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. 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, most of them from the uk and the netherlands. asking us to leave is

unnecessary at the moment. but i understand that we need to do it. to me it feels stupid because 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 his tiny nation. senegal, nigeria, and ghana, are among the countries who have ordered yaya jammeh to step down as president. he initially conceded defeat in last month's election after 22 years of power during which he faced claims of torture and murdering opponents. he quickly changed his mind, claiming the vote had been forged. the man who beat him fled to senegal, but remains confident he will be sworn in on wednesday. it is clear. i am the president—elect. what if he does not 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 his power has expired. the president of mauritaria has flown in to talk to him. he flew to senegal for talks with the president there. yaya jammeh once said he will not leave his country's power for a billion years. he has been given 2a hours. greg dawson, bbc news. assan sarr is assistant professor and africa specialist at ohio university in athens and has been a visiting scholar at the university of the gambia. i know you are gambian. you were there recently. it is difficult to predict. how do you think it will play out? it is really a situation

thatis play out? it is really a situation that is unfolding. it is hard to predict. especially when you are dealing with mrjammeh. he is very unpredictable. i have spoken to a few people in the gambia who are very nervous and who are not sleeping. they are in their houses. they are hearing rumours that he may step aside because his army chief has decided to say that his men will not fight. so, i have remain a little more hopeful than just not fight. so, i have remain a little more hopeful thanjust a couple of hours ago. do you think

the masses of troops on the borders will have to go into action?|j the masses of troops on the borders will have to go into action? i hope not. but i also hope that the group remains committed to making him step aside. the most important thing right now is to make sure the wheel of the gambian people is respected. —— will. 0n the interview with presidentjohnson of liberia gave a few days ago, it was very strong. i think that ecowas will move into gambia if he does not step aside. as

of now, his mandate is expired. yeah. ecowas is the economic community of west african states, of course. thank you. in other news: 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 since records began over a century ago. average global temperatures edged ahead of 2015 and now stand 1.1

degrees higher than pre—industrial levels. it is the third consecutive year that the record has been broken. 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. 0ur 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. 0n 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. 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. and according to an earlier report in the handelsblatt newspaper in germany, goldman sachs may halve its london workforce, moving 3,000 staff to new york and europe. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we hear from the teenager snatched from a hospital in florida when she was only eight hours old. 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 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. 0ur 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. a teenager snatched from a hospital in florida when she was only eight hours old has defended her alleged kidnapper. lexis manigo, who'd been named kamiyah mobley at birth, was tracked down after a tip—off. she says the woman she believed was her mother raised her "with good morals, respect and love". she raised me with good morals,

respect. she made a big impact on my life. i could go to her about anything. i could tell there was love. it hurt me more that she was in handcuffs. like some animal. i don't... in handcuffs. like some animal. i don't. .. that's not in handcuffs. like some animal. i don't... that's not her. i've never seen her in cuffs, never. so that moment there was so surreal for me. i understand what she did was wrong, but i don't feel like... just look at my life itself, you know? understand it was one mistake, but it wasn't all bad. everything that came out of it was not bad. i'm fine. i'm managing. i have another family. that is more love. for the

people that have missing kids, this gives them hope, so that makes me feel great. this friday, when donald trump is sworn in as the 45th president, of hundreds of thousands of people who'll come to washington to celebrate. butjust as many americans are not happy with their new president. opposition is particularly strong in california, where his plans to deport immigrants and build a wall on the mexico border have come in for particularly fierce criticism. what do we think of the beautiful sunshine for a rally today? in california, the resistance is heating up. as donald trump takes office, fear among the state's 10 million immigrants is turning to defiance. from the streets all the way up to the governor, there is fighting talk. what will we say to donald trump? no! isabelle medina has lived in the us illegally for 20 years. for her and millions like her, mr trump's election could mean deportation to mexico. it was shocking, and at that very moment it was scary. because our people were thinking,

oh, my god, what is going to happen to my family? i will tell mr trump iwilltelertrump and i will tell mr trump and the people who voted for him that they are for getting that immigrants are bird backbone of this nation. —— the backbone. does mr trump secretly agree? as his campaign wore on, the focus shifted from mass deportations to removing criminal aliens. my son ronald de silva was murdered april 27th, 2002, by an illegal alien. my husband was shot by an illegal alien. murdered by an illegal. he was murdered by an illegal in 2010. prioritising the deportation of criminals was also ba rack obama's policy. but here on the border

there could be a big change. an even bigger wall, paid for, says mr trump — controversially — by mexico. a nation built on immigration no longer feels like a refuge for the tired and the poor. mr trump's election has thrown up a fundamental question. what is it to be an american? for many of the new president's supporters, the answer is rooted in history, in a sense of white, english—speaking, european identity. here in los angeles, it's a very different story. deportados, how do we translate that to english? deported. what does that mean? at this museum, students are learning about the founding of la by mexicans, africans and native americans, as well as spaniards. it helps explain why california rejects mr trump so fiercely. do you think we are heading for a clash between california and the

central government? it could be. it could be very. it is almost a situation back to the 1860s, with the southern states versus the northern states over the issue of slavery. we're not at that point yet, but california it looks like we'll be leading the charge against whatever kind of actions be trump administration may attack. many state agencies here already refused to help with federal deportations, a soui’ to help with federal deportations, a sour relationship may yet collapse com pletely sour relationship may yet collapse completely as both sides repair for a battle of the board. —— border. some spectacular pictures from mexico, where a default cane has erupted, throwing lava and ash more than 5000 metres in the air. it is the most active in the pacific ring of fire. thanks for watching. hi, there.

there is definitely a pattern emerging with our 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 underneath building high pressure. spot the difference on tuesday. a bit of sunshine coming into south—east of england. otherwise it was cloudy. and yesterday's satellite picture also shows a lot of cloud. again, the south—east poking out in the sunshine. can you guess what the forecast will be for thursday? yes, today will be another cloudy day for much of the country. the cloud will be thick enough as we go through the first part of the morning to give a spit of rain in the midlands, maybe west england and wales. but under this blanket of cloud it's a mild start for most. perhaps 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.

underneath 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 spit 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 will keep the sunshine. breaks in the cloud across scotland. the best in eastern areas. generally the cloud is 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 those clearer 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 temperatures about 5—7 degrees overnight. 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 of these towards southern england and parts of scotland. where sunny it's 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. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. 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. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for click.