hello, this is bbc news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories: president trump threatens to close the us—mexico border unless congress funds his well. 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 to protect our border, in order to protect american citizens. a roadside bomb has killed four people and injured 12 others on a tourist bus near the giza pyramids in egypt. the rising number of migrants trying to cross the english channel is declared a "major incident" by the british home secretary. monty python's michael palin and model twiggy are among the stars recognised in the new year's honours list. and one of the rarest birds in the world, the madagascar pochard, gets a new home. hello, welcome to bbc news.

president trump has repeated his threat to shut the us border with mexico, unless congress agrees to fund his controversial plan to build a wall between the two countries. the dispute, prompted by illegal immigration, has caused the partial shutdown of the us government. hundreds of thousands of federal employees are either on unpaid leave, or continue to work without knowing when they'll be paid. chris buckler reports from washington. securing the long border between mexico and america has become the priority for president trump. he wants $5 billion to build a huge barrier that's not so easy to climb. but he needs democrats to approve the funding for that long—promised border wall, and they‘ re refusing, leading him to make a new threat. during a long series of tweets warning about the dangers

of illegal immigration, mrtrump said... "we will be forced to close the southern border entirely if the obstructionist democrats do not give us the money to finish the wall." the president and his opponents are in a stand—off, that has already ended funding for about a quarter of government programmes. some national parks, federal buildings, and even the national christmas tree have faced closure as a result of the shutdown, leaving hundreds of thousands of government workers either on unpaid leave or not knowing when they will get paid. we made an offer last saturday night, they told us that they'd get back to us by the end of the week, they got back to us last night and said, "we're leaving, that's it, no more discussions." so, the discussions have broken down, we do expect this to go on for a while, we do expect to manage it. a small number of politicians did return to washington immediately after the christmas break to discuss the shutdown. but despite some shouted objections, congress only ended up meeting for a matter of minutes.

the house stands adjourned until 10am on monday december 31st, 2018. i was hoping the republicans were hearing what i was hearing back home from my constituents during the christmas holiday, which is, you know, you guys need to get back to washington and reopen the government. i mean, 800,000 federal workers don't know whether they're getting paid or not — that's a big deal. despite the practical difficulties, the white house insists the threat to close the border with mexico is real. and if anything, the political divide many miles away from here in washington only seems to be growing. chris buckler, bbc news. boer deng is the washington correspondent for the times newspaper. she gave me her analysis of the president's latest comments. in theory, he could close the border. he could close ports of entry and just shut the gate and say we're not letting in any more cars pedestrians across. he does have the

power to deploy the national guard to go in and help the patrol and help go in and sort of control these are the parts, that are not the ports of entry, where people are sort of coming over. but it would be incredibly difficult task in reality. us—mexico border is over 1900 miles long. some parts of the border are really tough terrain, you have a river the —— which separates texas and mexico. you have these vast areas which are not daft and parts of the border at private property and you have a very difficult time getting national guard or border control onto these areas to try to control this areas, the policeman, and there are even parts of the border that at native american, that would be sort of a whole differentjurisdiction that you would have to work out, so in theory, the president could order

theory, the president could order the closure of ports of entry, he could deploy the national guard, but in reality, it does not seem like that would be feasible or practical. matt mackowiak is a republican communications expert. he gave me his view on the current deadlock. in fact, this is another issue we both sides are slaves to their political basis. on the republican side, this is probably the single most identifiable issue from trump's campaign, building the wall, and so 110w campaign, building the wall, and so now that he has got his back against the war, if you can use the metaphor, he can't do that and you certainly can't fault entirely. if you look at the democrats, they cannot cut a deal with trump on any amount offunding cannot cut a deal with trump on any amount of funding for the war, in fa ct, amount of funding for the war, in fact, the democratic race may not be aware that money has already been appropriated in the last three or

four years to help fund the border wall. keep in mind the reason the government has shut down right now, why it is going to continue to be shut down until early january at the earliest, is you have democrats taking over the us house onjanuary three of the incoming speaker, nancy pelosi, cannot cut a deal with president trump for democratic members of the house vote for her first speaker. she does have opposition among the democratic members. —— vote for her four speaker. we will see, it is going to be democratic house from december three, the republicans have controlled the house, well, democrats will control the house, we'll have deceived donald trump can cut a deal. it will need bipartisan support on both sides and then the president's signature, and that may bea president's signature, and that may be a tough ask. an explosion has hit a tourist bus near the pyramids of giza, killing three vietnamese tourists and a local guide. the authorities say 11 other people were injured, two of them are in critical condition. the interior ministry said

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. and 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 the egyptian christmas, which is celebrated by egyptian christians on 7january, and we know that the ministry of interior has already put in a very tough strategy, or security plan, to protect these celebrations upcoming on seventh 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. and 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. let's get some of the day's other 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. 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. australia is experiencing another record—breaking heatwave, with temperatures up to 16 degrees celsius higher than usual for this time of year. several towns in southern australia have set new december records. the country's bureau of meteorology says temperatures are stagnant because of a slow—moving high—pressure system coming off the tasman sea. 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 border force patrol boats 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 disoriented, and now in the hands of immigration officials. they'd managed to make it, despite the presence of this border force cutter that we filmed off folkestone today. the boat is currently the only one available to patrol this part of the channel. 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 migrantsa javid has declared the rising number of migrants a major incident. he saysis of migrants a major incident. he says is considering whether another border force cutter is needed. that

is certainly what one charity is calling for, but... wouldn't more boats lead to more incidents?” think in the grand scheme of things, very few asylum seekers want to come here. the journey is arduous and i do not think of you make the last bit of it that much safer, do not think it is going to pull in hundreds of thousands more people. the government says although this is the only border force cutter currently patrolling off the coast of kent, they do not want to put more resources into this to avoid attracting more migrants. the argument being if the migrants and smugglers in france get wind that it is safer to cross the channel, then they will be tempted to make the crossing. so just how many are trying to come over? well, in addition today's 12 migrants, another 23 people yesterday and a0 on 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 as part of the answer but it is also having resources on the ground we need and working in partnership with the french to stop making the crossings in the place. the numbers of people trying to reach britain nothing like those came in the southern europe in 2015, but with the home secretary now getting involved, this channel crossings are taking on a different and more urgent character in britain's response. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how the rarest bird in the world, a duck from madagascar, is being saved from the brink of extinction. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got underway with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we're going to use money we picked up in belgium today and then we'll be in france, and again, it'll be the same money. it's just got to be the way to go.

george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it looks good. just good? no, fantastic. that's better. this is bbc news — the latest headlines: donald trump has threatened to close the us—mexico border unless congress provides

the funding for his wall there's been an explosion on a tourist bus in egypt close to the giza pyramids. four people have been killed and several others injured. the monty python star michael palin has been knighted and model twiggy, has been made a dame, in a new year honours list that also recognises the achievements of england manager gareth southgate. our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba has all the details. do you want me to what? you want me to go round the world? he has been travelling the world for almost three decades, now michael palin has received an award for services to travel, culture, and geography. i'm very surprised. i've done lot of things in my life. none of which i felt was totally worthy of such recognition. maybe the cumulative effect is one of some kind of achievement. the world's top cover girl was taking the german city by storm. lesley lawson, better known as twiggy, has been a leading figure in the fashion world for more than half a century. she's been made a dame

for her contributions to the arts and charity, as well is a continuing fashion work. this honour is huge for me. i didn't expect it. it was completely out of the blue, a shock. but the nicest shock in the world. who wouldn't want to be dame twiggy? how many of you? 13? brilliant. british divers involved in the rescue of 12 children and their team coach trapped in flooded caves in thailand earlier this year have been recognised with a range of awards honouring their bravery and expertise. some of our team received letters a little while ago, we were asked if we would be prepared to accept some awards, which we very graciously said thank you for. it's nice for the team to be recognised. must be the happiest englishman in the british isles tonight, bill beaumont. in the world of sport, one—time england grand slam winning rugby captain, now chairman of world rugby, bill beaumont has received a knighthood. a knighthood too for recordbreaking batsman alistair cooke, following his retirement from international cricket. following the world cup, england football manager gareth southgate becomes an obe. captain harry kane an mbe. and made an obe, welsh tour de france winner geraint thomas. when it comes to creatures

like otters it is not always to be productive... in the world of entertainment, presenter chris packham becomes a cbe for his work in nature conservation. while westworld actress thandie newton becomes an obe for her film and charity work. as does downton abbey star jim carter for services to drama. as in previous years, the majority of honours have gone to people who aren't in the public eye and who never expected this kind of recognition. andrea aviet has been recognised for her work campaigning against domestic abuse. it will always be, until the day i die, that i will continue with this cause. but, definitely, getting an award like this means the world to me, because, you know, it just shows others. she's just one of the many people honoured for exceptional work that has made a real difference. lizo mzimba, bbc news.

satellite images have revealed that the anak krakatau volcano in indonesia has lost two—thirds of its height since it exploded. more than a00 people were killed when the volcano's crater collapse triggered a devastating tsunami, which struck coastal towns on the islands of sumatra and java. more than 150 people are still missing. jonathan amos reports. there is little doubt now that the cause of the tsunami was a sudden catastrophic failure of the west and frank of anak krakatau. europe's sentinel and radar satellites have been able to pierce cloud in the area to allow research is to see what remains of the volcanic cone and make some initial measurements and make some initial measurements and the data is sobering. what was once a volcano which ring 3a0 metres site is little more than 100m tall. something in the order of 160 million cubic metres of rock and ash

gawn says indonesia's centre of volcanology and geological hazard mitigation. not all of this would have entered the sunda straight in one go but it certainly explains the volume of seawater that must have been displaced to generate such a destructive set of blades on nearby coasts. jonathan amos, bbc news. 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 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. one of the world's rarest birds — a species of duck called the madagascar pochard — has been given a new home. a team of british conservationists have released a small group at a lake in the north of madagascar. as our science correspondent victoria gill reports, it's the first step in the recovery of the species. on the brink of extinction.

the madagascar pochard was thought to have been wiped out completely, but a tiny group of the birds was rediscovered just 12 years ago, at one remote lake. wetland habitats here have been so polluted and damaged that the birds were forced into a last untouched area. but as pristine as it looks, this final refuge is actually too deep and too cold for the pochards to thrive. they are clinging onto existence in a place that isn't really suited to them. the threats that they face across the rest of madagascar — which is why they've been wiped out so extensively — are vast and range from sedimentation, invasive species, pollution, poor agricultural practices. a whole suite of different things that combine to make the perfect storm that really make it hard for a species like the madagascar pochard to survive. so conservationists embarked on a painstaking rescue mission. after bringing a few birds into captivity to start a breeding programme, the researchers scoured madagascar for the best possible site to bring

them back to the wild. lake sofia, in the north of madagascar, will be the pochards' new home. and for the world's rarest birds, the team has developed an extra level of protection. well, it might be bit of a different climate here in gloucestershire compared to madagascar, but the team at the wetlands here have been able to develop this floating aviary. the idea is, it'll keep the birds safe and get them accustomed to their new lake. there they go, swimming off, swimming off... the doors to their floating aviary have now been opened and the pochards are venturing out to explore. it's a small — but significant — step, conservationists say, in saving one species from extinction and in protecting madagascar‘s threatened wetlands. victoria gill, bbc news. 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. a massive solar—powered battery has been switched on in china's gansu province on the plant will provide 390 million kilowatts of electricity per year and could become feasible replacement for traditional thermal power, with china having some of the worst ever pollution but investing more than any other country. and though they are. here comes your

weather forecast for the rest of this year and have to say, to many of us, it doesn't bring any huge changes. it's going to stay pretty mild through the next few days. mostly dry as well although northern parts of the uk are going to see some bursts of rain and brisk winds at times as well and that's certainly the case during saturday. this area of low pressure moving across the northern scotland. providing wet weather through the first part of the day. some windy weather as well that the wind for all of us coming from the south—west bringing this mild air in our direction. we start of saturday morning with outbreaks of rain in parts of scotland but the worst of it looks likely to have cleared away by the time it gets light. still hefty showers through the morning and also gusty winds. wind gusts in excess of a0 miles per hour. might get close to 50 miles per hour but northern ireland in england, perhaps

the north midlands and wales will see some extra cloud, maybe the old spot of brain around. but the south, mainly dry and rather cloudy and murky to the day that as we had deeper into saturday, many areas will brighten up, particularly across scotland, sunshine across northern ireland in england and perhaps the midlands later in the day. further south, or perhaps the midlands later in the day. furthersouth, or more perhaps the midlands later in the day. further south, or more in the way of cloud and we keep that mild deal in the south, temperatures coming down as the weather gets up. we move out of saturday to sunday and we do it all again. we bring more win across —— more wind across northern areas of scotland and england, much of it clear by the end of the night, the further south you go m ostly of the night, the further south you go mostly dry. mild air returning from the south—west. sunday looks like this, patchy rain. it could lingerfor like this, patchy rain. it could linger for a like this, patchy rain. it could lingerfor a good part of like this, patchy rain. it could linger for a good part of the day across the northern isles and largely dry, a lot of cloud in the west. those temperature is still

pretty impressive for this time of year. into the last day of the year, monday, new year's eve, it's looking like another largely dry day. areas of cloud, mr bob and patchy rain at times. again, those temperatures in double digits. if you are out celebrating in the evening, this is the weather set up. high pressure in charge, a weak frontal system with patchy rain that either we have the high pressure, still a lot of cloud trapped underneath it stood midnight, i'm expecting it should be dry but rather cloudy and a bit murky as well. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has repeated his threat to shut the us border with mexico, unless congress agrees to fund his controversial plan to build a wall between the two countries. the dispute, prompted

by illegal immigration, has caused the partial shutdown of the us government. 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. 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 at least 221 people have attempted the crossing since the start of november.