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: jobs trump the environment — the new president overturns barack obama's ban on two controversial oil pipelines. "grave concern" — the head of the un criticises israel's plans for 2,500 more settlement homes in the occupied palestinian land in the west bank. the british government vows to press on with brexit, despite the country's highest court ruling that parliament must vote first. the oscars shortlist is revealed. and the winner of the most nominations ever received is la la land. hello.

donald trump has reignited several major environmental disputes in the us. he's flexing the powers of the presidency, using executive orders to sign into action moves to re—launch some controversial oil pipelines. they'd been held up by the obama administration out of concern for the environment and native american lands. mr trump says the projects will create jobs, particularly in the us steel industry. our north america editor jon sopel reports. i am, to a large extent, an environmentalist, i believe in it. but it's out of control. the key word there seems to be "but", as another day brings another set of executive actions that aren't exactly music to the ears of the green lobby. from now on, we're going to start making pipeline in the united states. we build it in the united states. we build the pipelines. we want to build the pipe. we're going to put a lot of workers, a lot of steelworkers back to work. and from former vice—presidential candidate, sarah palin, this tweet, "drill baby, drill."

these two pipelines will each stretch over 1,000 miles, one going from canada, in the north, down to the gulf coast in the south. the other would stretch across four states to illinois and will create thousands ofjobs along the way and be a major boom for the oil industry. when barack obama was president there was a huge amount of prevarication and hand—wringing over what to do about the keystone xl pipeline, the president then trying to balance his green credentials with his desire to providejobs. for donald trump, in his second day in office, no such qualms. for him, everything is about putting americans back to work. but criticism has been swift. president trump's decision today to green light these dirty oil pipelines proves one, that over the next four years he will side with the oil and gas industry over public health, the environment and every day americans. and the move is certain to upset native americans whose opposition

to the dakota pipeline was strenuous and, ultimately, successful last yea r. they object to it, saying it will contaminate water supplies and disturb ancient burial grounds. and though this executive action has been signed, this is probably going to end up in the courts and so, in the short—term, this move is likely to create more jobs for lawyers than construction workers. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. protests over the pipeline plans have already begun, with demonstrators gathering in new york and washington dc, among the hundreds of people gathered at the protests were representatives of the indigenous environmental network, which says it will continue to orchestrate civil disobedience in defence of native american rights. jane fonda, who was vocal about both the danger of oil spills and the president himself. i call him that the "predator

in chief" and i say we must never normalise him, we must never legitimise him. he did not win the majority of american votes and it was an election that was interfered with by foreign. . . by russia and there was a lot of fake news and he should not be legitimised. several prominent us republicans have rebuked president donald trump for repeating his assertion that he lost the popular electoral vote to his rival, hillary clinton, because nearly three million people voted illegally. the speaker of the house of representatives, paul ryan, said the president should drop the unsubstantiated claims. but his spokesman, sean spicer, reiterated that mr trump continued to believe the allegations. the republican senator, lindsey graham, said mr trump's comments were inappropriate for a president to make without proof. i wasn't there but if the president of the united states is claiming that 3—5, 3.5 million people voted illegally, that shakes confidence in our democracy. he needs to disclose

why he believes that. i don't believe that. it is the most inappropriate thing for the president to say without proof. al gore walked away based on 500 or 600 votes. richard nixon lost a very close election. we're talking about a man who won the election and seems to be obsessed with the idea that he could not have possibly lost the popular vote without cheating and fraud. there's been strong criticism to the announcement by israel that it plans to build 2,500 more settlement homes in the occupied west bank. the israeli defence ministry says that most of the new homes would be in existing settlement blocs, including ariel and givat zeev. however, a government breakdown of the plans shows large portions of the new homes will be built outside existing blocs. the defence ministry said the move was in response to housing needs. with more, here's our correspondent in jerusalem, mark lowen. this is the second time in the space

of a week that the israeli government has announced more building in settlements, 2,500 homes to be built in occupied... ..the occupied west bank and over the weekend there was an announcement that over 560 new homes would be built in settlements in occupied east jerusalem. both of these announcements coming after the inauguration of donald trump. a feeling here that the israeli government is feeling emboldened, even encouraged by the new administration in the us to build more in the settlements after the relationship between israel and the us under barack obama plummeted partly over the issue of settlement building. mr obama was fiercely opposed to the settlements, he allowed a un resolution to pass last month condemning israeli building in the settlements but donald trump, his son—in—law, and his pick for us ambassador to israel have all donated to the settlements and clearly are going to take a much more pro—israeli policy. but there's also a feeling this is being done partly for domestic

political consumption because the prime minister here, benjamin netanyahu, is facing a big challenge here from the far right. so he's trying to burnish his right wing credentials by choosing an issue that will go down well with nationalists, ie settlement building. now, the issue of settlements is so contentious because it violates international law according to the un and it's being built in areas that the palestinians want for a future state that are going beyond israel's borders according to the 1967 border demarcation. that was mark lowen. the un considers the settlements to be illegal. and a spokesperson for un secretary general, antonio guterres, has released a statement saying: a spokesman for the palestinian president said

the move would promote terrorism and extremism. palestinian officials said the plans undermined the hope for peace. translation: we consider all settlements illegal and they have to be removed. there are clear international resolutions by the security council and most recently the resolution which states the settlements are illegal with international concensus. this decision needs to stand from the international community and we will never agree for this government to continue all its crimes and aggression towards the palestinian people. president donald trump has previously indicated he will be more sympathetic to settlement construction than former president obama. but the white house press secretary wouldn't be drawn on whether mr trump supports this latest expansion. israel continues to be a huge ally of the united states. he wants to grow closer with israel to make sure that it gets the full respect that it deservers in the middle east.

and what he is going to do, as i mentioned yesterday, we are going to have a meeting with prime minister netanyahu and we will continue to discuss that. the uk's supreme court has ruled that the government must consult parliament before triggering the procedure to leave the european union. a referendum injune produced a narrow majority for brexit. ministers have promised this ruling won't delay the process and will introduce a bill within days. christian fraser reports. democracy, said abraham lincoln, is the government of the people, by the people, for the people. beneath his statue outside the supreme court, today, they were debating that very issue. the ruling, when it came made clear the court was not trying to frustrate the vote to leave the european union, the judgement would only determine whether government could start the brexit process without parliamentary consent. today, by a majority of 8—3, the supreme court rules that the government cannot trigger article 50 without

an act of parliament authorising it to do so. the government then defeated but the ii judges also had to decide whether westminster can take this decision alone. 0r whether the devoilved governments of wales, scotland and northern ireland should also have a say. 0n the devolution issues, the court unanimously rules that uk ministers are not legally compelled to consult the devolved legislatures before triggering article 50. the verdict was welcomed by the former attorney general, dominic grieves, who told me that irrespective of how people had voted lastjune, this was a good day for parliamentary democracy. i always took the view that the idea that you could trigger article 50 without a vote of parliament was an extraordinary thing to do because it effects so much primary legislation that parliament itself had enacted. and i was not surprised with the decision of the high court and i'm not surprised by

the decision of the supreme court, which seems to me to robustly stand—up for our historic liberties. having promised to trigger article 50 by the end of march, the ideal solution for the prime minister to this ruling would be to putjust a single line of draft legislation before the parliament for peers and mps to rubberstamp. short, simple, difficult for opposing mps to amend, except government lawyers have been advising the prime minister that if she skimps n the details now, she could be exposing herself to future legal challenges somewhere down the line. nonetheless, the government is going to take that risk, confident that for now mps will support the timetable they set out. this will be a straightforward bill. it is not about whether or not the uk should leave the european union — that decision has already been made by the people of the united kingdom. in exchange for their support, the opposition will want guarantees of a meaningful vote at the end of the process. while scottish nationalist do not

rule out a second referendum on scotland's independence. the decision is looming for scotland. are we prepared to allow our future to be dictated by a westminster government that's going down a path i think the majority people in scotland do not want to go down or are we going to take our future into our own hands. the westminster parliament is sovereign, says the court and only parliament can change the law. ultimately they have underscored the very foundation of britain's unwritten constitution and, as abe would say, this important unwritten constitution and, as abe would say, these important principles are inflexible. stay with us on bbc news — still to come... after a huge row last year, the oscars gets a lot more inclusive. we look at the films that make it the most diverse nomination list for a decade.

the shuttle challenger exploded soon after liftoff. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of the demonstrators. they were using the word "revolution". the earthquake singled out buildings, and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours pass. the new government is firmly in control of the entire republic of uganda. moscow got its first taste of western fast food, as mcdonald's opened their biggest restaurant, in pushkin square. but the hundreds of muscovites who queued up today won't find it cheap, with a big mac costing half the day's wages for the average russian. this is bbc news, i'm mike embley.

the latest headlines: president trump has signed executive orders to relaunch two controversial oil pipeline projects in the us. he says they will create a lot of american jobs. the head of the un has expressed grave concern at israel's announcement of 2,500 more settler homes on palestinian land in the occupied west bank. this year's 0scar nominations are the most racially diverse in years. seven of the 20 candidates in the acting categories are from ethnic—minority backgrounds. leading the way with 14 nominations, equalling the record for a single film, is the critically—acclaimed musical la la land. 0ur arts editor will gompertz reports. # someone in the crowd could be the one you need to know #. there is nothing hollywood likes more than a film that puts it centrestage. so no great surprise la la land, the musical about two wannabes making their way in tinseltown, has 14 nominations, including damien chazelle for best director

and ryan gosling and emma stone in the best actor and best actress categories. # look into somebody‘s eyes #. it will get a run for its money from moonlight, barryjenkins‘s coming—of—age drama, which gets eight nominations, and sees mahershala ali getting a nod as best supporting actor and a crack—addled naomie harris one for best supporting actress. some boys chased him and they cut. he's scared more than anything. i'm trying to explain it to you the best way i know how. she will be up against viola davis, who puts in a powerful performance in fences, directed by and starring denzel washington, who is nominated in the best actor category. i've got a life, too. who the hell is private darce? along with american—british actor andrew garfield, as the heroic conscientious objector in mel gibson's hacksaw ridge. well, that's some of the runners and riders. kate muir, you're the times film critic. pick us some winners, starting with best picture? has to be la la land.

it's completely in a league of its own. it's glorious, it's romantic, it's dancing on air, but there's also the cinematic craft there. ok, best actor? has to be, i think, casey affleck in manchester by the sea. it's a real nuanced performance. he's like an unexploded bomb. so not andrew garfield? no, hacksaw ridge is not our thing, i don't think. ok, best actress? i would really like to see natalie portman win this forjackie. i think it's a cool, elegant, clever performance. meryl streep‘s not going to get it, then? absolutely not. ok, best supporting actor? i would like to see mahershala ali win this for moonlight. he's playing a drugs kingpin, but against all odds, he's tender, he's fatherly. it's quite a surprise. best supporting actress? i would like naomie harris to win this for britain, for moonlight. she's usually miss moneypenny. here she is playing a crack—addicted mother. it's a great surprise. i think it will be viola davis.

and then, finally, best director? damien chazelle really, really deserves this for pulling all the stops out on la la land. last year's awards were dominated by the oscars so white campaign. the 2017 shortlist is more diverse, but we can still expect politically charged speeches, with the name donald trump likely to crop up. will gompertz, bbc news. earlier i got the latest on the favourite, la la land, and all the nominations from peter bowes in los angeles. it's certainly the local favourite, you can probably see why. it's an escapism movie. a lot of people around here are saying, look, everyone's been a bit depressed recently. last year wasn't a fantastic time for some people. let's just go to the movies and have a good time, and this is undeniably a fun movie. it's quite a light, romantic story, boy meets girl.

the story isn't particularly deep. there's some great music in it, and there's lots of escapism. it's a modern—day backdrop of los angeles, harking back to the golden days, the more simple days, shall we say, of hollywood from the 1950s and ‘60s. and one or two people, i think, wishing that the times today could be a little bit more like they used to be a few decades ago. and they really did shut a freeway, for real, and he really did learn to playjazz piano for real. just quickly, too, meryl streep, another record for her, whether she wins or not. yes, florence fosterjenkins is the film she is in. she's nominated now for the 20th time. she broke the record that was previously set by meryl streep. she was already the most successful actor of all time, in terms of oscar nominations, so she now has her 20th. it's a great performance in this film, and a difficult task she had, and that was to play an opera singer who was tone—deaf, and couldn't sing, a really awful singer. true story, the real singer didn't

know she was so bad, and meryl streep just absolutely nails it. it's not that easy to sing badly, when you actually can sing. and peter, diversity, of course, the big issue again this year, but that's at least in a good way. how much is this to do with the academy being substantially revamped since last year? well, i think it's a little bit to do with that. it's difficult to say, and we really need to look at this long—term. we can'tjust say, in one year, because we have these seven actors and actresses now nominated in these key categories, that everything is ok. and, if you think about it, the films that have been nominated this year were already being made last year, some have been on the cards for several years, so they were already in production. now, yes, the fact that the voters are a little bit more diverse at the motion picture academy might have helped some of those actors and actresses get nominated, or maybe not. let's just see what's happening in five or ten years‘ time, in terms of diversity, the kinds of roles that are created for black actors and actresses,

and for other ethnic minorities as well. and peter, you must have known you would be asked for your 0scar tips. who are your little men going to? well, if i were an oscar voter, and i'm not, i would choose lion. now, this is the film that dev patel stars in, the british actor. i think it's a fantastic film. it's about a young british boy who gets lost in calcutta, thousands of kilometres away from his home. he then gets adopted by an australian couple, the mother played by nicole kidman. she's nominated for an oscar. it really tugs at your emotions. it's quite a ride, and i think people have been to see this movie, not quite expecting how it would affect them emotionally. and the fact that it is a true story, that the human being actually went through what the character portrayed by dev patel portrays, i think, is quite extraordinary.

the french president has been meeting leaders of columbia's largest rebel movement, the farc, in the west of the country. francois hollande offered support for the search for the disappeared. a court in china has jailed a woman and her daughterfor in china has jailed a woman and her daughter for selling vaccines without a licence. she was sentenced to 15 years, her daughter was sentenced to six years for assisting her. the vaccines have been sold around china since 2011. an annualfestival where people buy miniature representations of their hopes and aspirations has been taking in bolivia. the festival in la paz sees people from the aymaran tradition come and buy doll—sized houses and cars, in a hope that the god of abundance will help make their dreams come true in the coming year. catriona renton takes up the story. the ideal home, with a luxury car, and money, lots of it. at the festival of alasitas, in la paz, the aymaran people are dreaming big,

buying miniature versions of all the things they would like to have in the coming year. these toads, symbols of wealth. and roosters, some women believe they will bring them a husband. once they have bought what they hoped for, they are then blessed by priests, and make offerings of cigarettes and alcohol to ekeko, the god of abundance, in the hope that these symbols may one day become reality. translation: i have always received this blessing from the father. may he bless me with a house, money, work, and good health. originally, when the festival began, people exchanged symbols representing good harvest and food. now it has evolved. this year there is a new lucky charm, tiny water tanks, as bolivia has been suffering its worst drought in 25 years. translation: this is the little fortune house here, made of wood and glass. this house has a small water tank because, in bolivia, we are suffering water shortages. we ask the god of abundance

and the virgin that we may have water in these tanks in our houses. people will keep these symbols of their wishes in their homes all year, as a reminder. but, it is said, for the blessing to really work, you can't buy anything for yourself. instead, you must receive the miniatures as gifts. japan has named its first home—grown sumo grand champion in almost two decades, in a boost to the traditional wrestling sport. 30—year—old kisenosato was promoted to the topmost yokozuna rank after his win in the first tournament of the year. mariko oi has more. there is some flash photography in her report. sumo is japan's national sport, dating back hundreds of years. wrestlers are ranked, and the ultimate goal is to become a yokozuna. but there hasn't been a japanese wrestler to reach the sport's highest rank in nearly two

decades, until this guy. kisenosato becomes the 72nd yokozu na in history, joining three others who are actively competing in tournaments. translation: i'm physically fit, and i'm eager to go further. ifeel i'll get stronger and stronger, as i consider this a new start. the head of the sport's association, which decides about the promotions, says it is a deeply emotional time. translation: we felt that kisenosato would continue to do well, and therefore is fit to become yokozuna. in the last 19 years, five wrestlers, one american samoan and four mongolians, were promoted to be yokozuna. the hope is kisenosato's promotion would boost the sport's popularity. a reminder of our top story: president trump has signed executive

orders intended to relaunch two controversial oil pipelines in the united states. the keystone xl pipeline to carry oil from canada to the us gulf coast was rejected by barack obama in 2015, after years of protests. construction on the dakota access pipeline was halted amid huge protests in december, to allow re—examination of its impact on water resources and sacred native american sites. protests have restarted in new york and washington, dc. much more on that and all the news any time on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello. wednesday will start quite windy across northern and western parts of the uk, but foggy again.

and that forum could be dense in places as well. so check the situation before you head out. so some dance, freezing fog patches around here but too much went towards the west of the uk for any fog to start off on wednesday. where we have the figures filed with the lowest temperatures overnight, that is how we start wednesday with frost in places that frost could make things a little bit icy on some untreated surfaces. look at the strength of the winter the far south—east of england in the western pa rt south—east of england in the western part of wales to begin the day. could see a few fog patches into the welsh marches, into yorkshire. for scotla nd welsh marches, into yorkshire. for scotland and northern ireland are distinct the breezy, quite windy, gusty start to the day. plenty of clout and some patches of light rain and drizzle around piccadilly and in the western parts of scotland. that should fade and come back again later in the day, continuing with

gusty winds. just a few brighter spells here and there. sunnier areas through south—west england, wales into northern england but cloudy picture was that fog with into south—west england and east anglia compared to tuesday and it will feel colder as a result. getting to 10 degrees in western isles. as we go through wednesday night and into thursday, just switching the wind direction a little bit, still from the south more than the and that means we draw up the south more than the and that means we draw up across the south more than the and that means we draw up across the uk quite a raw feel of a from the freezing near continent, and that will have an impact on how it feels on thursday. variable cloud, some sunny spells, a few flurries to begin the day the few spots, maybe a little bit icy in some spots as well. frosty as well but with that wind, displayed in the sunshine a day will feel like it is at or below freezing for many areas so cold, raw feeling down thursday. still quite chilly across eastern parts of the uk on friday. the west on friday more cloud coming in, start to see a few showers around and that looks like giving an unsettled start to the weekend. there is little weather

disturbance comes our way and especially as part of england and wales at the start of the weekend, there could be some heavy downpours around. we will keep you updated on that. suddenly looks quieter, mind you. more of us get to see some sunshine and although less chilly by the weekend, still be scope to get some overnight frost, and still some fog patches around at times as well. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. the british government has confirmed it will begin the formal process of leaving the european union by the end of march despite wednesday's supreme court ruling that parliament must have the final say on triggering brexit. president trump has signed executive orders to relaunch two controversial oil pipeline projects in the united states. he says they will create a lot of american jobs. both schemes were blocked by barack obama, amid large—scale protests by environmentalists and native americans. they have restarted their demonstrations. the israeli government has approved plans to build 2,500 more homes on occupied palestinian land in the west bank. it's the second such announcement since president trump took office. palestinian officials say it

will fuel extremism and make any peace deal more difficult. now on bbc news, panorama. legal highs — they're the drugs that have been causing havoc for nearly a decade. police, police! people thought because they were so—called legal highs as opposed to the dangerous substances that they were, that it was legitimate to take them. linked to 20k deaths in 2015. it was only like a 10% chance of survival. they thought she'd be brain damaged. they have devastated life after life. i started dabbling in it and then i ended up hooked on it and then i lost everything. death comes to mind when i hear the word "legal high". britain has the largest legal—highs market of any country in europe.

in may last year, the government passed a law banning them, hoping to stop a problem that was getting out of control. jack's been identified by cctv and suspected of dealing and selling new psychoactive substances.