welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: american interests first. president trump says he'll stand by saudi arabia despite the killing of the journalist, jamal khashoggi. the president's lawyer says he's given unprecedented co—operation to the inquiry into whether the trump election team colluded with russia, and says again it's time for the investigation to end. ajudge in texas rules illegal migrants to the us can claim asylum. our reporters have spent the day on both sides of the us—mexico border. the youngest ever goodwill ambassador for the un children's fund, 14—year—old tv actor millie bobbie brown, becomes a diplomat. hello.

president trump has declared that the united states will continue to support saudi arabia, even though he's acknowledged that crown prince mohammed bin salman could very well have had knowledge of plans to murder the journalist and saudi government critic, jamal khashoggi. mr trump described the kingdom as a steadfast partner that had agreed to invest a record amount of money in the us. that stance has drawn criticism from politicians of both parties in washington, including the senate foreign relations committee. chris buckler reports. the cia now believes it has a detailed picture of what happened when jamal khashoggi entered the saudi consulate. the names of the so—called saudi execution team who flew into istanbul to carry out the murder, and an audio recording of the killing inside the consulate which president trump says he has refused to listen to because it was, in his words, "so violent, vicious and terrible." it's been claimed

that the intelligence agency believes that, despite his denials, the crown prince, mohammed bin salman, ordered the murder. today, in a statement, president trump seemed to dismiss that, saying: i'm not going to destroy the world economy, and i'm not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with saudi arabia. what many people will find shocking is that, in this statement, president trump at one stage refers to the fact that some in saudi arabia regarded jamal khashoggi as an enemy of the state. he does go on to say that this was a terrible and indefensible crime. but, nonetheless, it gives you the sense that president trump intends to put american interests first over global concerns. the united states will continue to have a relationship with the kingdom of saudi arabia. they are an important partner of ours. we will do that with the kingdom of saudi arabia, its people, that is the commitment

that the president made today. thank you very much, everybody. today, president trump was taking part in a presidential tradition, pardoning the turkey before thanksgiving. but away from the cameras, critics say he has been making excuses for saudi arabia, granting the country something approaching forgiveness. the washington post, which employed jamal khashoggi as a columnist, said president trump's response was a betrayal of american values and that surrendering to what they called a state—ordered murder only made this world more dangerous. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. earlier, i spoke to karen attiah, the global opinions editor of the washington post. i asked her if the murder ofjamal khashoggi has to take a back seat to president trump's platform of america first, and the importance of the american economy and security. she worked with jamal khashoggi. i mean, i would dispute that.

i don't think that this is about putting america first, i think that this is about putting saudi arabia first in front of cia intelligence reports, in front of the life of a us resident, the father of three dual—american citizen children, in front of a writer who worked for the washington post. i think american interests are about standing for human rights and the ability to write and tweet freely without being in fear or without having the fear of being dismembered in a consulate. so this is more so about very shallow, monied interests first, not america first. and when it comes to standing with saudi arabia, no one is asking you to throw away the relationship with saudi arabia, but this is very specifically about re—evaluating

the relationship with muhammad bin salman, the crown prince of saudi arabia, also appears to have ordered not only this murder but also ordered the disappearance of many critics, and the war in yemen, and so this is what this is about, in many ways, it is bigger than that jamal. it has pretty chilling implications. the president has proof that a us residentjournalist was killed and yet agrees to stand by the country that murdered him because it's apparently 0k as long as that country buys american arms and stands against iran. absolutely, it is morbidly ironic that saudi arabia is asking to get away with murder so they can buy killing machines and weaponry so that they can kill more people in yemen. i hope that america is better than this, and i think congress has an opportunity now to take a very strong stand and counter trump, and set

things on a correct course when it comes to the us—saudi arabia relationship, and act as a very strong check again specifically muhammad bin salman, who is that de facto ruler right now of saudi arabia, and put in a very strong check and impose consequences for this behaviour. again, this is notjust aboutjamal, this is about the kidnapping of the prime minister of lebanon, this is about grinding yemen into a dust in a catastrophic war that's brought about a humanitarian crisis, this is about breaking up diplomatic relations with canada over tweets, this is about checking a recklessness that will only plunge the middle east into more instability comments i think that distinction needs to be made. this is not against the people of saudi arabia, in fact this is standing with the people who dare to have an opinion on the direction of their country, and that's what jamal was, it is all he wanted to do. he just wanted to be free to say what he thought about his country.

global opinions editor of the washington post there. the trump administration has submitted written answers to questions from robert mueller, the special counsel investigaing the 2016 election, according to mr trump's lawyer. rudy giuliani said mr trump had provided unprecedented cooperation to the former fbi director and it was now time to bring the inquiry to a close. mr trump has called the investigation a witch—hunt and has forcefully denied that his team colluded with russia to help win the presidential election. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, says this process may be moving towards the end. the enquiry is entering its final stages. clearly mr mueller and his colleagues have got the answers to the questions they posed to the president. it tells us probably that the president won't be sitting down in person with the investigators, or indeed mr mueller. that has been debated for many months now. at one stage, the president said he would be willing to do that. i think clearly the lawyers

have advised against it. the next stage clearly depends on mr mueller and his colleagues and the interpretation to the answers the president has given them. there have been hints quietly release that there may be new indictments coming, and there have also been strong suggestions that the new acting attorney general may shut the whole thing down. yes, we are into kind of new territory here with the possibility of him shutting down this investigation. certainly, it has been denied that that is the intention. and my hunch is that the investigation, the enquiry, is moving pretty quickly now, and we're likely to see that report fairly soon. there was a slight delay, i think,

before the mid—term elections, when theyjust allowed a little lull while politics was a play, but i think by the end of this year, this enquiry is likely to come to a relatively speedy conclusion. of course, that may not be the end of the matter, it'll depend largely on what the conclusions are. hundreds of central american migrants have joined the large caravan gathered on the us border, waiting for a chance to seek asylum. about 6,000 migrants have reached the border cities of tijuana and mexicali, according to local officials. in a moment we'll hear from aleem maqbool at the 0tay mesa border crossing in san diego. but first to will grant, who's been to the border city of tijuana in mexico. idyllic though the beach at tijuana looks, it is a fortress. only the birds free to come and go as they please. for everyone else, the us border patrol is on hand. but the migrants already knew they were in hostile territory. the main migrant camp lies in the shadow of the border wall, the us almost within their grasp.

to reach it, migrant rights groups are helping them register for the tangled asylum process. "president trump is serious about keeping us out, but all we want to do is work", says isabel, as she waits to add her name to the list. a good work ethic alone won't get them into the us. they may have more chance of success if their lives are in danger. translation: my ex-husband threatened to kill me every time he saw me on the street. he said he'd take our son and that i'd never see him again. as they walked through mexico, battling through the heat, the migrants were aiming to reach here, san isidro, the busiest land border crossing in the world. yet such is the fear over these tired and dusty migrants, the us shut it for one morning this week. after a journey of over 2,500 miles,

it's the last few hundred metres that may prove the toughest for the migrants to complete. for those that haven't turned back already, they face potentially months of legal limbo trying to gain asylum in the united states. some may choose to settle here in tijuana for now, others may try to cross the border illegally instead. well, here in the us, the white house has called this massive movement of people an invasion, an assault on the southern border, and as such, the president has asked that thousands of troops be deployed here. but these are not soldiers lined along the border with their weapons poised. the army refused to approve a combat role on home soil, so most of the troops are just reinforcing the border fence, putting up barbed wire. we did catch a glimpse of border police clearly preparing to use force against the migrants if they felt it was necessary,

but we also met someone taking matters into his own hands, driving slowly along the border looking for illegal immigrants. you can see where that fence goes up the hill over there... ken lester has two teardrops tattooed on his cheek, he says for the times barack 0bama was elected. he's determined that no immigrant would get past him. they are invaders, right now. i can'tjudge whether they're criminals or not, but right now, they're invaders. they are trying to come in illegally, trying to force their way into the country. and what if they present themselves and they claim asylum, they go through legal channels at the border? that is a means of doing it legally, i disagree with it, i think it should be done away with. vigilantes have clearly been inspired to take action by rhetoric from the white house. across the border are migrants who have already shown they are prepared to take any risk

to achieve their dream. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in san diego. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how drone technology is being used to help rebuild damaged parts of the great wall of china. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election, and she's asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself in to police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european antinuclear movement. the south african government has announced that it's opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country, and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle,

one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds‘ worth of damage. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: president trump says his administration will continue to back saudi arabia, despite acknowledging that its crown prince could have known about the murder of a dissidentjournalist. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in the saudi capital riyadh and she's been gauging reaction to president trump's statement. well, for saudis and especially the saudi leadership,

there will be a huge sigh of relief tonight, but in many ways, it's what's expected. it's affirmation of what they said since day one of president trump's leadership, he will be a loyal ally of the kingdom, a great friend no matter what. now seeming to side with it over what's reported to be the assessment of his own intelligence agencies. the american president clearly seems to want to draw a line under this, but he mentioned, and the saudis know, there will be pressure coming from members of the congress as well as human rights groups and other countries who will continue to demand greater clarity. here in the kingdom, many saudis are asking and many say they don't believe they're crown prince could himself have ordered such a despicable act, but so many have said to me how upset they are that this heinous murder and this dark cloud and big question will hang over the kingdom, will hang over them as individuals for a very long time to come. and the fact president trump left a kernel of doubt, saying maybe he did, maybe he didn't, concerning the involvement of the crown prince, means it's not going to go away for a very long time. let's get some of

the day's other news. at least 50 people have been killed in the afghan capital, kabul, in a suicide bombing at a meeting of religious leaders. dozens of others were wounded. no group has yet admitted responsibility. the taliban has denied involvement. a diplomatic row is brewing over who will replace meng hongwei as president of interpol. he went missing on a visit to his native china. the frontrunner to succeed him is alexander prokopchuk from russia. but the uk is opposed and a group of american senators want russia suspended from the organisation. the head of the un environment programme, erik solheim, has resigned, after months of controversy over his travel expenses. a un audit found he'd claimed almost half a million dollars in travel costs in the last 2 years. for many years, as a norwegian diplomat, mr solheim was the chief peace negotiator between the tamil tigers and the sri lankan government during the civil war. the trump adnimistration

says china has failed to alter its trade practices. in his latest report, the us trade representative, robert lighthizer, called china's conduct unfair and market—distorting. it comes as china's president xi jinping strenghtens his country's trade links with the philippines. he's called his visit a "milestone" aiming to boost ties with the promise of billions of dollars in backing for mega—projects. he also said that china and the philippines have a shared interest in the south china sea. 0ur manila correspondent howard johnson says this visit shows the stregthening ties between china and the philippines. yes, babita, last night there was a sumptuous banquet here at the presidential palace, laid on by president rodrigo duterte as this bromance gets stronger

between the two leaders. saw a red carpet reception last night, we also saw a red carpet event which was the signings of memorandums of interest and bilateral deals. what we have seen isa bilateral deals. what we have seen is a particularly interesting one about the south china sea and oil and gas exploration. there is an agreement that they will look towards a framework to see if they canjointly look at towards a framework to see if they can jointly look at the billions of dollars worth of oil that is expected to be out there at sea. there was also talk about extending the china belt trade. and crackdown on drug. today we were seedy senate and the house of representatives meetings on the other site of town. we are expecting meetings from the

filipino chinese business community is to meet with the chinese president, to discuss potential deals. we have seen a lot of money coming in from china deals. we have seen a lot of money coming infrom china in deals. we have seen a lot of money coming in from china in the last couple of years, they have pledged more than $20 billion to the president's big infrastructure drive here. later on in the day, president xijinping will leave the here. later on in the day, president xi jinping will leave the country and go back to china. will be —— following their developing two—day. —— developments through the days. the great wall of china is one of the wonders of the world, but parts of it are now under serious threat of falling into ruin. it runs for thousands of kilometres, often through remote areas and a chinese team is now trying to bring a high—tec solution to a problem which has been building up over centuries. stephen mcdonell reports. the great wall of china is a precious connection to the past. for thousands of kilometres, the network of battlements weaves through the mountains. but nature is gradually reclaiming it, threatening the wall‘s very existence in places. we've come to this difficult—to—reach part of the great wall, but as you can see behind me, as you hike up the mountain, this structure, which is hundreds

of years old, has collapsed, making it virtually impassible. but now they've found a way to reach an study sections of the wall which had been previously completely cut off. drones are providing the data to make urgent restoration possible. translation: some sections of the great wall are very dangerous. using drone technology, we can measure lands and undulations. here, modern and ancient technologies are combining to preserve the wall. satellite imagery is already being used, but it's not as precise as that from drones. and down the steep trails.

the workers must walk up the mountain every day. architect zhao peng says they're not making the wall pretty for tourists. it's literally about saving history. translation: it's such a complex structure. we need to study arrow holes, battlements, floor structures and even lime content. and just like in the time of their ancestors, they're quarrying stone for repairs from right beside the wall. up there, we've got one of the old towers on the wall. underneath, these massive foundation stones are clearly in a pretty precarious state. with a bit of rain, they could all come crashing down, threatening the tower. this is a support structure built by the team. they're clearly hoping that with solutions like this, they can shore up this entire section of the great wall. the weather, wars, people stealing stone and simply getting old have

all taken their toll. but with efforts like this, hopefully more of the remarkable structure will still be standing for future generations to see. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, on thejiankou great wall of china. millie bobby brown is an emmy nominated actor with more than 18 million followers on instagram. she is just 14. and the star of the netflix series "stranger things" hasjust been made the youngest ever goodwill ambassador for unicef. she spoke to nada tawfik about her new role. it is an incredible honour and privilege but mostly i'm doing this for the children that need a voice and need to be heard and it is so exciting. you are already a role model for many children. what you think it means to them to have someone who is their age advocating for them?

they may be inspired by me but i find them inspiring every day and everybody says "you are my role model", no — you are my role model. every child that goes through a difficult time, their strengths and their encouragement and generosity inspires me to do what i am doing. as i stand here now, millions of children do not have access to education. millions do not have nourishing food, vaccines or clean water to keep them healthy or strong. you spent the last few days getting celebrities and landmarks to go blue. what message do you hope that sends? i want them to fight for children's rights. what's up? i know you're busy. but code blue! we need you! # oh, when you see everything in blue. this is your code blue. i'm on it. orlando, you're the best. kids are now growing up with so many additional pressures, largely because of social media.

you said one of the things you wanted to stop was bullying. why is that so personal to you? i have been through a lot of bullying through school and also through cyber bullying online. i would like to end violence by working with unicef, to end bullying and cyber bullying because not only is this personal to me but i know that other children are going through that as well and that's why i use my voice and my platform to end this because that is enough. i know you are a professional at avoiding spoilers but can you share anything about the upcoming season? it is the summer of love. there are a lot of relationships and the supernatural twist that adds to it. i can definitely say that the slogan we use is ‘it‘s spreading'. we don't know what it is and you will have to find out next year.

just finally, good news animal story. a newborn gerrard has found its feet in germany and has been introduced to the public at a berlin zoo. “— introduced to the public at a berlin zoo. —— giraffe. it got a job exercise in its enclosure. zookeepers say this running around is practice from running away from prey in the wild. it is a rothschild ‘s giraffe and a vital addition to the species, on the brink of extinction. much more on the news at any time on the bbc website. thanks for watching. hello, good morning.

as expected, tuesday was a really cold day, and it's been cold enoughjust recently to bring some sleet and snow to lower levels, even into the south—east of england. but on wednesday, the coldest air and the strongest winds will push northwards across scotland and northern ireland. so we should see some improvements further south. but we've got a cloudy start on wednesday morning. the wetter weather for northern ireland moving away from northern england, up into scotland. again, some sleet and some snow, particularly over the hills. but then we should see things brightening up, a few showers coming in as well. more detail in the afternoon. you can see the showers in the west country perhaps affecting east wales and the west midlands. for eastern england this time, some welcome sunshine, much drier weather as well. and that sunshine may develop through the afternoon later on into southern parts of scotland. northern ireland still stays quite

wet, frequent showers around here, quite wet for central and northern parts of scotland, some more sleet and snow, mainly over the hills. quite windy across scotland, gusts of 40mph around some of those eastern coasts, so if anything, it's going to feel colder than it did on tuesday for scotland and northern ireland, especially with the strong winds and rain, but it shouldn't feel quite as cold as it did on tuesday for england and wales, especially if you've got some sunshine and the winds are not as strong as well. but the wet weather will tend to clear away for most areas during wednesday evening, and that means clearer skies, that means tumbling temperatures, before we see cloud coming in off the north sea, bringing with it some drizzle, arresting the temperature fall, but further west with clearer skies, frost likely and maybe some icy patches. some early sunshine perhaps across northern ireland, into wales and western scotland. maybe some sunshine developing at times across southern counties

of england, but elsewhere, cloudy, a little bit damp with some wetter weather pushing back into eastern scotland, seven degrees if you're lucky here. eight or nine, i think, will be fairly typical elsewhere. another chilly sort of day. the threat of rain coming into the far south—west with this area of low pressure. higher pressure to the north of the uk, hence this east to south—easterly breeze, not particularly strong on friday. a nothing sort of day on friday. not much sunshine, a fair bit of crowd, most places will be dry, showers more likely in the south—west, and wetter weather again coming into eastern parts of scotland. those temperatures getting up to eight, nine, possibly even the heady heights of 10 degrees, so the temperatures are going the right way. the air is getting a bit less cold as it comes in from the south, but still not particularly warm if you're stuck under the cloud and some pockets of rain. this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump has declared the united states will remain a steadfast partner of saudi arabia, even though he's acknowledged that crown prince mohammed bin salman could very well have had knowledge of plans to murder thejournalist and saudi government critic, jamal khashoggi.

mr trump said he was putting american economic and security interests first. his lawyer has now submitted written answers to questions from the special counsel investigating whether the trump campaign team colluded with russia to help win the 2016 election. rudy giuliani claimed mr trump had provided unprecedented cooperation to robert mueller and it was now time to end the inquiry. a federaljudge in texas has temporarily blocked mr trump's attempt to deny asylum to people who enter the country illegally. hundreds of migrants from central america have nowjoined the large caravan gathered on the us—mexico border. now on bbc news, samira hussain talks to stacey cunningham, the president of the new york stock exchange, the first woman to occupy that post, as part of our 100 women season.