a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's tom donkin. here's our top stories: president trump fulfils another campaign promise and signs an executive order authorising tough new vetting procedures of immigrants to the us. britain's prime minister theresa may becomes the first world leader to visit the new us president and reaffirms their backing of the nato alliance. today we've reaffirmed our unshakeable commitment to this alliance. mr president, i think you confirmed that you're 100% behind nato. more international help has been arriving in chile to help the country fight the worst wildfires in its history. and hundreds of millions of people across asia and around the world are marking the start of the lunar new year. president trump has signed an executive order to limit

immigration from some muslim—majority countries to the united states. this includes a ban on syrian refugees, until the administration is able to toughen procedures to screen them effectively. mr trump's authorised new vetting procedures for immigrants entering the united states from certain countries, though it's not immediately clear which countries are included on that list. he said it was intended to keep islamic extremists out of the us. i am establishing new vetting measures to keep radical islamic terrorists out of the united states of america we don't want them here. we want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas. we only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love,

deeply, our people. we will never forget the lessons of 9/11 nor the heroes who lost their lives at the pentagon. they were the best of us. i'll be speaking to the american civil liberties union about what these measures could mean, a little later in the programme. donald trump also ended his first week as us president with a promise to maintain the special relationship with britain. hosting his first foreign visit with the british prime minister theresa may, mr trump said the two countries were, what he called a "beacon for prosperity and the rule of law." mrs may said they had reaffirmed their unsha keable commitment to nato. rajini vaidya nathan reports from washington. attention! a week since he took office, president trump welcomed his first foreign leader to the white house. british prime minister theresa may, who came to power after

the brexit vote in the uk last year. both new to theirjobs, both keen to strengthen the much lauded "special relationship". the pair took a moment to pose next to a bust of winston churchill, which president trump had removed. —— which president obama had removed. it's an honour to have him back. and a special reminder of what this special relationship stood for. this new political couple seemed enamoured with each other at times, but behind the handholding are some serious differences. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and the prime minister... those divisions were highlighted in the first question the bbc asked him. mr president, you've said that torture works, you've praised russia and you said you want to ban some muslims from coming to america and suggested there should be punishment for abortion. for many people in britain

they sound like alarming beliefs. what do you say to our viewers at home who are worried about some of your views and worried about you becoming leader of the free world? i suppose that was your choice of a question? there goes that relationship. what about america's relationship with russia? with sanctions punishing moscow's actions in the uk. we will be talking about the sanctions very early. we believe they should continue until we see the minsk agreement fully implemented and we have continued to argue that inside the eu. the news conference also showed how far president trump is prepared to go to please his british visitor. he once said nato was obsolete. not any more. today we reaffirmed our one checkable commitment to this alliance. mr president, i think you confirmed you are 100% behind nato? a win for the british pm, but the real price she came

for was a promise of a trade deal with the us after the uk leaves the eu in brexit. we are discussing how we can establish trade negotiation agreements, take forward high—level talks and lay the groundwork for uk—us agreement. with brexit, i think it will go down that it will end up being a fantastic thing for the uk. i think it will be a tremendous asset, not a tremendous liability. thank you very much. the president ended by saying this relationship would be fantastic. his dealings with other nations haven't gone as well this week but the may—trump partnership has got off to a good start. well, theresa may wasn't the only foreign leader president trump was busy talking with. he had an hour—long phone call with mexico's president, to try to resolve the row over who will pay for mr trump's plans for a wall along the mexican border. and in an indication of the new administration's views on the contentious issue

of abortion, the us vice—president has indicated that mr trump will ensure his choice for the supreme court is anti—abortion. the bbc‘s north america editorjon sopel reports. forget theresa may's visit to dc. the big public event was a demonstration by tens of thousands of pro—life campaigners, demanding a toughening of abortion laws. this is an annual event, but the people who turned out feel they are on the cusp of bringing about a major shift in us social policy. they feel they have a president in tune with them. sings badly off key perhaps more in tune than the woman brought in to sing the national anthem. president trump has made clear he wants a conservative pro—lifer to fill the vacancy on the supreme court. he sent his vice president along to address the crowds. the most senior government representative ever to speak to the group. this administration will work with congress to end taxpayer funding of abortion

and abortion providers. we will devote those resources to healthcare services for women across america. life is winning again. but winning over mexico to pay for the border wall is proving more difficult. yesterday's bizarre war of words on social media between the two presidents ended with the mexican head of state pulling out of a trip next week to washington. today, twitter diplomacy was replaced by the more old—fashioned kind. speaking privately. at the news conference, tellingly, no mention of the wall and who was going to pay for it. we are no longer going to be the country that does not know what it is doing. and, so we are going to renegotiate our trade deals and we are going to renegotiate other aspects of our relationship with mexico. and in the end i think it will be good for both countries. it's hard to believe that it

has only been one week since the inauguration of president trump, such is the pace at which events have been unfolding. his first meeting with a foreign leader completed, a whole raft of executive orders. there seems to be no letting up in the pace. a short time ago the president went to the pentagon to meet his most senior commanders, to discuss the change of strategy and intensification of the fight against so—called islamic state. he also oversaw the swearing—in of his new defence secretary, james mattis. the former general is anti—torture, a russian sceptic and pro—nato. for those reasons, a figure of considerable reassurance to the long—standing allies of the united states. let's talk now to david willis in washington, and our correspondent

in mexico city — will grant. to go with you, david. where shall we start? it has been a busy day in washington but let us talk about the executive order signed at the pentagon. what detail have we had on this executive order about what it means for people trying to enter the united states? this confirms the report that emerged here earlier in the week that president donald trump is pushing ahead with perhaps one of the most controversial aspects of his campaign for president— his promise to basically clamp down on immigration from countries deemed to be harbouring terrorists. what he has done is put a temporary ban on the entry to the united states of refugees, an indefinite ban on the entry of syrian refugees to the united states and a moratorium,

effectively, on citizens from seven middle eastern and african countries with links to terrorism from entering the united states. what the us wants to do is to basically get a uniform system of vetting, one which it can effectively supervised and have more confidence in before allowing any of these citizens from those countries to come to the united states. it is all about, as he said, keeping america and the people of the country safe. david, it was a busy day but it will be busy on the weekend as well when he is due to talk to world leaders among them, vladimir putin. at a press c0 nfe re nce among them, vladimir putin. at a press conference today he said he hoped they would have a fantastic relationship. and, you know what? there have been those in the inner circle who have suggested that he may come in because of that phone call, the amenable to lifting some

of the sanctions that were imposed under the obama administration. economic sanctions on russia for incursions into the ukraine. that is something that theresa may, the british prime minister, very strongly urged against. she said that the us should be cautious in its dealings with vladimir putin and mrtrump, of course, its dealings with vladimir putin and mr trump, of course, on the campaign trail has been far more praiseworthy and open to the prospect of greater dialogue with russia, particularly in regard to combating the threat posed by islamic state. speaking of phone calls, mr trump spoke to the leader of mexico today. the two men have decided not to publicly discuss the contentious issue of financing the contentious issue of financing the border wall, hoping to sell the behind closed doors with their diplomatic teams. exactly. and the

fa ct diplomatic teams. exactly. and the fact that they are not discussing it publicly does not mean it has gone away. it does mean that perhaps it will sort of drop down the headlines a little bit because it was becoming so a little bit because it was becoming so toxic. the idea that the mexican president will cancel a trip to see the incoming president of the united states when these two neighbours are just so important towards each other‘s economies and have an important strategic relationship, including for cross border security and the drug war in mexico that is partly funded and armed by guns from the united states travelling south. money travelling south from drugs sold in the united states, there are so sold in the united states, there are so many issues for these two gentlemen to disgust and things became so toxic between them over those tweets that they could not be in the same room. i think their diplomatic teams are trying to turn the page on this. thank you very much for that. in other news this hour: the head of facebook,

mark zuckerberg, and his wife, priscilla chan, say they have dropped a lawsuit in hawaii that would have forced locals to sell small pieces of inherited land on the couple's private estate. mr zuckerberg said he regretted not taking the time to fully understand the cultural and historical significance of the land. the colombian government and farc rebels have announced a plan to eradicate vast tracts of coca leaf, the raw materialfor cocaine. the programme aims to offer farmers monthly payments if they voluntarily destroy their crops and give loans to plant alternatives such as fruit trees. more international help has been arriving in chile to help the country fight the worst wildfires in its history. colombia and mexico have sent emergency teams and russia has provided a plane capable of carrying tons of water. thousands of homes have been destroyed and authorities are investigating if some of the fires were started deliberately. greg dawson reports. beneath the rising plumes of smoke

you have a sense of the scale of what is now one of the biggest emergencies in the history of this country. forests incinerated, towns destroyed and lives lost. the fire service is so overwhelmed that residents are service is so overwhelmed that residents a re left service is so overwhelmed that residents are left protecting their homes with hoses and bottles of water. over 100 fires are still raging, aided by high winds and dry conditions. with services so stretched, teams of firefighters have arrived from colombia with mexico also providing reinforcements. earlier in the week, the biggest fireflies in playing in the biggest fireflies in playing in the world arrived on loan from the us. russia is sending a similar aircraft. the president of chile discuss plans on how to put out the fires and admitted that authorities in investigating whether or not they we re in investigating whether or not they were started deliberately. translation: i met with the heads of

intelligence to see how far we have gotten in finding those responsible and the causes of these fires. because of the multiple locations we can not rule out a component of intention. we are following this strongly. the damage has left thousands without a home with many forced into temporary shelter like this school. others are sleeping in vehicles, clinging to what they have left. but on friday came a reminder of those who have lost much more. funerals were held for a firefighter and a policeman, killed as they tried to tackle the flames. at least ten people are now known to have died, but with so few of these fires under control it is a number that is likely to keep rising in the coming days. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: there have been celebrations around the world to mark the start of the lunar new year. 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.

the latest headlines: president trump has signed an executive order authorising tough new vetting procedures of immigrants to the us. more on that story now: joanne lin is a senior legislative counsel with the american civil liberties union in washington, and i'm happy to say shejoins me now. very good of you to join us. your organisation described this executive order mr trump signed as discrimination against muslims. explain that a bit more. yes, thank you. iam explain that a bit more. yes, thank you. i am delighted to be here. the american civil liberties union strongly condemns the trump executive order today. and he has 110w executive order today. and he has now delivered on his long stated promised to block muslim refugees and immigrants from the united states, and he is doing that by targeting two categories of muslims.

first, refugees who are in search of protection, and secondly immigrants coming from seven muslim majority nations, and those countries iran, iraq, sudan, syria, libya, somalia, and yemen. and this is astonishing, that on international holocaust remembrance day, which is today, that on this very day president trump is shutting down the us refugee programme for four months, and is indefinitely ending the syrian refugee programme. this is a dark, shameful day in american history. and what sort of action will you be taking against the? your organisation has also called this action unconstitutional. yes, so the american civil liberties union is closely looking at this trump exclusion order, and we believe it raises several constitutional problems. in the us constitution, the first amendment enshrines protections, and those freedoms of

religion and freedom of speech and expression. and if you look at the trump exclusion order, among other it shows a clear preference for christian refugees over muslim refugees. and that is quintessential religious discrimination, if the government shows a preference for one religion over another. that strikes at the heart of the american constitution's first amendment, and the aclu will be closely looking at that. the second constitutional problem that the trump order may raise concerns freedom of expression and speech. among other things, the trump exclusion order imposes a potential values or ideological test for people entering the united states. the order specifically says that people should be banned if they do not support the us government, which in this case is the trump administration, or they do not support the us constitution. now, think about that. think about if your viewers were boarding a flight

at heathrow, and they were asked by at heathrow, and they were asked by aus at heathrow, and they were asked by a us customs border patrol official whether or not they support the us government's policies. that is what today's order contemplates, and so the aclu will be closely looking at how this order is implemented, to see if an actual ideology or values test gets imposed. it is a difficult one, isn't it? because while many people call dissemination, like yourself, many people in america believe mr trump and think these orders and these new procedures are necessary to combat terrorism. orders and these new procedures are necessary to combat terrorismlj think necessary to combat terrorism.” think americans strongly believe in the need to be safe, at americans also strongly believe that people should bejudged based on their conduct, not raced on the colour of their skin or the god that they worship. and what president trump has done today is he has imposed categorical bans on certain muslim majority countries, and on refugees,

and by doing this he is actually saying we are going to block a significant chunk of the muslim and arab world from entering the united states. that is an american. what i think is american is what the statue of liberty represents, a beacon of hope, and freedom. a country that has long had a history of welcoming and protect him refugees and immigrants. and what the trump exclusion order is designed to do is to foist blatant religious and ethnic discrimination, under this veneer of enhanced national security. thank you forjoining us and giving us that information on the new executive order mr trump has signed today. thank you forjoining us. hundreds of millions of people across asia and around the world are marking the start of the lunar new year. the year of the rooster officially began in china. fireworks, fresh flowers, lion dances, and of course lots of food will be part

of the celebrations for many. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. the lunar new year was rung in 108 times at the central belltower in beijing. at the fireworks were a little subdued. the authorities worried about the environmental effect in a city regularly cursed with smog. on the streets, people

did set off firecrackers, making the best of things. translation: i think for the lunar new year, which should bea for the lunar new year, which should be a traditional holiday, it is better when we set off fireworks. in my hometown, everyone says of the fireworks. it creates a better mood. but there was plenty of razzmatazz on state television, a huge gala for -- 4.5 on state television, a huge gala for —— 11.5 hours long, featuring singing, dancing and celebrities, traditionally the most watched programme on chinese tv. but this isn't just china's new programme on chinese tv. but this isn'tjust china's new year. it is the lunar new year, celebrated by east asian communities around the world. a time for families, friends and looking to the future, all hoping the year of the rooster will bring fortune and happiness. and let's show you how some of the

british press is covering theresa may's visit to the white house. the saturday editions are out, and as you can see, her relationship with donald trump is filling the headlines. this is the independent. its headline is trump backs brexit to seal special relationship. and this is the daily express. it has a photo of donald trump holding theresa may's hand, under the headline "hand in hand, united we stand." the daily telegraph uses the same photo, and has the headline "hand in hand, the happy couple." it says may and trump have shown that opposites do attract. it is a similar story in the daily mail, "love in at the white house". the mirror, it is the same photo. under the headline "i wanna hold your hand," the paper says "touchy—feely donald trump" held theresa may's hand,

as he promised to form a special relationship. and the times carries the headline "trump blesses britain", with the president pointing to the bust of winston churchill in the oval office. the bust had been moved to another room during the obama era. a reminder of our top story. president trump has signed an executive order to limit immigration from some muslim majority countries to the united states. this includes a ban on syrian refugees until the administration is able to toughen procedures to screen them effectively. mr trump has authorised new procedures for immigrants entering the united states from certain countries, though we don't know yet what countries are on that list. and you can get in touch with me on twitter. i'm @tomdonkinbbc. hello there.

the weather is on the change as we head through the course of the weekend. we are tending to lose the bitter cold that has been with us, so things gradually turning milder. it was a tranquil friday evening in kingston—upon—thames, as you can see captured by what one of our weather watchers, this image looking across the thames. but we are getting rid of the cold air that has been with us for some time. that is clearing off into continental europe, milder air spilling in from the atlantic, and with that milder air we also import some weather fronts, too. the first of the weather fronts bringing some wet weather through the course of saturday, and then we are set to see further weather fronts spreading in during sunday, particular towards the south. now, we start saturday morning, and we've got quite a lot of rain around, also a little bit of snow over the hills in the north. there could be some icy conditions, too, particularly across parts of northern ireland, scotland, into north—west england, so watch out for some patchy ice in the north first thing saturday. further south is that bit milder,

where we have got all the cloud and the outbreaks of rain. as we move through the day, then, many central and eastern parts of the country keep their fairly damp picture, whereas towards the west we will start to see brighter skies working in, and scattered showers as well. so this is around 3:00pm saturday afternoon. a few scattered showers over hills in the south—western end. sunshine likely otherwise up towards the midlands. still quite cloudy towards the far south—east and east anglia, with a few spots of rain, and a similar picture across northern england. but i think for northern ireland and for the west of scotland, a return to sunnier spells and a few showers, that could be a bit wintry over the hills of scotland. moving through the course of saturday night, after that rain that we will have seen on saturday, could turn a little bit cold and icy once again, so do watch out for sunday morning, first thing. there could be some frost, and some ice around, too. a chilly start to the day. by 10:00am, some sunshine in scotland, still a few showers in the west. northern england also seeing a good deal of sunshine. looks like that rain will push in across northern ireland,

wales and southern england, too. now, moving through sunday, this area of rain associated with a frontal system works its way gradually eastwards across much of the country. some uncertainty about exactly how far north it gets. it looks like scotland should avoid most of the wet weather, and temperatures between around four to ten degrees. it is looking that bit milder than it has been for the past week or two. heading in towards monday, once we lose the first front from sunday, we will start to see another front working in from the west. but before it gets there, actually, many places having quite a good deal of dry weather through the course of monday. with the south—westerly breeze, temperatures much milder, plenty of us into double figures, but more unsettled and wet weather on the way as we head into much of the week ahead. bye for now. the latest headlines from bbc news: president donald trump has signed an executive order that will limit immigration and refugees from some muslim—majority countries. mr trump promised the measures, called "extreme vetting" during the election campaign. he said it was aimed at keeping radical islamic terrorists out of the united states. the british prime minister theresa

may has become the first foreign leader to hold talks with the new us president at the white house. they talked for around an hour, before emerging to make statements and take questions from journalists which covered terrorism, trade, russia and mexico. mrs may said both leaders had reaffirmed their commitment to nato during their meeting. she said they are united in their recognition of the transatlantic alliance and spoke of mr trump's "100% commitment", despite his recent comments where he dismissed nato as obsolete. coming up next, the week in parliament.