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. trump says the american legal system is broken, in his latest attack on judges, as he fights with them over his travel ban. clashes in the iraqi capital, baghdad, over government corruption have left at least five people dead. in romania, thousands of protesters have turned out in bucharest for the 12th day in a row to demand the resignation of the government. and in italy, the venice carnival kicks off with a spectacular procession on the grand canal. hello.

north korea has test—fired another ballistic missile, its first since donald trump became us president. it was launched just before 8am local time, from an air base in panghyon province, and flew about 500 km east into the sea of japan. it is not clear what kind of missile was used, but the us government says it was probably not an intercontinental ballistic missile. a white house official says that president trump has been briefed. he is currently hosting japan's prime minister, shinzo abe. earlier i spoke to bruce bennett, a senior defence analyst at rand corporation, and i asked him what we know so far. we know that the missile was launched from the panghyon air base in north korea, that's fairly far north of pyongyang. we know it travelled about 500 kilometres,

and that it wound up on what the koreans referred to as the east sea, what we usually refer to as the sea of japan. that kind of range could be a scud missile, a musudan missile, or a nodong missile, but more likely the nodong or the scud. what is the significance of the types you have mentioned? the latest from reuters is that according to a us official, they do not think it was an intercontinental ballistic missile. they do not think it was. sure. even with the shorter—range musudan, which is about 3,000 kilometres, compared to 6,000—10,000 kilometres for an icbm, you would have to fire that about 100 kilometres in the air, so that it would only travel about 500 kilometres straight over the ground. so if it was an icbm,

it would have to go very, very high. and that's probably not what's happened here. normally it's a scud missile that travels that kind of distance, that's what north korea's been doing. those missiles appear to be fairly reliable. and i think kimjong—un did not want to have a fairly at this point, his first missile launch in almost four months. bruce, what do you make of the timing of it? i think there are several aspects of the timing. they have not been testing because of the crisis going on in south korea, over the south korean president being impeached. he doesn't want to influence the people in south korea to support a conservative replacement. but i think he's also anxious to take some action against the trump administration, and coming up in march, there will be a major exercise in south korea, and he would very much not like that. and so i think he's reacting to several things at the same time. and what about the fact this has happened while the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe,

is being hosted by president trump in florida? well, kim jong—un really likes to have media visibility. and what he's done in this particular case is desert visibility from the trump—abe meeting, which is exactly what he wants to do. he chose this time, it seems, to have that kind of effect. and in terms of how this compares to previous missile tests that north korea has carried out, do we take anything from the type of missile that we think this is, and what can we draw from that, in comparison? i mean, is it of greater or lesser concern than previous tests? well, so last year, north korea did roughly 35 ballistic missile tests. that's a large number. it was across the range of the types of missiles they have. until we know what missile it is, good question.

we don't know for sure. if it really was an intermediate—range ballistic missile, after seven failures out of eight last year, for another one to succeed would be a big deal. if it's instead a scud or a nodong, this is just a pattern of successes, something that he thought he could do. president trump has said the american legal system is broken, in his latest attack on judges who have blocked his ban on citizens of seven mainly—muslim countries from entering the united states. in a tweet, he quoted a newspaper's assertion that 77% of the refugees allowed in since the travel ban was suspended came from the seven suspect countries. he called it so dangerous. 0ur washington correspondent david willis reports. president trump has spent most of

the day in the company of shinzo abe, who has spent the day in what has become known as the winter white house, presidentjohn‘s florida retreat. the two men took to the trump golf course in the morning. that hasn't prevented mr trump from tweeting. in his weekly address to the nation, mr trump said he believed urgent action was needed to protect the united states from the threat of terrorism. we will continue to fight to take all necessary and legal action to keep terrorists, radical and dangerous extremist, from ever entering our country. we will not allow our generous system of immigration to be turned against us as a tool for terrorism, and truly bad people. mr trump has said he is now looking beyond the legal system for a means of implementing his travel ban, and

that may include fire filing a revised executive order which addresses thejudge's revised executive order which addresses the judge's concerns. among them the fact that, since the september 11 attacks, nobody in the united states has been killed in a terrorist incident carried out by a citizen of any of the countries mentioned in the band. issuing a new order would be tantamount to admitting that the administration didn't think it could easily overturn the appeals court decision. but, with challengers mounting in courts across the land, starting all over again might prove the easiest and perhaps the only solution. david willis, bbc news, washington. let's go to iraq now, where clashes in the capital, baghdad, have left at least five people dead. the trouble broke out between the security forces and supporters of the powerful shia—muslim cleric muqtada al—sadr.

e which oversees elections. translation: we call for the electoral commission to be changed. this commission is corrupt, and created by the corrupted. if they don't change it, we will continue to demonstrate until they do. the upcoming steps we take will be more severe. if they don't respond to our demands, we will implement them with force. translation: 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 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. alan johnston, bbc news. anti—government protesters in romania have turned out for the 12th day running to demand the resignation of the social democrat—led administration. protesters fear that proposed laws redefining corruption offences will revive much of a government decree that was scrapped just a week ago. they are 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 become a movement with a much bigger ambition. i think this is our revolution. ithink...

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, sorin grindeanu, eventually backed down and agreed to scrap the decree. but his opponents say he can't be trusted and has to go. they have 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 their president's involvement.

he divided romania. he has no right. no! not at all! please. our 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. swiss voters are going to the polls on sunday to decide on a proposal to relax switzerland's traditionally strict rules on citizenship. it would make it easier for third—generation immigrants, people who were born in switzerland, and whose parents and grandparents already lived permanently in the country, to become swiss nationals. imogen foulkes reports. becoming swiss is long

and often costly. candidates must typically live 12 years in switzerland before they can apply, speak a swiss language, and show they are integrated in interviews and tests. the fee can run to several thousand pounds. supporters of the plan to simplify 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. translation: we're talking about a lot of young people who live in switzerland, who were born in switzerland, and even their parents were born here. their grandparents once immigrated in switzerland. these are actually 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 to switzerland, 25% of the population is not swiss,

to get easy citizenship. an opposition poster of a woman in a burqa, 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 cantons, too, and the more conservative rural cantons could still defeat it. 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 re—float, 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. i'm ben bland. the latest headlines:

the south korean defence ministry says north korea has fired a missile into the sea of japan, the latest attempt by the north to show its military might. president donald trump says he won't give up on his travel ban order and could submit new legislation in the coming days. 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 region, just east of rome, is melting and causing sudden flooding and yet more landslides. david campa nale reports. landslides and sinkholes have struck across the abruzzo region 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 on one of the main streets leading to the historic centre of chieti, which has been badly hit in recent weeks. 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 for previous disasters, as in 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 has crumbled, so it's difficult even to pass through on foot. david campanale, bbc news. some news in brief now. 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. the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, says he doubts that the remaining 27 members of the union can maintain a united front as they negotiate britain's exit from the eu. in an interview with german radio, he also reiterated that britain could not negotiate trade deals as long as it remained a member of the european union. 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. conservationists in new zealand say more than 200 hundred 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. 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. most of these whales managed to refloat. rescue teams will now be focused on the remaining few.

parts of western australia are being evacuated as floodwaters threaten people's homes. while in the eastern states, authorities are warning of catastrophic bushfire conditions as tempertures soar past 45 degrees. lucy martin has more. 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 under shortly, i reckon. it's only got probably another six inches to go. we've got sandbags 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 has too much of it, australians on the east coast are sweltering through a record—breaking heatwave. temperatures reached over a0 degrees in more than 50 cities and towns across the state of new south wales. the highest was 117.6. 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 where thousands of people are taking to the beach. lucy martin, bbc news. bolivian farmers and government

officials are fighting a locust plague which is threatening to destroy part of the country's harvests. it comes just as agricultural areas were starting to recover from the country's worst drought in a quarter of a century. sophia tran—thomson has this report. after 25 of after 25 - of drought, rationing, conflicts over use and harvests, a plague of locust is the last thing bolivian farmers need. recent rains relieved the central bolivian city of santa cruz from drought, but in january bolivian city of santa cruz from drought, but injanuary reports of locust in the eastern grains belt brought new fears. 500 producers and 1000 hectares of crops have been affected by the swarming insects. 1% of sa nta affected by the swarming insects. 1% of santa cruz‘s rain farms. translation: the authorities, farmers, diseases and fumigation crews a re

farmers, diseases and fumigation crews are working hard to confront this unfortunate situation in santa cruz. it is devastating a lot of cropland, especially small farms, and it is important we react quickly to early warnings. there is a risk that if the plague spreads further the food supply could be in danger. the authorities plan to fumigate 17,000 hectares of land to stop a plague and bolivia's resident says argentinian experts are being brought into assist. translation: it will be difficult to eradicate them, but we have to stop this flying locusts. they are doing a lot of damage to agricultural production. the play raises the issue of farming regulations. the libyan producers have lobbied for years for permission to grow genetically modified, resistance to plagues and climate events. but until this plague passes the farmers' next battle will likely have to wait. 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 cannaregio canal and surrounded by her attendants, 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 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 costume competitions. celebrations go on right up to the christian festival of lent in three weeks' time and this time, venice is aiming to reach new heights. it looks stunning. a reminder of the top story: the south korean military says north korea has fired a missile into the sea of japan. the type of missile has not been identified. it is the first such test since president trump took office and ta kes pla ce president trump took office and takes place as the japanese prime minister visits the us. thanks for watching. most of the snow that we've seen

build up so far over the last 2a hours has been over high ground. for example, near the pennines and west yorkshire, near leeds, a good covering of snow in the last 2a hours. thanks to that weather watcher for sending that picture. generally a fine line between rain and snow. a lot of what you can see on the charts at the moment is rain coming in, but there is the prospect of seeing a 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 grey, cloudy and cold start to the day, quite damp as well, 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 elevation. so quite high up in the pennines. 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. for west wales it's a largely dry start, perhaps with a few glimmers of brightness. patches of rain and sleet over the hills. through the rest of sunday it stays grey and gloomy. the cold wind with us again. temperatures really struggling. the snowiest weather is continuing to affect the pennines, but elsewhere there will tend to be a transition from snow back to rain as we go into the afternoon. the temperature just begin to rise a little bit. highs reaching between 4—6, but feeling colder than that due to the strength of the easterly winds. rugby union takes place again on sunday. the match between france and scotland probably dry. about seven degrees, so 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 winds won't be as cold. so overnight sunday night the temperatures not as cold for some of us, 3—4 typically for england and wales. still cold enough for a sharp frost in northern scotland. perhaps down to minus five, minus seven here. 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 still feeling cold in that easterly wind. further north, grey and gloomy, with patches of rain and drizzle. it turns milder towards the middle part of the week as we lose the easterly winds. temperatures in london hit 12 by wednesday. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm ben bland. the south korean military says north korea has fired a missile into the sea of japan. the type of missile has not been identified. it is the first such test since president trump took office, and it comes as the japanese prime minister visits the us. a white house official says

president trump has been briefed. 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—muslim cleric muqtada al—sadr. tens of thousands of demonstrators at the rally denounced government corruption and demanded electoral reform. let's take a quick look at what has been making headlines on the front pages of some of the first editions of the sunday papers.