this is bbc world news today. our top stories: president trump has threatened the us government will grind to a halt at midnight, on the expectation the senate won't approve funding for his border wall. it's a very good chance it won't get passed, it's up to the democrats, so it's really the democrats shut down. in the wake of the us defence secretary's resignation, kurdish—led forces in syria say they may be unable to hold onto islamic state group prisoners if security there deteriorates after us troops withdraw. flights at gatwick airport have resumed for a second time after being suspended over another drone sighting. pope francis tells priests who have sexually abused children to turn themselves in and face justice. hello and welcome to world news today.

president trump has threatened a very long government shutdown if democrats do not vote to fund his much—promised border wall with mexico. he wants the latest spending bill to include five billion dollars for border security, but it seems likely the senate will reject this. here's the president speaking a short time ago at the white house. we are going to be working very hard to get something passed in the senate, there's a very good chance it won't get past, it's up to the democrats. so it's really the democrats shut down. we have done our thing, when nancy pelosi said you will never get the votes in the house, we got them and we got them bya big margin. 217-185. so, now it's up to the democrats as to whether or not we have a shutdown tonight. hope we don't, but we're totally prepared for a very very long shut down. but the senate democrat leader chuck schumer clearly laid the blame for the shutdown with president trump.

the bottom line is simple, the trumps temper tantrum will shut down the government but it will not get him his wall. the bill that is on the floor of the house, everyone knows will not pass the senate. speaker ryan, leader maccarthy of cynically put it on the floor of the house knowing it can't pass the senate. everyone knows it can't pass the senate. i asked our washington correspondent gary o'donoghue for his take on the political manouevres both sides are making. i think it's pretty clear the government will shut down at least partially tonight, the senate is going through the process of seeing if there are enough votes to even start discussing the bill the house passed last night, you heard from chuck schumer the leader of the democrats in the senate that they're not going to vote for this bill, they have got $5 billion worth of funding for president trump wall and they're not going to come to that whatsoever. there's another bill that's hanging

around what they call continuing resolution, a simple, clean extension of money for these departments that are going to be affected and would run through until february, that's already been through the senate. but of course a lot of the people in the house particularly from the right don't like that much and a lot of them have gone home so it's not clear there would be votes there either. it's a mess as usual with these budgetary things in congress and it looks like there will get a least period of time where 100,000 people won't get paid. the president is urging mitch mcconnell to invoke the nuclear option, what is that? so, as things stand, what the republicans would need if they get this sort of bill considered by the senate and they would have to get past this first hurdle to do that, after that they would need to get 60 votes in order to bring the thing to a conclusion. now, there are currently

at anyway 51 republicans, 49 democrats, no democrat is going to vote for it so they will not get their 60 votes, what the nuclear option is changing the rules of the senate so that it would be a simple majority in order to get anything the possible shutdown comes as donald trump has lost another key member of staff. the defence secretary james mattis has resigned following the president's sudden announcement that he will withdraw us troops from syria, a decision that has caused concern among nato allies and dismayed many republicans. general mattis is understood to oppose the move. there are also reports that the number of american troops in afghanistan is about to be halved. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has the latest. generaljames mattis is going, but not quietly. the president announced last night he was retiring. but make no mistake, this is a resignation. the defence secretary, making clear that he disagrees with donald trump's isolationism,

his attacks on nato, his failure to criticise china and russia sufficiently. and his searing letter concludes, because you have the right to have a defence secretary whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, i believe it is right for me to step down from my position. the last straw was the president unilaterally announcing the withdrawal of us troops from syria, with no consultation or coordination, against the advice of all of his national security staff. it's also emerged that america is to pull 7,000 troops out of afghanistan, to the horror of america's allies. and concern has been expressed across the board. secretary mattis was one of the few symbols, the few items of strength and stability in this administration. everything that indicates stability, everything that indicates strength, everything that indicates knowledge is leaving this administration. and even the ultra—loyal senate majority leader, the republican mitch mcconnell, broke ranks.

i am particularly distressed that he is resigning due to sharp but at the white house, they are playing down the impact of his departure. they agree to disagree at times, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good relationship with somebody. he was laying out the reasons he was stepping down from his post, and beyond that, think it is absurd to try to question the fact that they worked together for two full years. for an administration well used to disruption, the year is ending with maximum turmoil. in the past couple of months, the chief of staff has gone, the attorney general, the interior secretary and the un ambassador. the stock market is plunging, and today, barring a miracle, the government will shut down in a row over border funding. today is the shortest day. in the white house, it probably feels like one of the longest.

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. now, what would a withdrawal mean for the us‘s allies on the ground, particularly kurdish forces who have warned that without us support they could be left in a military vacuum. they fear attacks from turkey, who view them as a terrorist organisation. kurdish military leaders warned earlier they may have to release is prisoners if the security situation deteriorates. in the last few days there have been reports of so called islamic state fighters massacring hundreds of prisoners in the eastern town of hajin, calling into question any supposed defeat of is in the country. a short time ago i spoke to the writer and former british diplomat, carne ross who has travelled to some of the kurdish controlled regions in northern syria, and spent time on the frontline with the people facing up to is on the ground. he explained the effect a withdrawal would have for the kurdish forces. it's a catastrophe for the kurdish

dominated areas which should be said very clearly are democratic areas, they are areas that are not just about kurds, they include arabs, other ethnic minorities and democratic dispensation. and what the worry is, a very legitimate worry is that the us —— they would give the green light to president erdogan of turkey to fulfil his threats to invade that area. he said very clearly over the last few days, there are many times that that is his intention and if that happens it's a catastrophe. previously, general mattis had described a potential withdrawal as a strategic blunder. how effective and how important were us troops in that area? they important were us troops in that area ? they have important were us troops in that area? they have been immensely important in that they stopped from the democratic force which is the main on the ground military force

the us is dominating in the air as use its assets to that isis but the kurds and the stf has been doing all the fighting. that is what will be jeopardised if the us withdraws. not only that, there will be a democracy, and nato allies, it's not just about geopolitics and fighting isis, it's defending democracy. they are held in northeast syria, in the far corner. it's not clear yet and nobody can tell whether the turkish ground incursions will go that far. and therefore that the prisons might be open or does prisons might fall into turkish custody. that's not clear yet, but it symbolises the dilemma for the kurds. they have shed a great deal of blood, hundreds if not thousands of lives have been lost in the fight against isis, they are holding thousands of isis prisoners, the british princes don't

wa nt to prisoners, the british princes don't want to buy. what's the become of those people, what is to become of the isis threat, if turkey invades. gatwick airport has re—opened again, after a brief suspension following unconfirmed reports of another drone. flights at the airport near london had resumed earlier on friday after being shut for more than thirty hours, when drones were seen flying inside its perimeter. police are looking for the drones and the operators. duncan kennedy has the latest, from gatwick airport. the latest emergency in our goal would be announced they were suspending flights yet again because of what they described as a suspected drone sighting. in the past few minutes, they have come back to us and said the emergency has not been ended and they are satisfied flights can be received.

in their statement they said this was a precautionary measure, as safety remains our main priority. the gatwick statement goes on to say the military measures we have in place at the airport have provided us place at the airport have provided us with reassurance necessary that it is safe to reopen our airfield. these are the unspecified military measures put in place of the last 2a hours to try and stop these drones taking off from around the airport perimeterfence. it had been nearly 24 perimeterfence. it had been nearly 2a hours since the lastjohn sighting until tonight and the authorities were hoping the flight from the airport getting back to normal and indeed it had been it was something like six or 700 bytes getting away today. it does that mean to say there weren't delays and frustrations, there certainly were all day along with many passengers being delayed by hours and hours, some by a couple of days because of the huge backlog in getting back to normal. things have been progressive, flight had been going,

iran progressive, flight had been going, i ran about progressive, flight had been going, iran about a dozen progressive, flight had been going, i ran about a dozen flights were cancelled and adverted because of the knights new emergency and they suspect of rights will now come in and trained on the ground will start taking off but again it's already going to take them one into the weekend, to rectify all these problems and that may be affected a little more by this latest emergency which has come to an end passengers will continue and hope their plans will continue and hope their plans will get off on time. we are told tonight they should still expect some delays at least until saturday and possibly into sunday as well. as we've been saying, police are still searching for those responsible for closing down the uk's second largest airport. the police say it's a difficult job and they're asking the public for help. tom symonds has more. the latest glimpse of what might be the rogue drone. police haven't seen it up close. until tonight's suspected sighting,

it hadn't been spotted above gatwick since 10pm last night. the vulnerability of this major international airport is now stark. result, the government is under pressure. this is an entirely new kind of threat and we are going to have to move very quickly. one of the things i intend to do very quickly indeed is convene discussions across all of our airports. there are some systems beginning to be introduced in some airports around the world that could have an impact on this, but there is no single, simple solution off the shelf, deliverable very quickly. we have had to assemble a variety of different measures around that airport to make sure it is safe. the police won't say what systems they are using to protect gatwick airport, which isjust over there. some are high—tech, others, well, less so. this officer has been placed here as a spotter, looking for incoming drones. he is one of a number dotted all around the airport. we've been told systems capable of bringing them down with nets have been offered to gatwick airport.

another system in operation, according to one senior source, is similar to this. it can jam radio frequencies used by the drones within a defined area. but the police admit it took some time to respond. there are always some measures in place. the additions to those took some time to request and to arrive here at gatwick airport. what sort of time? yeah, were talking hours, rather than days but coordinating that, deploying that, getting that set up at gatwick has taken some time and we have learnt from that. the pilots‘ union also has concerns about the current rules, which banned drones within a kilometre of an airport. the pilots say that is not enough. well a kilometre out, you'd be at 200 feet so that is only half the height you are allowed to fly a drone at, officially, under the current government numbers and regulations. so, if you are a drone flyer you actually think you're allowed to fly your drone very

near an aeroplane and you are not. police say they have got a lot of information and what they describe as persons of interest. they want to hear from people who might have seemed drones taking off and landing, and they are continuing to watch the skies for incoming threats. tom symons, bbc news, gatwick airport. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: we'll take a look at manchester united's new interim manager 0le gunnar, after the sacking ofjose mourinho earlier this week. after eight months on the run, saddam hussein has been captured by american forces. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our

people, a woman, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes but they brought a formal and two and a half years of conflict. conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. the foreign audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia, and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and saddened today, romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre into much more from the keynote. from sex in the white house the trail for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton is based in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines: president trump has threatened the us government will grind to a halt at midnight,

on the expectation the senate won't approve funding for his border wall. mr trump has blamed the democratic party for an impasse over the funding bill. following the resignation of us defence secretaryjim mattis, kurdish—led forces in syria have warned they may be unable to hold onto islamic state group prisoners if security there deteriorates after us troops withdraw. pope francis has called on all priests who have sexually abused children, to come forward and turn themselves in to face justice. the pope was speaking to the roman curia for the traditional christmas greetings, when he addressed the sexual abuse scandals that have involved several members of the catholic church. he said never again would the church seek to hush up cases of abuse. to those who abuse minors, i would say this, convert and hand yourself over to the justice of man and prepare for divine justice.

remember the words of christ. if anyone causes one of the children, those who believe in me to sin, it will be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the depths of the sea. dr massimo faggioli joins me now, he is a professor of historical theology at the university of villanova. thank you forjoining us. it's great to us, has the pope spoken in such strong terms before? to us, has the pope spoken in such strong terms before ?|j to us, has the pope spoken in such strong terms before? i would say no, this speech is very important because usually either christmas speech is devoted to issues, the administration of the vatican so this time it was completely devoted to the scandal issue and to sending

the message that is the first time saying that the church is notjust inviting priests to turn themselves over, to the police but actually inviting secularjustice to come in basically. this is new i would say. so he's actually inviting external investigators to come into the church to look into historical affairs, is that what you are saying? this is the contents of the message, until a few years ago the church and the papacy itself was defensive, either denying that it was a big deal or saying in these cases should be dealt internally. this is no longer the language that the pope is using and that bishops

are using. so this is new also because it happened in the context of the preparation of the february meeting of the bishop conferences that will take place in the vatican for the first time to address globally this issue. the catholic church as being hugely criticised for the way it's dealt with historical cases of abuse, is this enough to move forward?” historical cases of abuse, is this enough to move forward? i hope it's enough, it will never be enough for victims of course but what's important here is this, if you talk to insiders of the vatican who worked on this issue, they will tell you off the record that the vatican doesn't get, i think they sent a signal that the internal fight has

been taken place in the vatican in the last ten or 15 years that there is no doubt which side he's on. so, i think this is a very important move, we will see especially in its february meeting, the complete steps, this is certainly an important statement that they both made today. it'll be interesting to see what happened —— happens in february. thank you. all the sport. i think ithinki i think i can guess who you will be talking about. the new face of manchester united. at least until the end of the season. he has been facing the world's media on friday for the first time since being appointed the club caretaker manager. united play cardiff city on saturday, the only other club than oui’ saturday, the only other club than our region has managed in england. but unlike cardiff, he knows united better than most after spending 11

season at old trafford as a player. when you are at man utd, there are a set of demands and standards in one of them is to be a team player and i don't think anyone has been on the bench more than me. so, that's a lwa ys bench more than me. so, that's always my combat the play is that you never know, you might come on and make an impact, that's your chance, grab the opportunity when you get it, they all will get a chance. there's one game under way in the premier league tonight, i went for liverpool will guarantee them to be top of the table on christmas day. and mohamed salah put them ahead in the 18th minute and is currently i—0 them ahead in the 18th minute and is currently 1—0 to liverpool with around 35 minutes left to play or 25 minutes left of late. victory for the right to see them go four points ahead of manchester city who play crystal palace on saturday. a win

for them would put them six about manchester united. 0ver for them would put them six about manchester united. over in the bundesliga it's for space versus second place it was one at half—time but they put dortmund ahead, literally seconds left in that game. victory will put them nine points clear. the former australian cricket captain steve smith has also been facing his first media conference thatis facing his first media conference that is since being banned for a yearfor his part in the ball tampering scandal last month. he has been helping promote mental health awareness ahead of the big bash and admitted to journalist it's been a dark time for him. i've had tough days as i said, i've had my ups and downs but i've been really fortunate to have a close group of people around me that have helped me get through those difficult times. there has been some dark days where i did not want to get out of bed and things like that but i've had a close group of people around me and that have told me know that it's ok,

like i've made a mistake and it a big mistake and from now i'm trying to move on from that and improve as a person and, just really grateful i've had a close group of people around me to help me get through. i'm pretty around me to help me get through. i' m pretty content around me to help me get through. i'm pretty content on that and the next three months is about preparing as well as i can to hopefully be a pa rt as well as i can to hopefully be a part of the world cup and the ashes and asi part of the world cup and the ashes and as i said before i think tim payne did an excellentjob on taking over the one day he had asked that stuff start to that with the performance of the team i guess but ifi performance of the team i guess but if i get back i will do everything i can to help them out and hope australia have success. there was an angry confrontation between them, they weighed in ahead of their fight on saturday and both fighters came in at over 17 and both fighters came in at over 17 and both fighters came in at over 17 and both fighters came in at over 17 and a half stone but after the face—off there were verbal disagreements between them was continued backstage. two years ago, he came out on top of points when the two first met. the winner of the

rematch in london could set up a potential title bout next year. finally the six—time 0lympic champion allyson felix has revealed she has given birth to her daughter eight weeks early. the american sprinter says she is doing well but she's been in the neonatal intensive ca re she's been in the neonatal intensive care unit since her birth at the end of november. the next has described her daughter as her little fighter. that is all the sport for now. thank you. these are the live scenes in budapest protests are taking place over a controversial labour law which allows businesses to impose overtime on workers. hungry‘s president signed the law on thursday and he says workers' rights are not violated but as you can see protesters are violated but as you can see protesters a re not violated but as you can see protesters are not happy about that.

we have seen quite a bit of rain today, particularly through the morning, showers have been falling but in between the showers he has seen some glimpses of sunshine is also seen towards the end of the day in newton abbot. do this evening and overnight we have got a little bit of rain left over. it will be pushing away from northern england with showers continuing on and off yellowknifer west scotland and northern ireland the coming drive further south, a mild night for most of us but turning to me with some frost again across the northeast of the country. it's not a bad kind of day. a day of sunshine and showers. the majority of showers across the north and west of the uk but because they will be aligned with the wings, some of those showers could be quite in these, still in the sunshine it will not feel too bad. highs of 9 degrees in edinburgh and i2 will not feel too bad. highs of 9 degrees in edinburgh and 12 in london and plymouth. we are on the mild side, looking at the second half of the weekend we have got an area of low pressure with outbreaks

of rain across the uk. it will bring some anonymous temperature contrasts. cold air across north of the uk but they are in the south is coming from a long way south, there will be some enormous contrasts in our weather as we go through sunday. wednesday across england and wales, some rain might get in the northern ireland and seven scotland and there's still a bit of uncertainty how far north or south it will be but it looks like scotland will have the best weather and sunshine but temperatures around 6 degrees in aberdeen compared with 13 in london and plymouth where it remains mild. looking ahead to christmas eve we will see the ring return across southern wales and some southern counties of england but it will tend to ease as pressure builds. some damp and drizzly weather here for a time on monday some sunshine around, the best across northeastern areas there could be some clout in the west along with some mist and fog patches and we will keep those temperature contrasts going, quite chilly air getting in across what

temperature are struggling around fourin temperature are struggling around four in aberdeen and turning a bit cooler further south as well. however for christmas date this warm airwill be however for christmas date this warm air will be pushing back northwards across the atlantic and as they try to move into the uk will have a lot of low cloud developing particularly across western areas where there could be patches of drizzle and the best of bright weather with sunshine further east. that is your latest weather. you're watching bbc world news. your main headlines: president trump has threatened the us government will grind to a halt at midnight, on the expectation the senate won't approve funding for his border wall. mr trump has blamed the democratic party for an impasse over the funding bill. following the resignation of us defence secretaryjim mattis, kurdish—led forces in syria have warned they may be unable to hold onto islamic state group prisoners if security there deteriorates after us troops withdraw. flights at gatwick airport near london have resumed again after being suspended for a second time over a drone sighting. the airport reopened on friday

following a 36—hour closure which stranded 100,000 passengers. and thousands of people in hungary have returned to the streets of budapest to protest against controversial