good afternoon. the us national government has officially shutdown, a year to the day after donald trump took office as president. senators had failed to agree a stop—gap budget — amid a bitter dispute president trump's republicans and the opposition democrats over immigration and border security. the impasse will affect hundreds of thousands of federal workers. but essential government services will carry on. the recriminations have already begun. david willis reports from washington. the last hope of avoiding embarrassing government shutdown had failed. 350 the senators, duly having sworn and not voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. the motion had passed in the house of representatives 2a hours earlier, but an issue, aside from the money itself, was how that money was spent. democrats sought a provision

in the bill protecting the so—called dreamers, thousands of young people brought into this country illegally who's right to remain is due to be revoked in a few weeks' time. the senate democratic leader met with president trump for more an hour at the white house, but the two men failed to reach a deal. the way things went today, the way you turned from a bipartisan deal, it's almost as if you were rooting for a shutdown, and now we will have one. and the blame should crash entirely on president trump's shoulders. many republicans support efforts to legitimise the status of the dreamers, but they want it tied to other provisions, such as president from's border wall, and not made pa rt from's border wall, and not made part of a government funding bill. what we have just witnessed on the floor was a cynical decision by senate democrats to shove aside millions of americans for the sake

of irresponsible political games. the government shutdown was 100% avoidable. the last government shutdown here, in 2013, lasted 16 days and led to around 800,000 government workers being placed on temporary leave. for president trump, the man who brands himself the deal—maker in chief, this is a political embarrassment. the first day of the government shutdown coincides with the first anniversary of his inauguration. mary lou mcdonald, a member of the irish parliament, is to succeed gerry adams as president of sinn fein. as the only candidate to be nominated, mary lou mcdonald will formally be elected at a special conference next month. mr adams is retiring after leading the republican party for more than thirty years. our correspondent kevin sharkey is in belfast for us. kevin, whatever one thinks of sinn

fein‘s president over the last three decades, gerry adams has unquestionably been a world figure as well as a figure in the uk and ireland. how is mary lou mcdonald going to be leading her party differently? yes, and mary lou mcdonald said filling the shoes of gerry adams will be impossible stop she said no one can do that. that gives you a sense of the status he has held within the party, here and globally, over the last 35 years or so. mary lou mcdonald, on the other hand, is perceived as having a clean pair of heels politically. she doesn't have any baggage from the troubled times here in northern ireland over the decades. she was a member of the european parliament for sinn fein, she is a sitting td in the irish parliament in dublin at the moment, so parliament in dublin at the moment, so there is no doubt she will have a very significant role, and one very important issue facing sinn fein and

facing politics in northern ireland at the moment is trying to get devolution restored. a talk will begin here in belfast next week between the parties in an attempt to get power—sharing restored at stormont. mary lou mcdonald will not be in post on these talks when they resume next week, but there is no doubt she will have a very significant input. thank you, kevin. the french president has suggested the uk could get a bespoke trade deal with the european union after brexit, but again warned that britain would not have full access to the single market unless it accepted its rules. in an interview to be broadcast in full on the andrew marr show tomorrow, emmanuel macron said he respected, but regretted, the brexit vote, but the eu would love to welcome the uk back. to get full access to the single market, you need contributions to the budget, and you have to accept... the freedoms?

the freedoms? the freedoms, and the four pillars, and you have to accept the jurisdiction. as soon as you decide not tojoin these jurisdiction. as soon as you decide not to join these preconditions, it is not full access, so it is perhaps somewhere between full access and a trade agreement. police in sheffield are appealing for information to help find two children who have been missing since last night. 13—year—old marcela menyhartova, and marcel menyha rt, who's 12, were last seen at the city's ice rink near the suburb of attercliffe at around eight o'clock yesterday evening. british tourists travelling to jamaica are being advised to stay in their resorts after a state of emergency was declared around montego bay. there's been a surge in gang—related violence in the area. every year, around 200 thousand britons visit. nick davis reports. for a country that depends on tourism, the pictures of troops on the streets in montego bay, jamaica's biggest resort, are not ideal. the government says it is something that needs to be done. the security forces are expected

and have been directed to treat citizens with respect and protect the dignity and safety of all. most of the tourists who visit montego bay and much of the north coast stay in gated or guarded all—inclusive hotels where security isn't an issue. but crime in the city has spiked. last year saw over 1,600 people murdered in jamaica. 335 of them in stjames, the area where montego bay is. most of the crime is gang—related and focused in a small number of communities. the foreign office has advised holidaymakers that they should only travel to and from the airport to their hotels and when they do take excursions, to make sure they are arranged by official tour reps. the authorities say there will be more roadblocks and vehicle searches as they go after the gangs and their guns. a similar state of emergency in 2010, in kingston, saw the murder rate drop to its lowest levels in years, a statistic that meant lives saved.

in montego bay it's hoped the same will happen again. with all the sport, here's mike bushell at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon, mike. good afternoon, mike. good afternoon. first, tennis. defending champion roger federer is safely through to the fourth round of the australian open after beating richard gasquet. federer has yet to drop a set at this year's tournament. and there was an injury scare for the six—time champion novak djokovic — he needed medical treatment in his match against albert ramos—vinolas. he did win in straight sets, but he wasn't at his best — this is his first event since wimbledon. his next opponent is chung hyeon, who's become the first south korean man to reach the last 16 in melbourne — and to get there, he knocked out the fourth seed alexander zverev. a major scalp. world number one simona halep survived an epic battle, with the unseeded american lauren davis — she saved three match points, before eventually winning, 15—13, in the decider —

that set alone lasted two hours and 22 minutes — they were on court for nearly four hours. chelsea are leading brighton 2—0 in the early premier league kick—off. they scored two goals within the first six minutes, from eden hazard and then a superb team effort, featuring two back—heels, finished off by willian. and it's been quite a first half in the scottish cup match at pittodrie, where aberdeen are 3—1 up against st mirren in theirfourth—round match — ryan christie has been the star of the show, with two goals. it is half—time. english golfer ross fisher has a share of the lead after the third round of the abu dhabi golf championship — he and thomas pieters are 17 under—par. butjust one shot behind is rory mcilroy, back after three months out with a rib injury. he shot a round of 65 to put himself firmly in contention. england netball has admitted it may struggle to fund the national team in the future. the players turned professional

in 2016, but the majority of the funding the sport receives has to be spent on grassroots. jo currie's been investigating, ahead of england's match against new zealand tonight. netball is booming. over a million people play in england. next year, this board will descend on liverpool for the world cup. it should be a defining moment for the sport. that said, there are fears a funding shortfall could leave the national team's future in jeopardy. it's a huge worry, it's the thing that probably keeps me awake at night, andi probably keeps me awake at night, and i would certainly not want it as my legacy as ceo. no one wants to think that under their period as ceo, the school would not survive. sport england was one of the guest funders of netball last year, but only £3 million and the money can be used by elite players, one that money has gone, there will be a big

hole in the budget. of course, that money helps at the elite end, because you we re money helps at the elite end, because you were able to train more, live and compete as athletes, and we all know that will improve what we see out of the courts. we need to make sure we're getting is professional athletes through, that these youngsters have an opportunity to grow up, i want to be a netball, not a netball and something else. we have really got a boost our commercial revenue, and it is the one thing the board have charged me with doing. we need to have sell—out arenas and model exactly how male sport commercialises their sport. so will bea commercialises their sport. so will be a mixture of ticket income, sponsorship revenue, looking at how we deliver netball. and what better place to start than with the series this weekend, when england take on the world's top teams in london? it is very exciting to start off 2018, a commonwealth games year, playing some of the top nations in

the world. we have new zealand on monday, australia first. it is really exciting to get the girls playing here in our home turf. the girls are hoping success on the court can secure their team's future off it. and that is all your sport for now. thank you, mike. more on all of today's stories throughout the afternoon on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5:30pm. goodbye for now. you are watching the bbc news channel. it is 1:12pm. police in sheffield are appealing for information to help find two children who have been missing since last night. they were last seen at an ice skating rink near the suburb of

attercliffe in the city. our correspondent is there now. tell us a little at about these two children, and the circumstances in which they went missing? yes, well as you mentioned, the two youngsters that were involved were last seen here last night. this is a very popular ice skating arena in this pa rt popular ice skating arena in this part of the world, and hundreds of people are out there today. marcela menyha rtova people are out there today. marcela menyhartova and marcel menyha rt people are out there today. marcela menyhartova and marcel menyhart are 13 and 12 years of age. they had not been seen since around eight o'clock last night. we know the ice arena here is open till about 1am. there was no suggestion they were here until that time, but at the moment, we don't know what happened to them after they were last been at 8pm. marcela is described as being white, of slim build, with long hair which

she wears a bun. she was seen wearing black trousers and a black jacket with a furry hood on the jacket. her brother, we think, although we do not have any definitive information on that, but thatis definitive information on that, but that is the suggestion on social media, marcel, described as being white, with short, dark blonde hair, wearing a red hooded jumper and eddie distract suit bottoms. there have been appeals by family members on social media to come forward if people have information, to establish where these young children are. police are not saying too much at the moment, but they have issued an appeal to anybody who may know where the children are to come forward and advised them at the earliest opportunity. there, the trail pretty much goes cold, but the longer this goes on, given the weather conditions is south yorkshire today, with pretty cold temperatures and snow forecast for later, be concerned about the welfare of these two children increases. thank you very much for

that. we will bring you any more during the course of the afternoon if we get any further information about those two children. as phil was saying, the nonemergency number is 101. that is the number to contact south yorkshire police if you can help with their investigation and the search for those two young children. the international olympic committee has announced that 22 north korean competitors will take part in the winter olympics next month in south korea. the head of the ioc said that the teams would march under a single flag and under one name, korea. our correspondentjoins us now. imagine, that almost sounds as if 70 years of conflict have been resolved just like that! it's a lot more complicated than that, isn't it?l good deal more complicated. i think that would be a very, very overoptimistic interpretation of what happened here today. it is good

news, but it is about sport, it is about the olympics. and we know that north korea and south korea in the past have tried to present a more unified front of the sporting field. let's not forget in 2006 and the winter olympics they marched under the same flag at the opening ceremony together. this time, they are going further, fielding a unified women's ice hockey team. the international olympic committee, in quite an exceptional measure, has relaxed its deadlines for registration and allowed 22 north korean athletes to take place. the games start in just three weeks' time. but whether this kind of harmony on the sporting field is going to lead to harmoni elsewhere, toa going to lead to harmoni elsewhere, to a de—escalation of the real tensions we have seen on the korean peninsula, i think time will tell. this may be the start of something greater, but it is very early days. is the ioc at all concerned that

this might be, on the part of the north koreans, at least, a propaganda exercise, and in a sense, the olympics is being used? well, this was a question that was put to the president of the ioc, in his room, about half an hour ago when he was making the announcement. he declined to answer it. what i would say is that delegations from both north and south korea, from their national olympic committees, have been here in lausanne since wednesday. they met together at the same table all day yesterday and all this morning, and i think if it was just a propaganda manoeuvre on the pa rt just a propaganda manoeuvre on the part of north korea, these meetings together would not have taken place, would not have lasted so long, and we would not have seen both sides together at the international olympic committee, shaking hands and signing an agreement about half an hour ago. i think both sides want to show they are doing something. maybe they have different reasons for

wanting to show that, but i would say not necessarily just wanting to show that, but i would say not necessarilyjust propaganda and north korea's part. thank you for that update, imogen. that fascinating prospect there the fascinating prospect there the fascinating games —— for the forthcoming games. let's look at the headlines. any government services in america shut down after politicians in washington failed to pass a spending bill. essential services including national security and air traffic control will continue unaffected. mary lou mcdonald has been confirmed as the only candidate nominated to replace gerry adams as president of sinn fein. british tourist injamaica are being advised not to leave their resorts unsupervised after an increase in violence in the street has led to a state of emergency declared in the area around montego bay. prime minister theresa may has done

an interview with the german newspaper bild in which she said there will not be a second referendum on brexit. she also stewart as germans living in the uk and britons living in germany that their status is secure and it will be able to stay. that still to our correspondentjenny hill. good afternoon. what sort of message is she trying to get across, and is there anything to be read into the timing, given that german politicians right now are rather distracted with internal politics, trying to form a government? yes, as to your first trying to form a government? yes, as to yourfirst question, trying to form a government? yes, as to your first question, i think the primary message here is one of attempted reassurance. mrs may knows the germans prize stability perhaps above all else, and that is why we're hearing again the germans living in britain will be allowed to stay once brexit comes into force, and that there will be no second referendum. but i think secondly, and very importantly, she is also trying to nudge that reminder, as if germany needs that reminder, the

importance of the trading relationship between the two countries. mrs me will know that german business leaders are really rattled, really concerned about what happens, particularly if britain leaves the eu without any kind of deal at all. the trading relationship is very important to germany. so there be interest, when she says she once this free trade deal, a special deal and like any other in existence. people here will wa nt to other in existence. people here will want to know what she means by that, but it is worth bearing in mind that i don't think mrs me is likely to shift the ultimate german position. —— mrs me. if she wants britain to have access to the single market, they will have to accept freedom of movement too. that is britain's bottom line. also worth remembering that germany takes quite a dim view of any attempts to divide the remaining 26 member states, and try and negotiate something in a

bipartisan way. so that is something that might cause some concern. some people might read that into what is going on, but by and large this is a fairly neutral interview in the bild tabloid newspaper, which is an interesting choice. it is a popular newspaper, but certainly not the choice of top politicians or the business world. you mention mrs may's timing. that will also raise eyebrows. germany is how much focused on a key vote set to take place tomorrow which could see angela merkel‘s attempts at forming a stable government fall apart. that is what everyone here is focused on right now. i doubt very much whether angela merkel or her ministers will have either the time or inclination to dwell on brexit. a busy weekend for you in berlin ahead! thank you very much. pope francis is usability per ruta sound a stark warning about the future of the amazon and its indigenous people. he told the people of puerto maldonado that the

region had never been more threatened by businesses keen to exploit it for minerals and gold. our correspondent has more. pope francis arrived in puerto maldonado, on the edges of the amazon rainforest, to a resoundingly warm reception, from those perhaps too young to fathom the scale of the issues their communities face. the pontiff was notjust 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 victim to an illegal gold rush which has spawned a billion—dollar black market that is destroying their habitats and has seen the introduction of human trafficking and violent criminal networks. translation: the native amazonian people have probably never been so threatened as they are at present.

the amazon is a territory that is being disputed on many fronts. translation: i have a feeling of peace and tranquillity. he has comforted us with his soft words, telling us, you can change this world and continue with our customs and traditions. pope francis then travelled to peru's capital, lima, but was forced to switch vehicles in the middle of the motorway after the car suffered a flat tyre. the amazon will now be the focus of a world bishops‘ meeting taking place in october next year. young, recovering cancer patients in ireland are finding support from an unusual source — donkeys. it's part of a scheme being trialled at a sanctuary in belfast, where hands—on therapy is helping people come to terms with their experiences. our ireland correspondent chris page has been to see how it works. hello, wee man.

donkeys and humans have been working together for thousands of years. now the animals are helping to emotionally carry people here on a particularly challenging journey. annelise was diagnosed with cancer after she suffered a brain injury when she fell off a jeep during her gap year. she has been taking part in what is known as donkey—assisted therapy. put his head down and lifted it back up then, up towards me. and then i rubbed him again and that made me kind of aware that he was all right. and what were you aware of within yourself? that i wasn't scared. the basic idea is that being around donkeys helps people to talk about difficult experiences because the animals have a calming presence. leanne has been treated for a brain tumour. she and annelise say the programme has been priceless. yes, i think people would benefit from this who would not go to normal counselling. like one—on—one. and someone who wouldn't open up, the donkeys just help you to start and not realise that you're talking so much about yourjourney. how would you say it has helped in your journey through cancer treatment?

it helped a lot, actually. doing this. because at the start i was like, i'm definitely not doing it and now people ask what did you think of it and i said, it was amazing. they always ask how to explain it and you can't, you just have to go and try it. to understand it. a lot of different emotions come out. they talked about a donkey being left abandoned on a highway and is there ever a time you have felt alone and stuff like that. and when you think about the treatment, you were alone. so it is all about encouraging emotional openness. any challenges? mindfulness, i find a bit challenging. the organisation which came up with the therapy says the donkeys are the perfect creatures to make it happen. donkeys are very social animals and they enjoy engaging and interacting with people. and they're also very aware of their environment and everything that is going on within it. so within the sessions they are able to act almost like a mirror to the participant and reflect back to the facilitator and the participant what maybe is going on in terms of how they're

feeling emotionally but very much so the nonverbal communication that they're giving out within their session. that helps with life skills. the cancer charity which has been working with the donkey sanctuary says that the scheme has made a remarkable difference. we know at clic sargent that young people experience a lot of emotions. cancer can rob young people of their self—confidence, their independence. and actually stop career aspirations and goals. so this was just one innovative way that we want to make sure that young people get back on the same track in life that they were before cancer came in. as well as helping with therapy, the donkeys have a pretty playful life. but these friendly, gentle and intelligent animals have a new role. providing vital support to people who are coming to terms with cancer. the oscar—winning actor dorothy

malone has died at the age of 93. her career began in b—movies, but she won an academy awards for best supporting actor is for the film written on the wind. her career achieved its peak in the early 60s, and she was later known as constance mckenzie in peyton place from 1964-1968. she mckenzie in peyton place from 1964—1968. she was in basic instinct as a woman who killed her family. and now, an actor of a different kind. go on, stav, give it your oscar—winning best! i will try my best! a disappointing weather story this weekend for many places. a glorious buzz of sunshine for scotland, but some lying snow. colder further south with some hills smile as well. slightly milder air pushing in. over the overnight

period, more rain from the west will bring some snow as it bumps into the cold air across northern ireland in north wales. a very cold night further north and west, particularly central scotland with that lying snow. there will be some hazards on the road for sunday morning. snow and ice across central and northern parts of the uk, so keep tuned your local radio before you head out. hill is no across the midlands and northern england, much of scotland as well through the course of the day. quite a messy picture, cloud outbreaks, feeling very cold across eastern areas. something more mild pushing into the south—west with heavy rain, and an improvement from northern ireland, with a bit of sunshine through the day. this is bbc news, our latest headlines: the us government grinds to a halt on the first anniversary of president trump's inauguration as the senate fails to agree on a budget to fund many public services. mary lou mcdonald is confirmed as the only candidate nominated to replace gerry adams as sinn fein president.

british tourists are warned to stay in their resorts injamaica's montego bay as a state of emergency is declared following violence on the streets. a special trade deal after brexit — french president emmanuel macron says a deal is on the cards but warns access to the single market will come at a price. thank you for your company. the news will be at the top of the hour. now on bbc news, inside out looks at how to get out of and stay out of debt. welcome to inside out. here's what's coming up on tonight's programme: as we count the cost of a christmas spending binges, we find out how to get out and stay out of debt. now‘s the time to actually cut up that credit card. fantastic. don't sit on it. get help. there is no debt that we've yet seen that can't be sorted

and get you to freedom. sending in the bailiffs. why cancel tax debt is at an all—time high. it escalated to £608.75 from £86.75. yes, i don't know how that happened. and the baby boomers funding their retirement in surprising new ways. if you can spot a gap in the market, have enough focus and get up and go then it's never too late to start your own business, become successful and you might even help the economy.