welcome to bbc news, broadcasting at home and around the globe. i'm kasia madera. our top stories: donald trump says he's considering new immigration restrictions after an appeal court refused to reinstate his earlier travel ban. the us president tells japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, their alliance is the cornerstone of peace and stability in the asia pacific region. donald trump has suggested he'll issue a new ruling to restrict immigration next week after an appeals court upheld a suspension of his ban on people entering the us from seven mainly muslim countries. he made the comments in the last few hours aboard air force one.

let's have a listen. everything good? everything good 7 press everything good? press conference good? i think it was great. are you comfortable? can we talk about what you said in the press conference? sure. you talked about wanting to win this court battle against the immigration travel ban. the u nfortu nate pa rt immigration travel ban. the unfortunate part is it takes time. we'll win that battle. we also have a lot of other options, including just filing a brand—new order on monday. is that your plan? it may well be but i like to surprise you. we need speed for reasons of security, so it could very well be that we do. what are some of the changes... very little. in honour of the decision, we will perhaps do

that, we'll see but on monday, we'll see. you talked about new security measures, is that separate from potentially writing a new... we'll have very strong vetting, i call it extreme vetting, and we're going to have very strong security in our country. we want to have people coming into our country that want to be for good reasons. those comments coming into the bbc in the last few hours. our washington correspondent david willis explains what choices president trump has. they have basically three options. they have basically three options. they can take this to the united states supreme court, which is currently locked at 4—1; with one position vacant of course, that to be filled by neil gorsuch, provided he gets confirmation from the senate. or they can basically right another executive order which will basically have to go round some of the concerns the court has expressed, particularly over the fa ct expressed, particularly over the fact this potentially amounts to a

ban on one single religion, and that is something contrary to the united states constitution. or they can ta ke states constitution. or they can take it back to the appeals court in san francisco and have the full panel there kick this matter around until such time as neil gorsuch is in position and then there's a chance donald trump may win the day. but he did say on devils won today that time is of the essence with this and he does seem to be losing patience with the court system. earlier, donald trump hosted japan's prime minister shinzo abe at the white house. from there they travelled together to mr trump's estate, mar—a—lago. president trump has said he is committed to the security of japan, and that their alliance is the cornerstone of peace and stability in the asia pacific region. mr abe said the two leaders would also discuss the trans—pacific trade deal, which mr trump wants washington to abandon. now to some other news: french police have arrested four people in the southern city

of montpellier on suspicion of planning an imminent terrorist attack. the three men and a 16—year—old girl were detained after they bought bomb—making chemicals. a police official said the teenager had pledged loyalty to the so—called islamic state group in a recent video. british police are investigating how 360kg of cocaine came to be washed up on beaches in eastern england. the estimated street value of the drugs is more than $60 million. police said a member of the public had contacted officers in norfolk on thursday after seeing bags on a beach near the town of great yarmouth. at least 17 people have died and dozens injured after a crush at a football stadium in angola. an official from the local hospital is quoted as saying that 76 people were injured after a crowd of people stormed the gates at the january fourth stadium in uige, where local teams were playing a match. stay with us on bbc

news, still to come: the health secretary, jeremy hunt, admits waiting times in a&e in hospitals in england are unacceptable. a controversial investigation costing tens of millions of pounds into claims of the abuse of iraqi civilians by british troops is to be shut down within months. it follows a scathing report by mps into the iraq historic allegations team which it described as an unmitigated failure, investigating thousands of claims unsupported by credible evidence. and that soldiers under investigation had suffered u na cce pta ble stress. 90% of investigations into abuse allegations from afghanistan are also being dropped. our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley has the story. it's almost 14 years since british troops invaded iraq

and the legacy of the war is still causing controversy. in the aftermath of the occupation, thousands of allegations of abuse were made against british soldiers. and a special team called ihat was set up to investigate them. the human rights lawyer phil shiner brought most of the claims but last week he was struck off after he had been found to be dishonest and to have paid agents to drum up business. now the ministry of defence is wrapping up the investigation early. this will be a huge relief to hundreds of british troops who've had these quite unfair allegations hanging over them. they're now being freed of that and we will put in place new measures now to ensure this never happens again, that there are proper safeguards to prevent completely malicious and unfounded allegations being made against our brave servicemen and women. you're underso

you're under so much pressure on operations as it is. and when you hold your values and standards at the highs regard, to then come back and have that question for the actions you did on the ground, which you thought were right under extreme pressure, in extreme circumstances, to come home, it's damaging for individuals and also for the regiment and the british army as a whole. there's no doubt that some abuses did happen in iraq, these were detainees being beaten in basra in 2003. and over the past few years the ministry of defence has paid out millions in compensation. but the iraq historic allegations team investigation has been

criticised for getting out of hand. it was set up seven years ago and it has had to examine more than 3,000 claims. it has cost over £34 million. but no soldiers have been prosecuted asa but no soldiers have been prosecuted as a result. ihat and its work has always been controversial in the military but the downfall of phil shiner and mounting concern over the toll it was taking on former soldiers and their families has led the mod to act. i think this is something really important, it will make a big statement to the army and most importantly of all it shows that the government is foursquare behind supporting the army and providing it with the appropriate framework in which our soldiers can deal with those very difficult operational decisions that they have to deal with. of all the allegations made over the course of britain's long involvement in iraq, the ministry of defence now says that by the summer only about 20 will be left to be investigated. parts of the northeastern united states are braced for more wintry weather over the weekend. forecasters predict the new england region will be blanketed with up

to 18 inches of snow. it comes after a storm on thursday left many areas without power. some major highways were closed and thousands of flights were cancelled. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, says it's completely unacceptable that some patients in england are waiting up to 13 hours in a&e. figures show that waiting times in casualty units are worse than at any time in the last decade. and the number of operations cancelled at the last minute hit a 15—year high last year. mr hunt insists he does have an improvement plan, though didn't reveal it, and he admits it will take time. he was talking to our health editor hugh pym. the worst monthly a&e figures in more than a decade. we actually have corridor nurses now as well. times are very desperate. images like this across bbc news. no—one would want it for members of their own family. it's been a difficult few days for the health secretary and he has

now come out and acknowledged that some of what is happening in the hospitals in england is unacceptable. the bbc has shown images from royal blackburn of people waiting 13 hours, mothers and babies sitting in the corridor. aren't you embarrassed about that? it is incredibly frustrating for me. i'm doing thisjob because i want nhs care to be the safest and best in the world. that kind of care is completely unacceptable, no—one would want it for members of their own family. we featured iris sibley‘s story this week. she had to wait six months in hospital before a care—home place was available. what did mr hunt have to say to her family? i don't want to make any kind of excuses. it is totally unacceptable. it is terrible for mrs sibley but also very bad for the nhs... it's not the only case of its kind. no.

there are no excuses. it is completely unacceptable. iris's son, john, said he was pleased thatjeremy hunt had recognised that his mother was let down but he had this message for the health secretary. what i would like to say tojeremy hunt is to admit, to have the guts to admit, that the system of social funding is broken. if we have to pay more, i would say tojeremy hunt, i'm prepared to pay more tax and i am sure most of the country would be as well, because our old people are worth it. and the state of social care was something i raised with mr hunt. the prime minister has been very clear. we recognise the pressure is there. we recognise there's a problem about the sustainability of the social care system and that has to be addressed and we're going to do that. there have been calls for more funding for the nhs in england, including from an american health expert who advised david cameron and jeremy hunt. he thinks the current government

spending plans are set too low. i have serious doubts as to whether you can have the healthcare that is universal, not rationed, and responsive to needs at that target level. so i'm concerned. but others say it's notjust about money and getting the nhs to be more efficient is important, with new ways of working the real priority. mr hunt says change is needed on many fronts. i think it's wrong to suggest to people that these profound challenges such as we face with an ageing population are ones where there is a silver bullet that you can solve the problem overnight. we also need the help of the public, because we know that a number of the people seen in a&es could actually have their needs dealt with in another part of the nhs. new figures show cancelled operations in england were up 16% last year. further evidence that whether it's a&e, routine surgery or community

care, the pressure is clear across the nhs. hugh pym, bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: on, people entermgtfieés’éezmsyéag a discredited government investigation into alleged abuses let's talk more now about president trump. he and his chinese counterpart, xijinping, have held their first telephone conversation. during the call, described as cordial, mr trump agreed to honour the so—called one china policy, which he'd previously threatened to re—examine. it relates to the status of the island of taiwan, which has its own government but which beijing sees as a breakaway province. the one china policy acknowledges there is only one chinese government and that diplomatic relations must be with china, not taiwan.

our china editor carrie gracie reports from the taiwanese capital taipei. people in taiwan have more freedom of expression than people in china. after 70 years of governing itself, this noisy democracy has a mind of its own. we have 1800 missiles pointed our way, but at the same time in taiwan we have absolute freedom to do anything we want, so satire is one of the good things we need to push because it helps taiwan to get its name out there. beijing doesn't do satire. it's threatened to retake taiwan by force, and it sailed its aircraft carrier past the island last month to show that it means business.

for beijing, this, the island of taiwan, is the last piece in a jigsaw. it's the piece they say will finally reunite a nation broken up and humiliated by colonial powers two centuries ago. to let taiwan float off towards independence, or even worse, to let it become part of an american—led alliance against china in these waters, well, that, to beijing, would be unthinkable. the taiwanese navy is no match for china's. it's the american fleet which protects taiwan. back in december, it looked as if donald trump would go further. he took a call from the taiwanese president and hinted at recognition for taiwan. now, president trump has backed down. in his phone call with president xi, he returned to the so—called

one china policy that beijing insists on. and many taiwanese reluctantly accept the status quo. translation: ideally, i would choose independence but in the real world independence is impossible. it would mean war with china. messages of peace for the year ahead at taipei's lantern festival. but their future is fragile. caught between an unpredictable america and an implacable china. their hopes and fears are low priority to both. there was more asia on the american president's schedule. earlier, my colleague laura trevelyan spoke to tom schieffer, former us ambassador to japan about president trump's meeting with prime minister abe and she asked him about the pacific trade pact or tpp.

i think that prime minister abe invested a lot of political capital in the tpp. when the president withdrew, it gave a lot of heartburn to the japanese. i think everybody is heartened by the fact that we have now stepped back a little bit, and the two leaders are exploring ways in which we can go forward. japan isa ways in which we can go forward. japan is a great ally, a great partner in the third largest economy in the world. they are in $1.1 trillion of the united states' government bonds, more than anyone else in the world. you want to have a good economic relationship with them. i think we are going to do more things with them on the trade front in the future, so i am quite hopeful that we might have hit the bottom and turned things around.

the polish prime minister, beata szydlo, has been injured and taken to hospital after her official car hit a tree. police say it was an accident but, as bill hayton reports, it's raised concerns about security on the right, a tree, on the left, a car, and in the middle, the official limousine of the polish prime minister. she was travelling through her home town in southern poland on friday evening with a police escort. translation: it suddenly turned left while being overtaken with the car with the prime minister on board. the prime minister as well as the driver and security guard were injured due to the crash. the minister was wearing a seatbelt and suffered only minor injuries. she

was treated in a local hospital, but was treated in a local hospital, but was fine to warsaw for further checks. police said the driver of the other car was a local young man who was sober. the crash has raised concerns about government security. just two weeks ago, the polish defence minister was involved in an eight car pileup, and last march the president's cap moved off a motorway when its tyre burst at high speed. neither man was injured. the latest crash has prompted the interior minister to call an emergency meeting with the government protection service. state prosecutors have opened an investigation into what happened. —— interior minister. it's another weekend of fierce rivalry, intense pressure and big expectations in the six nations tournament. england take on wales later and if england win, they will be just three games away from breaking the world record i think the game does mean a lot to a lot of people. we are able to share that, hopefully we can share it in a positive manner.

i think we're very fortunate to have a stadium that is suitable or apt for the occasion. we've experienced lights, fire, music. england'sjones, eddie, now expects what he calls shenanigans. what are the shenanigans you're prepared for? oh, i don't know, but, you know, they're a cunning lot, the welsh, aren't they? you know, they always have the... you know, they've got goats, they've got daffodils, they've got everything. so who knows, who knows? well, mischievous friendly rivalry, that's what the 6 nations should be about. it is an outlet for passion and that's exactly why england have decided that here in cardiff the roof should be open for the game, allowing all that welsh noise to escape into the sky. well, everyone in professional sport is trying to find an edge. gareth southgate — yes, the england football manager — was at rugby training this week, seeking a different perspective. was that handball? well, england fly—half george ford

finished the session and then told me he won't be in wales in fear. i think, as a player, if you learn to embrace it and learn to be excited about it, i think that's the best you'll probably regret that. yes, look to the future. after their scintillating victory over ireland last weekend, scotland suddenly look like the team to beat in the 6 nations. france away for them on sunday. daunting? well, paris isjust another city. the hollywood film star george clooney and his wife amal are expecting twins, with reports suggesting that they are due this june. the news was confirmed by clooney‘s fellow actor and close friend matt damon, who said he was thrilled for the pair and that they were going to be awesome parents. david sillito reports. congratulations are in order to george and amal clooney. the news was broken

by entertainment tonight. it's twins for the clooneys! it is confirmed the 55—year—old superstar and his highly accomplished 39—year—old attorney wife, are expecting twins. at 55, george clooney has hung back a bit before taking on fatherhood, he will be to his new role. he is a good man, incredibly smart, loving, funny guy, married to a spectacular woman who will be an amazing mother. again, those kids will be incredibly lucky. they're all gonna be fine. george clooney‘s marriage just over two years ago to the lawyer, amal alamuddin, finally took him off the list of hollywood's most eligible bachelors. today's news has brought congratulations. in a little echo of beyonce's famous photo, posted to announce

she was expecting twins, ellen degeneres posted this version