this is bbc news. i'm sharanjit leyl. our top stories: a row over president trump's planned border wall with mexico threatens a partial shutdown of the us government, with both sides blaming each other. it is up to the democrats. it is really a democrat shutdown. we have done our thing. president trump, you owfi done our thing. president trump, you own the shutdown. you said so in your own words. the row spooks us markets with heavy losses in wall street's worst week for a decade. flights resume at britain's second—busiest airport, after three days of chaos and delays. but the drone and its operator are still at large. and a winter wonderland on mars. the european space agency captures startling images of the red planet hello and welcome to bbc news.

president trump has warned that parts of the us government could shut down within hours as democrats in the senate look set to block a revised spending bill. they oppose it because it includes money for his planned mexican border wall. if the legislation isn't passed, several key agencies will lose theirfunding, leaving hundreds of thousands of employees without a christmas pay cheque. 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 is a very good chance it will not get past. it is up to the democrats. it is really a democrat shutdown because we have done our thing. when nancy pelosi

said he we will never get the votes in the house we got them and by aid the margin. 217— 185. now it is in the house we got them and by aid the margin. 217—185. now it is up to the democrats as to whether or not we have a shutdown tonight. i hope we do not but we are totally prepared for a very long shutdown. but the senate democrat leader, chuck schumer, clearly laid the blame for the shutdown with the president. the donald trump temper tantrum will shut down the government but will not get him his wall. the bill on the floor of the house, everyone knows it will not pass the senate. speaker ryan, leader macarthur have cynically put it on the floor of the house knowing it could not pass the senate. everyone knows it cannot pass the senate. let's go live to the bbc‘s david willis, who's been following the developments. welcome. we know that they have debated this for several hours now and ina debated this for several hours now and in a few hours now we could potentially face in other shutdown of the us government. what is the

latest? just 5 hours to go now and the parts of the us government could be facing a shutdown. negotiations continuing but there is still a stalemate. basically, president trump insist that any federal funding be also aligned to $5,000,000,000 in cash for his signature campaign issue, the wall along the border between the us and mexico. the democrats, and it requires 60 votes in the senate, so some democrats would have to come over to the republican and the president ‘s side on this 1. they flatly say that they do not want anything to do with a border wall. that we have a situation and in 5 hours time funding for several key departments, the department of

transport, state justice, agriculture and, ironically, the department of homeland security that overseas provision for the border and security along the border will lose their funding and that will mean, for example, that nasa, the space agency, will effectively close 3rd to will several of the big museums in washington, dc such as the smithsonian and of course there will be some disruption to national parks. they will remain open, we are told, but they will not be staffed. we know that several people have been speaking in the last few hours, 1of been speaking in the last few hours, 1 of them being mitch mcconnell. he said that a vote taken on friday it will allow continued flexibility for negotiations. what did he mean, exactly? basically, what he is looking for, he is pledging his support, if you like, for president trump's contention that this is border security is the predominant

requirement and that there needs to be this rather large amount of funding for the border wall. it is funny because just over 1 funding for the border wall. it is funny because just over1 week ago it seemed that there was some sort of agreement that had been reached to avoid a government shutdown. then on thursday, yesterday here, everything went a bit haywire because the president came under a lot of flak from conservative commentators, people on the right, talk—show host and the like, he said that he was capitulating once again, that he was capitulating once again, that there was no money forthcoming for his signature campaign issue, that border wall, and they really have called them over the coles. got to president trump, quite clearly and he changed course. he basically said that now there is this condition on funding for the border wall. so we have a stalemate situation and the clock ticking down to midnight here. indeed it is.

thank you very much for that. and thatis thank you very much for that. and that is a live shot thereof the senate where the lawmakers are deliberating for the next few hours, as you mentioned, david, that clock is ticking. as we were saying, there's been a dramatic fall on the us stock markets. the dow jones industrial average suffered its deepest weekly plunge since 2008 and the nasdaq officially entered bear market territory, having fallen 20% from its peak. with me is our reporter kim gittleson. you are usually based in new york so you have seen this happen before but we know it is notjust the government shutdown that is spooking investors. there are other reasons for the slide as well. the shutdown reciprocated the falls today that it has been a wild ride on wall street this week as a result of the federal reserve are once more deciding to raise interest rates, something that does not please investors. want to look at what is happening on the dow

jones over the last year. it has been a wild ride. we saw that it hit fresh highs over the summer, only to fall in autumn. the thing that is underlying all of this investor anxiety is that the boom times in the us economy will not last for much longer. we saw the president's tax cuts at leading to a surge in record company profit and we saw that global growth has rebounded since the financial crisis but the impact of the us china trade war and the possibility that a brexit vote may lead to a allow come as well as the prost that of tax regulation, all of these things have begun to weigh on investors. dashmac tech regulation. we keep mentioning a bear market. can you explain to us what a bear market is because we have not seen it for a while. we have not seen it for a while. we have not seen it for a while. we have not seen it or ten years. this is the nasdaq so primarily prop elated by technology stock. in august, the nasdaq hit a high and

that was great at less than 4 months later it has plunged by 20%, that is a loose definition of a bear market, the opposite to a bull market that rises 20% from a trough. what we are seeing is that investors are worried about technology companies and the prospect of regulation and, frankly, many of these companies have seen their share price increased by a dramatic amount for sometime now, many people are wondering if they are possibly overvalued. we are heading into the holiday period, certainly no santa rally for many of these investors are what will happen when investors, when trade returns? we are calling 2019 the reckoning. the idea being that there are so many things that will finally come to the forefront of the minds of investors, the impact of the us china trade war, we have been talking about it, but many of the ta riffs talking about it, but many of the tariffs took a long time to go into effect so we how yet to see on prices. prices around the world

have declined this year as a result of fears of growth in china as well and what could happen once much 29 rolls around, where will the uk be? what will that mean for cross—border trade and markets around the world? it will not be an easy 2019, if you are on any trading floor around the world. flights have resumed at britain's second—busiest airport, after another drone sighting closed the runway for about 90 minutes. gatwick had reopened earlier on friday, after drones flying over the airfield closed it for 36 hours. police believe more than one unmanned aircraft has been used and are investigating the possibility of multiple culprits. duncan kennedy has the latest. cheering. this was the reaction when passengers heard that tonight's suspension of flights was over. the airport was closed forjust over

an hour this time when reports came through of another drone sighting. they told us that the flight was cancelled and that we had to collect our luggage. but by mid—evening takeoffs and landings began again. after the nervousness of the past three days, flights had resumed this morning, when police gave the airport the all clear. but it was a groggy start to the day for many. flights swapped for floors. virginia from cornwall is seriously ill and had to spend her night in an airport chair. it's horrible. it goes against your human rights, isn't it? i have cancer, spread to the bones. for god's sake! around 600 planes came in today and thousands of people

did get away. but this woman won't fly until sunday. how would you summarise this experience? it's horrendous. it's a nightmare. it's just... or how about these men from london whose flights to ghana was cancelled today, meaning they will now miss a family wedding. they've thrown us to the wolves, basically. we are left here. i can't go and see my grandma. i can't go to the wedding. it's just not acceptable. it's deplorable. it's not good enough at all. this bag of chocolates with their airline's gesture of apology. but what about compensation? the insurance industry says people should first contact their airline. they say airlines are not obliged to pay compensation but say any costs incurred and general disruption will be covered by most people's travel insurance. the vast majority of people should be able to make a claim where they have not been able to get

any refunds or compensation out of the airlines or travel companies. it is only the cheapest insurance policies that are available on the market that are unlikely to include travel disruption cover. the squeeze at gatwick again fed the crush at st pancras. these were the queues for eurostar trains today. but others did head to gatwick, hoping that their flight would emerge from the chaos. so they said thatjust go there and see what happens. and then...i wish. but i don't know. flights from foreign airports into gatwick have also been trying to catch up. this family were caught in rome. the fact is that two children, wanting to get back to see my family, that is obviously be sad part about it. but we will get there. a voice of optimism after days of uncertainty after an airport stopped not by snow, fog, or strikes, but by a drone. duncan kennedy, bbc news,

at gatwick airport. we can go back to the senate in the us now because the house has adjourned, leaving the capital with no approval of government funding which means there will be a government shutdown. the house is set to return from recess at noon on saturday and failure by the us congress and president donald trump to agree to a government spending bill by mid— night will shut down several federal agencies, bill by mid— night will shut down severalfederal agencies, as bill by mid— night will shut down several federal agencies, as we bill by mid— night will shut down severalfederal agencies, as we have been reporting. so once again, this isa been reporting. so once again, this is a live shot of the senate and the house has adjourned. that essentially means that there is a government shutdown. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: there's nothing like a dame — britain's pantomime tradition wows the crowds on broadway. the world of music has been paying

tribute to george michael who died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100,000,000 albums in a career that spanned over of 3 decades. us troops tried to overthrow the dictatorship in the core of the web. they say they fail in their principal objective to capture noriega and taken to the united states to face drug charges. in its place, the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. they broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's plane nose down in the soft earth. you can see what happens when a plane a football pitch wide and 8 stories high falls 30,000 feet.

business has returned to albania after a communist band lusting over 20 years. midnight mass in the town where there were anti— communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: a partial us government shutdown, as democrats oppose president trump's proposed border wall with mexico. both sides are blaming each other. let's stay with that story now. we had the breaking news that indeed that government shutdown is happening as they adjourned in the senate. they will return from rees is at noon on saturday. from new york we can now speak to edward isaac—dovere who is staff writer at the atlantic magazine we do not have him at the moment, do

we? are you there? hello, there you. tell us a little bit about this adjournment because essentially it has meant there is a partial shutdown happening as we speak. has meant there is a partial shutdown happening as we speakm kicks in at midnight and the house and senate both said they are done for tonight which means they will be shut down. we do not know how long it will last. it could be they come backin it will last. it could be they come back in the morning and make a deal. it isa back in the morning and make a deal. it is a very temporarily, mom and —— momentary shutdown. that has been on shutdown that lasted a weekend, 1 that lasted 6 hours recently. the core issue is that president trump

had said that he wanted to have a border wall and that he wanted mexico to pay for it. now, he is saying he does not want a wall, he once offence and he wants the american taxpayers to pay for it. there is not a lot of appetite further. certainly the democrats, the congress overall, the senate and a number of republicans with no appetite of putting $5,000,000 towards funding a border wall. we know that american voters do not like us government shutdowns but this is the 3rd such closure of federal agencies and they keep happening so obviously the political rhetoric has been a very divided. there was a shutdown in 1995 with

built clinton. and then 1 there was a shutdown in 1995 with built clinton. and then1 in there was a shutdown in 1995 with built clinton. and then 1 in 2013 when the republicans who were in control of the house shut down the government to try to stop 0bamacare from coming into place. the healthcare plan that president 0bama had and they could not strike a deal with president 0bama. end, that shutdown was about 2 weeks worth of noise that did not amount to anything. everything was essentially we set at the end and it did not stop 0bamacare or any of the things from happening and the people behind the shutdown had hoped it would. what has happened since though, it seems that for president trump and run number of republicans in congress, the idea of a shutdown had become a normal tool in the toolbox for government. this is, of course,

kind of ridiculous, given that funding the government, making sure it is paying its bills and stay open would seem to be the baseline responsibility and baseliner duty and job of the government but it is and job of the government but it is a way to increase the drama, which is something that president trump likes to do and the way to try and force some magical deal to happen. it does not seem like it will work in terms of leading to the democrats supporting funding for this wall which, again, was a core thing that president trump was to deal with. thank you for setting that into context for us. a new winter wonderland has been revealed, but in an unlikely location. the european space agency has captured images of a huge crater on mars filled with ice. the korolev crater,

near the planet's north pole, is filled with more than 2,000 cubic kilometres of ice. the mars express mission was launched in 2003, and entered orbit on christmas day that year. a short time ago i spoke to eldar noe, a senior scientist at the planetary science institute, in oakland, california. there is quite a lot of water on mars that we have been finding lately, over the last couple of decades. all of it is in the form of solid water ice and most of it on. mars has polecats just like the ad has. the question of water being on mars is not so surprising but the presence of ice in this crater, is surprising because at the latitudes it is located, it is no longer

supposed to be stable because pressure means it should be in the gas phase. there is another one also add it is kind of like the concept of microclimate, if you are in the bowl of some mountains, you would have a slightly different climate to on the coast and this crater is a very big hole in the ground, a mile deep, a0 miles across so it is a deep, a0 miles across so it is a deep hole in the ground and, as winter comes in, for example, everything gets cold and you start getting frost inside the crater and the frost is cold and wet summer arrives, the air warms up and it eva porates arrives, the air warms up and it evaporates but the problem here is that, since the frost is cold, the aira rounded is that, since the frost is cold, the air a rounded is cold, cold that, since the frost is cold, the aira rounded is cold, cold air sinks and hot air rises so the cold

air stays near the surface and does not allow hot air... what is it actually mean in terms of us understanding more about mars and exploration of mars? well, it depends on what you mean. 0ur understanding of mars that make it is an interesting discovery they have made. it is interesting in its own terms that you can have examples of ice exposed to the surface at latitudes where you would not to. it also means is that presents of ice in other areas. for example, a lot of ice under the surface on mars and for human exploration there are places on mars that are down to a0 degrees latitude where ice is barry not very deep —— buried. pretty much

you rise. —— for ice. for many in the uk the christmas holidays aren't complete without going to a pantomime. but now this peculiarly british tradition with its raucous singalongs, audience banter and often risque jokes, is being exported to america. jack and the beanstalk is currently playing in new york and it turns out, the crowds — young and old — can't get enough. america has never seen anything like it. new yorkers have taken to it like, gosh, like a fish to water. amazing. i loved it. the show was very funny. 0h, amazing. i loved it. the show was very funny. oh, no, you cannot. it isa family very funny. oh, no, you cannot. it is a family form of entertainment around the holidays that is interactive with the audience, that has a lot of slapstick and humour

and brings communities together, laughing and singing. i knew nothing about pantomime, nothing, then she sent me tapes of what the pantomime actually was. we wa nt what the pantomime actually was. we want you to help us count... it was funny to me that we got a new york times globe review, thinking to myself, the guardian reverentially view pantomime, the so—called low arts. the hardest point for me it is the vocal aspect of it all. we are talking like this and then i go very low and sing. the interactive

tradition of pantomime, or the things that in britain you think are cliches, they are loved by this audience. these american guys are coming out to show with the mind is blind. -- blind. some boys play girls, some girls playboys, or are people of all different sizes. you make fun of things happening in the real world. i am make fun of things happening in the realworld. lam english make fun of things happening in the real world. i am english and make fun of things happening in the real world. lam english and i make fun of things happening in the real world. i am english and i would love to see this become tradition, i would be here every year. everyone loves a good panto! that's it will

be back soon. it looks like it will be a tale of two halves. saturday the drier day of the two. showers in the north. the sunday, ran and breeze the many areas. early on saturday, lots of showers around, tended to be more confined to western scotland, northern ireland and northwest england around dawn, with clear skies south and east. 0ne england around dawn, with clear skies south and east. one to chilly spots for the north—east of scotland. 0ne spots for the north—east of scotland. one to spots of frost. for saturday, this is the reach of high pressure bringing fine weather. this area bringing wet and breezy up weather. lots of sunshine across the south and east. temperatures will rise but there will be a few showers pushing through western scotland,

northern ireland and north—west england with the north, north—west breeze. their pitches more typical further south. fairly mild again. this is where the system is in from sunday bringing outbreaks of rain in initially to northern ireland and then the parts of england and wales. some of the rain will be heavy and slow moving through the northern —— northern ireland. much of scotland are dry and chilly day. temperatures in the mid—to single digits. further south, mild again. this weather front lingers on across southern parts of the country as we head into monday, christmas 0ettl is with the big area of high pressure expected, conditions will become dry later on christmas eve. we could see that rain across the far south of england, eventually becoming

confined to the far south—west. devon and cornwall will hold on to the milder air. further north, dry, milder but cooler across scotland. the christmas day, for the christmas period including boxing day, it looks like it will be dry for most. the morning starting off chilly, particularly in northern areas. sunshine but quite a bit of cloud as well. chilly start the christmas in the north—east. most places that drive through the day. cloud around. temperatures close to seasonal normal, even fairly mild in the far south. this is bbc news, the headlines: a partial shutdown of us government isjust hours away after lawmakers failed to end the row over funding for the promised

border war with mexico. democrats are opposed to the plan that could cost over $5,000,000,000. fears of a federal shutdown led to sharp falls on the stockmarket, with the benchmark dowjones index finishing its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. 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. thousands of demonstrators have returned to the streets of the hungarian capital budapest to protest against controversial new labour laws which nearly double the amount of overtime workers can be asked to do. this year many train passengers have had to endure