this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: donald trump prepares to appeal directly to americans to support a mexico border wall and end the government shutdown — its impact is biting hard. if we were more appreciated, then this whole situation wouldn't exist. we wouldn't be held hostage for whatever anybody wants. mps inflict a brexit defeat on the british government, thwarting the possibility of leaving europe without a deal. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: the mystery of the missing north korean ambassador continues. now a former colleague urges jo song—gil to defect to the south. one home, four generations, and happy familes. the internet meme from china that's gone viral worldwide. good morning.

it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london, and 8pm in washington, where, in an hour's time, president trump will address the nation to make his case for why america needs to build a wall along the mexican border. watching will be hundreds of thousands of federal workers who are not being paid because the government is in partial shut down. aleem maqbool has been find out how they are managing. with washington at a stalemate, hundreds of thousands of families are suffering. racheal, an airport security officer, is one of many government workers who continue to do theirjob without pay. i feel helpless.

i go to work every day, i do the very best i can at myjob but it feels like you are not really appreciated, that federal work is not appreciated because if we were more appreciated, then this whole situation wouldn't exist and we wouldn't be held hostage for whatever anybody wants. we would be paid. there has been a government shutdown since democrats said they wouldn't agree to more than $5 billion in funding for donald trump's border war. the president all along has said he won't budge. i am proud to shut down the government for border security. donald trump isn't backing down, he says, because he cares about national security, and yet with border patrol agents and airport security workers going unpaid, one of the very things critics fear could be dangerously affected by this continued shutdown is national security. there are reports of security agents calling in sick in huge numbers and others are, of course, disgruntled at having to work without pay, with no certainty

at all about when this will all end. donald trump, though, has been ramping up the rhetoric about how dire the crisis is on the southern border, saying he is even considering declaring a national emergency. we will build the wall. he's due to give a prime—time address to the nation about it all tonight. the american people will hear from the president tonight, but we have a crisis and we have to address it, and the time has come for the democrats to come to the table and start negotiating. all racheal is hoping to hearfrom her president is that this is all over and she doesn't have to worry about next month's rent and bills. what she fears is that her own crisis continues long into the future. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. for more on this, i am joined now by the bbc‘s washington correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan. rajini, good to see you. so we are

about an hour away from donald trump taking to the stage, if you like, being aired by all the us networks. this is an unprecedented moment, isn't it? this is a direct pitch by donald trump, the president, to reach out to the american people and convince them that his continued arguments for building a wall are valid. and so in that speech we can expect to hear him in those eight minutes make the case for there being a humanitarian crisis at america's border with mexico, saying that the reason to build a wall is a national security concern. but of course, he has a job, public opinion at the moment blames him in the majority for this ongoing government shutdown, and we are looking at hundreds of thousands of workers who won't be getting their pay cheques this friday. what is your assessment, rajini, of how he is going to play this? well, as we see this at the moment, he is

not backing down. we are in stalemate here. on the other hand, you have the democrats, who are saying we will not agree to fund the wall, we will not agree to sign $5 billion to pay for it. and so this is stalemate. and donald trump is this week using his platform from the oval office today to convince people this argument is sound and then later in the week he will head to the border in texas, he will go to the border in texas, he will go to texas where he will also have a big photo opportunity and case again. so that gives us an indication, babita, that he is not backing down on his side and certainly what we are hearing from the democrats if they are not planning to either. how long is he expected to be speaking for roughly? well we are hearing the televised address will be something about eight minutes long. it seems like quite a short time, but it is quite a long time to pack in for a political speech. once he has spoken, then there will be televised rebuttal is from the democratic side

and this is very important. they have been invited to make sure that the democratic side will also get prime time airing. as you know, the issue of building a wall at america's southern border has been a very contentious one politically, not just very contentious one politically, notjust in very contentious one politically, not just in recent very contentious one politically, notjust in recent weeks, but of course throughout the 2016 collection campaign. this is a campaign pledge that donald trump is adamant to see through. now his days are behind him, but the key thing with tonight is can he shift american public opinion by making the argument that it is necessary for national security, or the democrats make their point and get through to the american public, that they are concerned that he and the white house are fuelling misinformation and not presenting the full facts about how serious the issueis the full facts about how serious the issue is with the border. yes, absolutely. that is the point of contention. rajini, thank you for taking us through. i know you will be watching it, as we will as well. you can get more analysis from rajini. you can of course watch president trump's address,

and the response from the democratic party, here on bbc news. coverage begins in less than an hour at 0200gmt. our other top stories this hour: the government has been defeated in parliament, with mps voting for an amendment designed to thwart preparations for a no—deal brexit. the amendment to the finance bill will limit spending on no—deal preparations unless authorised by parliament. here's our political correspondent alex forsyth: losing tonight's vote doesn't mean there will be no deal brexit but it's important that two reasons. first, it shows there is no majority in parliament for no deal and the second is this, tomorrow will start once again debating theresa may's brexit deal, the terms of departure she has negotiated with the eu. we know there is significant opposition to that in the prime minister has five days to persuade mps to back her deal which at the moment is looking unlikely so just as she starts the process, losing a vote in the house of commons is far from ideal, it showsjust how

much sway parliament has and it is prepared to assert its authority. also making news today: flights at london's heathrow airport, europe's busiest airport, were temporarily halted after a drone was seen flying close to the area. it comes after thousands of passengers were caught up in disruption at gatwick airport last month following reports of drone sightings. a senior politician in germany's anti—immigration party, the alternative for germany, has been beaten unconscious by three masked men. frank magnitz was attacked outside a theatre in the city of bremen. the police suspect it was politically motivated. a russian lawyer who attended a meeting at trump tower in 2016 has been charged in a separate case that us prosecutors say show evidence of her ties to the kremlin. natalya veselnitskaya has been accused of fabricating evidence while working to defend a russian company in 2013. she's currently believed to be in russia.

a man has been killed and two others are missing after a vietnamese—listed oil tanker caught fire while it was being refuelled in hong kong. 23 people were rescued from the sea, some suffering burns. fears of a potential environmental catastrophe have been dampened after no leak was detected from the vessel, which was not carrying oil at the time. and take a look at this, if you can bear it. a giant fatberg, as big as a boeing 747, has been discovered blocking a sewer in an english seaside town. made up of fat, wet wipes and grease, local authorities say it will take up to eight weeks to remove. a former north korean diplomat who defected to south korea is urging an old colleague who's gone missing in italy to defect to seoul. thae yong—ho made the suggestion

following a report that he was seeking asylum in the united states. jo song—gil, north korea's former ambassador to italy, went missing with his wife in november. mr thae said life for defectors in south korea had its difficulties, but it was a place where people could dream of a betterfuture. for more, we can spoke to the bbc‘s laura bicker who's in seoul. yes, his letter at the weekend took many by surprise, with its plea tojo song—gil to come to south korea. there is a concern among the defectors community and many i have been speaking to that, in the current climate, as north and south korea kind of pursue peace, are north korean defectors welcome? and what thae yong—ho is trying to do with his public platform is say, look,

are defectors welcome, and what kind of defection has to offer. thae yong—ho is interesting, he was a deputy british ambassador, one of the highest profile north korean defectors, and he has used that platform here in the south to try to both raise awareness of north korean issues and also raise awareness of issues for defectors here in the south. what he is doing today, in the centre of seoul, is try to get a real clear line from the ministry of unification here in seoul. are the north korean defectors welcome, and what is on offer for them when they come here? we have asked the ministry of unification and they say they are always willing to provide help and assistance for defectors who come here of their own free will. no—one that we've spoken to is aware ofjo song—gil‘s case, the north korean ambassador who has

gone missing in rome. currently, nobody knows his whereabouts, together with his wife. yeah, rico, it's an intriguing case. he was last seen at the end of november. it's thought that he asked for help from the italian authorities. since then, no—one has really seen nor heard from him. it's thought he is asking for asylum from a third country, there's speculation here in south korea that he's gone to the united states, so we are waiting to find out wherejo song—gil may be and where he surfaces. the real concern isjo song-gil will have a lot of information. he appears to have been very well—connected, so whatever country you does go to could gather that intelligence. laura bicker speaking to me earlier. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: with elections coming up across the asia—pacific region, just how democratic is the region? a new survey has good news.

also on the programme: china's viral video that's warming hearts around the world. 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 of 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 oil from the broken tanker erika would head out to sea.

it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: donald trump prepares to appeal directly to americans to support his border wall and end the government shutdown. a defeat for the british government in parliament means leaving the eu without a deal has become a lot harder. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post leads with the shocking pictures of the story we mentioned earlier of the oil tanker which caught fire

off the coast of one of hong kong's outlying islands leaving one dead and two missing. the philippine star has this picture of devotees waiting for pahalik at the quirino grandstand in manila. the tradition involves the touching or kissing of the image of the black nazarene ahead of the feast on wednesday. the retirement of wrestling legend saori yoshida is on the front page of the japan times. the japanese wrestler won gold at three straight olympics. announcing her retirement she said her success was possible because of the support of many people. and what story is sparking discussion on the line? it is all barbie doll who is heading to the silver screen. it features margot

robbie in the title role. she said she is quick to play the role and believes it will have a positive impact on children. in turkey there's a growing diplomatic row over donald trump's decision to withdraw us troops from syria. president erdogan of turkey has said it is impossible to accept or swallow comments by the us national security adviser, calling for safety guarantees for kurdish fighters in syria, after us troops pull out. mr erdogan described john bolton's demand as a serious mistake. selin girit has more from istanbul. when donald trump announced his decision to withdraw us troops from syria, ankara saw that as a green light to attack its arch enemies in syria, the kurdish ypg forces, but this is something the united states wanted to avoid. on a mission to the region, us national security adviserjohn bolton raised a new condition on the withdrawal — that turkey should agree to protect america's kurdish allies. this was not acceptable for turkey.

president erdogan said kurdish ypg should be regarded as terrorists. translation: bolton has made a serious mistake and whoever thinks like this has also made a mistake. it is not possible for us to make a compromise on this point. those who are part of the terror corridor in syria will receive the necessary lesson. there is no single difference between the pkk, the syrian kurdish ypg and daesh. syria's border with turkey remains a key flashpoint in the ongoing civil war held by different factions. turkey has threatened to conduct an operation on the territory lying east of the river euphrates, an area held by the american—backed syrian democratic forces comprising predominantly of kurds. known as the sdf, they also hold territory to the west,

around the city of manbij, and turkey wants them to move out of there too. feeling abandoned by the us and threatened by the turks, kurds started leaving the area. their leaders sought reassurances from russia and the assad regime, forcing washington to consider its withdrawal strategy and timetable. the first round of talks with ankara and washington ended abruptly, with no clear winner in sight. it seems the withdrawal could take longer than initially thought. selin girit, bbc news, istanbul. it's the year of elections across the asia—pacific region including in australia, indonesia and the philippines. but how democratic are these countries? an annual survey — released here in singapore — has found that the region has made the biggest yearly jump towards democracy, compared with any other region. but it still lags behind the north america and western europe in the economist intelligence unit's democracy index.

asia and australasia ranks fourth, the middle east and north africa region is last in the index. earlier i spoke to anwita basu, the lead south—east asia analyst for the economist intelligence unit. so it has been a couple of volatile years for the asia—pacific region, as it has been for the world as far as democracy is concerned. obviously, since 2016, actually, that democracy measured within our index has been on the decline for asia, and that is partly because of the year changes in myanmar and cambodia, which sort of went through a process of democracy and then kind of retreated back to authoritarian... but how do you measure democracy in the asia—pacific region jumping on a yearly basis compared to the likes of western europe or north america? sure, so we have five categories that we look at. there are about 60 indicators that

are quantified on a binary basis. the five categories that we look at the defined democracy, they basically involve looking at the election process, the functioning of the government, political participation, and it has been political participation that is the big story for asia, as for the world this year, sort of proving that actually, voters are not disengage in the democratic process. but are women now rising in power in these democracies? well, i think it is a mixed bag with women. of course, with many countries in asia, women have always been well represented, the philippines being one of them. japan has not moved in our ranking over the past year because there have been sort of concerted efforts to increase participation. how about country indonesia, india

and australia ? how about country indonesia, india and australia? they have major elections in 2019. , india has not performed badly as far as participation is concerned in politics. indonesia has some way to go. indonesia remain underrepresented as far as women are concerned. australia is... australia and new zealand are the two fully democratic countries categorised as full democracies within our index. a meme from china is warming hearts all over the world. it's called ‘four generations under one roof‘ — and the concept is simple, with each video beginning with a young child calling out to their mother or father, and so on, right up until the great—grandpa rents. chinese families have been sharing the videos on douyin, or tik tok — an app for creating and sharing short videos. take a look at this. earlier i spoke to

kassy cho from buzzfeed. kassy shared the original post which was featured on duoyin and it then went viral. i had seen the videos on the app and i thought they were really cute and i thought i would just share it on twitter because i blow up the way it did and people would enjoy them but i had no idea it would blow up the way it did or see such an overwhelming reaction. what have we had, what, 330,000 retweets and over1 million likes, if not a bit more than that. what is it about this meme in particular you think has really captured people? a lot of it comes down to how simple it is because it doesn't really rely on having to understand another language or another culture, because your family is a concept

that everyone around the world understands and i guess looking at other people's families can remind you of your own family and your own connections with them and it really struck a chord with a lot of people. it's that universal appeal because we are looking, we didn'tjust introduced their own parents and other generations but they also did activities and skits and sketches which are just adorable, to see them all involved. is it that really that makes people smile, do you think, which is why so many people thought, oh, we love this. i think so, it is really cute and it puts a smile on people's faces and people like wholesome and pure content and there is nothing, it's so simple and there is nothing to it, it'sjust a cute video. you might want to share it with your family and friends. it warmed my heart and made my day. in yourjob your responsibility to look out for things that go

viral, let alone have a hand in that process. what should we know about the potential of meme and what does it take to have a good one? obviously it's a case—by—case basis and a lot of it is based on a combination of factors like timing and when you share things and who shares it from when you share it. but i guess it would just be something that people can relate to or something that triggers some sort of emotional reaction was something that people want to share. it might be something funny and heartwarming or even heartbreaking that people just feel a connection to. as we have been saying, donald trump is due to address the american people in just over 30 is due to address the american people injust over 30 minutes is due to address the american people in just over 30 minutes time to make its case for building a will fall between america and mexico. has

been part of his campaign and presidency and here he is about to address the nation as to why he thinks it needs to be done. this is the scene live from the border near tijuana in mexico. and this is a symbol of what donald trump is talking about, halting of that free—flowing space for illegal immigration. we will bring you that address live here on bbc news. that is coming your way in 30 minutes from now. great to have you with us on newsday. hello there.

high tides combined with brisk winds to give a little bit of coastal flooding across some parts of eastern england on tuesday. there were some showers as well, you can see the way these speckled shower clouds were racing from north to south, blown along on those strong winds. and the winds will still be quite brisk across the east on wednesday, still quite a few isobars, white lines on the chart. further west, high pressure builds in, the winds fall lighter. but we do have a weak frontal system into the north—west. that'll bring some cloud and some patchy rain, but it will also usher in some slightly milder air. so this is how we start wednesday morning. quite windy, particularly in the east. those winds feeding some showers into eastern coasts of england. for many places, we're looking at a dry day, with some good spells of sunshine. but cloud will be thickening all the while for northern ireland and the western side of scotland, and here, we will see some patchy rain as that warm front starts to push its way in, but temperatures will start to rise. nine degrees there in stornoway. a little bit chillier from aberdeen down to glasgow, but here, we'll hold onto some brightness. northern ireland clouding over as the day wears on. and then across england and wales, many places fine with some sunshine.

temperatures of five to eight degrees but it will be quite windy, particularly in the east. that wind feeding some showers into eastern coastal areas, and also making it feel a little bit colder than those temperatures suggest. but as we go through wednesday night, you can see on the map more cloud toppling south eastwards, but also milder air with it. so a frost on thursday morning, likely to be confined to north—west england, the midlands, wales, and down towards the south—west. most other places will be starting thursday above freezing, but it will be pretty cloudy for most of us. where we have that chilly start in the south, that's where we're likely to have the best of the sunshine through the day. north—east england and north—east scotland also doing quite well for brightness and sunshine. but elsewhere, a lot of cloud, maybe the odd spot of drizzle, still quite chilly in the south, but those temperatures climbing across north—western parts of the uk. and more and more of us see that milder air spreading in as we get on into friday.

still large slabs of cloud floating around, some spells of sunshine as well, and temperature wise, we're looking at highs of eight to 10 degrees. now, as we head towards the start of the weekend, an area of low pressure is going to pass just to the north of the british isles. this frontal system bringing some outbreaks of rain in northern areas on friday night, into the first part of saturday, but that will tend to clear away, actually, leaving us with a lot of dry weather through the weekend. it will be fairly mild, fairly windy as well, and there is the chance of some rain at times in the north. i'm babita sharma with bbc news: our top story: president trump prepares to make the case for his border wall in a national television address to the american people. he's expected to call for more congressional funding for the wall to end a partial government shutdown, which is now in its third week. here in britain, a no—deal brexit could have got much less likely. the government has been

defeated in parliament, with mps voting for an amendment designed to thwart preparations for a no—deal departure. and this story is trending on bbc.com: the australian actress, margot robbie, is to play barbie in a new film about the iconic doll. it's the first time the toy‘s been brought to the big screen in what's going to be a big yearfor her. barbie turns 60 in march. that's all. stay with bbc news. more to come, of course donald trump's address here on bbc news in half—an—hour. and the top story in the uk: police say a criminal investigation has been launched to identity those responsible for flying a drone at heathrow airport.