a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is tom donkin. our top stories: the british actor sirjohn hurt, who was twice nominated for an oscar including for his performance in the elephant man, has died at the age of 77. 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. and hundreds of millions of people across asia and around the world are marking the start of the lunar new year. first we start with some breaking news, that the legendary british

actorjohn hurt has died. he was 77. he'd recently been battling pancreatic cancer. john hurt‘s career spanned more than six decades and encompassed many memorable roles in films as diverse as the elephant man, alien, 1984 and harry potter. most recently he played a priest, in the oscar—nominated film, jackie. nick higham looks back at his career. everything seemed to come to a head today... john hurt as a political diarist allan clarke. both my black teeth have disintegrated into blackened stumps or stalactites. a complex characterjohn hurt played with such ease and subtlety. his talent was spotted early in a succession of leading stage and television roles. his first big breakthrough came

in 1966 in a man for all seasons. will a small part, but in a high profile, oscar—winning film. i will be getting a newjob shortly, i should wonder. they have asked me if i would like to train as a manager or a managing director. a few years later he was starring opposite richard attenborough in 10 rillington place. would you have to learn to read and write for that? no, you'll have secretaries and things like that. he played the illiterate timothy evans, wrongly hanged for a murder he didn't commit. on television he was the mad roman emperor caligula in the bbc‘s i, claudius. you ordered no triumphs! of course i ordered no triumphs! do you think i ordered triumph for myself? you ordered us to not order any.

and you took me at my word?! and then came the naked civil servant. i wear rouge and mascara on my eyelashes, i dye my hair and wear flamboyant clothes. you say you are homosexual. iam homosexual, irretrievably. he played the notorious and flamboyant quentin crisp. it was a defining moment in his career. i didn't put on any of my usual make—up... but people said it was a brave part to take on. but there's my hair and my fingernails. many people said, "don't do that, you'll never work again", but i said it wasn't about being homosexual, it was about the tenderness of the individual against society. he earned an oscar nomination for midnight express in which he played a heroin addict

in a turkish prison. and another oscar nomination for his performance asjohn merrick in the elephant man. i'm not used to being treated so well... ..by a beautiful woman. like quentin crisp, merrick was an outsider, ostracised by society. his lined and weathered face meant he was perfect in the film 1984 as george orwell‘s reluctant rebel. odds or evens? evens. no, i've got only 1p in my hand. he took all the film and television parts he was offered, although that meant stage appearances like this were rare. that's something no one can advise you on.

butterly or racehorse, you walk like... he remained in demand as the years passed. he played stephen ward. i could do wonders with you. you're my future selves! later in his career he made a guest appearance in doctor who. why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? his distinctive voice was once described as a mixture of honey and acid. loving the posh gravelly thing. quite convincing! few actors were this busy, with almost 200 screen roles in total. few were as reliably and engagingly reachable.

i wasjoined by i was joined by andy moore earlier. an incredible actor with a career spanning six decades. so many roles and spanning six decades. so many roles a nd insta ntly spanning six decades. so many roles and instantly recognisable face and voice as well. what role do you pick out? his breakthrough role in the 19605 out? his breakthrough role in the 1960s in a man for all seasons? as quentin crisp in the naked civil servant? the elephant man? who could forget the monster bursting out of his stomach in alien? he was mr leva nt his stomach in alien? he was mr levant in the harry potter films. he was nominated for two academy awards but never actually won an award, surprisingly, bearing in mind his career. he was nine to do in 2015 for services to drama and was due to be on the london theatre last year —— he was knighted for services. in 2015 he was diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer but it seems that was because of his death. was married four times. he was the son ofa married four times. he was the son of a vicar but he did not believe in the afterlife. at one stage he said that of his death that he would have the courage to say here we go, let's become different molecules. he was a chameleon in his roles, wasn't he? i remember watching him in the story teller, where he played an amazing character. the reaction coming in thick and fast as well from hollywood and around the world. mel brooks has said that no—one could play the elephant man more memorably. the actor elijah wood is sad to hear of his passing. from another hollywood actor, alfred malina, so sorry to hear of his passing. a talented actor, one of the best of this or any era. we have

also heard from stephen fry who calls it terrible news. great on the stage small screen and big. a great friend of norfolk. we understand thatjohn heard had been living in the county of norfolk. 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 on the 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 various 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. that was president trump at the pentagon. joanne lin is with the american civil liberties union in washington. she said the executive order amounts to discrimination. the american civil liberties union strongly condemns the trump 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 are 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 forfour 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 this? 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 are religion and freedom

of speech and expression. and, if you look at the trump exclusion order, among others, 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 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 it discrimination, like yourself, many people in america believe mr trump, and think these orders and these new procedures are necessary to combat terrorism. i think americans strongly believe in the need to be safe. but americans also strongly believe that people should be judged based on their conduct, not based 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 un—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 protecting 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. 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 obama had removed. it's a great honour to have him back. and it's a great 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 divides were highlighted in one of the first questions

the president was asked by the bbc. 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 those 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? this was your choice of a question? there goes that relationship. and what about america's relationship with russia? would the sanctions punishing moscow's actions in ukraine be lifted? it's very early to be talking about that. 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, said prime minister may. today we reaffirmed our unshakeable commitment to this alliance. mr president, i think you confirmed you are 100% behind nato? a win for the british pm, but the real prize 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 a uk—us trade agreement. when i thought brexit, i think it will go down that it will end up being a fantastic thing for the uk. i think in the end it will be a tremendous asset, not a tremendous liability. thank you very much. the president ended by saying this relationship would also 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. 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: the british actor sirjohn hurt has died after a battle with cancer. he was twice nominated for an oscar including for his performance in the elephant man. he was 77. president trump has signed an executive order authorising new vetting procedures to limit immigration from some muslim—majority countries to the united states. more on the death ofjohn hurt and stephen dave alstead is the executive editor of a magazine in la and hejoins executive editor of a magazine in la and he joins us executive editor of a magazine in la and hejoins us now. thanks for joining us. it's a sad day for the film industry, john hurt such a

quintessentially british actor but i'm sure there's been some sadness when you are? i think the sadness is universal universal because i'm sure he was loved in every corner of the world. 205 credits between film and tv, he liked to work. a director once told me there were two types of actors, those who hated and loved acting and john hurt was the latter. we know through his many varied roles that you had a certain dinner with him, tell us about the man? he was the quintessential english gentleman. when i met with him 15 yea rs gentleman. when i met with him 15 years ago of course it was a joyful thing for me to be able to sit down and have a conversation with someone iadmired as and have a conversation with someone i admired as a great artist and he was just a very humble, decent fellow. he did recall his early days and reminded me... john's first

credit is 1962 and he was in a man for all seasons with paul scofield in 1966. most people know him from probably 79 on through alien but he started so early, he was part of a rabble raising group of actors in the uk who liked to drink and have fun. a lot of them did not make it to the extent of life that he did. just an incredible gentleman and then working through his filmography, it reminds me of so many great directors he worked with. one last point, his work right up until today was so fantastically rich with great directors, little movies that you will find, not the big blockbusters like alien that he was known for, but he made a movie a couple of years ago called only

lovers left alive. here's another thing that is a jewel for us, he just played neville chamberlain in a movie with gary oldman that hasn't come out yet. he popped up in so many films. he part of oliver oliver reed, peter o'toole, he was one of the greats, what was his quintessential role for you? he was not afraid to tackle big characters. quentin crisp i think was a true breakthrough about 13 years after he started he played quentin crisp in the naked civil servant on british tv, that really established him and it was only a few years later that ridley scott put him in alien and the whole world knew him. of course the elephant man. i like the fact he was ina the elephant man. i like the fact he was in a samba can the film. i loved his work in heaven's gate. there is

no coincidence that great directors with great vision is used from mike john hurt because he never let them down. you can't find a bad john hurt performance for my money. —— great vision is used john hurt. he had the softest a nd vision is used john hurt. he had the softest and tenderness. he was in a movie early on that is really comic and wonderful and he plays a very naive youth. a bit of an obscurity. he can then go and play caligula and he can play absolute villains. he worked wonderfully in spy films, it wasn't that long ago he did the remake of tinker tailor soldier spy. there was something i pay can mysterious about him but he wasn't guarded. the quality ofjohn hurt was he was mysterious and he was

sort of elusive but he was accessible. that's the mark of a great actor. he had that very distinctive look. he was always great actor. he had that very distinctive look. he was alwastohn hurt but he was never the same guy into movies. he will be sorely missed. john hurt has died at the age of 77. steven gaydos, the editor of variety magazine on the line for us of variety magazine on the line for us from la. 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. but the fireworks were a little subdued, the authorities worried about the environmental effects, 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 be a traditional holiday, it's better when we set off fireworks. in my hometown, everyone's setting off fireworks. it creates a better mood. but there was plenty of razzmatazz on state television, a huge gala, 11.5 hours long, featuring singing, dancing and celebrities, traditionally the most—watched 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. tim allman, bbc news. a happy lunar new year wherever you're watching in the world. and you can get in touch with me on twitter. i'm @tomdonkinbbc. we'll be back soon with the latest headlines.

hello. well, while some of us were shivering on thursday, for others, for example across the north of scotland, it was remarkably mild. a day of contrasts. we're kind of getting back to normal. most of us will turn less cold. a bit of a breeze, some sunshine, but there will be some rain around as well. we are losing the continental feed, which brought most of us a very cold day on thursday. starting to drag the cold air in from the atlantic, hence the rising temperatures for the majority. but we start the day with a hard frost, one or two freezing fog patches, and the odd shower as well, which could cause some icy stretches. should be a dry start across wales. that fog up over the high ground, but that will be lifted, and the temperatures will be on the rise. above freezing for northern ireland, rain knocking on the door of the west of the province. a frosty start for most of scotland, and here i think it is set to be a largely dry day, with some sunshine. heading our way down across the borders into northern england, cold with a hard frost.

some freezing fog patches, for sure, in the morning, so watch out for those. i mentioned the odd showerjust building in the eastern counties, for a time, in the morning. so the risk of one or two icy stretches, but temperatures slowly rising above freezing down across southern england and into the south—west. we should be above zero. a dry start, but some showery rain lies in wait out west, and this band of showery rain will start to push its way slowly eastwards across northern ireland and into the far south—west of england, perhaps the far south—west of wales. another little area of showers pushes up across southern england through the afternoon as well. further the north and east it stays dry, but that chilly air holding on for one more day. just two degrees in newcastle, milder, though, across many southern and western areas. as we head through the evening and overnight, so it gets a bit messy. there will be areas of rain pushing their way northwards and eastwards, some quite heavy, actually, some quite wet, actually. a period of snow across high ground in particular. the temperatures could dip,

late, close to freezing. but for most of us, actually, it will be a frost—free start to the weekend. saturday, then, starts with cloud, with some patchy rain continuing to move northwards and eastwards. behind that it turns brighter, but also with some showers, and one or two of those showers could be wintry up over high ground. it might not be as cold as it has been for most of us, double figures in a few southern areas. that milder theme continues into sunday. we could see an area of rain pushing into southern areas, however, how far north that gets is open to question. the best of the brightness on sunday will be further north across the uk. milder than recently. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm tom donkin. the british actor sirjohn hurt has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. he was 77. he was twice nominated for an oscar and was famous for playing a variety of roles in films including 1984, the elephant man and midnight express. he also appeared in the harry potter series. 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 islamist 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. 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