found it frustrating as we were testing ebola vaccines in people and getting good safety data in people in oxford and yet those vaccines were not being used in west africa where the ebola outbreak was happening. people were dying of the disease while we were testing the vaccines. we don‘t want to be in that situation again. this sort of research takes years and costs hundreds of millions of dollars. it may not be any of these three viruses that cause the next epidemic. but, if it is, putting the time and money in now could stop a small outbreak becoming the next global health emergency. more now from barack obama‘s final news conference. whatever you think

of his politics, optimism has been pa rt of his politics, optimism has been part of his trademark. he offered a parting message of hope. i‘ve had some conversations with journalists where they said, ok, you seem like you are kate, but really what i use thinking? i said, no, what i use thinking? i said, no, what i‘m saying really is what i think. i believe this country. i believe in the american people. i believe in the american people. i believe that people are more good than bad. i believe tragic things happen. i believe there is evil in the world. but i think that at the end of the day, if we work hard, and if we‘re true to those things enough that field true and feel right, then the world gets a little better each time. that‘s what this presidency has tried to be about and i see that

in the young people i‘ve worked with. i couldn‘t be proud of them. and so this is notjust a matter of no drama obama, this is what i really believe. it is true that behind closed doors i curse more than i do in public and sometimes i get mad and frustrated, like everybody else does. but in my core i think we are going to be ok. we just have to work for it and not taken for granted and you will help us taken for granted and you will help us do that. thank you very much, press corps. good luck. president obama bidding farewell to the white house press corps. more any time on the bbc news website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i‘m @bbc mike embley. thanks for watching. there is definitely a pattern emerging with the weather.

i will say that much for the weather over the last few days. here is monday‘s satellite picture. a lot of cloud across the uk under building high pressure. spot the difference on tuesday. a bit of sunshine coming intp south—east of england. otherwise cloudy. and yesterday‘s satellite picture also shows a lot of cloud. again, the south—east poking out in the sunshine. you can guess what the forecast will be for thursday. yes, today is another cloudy day for much of the country. the cloud will be thick enough as we go through the first part of the morning, a few spots of rain in the midlands, maybe west england and wales. but under this blanket of cloud it‘s a mild start for most. a touch of frost in aberdeenshire. and certainly for southern wales and southern counties of east anglia it will be a cold start to the day. under relatively clear skies a widespread frost. but just as we‘ve seen for the past couple of days there will be

sunshine working across southern counties of england. cold, but bright. a weather front continues to dangle across central portions of wales and england, where the thickest cloud is. that‘s where we could see the odd spot of morning drizzle. but temperatures about 6—9 celsius as we push into northern parts. in scotland, the cloud thick enough for a few spots of rain. this is the picture through the rest of the day. a cloudy day weatherwise for most of the uk, but again some faring better for sunshine than others. southern counties of england keep the sunshine. breaks in the cloud across scotland. the best in eastern areas. generally the cloud a little bit higher in the sky across the northern half, compared to yesterday, so at least it will look brighter underneath those cloudy skies. that‘s thursday‘s picture. through the night we‘re stuck with this cloud through thursday night. again there could be a few mist and fog patches forming, a bit of drizzle through the night. with the clearest skies across southern england and wales

we will have pockets of frost. maybe a bit of frost for northern ireland and eastern areas of scotland, but where it stays cloudy about 5—7 degrees. into friday and the high pressure is still with us and so is the cloud for a good part of the country. again, some breaks in the cloud. the best towards southern england and parts of scotland. certainly it is cold underneath the cloud. temperatures near normal for the time of year. as we go through the weekend and into the start of next week, don‘t expect any major changes. we keep a lot of cloud, but at least there will be bright or sunny spells and a little bit cooler through the weekend as well. that‘s the forecast. i‘m mike embley. the latest headlines from bbc news: president obama has warned his successor, donald trump, not to lift sanctions against russia unless it reverses what he described as its violations of ukrainian sovereignty. at his final press conference as president he said he would continue to speak out to defend what he called "core values". a deadline has passed for the gambian president to step down. west african forces are gathering

on the border, poised to move in and enforce a transfer of power to the winner of last month‘s elections. president jammeh, who‘s been in powerfor two decades is refusing to leave office. britain‘s foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has been criticised after apparently comparing the french government to nazi prison guards in its attitude towards the uk leaving the european union. two investment banks have said they‘ll relocate some staff from london the mainland as a result of brexit. now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament.