welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: down to the wire — time is running out for talks to avoid a shutdown of the us federal government. the white house calls in senior democrats and says progress is being made, but warns there's still disagreement. a new front in the conflict in syria, but this time it's turkey opening fire on kurdish forces. facing up to his crimes — we hearfrom more gymnasts who survived sexual abuse by the former team usa doctor larry nassar. also in the programme, hold on tight! we take a look at 1000km/h tube ride. hello.

welcome to the programme. last—ditch efforts are being made in the us senate to prevent a shutdown of the government. existing funding expires at midnight local time. after holding a private meeting with president trump at the white house, the leader of the democrats in the senate, chuck schumer, said there had been some progress in averting the shutdown. sarah corker reports. it is going down to the wire. the was government stance on the brink ofa was government stance on the brink of a shutdown for the first time since 2013. with democrats and republicans fighting bitterly over a funding dealforfederal institutions. the senate is due to vote on it in the next hour. at the centre of all of this, a row of immigration, the so—called dreamers. democrats have demanded the bill

include protection from deportation to 700,000 young undocumented immigrants that came to the us as children. and the blame game is in full swing, both parties blaming each other for the impasse, full swing, both parties blaming each otherfor the impasse, the president's budget director took aim at the democrats. the president is actively working right now to try to prevent a shutdown. i will content to you that is dramatically different than what resident 0bama was doing in 2013 is there is no way you could lay this at the feet of the president of the united states, he is actively working to entities. but the democrats blamed the white house. i hope the democrats are four republicansjoin house. i hope the democrats are four republicans join us. if house. i hope the democrats are four republicansjoin us. if hejoined us, we republicansjoin us. if hejoined us, we can republicansjoin us. if hejoined us, we can help. if he does not, we cannot help. democrat leader in the senate chuck schumer met president trump for the last ditch talks. we discussed all the outstanding issues. we made some progress. we still have a good number of

disagreements. but discussions will continue. 0n disagreements. but discussions will continue. on twitter, president trump sounded optimistic, writing: it isa it is a shutdown nobody wants. it last happened in october 2013, the closure of federal offices and services, hundreds of thousands of staff told not to come to work. and the clock is ticking towards that midnight deadline. thrashing out a funding deal to keep the lights on. let's go live to washington now and our correspondent, david willis. bring us up to date, what is happening now? duncan, the crucial vote in the senate just under one hour away now. the big question —

have the republicans got the majority they need to get the bill, at the temporary standby financing measure that was passed in the house of representatives last night, thursday night, here through the senate. and the indications are that they may well be struggling. the white house budget director mick mulvaney has said that he expects an agreement to be reached within the next 2a hours. now, that raises the prospect of a government shot down at midnightand prospect of a government shot down at midnight and then some resolution and then the government being reopened. the significance of that being less in terms of the impact it may have because there are a few, of course, government workers at their posts over the weekend, but it would mean that there was the government shut down on the first anniversary

of president trump's inauguration as president. yes, well, david, what do you think would be the political fallout if there was a shutdown? the political fallout is therefore both sides, really, in this, duncan, and it could harm either party going into the midterm elections later this year. indications from the washington post poll are that this could hurt the republicans more than the democrats, the republicans of course have the majority in both houses of congress and they control the white house in the sense that donald trump is himself a republican and this is the first time that we have been in this sort of situation with one party having such a majority. david, thank you, we will keep checking in with you in the coming hours. while the battle over the us government budget has been rumbling on, there's also been a significant announcement about a change in america's military policy.

defence secretary james mattis says that instead of a past focus on terrorism, us national security is now making competing with great powers like china and russia a priority. here's how he put it. we face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as china and russia are from each other, nations that do seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models, pursuing veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic and security decisions. rogue regimes like north korea and iran persist in taking outlaw actions that threaten regional and even global stability, oppressing their own people and even shredding their own people's dignity and human rights, they push their warped views outward. the us defence secretary james mattis. well, we're yet to hearfrom china, but russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has responded.

he said the american statement was "regrettable" and "confrontational" and he called for more dialogue with all sides. turkey has begun a new intervention in the conflict in syria by launching an offensive against kurdish—held territory near its border. ankara, which has long fought kurdish separatists within its own country, is now shelling kurdish militia in the afrin region. it's threatening an all—out ground offensive. from inside syria, our chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports. warning shots across the border. the target isn't really syria, it's the kurdish militia now controlling the land all too close to turkey. tanks and troops are also moving into position, the de facto start of a ground invasion — that's what turkey's defence minister calls this. its sights are set on afrin.

syria's kurds have been in charge for the last five years. they are vowing to keep it. "we will fight to the last drop of blood," they declare. "we will stand with afrin." turkey calls them terrorists, linked to its main enemy at home, the turkish kurds in the pkk. all this is opening up another major crisis inside syria's already tangled war. just to the south, the syrian army is pushing ahead with its own offensive to retake ground held by hardline islamists. as fighting intensifies, so too the humanitarian crisis. 200,000 people are now on the run, heading north, adding to pressure on turkey's border. these two are among them.

translation: i got the kids and put them in the car and we were off. we came here with nothing. in some places, they can't run away. there were more air strikes today in east ghouta, a besieged area on the edge of damascus under rebel control. thousands are now living in basements. this baby's life begins underground. translation: this child is only 20 hours old, born in the bombardment and destruction. the siege here in ghouta. no—one can see our suffering. all the children here have known nothing but war. they have to make the most of it. they have no inkling of the complexities of this conflict, but they live with its cost every day. lyse doucet, bbc news, syria. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news:

the colombian authorities say that the number of venezuelans fleeing a severe economic crisis to take up residency in colombia has jumped by more than 60% in the last six months. migration officials said more than 550,000 venezuelans are now living in colombia, mostly illegally. ajury in canada has returned not guilty verdicts for three men who were charged with criminal negligence following the lac—megantic rail disaster in 2013. 47 people died when a train carrying nearly eight million litres of shale oil came off the rails and exploded. the three former railway workers had been accused of leaving the train unattended, and allowing it to roll away without any control. two former us olympic gymnasts have been testifying in the case involving former team usa doctor larry nassar. the pair, who won gold at london 2012, are among more than 100 women to have accused nassar

of sexual abuse. he's already facing 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. 0ur correspondent rajini vaidynathan has been speaking to one of his victims. they were nicknamed the fierce five, america's gold—winning gymnastics team. but four of these women were hiding a dark secret. they say they were sexually abused by this man, their team doctor larry nassar, who's been described as a monster in court. today, team captain aly raisman was the latest to share her story. you are so sick, i can't even comprehend how sick i feel when i think of you. you lied to me and manipulated me. you made me think that you were closing your eyes because you had been working hard when you were touching me,

an innocent child, to pleasure yourself. seen here at the london 2012 games, aly was just 18 when her team won gold. but behind the scenes, larry nassar was abusing her. larry was the olympic doctor and he molested me at the 2012 london olympic games. abusers, your time is up. the survivors are here, standing tall, and we are not going anywhere. her team—mate also shared her story in court. 0ur bodies were all hanging by a thread in london. who was the doctor sent to keep us healthy and help us get through? the doctor that was our abuser. the doctor that is a child molester. for years, there have been concerns about him, but many survivors say they were ignored, as victims were notjust decorated 0lympians but the children of family friends and state—level gymnasts like gwen anderson. the champion athlete who competed for the state of michigan,

gwen is seen here at 1a. she was just 12 when she first received treatment from larry nassar. instead, he molested her time and time again. to have your name and your face and your story out for everybody to see is a scary thing. he was my safe place, he was going to protect me. and he took that and used it against all of us. for so many, this was a doctor they trusted implicitly. for the record, go to hell. tom brennan was gwen's coach and once a close friend of nassar‘s. did you have any idea of what he was doing? none. i had zero idea. we had the utmost trust for that man and that's where we went wrong. all this week, young women have packed this small courtroom, as they get to do what few survivors of sexual abuse ever have a chance to do — directly confront their attacker. there has been a real sense

of collective empowerment here. already, more than 80 women have shared their testimonies in this case and every day, more are coming forward saying they want to share their stories, too. tonight, the list of women who say they want to speak out has grown to as many as 120. the judge says every woman who wants to face larry nassar in court will be given the chance to. rajini vaidynathan, bbc news, lansing, michigan. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: hopes and fears — pope francis speaks about the future for the people of peru. the people of saigon have just heard that, at last, there is to be a ceasefire.

the reaction of american serviceman was predict apple. —— predictable. i'm going home. demonstrators waiting for mike getting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout tour. they called him the butcher of lyon. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. but the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible at this spot, a tide of humanity that is believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: donald trump says he is making progress in avoiding a shutdown of the us federal government, after meeting senior democrats at the white house. turkey is intensifying its shelling of the kurdish militia in syria, ahead of a ground offensive. pope francis has visited a remote rainforest region in peru to sound a stark warning about the future of the amazon and its communities. the pontiff says the area and its indigenous communities are being exploited for their natural resources, and face a threat like never before. virginia langeberg reports. pope francis arrived on the edges of the amazon rainforest to a resoundingly warm reception, from

those perhaps too young to fathom the scale of the issues the communities face. the pontiff was not just a communities face. the pontiff was notjust a guest communities face. the pontiff was not just a guest for these amazonian tribes, but a powerful mouthpiece for their plight, protecting the land they see slipping away from them. this once tranquil part of the world has fallen vic them to any legal gold rush, which has spawned a billion—dollar black market that is destroying the habitat and is seeing the introduction of human trafficking and violent criminal networks —— victim. trafficking and violent criminal networks -- victim. translation: the native amazonian people have probably never been so threatened on their own land as they are at present. the amazon is a territory thatis present. the amazon is a territory that is being disputed on many fronts. 0n the one hand, pressure being asserted by great business interests, seeking petroleum, gas, business and gold, and on the other

the threat against the territories also comes from the version of several policies that don't consider humans. this was the second and final leg of the pontiff's week—long south american visit, and the first time the pope has denounced environmental degradation in place has threatened an isolated as this. translation: i have a feeling of peace and tranquillity. he has comforted us with his soft words, telling us we can change this world and continue with our customs and traditions. translation: pope francis also feels the worry about the loss of forest, in which we native people are affect that on a social, environmental and cultural level. from the rainforest region, the pontiff then travelled to peru's capital, lima, to meet with

followers there. but the proverbial suffered a flat tyre, forcing the pontiff to switch vehicles in the middle of the motorway —— popemobile. successive political leaders have tried and failed to slow the gold rush, but the amazon will be a focus of the world bishop's meeting taking place in 0ctober next year. the family of the american rock star tom petty, who died last year at the age of 66, has revealed that his death was the result of an accidental drug overdose. an autopsy report has shown that the singer was taking a mix of painkillers to deal with medical issues. tom petty sold more than 80 million albums around the world, in a career spanning five decades. saturday marks a year since donald trump's inauguration as president of the united states. a property billionaire and a political novice, he was dismissed by many as lacking the skills and experience needed for the top office. 12 months on, how supportive are americans of their leader?

laura trevelyan has been to pennsylvania, to meet trump voters, and those less convinced by the president. the mon valley in western pennsylvania is the birthplace of us steel. this factory was once owned by the 19th—century magnate andrew carnegie. in its heyday, it employed thousands. donald trump tapped into the sense of industrial decline, winning by promising to put america first. 0ver lunch, i asked trump voters for their verdict on year one. seems like he cares about the working class. he cares about the people who are trying to make a living, and have big businesses, and things like that, small businesses. i think he cares about things like that. some of the stuff he does i agree with, like the tax cuts, looking out for the working class, people like that.

but i'm not a big fan of all the rants on social media, i think they can do away with all of that. how are you feeling about that vote? a little disappointed. juan lacey, a small business owner in the mon valley, hoped trump would run government like the ceo. so does this former 0bama voter regret switching to trump? when i went into the polling booth, i was satisfied. i'm having buyer's remorse. why? because it's not consistent. john fetterman is a democrat in trump country. but you get out to some of these areas that no—one's visited, no—one's taken the time to care, left it really open and ripe for someone to step in, like a donald trump, and say, hey, you know, i'm the guy that can fix this. the populist mayor of braddock, with a tattoo of the town's zipcode, counsels his party to understand trump's appeal. it's got to be more than, you know, "trump's awful, vote for us."

and again, i think it has to come back to an earnest, progressive, populist message. in his inaugural address a year ago, donald trump promised people in towns like braddock that he would give them back theirjobs and their dreams. there is an early electoral test, here in pennsylvania, of whether the voters feel he is delivering. there is a special election in the state, in what should be a safe republican seat. but the president is taking no chances. a real friend and a spectacular man, rick saccone. that is the candidate here. mr trump doesn't want to lose this election, and he was in the mon valley thursday with this message. very simply, your pay cheques will be much bigger, because under our tax cuts, you'll be keeping more of your hard—earned money. the question is whether mr trump can get the credit here for an improving economy, or if the heat generated by his tweets and feuds is distracting even his own voters. it might sound far—fetched, but engineers and entrepreneurs believe a hyperloop is not so much a fantasy, but rather

the future of travel. it involves being strapped inside a pod and then fired through a tube, hurtling forward at more than 1,000km/h. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones went to the nevada desert to see the hyperloop in action. we're heading through the nevada desert, north of las vegas, for a glimpse of what its backers claim is the future of transport. this is a hyperloop, an attempt to send passengers hurtling at 700mph through a vacuum tube. many think that is far—fetched, but this project got the backing last year of virgin, with sir richard branson becoming chairman. in this 500 metre test track, they say they have shown that the technology works. though they have not yet put any human beings on board. i think my background in spacecraft engineering has given me the skill set to be able to... the head of engineering sees no

reason why people might be scared. the hyperloop is a maglev train in a vacuum tube system. and so you can also think of it as an aircraft flying at 200,000 feet. people have no issue going in aeroplanes, and people have no issue with maglev trains. this combines the two, and allows you to be more energy efficient. this is not the only project. elon musk, who originally floated the whole idea, has proposed a tunnel under los angeles, that could carry cars or be transformed into a hyperloop. the virgin hyperloop team has said they could take passengers from london to edinburgh in 50 minutes, or cut the journey between new york and boston to under half an hour. but making this work in the real world will mean running several of these pipes alongside each other over long distances, perhaps underground. and convincing governments that that is realistic is going to prove —

well, pretty challenging. at the giant tech show in las vegas, the chief executive was pushing the message that this technology is ready, and just needs someone to push the button. i've got 200 of the most brilliant engineers from industries from around the world, who have committed themselves to bringing something really new and we can go 500,600 and 700 mph. that's not what worries me. the biggest challenge ahead is to find governments and regulators that want to rapidly introduce this technology. even if some governments do share that vision, they will face another challenge — finding the money and the public support to build this kind of structure, many miles across, or under, their country. and that is the way it is looking less power. —— this hour.

don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @duncangolestani. hi there. snow again caused problems on friday in scotland. scenes like this were fairly commonplace. the snowiest place at the moment, in the highlands, where we've nearly got a0 centimetres of snow on the ground. now, the forecast this weekend, a couple of areas of low pressure, one today and another bringing heavy rain and a change to mild conditions on the way for the second half of the weekend. this is how we start off your saturday, then. a band of rain will be working into southern and western parts of the country. a cold and frosty start to the north—east, with snow showers again affecting parts of scotland, with an ongoing threat of ice, as well. the main uncertainty with the forecast through the weekend is how far north this pulse of rain will be during saturday morning. it could go right the way across northern ireland. if that happens, there is quite a risk that it turns to snow.

three or four centimetres quite possible here, similar snow totals possible across the high ground of north wales, and the north—west midland for a time. whereas, further south, for the most part it's cold rain will fall, although there will be some flakes of sleet mixed in, particularly over the high ground, for example the chilterns, and maybe some other areas. rest of the day, bright skies in scotland filter southwards into far north england northern ireland. a slow change to the rest, a dull, dank day with rain easing off slowly and chilly conditions. temperatures for most in a range of 3—5 degrees. milder, though, in the south—west. on saturday night, the second of those areas of low pressure that we see on the satellite picture starts to swing in. that will be bringing a band of rain across northern ireland. ahead of that, it is cold, one of the colder nights of this year so far in scotland. temperatures could be dipping down well, well below freezing, perhaps —8 or —10 degrees,

something like that. and then on sunday that band of rain will work into colder air, and for a time, it could turn to snow. and that snow could be very heavy across the high ground of scotland and across the peaks and the pennines, as well, perhaps as much as ten or 15 centimetres of snow. whereas if we get snow at lower levels, it will not last long because it will transition back to rain, as mild air works in from the west. there will be quite a range in temperatures, then, for the second half of the weekend. quite chilly underneath this band of rain, and still some snow mixed in across the north—east. mild air pushing in across parts of england, wales and northern ireland, boosting, for some, the temperatures to double figures. and that is the story of the weather next week. mild air across the country, so the weather will feel much different early next week. that is your latest weather. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us federal government is on the verge of being shut down if the senate doesn't approve new budget measures by midnight, local time. president trump has been meeting the democrats' senate leader,

chuck schumer, to discuss ways to avert the crisis. mr trump said it had been an excellent meeting. russia has denied withdrawing its forces from the syrian region of afrin ahead of an expected turkish attack. turkish media earlier said moscow had started pulling its personnel out of the enclave, which is controlled by kurdish fighters. but the russian foreign minister said these reports had been refuted. pope francis has made his first visit to the amazon on the final leg of his trip to chile and peru. speaking to thousands of indigenous people on the edge of the rainforest in peru, he said amazon tribes had "never been so threatened" and that they "bore deep wounds". now on bbc news, it's time for the week in parliament.