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: with hours to go until he's sworn in, donald trump makes a promise to america. we're going to do things that haven't been done for our country for many, many decades. it's going to change. we take a look at what the trump administration taking power means for moscow. tragedy strikes as firefighters rush to put out a blaze at a high—rise in iran. and former ira leader turned peacemaker martin mcguinness quits politics. he says he's seriously ill. on the eve of his inauguration as 45th president of the united states, donald trump has been speaking to tens of thousands of supporters in washington,

in front of the lincoln memorial. after a hugely divisive election, and with mass protests planned even on inauguration day, mr trump said he would bring the whole country together. he addressed the crowd at the end of the make america great again concert, in the grounds of the memorial. he said he was merely the messenger, the means by which people would realise their desire for change. the i promise you that i will work so hard. we are going to get it turned around. we will get ourjobs back we are not going to let other countries take our jobs any longer. we are going to build up our great military. we are going to build it up. we are going to strengthen our borders. we are going to do things that have not been done for our country for many, many decades. it is going to change.

although there are many jobs still to be filled in the new administration, and much controversy over mr trump's picks for the top posts, his team have made it plain they intend to begin wiping out barack obama's legacy from day one in the white house, with a string of executive orders from the new president. our north america editor, jon sopel, reports from washington. no longer a plane with trump emblazoned on the side. the president—elect arrived in washington aboard a us military jet, and this is the brand he'll now be promoting, defending, and representing, the united states of america. and though not yet commander—in—chief, it was the first opportunity to practice his salute, as the base commander greeted him and the future first lady, melania. across the city, the future vice—president was thanking the current administration for their help in the transition and reflecting on the magnitude of what's about to unfold. it is a momentous day before

a historic day and i'm pleased to have a chance to report to the american people and all of you the progress that we have made at the president—elect‘s direction. washington is a city in transition. it's out with the old and in with the new as the obamas' possessions are loaded up and taken away. michelle obama tweeting one last photo from the balcony of her home these past eight years. and a video, one last walk through the house with their sunny and beau. the new tenants pick up the keys tomorrow. today, they were being feted at a lunch, at where else, the trump international hotel. with republican congressional leaders. i want to thank everybody. we have had such great, great support in this room. but amidst the gladhanding that is part and parcel of any inauguration, there's solemnity too. the nation's future leaders

going to arlington cemetery and the tomb of the unknown soldier to pay their respects to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. last post sounds. i'm from florida! hundreds of thousands are converging on washington for the inauguration. anticipation and expectation are high. since the day he came down that escalator in trump tower, i was on board. i got to sing the national anthem for mr trump five different times at his rallies, and so i received an invitation in the mail. he has the chance to be like the next ronald reagan. but not everyone coming to washington is here to laud donald trump. there will be protesters too. the inauguration marks the peaceful transfer of power, but it doesn't signify a unified nation. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the words "russia" and "putin" cropped up in the election campaign almost as often as "trump",

"clinton" and "obama". and as the new president takes office, his relationship with moscow can only come into sharper focus. barack obama acknowledged that what he called a "constructive" relationship with russia, was in the interests of america and the wider world. so how will the kremlin see the new us president? this from our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg. if donald trump redecorates the white house, here's something for the west wing, perhaps. a gift from russia with love. artist nikas safronov says america's new leader reminds him of napoleon and a pirate, and although nikas did have all bases covered, he says he always believed it was trump who'd create a fresh canvas for us—russian relations. "the american people made the right choice," he says. "we hoped trump would win." but did moscow do more than just hope?

this month, a us intelligence report claimed the kremlin tried to influence the election for trump through cyber attacks, internet trolls, and a media campaign. the report highlights the role of rt, calling the channel the kremlin‘s principal international propaganda outlet. today, it hit back. how awful it is to see that such a huge and powerful country relies on such bad, bad, sloppy and just funny intelligence. is rt putting out kremlin propaganda? it's the same as what they say about the bbc and cnn here in russia. there are separate allegations — that the kremlin has been cultivating donald trump for at least five years, and that moscow has managed to compromise him. these claims are unsubstantiated, but potentially explosive. so donald trump, a kremlin stooge? fake news, say his supporters,

and moscow says the same. but the fact that some people are even suggesting that russia influenced an american election, that means that russia will loom large over america's new president. and from the kremlin today, this call for cooperation. we desperately need a good relationship with washington, but it takes two to tango. and what will be the approach by president trump, this is the question. meanwhile, outside moscow, at a restaurant called the trump, they're celebrating the inauguration with a new creation — the donald trump burger. like the man himself, it's larger—than—life, and for some, difficult to swallow. it's a symbol of the high hopes — the very high hopes — russia has for trump, and its appetite for a closer relationship. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. an update now on an incident in australia. at least one person has died

and several peole have been injured after a car hit pedestrians in the australian city of melbourne. officials say several people were struck by a vehicle in the centre of the city. what are you doing on this? we are studying eyewitness reports suggesting a similar sequence of events. a vehicle coming up on the sidewalk and collision with objects and people as it carried on its path. it started along the central flinders station in the centre of melbourne along the popular pedestrian shopping area. we know the driver has been stopped and arrested. as you said, one person has died, dozens of treated for

injuries. it is a developing scene. some people talking about a sense of chaos and very upsetting for witnesses. people would have thought it was some kind of attack when they heard of this, is there any confirmation? no confirmation one way or the other. melbourne is a city which has been on high alert. it is the australian open, they have 50,000 people at the rod labour arena. they foiled terror attack around christmas which they said would have taken place in central melbourne on christmas day but we should stress there is neither confirmation or denial that this is a terrorist attack by clearly that would would be one line of

investigation. the west african military forces intervening in the gambia's presidential crisis have halted their advance into the country, they say, to allow a final attempt at international mediation. adama barrow won the election last month but yahya jammeh, who's ruled for 22 years, is refusing to leave office. international leaders have given mrjammeh until noon local time on friday, to leave the presidential palace in banjul. sarah corker reports. yelling. on the outskirts of the gambian capital, people took to the streets to celebrate as the new president adama barrow, was sworn in. we have new president now. i'm very happy. but beneath the smiles, tensions here are high as this political crisis escalates. we have to demonstrate now because we are fed up. we are fed up now in the gambia. it was in neighbouring senegal where mr barrow took the oath of office on thursday. applause. the new president called on leader yahya jammeh to give up power.

he also urged soldiers to stay in their barracks. as the commander in chief of the armed forces, i call on all personnel of the armed forces and all security agencies to remain loyal to the constitution and the republic. mrjammeh first came to power 22 years ago but refuses to accept his election defeat last month. nigeria deployed reconnaissance aircraft over the country, warning it was ready to intervene. after the inauguration in senegal, senegalese troops crossed the border into the gambia but military operations have been paused to give talks one last chance. translation: the dead don't we have

given is meat day. if not we will move on to a military intervention. meanwhile in gambia's capital, shops, petrol stations, banks, are all closed, amid concerns this crisis could turn violent. european holiday makers have been evacuated from hotels and west african leaders have given mrjammeh until noon on friday to relinquish power. sarah corker, bbc news. the mayor of tehran says more than 20 iranian firefighters are now known to have been killed when a high—rise building collapsed on them as they were fighting a major fire. rescue workers have been searching through the night under the rubble of the i7—storey plasco building. tim allman reports. these events taking place in central tehran were being broadcast live on iranian state television. this building, the city's first high—rise, put up more than 50 years ago, was mostly empty, apart from the fire crews. crowds of onlookers had gathered round to watch when the building

suddenly and without warning, collapsed. many trapped inside as the bricks and mortar and steel came down on top of them. dozens of people injured. a horrifying sight for colleagues and bystanders alike. translation: the building completely collapsed. i was told the first team of firefighters who arrived — some were injured and some plummeted down. many were killed. there were security guards and the debris fell over them as they tried to escape. local media say troops have been brought in to help clear the rubble and look for possible survivors. there are hopes that some people may still be alive, trapped underneath the collapsed building. but many have died. and once again, it's firefighters, those running towards danger, paying the ultimate price.

tim allman, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: with donald trump preparing to be sworn—in as president, we visit the pennsylvania rust—belt to meet his supporters who now want theirjobs to return. the people of saigon have just heard there is to be a ceasefire. the reaction of american servicemen was predictable. i'm going home! 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. i'm mike embley. the latest headlines: at the celebrations on the eve of his inauguration, donald trump has pledged to "do things for america that haven't been done for many, many decades". more than 20 firefighters were killed when iran's oldest high—rise building collapsed following a fire. in his inaugural address, donald trump is expected to set out his personal vision for america's future in line with his familiar campaign pledge to "make america great again". it was a pledge which made a significant impact in what's called the rust belt,

those states in the old industrial heartland. our north america correspondent nick bryant considers the view from pennsylvania, on what voters are now expecting. it's the places of american decline that make sense of donald trump's rise, and it wasn'tjust working class rage that helped him reach the white house, but despondency. we can be just as competitive as other countries... rick rowlands supported him precisely because he was a billionaire businessman, and he's been impressed with how the president—elect has fought during the transition to keep car manufacturing jobs in america. we were a manufacturing powerhouse at one point. when you say we're going to make america great, well, maybe that means we're going to restore that sense of optimism in people, that, yes, tomorrow will be better than today. and trump can do that? well, it remains to be seen, but at least he's talking about it. the neat take on donald trump is that critics took him literally but not seriously, and supporters took him seriously but not literally.

they didn't necessarily believe everything he said, but he was talking and listening to them. which is why in working—class communities expectations are so high that he will create manufacturing jobs and reverse industrial decline. we joke about the magic switch. the magic switch. absolutely, the magic switch. just flip it on and plant's up and running again. ron baraff looks after this derelict old steel plant and jokes about the magic switch that president trump will flick to bring it back to life. they're not thinking rationally. they're thinking with their hearts, not their heads. it will lead to a lot of disappointment and people being discontent, because it can't happen the way they envisage it to be. as much as we would love it, industry just isn't what it was. period. and look what's happening just up the road in pittsburgh. uber is testing out

its driverless cars. and research labs are developing robots and drones that will deliver the next wave of automation. so the irony is during this political season that although trump has made the claim that it's foreign trade and outsourcing which is killing jobs, really, by a factor of four to one, the blame goes to automation. in this age of disruptive technology, donald trump was the ultimate disruptive candidate. but making history was one thing. in these rust belt communities, he'll find it hard to reverse it. nick bryant, bbc news, pennsylvania. dozens of people are feared dead, destroyed in an avalanche in central italy. rescue teams are searching forup to 35 italy. rescue teams are searching for up to 35 people still trapped. the avalanche was triggered by a series of powerful earthquakes,

about 150 mild from rome. at night, the quickest way through the wall of snow was on skis. these rescu e rs the wall of snow was on skis. these rescuers are amongst the most experienced in europe. even they struggled to move forward. step one step they shovelled their way up towards the hotel. finally, they made it. the hotel was silent. inside, rescuers found this man. they went further in, and came to where the avalanche hit. a six—foot—high wall of snow and rock broke through the building's walls. several miles away a father waited for news of his daughter up in the hotel. straight after yesterday's

earthquakes they text each other. "stay calm," he wrote. "you can come down tomorrow." "calm?" "that's hard," she replied. "i think that the worst has already happened," he reassured her. "what's going on?", he then asked. he got no reply. his daughter and many other people may be trapped underneath these tons of snow. these pictures filmed after daybreak show the rigopiano hotel swept away by the avalanche. do you think it's possible to find more people alive? for sure, yes. in the past, we've found people after three days, or something like this, and especially in this case, there could be some room under the snow. tonight, conditions here have improved. we haven't felt any more earthquakes or tremors, and rescue workers will want

the snow to hold off to allow them to keep digging. italy's prime minister has said that the entire country is holding its breath. james reynolds, bbc news, penne, central italy. it's a journey that took him from the leadership of the irish republican army to one of the top politicaljobs in northern ireland. now, martin mcguinness is stepping down permanently from political life. our chief correspondent gavin hewitt reports. martin mcguinness is one of the most controversial leaders in british and irish politics. a centralfigure in both northern ireland's pain and its peace. now he is standing down due to illness. i will have to be very honest with myself. the question i ask myself is are you capable? are you physically capable of fighting this election with the intensity that elections need to be fought? and the honest answer is that i am not physically capable. his background lay in the civil

rights riots in londonderry, but martin mcguinness chose violent resistance. by the age of 21 he was second in command of the ira in derry, talking about the bombing campaign. reporter: can you say whether the bombing is likely to stop in the near future in response to any public demand? well, we will always take on the considerations and the feelings of the people of derry and these feelings will be passed onto our hq in dublin, you know? he served two prison sentences in the irish republic. he was also convicted of ira membership. he openly attended ira events. he denied that he was the ira chief of staff but said he regarded it as a compliment. we don't believe that winning elections and winning any amount of votes will bring freedom in ireland. at the end of the day it will be the cutting edge of the ira which will bring freedom. today he was asked whether he had any regrets about his days in the ira. well, i think people have to consider the circumstances that

existed in this city when i did join the ira. we had a city where people were being murdered by the ruc, where they were being murdered wholesale, as it were, on bloody sunday by the parachute regiment, and the fact that many young people like myself, supported by many thousands of people in the city, i'm not saying they were the majority, decided to fight back. i don't regret any of that. but he was one of the ira leaders who recognise that continued violence would not bring further political gains. in 1994 there was a ceasefire. it laid the foundation for peace talks. sinn fein nominated him as its chief negotiator, leading to the good friday agreement and eventually power—sharing. bitter foes sat alongside each other in a new assembly. myjourney‘s been a long journey. i've been over 25 years working on building the peace. martin mcguinness's departure from politics comes at a sensitive time for northern ireland.

it's power—sharing assembly has collapsed and brexit poses difficult questions about the future of the border with ireland. many people struggle to forgive a man who had played such a key role in a violent campaign but he earned grudging respect for his commitment to peace and the gunman who turned politician had the authority to make compromises. gavin hewitt, bbc news, belfast. the latest on a breaking news. state police in victoria, australia, say a vehicle has driven into a number of pedestrians in the centre of melbourne. they confirm three dead and they also confirmed that they don't see this incident as related to terrorism, although some witnesses did mention shots being fired. one man has been arrested. emergency vehicles were shown, and a car with a badly smashed bonnet and

windscreen. all this at lunchtime when the streets were crowded with office workers. police boat at a news c0 nfe re nce office workers. police boat at a news conference a short time ago. a male deliberately drove into pedestrians at the bourke street more and we currently have three deceased and at least 20 injured. i can confirm that we believe this is connected to an earlier stabbing in southern metro region. we have the offender in custody. there is no further threat to the public at this stage. i can also confirmed that this is not a ct related incident. three people confirmed dead. police say the incident is not related to terrorism. the children's hospital in melbourne say four patients have been admitted. that's all for now. thanks for watching. hello. wherever we have had clear skies over the past few days, my word, the temperatures have

really dropped away. you certainly know it's january. there have been clear skies around here. you can see this picture during the course of thursday. we have had a great zone through the heart of the british isles where it has been a murky affair with leaden skies. come further south, this is where we have had the best chance of sunshine. that's the temperature profile as we start friday, but at its extreme, you could be looking at —3 in the north or —6 somewhere in the south. generally speaking, certainly below zero, quite a widespread frost for the southern counties of both england and wales. stretching up to the midlands and the southern parts of norfolk. we still have the cloudy zone all the way from northern ireland, north of wales and northern england and into the central southern parts of scotland. again, there will be one or two spots across northern scotland that will get away to a bright start with sunshine, a touch of frost and then again, some cloud as we go towards the northern and western isles as well.

not a good deal changes on friday with the notable exception, at last, at last, we will push some of the murk out of wales and the midlands and maybe coming up to the southern parts of yorkshire. and then we do it all again. where we have had the clear skies, you get a cold start to the weekend. the system arcing its way up to the eastern parts and that is where we will see the cloudiest weather. a big chance for many for you during saturday to see sunshine. that may not be the case across the south—eastern corner of both england and wales, but i think you'll see more cloud than you have seen of late perhaps. a slice of bright conditions. that will be the way for many of the fixtures in the scottish cup fourth round. but, it will be cloudy and pretty chilly as well, for any of the premier league matches. dotted primarily across the north—western quarter of england. by sunday, generally speaking, more cloud around. the temperatures are really struggling as well. so the weekend, in a nutshell, a lot of dry weather around. not completely dry, there will be sunny spells around, but both by day and night, it will be on the cool side. as we start next week, there will be a bit of an issue with fog.

this is one to watch. it's some way off, but with the high—pressure sitting right over the top of the british isles, there could be a real concern about fog across central and southern areas. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. police in the australian state of victoria is confirming a man deliberately ran down people in melbourne. some witnesses have spoken of shots being fired. one person has been killed and dozens injured. donald trump has promised to bring americans together and "do things

for the country that haven't been done in many, many decades." meanwhile, at least 20 firefighters are thought to have been killed after a high—rise collapsed in tehran. they were battling a blaze in the 17—storey building when it crumbled on top of them. authorities said the upper floors were occupied by cramped garment workshops. the exact cause of the fire is still unknown. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.