welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm lewis vaughanjones — our top stories: the partial us government shutdown goes on after congress meets and adjourns within minutes — it will now continue into next week. confusion and anger in the democratic republic of congo. the election‘s postponed again in some areas — the outgoing president tells the bbc the delay is due to ebola. on the day that people were supposed to vote we do not want this epidemic spreading like wildfire. a huge hunt is launched in austria after 5 monks are attacked during a robbery at a vienna church and as rescuers race to save 15 miners trapped in india — we report on the deadly conditions in the country's illegal mines. hello.

the us senate and house of representatives have adjourned without taking steps to resolve a damaging shutdown of parts of the government — which is now into its sixth day. both chambers convened for only a few minutes. this was the scene in the senate. in my capacity as a senator from kansas if there is no further business before the senate i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the senate stands adjourned until 10am on monday, december 31. at the heart of the disagreement is the $5 billion that president trump wants added to the federal budget, to pay for a wall along the us border with mexico. here's our washington correspondent,

chris buckler with the latest. you got a brief sense from that, that very brief meeting of congress that the two parties are fundamentally not coming to any agreement at the moment over what is essentially a funding deal for 20, 25% of government programmes. in practical terms it is important for a lot of people because there are around 800,000 federal employees affected by that. half of them are told that they will have to go on unpaid leave the other half simply do not know when they will get paid. but while the politicians need to take this seriously, they know there is a danger of this backfiring and being blamed for it. the truth is that here in washington many politicians just did not turn up at capitol hill today. it was an empty chamber for that very brief minutes that both the house of representatives and the senate met. there does not seem to be any suggestion at this point that there is a way through this and the whole funding stand—off

is about donald trump's demand for $5 billion to build a border war between america and mexico. he says he will not agree to any funding deal without that and the democrats say that will not happen. as a result we are now looking at a stand—off that will likely continue into the new year. let's talk to julia arciga of the daily beast website. good to see you. who is blaming whom here? donald trump blames the democrats and the democrats do the reverse but the american public, who do they blame? it depends on where you fall on the political spectrum. donald trump's base probably see his demand to be a sign of strength and blame the democrat not providing the fund. democrats would probably see

this request as something of a ridiculous request. so i think it depends on where you fall on the political spectrum. some said that demand as a sign of strength and what the american public needs for audible funding and security. while other people say it is indicative of a dysfunctional government. who do you think will get their way here? donald trump is digging his heels m, donald trump is digging his heels in, do you think he will win? donald trump is digging his heels in, do you think he will wimm donald trump is digging his heels in, do you think he will win? it is ha rd to in, do you think he will win? it is hard to say. nancy pelosi said in a statement today that house democrats would work swiftly to end this shutdown once they come into power in january. but she shutdown once they come into power injanuary. but she did not say shutdown once they come into power in january. but she did not say that they would fund their border wall. soi they would fund their border wall. so i think this is coming to an

impasse that will likely drag into the new year and one side or another, bose, they are basically trying to see who will fold and meet the demands of the other. chuck schumer came out and said that both sides are still far apart. 0bviously and said that both sides are still far apart. obviously there are risks on both sides the longer this goes on, it could damage both sides of the negotiation. particularly for the negotiation. particularly for the democrats, seeing as they take control of the house of representatives? in recent weeks, trump has publicly stated that he owns this shutdown. that he would be proud to shut down the government over border wall security. so i think it depends. it could blow up and blowback on the democrats face and blowback on the democrats face and some people could blame the

president for this so it depends on how you see the issue but it is important to know that donald trump said that he was going to only as and he would be proud to shut down the government over something as important to him and his base as border wall security. us stock markets have rallied following a volatile day which saw their european counterparts lose ground as global political and economic uncertainty continued to haunt investors. the dowjones — which fell by 1.8% earlier on thursday — finished 1.1% up. our business reporter samira hussain has the latest from new york. if you were suffering from whiplash watching the financial markets over the last week, you are probably not alone. what fuels this volatility? investors like certainty and right now there is not a lot of it around. some of that uncertainty is coming from washington. we have the partial shutdown of the us government, the continuing trade tensions between the us and china and us president donald trump's

continued criticism of the federal reserve, investors were happy to see holiday sales were strong and that the price of crude oilfor a big jump. but there are still some concerns about america's overall economic growth. the economy is growing but the pace of that growth, that is expected to slow down in the coming months. on thursday, a report on consumer confidence showed that americans were becoming more pessimistic about the economy. so what does all of this means going forward? hold on tight, it may be a bumpy ride. there are reports from nigeria that two military bases in the north—east of the country have been overrun by militants from boko haram. a government spokeman says after a fierce battle, jihadists took control of a base in the town of baga —

that's home to a multinationaljoint task force, set up to tackle the regional, boko haram insurgency. there have been protests in the democratic republic of congo at yet another delay in the presidential elections in some parts of the country. the polls were meant to take place on sunday. authorities in the capital, kinshasa, are blaming security concerns and an outbreak of ebola in the east of the country. the government says it is listening to the advice of the electoral commission. the worst clashes took place in the eastern cities of beni and goma. both are areas which are seen as being strongly supportive of the opposition. this footage was filmed in beni. police fired into the air and used tear gas against the demonstrators. voting there was postponed — with opposition parties saying it was a ploy to stop their supporters from influencing the vote. and these pictures are from goma, where police had to clear barricades set up by angry crowds. 0pposition parties have cried foul, and called for a general strike on friday in protest.

translation: the lamuka coalition demands that the electoral commission immediately withdraws this unjustifiable position on the organised elections across the whole of the democratic republic of congo without any discrimination. the congolese people have already been very patient, they have already accepted three postponements and even accepted a two—year wait and they are now saying enough. the electoral commission has just crossed a red line. let's get the latest now from those two areas which have seen the most unrest. in a moment, we'll hear from our reporter in goma — but first, here's louise dewast in kinshasa reporting on events in beni. there was a number of protests today. most of them are over by now as it is one hour ahead and so the day is nearly over. the protest were in beni,

one of the main cities affected by a ebola outbreak. a transit centre was ransacked and that is where ebola cases wait for results. the health ministry said that 21 people fled from the transit centre and the angry mob was demonstrating that today, following a decision by the electoral commission to postpone the vote in the city and in three other locations across the country. the tension is high in the street. in goma, masses of people came out on the streets to protest against a new delay of elections by the electoral commission. this morning, people who came in the street barricaded it with stones to block circulation and express their anger. most voters i speak to say they are upset that these towns

were removed and they said as a tactic by the current regime to cling to power. so far no casualties have been registered by the we are still monitoring the situation to see how it goes. let's hear now from the outgoing president of the democratic republic of congo, joseph kabila. he took power in 2001 after the assassination of his father, laurent. he's twice been elected president — in 2006 and 2011 - but elections to replace him which were meant to be held in 2016 were delayed until now. he's been speaking to salim kikeke from bbc africa in kinshasa — and he began by explaining why the poll was delayed in some areas... probably that is the price to pay for a perfect election. how does that make me feel? you willjust have to agree with the electoral commission. the electoral commission has raised fundamental issues, the fundamental issues

are in two regions — in the east you have the epidemic of ebola which is spreading and the intention of the electoral commission and, indeed, the intention of the state, the government, is to make sure that you do not have, on the day that people are supposed to vote, that you do not have this epidemic spreading like wildfire. that is one of the most important reasons. the second reason is of course issues of security. you are very much aware that in the region now and especially in beni we have been having numerous terrorist attacks over the last four or five years. the other region in the way is is because of intertribal fighting, or ethnic fighting. the timing of the announcement, just

a few days before the elections. these issues, ebola and security have been there for quite a while. they have been there for a long time. but the idea was that ebola is an epidemic which we have been managing to control two months after it was declared. this time around it has taken much longer than that. and as we speak right now it is still spreading. so we had to content with those two major issues and the choice is to save as many life as possible. with all that has happened, do you still have faith in the electoral commission to deliver a free and fair election? the electoral commission

is an independent commission. an independent electoral commission. and we still have faith in the commission and come the end of this year, the elections will be organised. but with 1.2 million voters being delayed in those areas just mentioned, how will you declare a new president some places get to vote? the law has catered for such issues. the electoral commission, as far as i am concerned, they have been doing everything according to the book. and i do not think that there will be any major issues in as far as the one point something million voters they are talking about. stay with us on bbc news, still to come:

downward duck or downward glance — can eye yoga help cure our tired vision? the most ambitious and financial change with the introduction of the euro. you can buy a beer in france with the same money. it has to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interrogated

on suspicion of murder. from liverpool is being interrogated on suspicion of murderlj from liverpool is being interrogated on suspicion of murder. i think it looks good. just good? no, fantastic. that's sr. that's better. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the shutdown of parts of the us government will continue at least into next week after both houses of congress met briefly then adjourned without taking action. there have been protests in the democratic republic of congo where the election‘s been postponed again in some areas — the outgoing president told the bbc the delay is because of an ebola outbreak. five monks have been attacked during a church robbery in the austrian capital vienna. the assailants reportedly entered the catholic church with a gun, forcing the monks to the ground

and assaulting them before fleeing the scene. bethany bell has more. police have sealed off the maria immaculata catholic church in vienna where five monks were violently attacked. on thursday afternoon, assailants entered the church brandishing a gun. they forced a monk to the ground, tied him up, and kicked and repeatedly beat him with metal tools. he suffered serious head injuries. four other monks, who entered the church a little later, were also set upon, beaten, and tied up with cables and rope. they were discovered more than three hours later. police say they don't believe it was a terrorist attack. translation: the exact motive is unclear, but i think we can rule out terrorism. there is a large spectrum of possible motives. it might be a robbery, an act of violence,

or perhaps an act of revenge. a large manhunt is under way. the injured monks are being treated in hospital. the head of the austrian catholic church, christoph schonborn, said he was deeply shocked by the attack. churches, he said, should be places of peace. bethany bell, bbc news. rescuers in a remote part of north—eastern india are working around the clock to save 15 workers trapped inside an illegal coal mine. limited resources and a lack of information about mines, in the meghalaya region are making the rescue extremely challenging and hopes of finding anyone alive are quickly fading. devina gupta travelled to the rescue site in the eastjaintia hills and sent this report. for these rescuers, hope is buried at 350 feet deep. they are trying to reach 15 coal workers who were trapped when water

gushed in this illegal underground coal pit called a "rat—hole" mine. in this remote forest they are struggling with limited resources and, after 13 days, the chances of seeing them alive are slowly fading. this is one of the first mine rescue that we are going to — we are trying to perform. we even do not know the directions in which the labourers have been trapped. the rescue operations have ended for the day, but yet no sign of the trapped miners. india's north—east state of meghalaya is known for abundant coal reserves, but in 2014, india's top court had put a ban on illegal mining, but this is an indication that illegal mining is still rampant in these areas. officials claim locals have dug at least 100 such illegal pits in this area. they're called a "rat—hole" because of the narrow passage where workers go in a vertical pit. there are small horizontal tunnels inside, where they have to wiggle

out to dig out coal. more risk means more pay, but in the village of lumthari, this mother knows what is at stake. her 20—year—old son, salabas thar, sought work in a coalmine to contribute extra money to his church for christmas. he is one of the workers trapped in the flooded mine. translation: i warned him not to go. this was his first time in the coalmine. i don't know what to feel anymore. 30—year—old krishna travelled from the neighbouring state of assam to work in the rat—hole mine as well. for $55 a day, no worker's rights, no safety equipment, and no insurance benefits — he lives to tell the rules of this underground world. translation: i used to go inside the mine wearing a torch and a pair of gumboots. after this incident, i don't think i can go back. there is an estimated 650 million tons of coal reserves in meghalaya.

mining it is a lucrative business. activists claim most of the mines are owned by local strongmen, who are feared more than the law. there are coal mafias. there are people who own those mines who are... yeah, a threat actually. the state government is now fighting in the court to legalise coal mining, but until then, these families are praying to keep their sons safe in the unchecked deathtraps. devina gupta, bbc news, meghalaya. the search for a 20—year—old british cruise ship entertainer, who went overboard in the caribbean on christmas day, has been suspended. the us coastguard searched for 83 hours, after being alerted when arron hough didn't turn up for his shift on harmony of the seas. royal caribbean, which operates the ship, said it is supporting

mr hough's family. saudi arabia's king salman has announced the creation of a space agency to be led by his son, prince sultan bin salman. the 62—year—old prince is better known as being the first arab and muslim astronaut to travel to space in 1985, helping to deploy a satellite with nasa. his appointment was announced as part of king salman‘s first major reshuffle of leadership positions after the killing of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi in istanbul in october. the saudi foreign minister adel al—jubeir was demoted under the cabinet changes. we're spending more and more time in front of our mobile devices. eye yoga is claimed to help relax and strengthen our digitally—strained eyes. but does it really work? sodaba haidare has been to an eye yoga class to see for herself. you keep it closed until your hands...

this is one of the many eye yoga exercises subhan nair is teaching his students today. rubbing your hands rigorously together to generate energy and covering your eyes to block the light getting through, he says, helps ease out eye strain. in between the eyebrows... eye yoga has existed for centuries. it began as an ancient practice in india and is mostly taught alongside other forms of yoga. everything we teach is according to the classical tradition... subhan has studied eye yoga in southern india. i've come to his class today because, as a journalist, i spend hours in front of a computer screen, and i want to see if eye yoga can help relax my digitally tired eyes. some of my fellow students suffer from eye problems, others, like me, are here to take a much—needed screen break. so i'm short—sighted in one eye and long—sighted in the other, and so i think my vision isn't very clearand then, after the practice, everything seems much more focussed. it's notjust my eyes, actually, its — you know, it's notjust my eyes, actually, it's — you know,

i find a relaxation in my upper shoulders, which tend to be quite tense because i spend a lot of time in front of the laptop. it's predicted that half of the world's population will need glasses by 2050 because of screens. can eye yoga really help improve vision or go as far as to cure eye problems? it's more on anything that's focus, focus issues. so nearsighted, farsighted, anything like this, these things can be corrected. according to regular science, once you get these kind of issues, you can't reverse them, but in the yogic system, they're saying you can reverse them. though subhan and some of his students say eye yoga helps improve eyesight, there isn't actually any scientific evidence to prove this, so i'm going to see amir hamid, who is an eye expert, to talk to him about eye yoga from a medical point of view. they can't correct eye problems in terms of refractive error, so in terms of the need for glasses for distance vision, the need for glasses for reading.

there's no way you can anatomically change the shape or the function of your eye by performing an exercise. so you can focus on your index finger... if eye yoga was an alternative to curing or correcting eye problems, eye doctors would have to look elsewhere for a career, but while eye yoga doesn't do that, it certainly helps your eyes feel more relaxed. sodaba haidare, bbc news. iam going i am going to go and it rest my eyes for a couple of minutes. i will be backin for a couple of minutes. i will be back ina for a couple of minutes. i will be back in a few minutes with the headlines. and don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @l vaughan jones. you are watching bbc world news. see you ina you are watching bbc world news. see you in a minute. hello there.

nothing particularly dramatic in this weather forecast. it stays pretty quite over the next few days but that is not to say there will not be some contrasts. take a look back at thursday and you can see that across county down we've had some sunshine and temperatures up to 13 degrees whereas parts of the west country got stuck under fog and temperatures in some areas of somerset did not get above four degrees. and looking ahead to friday's weather, we're going to start off with quite a lot of cloud, mist and fog. it should then turn a little bit brighter for some of us later on and there is a bit of rain around as well through the morning, particularly across scotland — that'll be travelling its way eastwards. now, after such a cloudy, murky, foggy start across some southern areas, it is going to struggle to brighten up here. but we should see some brightness for the midlands and wales, for northern england and certainly for northern ireland and scotland some decent spells of sunshine expected by the afternoon. those temperatures 9—11 degrees, not bad for the time of year. but bear in mind, any lingering fog towards the south—west could hold

those temperatures back once again. then as we go through friday night into the early hours of saturday, it's that mixture of mist and murk and low cloud but another batch of wet weather sliding in across northern ireland and scotland as the night wears on. temperatures typically between three and eight degrees. so saturday starts off with a frontal system starting across northern areas. but high pressure still holding on down to the south. so it is a day of split fortunes on saturday, but one thing that we will all experience is this mild west or south—westerly wind. quite a brisk wind actually at times across the northern half of the uk. outbreaks of rain drifting eastwards as we go through saturday morning. clearing from scotland through the afternoon, something brighter developing and it will stay quite windy here as it will across parts of northern england. generally further south, more in the way of cloud, a lot of dry weather but those temperatures for the time of year pretty impressive, 12 or 13 degrees. as we look ahead to sunday, again, there could be a little bit of patchy rain around in northern areas.

that could lingerfor a good part of the day across the northern isles. eleswhere, largely dry but largely cloudy. the best chance of any brightness and some shelter from the westerly winds, maybe to the east of the pennines, the eastern side of scotland, and again, those temperatures 11 or 12 degrees. and then for the final day of the year, new year's eve, again high pressure in charge. a lot of cloud and some fog trapped underneath the high. and we stick with that theme as we go into monday night. so if you are planning to be out and about celebrating at midnight, the weather doesn't look particularly dramatic, it should be mostly dry, but there's likely to be a bit of cloud and some fog patches as well. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us government shutdown is to continue until at least monday after the senate was ajourned until new year's eve. president trump blames the democrats for blocking his amendment to the budget bill, which would add five billion dollars to build a wall along the border with mexico. protesters have clashed with police in the east of the democratic republic of congo, after the election was postponed in several areas. the outgoing president,

joseph kabila, told the bbc the ebola outbreak is one of the reasons for the delay. he said there wouldn't be any major issues with the more than one million voters whose participation will be delayed until later. austrian police say that five monks were attacked during a church robbery in a suburb of vienna. the assailants reportedly entered the catholic church with a gun. the monks were beaten and tied up. the suspects fled the scene, after demanding cash and valuables. now on bbc news — victoria derbyshire looks back on some of the memorable moments from her programme in 2018 —