welcome to bbc news, broadcasting at home and around the globe. i'm ben bland. our top stories: the south korean defence ministry says north korea has fired a missile into the sea of japan. president trump says he won't give up on his travel ban and could submit new legislation in the coming days. clashes in the iraqi capital baghdad over government corruption have left at least five people dead. swiss voters are going to the polls later to decide on a proposal to relax switzerland's strict rules on citizenship. first, some breaking news and south korea's defence ministry says north korea has fired a ballistic missile. it was launched at 7:1i5am local time from an air base in north pyongan province and flew about 500 kilometres

east towards the sea of japan. the yonhap news agency said the south korean military suspected the north might have been testing an intermediate—range musudan missile. the reports come as president trump hosts japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, in florida. on friday, following talks in washington, the two leaders agreed that the nuclear threat from north korea was a high priority. the north conducted two nuclear tests and a slew of rocket launches last year in continued efforts to expand its nuclear weapons and missile programmes. the north korean leader kimjong—un said in his annual new year's address that the north's preparations for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile had reached the final stage. president trump says he is considering new measures to restrict immigration.

the original order banned citizens from seven mainly muslim countries from the united states. that, for now, has been overturned in the courts. but mr trump says a new order could be issued as early as monday. our washington correspondent, david willis, reports. stepping into the warmth of a florida winter. yet the president and first lady's weekend retreat offers little yet the president and first lady's weekend retreat offers little respite from the chilly climate in his presidency. efforts to make good on a key campaign promise, having been stymied by the courts, mr trump is characteristically refusing to back down. my administration is committed to your security. we will not allow our generous system of immigration to be turned against us as a tool for terrorism and truly bad people. we must take firm steps today to ensure that we are safe tomorrow. earlier, he'd taken to twitter to lament his latest legal rebuff. our legal system

is broken, he wrote. 77% of refugees allowed into the us since the travel reprieve hail from seven suspect countries. so dangerous. signed at the end of a frantic first week in office, donald trump's executive order suspended america's refugee programme and banned travellers from seven muslim majority nations from entering the us. as well as causing chaos at airports, it caught many of his own officials flat—footed, and sparked protests around the country. all: this is what democracy looks like! and whilst that policy was put on hold by the courts, it's emerged that immigration officials rounded up hundreds of people in raids over the last week as part of a separate move by the trump administration to crack down on illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in the us. we also have a lot of other options, including just filing a brand—new order on monday.

his patience with the legal system running thin, mr trump told reporters on his way to florida that he is considering circumventing the system by signing a new executive order. to his opponents, many of whom took to the streets again today in protest at the travel ban, that would be seen as a tactical retreat, but with challenges pending in other courts, the president's options are narrowing. he spent the day golfing in florida, the bunkers and the water hazards nothing compared to the obstacles that may lie ahead. david willis, bbc news, washington. in other news: violence has broken out in a suburb of paris where hundreds turned out to protest against the alleged rape of a black youth by police. some of the protesters threw firecrackers at police patrolling the demonstration and a car was set on fire. hundreds of people in taiwan have been marking the end of the annual lunar new year festival by writing wishes on lanterns before releasing them up into the sky.

the pingxi sky lantern festival has been held after chinese new year for 19 years but has been criticised recently by environment groups who say they are concerned by the amount of plastic waste that ends up in the mountains nearby. let's go to iraq now where clashes in the iraqi capital, baghdad, have left at least five people dead. the trouble broke out between the security forces and supporters of the powerful shia cleric muqtada al—sadr. it happened during a demonstration against government corruption. alan johnston reports huge numbers of demonstraters convergd on a square in the heart of baghdad. they chanted anti—government slogans. they complained of corruption and demanded changes to a commission which oversees elections. we call for the electoral commission

to be changed. this commission is corrupt and created for the corrupted. if we don't change it then we will continue to demonstrate intel they do. the upcoming steps will be severe if they don't respond to our demands. we demand a change of government. we want patriotic people to replace them and start rebuilding iraq. the elections were manipulated and a sham. every four years we have the same people. we wa nt years we have the same people. we want honest people. then some protesters tried to move towards a nearby area known as the green zone, which houses government ministries. riot police were determined to drag them back, and the deadly violence erupted. video images from the scene show tear gas filling the air and the sound of explosions and gunfire can be heard. alanjohnston, alan johnston, bbc news.

staying in the region, in afghanistan six people have been killed and many more wounded in a blast in helmand province. the explosion took place in the provincial capital lashkar gar. the taliban has said it was behind the attack. a spokesperson for the regional governor told the bbc the attacker drove a car into an army vehicle parked near a bank. with the latest, here's our correspondent from kabul. the target was a bank were mostly government employees come every the target was a bank where mostly government employees come every month to collect their salaries. and it is seen as a soft target because this particular bank has been targeted in a similar manner a few years ago. after a few hours, the taliban claimed responsibility, saying the target was afghan national army personnel. helmand has been the subject of heavy fighting in the past few

months, even in the months of winter there's been sporadic fighting in the province where it is said 80% of it is now under taliban control. helmand is a strategic province both for the taliban and the government. come summer, it is assumed the fighting will become even more intense. it's been a tumultuous few weeks in central italy, which has been hit by earthquakes, heavy snow and landslides. last month, four quakes above magnitude five struck in just a day, isolating villages and leaving thousands of families without power. now snow in the abruzzo is melting and causing sudden flooding and yet more landslides, as david campa nale reports. landslides and sinkholes have struck across the abruzzo after heavy snowfalls, rains and earthquakes. the mountain village of bisenti

expects weeks of complete isolation after two landslides blocked the only access roads. even as emergency workers assess the resulting damage, a ridge collapsed, sweeping away part of a provincial road in a few seconds. snow reached two metres in height in this valley and melting caused heavy rains. a collapse ten metres in diameter and ten metres deep has opened 3&2? e555 e§§re§~§1$ .. , fl , , .. . .. local administrators don't blame seismic or meteorological events, but point to lack of funds for maintenance. translation: from 2012 to now a series of natural disasters hit the city and it seriously affected the infrastructure. unfortunately this series of disasters means the municipality must continuously deliver exceptional funds from previous disasters, as of 2012 or the flood of 2015. to address this last

snowfall we have no funds. we lack funds. in many roads in these central italian regions the asphalt crumbled so it's difficult even to pass through on foot. david campanale, bbc news. anti—government protesters in romania have turned out for the twelfth day running to demand the resignation of the social democrat—led administration. protesters fear that proposed legislation redefining corruption offences will revive much of a government decree that was scrapped a week ago. they're calling for country's prime minister to leave office as greg dawson reports. the crowds may have thinned from a week ago but several thousand remain outside the parliaments in bucharest. what began as protests against plans to decriminalise some

corruption offences has begun a movement with a much bigger ambition. i think this is our revolution. i think. we hope it's a new revolution to change something in this country, to change the mentality because enough is enough! the government only took office a month ago and said the law change was needed to reduce the prison population. but protesters said it was a measure designed to help some politicians avoid jail time. after facing the largest demonstrations in his country since the fall of communism, romania's prime minister eventually backed down and agreed to scrap the decree. but his opponents say he can't be trusted and has to go. they've even got the backing of romania's president, klaus iohannis, who voiced his support for the demonstrators. but that in turn has now triggered rival pro—government protests. around 300 demonstrators

rallied outside the presidential palace. they say they back their new government and are angry at the president's involvement. he divided romania. he has no right. no! not at all! please. 0ur president, help romania, help us to work, to be together. on wednesday, the government survived a no—confidence motion in the romanian parliament and the prime minister made clear he has no intention of leaving. but nor do the protesters, who are promising a much bigger rally on sunday night to make their point. greg dawson, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: more on those pilot whales that were stranded on a beach. 200 of them have managed to refloat and are back at sea. there's mr mandela.

mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah khomeini, has said he has passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'baby doc' duvalier. because of his considerable valuable as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning, elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news.

the south korean defence ministry says north korea has fired a missile into the sea of japan. president donald trump says he won't give up on his travel ban order and could submit new legislation in the coming days: swiss voters are going to the polls on sunday to decide on whether to relax citizenship and does —— citizenship rules. becoming swiss is long and often costly. candidates must live for 12 years before they can apply, speak swiss language and

show they are integrated in interviews and tests. but he can run to several thousand pounds. supporters of the plan to signify the process say it is ridiculous to ask people who are born and have lived all their lives in switzerland to prove they are integrated. we are talking about a lot of young people who live in switzerland, who were born in switzerland and even their pa rents were born in switzerland and even their parents were born here. the grandparents once emigrated in switzerland. these are people who live here but do not have a red swiss passport. but opponents claim the measures are just the first step in allowing all immigrants into switzerland. 25% of the population is not swiss, to get easy citizenship. an opposition poster of a woman and a worker, a rarity in switzerland, even suggests the proposal could lead to a so—called islamisation of the country. this

however may have backfired. 0pinion polls show a majority of voters are likely to back simplified citizenship but to pass, the measure will need the support of a majority of swiss canton is in the more conservative rural canton 's could still defeat it. european union countries could struggle to maintain a united front during brexit negotiations according to the president of the european commission. jean claudejuncker has told a german radio station that the challenge of britain dealing with each country individually will put inevitably put pressure on the bloc. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is in westminster. so often inevitably refocus on the conversation here in britain on the forthcoming brexit negotiations, the excitement of that and the fear of others but this interview is an insight into the hopes and fears on the other side of the channel and jean—claude juncker

acknowledging a vulnerability for the european union. there is a block of 27 sitting around a table which will inevitably run the risk of being divided. he says britain could attempt to offer something to country a, something else to country b and country c and there is a positive sense in brussels that up to now, there has been an attempt to keep brussels and the eu together and that has worked but they fear that may no longer be the case. what of the reaction here? nothing specific. the department for exiting the european union has pointed to the prime minister saying a strong and constructive relationship with the eu when we are on the outside but a reminder, not that we needed, of the scale and significance of what is to come and there is just weeks to go until the uk triggers article 50 and the process of brexit begins. a group of conservative mps has written to the home secretary

to suggest the government makes the uk more welcoming for commonwealth citizens after brexit, starting with the re—organisation of border controls. they've urged amber rudd to find ways to reduce waiting times on entry to the uk, to send a message about the value britain places on its relationship with the commonwealth. at present, on arriving in the uk, british and other eucitizens along with are fast—tracked through one channel and commonwealth citizens and travellers from the rest of the world are processed through another. the conservative mp, jake berry who initiated the letter to the home office, explained the reason behind it. what i hope this letter will lead to andi what i hope this letter will lead to and i discussed it with the home secretary, what i hope it will lead to is some of those small steps like changing the signs, could take place in the early part of this year. we have a hugely important event. the first ever commonwealth trade ministers meeting taking place in london in march. i think it is small steps like that which we can show

how important the commonwealth is to us. how important the commonwealth is to us. commonwealth countries believe, in the mid—1970s, when we joined europe, we should have turned our face away from the commonwealth and towards europe. we need to make sure they realise the commonwealth matters to us. in all our global conflicts, commonwealth countries had stood with us. we have hugely important trade links with countries like australia and new zealand and canada already and we need to maximise those as global britain grows outside the european union. after more than 50 years trapped in india, a chinese man has finally returned to his home country. wang qi was working as an army surveyor in 1963 when he accidentally crossed into india. lacking the necessary documents he was unable to leave the country and had been there ever since. his return follows a report by the bbc on his plight. after returning, i will meet with my

brothers and sisters as well as other relatives and friends. i will also see my comrades and classmates from schooldays. i guess they will be very happy and so will i. after 54 be very happy and so will i. after 5a years, i can finally returned home and see my friends from my childhood. i am so happy. conservationists in new zealand say more than 200 pilot whales that had been stranded on a beach on the south island, have re—floated themselves overnight and are back in the sea. only a few remain on sand. hundreds of animals died the previous day when they became stuck in the waters near farewell spit in the south island, as fiona lamdin reports. doing whatever they can to help before it's too late. these volunteers have been working for many hours, trying to keep the whales cool as they lie stranded. some say singing also helps to keep them calm, but what they really

need is high tide. very quickly, this tide has come racing in, and now we're all up to our knees, some people up to their waists in water, and we're starting to get a bit of floating happening, and we're just helping assist the whales with their breathing until the water gets deep enough so that they can swim. this is one of the worst whale strandings in new zealand's history. 400 whales came into farewell spit on thursday. but only 100 survived. and then another 240 arrived a day later. conservationists aren't sure why beaching happens. one theory is the shallow water affects their navigation system. the eco—location is designed for deepwater use, and doesn't work very well in shallow water. they become confused when they end up in places like farewell spit, which is a very shallow, sandy beach. and if one does get distressed, and others follow it, it's difficult for them to know which way to go. but at last, there

is some good news. 43 parts of western australia is being evacuated due to floodwaters while in the eastern states, authorities are warning of catastrophic bushfire conditions as temperatures soar past 45 degrees. residents evacuate their homes as floodwaters threatened to inundate the west australian town of northam. the nearby avon river has swelled after days of torrential rain. locals say the water levels are the highest they've seen in 30 years. three people had to be rescued with some properties cut off by the floodwaters. the backyard will probably go and the tree i reckon. it's only got probably another six inches to go. we've sandbagged all around so we can try and stop it

a little bit. but if it comes, it comes, what can we do? more rain is expected over the next few days and while the west has had too much of it, australians on the east coast are sweltering through a record—breaking heatwave. temperatures reached over 40 degrees in more than 50 cities and towns across the state of new south wales. the highest was 47.6. authorities say the worst is yet to come. the most catastrophic fire conditions in new south wales' history are expected in parts of the state's north on sunday. it's not another summer's day, it's not another bad fire weather day, this is as bad as it gets in the circumstances. it is simply not a safe environment, which is why we're making it very clear to people the only safe place to he is not in at risk areas. the bush is a no—go zone but conditions are better in sydney the annual venice carnival has

opened with a spectacular show along the city's canals. thousands of revellers watched performers apparently floating over the water. bill hayton reports. they came from the abyss, creatures rising from the depths to celebrate carnival. the sea queen surfaced along the canareggio canal and surrounded by her attendance, floating from the city 's watery ways. jellyfish billowed and swam as overhead giant butterflies floated by, celebrating this year 's opening theme, the beauty and mystery of the underwater world. they were extravagant. a lot of sea animals. i am from the coast and i love sea

animals. this was awesome, an awesome display. the venice carnival is thought to date back to the 12th century, originally celebrating a military victory. it was revived in 1980 and draws people from all around the world and just as in the past, extravagant around the world and just as in the past, extravaga nt costu mes around the world and just as in the past, extravagant costumes and ornate masks are a big part of the party. it's very exciting. it's very different. we celebrate mardi gras back home but not like this, this is amazing. this was just the first day of the festival. still to come are the masked balls, concerts and costu me the masked balls, concerts and costume competitions. celebrations go on right up to the christian festival of lent in three years type ——3 weeks' time and this time, venice is aiming to reach new heights. plenty more news on the website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @benmbland. most of the snow that we've seen

build up so far over the last 24 hours has been over high ground. for example, near the pennines, bramhope in west yorkshire, near leeds, a good covering of snow in the last 24 hours. thanks to that weather watcher for sending that picture. generally a fine line between rain and snow. you can see rain coming in, but there is the prospect of seeing an odd centimetre or two of snow maybe in east anglia and maybe across the hills of central and southern england through the night. the chilterns and downs at risk of seeing that. for most of us it will be another cloudy and cold start to the day, with outbreaks of rain at lower levels. across the pennines there will be ongoing heavy snow through sunday morning. we could see up to ten centimetres of snow above 300 metres of elevation. there is the potential to see some disruptive weather. further west a lot of cloud around.

we will have patches of rain. in the hills of east wales it's more likely we will see a bit of snow here. in west wales it's a largely dry start, perhaps with a few glimmers of brightness. patches of rain and sleety over the hills. through the rest of sunday it stays grey and gloomy. the cold wind with us again. temperatures struggling. the snowiest weather is continuing to affect the pennines, but elsewhere there will be a transition from snow back to rain as we go into the afternoon. the temperature just begin to rise a little bit. highs between 4—6, feeling colder than that due to the easterly winds. rugby union takes place again on sunday. the match between france and scotland probably dry. it should be warmer in france than it is here in the uk. things will get a little bit milder over the next few days, as the wind changes to a south—easterly direction. the wind is not as cold. 0vernight sunday night the temperature is not as cold

for some of us, 3—4 typically for england and wales. cold enough for a sharp frost in northern scotland. perhaps down to minus five, minus seven. monday will be especially windy around some of our western coasts and hills. something to watch out for. but there should be more sunshine across england and wales. temperatures climbing, but feeling cold in that easterly wind. further north, grey and gloomy with rain and drizzle. it turns milder towards the middle part of the week until we lose the easterly winds. temperatures in london, 12 by wednesday. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm ben bland. the south korean military he south korean military says that north korea has fired a missile into the sea of japan. the type of missile has not been identified, but the test comes as president trump hosts the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe. the us president donald trump has

told reporters he could bring forward a new executive order to replace a proposed travel ban suspended by the courts. it banned entry to citizens of seven mainly—muslim nations. in a tweet he also said the american legal system is broken. clashes in the iraqi capital baghdad have left at least five people dead. the trouble broke out between the security forces and supporters of the shia cleric, muqtada al—sadr. tens of thousands of demonstrators at the rally denounced government corruption and demanded electoral reform. proposals for new official secrets legislation could see journalists and whistleblowers jailed for publishing leaked material, including documents related to brexit. under the plans, which were drafted for the government by the law commission, people who disclose official information that could harm the uk's economy would face prosecution. our business correspondent joe lynam has been looking