this is bbc world news today. our top stories. an explosion hits a tourist bus in egypt close to the giza pyramids. three people are killed, and several others injured. donald trump threatens to close the us—mexico border unless congress funds his wall — his spokeswoman says he just wants to secure the border. he wants to be able to have the resources and the tools that are needed that cbp and department of homeland security have laid out that they have to have in order have to have in order to protect our border. in order to protect american citizens. a surge in the number of migrants crossing the channel from france to england. the british home secretary calls it a major incident. and the award—winning israeli author amos oz has died. he was 79. hello and welcome to world news today. of giza, killing two vietnamese

tourists and a local guide. an explosion has hit a tourist bus near the pyramids of giza, killing two vietnamese tourists and a local guide. the authorities say eleven other people were injured; two of them are in critical condition. the interior ministry says the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device. no group has yet said it was behind the attack. our correspondent sally nabil has the latest from cairo. the timing and the location of the attack couldn't be worse. it happened close to one of, or actually, egypt's most famous landmark, which is the pyramids, and it comes at a very critical time because december and winter season is the high season for tourism in this country. it also raises a lot of questions about the security measures put in place because police forces are already on high alert getting ready for egyptian christmas, which is celebrated by egyptian christians on 7th january and we know that the

ministry of the interior has already put in a very tough strategy, or security plan, to protect these celebrations upcoming on 7th of next month. so, the fact that an improvised explosive device has hit a tourist bus today not far from the pyramids during egypt's high tourist season, it raises a lot of questions. just to put things into context, tourism is a lifeline for the egyptian economy. egypt depends heavily on tourists for foreign cash and the egyptian economy has been struggling for quite a long time, and it really needs foreign investments and foreign cash, so this kind of attack sends a really negative message to the outside world. it pushes investments away and it discourages tourists from coming to the country. the tourism industry has just started to witness some progress in recent months after it has been hit really hard in 2015 when a russian plane

was downed in sharm el—sheikh in the red sea with more than 200 people on board killed in an attack claimed by is at that time. so when the industry has just started to pick up and witness some progress and improvement, here we go, we have another attack close to a main tourist attraction, a world famous landmark, and we don't know how the government is going to react to that, or how hard the tourism industry will have to struggle to face what happened. sally nabil, in cairo. president trump has threatened to close the us border with mexico over the issue of illegal immigration if congress fails to fund his proposed wall. he tweeted, "either we build the wall or we close the border." the white house confirmed the threat was real, saying negotiations

with congress had stalled. the dispute has caused a partial shutdown of the government, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees unpaid. speaking to cbs news earlier the white house press secretary sarah sanders said president trump just wanted to secure the border. he wants border security. he wants to be able to have the resources and the tools that are needed that cbp and department of homeland security have laid out that they have to have in order to protect our border, in order to protect american citizens. democrats, on the other hand, who have talked about wanting border security, who have even talked about wanting walls and barriers and other things, all of a sudden have changed their tune and now don't even want to sit down at the table and negotiate with republicans. chuck schumer says we are very far apart. the reason for that is they have left the table altogether, so of course we're far apart because they are unwilling to actually do something to help protect our borders and protect american people. christine emba is a columnist at the washington post. president trump has demanded $5

billion for this border wall. actually, earlier last week, democrats were willing to compromise offering 1.6 billion for border security measures generally to be placed in the new budget. but i think donald trump wants to be able to say that he built the wall, after all, that was his main campaign promise and has become the slogan of his entire presidency. if he fails at that it will seem like he has failed. yes, sir, can he illegally shut the border? can he sort of hold congress to ransom like this? he really, really cannot. the board already has security fences along several different parts. several are open, however, because they are privately owned. to completely shut down and secure the border is simply an impossibility. closing all ports of entry would be an astonishing move for a country but of course, also, he wouldn't be able to do that

single—handedly. he may be... congress and military would have to improve it. this is a military threat but donald trump wants to be seen threat but donald trump wants to be seen as threat but donald trump wants to be seen as doing something even though he's not doing anything at all. and neither is anybody else because we have this shutdown which seems to be going on into the new year. who is to budge first on this impasse? what are the democrats going to do when they take control of the house of representatives in the new year?m isa representatives in the new year?m is a little hard to say who will budge first because both sides have reasons to stay strong. i do think the republicans will take the brunt for the failure. in the new year the democrats may have a majority that is large enough to set and create and pass a new budget and they will also be able to numerically put more pressure on republicans in the senate and house to vote for it. also, i think the shutdown will begin to look uglier as the days go on, as federal employees don't get

paid, as federal contractors don't get paid. people will become angry. i think we will see that and someone will have to relent. we are also hearing him talk about threatening to cut off the aid to central american countries like guatemala. presumably, that would lead to more people trying to get over the border into the us. that does seem likely. this idea of cutting off aid, however, seems extremely unlikely. actually, just recently in our grievance done agreements with mexico the us has agreed to partner with the country of different initiatives to help secure their borders to provide aid to honduras and ecuador and guatemala. over $10.6 billion so far pulled from aid we are already giving. it seems difficult to claw that back quickly andi difficult to claw that back quickly and i don't think anyone else in the government has an appetite to do so. christine emba from the washington

post there. the syrian army says its troops have entered the strategic northern town of manbij, after they were invited, by a local kurdish militia, to retake the area. the kurds approached the government in damascus because they fear that they'll come under attack from turkey, after the united states withdraws its soldiers from that part of syria. turkish—backed syrian rebels have also started moving towards manbij, where, according to us military spokespeople, no government troops have actually been seen. with more, here's david campanale. on the march north, according to syrian state media these are government soldiers chanting for president bashar al—assad and ready to take over kurdish held territory around manbij. the announcement of the advance was made on syrian state television. translation: the general command of the armed forces announces the entrance of syrian arab army forces into manbij and the raising of the syrian arab

republic flag in it. manbij is a strategic city close to the turkish border were turkish forces have been deployed since 2016. american and french special forces are also stationed there assisting the kurds. backed by coalition planes and artillery, one quarter of syria is in their hands. but the americans will be withdrawing under a surprise pull—out announced by president donald trump last week. without the support of the americans, kurdish leaders are now being forced to choose what they regard as the least bad option. they'll be hoping that the presence of the syrian government army, which is backed by russia and iran, will deter turkey from launching an attack against the ypg fighters who ankara says are terrorists. turkey has been moving forces of its own towards manbij and accuses damascus of waging a psychological operation.

but president erdogan's indicated he is in no hurry to launch an offensive. translation: these areas belong to syria. we are against the division of syria. our sole aim is to remove all terrorist organisations there. once terrorist organisations have left the area we will have nothing more to do there. the fate of kurdish—controlled areas northern syria, once america leaves, will be discussed in talks between turkey and russia over the weekend. many kurds see donald trump's decision as a betrayal after they led the fight against the islamic state group. david campanale, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. security forces in sudan have fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters outside a mosque in the city of omdurman after friday prayers.

opposition groups had called for more anti—government demonstrations after a week of unrest in which at least 19 people were killed. the protests were sparked by anger over the price of bread and fuel. security forces have clashed with demonstrators in the eastern democratic republic of congo for a second day amid rising tensions over sunday's presidential elections. authorities in goma fired tear gas while protesters burned tyres and barricaded streets with rocks. elections to replace the outgoing president, joseph kabila, have been delayed since 2016. the british home secretary sajid javid has declared a major incident after a surge in the number of migrants trying to cross the english channel in small boats. 75 people have reached the uk in the past three days. but only one of the five patrol boats operated by the border force is currently operating in the channel. our correspondent duncan kennedy is in dover, on the southern english coast. huddled in life jackets,

these were some of today's arrivals off the coast of dover. two boats with 12 men, cold and disorientated, and now in the hands of immigration officials. they'd managed to get across despite the presence of this border force cutter that we filmed off folkestone today. the boat is currently britain's only major channel patrol vessel. tony smith, who once ran border force, says it isn't enough to stop a disaster at sea. out on the channel we do need more capacity to enable us notjust to spot these small boats, but also to intercept them, and i think it needs an international effort really in collaboration with the french law—enforcement agencies, to prevent them from coming in the first place. tonight the home secretary sajid javid has declared the rising number of migrants a major incident and says he is considering whether another border force cutter is required.

that's certainly what some refugee charities are calling for, but wouldn't more patrol boats lead to more migrants? i think the uk has an overinflated sense of its own attraction for asylum seekers. in the grand scheme of things very few asylum seekers want to come here. the journey is arduous and i think if you make the last bit of itjust that little bit safer, i don't think it's going to suddenly pull in hundreds of thousands more people. the government says that although this is the only border force cutter currently patrolling off the coast of kent, they don't want to put more resources into this for fear of attracting more migrants. the argument being that if the migrants and smugglers in france get wind that it's safer to cross the channel then they'll be tempted to make the crossing. so just how many are trying to come over? well, in addition to today's 12 migrants, there were 23 people yesterday, and a0 on christmas day, making a total of around 220 since november. really, what we need to do

is to stop people making these journeys in the first place, so more patrol boats is part of the answer, but it's also having resources on the ground. we need working in partnership with the french to identify the gangs and stop them making crossings in the first place. the numbers of people trying to reach britain are nothing like those who came into southern europe in 2015, but with the home secretary now getting involved, these channel crossings are taking on a different and more urgent character in britain's response. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in dover. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: could cycling help treat patients with dementia? i , feel better, as though the body is in charge again. that's how i look at it. —— ifeel —— i feel better. george harrison, the former member

of the beatles is recovering after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. a33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good. just good? no, fantastic. that's better. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines. there's been an explosion on a tourist bus in egypt close to the giza pyramids. three people have been killed and several others injured. donald trump has threatened to close the us—mexico border unless congress provides the funding for his wall. cheaper smartphones and data in india is making it

easier for people to watch sexually—explicit material online. but some men are notjust watching porn, they're also filming and sharing videos of rape and sexual assault. the government wants to ban some porn websites because it says they fuel sexual violence against women. the bbc‘s divya arya has this special report as part of our 100 women season. young indian men are watching porn online like never before. pornhub, considered the world's biggest porn website, says india is its fastest growing market. and now its third largest consumer after the us and the uk. it has changed everything... one man decided to find out about the impact this porn viewing was having on young indian men. he wrote a book inspired in part by his own story. i was dating this girl who was very attractive

but at one point i stopped feeling... i stopped getting aroused by her, and i would still get aroused very easily by porn. and that's when it hit me that there was something seriously wrong with me. this was a turning point for him but the research for his book threw up some other startling revelations. specifically about india, if you search for indian porn, again, just google it, and what will come up is a real life porn film filmed from phones or a webcams, and more often than not it is done without consent. rape videos and rape pornography is huge. a few months back, i got a video in my smartphone. it was filmed here. about a dozen young men molesting a 16—year—old girl, and one of them filming it. the video was shared with millions of indians via social messaging apps like whatsapp, youtube and facebook. the video is too distressing to show. but we are using the audio. the girl cries out

in hindi begging the boys, whom she calls brothers, to stop. we are in bihar, one of india's poorer states. like many parts of rural conservative india, low—cost smartphones and cheap data have made sexually explicit content suddenly accessible here. translation: smartphones have become very popular over the past two years. the internet is having a bad influence on our children. only 10% are using it for information. everyone else is just watching films on it. the indian government is trying to ban some porn sites. it says such content promotes sexual assault. but some, like the equal community foundation, believe that change can

only come by talking to young men about sex and consent. translation: even leering at a girl from a distance and making sexually explicit remarks is harassment. india has a sex education programme. but with patchy implementation it is still a long way to go in changing attitudes towards women. divya arya, bbc news, india. the acclaimed israeli author, amos oz, has died at the age of 79. his daughter confirmed his death on twitter, saying he had cancer and suffered a rapid decline. over a 50—year career, amos oz chronicled his country's rise from the ashes of the holocaust and internal struggles among jews and arabs. he was often considered a favourite to win the nobel prize for literature, but his political views sometimes drew condemnation at home. earlier i spoke with jonathan freedland, a columnist at the guardian newspaper, who worked with amos oz extensively over the years.

i met imet him i met him many times, i interviewed him probably dozens of times over the years and was always struck by the years and was always struck by the sheer humanity of him, he had tremendous kind of wisdom and empathy and that was one of the reasons why he was controversial because he did endeavour to approach political problems, meaning he wa nted political problems, meaning he wanted to put himself in the shoes of the other side to empathise with them, and that wasn't always popular. i think also, as you said in the introduction, his body of work. he had almost three careers, three lifetimes, he was, as you have said, an acclaimed novelist, literary giant, garlanded with every international prize except the nobel prize although he was often spoken of in relation to it. he was an activist, a founder of the peace now movement in the 80s during the first lebanon war and that movement carried on. whenever there was a big peace rally he would be on the platform delivering a speech. his

third career, which was related, was asa third career, which was related, was as a writer of nonfiction and a essayist and often polemical nonfiction and he had the ability to ta ke nonfiction and he had the ability to take on complex moral problems and explain them to an audience in israel and also internationally in very plain, simple language often using metaphors, comparing israelis and palestinians, for example, to a worrying married couple who now need a divorce. he wasn'tjust on the outside critiquing his society, was he? he had the ear of those in the highest office. very much not outside, for one thing he had won his country's uniform, he had a characteristic scar on his chin from having served in the wars in 1967 and 1973. he was from the kibbutz movement, often regarded as a kind of establishment in israel. but, yes, they had the era of those on

the top, especially on the labour side, a famous israeli prime minister would summon amos oz to what he would call a late—night tete—a —tete, what he would call a late—night tete—a—tete, head—to—head in the prime minister's office, perhaps over a glass of whiskey late at night where the politician would be asking the novelist, where do we go from here? that was jonathan freedland who writes for the guardian newspaper here in the uk. a care home in the english city of liverpool is trialling a new scheme to promote improved wellbeing among residents living with dementia. exercise bikes and videos are used so that those affected can go on virtual cycling trips to locations around the world. let's take a look. what do i get out of this? yeah. companionship for one thing and the fact that i have been able to do it and i'm still there the next day. my name's doreen, 98, i think, or something.

i'm not too sure. rufus. 81. peggy delaney. i don't know! chuckles i'm 99. i love the cycling. i like the cycling because i feel as though i'm in charge, you see? i've been cycling on the machine. it takes your mind off other things. i love it. i feel better, as though the body is in charge again. that's how i look at it. i'm june kendall. 90. at my stage of the game, it's very difficult. but i've certainly enjoyed it. the main benefits of the cycle

project have been psychological. there are obvious physical effects but i think the well—being and happiness of participants has significantly increased. to see people having so much fun, it's one person on a bike, the whole room is involved. laughter britain's royal mail has apologised after a stamp design it planned to issue, commemorating the d—day landings in france 75 years ago — showed the wrong image. the design in fact showed us troops landing in what was dutch new guinea — today's indonesia — thousands of kilometres from france. the stamp was supposed to show the normandy landings and was due to be released as part of a best of british collection.

social media users have called the preview embarassing. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @lucyegrey. thanks very much for watching. good evening. a lovely day for most of us, lots of cloud but nevertheless beautiful weather watcher pictures and dramatic evening sunsets as well. the cloud will stay with us through the night and it will be thick enough with a spot of bristle and some poor visibility along south west facing coasts. —— spot of drizzle. some weather moving through scotland accompanied by a brisk wind and that rain will nudge into the north of england by the early hours of

saturday morning. the rain is moving through at quite a pace, often to the north, the gusts will be an issue first thing. we are still in that the influence of this area of high pressure and circulating around that high in a clockwise direction we have that wind direction coming up we have that wind direction coming up from the south, so it is a mild feel to the story for the next few days, despite the cloud around it will be relatively mild. windy first thing for much of scotland with gusts of wind in excess of 40—50 mph but the winds will ease down quite quickly as the rain clears through. into the afternoon it will be a breezy affair, a brighter affair and the cloud thick enough to continue to give drizzle and may be some south—westerly poor visibility with mist along the coast. top temperature is around 9—13d, the highs, pretty good for this time of year. as we move out of saturday into sunday we will cease in early clear skies but not for long before we get more wet weather pushing in. this time fringing the north of

northern ireland, pushing into scotla nd northern ireland, pushing into scotland and northern england for a time, and again a fair amount of cloud and the temperatures on the mild side to start the second half of the weekend. sunday will see early morning rain clearing away through the northern isles and the far north of scotland, behind it brighter conditions, the quiet theme continuing for most. even with the cloud around it will be a reasonably pleasa nt story cloud around it will be a reasonably pleasant story and temperatures again into double digits, way above where they should be for this time of year. as we move out of sunday into monday, that is new year's eve and it looks as though we are still under the influence of this high pressure but it is a rather cloudy height still, not that much in the way of breaks and decent spells of sunshine. the weather fronts stay well up to the north and that bodes well up to the north and that bodes well if you have outdoor plans on new year's eve. it will be cloudy but largely drive all of us. —— largely dry. this is bbc world news. the headlines: a tourist bus in egypt has been hit by a roadside bomb,

near the giza pyramids, killing three vietnamese tourists and a local guide. the authorities say 11 other people were injured. two of them are in a critical condition. president trump has threatened to close the us border with mexico if he's not given funding for his wall. it comes as the government shutdown, caused by the impasse over funding for the proposed wall, looks set to continue. the british home secretary has declared a "major incident" after a surge in the number of migrants trying to cross the english channel in small boats. 75 people have reached the uk in the past three days. and the acclaimed israeli author amos oz has died. he was 79. he wrote dozens of books which were translated into more than a0 languages. and if those are your headlines. now on bbc news, one of the highlights of 2018