a very warm welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: nancy pelosi, i extend to you this gavel... cheering. a new challenge to donald trump's presidential authority. democrat nancy pelosi becomes house speaker and immediately throws down the gauntlet on the government shutdown democrats will be offering the senate republican appropriations legislation to reopen government later today. this bill aimed at ending the partial government shutdown, caused by a row over funding mr trump's promised border wall, has passed the house but will be vetoed by the president. local militia battle the islamic state group in eastern syria, but can they win their fight without american airpower? we have an exclusive report. $75 billion are wiped off the market value of apple after it warns that sales will be worse than expected. asian stock markets are reacting. a big clean—up operation is under

way in the netherlands, after nearly 300 shipping containers fell off a cargo ship in a storm. the lower chamber of the us congress — the house of representatives — now controlled by the democrats has been voting to try to re—open parts of the us government, shut down by the row over funding for president trump's promised wall on the mexican border. but the legislation will be rejected by the republican—controlled senate and by president trump. the veteran democrat nancy pelosi has once again become the third most powerful politician in the united states, taking over as speaker of the house. the democrats‘ new bill contains no funding for the wall. mr trump has insisted that without it, there can be no border security. you can call it a barrier, you can call it whatever you want,

but essentially we need protection in our country. we are going to make it good. the people of our country want it. i have never had so much support as i have in the last week over my stance for border security, for border control, and for, frankly, the wall or the barrier. i've never had anything like it in terms of calls coming in, in terms of people writing in and tweeting and doing whatever they have had to do. i've never had this much support. we have done some things which, as you know, have been very popular. the president, of course. nancy pelosi — back as the most powerful woman in american politics at the age of 78, after eight years in the political wilderness — also gave her views on the shutdown, the political impasse — and plans for a border wall. the fact is, a wall is an immorality. it is not who we are as a nation. and this is not a wall between mexico between mexico

and the united states that the president is creating here, it is a wall between reality and his constituents, his supporters. he does not want them to know what he's doing to medicare and medicaid and social security in his budget proposal. he does not want them knowing he is going to do to clean air and clean water and the rest in his department of interior and the epa. he does not want them to know how it's hurting them, so he keeps the subject on the wall. he's a master of diversion. we're trying to open up government, we are giving a mature way to do so, not in our language, but in the senate language. nancy pelosi there. our correspondent david willis is in washington. he told me what we could expect to happen next. well, they are due back, the congressional leaders, at the white house in the morning, friday morning for another round of talks with the president. a similar meeting on wednesday, of course, ended in stalemate. and the democrats are now

emboldened, of course, by taking control of the house of representatives and, you had in that clip, nancy pelosi reiterating her view that a wall along the us—mexico border, donald trump's pet project, of course, is immoral and in her view a waste of money. she was also accused the president of holding public service workers, federal workers, hostage over his pet project. and there are about 800,000 of those workers who are currently, of course, without pay. david, today saw the president make a rather unorthodox appearance in the white house briefing room. what was that about? it was rather strange. we are not used to seeing president trump in the white house briefing room. he is normally given to making ad hoc comments as bill signings or while he is crossing the white house lawn on the way to air force one, for example, but today journalists got a very short amount of notice

that there was a briefing about to take place. but then president trump appeared flanked by the members of the border patrolmen‘s union, he congratulated nancy pelosi, said he hoped he could work with her, and then went on to reiterate his demand for about $5 billion and said he would not be backing down on that issue. david willis for us there. late in the programme we will hear from a supporter of president trump about what he thinks is likely to happen. —— later. syria isjust "sand and death" — according to donald trump as he defended his decision to withdraw american troops from the conflict there. yet the kurdish militia and arab tribes, known as the syrian democratic forces, battling the islamic state group in syria, warn this could result in disaster. they say it would allow the resurgence of a largely defeated is. islamic state is clinging on near the town of hajin in the east of syria from where our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville has secured this exclusive footage of the recent fighting.

his report contains distressing images. this is an empire in ruin, so—called islamic state is hanging by a thread. these are kurdish and arab fighters taking on the last of is. in hajin, their enemy is not giving up easily. 0ne truck bomb detonates. the men run outside. president trump says he will withdraw 2000 american troops from syria. these men will be left to fight alone. at the end of the street, on the building to the right, the is flag still flies. a message comes in over their radios — another truck bomb is heading their way.

the bad weather means american aircraft can't help them. these men are poorly equipped, with little armour. they've relied on us air power at almost every step of their advance. the flash of a rocket—propelled grenade and the fighting kicks off again. where do we go? surrounded, the sdf men have nowhere to go but they hold their ground. the battle ends with success for kurdish—led forces. hajin town is theirs, and they have stopped the truck bombs in their tracks. here, the body of the driver lies in the mud. he was just a boy, barely 12 years old. the more desperate is become, the more they rely on child fighters. here we see another attack on hajin — from their perspective. an is commander orders his reluctant

fighters to advance. there are as many as 8,000 is fighters still left in syria — a small army. with tens of thousands of supporters at the rear. this might look chaotic, but they are still a vicious and formidable force. the other brothers have left. "the weather is clearing up," they shout. "we will be exposed to air attacks pretty soon." so they retreat, leaving the commander behind. this footage was recovered from his dead body. the power of american strikes

can't be underestimated. without us support, the islamic state won't be defeated. is, which was facing a last battle for its territory, now simply has to wait for the americans to go home. 0ut there, the islamic state's leadership likely remains, including abu bakr al—baghdadi. and in the ruins, foreign hostages may still be alive and in is captivity, including at least one british man, according to western government and local sources. years of fighting and thousands of lives have been given to this war, and still it hasn't been won yet. quentin sommerville, bbc news. shares in the technology giant, apple, fell by almost 10% today, wiping nearly $75 billion from its market value. it came after the company announced

it was expecting lower earnings than previously forecast. the firm blamed a slowdown in sales in china — as well as the trade war between beijing and the united states. but some analysts say it's also because consumers are increasingly reluctant to upgrade their phones. our business editor simonjack reports. now, let's talk about iphone... it's arguably the most successful consumer product of all time. the launch of a new model is a global event and, so, therefore, is a surprise warning from the chief executive that sales are not on target. the value of the company slumped over $60 billion in seconds. this once trillion—dollar company has now lost a third of its value since october. so, what's going wrong? we've all got smartphones now and they all work pretty well and there are a tonne of other smartphone makers out there. just a lot of competition. apple's high prices, very ambitious expectations for consumers to continue

buying the next new, big, shiny thing are not quite being met. it's not just about these, the iphones. embedded in the apple boss's surprise message was a warning that could have implications for big companies, big employers all over the world, including here in the uk. the warning is this — everything is not going exactly according to plan in the world's second biggest economy, china. this manufacturing and exporting superpower had hoped to shift more towards an economy in which the spending of increasingly affluent chinese consumers would drive growth. if that plan bore fruit, then it would be great news for producers of consumer goods everywhere in the world, including in the uk, in the us and everywhere else. apple, jaguar, all kinds of other consumer goods and so on, would find an export market in china. unfortunately, in the last year or so, they have backtracked, they've gone into reverse on that process of trying to unlock the chinese consumer.

china is the biggest car market in the world now. in november, sales fell 20%, and jaguar land rover has already said a slump in china was a major reason for cutting over 1,000 jobs last year. this is all playing out against a us—china trade war, which is encouraging many chinese consumers to buy chinese products. i think the lesson we've learned already from the trade war that's happened so far is that nobody wins a trade war. the idea is to inflict more damage on your opponent than they can on you, and in this respect obviously apple's news tells us something about how american companies are being hurt by this conflict. china is not apple's only problem — convincing consumers they need ever flashier phones is right up there. but it won't be the last company to discover china is a tougher market than many hoped. simon jack, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news,

still to come: with the democrats once again in charge of the house of representatives can congress find a way to end the us government shutdown the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief. after half a century delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa tomorrow, in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas that oilfrom the broken tanker, erika, would head out to sea.

it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. very good to have you with us bbc news. when mine —— won that main story for us this hour. nancy pelosi has been chosen as the speaker of the democratic party—controlled us house of representatives, marking new era of divided government under president trump. let's stay with our main story now. daniel l davis is a senior fellow at the conservative think tank defence priorities, and a former lieutenant—colonel in the us army. hejoins me now from washington. good to talk to again. we should

stress that this bill from the house of representatives has gone through. but an attempt by the democrats to end the government shut down with no funding for the border wall, it is assumed it will not get through the senate and will be vetoed by the president anyway. we talk about this largely, i suppose, president anyway. we talk about this largely, isuppose, as president anyway. we talk about this largely, i suppose, as a political story, who gains and losers, yet for hundreds of thousands of people this just means no pay and suffering, doesn't it? yes, it does. that is one of the things i have been most outspoken about in recent weeks. this is going to harm literally hundreds of thousands of american men and women who were serving their country and the government doing the bestjob country and the government doing the best job they country and the government doing the bestjob they can and now they are required to, many of them, though without pay for a long time, many of them are working without pay, yet hundreds of thousands of additional different categories of workers will simply lose their money. they would get it back pay later on. i think thatis get it back pay later on. i think that is just a travesty. get it back pay later on. i think that isjust a travesty. he made no secret of the fact that you worry

donald trump supporter. tell us how this looks from your perspective. for many people it looks like the president is digging in his heels on something that you could say it is a campaign promise, but he was elected on the campaign promise that mexico would pay for this wall, not us taxpayers. i am primarily pro- america, not specifically one party oi’ america, not specifically one party or president. i am for whoever is doing a good job for the united states. president trump has made some good decisions on foreign policy issues that i have not hesitated to support an indoors. in this case, neither the republicans oi’ this case, neither the republicans or the democrats whether it is chuck schumer or donald trump right now are taking into account the needs of the people. i assure you this situation could be resolved people thinking rationally and saying let us thinking rationally and saying let us get this form a or the other, then political compromises can be made. if common people were met in a room, even if they did not agree, they could come up with some kind of solution that would keep the country functioning while they work out the

issues on the border wall. but the fa ct of issues on the border wall. but the fact of the matter is, at nancy pelosi's comments, which aired a few minutes ago, don't quite stand up to think she has said previously. democrats have supported for over a decade, since 2006, the democrats and republicans have both supported over 700 miles of border fencing and republicans have both supported over 700 miles of borderfencing or border walls. it has not been a contentious issue until now because president trump aiditya signature issue and now the democrats are wanting him to not succeed and now they are calling the same thing they supported an immoral fence. they are calling the same thing they supported an immoralfence. it can't work out that way. both sides are trying to go against each other and the american people keep losing. anyone speaking for the democrats would have something to say about that. we must lebedeva the moment. thank you. thank you very much. -- leave it there. a major cleanup is under way on islands off the north coast of the netherlands, where a cargo ship has shed 270 containers into the sea, spilling furniture, tvs, toys and toxic chemicals. kim gittleson has the story. this is exactly what you don't want

to see if you are the owner of msc zoe, one of the world's largest cargo vessels. 0n zoe, one of the world's largest cargo vessels. on tuesday night, rough waters caused hundreds of containers to tip like domino's into the north sea. although the cargo fell overboard near the german island of borgen, the tide carried many of the containers south—west of the dutch island of terschelling, where they have spilt their contents are sure, containing everything from flatscreen tvs tissues, to most troubling of all, potentially dangerous chemicals. translation: what worries us most is plastic and styrofoa m. what worries us most is plastic and styrofoam. star fm crumbles, so we are afraid it will bother us for some time. —— styrofoam. it mixes with the sand and gets under the sand,it with the sand and gets under the sand, it gets into the environment. it might be impossible to get rid of. now it is a race to clean up the mess, with hundreds of volunteers joining the effort. the company that

owns the ship has said it takes the incident very seriously, and it is looking into what happens, as well as working with authorities to contain the damage. china has landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. it's the first ever such landing — a milestone in space exploration. the probe has already sent back an image of the largest, deepest and oldest crater on the rugged, largely unexplored surface. china is racing to catch up with russia and the united states, aiming to become a major space power by 2030. 0ur science editor david shukman reports. haunting and barren, much of the surface of the moon has been well known for centuries. but this is the side we see from earth. by contrast, the far side is far more mysterious, with the deepest craters. and when nasa considered landing astronauts there back in the ‘60s,

the idea was rejected as too risky. in this image, it's easier to see how different the two sides are, and no one really knows why. so the chinese lander, now on the far side, will analyse the rocks. scientists are hoping to learn how the moon was formed, but some experts say this is more about china planting a flag. the fact that they chose to land on the far side of the moon is part of a chinese strategy to do things that haven't been done before, to garner the prestige that comes with it, because that prestige very often translates into geostrategic influence. this is one of a series of moon landings by china, and the big question amid all the national pride is, where will it lead? 0n the one hand, china is working on its own, the landing hushed up until it proved successful. no surprise, with the military dominating the space programme. 0n the other hand, one instrument on the lander is german. there is some collaboration, and the chinese say they want more of it. but we don't know if china's future missions will be more open, or whether the tendency to keep things secret will continue. i hope we do see china

become more international, more globally focused because space is too big and too ambitious to go it alone, and there's a lot of expertise. we've seen with recent missions coming from nasa and the european space agency that the most ambitious ones are the ones where they've collaborated and worked together. so where will you land? but some chinese scientists want to exploit the moon. back in 2013, this senior figure told me of plans to mine the moon for precious minerals. we'd like you to leave immediately. the last moments of apollo 17, the final american mission to the lunar surface back in 1972. at this rate, the next boots on the moon will be chinese. by golly, this time goes fast! let's get some of the day's other news. thousands of tourists and residents have reportedly fled islands off thailand's south—east coast, to escape an approaching tropical storm.

authorities have also been preparing shelters for those deciding to stay put. thailand's met office says tropical storm pabuk will bring strong winds and seven metre waves, but it is unlikely to become a typhoon. britain has deployed a royal navy ship to the channel in response to a rise in the number of migrants crossing from mainland europe in small boats. the government says nearly 540 migrants attempted such crossings last year, about half of them in the last few months. scientists are testing a new breathalyser that could revolutionise how cancer is detected and diagnosed. it's designed to find early signs of the disease in molecules in breath. early diagnosis is often crucial to saving lives, but in england almost half of all cancers are diagnosed at a late stage. one of the men behind the new breathalyser lost his wife to colon cancer, after a late diagnosis. she wasjust 36. 0ur health correspondent catherine burns reports from cambridge. i will just fit this over your face... this looks very simple,

and it is — a breath test. but it's also highly sensitive. the idea is that patients breathe into it for ten minutes or so, and then their sample will be tested for chemical signs which could show cancerous cells. the revolutionary thing about this test is that it could apply notjust to one kind of cancer — you might think it is obvious for lung cancer, but potentially for all kinds of cancer. we could not only diagnose them earlier but put patients through much more effective treatment and completely turn the survival statistics around. rebecca is one of 1500 people who will help to test it. she's got a condition which means she's got a higher chance of developing cancer, so every two years she has an endoscopy, a camera inserted down her throat. over the years i've had ten plus endoscopies and i get really worked up and anxious about it, so to have a breath test instead, it will take just 15 minutes, will be so much better and less stressful. endoscopies are invasive, like other cancer tests such as biopsies. others are simpler — scans and blood tests. but researchers hope this

breathalyser could mean many patients avoiding them in the first place. the ultimate aim would be for this test to be done in gp surgeries so people would either be told that they do have a high chance of having a specific cancer and so be referred for more tests, or hopefully be given the all clear. cancer research uk says this trial could mean getting cancer diagnosed earlier, vital to increasing survival rates. the vast majority of bladder cancer patients will survive for at least one year if they are diagnosed early. and if diagnosis comes later, at stage four, that drops to 33%. and in stomach cancer, an early diagnosis means a high chance of surviving for five years or more. but if it's not found until stage four, that falls dramatically to 5%. the trial for this breath test

is at the earliest stages, but the team behind it say that, if it works, it could potentially help diagnose other diseases too. but that's a long way off. catherine burns, bbc news. the annual counting of all the animals at london zoo is taking place. there are more than 700 different species there and last year zookeepers recorded over 19,000 animals, from tigers to squirrel monkeys and pygmy goats. the audit takes a week to complete and the information is shared with other zoos around the world to aid breeding and conservation programmes. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello there.

for most of us we're in the middle of what's been really quite a cloudy and cool run of weather. and we've got more of the same on friday as well, with only subtle changes in time for the weekend. the reason our weather's not changing a great deal at the moment is high pressure right over the uk. rain—bearing weather fronts that would bring any changes to the weather stalled out in the atlantic. for the early risers this morning, we have got cloud across most of scotland, northern ireland, northern england, north midlands, north wales, and for these areas, most areas will just stay above freezing. however, for eastern scotland, where we've got some cloud breaks and across wales, south—west england, the south—west midlands, it's here where we'll see a sharp frost. it will be a cold start to the day, temperatures below —5 in the coldest spots in wales. across the south—west we will have the best chance of breaks in the cloud. 0therwise most of the uk will be stuck under this sheet of cloud. if the clouds with you in the morning there's a good chance it will be with you all through the day. the prospects of sunny spells greatest towards southern wales, south—west england, particularly around dorset, devon, and parts southern hampshire, maybe the isle of wight and across the eastern side of scotland. temperatures are still struggling somewhat, typically around 5—7 degrees celsius, with the mildest

air in western scotland, highs of 9 degrees in stornoway. there will be little in the way change we head through friday evening and the night—time, it stays cloudy, again it willjust about stay frost free. into the weekend, we have the weather fronts around the northern side of our area of high pressure. because it's running into the high pressure it will be very weak. on saturday, again we are looking at extensive cloud across the uk, but probably some better prospects of seeing some sunshine across eastern scotland and towards east of the pennines that should break the cloud as well. the cloud will thicken for western scotland and we will probably see a little bit of light rain running in. there is a tendency on saturday for temperatures to be a degree also higher, typically around 6 or seven degrees celsius for much of the country. on sunday, our weak fronts will be pushing southwards across england and wales. again, a lot of cloud. not a great deal of rain — perhaps the odd spot. for scotland and northern ireland, sunday should be a much sunnier day. temperature—wise we're looking at highs between 7 and 9 celsius. something milder towards the south—west. we could see a fair bit of low

cloud over the hills, perhaps hill fog developing as well. it's a quiet spell of weather and it stays quiet well into next week too. that is your weather. goodbye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: the veteran democrat, nancy pelosi, is once again the third most powerful politician in the united states, effectively leader of the opposition to president trump. she has taken over as speaker of the house of representatives. her party won control of the lower chamber in november's mid—term elections. a bill from the democrats aimed at ending the partial government shutdown, caused by a row over funding mr trump's promised border wall, has passed the house but will be vetoed by the president. kurdish militia and arab tribes,

known as the syrian democratic forces, battling islamic state militants in eastern syria, have warned that their fight might be lost without the help of american air strikes. president trump had announced the withdrawal of 2,000 us troops from syria. there's renewed volatility on global stock markets after apple warned that its sales figures would be worse than expected. injapan, the nikkei index fell by more than 3.5%. eight years ago, sally challen, a mother of two, attacked and killed her husband richard with a hammer after 31 years of marriage. she was convicted of murder in 2011.