this is bbc news. the headlines at 6.00pm: promotion is not agreed to. the motion is not agreed to. the moment us senators voted to shut down the american national government — now congress is meeting to try to agree a temporary budget. america knows this is the trump shutdown. only the president can end it. gunmen in afghanistan are reported to have attacked a top hotel in the capital, kabul. police there are fighting to regain control of the area. turkey launches an assault on kurdish fighters in northern syria, opening a new front in the conflict. mary lou mcdonald is confirmed as the only candidate nominated to replace gerry adams as sinn fein president. and in sport — fans at stadiums across the country remember cyrille regis, the former england player described as a "trailblazer" for black footballers. if

good evening and welcome to bbc news. the us national government has officially shutdown, year to the day after donald trump took office as president. senators failed to agree a stopgap budget and there was bitter dispute between republicans and democrats over immigration and security. this report from washington. with the midnight deadline looming they came up well short of the 60 votes needed. without a funding agreement in place, the government of the largest economy in the world was now only minutes away from shutdown. you'll

actually chosen and sworn, not having voted in the affirmative, -- duly chosen and sworn, not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not passed. the way things turned today and the way you turned from a bipartisan deal, it is almost as if you were rooting for a shutdown, and how you were rooting for a shutdown, and now we will have one, and the blame should crash entirely on president trump's shoulders. the white house ina trump's shoulders. the white house in a statement branded the democrats obstructionist losers. what we have just witnessed on the floor was a cynical decision by democrats to shove aside millions of americans for the sake of irresponsible political games. the government shutdown was 100% avoidable. as the vote collapsed, outside on

the steps of the capitol where the people whose fate democrats want to tie to this funding agreement, the so—called dreamers, people brought into the united states illegally who president trump is threatening to deport in a few weeks' time. many republicans support legitimising their status but they wanted to be pa rt their status but they wanted to be part ofan their status but they wanted to be part of an immigration bill that would also provide funds for a wall along the mexican border, a pet project of president trump. president trump was hitting the hash jihad this morning. "this is the one—year anniversary of my presidency and the democrats wanted to give me a nice present." the last government shutdown here in 2013 cause the closure of many national parks and monuments, and led to cause the closure of many national parks and monuments, blamed to senator chuck schumer blamed republicans in the white house and said trump was next to impossible to negotiate with. we can do big things, but the president needs to step up and lead. the republicans

control the presidency, the senate and the house. they know who's responsible. american people know that the republicans control the presidency, the sennett and that house, and they know who's responsible america knows. america knows this is the trump shutdown. 0nly knows this is the trump shutdown. only the president can end it. we democrats are at the table. we're ready to negotiate. the president needs to pull up a chair, to 332333 33 f3“ 3fi 3 3333'35 33 333335. . .. ... .. 3233.3 33 f3“ 3fi 3 3333'33 33 333335. . .. ... .. 3233.3 33 ppu 3pi 3 3333'33 33 333335. . i. ii. i. the republican 377 i777 . 3233.3 33 ppu 3pi 3 3333'33 33 333335. . i. ii. i. the republican cammack i777 , schumer. the republican cammack house speaker paul ryan condemned the democrats for rejecting the spending bill, describing it as utter madness. senate democrat shutdown this government and now senate democrats need to open this government back—up. stop holding our troops and children's health insurance hostage. end this reckless shutdown that is inflicting needless uncertainty on our country. let

common sense and cooler heads prevail. come to your senses. do the right thing. 0pen prevail. come to your senses. do the right thing. open this government back—up. right thing. open this government back-up. that was paul ryan for the republicans. thousands of women are protesting in cities across the united states to mark the first anniversary of president trump's inauguration. in washington hundreds gathered and speeches were heard by a number of politicians, including hillary clinton's running mate tim kaine. there was a march in new york, as we said, but the total number of participants was much lower than the estimated 5 million who marched onjanuary the 1st last year, one of the largest protests in american history. we can speak now to one of the organisers of today's marches, joined by webcam from las vegas. what are you trying to achieve? your very much one of the organisers of the whole thing. what is thy dear? —— what is the idea?

the big focus in the us is the mid—term elections so we have until november to make sure we are getting people ready to vote, doing voter registration, making sure people formerly incarcerated know they have the right to vote, people who are going to be a team, that they know the process and can get all setup. we will be targeting mostly red states with low voter turnout and really trying to do some on the ground building and making sure we get those people to the polls. ground building and making sure we get those people to the pollsm ground building and making sure we get those people to the polls. it is all about protesting against your president, really, isn't it? the white house is a mess right now.|j have been watching the news between yesterday and today, but the reality, and we said this last year, theseissues reality, and we said this last year, these issues are not going away. if this man is in office or not, these are things that have just been toxic in our country for the past decade, the past few decades, so it is

really about us trying to make sure that we really connect with people on the ground and that we are doing that on the ground building and trying to work with different groups to partner with them, making sure we area to partner with them, making sure we are a united front and that we can actually get some stuff done this year. do you take from the trump presidency any positives at all? 0r do you see at all as a negative?|j mean, do you see at all as a negative?” mean, for me the positive is that he definitely really walk people up. we have been saying that a lot of women, especially white women, were not paying attention until donald trump was elected as our president, and sometimes it is a harsh reality to think, wow, this is where we are at right now, and make sure it is so important for people to be paying attention, especially in local elections, mid—term elections, because those are the things that shape presidential elections, so

really to just be engaging people all year round, every day, what is happening locally, it is notjust about engaging every four years. well we are speaking to you we are able to show pictures from new york of what is going on there, and it looks to me like a fairly big procession, a march calling on the —— whilst we are speaking to. but the word is not as many people turning out as they did a year ago. and las vegas right now. i've been watching the marchers on tv. it seems like there's a lot of people. i'm seeing aerial views and i know central park, and looking at las vegas, it is huge. it is not about numbers. it is just another narrative that is pretty toxic, to say, well, you didn't get as many people marching on the streets are therefore it is not successful or having an impact. that'sjust therefore it is not successful or having an impact. that's just not true. the reality is i have been to protests that have 10—15 people and if they can make policy change then it is successful. it is really if we

are able to inspire one person to really make a difference in their community or get their friends to register to vote or whatever, whatever it is. what is so inspiring as well as so many people are marching for different issues. again, just like last year. right 110w again, just like last year. right now the big talk in the states is what will happen with these 800,000 kids, beiseker, who have lived here their whole lives, really fighting for them and making sure —— kids, basically, who've lived here their whole lives. breanne butler, march organiser there in las vegas, thank you very much indeed. thank you. 0ur correspondent sally nabil is in washington. shejoins us now. we can she joins us now. we can see some people in the background there, a march going on. how do you rate the strength of the protest where you are? actually theyjust started marching a few minutes ago and there are thousands of them. it is a big

march, but not as big as the one that was held last year and drew nearly half a million people in dc alone, not to mention the rest of the us. but the people here were quite critical of the us president and the us administration. one lady here told me, "i want to apologise to the rest of the world, because oui’ to the rest of the world, because our administration misrepresents the united states." our administration misrepresents the united states. " another our administration misrepresents the united states." another man told me he isa united states." another man told me he is a teacher in a public school in dc and he has so many students from ethiopia, el salvador, and he believes that they do love america more than the average person, according to his own words. so some people here have been telling me as well that they see the president as racist and incompetent, and they wa nt racist and incompetent, and they want change and this is why they showed up here today. there was this little girl holding a sign saying, "build your wall but my generation is going to tear it down." so

everybody has been quite critical of the republicans and of president donald trump and they say it is time for a change and this is why today's rally, it encourages women to register for votes, especially with an upcoming mid—term election next november, and they are also calling on women to run for office because they need to seek more female voices taking part in american politics. indeed, and of course in the background, sally, deadlock. the us government is shut down. yes, this is true, and the people here are also quite unhappy about that. one of them told me this proves the fact that the current administration can get nothing right. they are not good at anything, and given the fact that people here our opponents to president trump, they put all the blame on the republicans and they do support what the democrats are

trying to do to secure legal protection for more than 700,000 immigrants who came to the us as children, and they are currently involved in the programme which is going to expire next march, and the us president has decided to end it. indeed. sally nabil there in washington, thank you very much indeed. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guestsjoining me tonight are kate andrews, news editor at the institute of economic affairs and sebastian payne, who's political leader

writer at the ft. there have been reports of a suspected militant attack on a large hotel in the afghan capital, kabul. several gunmen are reported to have entered the intercontinental hotel and opened fire on guests inside. it's unclear if there are casualties. the bbc‘s zia shahreyar is in kabul. can you hear me? i can't hear you. can you hear me? i can't hear you. can you hear me? i can't hear you. can you hear me now? couldn't hear the first part of the question but i gather you were asking about the intercontinental hotel attack in kabul. the police officials in kabul, if you can hear me, they say they have killed, or specialforces have killed, two of the assailants, and they have cleared the first floor of the hotel, but the clashes are going on on the second, third and fourth floor of the flaws of the hotel.

there are no match official figures on casualties so far —— on the floor of the hotel. we can see that the local tv press have been speaking to some eyewitnesses from there, who have managed to flee the hotel, and they are saying they have seen dead bodies and injured people from the guests bodies and injured people from the gu ests of bodies and injured people from the guests of the hotel and that the assa ila nts guests of the hotel and that the assailants have opened fire towards the guests. there are also reports that foreign guests have been staying in the hotel and we're not sure if they have been injured or harmed in the attack. and also the police are saying that they are trying to clear other floors of the hotel and the attack has been going

on, or the clashes have been going on, or the clashes have been going on, for the last three and a half hours. the attacks the hotel around nine o'clock local time. so it is a very important hotel in the west of kabul, and a lot of high—profile guests possibly in the hotel, and so far that is pretty much what we have on there. zia shahreyar in kabul, thank you very much indeed. and of course we will bring you more from kabul as we get further information. the time has just gone quarter past seven. let's look at the headlines on bbc news. many government services in america have shut down after politicians failed to pass a spending bill. essential services including national security and air traffic as we just heard, several gunmen attack the intercontinental hotel in kabul — with officials suggesting some of them included suicide bombers. unconfirmed reports say a number

of people have died and others have been taken hostage by the gunmen. mary lou mcdonald is confirmed as the only candidate nominated —— turkey launches an assault on kurdish forces in northern syria, opening a new front in the conflict. sinn fein has announced who will succeed gerry adams as its party president. mary lou mcdonald, a member of parliament in the irish republic, was the only candidate for the role. mr adams emerged from northern ireland's turbulent history to become leader more than 30 years ago. ms mcdonald comes from a very different background. our ireland correspondent, chris page, has been following the story, and explained how significant the appointment was. it's been thought for some years now that mary lou mcdonald was the likely successor to gerry adams. she's been a very strong presence at mr adams‘ side at key political events recently recently. her personal politicaljourney has been very different to her predecessor, though. mr adams was brought up in west belfast, a working—class area, the crucible of the conflict in northern ireland. security sources believe he was a senior member of the ira,

though he has always denied being in the organisation. mary lou mcdonald grew up in a middle—class suburb in dublin and shejoined sinn fein during the peace process, so today sinn fein confirmed she was only nominee to succeed mr adams as party president, and she said that she would be putting her own stamp on the job. the truth is that no one will ever fill gerry adams' shoes — that's the truth. applause. the truth is, my friends, i won't fill gerry's shoes. but the news is that i brought my own. so she will take over officially as sinn fein president at a special party conference in three—weeks' time, and it will mark something of a generational shift in the party away from people who had ira connections and towards new figures who had no direct connection with the troubles. now, sinn fein's political opponents will still continue to focus

on the links to the ira, and sinn fein will indeed continue to defend the ira campaign, but these days the party prefers to talk about present—day politics rather than the paramilitary violence of the past. chris page reporting. more now on the one year anniversary of donald trump's presidency. any celebrations he may have had planned have been somewhat marred by the shutdown on services announced in congress last night. iamjoined by i am joined by charlie wolf, a republican commentator. it is an example, the shutdown, is it not, of extremely divided politics in washington? the last time the government shutdown was, the joe quaranta, at least we can get something is done, with the government out of the way —— the

joke around town was at least we can get some things done. even though the republicans have the house, the senate and the presidency, i think this time around as with last and it didn't bode well for the republican party when they shot the government down and i don't think this will bode too well for the democrats, calling it the schumer shutdown. i think if you have the title these days it is half the battle. and of course schumer says it is the trump shutdown. what schumer made one point that i think will resonate with a lot of people, that is when you are dealing with this particular president that there is a problem in that, to predictably, he doesn't stick to a line. a very difficult man to get anything over two.” would disagree. the one thing he is good at is negotiating. i think the problem schumer has is this as someone problem schumer has is this as someone who can problem schumer has is this as someone who can see problem schumer has is this as someone who can see it for what it is, and they had a very good meeting, about a week ago, and the president said essentially i will

sign anything you bring me, essentially anything within these parameters. and he was happy to have some parameters. and he was happy to have some leeway, but it seems the democrats were, as you say over here, taking the mickey. this is someone, here, taking the mickey. this is someone, president trump, who will just not stand for it. he is not a diplomat and perhaps that is all the better because you get what you see and see what you get and he just made it plain and simple, this is not what we were discussing. you're taking me for a full and i think thatis taking me for a full and i think that is when word s certifying and brock forced back to where we are at present, but they will work it out. when you say they will work it out, to people on this side of the atla ntic to people on this side of the atlantic it seems extraordinary that the government could be shut down in this way, especially in such a vast and importing country as the united states. how long do you have to go on before it has really serious effects ? on before it has really serious effects? the last one was only 16 days. thankfully the important things continue to run, the police, the military. some of the full—time

military won't get paid, they will be working without pay cheques, which again, not that you want to make them into a political item, but that sort of boards well for the president saying the democrats seem more interested in the illegal immigrants than they do in our soldiers —— it bodes well for the president. that is the line he will take. generally what happens is they are very quick to shutdown the things that interface with the public. so the washington monument, that will be the first thing to shutdown with a big sign up front saying, we are closed because of... again it is sort of politicking, the national parks closed down, but the things behind the scenes that keep the country running they will continue to go. we are talking to people obviously as we do in these situations, people in washington, passers—by, we could call them, not politicians themselves. one of them said the fact is we have a dysfunctional government. is that

true, do you think? any government is dysfunctional. you know, a very large organisation made up of different people with differing views, and that said it has worked for some 230 years, and we have a constitution and that to me is the important thing, that constitution, that piece of paper, is what gets things to work. i was debating someone, things to work. i was debating someone, talking about trump's one year, i was debating an american today on the radio and she said, i'm giving up my american passport and becoming british, and i thought it is strange because whatever you may think of donald trump or barack obama before him, orjimmy carter, george bush, ultimately they are at theirfor george bush, ultimately they are at their for four to george bush, ultimately they are at theirforfour to eight george bush, ultimately they are at their for four to eight years, george bush, ultimately they are at theirforfour to eight years, and they still have to function within that piece of paper. schumer, the president, everybody, has to operate within that constitution, and that is what america is all about. charlie wolf, thank you. thanks. let's move onto other news now.

turkey has begun a new intervention in the conflict in syria — by launching an offensive against kurdish held territory near its border. (ff it has long fought kurdish separatists within its own country and is now shelling kurdish militia in the afreen region. mark lowen reports from near the turkey—syria border. it began today, so called operation olive branch. turkish f16 fighter jets pounding afrin, an enclave of northern syria under the control of the syrian—kurdish militia, the ypg. and turkish—backed syrian rebel fighters are on the ground as part of that offensive. turkey sees the ypg as a terrorist group, linksed to turkey's own outlawed kurdish militants, the pkk, who have been fighting an insurgency here in turkey since the 1980s. but it is a dangerous operation, because the americans back the ypg in the fight against the islamic state group. so now this operation puts turkey in direct confrontation with its nato ally, the us.

american support of the ypg has consistently infuriated the turkish government. and the syrian regime has warned that they would shoot down any turkish jet and see an incursion by turkey as a violation of syria's sovereignty. so plenty of perils as turkey launches the operation, and yet it has still gone ahead, determined to reduce territorial control of the ypg, fearing they were consolidating their territory on the other side of the border. and this operation could bog turkey down in a potentially long and deadly military offensive. mark lawn reporting from the turkish and syrian border. mark lowen reporting from the turkish and syrian border. with me is guney yildiz who's an expert on on turkey and kurdish affairs — and who also visited northern syria last year. in the last couple of months, was an? yes. the situation for many outsiders is hideously complicated.

what are turkey‘ here? outsiders is hideously complicated. what are turkey' here? turkey is trying to reduce the territorial control of the syrian and kurdish forces, which are supported by a nato led coalition including the uk and many other countries. but this is only a small part of the area under control by the turkish forces and it is one place where the us is not cooperating with the kurdish led forces so it is very unlikely turkey will procure any use of strikes to attack other parts of northern syria. this does not make huge sense diplomatically because turkey cannot call up diplomatic support for a growing mission. it doesn‘t make much sense militarily because it is a hugely risky manoeuvre against a very disciplined fighting machine. it makes some trends for —— some sense it makes some trends for —— some sense for president erdogan. he is worried about a further challenge to

him rising from within his own party in 2019 in the presidential election, so this might end up strengthening his position inside turkey but it is hugely risky militarily because we have seen turkey not securing huge success in other battles inside syria even against a demoralised isis. as i said, very complex picture. what do you think is the best erdogan can ta ke you think is the best erdogan can take out of this? a short operation proving he is willing to act, or does he have some long—term goals and might be determined to press on? it depends on how he sees it, actually. if he is after a fool wiping out of the ypg force in the afrin so

turkey to this turkey to control this region against protestations from the syrian regime, the ypg itself, and the usa probably, because any weakening of the kurdish led forces, the ypg, on the ground, it might give ground for radical islamic groups who can retake areas which we re groups who can retake areas which were cleared of them by this group. about what you think the rest of the world will think about this? particularly people like the united states, the uk, so on. we‘ll particularly people like the united states, the uk, so on. we'll we particularly people like the united states, the uk, so on. we'llwejust sit back and say it is up to turkey if they want to do this sort of thing? probably won‘t last very long, internal domestic politics. or do you think erdogan might face serious protest? it also depends on the public reaction. if we see a huge public reaction to this in europe, as for example we saw in kobani couple of years ago, with

demonstrations all across europe and all across the world. a state official in the us on friday said this will not help stabilise the region, and the ypg is their main ally and it is the only force against bashar al—assad and rush on the ground. if that force is weak and then we might start to see islamic groups, radical islamists, capturing ground and maybe as in the past making plans for attacks in europe again, and then this issue will have a direct influence on europe. indeed. very grateful to you for coming in. thank you very much. came to take a look at the weather prospects with ben. —— it is time to ta ke prospects with ben. —— it is time to take a look. good evening. it will turn milder over the next few days and it doesn‘t feel much like that at the moment. temperatures dropping away and a cold night to come,

especially across northern england, northern ireland and scotland, some freezing fog patches as well but then here is the big complication. some rain pushing in from the west. eventually bringing milder air but as the rain and it will bring snow and ice for a time for northern ireland and wales through the night, and that area of rain, sleet, snow and that area of rain, sleet, snow and ice will spread further north and ice will spread further north and eastwards during tomorrow. bear that in mind if your travel plans. this is the wet weather, sliding across wales, the midlands, northern england and up into scotland. anywhere from the midlands northwards, especially over high ground, we can see snow northwards, especially over high ground, we can see snow for a time, turning back to rain by the end of the day. it will be rain in the south—west because it will be very mild, 12 degrees in plymouth, and windy day as well. those milder conditions will wind out into the week ahead, but with that we see some week ahead, but with that we see some spells of wind rain at times.