welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the latest attempt to halt the us government shutdown ends with no deal. thousands are still without pay and both political parties are blaming each other. apple shares fall — it's warning that disappointing sales in china have taken a big bite out of its revenues. an icy world 4 billion miles from earth — nasa releases images of the most distant object in our solar system ever to be explored. times 550. and meet the 10—year—old south african boy nicknamed ‘the human calculator‘. hello.

in washington, the latest attempt to end the budget row that's partially shut down the us government has ended without agreement. about 800,000 federal employees are feeling the impacts of no funding and no pay. at a white house meeting, president trump showed no sign of backing down from his demand for $5 billion to build a wall along the us—mexico border — an election promise that he insisted, during the campaign, mexico would pay for. here he isjust before the meeting. as long as it takes. i am prepared, i think the people of the country think i am right. the people of this country think i am right. again, i shall could have done nothing, i could have had a lot easier presidency by doing nothing. i am here, i want to do it right. live now from washington dc, our correspondent, david willis. david. a lot of people feeling the effects

of this in the real world. there is political fallout of course. there is of course. and following that meeting in a situation room of the white house, no breakthrough. a stalemate still. president trump insisting on that $5 billion plus for his pet project on the campaign trail, building a wall along the us border with mexico. the democrats for their part are wanting nothing to do with any such a project. some of them actually believe it would be apt warrant to see such a thing in place along the border. a couple of weeks ago it wouldn't have mattered much what the democrats thought about all this, but tomorrow, a take control in the house of representatives, and already, the incoming speaker nancy believes he has plans to introduce bills and with appropriate funds for those departments that are already currently closed, enabling them to

reopen, but would not provide substantial funding of the sort that president trump wants for that border wall. as they emerge from that meeting in the white house today, this is what both parties had today, this is what both parties had to say. the president and vice president stayed here over the christmas holidays and there was absolutely no negotiation from the other side. they want to keep delaying and have a government shutdown while president gupta —— resident trump says he wants it shut down the border. he said he would shut the government down. they are now feeling the heat. it is not helping the president. it is not helping the republicans to be the owners of this sharp down. as you say, a big political change is coming in the lower house, the house of representatives. very clear what his political base think about this. this is why they elected him. how is it playing in the rest of the country? it is interesting that a recent poll

showed that more people actually blamed president trump for this current on past and did the democrats, and there is a sense i think that by insisting that this budget funding measure be linked to the $5 billion that he wants for the wall along the us mexico border, president trump is somewhat painted himself into a corner if you like because the cards back down on this now. he sort of did so once before only to the condemnation from his base, from those on the far right, and he is more or less conceding that he cannot do that again. so it remains to be seen how long this current partial shut down is going to carry on. in the meantime, a lot of people suffering. absolutely. about 800,000 federal government workers are some of whom

have been sent home, others are working with out pay. meanwhile, there are national parks that are experiencing problems, not shutdown is just yet, but certain problems with reviews and staffing issues and so on with reviews and staffing issues and so on and so on all, and meanwhile, museums here in the capital have been closed and looked to remain so. thank you very much for that. apple shares have sunk by more than 7%, investors rattled by a surprise disclosure from the tech giant that it's cut sales predictions for the first quarter of 2019. in a letter to investors, apple ceo tim cook blames a challenging commercial environment in china, which has seen lower—than—expected sales of new iphones. the festive season is usually apple's strongest quarter. here's our north america business correspondent dave lee. trading on apple shares was halted pending some news, we were told, and that news came quite quickly. the letter came out, and tim cook went into several reasons why his company

is going to come in around — at least $5 billion under estimates for revenue than they originally predicted. the reasons were, one, that sales in china pretty much dropped off a cliff here recently, and they blamed increased tension between the us and china on trade potentially for some of that problem. but they also talked about issues with supply chain as well. tim cook said that although apple had released what he said were very popular new products, sales of those products, particularly its watches, laptops and so forth have been held back because they simply have not been able to make enough, and supply chain constraints have hit sales there. and, overall, the iphone has been a bit of a handicap for apple in this quarter, because people aren't upgrading them as often as they usually do. so, while the iphone is often apple's huge profit maker, people simply aren't going out and buying them as regularly as they have in the past. that is the real driving force behind that, particularly in china,

where the problem is becoming increasingly serious for apple. in moscow, the american ambassador has now gained consular access to a former us marine who's been charged with espionage by russia. paul whelan was picked up in moscow last week. the russians say he was caught spying. his family claim he is innocent and was in the country for a wedding. here's the us secretary of state. we have made clear to the russians oui’ we have made clear to the russians our expect patient that we will learn more about the charges and come to understand what it is he has been accused of, and if the detention is not appropriate, we will demand his immediate return. police in southern india have used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters angry that two women have worshipped at a high—profile shrine. police helped the women enter the sabarimala temple in kerala, which is at the centre of a bitter dispute between conservatives and activists. a court ruling last year was supposed to have ended the temple's long—standing ban on all women of menstruating age. but for months, protesters had

still prevented women from going in. devina gupta reports. these women are moments away from breaking a centuries—old tradition at this hindu temple. in the cover of the dark, these two women in their 40s are seen going inside the sabarimala shrine in the south indian state of kerala — an act that has broken gender barriers. this temple is home to the hindu lord ayyapa, who is believed by devotees to be a celibate. so, women of menstruating ages, defined as between 10 and 50 by the temple, were not allowed here. although india lifted the ban on women entering sabarimala temple last year, there were protests by conservative hindu groups preventing women of menstruating age on entering the shrine. activists bindu and kanaka durga have finally entered the temple, but they were escorted by two policemen.

the issue has divided women across the country. just yesterday, thousands of women gathered to make a human chain to protest against conservative groups. today, they hailed this act as a symbolic victory. translation: the entry of women in sabarimala is a historic win for us. it's a victory of the movement for equality and it's a victory of women power. but another group of women have protested against what they call is desecration of their faith. even the temple was shut down for a purification ritual and violent clashes were reported across the state — a sign that the fight for their right to pray is far from overfor women here. devina gupta, bbc news, delhi. let's get some of the day's other news. the acting us defence secretary, patrick sha na han, has started his first day in charge at the pentagon by stressing

to his team, that while they were dealing with ongoing operations — in other parts of the world — they must always remember, "china, china, china." the american comedian hassan minaj has responded to a decision by netflix to remove an episode of his comedy from its service in saudi arabia. the edition of his show patriot act was highly critical of the kingdom. netflix said it backed artistic freedom but had to "comply with local law." in a tweet, mr minaj remarked that: five countries have been welcomed onto the united nations security council as the body's new non—permanent members with a special flag ceremony. germany, south africa, indonesia, belgium and the dominican republic will spend two years on the security council, replacing bolivia, ethiopia, the netherlands, kazakhstan and sweden. nasa has released images of the most

distant object in our solar system ever to be explored. the new horizons probe is showing us the small, icy world known as ultima thule — about 6.5 billion kilometres — around 4 billion miles — from earth. 0ur science editor david shukman reports. power. go ahead, power. power is green. copy. power is green. mission control running through checks that confirm this incredible venture has worked. 0ur pointers are right where we predicted. flying right beside the most distant world ever explored. we have a healthy spacecraft. the relief of decades of planning paying off, and the scientists proud of giving us a view never possible before. science to help us understand the origins of our solar system. applause. what this spacecraft and this team

accomplished is unprecedented. here's where we were just a couple of days ago. this was humanity's best image of ultima thule. well, that image is so 2018. laughter. meet ultima thule! they've discovered a strange shape, which the scientists think looks like a snowman. they've even produced this image to make the point about this rock left over from the birth of the solar system. and lift—off of nasa's new horizon. back when the mission was launched, hardly anything was known about the outer reaches of the solar system. it was an extraordinary gamble just trying to get there. it's almost impossible to grasp how far the spacecraft new horizons has travelled, but 13 years ago, it began a long trek across the solar system. it left earth back injanuary 2006 to fly past the planets, including mars, jupiter, saturn. and then, in 2015,

it made it all the way out to pluto, 3 billion miles away, before racing on for another billion miles to ultima thule, reaching it on new year's day, skimming past, but still able to capture the images we're now starting to see. there's a lot that's surprising about this tiny world, made up of two pieces of rock joined together. so, this may be the first glimpse of how the planets were eventually built. 0ne lump binding to another over millions of years. this shape informs our models of planetary formation. you can see that they're clearly two separate objects that have come together. so, it's pretty exciting to see that. when new horizons flew past pluto, it revealed a world more active than anyone expected. now, this latest encounter has produced something even more profound, a snapshot of what it took to make planets like our own. david shukman, bbc news.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come: # barbie, you're beautiful... 60 years old, but forever young — is barbie still relevant as she enters her seventh decade? it in my comedy because it's part of who i am. 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 0xfordshire 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: a meeting called by president trump to discuss the budget dispute that's led to a partial us government shutdown has broken up without agreement. the tech giant apple is warning revenues have taken a big hit, largely it says because of disappointing sales in china. it's reported a second person

has died after the car they were in ploughed into an apartment block in massachusetts, in the united states, on new year's day. officials say the building, which caught fire and has been burning ever since, will now have to be pulled down. incredibly, everyone inside the complex managed to escape without injury. caroline rigby has more. two days now, firefighters have tackling flames at this apartment block in fall river, massachusetts. now completely destroyed, all of its residents have been left homeless. the fire began in after a pontiac grand prix ploughed into the apartment buildings boiler room. killing the driver. a 75—year—old female passenger has also since died. where the car went in, it was five foot to the right, it was d eftly five foot to the right, it was deftly going to one of our rooms. there was a fire five, ten feet to of our face, we describe what we could and ran out. firefighters were taken to hospital for injuries they

sustain battling the blaze. could have been a disaster, absolutely, because that fire was fed by the natural gas. just like it could have been. the lines were ruptured. —— it could have been. it has been damaged beyond repair and is in the process of being replaced. journalists take risks when they cover stories in war zones and even political demonstrations. it's this ability to bear witness that tells the world about deadly conflicts — such as liberia, where the second civil war claimed 200,000 lives. photojournalists tim hetherington and chris hondros were there on the front lines. now, an exhibit in new york shows how their work moved the world to action. the bbc‘s nada tawfik reports, and a warning: you may find some images disturbing. their beautiful photographs perfectly captured the ugliness of war. tim hetherington and chris

hondros were award—winning photographers, who forced the world to co nfro nt photographers, who forced the world to confront the war and haunting relative conflict. the two friends we re relative conflict. the two friends were killed by artillery fire in libya in 2011. this exhibition at the bronx documentary centre explores how their powerful images from liberia sparked international response and helped bring about peace. they spend a lot of time in places getting to know places, getting to know the people, making it connections with the community, and they both, as chris said, you cannot take these pictures from 100 feet away, you have to be right there. side-by-side for the first time, there work is a visual history of that period. their work covered the country's second civil war from opposite sides of the online. chris hondros was with the dictator charles taylor's forces in the siege of monrovia. take us by this is because you are actually on the

front lines. civilians were packed into the cities, they're just been killed by the dozens. i think hundreds of people died that day they bought the waddies of their sons and daughters and wives and husbands and they put on a pile, which you can see here, in front of the embassy. in what was the reaction? there was a huge reaction. this photo ran all over the world. i think hundreds of newspapers use these photos and there was an enormous outrage and within a month, the war was over. tim hetherington was the only photographer at the rebel side. years later, in fact, he became investigator the un security council on liberia. this was also an important photo. what had become a key piece of evidence? is really the only known photograph of these rebels shelling the civilians. tim was a remarkable photographer, even in the worst of the fighting here, he composed this photo with this little boy in the background, many

with their belongings on the head escaping the fighting. an incredible composition in the midst of terrible combat. chris hondros and tim hetherington dedicated their lives to their profession. with media increasingly under attack around the world, this exhibition is a powerful reminder of the power ofjournalism. —— importance. a 10—year—old boy in south africa is causing a stir in the world of maths. sibahle zwane has an extraordinary ability to work out huge sums in his head. now his mental arithmetic is turning him into something of a social media sensation. pumza fihlani has been to meet him. welcome to maths. class is in session. at this farm school, the pupils are hard at work, perfecting their maths skills. but there's one who stands out. meet maths whiz, sibahle zwan. called the human calculator, he's just ten years old. anyone who knows the answer?

sibahle? 540. translation: i'm the best at maths in the whole school. when people see me, they ask me to do sums for them to test how good i am. and they're surprised when i give the answers right. some people even give me money for doing difficult numbers. i give that money to my mother, and that makes me happy. he was discovered when a local policeman filmed him. 250 times, uh, 11? 2,750. at home, his mother may not be able to help him with his homework, but she is his biggest fan. we always like dream big, most of the time. with me, he — like i wish everything that could go well for him. i want him to explore. he loves challenges. 78... and so, we put him to the test. times... 550.

42,900,000. what? how did your brain do that? after a professional assessment, he's deemed a gifted child, but that brings other challenges. he becomes bored easily and needs unconventional teaching methods in order to thrive. professor belinda huntley runs the wits siyanqoba maths 0lympiad programme, and wants sibahle tojoin her class and compete with some of the best minds in the world. if he isn't enriched now, he's just going to dissolve into the rest of the masses, where he's just going to be expected just to keep up with the curriculum. and now admitted to the geniuses programme, young sibahle finally has a chance at a bright future. well, impressive.

for many, she is the toy every little girl wanted. for others, she is a symbol of sexism and crass commercialism. this year, barbie turns 60. it's estimated more than 55 million of the dolls are sold each year. so is she still relevant as she enters her seventh decade? the bbc‘s tim allman has more. hidden away in a warehouse near los angeles international airport is the top—secret barbie design studio. it is here that a team of around 100 people helped create the latest generation of plastic dolls. a hands—on approach that can be more complicated than it look. one thing obviously that we have to keep in mind with barbie is scale, so not just in terms of size, for example something like this, where the sequence are something like this, where the sequence are tiny. a barbie doll, on a barbie's body, it works and it

looks appropriate and proportionate. # barbie, you're beautiful... barbie first made her debut at a trade show in new york in 1959. the makers, mattel, said she was designed to teach girls they had choices. they could be anything, but critics insist she simply reinforced gender stereotypes and represented an almost impossible physical ideal. in recent yea rs, almost impossible physical ideal. in recent years, there have been attem pts recent years, there have been atte m pts to recent years, there have been attempts to create dolls that are more ethnically diverse and have a more ethnically diverse and have a more realistic body shape. more ethnically diverse and have a more realistic body shapem more ethnically diverse and have a more realistic body shape. it is a new kind of day and certainly as a doll that represents a female, it is really important to have a positive message and the kind of talk to girls or the kids and talk about being able to do these different things. more than a billion barbies have been sold in the last six decades. despite the controversy,

despite the criticism, she is an icon. 60 years old, but forever young. just briefly, some pictures that have to be seen to be believed. 20 circus performersjoined have to be seen to be believed. 20 circus performers joined the have to be seen to be believed. 20 circus performersjoined the pope's weekly audience at the vatican. the pope himself took part in the performance, putting his own spin on some of the circus skills. that is it for now. there is much more for you on all the stories any time at the bbc news website. they and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. bye. good morning.

well, we've certainly been chasing cloud amounts around the country at the moment, but my new year's resolution was to stay on the optimistic side with a glass half full. so, for the next few days, yes, it will stay chilly, but i'm optimistic that we'll see a little more in the way of sunshine coming through. but frost and freezing fog patches could be an issue first thing in the morning. now, the uk is sandwiched right in the middle between this mild air sitting out in the atlantic and colder air across eastern europe at the moment. there is an area of high pressure across the uk and circulating around the high, the wind direction always driving in a little more cloud close to the coasts. so, just come further inland, that's where we'll see the clearest of the skies. that's where we're likely to see the best of the sunshine as well. now, if you're up and off early on this morning, it's going to be a chilly start, as you can see, right through the spine of the country really. the blue tones denoting those

temperatures below freezing. well below freezing in some places. it may be as low as —5, —6 degrees in more rural spots. so, it's going to be a cold and a frosty start to thursday morning. that's where the best slice of the sunshine is likely to be, though, along those east coasts. we'll have more cloud just driving in. and with a south—westerly flow out to the west as well, a little more cloud and a little more moisture, and there, we could see the problem with some fog forming a little later on. top temperatures, though, for thursday afternoon — 3 to 7 degrees the high. now, as we go into the evening hours, that's when we could potentially see some freezing fog forming. if that happens, it may well be slow to clear away. but the real cold air and the stormy weather at the moment is across eastern europe. we've seen some heavy rain and even snow at lower levels across greece and turkey at the moment, and that bitterly cold air is sitting not only across the south—east mediterranean, but it's moving all the way up generally through eastern europe over the next few days. the yellow tones — i'm not going to say mild, but something a little less cold across portugal, spain, france and the uk.

but if we get some freezing fog first thing on friday morning, it may be slow to clear away, and that could have quite an impact on the temperatures. so, again, there will be some sunshine around after a cold and frosty start on friday. if the freezing fog lingers, and favoured spots for that are going to be central and southern england, well, then, those temperatures only at around 3 or 4 degrees. a little milder the further west we go. this quiet theme of weather looks likely to continue into the weekend. 0n the whole, it will be largely dry, but again, we're going to be chasing cloud amounts around. take care. this is bbc news. the headlines: a meeting called by president trump to discuss the budget dispute that's led to a partial us government shutdown has finished without agreement. both sides accuse each other of intransigence over the cause of the dispute — mr trump's demand for $5 billion for a border wall with mexico. apple has warned investors that its latest revenue figures will be sharply lower than previously expected.

the company said it hadn't foreseen the scale of the economic slowdown in some emerging markets, particularly china. consumers had also failed to upgrade to the latest versions of iphones as expected. nasa's revealed the first clear images of ultima thule, the most distant object yet visited by a spacecraft. they show an icy object, which looks a bit like a snowman. it's about 33 kilometres long and it is floating more than 6 billion kilometres from earth. now on bbc news, victoria derbyshire looks back on some of the memorable moments from her programme in 2018, including tracking dementia patients