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: putting pen to paper. donald trump signs an order to build his border wall and says mexico will end up paying. in his first interview since taking office, the president insists torture works, but there's unease in the intelligence community. chile suffers its worst wildfires in half a century, the us sends the world's biggest air tanker to help fight the flames. and mary tyler moore, the groundbreaking american television and film star, dies at the age of 80. president trump has been outlining how he plans to make good on two of his controversial campaign pledges. he's promised 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 signature pledge is now one step closer to reality. with a stroke of his pen, the new president ordered the construction of a great wall on the mexican border. it would begin, he said, within months. a nation without borders is not a nation. beginning today, the united states of america gets back control of its borders. we're going to get the bad ones out. the criminals and the drug deals and gangs and gang members and cartel leaders. the day is over when they can stay in our country and wreak havoc. strengthening and extending

the existing barrier on this frontier will be hugely expensive. mr trump has always insisted that mexico will pay, but mexico says it won't and the president now admits american taxpayers will have to cough up first. so who will pay for the wall? ultimately, it will come out of what's happening with mexico. we're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon and we will be in a form reimbursed by mexico. so they'll pay us back? yes. absolutely. 100%. so the american taxpayer will pay for the wall at first? all it is, is we'll be reimbursed at a later date. but here in a mexican border city of tijuana, business leaders are worried about the impact on trade and sceptical about the president's plans. the problem is that the majority of americans are not really familiar with the border and, consequently the idea of a wall seems to be appealing. we already have one.

we call it the tortilla curtain, 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 united states and president trump has always said he wants to build a much taller, a much better, much bigger wall, stretching all the way from here, nearly 2,000 miles to texas. # this land is your land. # this land is my land... but even in liberal california there's backing for president trump's hard line on immigration, not least from these supporters who call themselves the trumpettes. i think it's a good thing. you know, i always say my scriptures ezekiel 22:30, "i sought for a man who build a wall." i was reading that the other day and it just stuck out in my spirit because we need protection, and i pray for america and i pray that god will shore up the border of our nation. as well as the wall,

president trump is promising to deport immigrants who commit crimes, to cut funding to states like california which refuse to arrest most illegal aliens and to hire 10,000 more enforcement agents. his actions are bold, sweeping and intensely divisive. james cook, bbc news, on the us—mexico border. in a moment we can get the latest from mexico and the bbc‘s will grant but first to washington and david willis. were expecting a video message from the mexican president in the next hour or. this was one of his key campaign pledges, a lot of people voted for him on the strength of this. there had been suggestions it might not be an actual wall, perhaps drones policing part of the border. he has certainly set up expectations here for something that is an actual wall, steel, perhaps brick, certainly concrete, starting within

months. can it happened, can it be funded? all very good questions, mike, but to return to your central point, any suggestion of donald trump when he suggested building a wall during the campaign was not speaking literally has been basically put to rest. he's going ahead with it on his third day, jumpstarting this project which he says will get under way in the next couple of months with funding initially from the american taxpayer. a down payment if you like from them. but ultimately paid for by mexico, the mexican government has said for its part," i don't think so". as you mentioned, we're expecting the video statement from the mexican president, enrique pena nieto, in the next hour. he is due to visit washington in the next few days and this will only serve to drive a wedge you would have thought between the two leaders very early

on in donald trump's presidency. will, mexico says it will not pay, it will never pay, there are ways it could be obliged to buy a border tax, by tapping in some way the remittances that immigrants sent home possibly through a renegotiation of the north american free trade agreement? -- send. it seems like it will be something along those lines that will be this mechanism by which donald trump refers to the idea of mexico paying for the border wall. if you speak to anyone in this country at the moment, and i literally mean from the presidential palace to the shopfloor of the factory in a car plant somewhere in central mexico, and you pretty much get the same a nswer and you pretty much get the same answer when it comes to this walk. mexico has no intention of paying it, ordinary mexicans have no intention of paying it so how is mr trump going to square this idea with

enrique pena nieto? ps under a great deal of pressure over his domestic handling of this issue and mr trump —— he's. mexicans want to see him a lot more strong, a harder position from him when it comes to negotiating with mr trump and they're not seeing this so far. we're expecting this video message from him and we will see whether or not he continues to go to washington as planned or he calls the whole thing off because the wall, the announcement of the war has changed things so drastically. it is all still up things so drastically. it is all stillup in things so drastically. it is all still up in the airfrom a mexican perspective. we're expecting to hear from him in a video message fairly shortly. it didn't go well the last time they met? it didn't. it really did have an impact on mr pena nieto's standing domesticly. his approval ratings are the lowest of his time in office and some of the lowest ever seen by a mexican president certainly over the last 20 oi’ president certainly over the last 20 or 30 years. so he is a very

embattled president at the moment, the last year or so of his time in office and it stands to colour absolutely everything he has done while he's been in power. it is going to be a complicated situation fighting for many mexicans. it's not even so fighting for many mexicans. it's not even so much about the wall themselves, although that is a very ugly themselves, although that is a very symbol themselves, although that is a very ugly symbol of division with the united states, it's about everything else that might be tied up with this, the renegotiating of nafta and the difficulty exporting products to the difficulty exporting products to the us, the fact families will be torn apart or it will be harder to visit each other. it's all looking very complicated, as we've been saying, for such an early part of this bilateral relationship. david in washington. there surely has to bea in washington. there surely has to be a question over whether congress will give him the money to do this even initially, there isn't $10 billion in the budget for this. looking at the latest figures, it suggests the flow of people northwards across the border has

come to a stop over the last couple of years. the border is already effectively closed. that's right. there are those who say basically this is a folly as far as a policy is concerned and it is much too expensive and it will take much too long to build and it won't ultimately be affected. it is all pa rt ultimately be affected. it is all part of these hard—line measures that donald trump has come up with in order to combat illegal immigration and there are reports that he is set to announce a temporary ban on refugees coming into this country, and also much tougher visa restrictions on citizens from seven muslim and middle eastern countries. so this is something that the president basically staked his claim for the presidency on during the campaign, and he's now looking to quite aggressively follow through with. david and will, thank you both very

much. well, if that wasn't enough news coming from the white house on wednesday, president trump has also been talking about waterboarding, saying that it work‘ when it comes to interrogations. but he added that he would defer to his cabinet on when to use it, including his new cia boss mike pompeo. the bbc‘s katty kay spoke earlier to leon panetta, who served as both head of the cia and the defence department under president obama. my my view is that when president 0bama in his executive order said that we would not continue in harms procedures, that we would not engage in torture, that that was a very important step for this country to ta ke important step for this country to take because it was a symbol to the rest of the world that we're going to dear to rest of the world that we're going to dearto our rest of the world that we're going to dear to our values and what we believe in. so i think that that is the proper course for the united states to take. to go back on that, to resurrect all of those procedures again, ithink to resurrect all of those procedures again, i think would be damaging not

only to our image in the world, i don't think it would be effective in terms of our ability to protect the security of our country. in other news: 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. jihadist fighters in libya have lost one of their last remaining strongholds in the country's second city, benghazi. forces loyal to the military leader say they've finally driven local islamist militias out of the district of ganfouda. usain bolt‘s been stripped of one of his nine 0lympic golds because a team—mate has been found guilty of doping. nesta carter was pa rt of the jamaican quartet that won the men's ax100m relay at the 2008 games. a giant super tanker aircraft on loan from the united states has arrived in chile to help tackle the worst wildfires in the country's modern history.

a state of emergency has been declared in a vast area south of the capital, santiago. chile's president ordered extra funds and resources to fight the fires as people called for help to save their homes and animals. sarah corker reports. in the tinder dry conditions, the fla mes in the tinder dry conditions, the flames spread quickly, sweeping through forests, farmland and towns across a vast area of southern and central chile. in the region here, one of the worst affected areas, 4000 properties have been evacuated. people fled as their homes burnt. this is what's left of a tractor, a car, a neighbourhood. smouldering ashes all that now remain here. translation: it got here in seconds, ina translation: it got here in seconds, in a second, and the wind blew and blue like a demon had entered the

community. last week the country declared a state of emergency. so far 85 fires have destroyed almost 2000 square kilometres. the chilean president came to meet evacuees. translation: there are several families that were affected, losing everything. the decision for them to evacuate was hard because they wa nted evacuate was hard because they wanted to stay and fight the fire until the end. they also want to know what support they'll get from the state. from the ground and from the state. from the ground and from the air, firefighters tried to control the flames. international help has come from france, peru and mexico and on wednesday the world's biggest firefighting plane arrived on loan from the united states. the country's famous vineyards haven't escaped either. the fires causing irreversible damage. translation: our evaluation is catastrophic from

the point of view that it is not only direct damage to the vineyards that are totally burnt, but the great palm lists that have also been affected. some of the fires may have been started intentionally, the president said, and there have been a number of arrests. four firefighters have died and officials warned 35 fires are still out of control. sarah corker, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we love the hindus. we love india! making friends in asia, why donald trump is hoping to forge a strong relationship with india. 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: 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 giant super tanker aircraft on loan from the united states has arrived in chile to help tackle

the worst wildfires in the country's modern history. more on our top story, president trump's order for a wall to be built on the mexican border. drjoshua meltzer is a senior fellow in the global economy and development program at the research group brookings institution. mrtrump is mr trump is saying that he hopes congress will give the money to build the wall but then will be negotiations between the us and mexico is? we are seeing a change from the campaign when he insisted he would build the wall and mexico would pay for it. essentially we are going to build a while and get mexico to rhian verse it. it is not clear how that is going to happen. i do think congress is likely to authorise the release of funds for

some type of ball. paul ryan, the speaker of the house, has indicated as much. it could be a billion—dollar pricetag. as much. it could be a billion-dollar pricetag. there are have been suggestions he may raise money by a border tax, tapping remittances or demanding payment as a pre— requisite for a new trade treaty, what do you think of that?|j think treaty, what do you think of that?” think they are all possibilities. the us is a significantly larger country than mexico. they could use political and economic pressures on the president to agree to that. but the president to agree to that. but the counterpoint is that, certainly,

fall resident enrique pena nieto with low approval ratings, and the sentiment in mexico that they should absolutely not pay for these, any move to pay for a wall would politically be negative. his state enormous amount of political credibility in his ability to get mexico to pay. in a way he has weakened his position. he is more exposed? i think that is right. there is a lot of political capital invested in mexico paying for the wall. it is more exposed because the mandate was not that the taxpayer paid for it. so he will have to

deliver some type of result. the challenge will be for some countries to give the president a win on this but to do it in a way that is political saleable in mexico. he's signed off on the building of a wall on the mexican border and next he's expected to suspend the issuing visas to several, predominantly muslim, countries. but there's one country that president trump is striving to build close ties with. on tuesday he called the indian prime minister, narendra modi. it follows a campaign in which he strived to garner support from america's hindu community. rickin majithia, from the bbc asian network, reports. we love the hindus. we love india. he may have come under criticism for his state is on minorities in america but there is one group he looks after. he addressed the

republican hindu coalition. they donated nearly $1 million to his campaign. he's to introduce government that is by the people, for the people, of the people and not some special interest groups which benefit only certain groups. despite being an immigrant to the us, he is comfortable with the president's plan to build a wall on the mexican border and his plans to make it harder for muslim the mexican border and his plans to make it harderfor muslim countries to have the people migrate here. they profile customers coming in. security is very essential in the world we are living in. the republican into coalition does not speakfor all republican into coalition does not speak for all american indians. the community has traditionally voted

democrat but some statements have won him some new admirers. we are going to become even betterfriends. in fact, i will take the word even out. there will be no relations more important to us. on tuesday, india's prime minister, narendra modi, became one of the first leaders to receive a call from the white house. considered a true friend and partner. in the months to come, diplomats will be watching closely to see this apparent closeness with new delhi will lead to a change in policy in the region. rescue teams in italy have found more bodies after an avalanche. another five still missing.

how many of us will ever know what it's like to come back to life? on saturday vincenzo forti and giorgia galassi were pulled from the hotel. the couple had been trapped underground for 59 hours. this afternoon we met them at home, they told me what happened when the avalanche hit. translation: it felt like a bomb, i felt glass exploding and it felt as if an entire wall had hit me. somewhere underneath these tonnes of snow and debris, they were jammed together in a tiny space. translation: i looked at vincenzo and i was panicking, the first thing he told me was, we have got to be calm. we just have to wait. i touched him to see if we were ok, if we were injured. we were lucky, we were alive. i thought we would be trapped for a week.

i did not want to tell her. after two days rescuers made contact with them. translation: when we heard a rescuer it was as if an angel was talking to us. as if someone had come to pick us up literally from under the ground. i was born again. it was a miracle. ifeel as if i've been brought to the world for a second time. and this time not by my mum, but by god. they survived, but many others died. a week on, rescuers continue to search for those still missing under the snow. james reynolds, bbc news, central italy. one of the comedy queens of the small screen has passed away. mary tyler moore created not one, but two iconic roles in the 1960s and 70s, and redefined the role of women on tv. peter bowes looks back at her extraordinary life and career. # how will you make it on yourown...# a darling of american television,

mary tyler moore captivated audiences for more than half a century. she started out acting at the age of 17. within a year she was married and pregnant. six years later and divorced she got herfirst big break, playing laura petrie, a wholesome, independent—minded wife on the dick van dyke show. it was the best fun. you just couldn't wait to get to work in the morning and you sort of hated to go home in the afternoon. in 1962 moore married a tv executive, grant tinker, and they formed mtm enterprises. its first tv series was the mary tyler moore show. set in minneapolis at a time when the women's liberation movement was growing, the sitcom was one of america's first prime—time programmes to feature a single working woman. that's just wonderful. in 1980, moore showed her acting abilities extended beyond comedy. buck wouldn't have been in the hospital. that's enough! she played an icy, grieving mother in the film, ordinary people. it earned her a golden globe award

she was nominated for an oscar. mary tyler moore had personal struggles. she battled alcoholism and diabetes and devoted much of her time to raising awareness. i have struggled with my disease and confronted its tyranny every day of my life. in 1983, moore remarried and continued acting in films, on stage and television. she received a lifetime achievement award from the screen actors guild but she will always be remembered for that smile, sense of humour and independent spirit. much more on on the news on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbc mike embley. thank you for watching. 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. the latest headlines from bbc news. my name's mike embley. president donald trump's said his government will immediately start work on building a wall between the us and mexico, as he promised during the election. mr trump said the barrier would deter illegal immigration and drug cartels, adding that the day is over where they could stay and wreak havoc.

president trump has said he believes torture absolutely works, but he would defer to his defence secretary and the director of the cia on whether to reinstate interrogation techniques such as water—boarding. in an interview with abc news, mr trump said the us had to fight fire with fire. a giant super tanker aircraft on loan from the us has arrived in chile to help tackle the worst wildfires in the country's modern history. a state of emergency‘s been declared in a vast area south of the capital, santiago. chile's president ordered extra funds and resources to fight the fires. now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament.