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: just like he said in the campaign, president trump prepares to enact restrictions on muslim immigration and measures to build a wall with mexico. grave concern. the head of the un criticises israel's plans for 2,500 more settlement homes on occupied palestinian land in the west bank. the british government promises it will press on with brexit despite the ruling from the country's highest court that parliament must vote first. the oscars shortlist is revealed. and equalling the record for the most nominations ever received is la la land. hello. president donald trump is reportedly preparing to sign several executive orders aimed at

restricting immigration. us media say he will sign an order tightening security along the mexican border. he'll also be seeking tougher visa regulations. he tweeted that wednesday would be a big day for national security. more from david willis in washington. david, you have more detail? we do, mike. it's starting to look as though it could be a big few days as though it could be a big few days as far as the trump administration is concerned with immigration certainly. it was a signature issue of president trump, then candidate trump, on the campaign trail. he talked of course of building that wall along the border with mexico and he talked at one stage of banning muslims from the united states, only to basically row back on the second proposal in favour of

a form of what he called extreme vetting. now, tonight he tweeted: big day planned on national security tomorrow, among many other things we will build the wall. during a visit to the department of homeland security later today, he is expected to signa security later today, he is expected to sign a number of executive orders. indeed he is expected to signa number orders. indeed he is expected to sign a number over the next couple of days related to a tightening of the immigration situation here in the immigration situation here in the united states. dealing principally with the wall tomorrow and furthering progress on that. and then following that later in the week acting on a pledge to halt access to this country for refugees until such time as the authorities have been able to thoroughly vet them, and also a temporary ban on access to citizens from seven african and middle eastern countries, all of them predominantly

muslim. now, of course that's going to be quite controversial as far as some immigrant groups are concerned. they argue that at no time other than the present has the situation in syria been as desperate as it has been and the need for refugees to be taken in by countries like the united states has never been greater. also it is illegal under the us constitution to discriminate in terms of religion. so it's likely the trump administration will put this in the context if you like of the need to fight the threat of terrorism in this country. david, thank you very much for that. sounds like we'll hear more soon enough. earlier mr trump 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: 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 thing, 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. there's been strong criticism of 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. so the palestinians have reacted furiously, a spokesman that was mark lowen. well, 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. we consider all settlements illegal

and they have to be removed. there are and they have to be removed. there a re clear 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 consensus. this decision needs a stand from the international community and we will never agree for this government to continue all its crimes and aggression towards the palestinian people. donald trump has indicated he and his new appointees will be more sympathetic to settlement construction than barack obama. 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. this week marks six years

since the popular uprising in egypt which ousted president mubarak. after decades in power, a key moment in the arab spring. the current leader, abdel fattah al—sisi, seized power in a military coup, and was elected president ten months later. he's now fighting against an islamist insurgency, but as our middle east correspondent 0rla guerin reports, mr al—sisi has been accused of crushing dissent. president abdel fattah al—sisi, a middle eastern leader of the old school, who soared to power with the help of the military. president trump already seems to view him as a brother in arms. he says he's waging war on terrorism here, critics say he's also waging war on dissent. we met one of the casualties of that conflict, mahmoud muhammed hussein, who's 21. he says every step is a reminder of dark days behind bars. here's what can happen to those

who oppose the president, police firing on unarmed demonstrators with live rounds. this was the anniversary of the revolution three years ago, the day of mahmoud's arrest. he says he was on the streets to celebrate the revolution, not to protest. his crime was wearing this t—shirt with the slogan, "a nation without torture." translation: i was abused at the checkpoint where i was arrested, then they transferred me to the police station. i was electrocuted on my private parts, they kicked me with their military boots and hit me with sticks. every one of them knew i was there because of the t—shirt. they believed this was a personal insult to them, so they beat me. he says they made sure to beat his leg, which was already injured. and this, combined with medical neglect,

left him reliant on a crutch. mahmoud was charged with attending a banned protest and joining a terrorist group, which he denies. he was held without trial for over two years. since his release, he has received death threats, but he refuses to be silenced. translation: in egypt, my rights and the right of thousands of others like me are violated just for dreaming or hoping forfreedom. their destiny is prison or death. that's not going to stop me from speaking out or caring for thousands like me. mahmoud seeks refuge in drawing. the authorities deny there is systematic torture here, but say there may be individual cases. he says he and others will keep trying to craft a better future for egypt. 0rla guerin, bbc news, cairo. stay with us on bbc

news, still to come: after last year's huge row over oscars so white, they are more inclusive this year. we look at the films on 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. my name's mike embley. the latest headlines — one main headline this hour: president donald trump is reportedly preparing to sign several executive orders aimed at restricting immigration, including along the border with mexico and from several middle eastern countries. 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 11 judges also had to decide whether westminster can take this decision alone. or whether the devolved governments of wales, scotland and northern ireland should also have a say. on 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 grieve, 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 on 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've set out. this will be a straightforward bill. it's 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 nationalists don't rule out a second referendum on scotland's independence. i think 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 that 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've underscored the very foundation of britain's

unwritten constitution and, as abe would say, these important principles are inflexible. christian fraser reporting there. this year's oscar 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 1a nominations, equalling the record for a single film, is the critically—acclaimed musical la la land. our arts editor will gompertz reports. # someone in the crowd could be the one you need to know #. there's 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 1a 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'd 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 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 just 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 that she's 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. an annualfestival where people buy miniature representations of their hopes and aspirations has been under way in bolivia. people from the aymara tradition come to the festival in la paz to buy doll—sized houses and cars in the hope that the god

of abundance will help 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 hope 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 harvests 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. well, good luck. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you for watching. hello.

wednesday will start quite windy across northern and western parts of the uk, and continue that way. whereas into parts of southern england, the midlands, east anglia, it is troublesome fog once again. some freezing fog patches at that, dense in places. and that could be having an impact on travel again, so check the situation before you head out, you can see the fog showing up here. but, if you are in scotland and northern ireland, you can see the wind arrows indicating a strong, quite gusty wind in places, keeping the fog at bay. that is also into the far west of wales and the far south—west of england. where we have the thickest fog is where we have the frost as well, and that could be giving the icy stretches on untreated surfaces. look at the strength of wind, though, into the far south—west, into the western parts of wales. could be a few fog patches into the welsh marches, into a few spots in yorkshire. it is a windy picture through scotland and northern ireland, north—west england, too. plenty of cloud around, could be quite drizzly in places first thing. now, as we go on through the day, the fog will gradually lift into low cloud, but a cloudier, colder—feeling day into east anglia and the south—east

compared with tuesday. some brighter skies, though, into much of south—west england, wales, parts of northern england, keep a fair amount of cloud in northern ireland and scotland. a largely dry picture, but some outbreaks of rain coming into northern ireland and scotland late in the day, and gusty winds. 11 degrees in stornoway, ten in belfast. just six, though, in london. now, as we go through wednesday night, there will be a frost developing again for many of us. and just a subtle shift in the wind direction, connecting with colder air freezing continental europe, means we draw in some colder air to the uk for thursday, and quite brisk south—easterly winds, so it is going to feel quite raw. there could be a few snow flows around the beginning in some spots, a few icy stretches, too. many of us will improve the sunny spells. it won't help the feel of the weather on thursday in that brisk south—easterly flow, as temperatures for some will struggle to get above freezing, and if you add in the impact

of the wind, it will feel like it is below freezing, for that raw feel on thursday. not quite so chilly on friday, but still chilly, definitely, down the eastern side of the uk. towards the south—west we bring in more cloud. the risk of getting a few showers as we go on through friday. that is a bit of a change heading into the start of the weekend. a weather disturbance coming our way. still a lot of uncertainty about the detail, but that could bring some heavier downpours into parts of england and wales at the start of the weekend. sunday, at the moment, looks quieter, more of us dry. so a risk of some showers, at least to start the weekend. some sunshine around. less chilly at the weekend, but still the scope for getting some overnight frosts, and some fog patches around, too. that's it, bye bye. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. the british government has confirmed it will begin the formal process 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. 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. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with me, zeinab badawi, from the swiss resort of davos, where my guest is one