i'm rico hizon, in singapore. the headlines: putting pen to paper — donald trump signs an order to build his border wall and says mexico will end up paying. a high ranking north korean defector tells the bbc kim jong—un‘s grip on power won't last forever. i'm kasia madera, in london. a row down under — there's a brewing backlash over australia day and we'll tell you why. it's been called the vanuatuan romeo and juliet. we'll talk to one of the directors of the oscar—nominated film, tanna. live from studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in washington dc, where donald trump has been outlining how he plans to make good

on two of his controversial campaign promises. he's pledged that construction of a new wall, to run the length of the us—mexican border, will begin within months. he's also signed an executive order increasing the number of staff to patrol that frontier. but the white house has distanced itself from suggestions there could be a return to some of the more extreme security measures which were dropped under president obama. james cook reports. donald trump's vision of a fortress america the new president ordered the construction of the great wall on the mexican border and he said it would begin within months. a nation without borders is not a nation. beginning today, the united states of america gets back control of its

borders. we are going to get the bad ones out, the criminals and the drug dealers and gangs and gang members and cartel leaders. is over when they can stay in our country and recover it. strengthening and expanding the existing barrier on this frontier will be hugely expensive, as the trump says mexico will pay, but mexico says it wants and the president now admits american taxpayers will have to cough up first. ultimately it will come out of what's happening with mexico. we will be starting those negotiations relatively soon and we will be reimbursed by mexico. so they will pay us back? absolutely, 100%. so the american taxpayer will pay for it at first? we will be reimbursed at a later date. but here in this mexican border city, business leaders are worried about

the impact on trade and sceptical about the plants. the problem is that the majority of americans are not really familiar with the border. consequently, the idea of the wall seems to be appealing. we already have one. but the truth of the matter is that, you know, i think that's a symbol. this fence at the pacific ocean is the very start of the land border between mexico and the land border between mexico and the united states and president trump has always said he wants to build a much taller, much better and much eager wall stretching from all the way here nearly 2000 miles to texas. # this land is your land... but even in liberal california, is backing for president trump's hard line on immigration, not least from the supporters who call themselves

the supporters who call themselves the trumpettes. i think it's a good thing. i always say for my scriptures, i sought for a man who built a wall. it stuck out for me today because we need protection and i pray for america and i pray that god will shore up the board of our nation. as well as the wall, president trump promises to support immigrants —— deport immigrants. his actions are bold, sweeping and intensely divisive. we saw injames's report donald trump speaking about the mexico border wall in his first television interview as president. i asked my colleaguejane o'brien if we were any clearer on who will pay for it. i don't think we are, although donald trump says mexico will ultimately pay, although the us will play first and mexico will pay later, mexico is adamant they went pay a penny for this.

so we're not really sure about how this wall will be initially funded because the estimates are it will cost billions of dollars. there isn't billions of dollars in the budget for that so we're really no closer to working out how he's actually going to go about physically constructing this thing. he says it's going to start in a few months. is that going to be a grand brick laying ceremony or something or substantial? we simply don't know. we also heard donald trump talk about torture and his belief it really does work. well, yes. this is a subject that most americans believed to have been put to bed firmly by the obama administration. torture is illegal, there's no question about that. it's a view his defence secretary and his new head of cia also adhere to. so why donald trump would start to reopen this debate at this juncture again is

really not very clear. what he said was that he thinks water boarding, which is one of these enhanced interrogation techniques that have been outlawed, works, he says it does work. but a very important caveat for him is he said that he would defer to the opinion of his new intel chiefs. if they stick to their guns and say it's illegal and they don't advise it then presumably it won't happen. jane, briefly if you would, i know that's difficult, but this executive action to prohibit people coming from seven in muslim countries but it's not a blanket ban against muslims coming into the united states? it's not a blanket ban but it's a ban of muslims from these countries because all seven of these countries are muslim countries. he says he wants much tighter security and much better vetting but it has to be said anyone coming from syria, iran, libya, somalia already faces extreme vetting at the moment so it's difficult to know without any more details what extra

measures he's talking about. so far the markets have reacted positively to donald trump's presidency. the main us share index, the dowjones, has passed the 20,000 mark for the first time. the markets anticipating that president trump's policies will promote economic growth. usain bolt‘s been stripped of one of his nine olympic gold medals because a team mate has been found guilty of doping. nesta carter was pa rt of the jamaican quartet that won the men's 4 x 100 metre relay at the 2008 games. the american television and film star mary tyler moore has died aged 80. she first starred as a housewife on the dick van dyke show in the 1960s, and then on her own series, the mary tyler moore show, in the ‘70s. the actress won seven emmy television awards and was nominated for a best actress oscar

for the 1980 film ordinary people. the pop star madonna is denying reports that she has applied to adopt to more children from malawi. it was said she had expressed interest to adopt. these are old pictures, but the queen of pop is now currently in the african country. but she said her visit was strictly for charity purposes this time. and these dramatic pictures, a truck being cut in half by a train in the us state of utah. flashing lights and bells at the crossing were said to have not worked. fortunately and rather incredibly nobody was killed in this remarkable incident. 80 people were injured, but then again luckily nobody seriously hurt. remarkable! north korea's leader kim jong—un

would be prepared to attack the united states with nuclear weapons, if his survival depended on it. that's what a high—ranking defector has told the bbc. until december, thae yong—ho was a diplomat in london. he's been speaking to our correspondent steve evans about pyongyang's nuclear capability, and what defecting may mean for his family who remain in north korea. my relatives and my brother and sisters' families by now are all sent to remote mode closed areas or prison camps, you know? that really breaks my heart. that is why i'm really very much now determined to do everything possible to pull down north korean regime in order to save not only my family members but the whole north korean people from slavery. if, when kimjong—un gets the bomb properly and missiles to deliver,

is he capable of pushing back button and destroying los angeles? oh, kimjong—un knows quite well that nuclear weapons are the only guarantee for his rule and kimjong—un i think will press the button of this dangerous weapon when he thinks that his rule and his dynasty is threatened to be collapsed. how do you think kim jong—un will end his days?

is he going to die peacefully in his own bed? no. how? i'm sure that kim jong—un‘s regime one day will collapse by people's uprising. what do you miss about britain? your life in britain seemed to me to be very english in lots of ways, you played tennis at a rather nice suburban tennis club. what do you miss about your life there? i really miss that kind of, you know, the life, you know? especially in ealing. and even now i'm really sorry for not saying goodbye to my tennis club. the whole tennis club members were just one family. i still really missed england, the spring, the autumn and you have

this wonderful tennis! thae yong—ho speaking to steve evans. and you can watch steve's full interview right here on bbc news. the north korean defector is being shown on friday 27th january. it's well worth looking out for. britain's last governor of hong kong, chris patten, has said successive uk governments could have done more to help the people of the former british territory in their pursuit of democracy. it's 20 years this year since the territory was returned from british to chinese rule. speaking to the bbc‘s newsnight programme, he says the umbrella protests two years ago brought a new generation of radical young activists, but no new steps towards democracy. look, i feel very strongly that we

let down the parents of this generation of democracy activists. i think it would be a tragedy if we let down these kids as well. what do you mean by that? i meant by the last ten or 15 years of british responsibility in hong kong. i think we should have done more to bed down democracy. we did a certain amount, they don't think we did enough and i think if hong kong had had another five or ten years experience of democracy it would have been much more difficult for the chinese authorities to have rolled it back, as they have done. we are now almost 20 years since the handover and we are still arguing about whether or not in effect beijing should decide who runs hong kong or whether the people of hong kong should decide. that was britain's last governor of

hong kong, chris patten. it's australia day, and that means people across the country are preparing for fireworks parties and barbecues. but there's a growing backlash against the national holiday. hywel griiffith looks at the controversy over what's meant to be a festival of all things australian. it's the day when a nation is meant to celebrate itself. every year australia day lands on the 26th of january marking the landing of the first british fleet here in sydney 229 years ago. it's a public holiday many choose to spend in the pub, at parties, at beaches or at barbecues, however they want to celebrate the australian way of life. it's obviously celebrating how great our country is, how fun it is, how lucky we are to live here, getting together with family and friends. drink a beer, that's what it is, play some cricket. yeah, exact same thing, backyard cricket, barbecue.

it's the day we took over a country that didn't belong to us. for some january the 26th isn't a day they can celebrate, it's become known as invasion day, the anniversary of when australia's aboriginal and indigenous communities started to be oppressed and dispossessed of their lands. some want australia day scrapped, many others want it moved to another day of the year. but is notjust the date that's controversial, it's the question of what should be celebrated too. the australian government says it's about a multicultural immigration nation, but when this advert was put up in melbourne last week, the advertisers received threats and it had to be taken down. the question of what makes an australian is more difficult than ever. one thing is certain, the nation's pubs and bars expect millions of people through their doors. and because australia day falls on a thursday this year, a lot of workplaces are expect it to be follwed by a national sickie day as many people start the weekend early and keep

the celebrations going. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we speak to the director of the oscar—nominated film tanna — a movie with a cast of first—time actors. also coming up, we will be telling you how a children's game led to stardom and fame. 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. and i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: president donald trump has said his government will immediately start work on building a wall between the united states and mexico — something he promised on the campaign trail. a former north korean diplomat has told the bbc he thinks president kim jong—un would be prepared to launch a nuclear attack on america if under pressure.

let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the strait‘s times of singapore highlights the torrential rain which has led to floods in many parts of malaysia. along with a picture of people fleeing their homes, it also reports that the heavy rain has helped raise the level of the linggiu reservoir injohor. the new york times is looking at why there is a decline of people under the age of 18 in the booming city of san francisco. the paper says census data shows the city has the lowest percentage of children in any of the largest 100 cities in america, leading to some residents being alarmed by the low numbers. and the south china morning post has the us president donald trump's latest news conference on its front pages.

along with a picture of donald trump and kim jong—un impersonators touring the streets of hong kong. the paper reports on donald trumps probe into alleged voterfraud — despite there being no evidence. and fake news and facebook are currently sparking discussions online. and it's actually about trending. facebook is updating its ‘trending' feature. along with a number of changes, the company says it will no longer personalise trending topics based on someone's interests. facebook hopes its raft of changes will try and help prevent fake news from appearing in the trending feed. something that's been very controversial since the us presidential elections where people feared fake news on facebook may have influenced voters.

also trending online. with all the fanfare made over the oscar nominations for la la land and lion it was easy to overlook the success of tanna. the remarkable australian movie was shot on vanuatu island of the same name and has a cast of first—time actors. it's now up for best foreign language film on hollywood's most glittering occasion. let's take a look. earlier i spoke to the director of tanna, bentley dean, from melbourne. look, i don't think

you could be as happy as us. it's magic. how does it feel to be nominated in the oscars? look, you know, quite surreal, because it certainly was not what we were thinking when we first approached the tribe to make this film. like, you know, they hadn't even seen a film, let alone acted in one and my co—director and i had not made a feature film, we had no story, there was no electricity. we weren't thinking, "ok, yeah, red carpet, let's book a place at the oscars, in 2017." tanna is based on real events. how did you find out about the story? look, it happened fairly quickly, actually. our whole intention, actually, wasn't to come with a story, in fact it was to help tell a story in collaboration with the community there. after we first pitched this idea and they agreed to it, "yes, come live with us," the very next day, they took us to a meeting

on the other side of the island where there was a conflict attempted to be resolved between all of the tribes. it was over a young couple who were in love and refusing to get married off by the chiefs as was custom. it got to the end of that meeting — it almost broke into a fight — but they got to the end of the meeting and said, ok, you can be together but that tribe still owes us a woman — resolve the whole thing traditionally with pigs and kava. someone came up to us afterwards and said, listen, it was not always this easy in the past. 30 years ago — as recent as that — this would have definitely resulted in death and probably war, except for this one incident of this young couple who defied the chiefs. it ended tragically and changed the course of customs on the island, and that's the story they wanted to tell. would like to bentley dean and

everybody nominated in the oscars. a game of rock, paper, scissors may seem a pretty unusual way for a band to decide who'll sing a new song, but then japan's akb—48 aren't like many other groups. they have well over 100 members, and that means many of them don't get much time in the spotlight. in front an arena full of fans tanabe miku won the honour of singing their new hit by showing a rock over her band—mate's scissors. she's been telling us how much it means to her. congratulations. good morning. wednesday brought with it a day of contrasts. we had sopme beautiful sunshine out to the west, a depicted by this weatherwatcher‘s picture. lucky you. but unfortunately for many across the south—east saw some stubborn fog which lingered all day and made it feel cold. this was fog, good slice of sunshine behind, thicker cloud up into the north—west. and that's going to prevent temperatures from falling below freezing here but elsewhere it is going to be another cold night.

a bit more of a breeze so not quite as much fog around but in rural spots it could be a bitterly cold start to the day, with temperatures down as low as —5 degrees. and it could be a little foggy, particularly to higher ground, and there could be some ice on untreated surfaces, so that's certainly worth baring in mind, and in particularly through pavements. a lot of cloud around first thing in the morning. it's going to be potentially a cold start, but we're dragging in a breeze from the south—easterly direction. it has been a bitterly cold in europe and that is going to make it feel really quite chilly if you are out and about through the day. always out towards the west, the winds will be strong but the temperatures not quite as low but nevetheless it is going to be a windy start to the day and the winds will continue to feature in western areas. a good slice of dry weather around. a fair amount of cloud. eventually, that south—easterly breeze might just allow for some sunshine to come across southern england.

but your thermometer may well say around 1—4 degrees, which is disappointing enough, but add on the strength and that cold source of the wind — it going to feel much colder than that. as we move out of thursday towards friday, the wind direction changes subtly, from a southerly. and it is allowing these weatherfronts to push in from the atlantic, so we start off potentially cold with a little bit of frost, particularly the further north you are, but as we go through the day, these weather fronts will bring some showery outbreaks of rain and eventually some milder air in as well — 8—10 degrees into the south—west, 3—5 in sheltered eastern areas. that marks a change as we move towards the weekend. so something a little less cold but a little more more unsettled. with the weatherfront trying to push in from the west. now, it looks as though we move out of saturday into sunday, there's a potential for more significant rain across southern england. a level of uncertainty just where that front is going to be sitting so keep watching the forecasts. that could bring some wet weather to the south. but double figures, slightly colder, but drier conditions up into the north. the cloud stays with us for the start of a new working week. but also double digits are likely

to stay with us as well — 10 or 11 degrees the high. i'm kasia madera, with bbc news. our top story: president trump signs an order to build a wall along the us border with mexico. mr trump said the barrier would deter illegal immigration and drug cartels. he's restated that mexico will ultimately foot the bill, despite its insistence it won't. a former north korean diplomat has told the bbc he thinks president kim jong—un would be prepared to launch a nuclear attack on america if under pressure. and this story is getting a lot of attention online. facebook is changing its ‘trending' feature and will no longer tailor the section to people's own interests. it will use a more traditional list of the most popular current events. that's all from me now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk:

theresa may says government will publish its plans for brexit in a white paper. the prime minister wants to trigger article fifty before the end