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: breaking news from california — as activists try to block a speech by an editor of the far—right website breitbart. the biggest demonstrations since the fall of communism. romanians take to the streets against a government decree that could see dozens of corrupt politicians freed from jail. the most serious fighting in a long time in eastern ukraine. the head of nato urges moscow to use its influence to control pro—russian rebels. it's 12 months since zika was declared a global health emergency — now scientists think many more babies could be affected. and giving thanks for donald trump, we visit the american city called the buckle on the bible belt, where they love what their new president is doing. we start with some breaking

news from california: we ta ke we take you to live pictures. hundreds of protesters are throwing smoke bombs and flares outside the berkeley student union building where milo yiannopoulos — new editor of breitbart — was scheduled to speak. he's vocal supporter of president trump and a self—proclaimed internet troll. let's cross live to los angeles and speak to peter bowes. as far as you can tell, what is going on here? there is a lot of discontent as you have seen from pictures we are getting from oakleigh. a speech organised by the republican club at the university was due to take place in a couple of

hours. they had anticipated some opposition to the presence of this man who is extremely controversial. he is one of the breitbart editors and a supporter of donald trump. he has some very controversial views. people have been gathering in large numbers. some reports of a building set alight. the latest i heard was that the speech has been cancelled. a polarising figure. breitbart very much in the news and not so much a small website because steve bannan is now a chief strategist for donald trump. he is an extremely important figure in the white house, steve bannan, given roles at some in his

position, along with the highest ranked individual in the military, that kind of level of position people say he should not be doing thatjob people say he should not be doing that job nevertheless he people say he should not be doing thatjob nevertheless he seems to carry a huge amount of weight with donald trump. he was a key part of donald trump. he was a key part of donald trump's campaign. certainly in the latter part of last year. now with a very prominent position in the white house. an equally controversial because of views he has expressed in the past. he seems to be suddenly instrumental in some of the early and controversial moves by the new president. a lot of people still very active and strong feelings. this visit organised by the republican club on campus. they must have known it was going to be

controversial. striking a blow against political correctness as they see the? i am sure this is what we will hear. this individual has a right to speak through the laws of free speech in the united states, as defined in the constitution. he should be given the right to that platform. and if indeed this speech has been cancelled because of the crowd and mob behaviour, that we have seen over the last couple of hours. it does really polarise the situation in america which is already polarise. it is a microcosm this university speech but it reflects in some sense what we see as consequence. thank you very much for that and other events had been

cancelled because of it. police in the romanian capital bucharest have used tear gas against protesters in what it's thought are the biggest anti—government demonstrations since the fall of communism in 1989. they're angry at an emergency decree that decriminalises some corruption offences — they see it as an attempt to free dozens of corrupt politicians. across the country, a quarter of a million people have taken to the streets in severe winter weather — 150,000 of them outside government offices in bucharest. sarah corker reports. in bucharest victory square violence erupted and escalated through the night. in the shadow of the parliament building, was a stand—off between demonstrators and riot police. there is wide—spread public anger across romania over an emergency law which decriminalises a string of corruption offences. translation: we came to protect our country

against criminals who tried to dismiss the rule of law in romania and protect our rights and interests, not their obscure interests. in 55 towns and cities across the country, tens of thousands of people braved sub zero temperatures to demonstrate for a second night. a show of solidarity and frustration. and opposition mps showed their concern. the new decree exonerates public officials of corruption if they involve sums of less than $48,000. the government says it will reduce overcrowding in jails. it is set to become law in ten days. translation: i believe nobody can contest what is legal, what the government can legally do. the government has the power to adopt draft bills and degrees. but the eu warned romania against backtracking in its efforts against corruption.

translation: the federal chancellor angela merkel had expressed very clearly her view that if the fight against corruption is weakened, and the policy of reform too, this would be a very wrong signal. police detained dozens of protesters in the capital. these are the largest anti—government protests for three decades and come just a few weeks since romania's left—wing government took office. sarah corker, bbc news. it is a big protest. people are really fed up with the attempts to dilute the anticorruption policy which has been reasonably successful in the last couple of years. although i think the government is reacting somehow to the vigorous campaign which sometimes has had also some political nuances.

in other words, it seemed that some politicians have been prevented from running for office or being elected because of pending court cases orjudicial investigations and this is now the reaction of this new government, which was elected with a substantial majority and which has hurried in a rather unwise way to simply use a decree to introduce such changes instead of having proper consultations with all the parties involved and having parliamentary debate. it is extraordinary, isn't it, to see this number of people on the streets in this kind ofweather and it does seem the protesters are encouraged partly by the way the government has handled it, partly also by the past — mass protests have been pretty effective previously? yes, it's roughly a year ago when the previous government — which was also a social democratic government —

was toppled by mass protests. but those had to do with a fire at a club and the negligence of the people who should have ensured that such a fire should not break out so easily. but in this case, it is simply indignation at the way in which the government is proceeding. we have a strange situation in romanian. we have on one side a president who is very much backing the opposition and is condemning the attempts to dilutes the laws. and on the other hand, you have the leader of the ruling party and the president of the senate, who is also leader of an allied party in government, who are both underjudicial investigation and are therefore in danger of being prevented of exercusing public office and that is why the leader of the party is not prime minister, he had to appoint somebody else as a prime minister and i think this law seems, this decree seems to be dealing with this problem therefore

it seems to be designated to ease the path for the leader of the party to become prime minister and to get rid of thesejudicial investigations. there's more on the protests in romania on our website. including the latest situation in bucharest, background on the fight against corruption — and a full country profile. the secretary general of nato has urged russia to use its influence with rebels in eastern ukraine to end an upsurge in fighting. jens stoltenberg says a ceasefire has been violated thousands of times in recent days — he calls the spike in violence the most serious in a long time.

things have really hotted up in this town. we have seen several houses that have been hit. if you come through here, they are lucky because, in a way, the house was not hit but actually have a garden shed was. a rocket or mortar has come in and totally flattened it. but we have also discovered that sadly a woman was killed in the morning. we see evidence of that. translation: we think should came to visit us because her daughter lives here. we have nowhere else to go. we have come to this temporary camp and

there is a sea of people here. hundreds queueing for help. translation: i have not seen my children and grandchildren in two years. i cannot sleep at night, i have to hide in the basement and i am scared there. you can see soldiers serving out hot stew for the people. it is a city in need. the people here are sadly accustomed to war. but the situation in the last three days has gotten much much worse. let's take you back to the university campus in berkely. a lot of trouble and still a lot of people there. they have been throwing smoke bombs and flares around the student union building where the breitbart

avatar, milo yiannopoulos, was due to give a speech. it has now been cancelled. hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were there beforehand, saying hate speech was not free speech. but then a group showed up pulling away metal barricades as police were guarding the building. milo yiannopoulos it is fair to say it sees himself as a provocative and an internet troll. others characterise him as a white supremacist, misogynist and an editorfor supremacist, misogynist and an editor for the breitbart website, which used to be that small website, but now the chief is former editor it is now part of the trump administration, steve annan. we will

keepa administration, steve annan. we will keep a night on what is happening there, of course. donald trump's secretary of state has been sworn in. he faces a number of challenges from how to deal with moscow to underestimate middle east and growing tensions in asia. as i enter the responsibilities of secretary of state, and as i serve this president, i serve their interest and will always represent the interests of all of the american people at all times. and again, mr president, thank you for this extraordinary opportunity. more on that, and rex tillerson faced more scrutiny and more opposition than is usual for such an appointment. critics in congress point to his business interests, he's the former head of exxon mobil, and his close ties with russia. more from our washington correspondent david willis. it went in the end 56—43, every republican voting in favour of rex tillerson's appointment, virtually every democrat voting against him.

and this was one of the most contentious appointment of a secretary of state in us history. members of the senate committee, members of the senate i should say, questioning rex tillerson on a range of issues, not least his worldview as a man formerly the ceo of exxon mobil. also whether he had the diplomatic skills to do the job as us top diplomat. and his ties to vladimir putin, former business ties to the russian president. and there was concern as well about foreign policy under the trump administration. especially this ban on people travelling from seven predominantly muslim countries to the us. how will he cope with that? in the end he was confirmed as the 69th secretary of state. the first thing he will have to do when touching the ground is reassuring his staff, many of whom are wobbly, about the travel ban. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: giving thanks for donald trump, we visit the american city called the buckle on the bible belt — where they love what their new president is doing. this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. the ban on the african national congress is lifted immediately, and the anc leader, nelson mandela, after 27 years injail, is to be set free unconditionally. the aircraft was returning from belgrade, where manchester united had entered the semi—final of the european cup. two americans are the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece

of cake. thousands of people have given yachstwoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. this is bbc news. i'm mike embley. the latest headlines: there are angry protests going on at the university of berkeley in california where the editor of right—wing website breitbart is scheduled to speak later. around a quarter of a million romanians have been protesting against a new government decree that's decriminalised some corruption offences and could see dozens of politicians freed from jail. it's12 months since zika was declared a global health emergency, and scientists are only now managing to piece together the impact the virus has on babies born to infected mothers. and it seems many more children

could be suffering health complications than first thought. camilla costa has been to recife in brazil, ground zero of the epidemic, to get the latest. this is zika's devastating consequence. these babies will need help for the rest of their lives. here's the best place for them to get the specialist care they need, but there isn't enough money to help all of them. one of those on the waiting list is jose wesley, he became the face of zika after this photo went viral. a year later, jose is still very small for his age, he has breathing difficulties, trouble swallowing and can't walk. the only way his mother can feed him is through a tube. translation: i come here three days a week, on tuesdays,

wednesdays and fridays. i wake up at 4.00am in the morning and i arrive here at 6.00am because there's no other transport available. then i wait for the doctor. it's very difficult, but it's not impossible. if it's for my baby's health, nothing is impossible. a year after zika was declared a global emergency, doctors believe the number of babies affected could be much higher. i'm with baby mierella victoria, she's is—months—old and she is one of those cases doctors are studying right now. she wasn't born with microcephaly, but later on she showed signs that she too was affected by the zika virus in her mother's womb. her mother thought she had escaped zika's devastating impact, but after a few months something didn't seem right. translation: when the doctor said it was zika, i was really surprised, but also relieved because i had noticed she had motor problems. i wondered why she wasn't developing like other kids. so, from then on, i knew i was wrong, i could treat her with therapy and stimulation.

they call it congenital zika syndrome. even if these babies are born with a normal sized head, they can have poor vision, hearing loss and other disabilities later in their lives. research shows that for every baby with microcephaly, ten others might develop these problems. we still have a lot to learn, but we already know that the microcephaly is just the tip of the iceberg. we expect to determine the risk of early and the later symptoms related to this syndrome. mierella is now getting the help she needs. doctors are rushing to identify the thousands of babies like her who will also require treatment, but the brazilian health system is already struggling to cope with zika's legacy. camilla costa, bbc news, recife. british members of parliament have voted overwhelmingly to give the government a historic mandate — to start the process of leaving the european union. the vote to trigger article 50 of the lisbon treaty was 498 in favour, 114 against.

british members of parliament have voted overwhelmingly to give the government a historic mandate — to start the process of leaving the european union. facebook and its virtual reality unit oculus has been ordered by a texanjury, to pay $500 million in damages to zenimax media, a video game publisher that says oculus stole its technology. but still facebook‘s shares rose on wednesday as the world's largest online social network reported higher—than—expected quarterly profit and revenue, thanks to online advertising. mr trump's supporters say he's keeping the promises he made on the campaign trail. our north america correspondent nick bryant has travelled to the southern state of tennessee, to gauge how people are taking to the new president. the hills of eastern tennessee, a landscape that reminds us that it wasn't just the landscape that reminds us that it wasn'tjust the rust belt landscape that reminds us that it wasn't just the rust belt that landscape that reminds us that it wasn'tjust the rust belt that one donald trump the presidency but the

bible belt as well. chattanooga prides itself on being the buckle of the belt and at this bible study group praising his conservative supreme court nominee and thanking god for placing him in the white house. god has done a work in him, he has changed him and you can see with the people he surrounded himself with. and i believe he has brought seriousness people didn't think would come out of them.|j think would come out of them.|j think god lead this country to put ona drum think god lead this country to put on a drum in office. i was very opposed to him. bob west is and never trump republican and evangelical christian who looks at the new yorker as a philandering playboy. however, he has become a convert. social conservatives in general have been so fed up in washington for so long for decades we wa nted washington for so long for decades we wanted someone washington for so long for decades we wanted someone to go to washington and blow it up. whether i was a trump supporter or not many of

us are was a trump supporter or not many of us are looking for trump to do what many have done so far, it —— what trump has done so far to blow up figuratively washington and give us a new american revolution. it has been the pace of the trump presidency that is the lack a final furlong gallop which has impressed kelly and conflict. we are excited to see what he will continue to do. you think he is making good on his promises? i think he has. i think the permutation of immigration policy showed that he was not a career policy showed that he was not a career politician. i think that's why he was voted into office, because we don't want career politicians any more. there is no sign here of bias remorse. to travel from coastal cities like new york and la into these heartland communities feels like crossing into a parallel universe. there are two america's right now and how you react to donald trump determines which one you inhabit. the cannons from the american civil war that doctors landscape can be seen as relics of the past and reminders of

how conflict and divisiveness is almost written into this nation's dna and once again it feels like the people of america are sharing the same continent but not the same country. let's just take you back to the breaking story from the university of california. these are not live pictures. they were recorded minutes ago. it began as a peaceful process hours beforehand but began with the smoke bombs and flares. police and riot gear have been guarding the building because the editor of breitbart milo yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak. his appearance has been cancelled. he sees himself asa has been cancelled. he sees himself as a provocative. he is a self—confessed internet trial and vocal supporter of president trump. many see him as a white supremacist

and provoke a fake news. right but was once a fringe news site and now it is the centre of things because the publisher, who was publisher, steve bannon, now chief strategist for president trump and sits on the national security council. that situation at berkely is still developing. we will keep an eye on it for you. thank you for watching. good morning. our weather over the next few days will be coming in off the atlantic. if you look at the satellite imagery there's lots of cloud heading with it. some nasty areas of low pressure, potentially. it means a windier spell of weather across the uk and a bit of rain at times too. many of you will have to deal with rain this morning. we have overnight rain clearing away from parts of cornwall and cold temperatures in the morning. a damp start across much of wales and south—west england, that rain spreading to the south—east and across the south—west midlands. a few spots of rain to other parts of england, south to south—easterly winds fairly gusty about eastern areas in particular. outbreaks of rain in north—west

england, southern scotland and northern ireland. brightest weather in the north of scotland. we will see gales, maybe severe gales, around coasts in the west and south. a blustery day for all of you. rain initially across wales and the south—west, spreading across to eastern england and a good part of northern scotland later on. there will be brighter weather in the west during the afternoon before the showers get going, to end the day, and going into the evening. just about all temperatures in double figures. a reasonably mild night will follow. winds easing back later on, with clear skies across central and eastern areas. we will see them drop well back into single figures. in the west, well clear of a frost. frequent showers through the night and the breeze picking up again. friday, and even windier

spell of weather coming, but not until late in the day. this area of low pressure is causing us all sorts of problems. it will have an impact to a certain degree on the south and south—east of england. the rest of the winds will be across the channel and into france. really, friday does begin fairly benign. quiet, dry and sunny for many areas. a few showers across scotland and northern ireland. many in the northern half of the uk staying dry through the day. during the afternoon, wet and windy weather spreads into wales and much of southern england. strong to gale force winds developing as well. the strongest winds are likely to be in the english channel. france will bear the brunt, but so will the channel islands, which could see gusts of 70 miles an hour, if not a bit more. into the afternoon and evening that will spread into the south—east of england, up to 50 miles an hour, which could cause a minor disruption. stay tuned to the forecast,

because details could change. strong winds through the night stretching into northern england and southern scotland. outbreaks of rain to start the weekend. a quieter story further south with some sunshine at times and a few showers later on. goodbye for now. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. protesters are throwing smoke bombs and flares at the campus of the university of california at berkeley — where the editor of the right wing website breitbart is scheduled to speak. hundreds of peaceful demonstrators had been protesting against milo yiannopoulos for hours before the event. police in romania have dispersed what's thought to be the largest demonstration there since the fall of communism. crowds are angry at a new decree exonerating public officials guilty of corruption worth less than $50,000. it would allow some convicted politicians out ofjail and back into theirjobs. british mps have given initial approval to a draft law paving the way for the uk's exit from the european union. more political battles are expected next week when the bill gets more scrutiny.

today the government will publish a white paper setting out its exit strategy. now it's time for click. this week we're heading to space for a spot of sun, shade and...