this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: all change in washington — democrats prepare to take power in congress as the government shutdown continues. scientists say they've discovered the source of a cholera outbreak in yemen, one of the worst epidemics in history. one giant leap for china's space programme as it successfully lands a probe on the far side of the moon. and poison apple for investors as the tech giant slashes forecasts, saying the slowdown in china is worse than it thought. we will be live to the region as those companies that supply apple their shares are falling in asian trading time. good to have you with us.

a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also, we'd like to hear from you about the surprise announcement from apple. have you got tech fatigue? is the next smartphone just not exciting enough for you to part with the big bucks? tell us what you think — just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. today marks a dramatic shift in washington dc, and yet more of the same. specifically, democrats will take over control of the house of representatives following their victories in last year's mid—term elections. and a partial government shutdown enters its 13th day with no end in sight. the bbc‘s laura trevelyan has been looking at where things stand

with the government gridlock and the democratic leader in the centre of it all. nearly two weeks into the partial us government shut down, and here is the scene in washington, dc. iconic monuments are closed, some federal workers are home without a pay cheque and democrats are taking control of the house of representatives. at the president is warning the government will not reopen it gets money for his border wall. it could be a long time. it is to importand are it could be a long time. it is to import and are subject to walk away from. he is demanding $5 billion to build a wall along the us border with mexico. they have had a briefing on border security to underline how important it is to get the money. afterwards, democrats said they will introduce bills to reopen the government, trying to call the president's bluff. we are asking the president to open

up we are asking the president to open up government. we are giving him a republican passed to do that. why would he not do it? congresswoman nancy pelosi has little to do a deal, especially after he made his declaration last month. iam month. i am proud to shut down the government border security. they are now the faces of divided government in washington. the relationship is key to ending the government shut down and to whether anything is achieved here ahead of the 2020 presidential election. nancy pelosi from california. she was the first—ever female speaker in 2007. she is a highly experienced political operator. she learnt to six when her father was out of baltimore. she even met

presidentjohn f. kennedy at an early age. though she wasn't elected to congress until the age of a7, this prolific fundraiser has deep roots on capitol hill. she just saw offa roots on capitol hill. she just saw off a leadership challenge from democrats eagerfor a new generation. the question now is who blinks first over the government shut down, and which side feels they have most to lose by prolonging it. we will unpack that further in business briefing, specifically looking at the impact all of this has on the world's biggest economy in around 20 minutes time. let's move on. scientists say they've discovered the source of a cholera outbreak in yemen, which has become one of the worst epidemics of the disease in recorded history. using genomic sequencing, british and french researchers have identified the cholera strain as one that originated in eastern africa. caroline rigby has the details. her report contains some images you

may find disturbing. this is what cholera can do to a child. 17 months old, but looking far younger. nearly four years of war between the saudi—led coalition and iranians that rebels have crippled healthcare and sanitation in yemen. that has led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis. huge numbers have died from bombs, bullets and starvation, but this conflict has also led to one of the biggest cholera outbreaks on record. there have been more than a million cases of the disease since 2017. nearly cases of the disease since 2017. n early 250 0 cases of the disease since 2017. nearly 2500 fatal. the world health organization warns the outbreak is worsening. now, scientists from

britain and france say they have discovered the source of the outbreak in yemen. researchers believe this strain of the disease originated in eastern africa and was probably brought to yemen by migrants. it is hoped this information could help predict the risk of future outbreaks, enabling health workers and authorities more time to intervene. but as long as the bacteria continues to be spread through contaminated supplies, in yemen, what is not only crucial for life, it can also mean death. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. police in britain have arrested two men they suspect of arranging the illegal movement of migrants across the channel. in the past two months, more than 200 people have reached the southern english coast in small inflatable boats. the british government has blamed criminal gangs for the upsurge in channel crossings. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has said he's deeply concerned about an increase in coca production, the raw material for cocaine in colombia. during a meeting with the colombian

president, he said the two countries would work together to try to reduce coca production by half over the next four years. a recent un survey showed the amount of land being used for coca rose last year. the authorities in denmark hope to resume train crossings today on the great belt bridge, which links two islands. six people were killed and 16 injured when two trains collided on the bridge on wednesday. the authorities also say it could take months to determine what caused the country's worst train accident in 30 years. the military hardware that had been deployed to stop drone flights around gatwick airport before christmas has been withdrawn. thousands of flights were disrupted in the run—up to the festive period because of reported drone sightings. the ministry of defence has said it stands ready to assist should the hardware be needed again. let's turn to our top business story

now, because tech giant apple has rattled global investors with its first warning about its financial results in more than a decade. it says revenues this quarter could be as much as 10% lower than earlier predictions. the reasons? people aren't upgrading to newer phones in the numbers expected. and more worryingly for the global economy, it has underestimated the scale of the slowdown in china. shares are down 7%. with me isjonathan charles, managing director of communications at the european bank for reconstruction and development. he isa he is a regular here. this is really interesting, isn't it, this warning from apple, because if a big surprise, it has had a huge impact on its shares. this tells us two

things. one is about apple itself, the other is the global economy. it is quite difficult to know what is really happening in the chinese economy. you add the different bits of intelligence together, yesterday with contractions in chinese manufacturing and now we are seeing againa company manufacturing and now we are seeing again a company saying actually the chinese market is causing us difficulty because of a slowdown. that tells us something about another bit of the jigsaw puzzle of what is happening and what seems to bea what is happening and what seems to be a slowdown in the global economy for all the reasons we know. separately you have the other issue around apple and the question about whether they are doing the right thing, selling at premium rates, their products. can they continue to do that? it says something about us as consumers. everyone changes their phone every three years instead of two years. once upon a time with every upgrade we would want to upgrade because the new technology that was in that new device was much more that she wanted to have it. now

there seems to be marginal changes, twea ks there seems to be marginal changes, tweaks around the edges. they may well be a victim of their own success. they have taken technology so far that the incremental changes, people say they are willing to wait now. there are some sharp arrivals out there for apple as well, within china and also companies like samsung in korea. that makes their task much harder because if there is a real price differential between apple product and a very good other smart phone... they took a risk, apple. the likes of huawei have been around for a long time. it is a very tough market. what they have done is saying they are the premium player. also, we are part of your life, part of your world. it is a cult following and a brand that people wa nt to following and a brand that people want to show off. they are a smart company. they are the premium brand. i would put money on them getting this right in the end so they can deal with the issues that are airing

controller. the question when it comes to the slowing global economy, what do you do about that? that is a very big question. thank you very much finau. he is back for our news briefing. we will talk about some very interesting stories in the global media. —— thank you very much for now. a study has found that electricity use per person in the uk has fallen to its lowest level since the mid—1980s. the analysis of government statistics by the online journal, carbon brief, shows that, on average, people now use almost a 25% less electricity than they did in 2005, when energy use was at its peak. here's our environment analyst, roger harrabin. install a low energy led bulb and you are having a negligible effect on cutting the carbon emissions that are overheating the planet. join with millions of other people to change bulbs and with a collective twist of the rest you are making a

significant dent in the uk's demand for energy. the same can be said for appliances like vacuum cleaners and washing machines, forced by eu product standards to do the same job while using less power. but the role of energy efficiency get little publicity. meanwhile, the role of renewa bles publicity. meanwhile, the role of renewables and cutting uk carbon emissions is well known. last year wind and solar power generated a third of the uk's electricity. that isa third of the uk's electricity. that is a record. reports of efficiency measures coupled with other factors have contributed slightly more than renewa bles have contributed slightly more than renewables towards reducing carbon emissions. what is more, making gadgets more efficient upsets no—one but the manufacturers. keep it with the briefing. plenty more to come. still to come, road rage: why these people are paying good money to smash up old cars, all in the name of therapy. 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 the briefing on bbc news.

the headlines: all change in washington. democrats prepare to take power in congress, as the government shutdown continues. scientists say they've discovered the source of a cholera outbreak in yemen — one of the worst epidemics in history. beijing's media is reporting that a chinese space probe has landed on the dark side of the moon. it is the first ever soft landing in this uncharted territory. the chang'e—a spacecraft is named after the moon goddess in chinese mythology. john sudworth is in beijing for us. iam sure i am sure that there is huge excitement about this there, where

you are. well, sally, very little in the way of a preview, almost a media blackout ahead of this landing attempt. the spacecraft was launched in early december, we knew that this planned mission was under way, but almost everything we have known about the actual landing attempt and the likely window, morning time in china today, has come from observers outside china, looking at the orbit around the moon. the craft has been in this elliptical orbit pattern over the last few days, just at its closest point, just 15 kilometres above the landing sight. so it looked imminent but nothing in chinese media, noting that gives you a sense of notjust the science, the scientific importance of this mission, but also the political propaganda importance of success.

and then an hour or so ago, we got confirmation that it had indeed managed to complete this soft landing on the far side of the moon. the side of the moon, of course, we have seen before. many spacecrafts have seen before. many spacecrafts have been in moon orbit, we have taken have been in moon orbit, we have ta ken photographs of have been in moon orbit, we have taken photographs of that side of the moon but no real scientific discoveries have been made because of the difficulties in doing so. and as you be the thinking is that this will pave the way for samples of things like lunar rock, dust, to bring the earth, which is quite phenomenal really. absolutely. there's huge potential and this really tie into china's sort of space race ambitions. the landing sight is in a crater close to the moon's south pole, on the dark side, and that based on is believed to be not just the and that based on is believed to be notjust the moon's deepest and that based on is believed to be not just the moon's deepest and largest crater but one of the

deepest and largest craters on anybody in our solar system. so it could really throw up some interesting secrets about the formation of our solar system, as well as you said, the possibility, which china is very interested in in looking ahead to being able to mine for certain minerals on the moon to fund its economy. —— any body. also, a very interesting experiments going on on this little probe. they've taken some potato seed and earthworms eggs to see about the viability and sustainability of life on the moon, there is also a rover which will roam around the basin, looking at some of the geology and minerals there, and send that information back to china. this time yesterday, we were celebrating now with its historic to the edge of the solar system, some a billion miles away or whatever, and today it is

all about china and its efforts on the moon. that's right, and very marked difference in as well. we are used to from now so a very open approach, often failure is seen as pa rt approach, often failure is seen as part of scientific progress. it is interesting to see the difference here, as i say, almost a complete media blackout ahead of this mission. but now it has been deemed a success, i think we will start to see in the next few hours, photographs and video imagery that are being streamed back and it will be huge excitement notjust in china but around the world in the scientific community, because this really is, given the challenges involved, an extraordinary milestone that china has managed to pull. all right, thank you very much. —— pull off. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm chetan pathak with thursday's sport briefing.

our top story: ole gunnar solskjaer‘s winning start as manchester united's interim boss continues, as his side made it four wins out of four in the english premier league with a 2—0 victory at newcastle. substitute romelu lukaku scored with his first touch, helping to ensure solskjaer becomes the first manager since sir matt busby to win his first four league games. marcus rashford scored the second, to move united within three points of arsenal in fifth. you'd be happy with four wins, four clean sheets in open play, we've not conceded in a set piece today, so that was a big difference. i thought maybe first half, we were a bit too slow, passing was a bit too lackadaisical at times. the second half, of course, when you get the goal, i thought we controlled the game really well, defenders defended really well. we were concentrated. so, overall, a very, very professional performance. in tennis, there were wins for germany and the host nation australia in the latest

round of group matches at the mixed team hopman cup in perth. in the opening match of the day, the world number two angelique kerber beat alize cornet, to set the germans on their way to a 2—1win against france. the wimbledon champion conjured up one of the shots of the day, as she came from a set down to win 5—7, 6—2, 6—a. and like them, australia also won their tie, thanks to a double success for ashleigh barty. first, she beat the former world number one garbine muguruza in straight sets, and after david ferrer beat matthew ebden to level the tie, barty and ebden teamed up to beat the spaniards in the deciding mixed doubles. australia and germany meet on friday to decide who'll finish top of the group and make the final. there's a huge game in the english premier league on thursday, when the defending champions manchester city host the premier league leaders, liverpool. a win forjurgen klopp's side, who remain unbeaten in the league

this season, would give them a nine point lead over tottenham in second, and take them 10 clear of city. meanwhile, there's one match in la liga on thursday, real madrid — back from winning the club world cup title — go to villarreal, knowing a win could move them level with sevilla in third. and before we go, here's why it's a good idea to keep rival team mascots away from each other, especially if one of them is a longhorn steer and the other is a bulldog. this is texas longhorns's impressive mascot rampaging before the team took on georgia bulldogs in tuesday night's allstate sugar bowl. someone had the bright idea to get the mascots to pose with each otherfor a photo. and it's safe to say, the longhorn steer wasn't a fan of the dog and they won't be pictured

together any time soon. only at college football. texas longhorns won that match. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, bbc.com/sport. but from me, chetan pathak, and the rest of the team, that is thursday's sport briefing. now, have an honest think about this next question. have you ever fancied unleashing your anger on someone else's car? you can in amsterdam, where a scrapyard is allowing people to experiment with what it calls destruction therapy. anna holligan went to try it out. anger of being in trafficjams over and over again. i think it is good to crash the cars, thinking about

that. i love working with cars and everybody tearing them apart like this gives them a good opportunity to see what it is like to actually break one. basically, we are consulting firm and we deal with the frustrations of people every day. it is good at getting rid of our anger. andy normally express your anger in a kind of violent, destructive way? no, not really. usuallyi a kind of violent, destructive way? no, not really. usually i am pretty cool and collected. well, actually, to be completely honest, kind of scares me. now it is cars, next time it can be something else. scares me. now it is cars, next time it can be something elselj scares me. now it is cars, next time it can be something else. i do believe car smash is a great way to have some anger release, instead of doing it on the streets in a way where it is illegal, you can do it in the scrapyard in a legal way. is

different with friends or workgroup for example, does that just different with friends or workgroup for example, does thatjust one time, but it is still kind of tricky because they might like it and then they might want to go and express their anger in this way, and then you are actually giving yourself the message that this is ok, instead of learning other deductive ways, for example to calm yourself down, to regulate your emotions, to be mindful of what is happening, to ta ke mindful of what is happening, to take a break when you are actually breaking things. it's harder than expected, but it's more satisfying than i expected. so i think that is a good battle. it looks good, doesn't it? am sure

thatis it looks good, doesn't it? am sure that is the kind of therapy that many of us might benefit from. —— i am sure. let's ta ke let's take a look now at this story about apple, we are going to unpack this in more detail in the business briefing. apple shares are down because it has announced lower revenue, because of lower sales in china. what you think about this story on the high price you have to pay for the latest iphone? many of you have been in touch, one person said apple has had its it offers nothing in the of innovation. not delivering anything to us that is new. adam dalgleish says ijumped ship to huawei after years of using an iphone. i could notjustify the overi nflated an iphone. i could notjustify the overinflated price of the iphone,

and continued slowing down and the inability to replace the battery. good evening. a hop, skip and jump into the new year and we have some classic evening conditions are there at moment. sam frost and the potential for freezing fog and if that happens, it could be pretty slow to clear away. the cold air is really sitting across eastern europe at the moment, so north sea coast driving in morkel out here that all the time, the milder air sitting out in the atlantic is trying to squeeze in. and right across the uk is this area of pressure. the wind is circulating around the high, it will a lwa ys circulating around the high, it will always drive in morkel out close to the coast. further inland, that is where we are likely to see the best of the brakes but that means with clear skies overnight, we're going to see temperatures fall in. first thing this morning, you can see the

blue hue, which means temperatures below freezing sitting across scotland, down to the spine of the country and out into wales. that is where the temperatures are likely to be well below freezing, a widespread frost not out of the country. there will be plenty more cloud always close to the coastline, and that could be slow to shift through the day. there could be sunny spots, the temperatures are going to struggle here after that cold start of three orfour here after that cold start of three or four degrees. here after that cold start of three orfour degrees. perhaps here after that cold start of three or four degrees. perhaps close to the coastline, looking at about five to seven or eight. as we move to thursday, we will continue to see clear skies and some bulk forming. but as i say, the real cold air is sitting across europe and we are seeing snow even at lower levels across mainland greece and turkey over the next few days. the high pressure though for the uk, that is not going very far very fast. we start of friday morning with the potential for some freezing fog around. it is going to be a cold and

frosty start particularly on friday, across england and wales. is that freezing fog around the welsh marshes and across the parts of the midlands lingers, then temperatures will struggle, the four degrees. again, elsewhere, looking at highs of seven. there is little in the way a significant change. the high pressure stays with us. it is going to be cold but hopefully, there will be some sunny spells at times. this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. poison apple for investors as the tech giant slashes forecasts, saying the slowdown in china is worse than it thought. plus, the us budget deadlock continues — is this the start of tough times for the president as the democrats take control of the house? and on the markets, that warning from apple coming too late to hit us shares, but in asia,

the tech giants suppliers are all being sold off. we will see reaction on wall street today. the nick cave has actually closed again today for a public holiday, but elsewhere we are seeing stocks down