welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories — president trump signs a deal to end the us shutdown, but for less than three weeks. every day we spend arguing about keeping the lights on is another day we cannot spend negotiating daca or defence spending or any of our other shared priorities. life under the rubble in syria — a report from the district of eastern ghouta, besieged for the past five years. after the sex abuse scandals, three executives resign from the board of usa gymnastics. a war on the predatory starfish — will australia's multimillion—dollar deal do anything to save the barrier reef? there is a last—minute deal to keep the us government in business,

but not for long. congress has approved a temporary spending measure to fund the federal government, ending an acrimonious debate and a 3—day shutdown. it's now been signed by president trump to allow government to function for another 2.5 weeks. laura trevelyan reports from washington. the motion is agreed to. this was the moment the impasse was broken and the way cleared for the government to reopen. the scene in the senate was the result of behind closed doors negotiations between centrist republicans and democrats. in return for voting to fund the government for the next few weeks, democrats got this. assuming that the government remains open, it would be my intention to proceed the legislation that would address daca, border security and related issues. democrats had said they wanted a deal to protect the young people

brought here illegally as children whose temporary permits start to expire in march. what they got is agreement to vote on this and other immigration matters in february. democrats say the president was no help at all. since our meeting in the oval office on friday, the president and i have not spoken, and the white house refused to engage in negotiations over the weekend. the great dealmaking president sat on the sidelines. the president did take an uncharacteristically low profile during the shutdown — other than these photos released by the white house and, of course, a few tweets. but his spokesperson is making clear that donald trump is central to whatever happens next. "as i've always said, once the government is funded, my administration will work towards solving the problem of very unfair legal immigration. we'll make a long—term deal on immigration if and only if it's good for our country." the government will be funded until february 8.

unless there is a plan by then to address the fate of the dreamers, expect more drama here in washington. the bbc‘s david willis has been following this story in washington. the president having signed it, the senate and the house previously having passed it, that means that the government shutdown is officially over and that will come as a huge relief to a lot of people. the democrats believe they've got a concession from the republicans, an agreement to debate immigration over the next few weeks, and in particular, address this issue of the so—called dreamers, the young people who are in this country illegally through no fault of their own and who risk being deported under measures introduced by president trump. it is by no means clear that they will be able to get some sort of protection in place

for the dreamers before these safeguards run out because any bill that was agreed in the senate will then have to go to the house of representatives, there's no guarantee that it will be agreed upon their or indeed that donald trump would then sign it, mike. david, this kind of shutdown has become a regular tactic, hasn't it, by both sides, so much seems to depend on what provisions can be reasonably attached to a funding bill but also, who owns the problem, who voters seem to be blaming for a shutdown? absolutely, and with mid—term elections due later this year, i think neither party wanted to see a prolonged federal government shutdown. there were polls published here that suggested given the fact republicans have a majority in both houses of congress and there's a republican in the white house, it would be the republicans and president trump who would get the majority of the blame from ordinary americans if

there was a prolonged government shutdown. but as i said, it's the sort of situation from which neither party stands to gain and they were very keen to get it sorted today. the question is i suppose — what this concession actually means as far as mitch mcconnell, the republicans, are concerned, and democrats in the senate. for five years, the syrian suburb of eastern ghouta has been attacked, pretty much without pause, by president assad's forces. about 400,000 people besieged there are now suffering what un officials describe as a humanitarian crisis. it is known, officially, as a de—escalation zone, but the bombardment goes on. the united nations is meeting to seek a way to end the siege. the bbc‘s nawal al—maghafi reports. eastern ghouta is a suburb under siege. the air strikes have become a daily occurrence here. racing from emergency to emergency, there seems to be no end to the violence.

and when half of the population that lives here are children, it's them who suffer the most. mahamoud, just three years old, survived the attack unhurt. his brother was lost in the rubble. altogether, eight civilians were pulled out of the remains of their homes. they survived this attack, but they can't escape the siege. surrounded for the past five years, the un has recently described eastern ghouta as the epicentre of suffering in syria. for almost 400,000 people, that means daily misery with little food, winter temperatures and heavy bombardment. once the dust settles,

the children are sent out to search for firewood. this woman has lost one child to this war and she's struggling to feed the others. eastern ghouta might be 20 minutes‘ drive from damascus, but food is 15 times more expensive than the capital. translation: i have six children. how am i meant to feed them? i can't even afford to buy them bread. all they have is a mouthful each. they never get full. have mercy on us! in an attempt to escape the shelling, abu brahim has made this abandoned building his home. with no windows, he's chosen to face the cold rather than the bombs. his two boys exposed to the chill of winter. translation: when it comes to food, we can't afford to buy that much. we eat day by day.

we can't afford to buy wood, so we burn whatever we can find. i've burnt most of my belongings that i took with me when we were displaced. no aid has been allowed into the area since november. without vital supplies, tens of thousands of children face the threat of malnutrition. as the attacks continue, the syrian and russian governments say their forces only attack islamist rebels in the area. for many children here, they've been born into this brutal siege, and if something isn't done soon, it's all they will ever come to know. nawal al—maghafi, bbc news. three executives have remind —— resigned from usa gymnastics. former team doctor larry nassar is about to be sentenced for sexually abusing dozens under his care.

athletes have been giving testimony, for five days, many saying they felt betrayed by usa gymnastics. the bbc‘s rajini vaidyanathan has been following developments at the court house in michigan. she explained what us gymnastics has been saying over the resignation of these senior officials. there is no mention of this ongoing case, but they say that this is just part of a change at the top. but of course, it's connected to what's going on and what's been going on in the courtroom at the end of the corridor from where i am standing. now, i've been speaking to a lot of the young women who have been sharing their stories in the past week and all of them of course want to make sure that larry nassar, the man who they say sexually abused them when they were much younger, is given justice. they want to make sure that he spends life behind bars. but the other thing they will want to make sure is that usa gymnastics is held accountable because they believe that there was, in many senses, a sense of enabling, a culture of enabling is the phrase one woman used, where usa gymnastics was given many complaints about larry nassar‘s behaviour.

now, he was the team doctor for the us gymnastics team, he also treated a lot of state—level gymnasts here and around the country and he used his medical treatment under the guise of medical treatment to abuse these young women. now, the concern is that usa gymnastics covered up what was going on and didn't address it. so in many ways, they would say that they are addressing this with the resignation of these three top board members, but many women here will say there needs to be a complete reorganisation of that. they believe that the culture runs deep in usa gymnastics and they hope things can change for others, even after two decades working with larry nassar that means things won't necessarily change for them. india has one of the world ‘s biggest tea producers. workers picking the leaves are facing a new

threat. further the plantations expand, the more they come into conflict with the elephant population. the tea leaves these women are picking will end up on supermarket shelves across the globe. it's a beautiful part of the world, but also, a dangerous one. the dooars mountains are in bhutan, bordering this indian state, assam. wild elephants keep moving between these two places, as they always have. but when they find that their forests have been cleared by tea gardens like this, they become hostile to people. nearly 800 people have been killed by elephants in assam over the past decades. mariam kerketta lost her 26—year—old daughter last october. herfriend shows me where she jumped off her scooter and tried to run away from the elephant. translation: both sides of the tea garden had fencing,

so my daughter couldn't escape. i never got to say goodbye to her. i couldn't even see her when she was still alive. government officials say small growers are illegally taking over forest land, but a community leader says big tea companies are involved too. but the organisation representing most tea firms, the indian tea association, rejects this. it says it is not encroaching on forest land. the warden of uralgudi forest says his hands are tied as tea gardens have taken over part of the forest that he has no control over. translation: there was plenty

of food and water for the elephants. but later, because of the increasing population, tea plantations began in these areas, and because elephants don't eat tea leaves, they now enter villages, and we see these conflicts with humans. a government official told me they had recently recovered some land which was being used illegally for tea gardens. it is a small step, but the bigger issue remains of how people and elephants can live together. mariam kerketta wants no other family to go through her loss. navin singh khadka, assam, bbc news. australia has announced a mass cull of coral—eating starfish that have been destroying the great barrier reef as part of a $50 million rescue package for the i,500—mile stretch of coast. the great barrier reef, off the north—east coast of queensland, has suffered

from bleaching as the water temperature warms, killing an estimated 50% of the coral. and the starfish, as well as agricultural water pollution, make the problem worse, as andrew plant reports. let's speak to the campaign director of the barrier reef society. you are going out to the reef to inspect. what you make of this money? sounds a lot. is it really? it is a drop in the ocean. we know that the great barrier reef has changed fundamentally in the last two years because of the bleaching event driven by climate change of course. and so it needs a huge injection of funding, notjust and so it needs a huge injection of funding, not just the and so it needs a huge injection of funding, notjust the amount of money the prime minister announced yesterday. studies show we need about $8 billion just to fix the poor water quality programme —— blog

—— problem. when it comes to climate change, we need strong leadership, we need strong policy decisions being made by the federal government, and that is not climate change is a global phenomenon tied up with energy. is there anything the government could do there that would make a difference to a problem on such a scale? there is an enormous amount the government could do. we are the largest exporter of coal in the world, so the first thing we need to do is not open up any new coal mines, and yet the federal government has approved what would the australia's largest coal mine, and one of the largest in the world. that needs to change. we then need to ta ke that needs to change. we then need to take a decision to be phasing out coal exports over time will stop and we need a strong target at a national level. at the moment, our paris target is woefully small. we are not doing ourfair share of the global effort to reduce carbon. if all countries in the world were

making a level of effort as australia, global average camera to rise by the end of the century would be about three or four degrees. that would kill the coral reefs. i know the great barrier reef is about the size of italy. clearly it is a big problem. if the government says it is all the money we can commit at the moment, could more big diverted from the money that tourism brings in, which is huge, isn't it? tourism is in some ways a victim of climate change. it already pays thomas people go to the reef, pay a charge, and environmental charge and that goes to the federal government to look after the great barrier reef. we don't think tourists should be paying for the damage being done. who is doing the damage? it is a fossil fuel industry. if there is any charge that needs to be made, it is to put a price on carbon. australia had price on carbon of yea rs australia had price on carbon of years ago will stop the current government got rid of it. we need to

move back to having a price on carbon to really accelerate the shift to renewable energy. that is the fundamental solution to the great barrier reef. as david attenborough said recently on his programme. legend, thank you very much indeed. —— imogen. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: it's notjust humans and apes that make tools to go hunting, these crafty crows have learnt how to do it too. the people of saigon have just heard that, at last, there is to be a ceasefire. the reaction of american servicemen was 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 the 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 to this spot, a tide of humanity that is believed by officials to have broken all records. president trump has signed a congressional budget deal, suspending the us government shutdown for the next three weeks. tens of thousands of liberians have witnessed the swearing—in of george weah as the new president of liberia, at a packed stadium on the outskirts of monrovia.

the former international footballer was chosen by voters last month to replace ellenjohnson sirleaf. it's the first time liberia has seen a peaceful transition of power in more than 70 years. the bbc‘s tamasin ford reports from monrovia. it's going to be the biggest match of his life. from africa's first elected female head of state to the continent's first football head of state, expectations are high, but his fans are confident. i am here because of george weah, i love him so much! i know he is here but we are poor people. that is why i am here. i am here because of my country! he will do more for us, that is why i'm here! i am so happy. george weah made his fame in europe in the ‘90s. meanwhile, liberia was battling 14 years of civil war. as liberians here cheer, george weah is sworn in as the 24th president of liberia, and what better place to do it than a football stadium? africa's most celebrated footballer is now the 24th

president of liberia. fans are euphoric, sleeping overnight to capture a glimpse of the "country giant" as he is called here, but they are desperate that his glittering football success can be translated off the pitch. it is my belief that the most effective way to correctly impact the poor and to narrow the gap between rich and poor, is to ensure that public resources do not end up in the pocket of government officials. weah‘s presidency marks the first peaceful handover of power in liberia for more than 70 years. he was an inspiration on the pitch — now there's huge pressure to do the same in politics. tamasin ford, bbc news, monrovia, liberia. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. two reuters journalists are due back in court in myanmar to face charges under the official secrets act.

wa lone and chaw soe oo, were detained last month after a dinner meeting with police officers. the two had been working on coverage of the rohingya refugee crisis in western rakhine state. venezuelan security forces have used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators paying tribute to a rebel helicopter pilot killed last week in a shootout with soldiers. the protesters were trying to move to a cemetery in eastern caracas where oscar perez was buried on sunday. new caledonian crows are famously clever. they use sticks to forage for food, hidden in trees and branches. but some painstakingly carve out hooks to collect worms and spiders. a group of scientists has been studying the birds, in the south pacific and believe they know the reason why. victoria gill has the story. a very crafty crow. these birds are carefully manufacturing hooks, out of sticks, that they will use

to snag spiders and grubs that are hiding in three holes. they use their bills like a precision instrument. they'll take away small fibres of wood to get this really pointed and sharp, so they can snap their prey with it. in tests carried out in these purpose—built aviaries, when the crows made and used their specialised hooks, they captured their food ten times faster than using a simple twig. this, the scientists say, means the crows have revealed a glimpse of why a new technology is invented and developed. since researchers first observed our closest primate cousins, the chimpanzees, using sticks as tools, many creatures have joined the ranks of tool—using animals. these sea otters use rocks as hammers to crack open shellfish, and these elephants in sri lanka are using branches to swat away flies. but only humans and new caledonian crows have independently engineered the simple yet hugely important hook. the very earliest human—made fishing hooks were madejust 23,000 years ago.

and crucially, these were a big technological breakthrough for each species, a way of foraging for food much more efficiently to increase their chances of survival. technology that could be passed from generation to generation. it's fascinating to have these birds that have made tools which are believed to have been a very major innovation in humans' technological evolution. when you look at how our ancestors refined their technology, the invention of the hook was a key event. there are signs that some of the wild birds are fine—tuning their hook designs, so it seems these remarkable crows could be on their very own technological journey. victoria gill, bbc news, st andrews. if you've ever strolled down hollywood's walk of fame you'll have no doubt seen some very big names. hundreds of actors, singers and celebrities have been honoured with a star. the latest recipient is a 90 year—old lady who certainly doesn't look her age, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. and a warning, his report contains some flash photography.

for minnie mouse, it was most certainly a case of better late than never. oh, it's beautiful! thank you, everyone. thank you so much. 90 years after making her film debut and a0 years after mickey was given his own star, minnie mouse got her moment in the spotlight. you are an icon and an inspiration and the best leading lady in the business and after 90 years in showbiz, it is certainly about time you got your star. also there to celebrate minnie's special day, mickey, of course, and pop star katy perry, dressed in matching polkadots. she paid tribute to america's sweetheart. seeing minnie is like returning home. it's a special skill to bring joy to so many and she'd does it with an effortless bat of a lash, don't you, girl? there were plenty of fans

in attendance, some of them pointing out that this was a moment of female empowerment. i'm finally glad that she finally got it. it took her so many years but she's definitely shown all of her hard work throughout the years. it's a slow progress but we're getting there, to get equality in hollywood, and it starts with minnie, i guess! so, minnie mouse — film star, entertainment and feminist icon. tim allman, bbc news. that main news again, president trump has signed a bill to end the government shut down the. he has approved a temporary measure to approved a temporary measure to approve spending in the government. moora news on the bbc website. —— more. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you for watching. hello there.

we're sticking with a mild theme for the next couple of days, and if anything, today looks very mild in places. we import that air from the south—west. it's going to bring about a considerable fall of any lying snow across central and northern areas, too, and with weather fronts bringing outbreaks of rain and the thawing snow, we could see standing water around. it's going to be a very mild start. those are the temperatures we're expecting this morning. but it's going to be a breezy one, a lot of cloud through tuesday, maybe a little bit of brightness here and there, and there could be a couple of weather fronts straddling the country. we start off with rain in england and wales and another one pushing into northern ireland and scotland. this is going to produce some moderate bursts of rain. it's going to be quite persistent across western parts of scotland. add on to the snowmelt, with temperatures between 9 and ii degrees, like i mentioned, a lot of standing water around.

a warm weather front across the eastern side of england gradually clearing away. a little bit drier in between, pushing into wales and the south—west of england. there's going to be a lot of low cloud, mist and murk with these weather fronts too. always the case when we pick up these mild south—westerlies. a bit of brightness at times across central, southern and eastern areas. that will really push the temperatures up, but there'll be more rain into western areas, and some heavy showers into scotland and northern ireland. look at these temperatures, though, into the afternoon — double—figure values for most. we could even make 11! in one or two of the brighter spots. and then on into tuesday night, it stays blustery. becoming very windy, with gales across western areas. an area of persistent rain moving in. briefly some snow on higher ground, but with milder air continuing to push northwards, it's going to be a very mild night across the south, just 10 or 11 degrees at the lowest. this area of low pressure will move through on wednesday, could cause some disruption. it's going to deepen and bring about some severe gales to scotland. maybe gusts of 70mph here. but it's going to be a very windy day elsewhere, widespread gales, a band of heavy,

squally rain spreading southwards and eastwards through the day. brightening up behind it, but it is a cold front. it's going to start to introduce cooler air, which will eventually reach the south—east by the end of the day. and then on into thursday, we're all into this cooler air mass. that's through thursday and also friday. quite a blustery day again on thursday. perhaps some sunshine, though, across england and wales, before some showers, maybe even long spells of rain. those temperatures back into single figures for most of us. so, to end the week, we're back into the cooler air briefly. there'll be sunshine and showers, and it will be quite windy. but then, as we head on in towards the weekend, it looks like things are set to turn milder once again. this is bbc news. the headlines — president trump has signed a bill, temporarily ending the us government shutdown, or at least until february 8. the deal was approved by democrats in congress after republicans agreed to try to solve the fate of thousands of migrants brought to the us illegally as children and now facing deportation. venezuelan security forces have used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators gathered to pay tribute to a rebel helicopter

pilot shot dead last week in a shoot—out with soldiers. the protesters were trying to move to a cemetery in eastern caracas where oscar perez was buried on sunday. three executives have resigned from the governing board of usa gymnastics as former team doctor larry nassar is about to be sentenced for sexually abusing dozens under his care. athletes have been giving testimony, for five days, many saying they felt betrayed by usa gymnastics. the trial has started of a man accused of driving a van into a group of muslim worshippers outside a mosque in north london.