hello. you're watching bbc world news. our top story this hour: america prepares for donald trump's big day. the president—elect has called for unity as he prepares to be officially sworn in. we are going to do things that have not been done for our country for many, not been done for our country for any not been done for our country for many, many decades. it is going to change. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: the search goes on for dozens of people still missing in a hotel,

engulfed by a deadly avalanche in italy. international mediators are given one last chance to peacefully resolve the gambia's presidential crisis, as west african troops move closer. i'm aaron heslehurst. in business, slashing taxes, talking tough on trade, and ripping up the corporate rule book. america's president—elect promises double the growth and millions of newjobs. but does "trumponomics" add up? plus, his arch rival china confirms its weakest growth since 1990, with fears of even tougher times ahead. hello. it's 5am in london, and midnight in washington, on the day donald trump is formally sworn in as the 45th president of the united states. on thursday evening, he spoke to thousands of supporters in the capital in front of the lincoln memorial. after a hugely divisive election, and with mass protests planned, mr trump has said he would "bring the whole country together." let's have a look now at the timings for inauguration day. in the morning, president—elect

donald trump and his family will meet with president obama and first lady michelle obama. after that, the president—elect and president obama will depart for capitol hill. around midday, donald trump will be sworn in as the president of the united states. then it is time for the inaugural address, states. then it is time for the inauguraladdress, donald states. then it is time for the inaugural address, donald trump's first speech as president. then barack obama and his family will say goodbye and leave by helicopter. after the lunch in the afternoon, the presidential parade starts on capitol hill and goes until the white house, the new home of donald trump. in the evening, the inaugural ball, where the president and first lady perform before first dance. the bbc‘s laura bicker is in washington. 12 hours to go until he ascends the steps on capitol hill and puts his hands on two bibles, notjust the

lincoln bible, but the one he used asa lincoln bible, but the one he used as a young boy. he will be the 45th president of the united states. we had a preview of what the crowds may look like on the day at a welcome concert just a few look like on the day at a welcome concertjust a few hours ago. this isa concertjust a few hours ago. this is a musical warmup act from one of the greatest political shows on earth. and centre stage for this welcome concert is its star. this is a first look at donald trump's inauguration crowds, his chance to address those who put him in office. the polls started going up, up, up, but they did not want to give us credit, because they forgot about a lot of us. on the campaign i called it the forgotten man and the forgotten woman, well, you are not forgotten woman, well, you are not forgotten any more, that i can tell

you. few predicted he would be the 45t h you. few predicted he would be the 45th president, but he says he has plans. we are going to do things that have not been done for our country for many, many decades so .as . as some .as some cheered, others . as some cheered, others protested. in new york, thousands marched to the trump hotel with a message for the trump hotel with a message for the new commander—in—chief. the trump hotel with a message for the new commander-in-chief. we are rooting for the new administration, of course, to stop the misogynistic and ignorant plans they are trumpeting and lead us with intelligence and compassion. donald trump may be twisting his victory with good friends and family, as he knows he has won the hearts of those he calls the forgotten, but there is

work to do if he is to persuade those who fear a president donald trump. that is why that message from capitol hill will be so important tomorrow. as i mentioned, his supporters will welcome his inauguration, they welcome this new president. he is their agent of change. but there are protests planned across the united states of america. this was an election that exposed the fractures, the fault lines, that lie right across these states. donald trump as work to do if he is to try and heal what has become quite a divided nation. laura bicker, live for us in washington. thank you very much. it's been one of the most divisive us elections in recent memory, and although inauguration day is here, that hasn't stopped many voicing their disappointment. a number of democratic lawmakers plan to boycott donald trump's inauguration at the us capitol. as far as other people are not going, that is ok, because we need

so going, that is ok, because we need so many seats, i hope other people give me their tickets. i cannot bring myself tojustified morally or intellectually the immense power we are placing morally or intellectually the immense powerwe are placing in morally or intellectually the immense power we are placing in that man's hands. i think for him to have grand standard, because i think he just grand standard, jon lewis, it makes him worthless. —— granstanded. that was a look at democratic lawmakers who plan to boycott the inauguration. aaron heslehurst is here. good morning. good morning. how are you? very well. you are looking at his economic plans, as far as we know

them. it will be a beautifulthing. hello. we start in washington, where, as you have been hearing, donald trump will be sworn in as the 45t h donald trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the united states, the biggest economy in the world. the billionaire businessman has gone from longshot candidate to the leader of world biggest economy in just a year and a half. his supporters will now be hoping that he can shake up the us economy in the same way the he shook up the presidential race. so, what are his plans? let's ta ke let's take a look. we put a few things together. he has promised to create 25 million jobs over ten years, and to double the annual rate of economic growth to 4%. how will he do this? he's promised to take a tough line on trade, and on countries he sees as undercutting us workers and taking their jobs. we have been hearing that a lot. he has famously threatened to slap a 35% tariff on mexican imports and a 45% tariff on products from china, raising fears he could start a trade war.

to start with, though, he will renegotiate the north american free trade agreement. nafta, as it's called. he also says he'll cut america's high corporate taxes, which have pushed big us firms to offshore a lot of their business from 35% to 15%. critics say this is too expensive, and will help big companies rather than ordinary workers. and he promises to free up business by ripping up red tape. he says 70% of all federal regulations can go. he hopes that will encourage firms to keep morejobs in the us rather than outsourcing. shares of the united states' biggest companies have certainly reacted well to the promises. the "trump rally" has faded in recent days, but the benchmark dowjones industrial average is still up around 9% since mr trump won the election. there it is right there. you can see

it, 996. there it is right there. you can see it, 9%. lots more coming up on the world business report in 20 minutes. we are also in china, where official growth figures have come out in the last few hours. they have confirmed that last year, china's economy grew at its slowest pace in more than a quarter of a century. let's just show you the numbers. china's growth rate hit 6.8% in the last three months of 2016. that's slightly better than expected, and slightly better than the three months before. but it still leaves the annual growth rate at 6.7% for 2016, bang in the middle of the government's target of 6.5 to 7%. nice that it comes in at 6.7%. the bad news is, it's the weakest rate in 26 years. 1990 was just after the crackdown in tiananmen square, when china was isolated internationally. but the good news is,

china has avoided the economic slump many around the world were fearing, largely thanks to huge amounts of government stimulus. if we can trust the figures, that is. we have seen that stimulus from governments all over the world. more coming up in 20 minutes on world business report. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcaaron. thank you. dozens of people are feared to have been killed after an avalanche engulfed a hotel in central italy. at least three people have been confirmed dead and rescue teams are searching for up to 35 others trapped. the avalanche on wednesday was triggered by a series of powerful earthquakes in the area of abruzzo, around 200 kilometres from rome. james reynolds sent this report. at night, the quickest way through the wall of snow was on skis. these rescuers are among the most experienced in europe. even they struggled to move forward. step by step, they shovelled

their way up towards the rigopiano 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. stay with us on bbc news. still to come:

west african troops move closer to the gambia as a last—ditch effort is made to solve the country's presidential crisis peacefully. 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 world news. i'm james menendez. the latest headlines: donald trump has promised to champion change and unify america ahead of his inauguration in washington dc. efforts continue to find more than 30 people missing after a deadly avalanche struck a hotel in central italy. an update now on an incident in australia. at least three people have died and 20 people have been injured in melbourne, where a car has hit pedestrians. officials say several people were struck by a vehicle in the centre of the city. the police have said this is not a terror incident. mail deliberately drove into

pedestrians in bourke street more and we currently have three deceased and we currently have three deceased and at least 20 injuries. 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 confirm that this is not a city related incident. —— counterterrorism. our correspondent hywell griffiths is in sydney. they say it is not terror—related but they believe it was deliberately driven into pedestrians? yes and some of the eyewitness reports suggest it was driven in a determined fashion, seeking out pedestrians. it first started causing alarm when the car was seen spitting out of control —— spinning. one of the busiest areas in the city. the driver was hanging out of

the window and then drove down pedestrian areas. some of the accou nts pedestrian areas. some of the accounts are harrowing. we are told one man was struck and carried 30— 40 one man was struck and carried 30— a0 metres on the bonnet down the road. we also heard from a lady who found a woman pleading, "where is my baby? where is my baby?", suggesting that the pram had been taken. the baby had employed from the pram but the ram carried on down the road. —— pram. the man that we believe, shots had been fired in order to do that. —— the man had been shot by police. we are hearing that one of the children are in critical condition and as you said, three people confirmed as having lost their lives. we heard the police talking about an earlier stabbing incident. what was that about? widodo more about the details of heart from the police linking the two incidents. it

happened in the windsor area of the city, the southern area, suggesting that maybe there was an middle of the night incident involving the nightlife and the nightclub scene there. however, with very limited information about that. the police we re information about that. the police were suggesting it primarily as a way to break this from any kind of connection with terror. they were very specific in saying this was not add counterterror incident. —— not a counterterrorism incident. they are urging people to keep stay away from central melbourne so they can carry on the work they need to do. people have been told not to go out and they can't return home at the end of they can't return home at the end of the working day because the city remains in lockdown. the west african military forces who've moved across the border into the gambia have halted their advance, they say, to allow international mediators one more try at resolving the presidential crisis there. adama barrow won the election last month but yahya jammeh, who seized power in a coup 22 years ago, is refusing to leave office.

mediators have given him until noon local time, 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 a new president now. we are very happy. barrow for ever. 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 long—time 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 the 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 that it was ready to intervene. after the inauguration in senegal, senegalese troops crossed the border into the gambia t oshow support for mr barrow but military operations have been paused to give talks on friday one last chance. translation: the deadline we have given is mid—day. that's it. at mid—day, if he doesn't agree to leave gambia, under the flag of the principle negotiator, then we will move on to a military intervention. in gambia's capital, banjul, shops, petrol stations, banks, are all closed, amid concerns this crisis could turn violent.

european holiday makers have been evacuated from their hotels and if friday's negotiations fail, regional leaders say troops from neighbouring west african countries will remove mrjammeh by force. sarah corker, bbc news. the mayor of tehran says at least 20 firefighters were killed when a high—rise building collapsed on top of them as they were trying to put out a huge blaze. rescue workers have been searching through the night under the rubble of the 17—storey plasco building — a landmark in the iranian capital. 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. the words russia and putin cropped

up in the election campaign almost as often as trump and clinton. and as the new president takes office, his relationship with moscow will surely come into even 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. coming up, we will have all the

business is with world business report. but have a look at the weather where you are. hello. where the skies have cleared, temperatures have fallen away. that equates to decent sunny spells by day. they have had a great swathe across the north of england, the midlands and wales where it has been leaden skies and murky. come further south and we have seen this sunshine. that equates to a cold start. —6 —7 in southern counties and —3 when you get the gaps in the cloud in scotland. widespread frost to start the day. watch out for slipperiness. we get into a murky affair across the north of wales, north midlands and the southern half of scotland including the central belt. further north, they will be a hole in the cloud. there will be a bit of frost, a bit of mist and fog but at least

sunshine as the morning gets going. more folk across scotland will see more sunshine but the good news for wales and the midlands, at last, at last, after all of the murky days, you will see some sunshine. it doesn't do a lot for the temperatures but i hope it will lift the spirit. where you have the clearance of the skies, you will end up with a frosty start to your weekend. high pressure is still there. a lot of cloud to the east of the british isles and widespread frost and maybe fog as well. a bit hit and miss with the sunshine, especially the south—western quarter. a fair amount of cloud. rain to the eastern part of the pennines and maybe some in scotland. for those fixtures, we suspect more sunshine than not, come south of the border for the premier league fixtures and the north—western quarter, there could

be a lot of cloud. more in a way of cloud for many more people on sunday. having said that, there could be sunny spells, again, not doing that much for the temperatures. the weekend, a lot of dry weather around. sunny spells on saturday and chilly by day and night. as we get into the start of the coming week, there may well be something of an issue with fog. we'll be keeping in an eye on it at the moment because the high pressure will sit right over the top of us. not too much to stir up the atmosphere. take care, goodbye. this is bbc world news. the headlines: donald trump has promised to unify americans and create the kind of change that hasn't been seen in the country for decades. there've been large—scale celebrations in washington, hours before mr trump is officially sworn in as the a5th president at noon local time on friday. more than 30 are still missing after an avalanche hit a mountain

hotel in central italy. two bodies have been recovered so far. rescuers have been working through the night to find those who remain unaccounted for and say they haven't given up hope of finding survivors. west african troops have moved into the gambia in support of the country's newly sworn in leader adama barrow.