a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: president trump addresses the nation, saying his controversial border wall is vital for america's security. this is a choice between right and wrong. justice and injustice. this is about whether we fulfil our sacred duty to the american citizens we serve. the democrats give their response, urging the president to re—open the federal government without delay. tonight and throughout this debate and throughout his presidency, president trump has appealed to fear, not facts, division not unity. mps inflict a brexit defeat on the british government, thwarting the possibility of leaving europe without a deal. departures at the uk's heathrow airport were temporarily suspended after a drone was reported

to have been sighted. hello. in a prime—time tv address, president trump has urged the democrats to agree to fund construction of a wall along the southern border with mexico. it was one of his big election promises, although on the campaign trail he insisted mexico would pay for it. now he wants $5.7 billion in funding from the us congress, and the political row over that has partially shut down the government, for nearly three weeks. hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been left without pay. president trump claimed it could all be solved in 45 minutes and invited congressional leaders to the white house on wednesday. he blamed the shutdown on the democrats. the border wall would very quickly pay for itself. the cost of illegal drugs exceeds

$500 billion a year. vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from congress. the wall will also be paid for indirectly by the great new trade deal we have made with mexico. senator chuck schumer, who you will be hearing from later tonight, has repeatedly supported a physical barrier in the past along with many other democrats. they changed their mind only after i was elected president. democrats in congress have refused to acknowledge the crisis. they have refused to provide our brave border agents with the tools they desperately need to protect our families and our nation. the federal government remains shut down for one reason and one reason only, because democrats will not fund border security. after the president, the response from the democrats in congress.

the speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, joined the democrats‘ senate leader chuck schumer to call on president trump to end the shutdown. we can install new technology to scan cars and drugs coming into the nation. we can hire personnel to facilitate trade and immigration at the border. we can find more immigration to detect unwonted crossings. the fact is, women and children at the border aren't a security threat. they are a humanitarian challenge, which president trump's counter—productive policies have only deepened. the fa ct policies have only deepened. the fact is, president trump must stop

holding the american people hostage. must stop manufacturing crisis, and must reopen the government. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent in washington, rajini vaidyanathan, and asked her where this leaves things now. there is nothing new from what we saw on either side tonight. so as we go forward, the shutdown continues. you had the president there delivering things, arguments for a wall but we've heard before, i heard those very same arguments at campaign rallies. he said the same thing. this time he was sitting behind the desk of the oval office, delivering them in a presidential address. he's made the same claims with fears of drugs coming over the border, fears of criminals coming over the border and that kind of thing. on the flip side as well,

you have the democrats once again saying they refuse to fund the border wall. that's something they have said consistently through this, and calling for the president to shift his position and not attach the shutdown to border security, so that the government can reopen. of course, the real question of how effective this was is if this shifts government opinion. do you know where this might end up? there are hundreds of thousands of federal employees not being paid. he said that most of the people who are not being paid are democrats. he is digging his heels in and so other democrats. if you ask anyone to guess when this shutdown might end, nobody has a clue. it hasn't reached a record of the longest government shutdown in us history, but it is dragging on. he was hoping to meet

congressional leaders tomorrow. we know that he is meeting the vice president as well and the gop leadership, the republican leadership, to discuss this. we are meeting after meeting. the president's son—in—law jared kushner was one of the people trying to negotiate a deal. nothing has changed. what will it take to change things? it might be that public opinion further down the line will pressure one side to cave in. you had the president urging people to call their members of congress, raising concerns they have on border security. on the other hand, democrats are arguing that ordinary americans are suffering across the spectrum because of the shutdown. which side it will weigh on the most could shift things, but at the moment that shutdown is still very much in place. rajini for us in washington. let's get some of the day's other news. a senior politician in germany's anti—immigration party, alternativ fur deutschland, has been beaten unconscious

by three masked men. frank magnitz was attacked outside a theatre in the city of bremen. police suspect it was politically motivated. a russian lawyer who was part of a controversial meeting at trump tower in 2016 with the us president's son and son in law has been charged in a money laundering case. natalya veselnitskaya is accused of obstructing justice by filing a misleading statement. the case was settled in 2017. a man has been killed and two others are missing in hong kong, where a vietnamese—listed oil tanker caught fire while it was being refuelled. 23 people were rescued from the sea, some suffering burns. there were fears of environmental disaster, but no leak has been detected from the vessel. it wasn't carrying oil at the time. in london, members of parliament have defeated the government and passed a vote that may make a no—deal brexit less likely. the house of commons has voted to limit the government's tax—raising powers if the uk leaves the european union without a formal agreement. the cross—party amendment was also intended to test the strength of parliamentary feeling.

ministers say the change is minor and technical, simply an inconvenience, but the prime minister has been under more pressure, as our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. will my travel be affected when we leave the eu? you might have heard this on your radio. what about documents for driving? a new government advert about brexit. will mobile roaming change? specifically, advice on what might happen if we leave without a deal. but in parliament, an increasing number of voices are saying that can't be allowed to happen, including ministers. it is essential that we should be able to continue to trade. it's why i've always been clear, representing very strongly the views of small business and large business, that no deal should not be contemplated. then tonight, a government defeat on the issue. the ayes to the right, 303. the noes to the left, 296. 20 conservative mps voted

with labour and other opposition parties to limit the government's powers in the event of no deal, having argued that must not happen. well, i have to say that no deal is a terrible deal and it would be a gross dereliction of the responsibility of members of this house to inflict a no—deal situation on our constituents. this won't block no—deal, but showed how many mps are opposed to it, and are prepared to use parliament's processes to frustrate it. there is now a serious risk we will end up crashing out of the eu with no deal in just 80 days‘ time. i'm worried that we could come to the crunch and parliament wouldn't have the powers to stop it happening. i think we have a responsibility not to just stand by. number ten has not ruled out leaving without an agreement but would much prefer to get the prime minister's

plan through parliament. part of the government's strategy has been to show it is ready to walk away, initially to try to persuade the eu to give them a good deal, now to try to convince mps that what's on offer is the best option. but this morning, senior cabinet ministers joined the chorus of warnings against no deal, including the home secretary. is no deal still an option? and the work and pensions secretary, who told colleagues history would take a dim view if they pressed on with that outcome. others, though, aren't so concerned, and think the threat of no deal has been overplayed. some saying those trying to block it are anti—brexit. i'm not concerned about no deal, because we trade with very large economies around the world on world trade terms, and we know that, at last, the government is getting going, preparing for that. and when you hear all these hysterical stories, you have to ask why. why are we going to be so stupid as to stop drugs and food and car parts coming to us?

that may be a few disruptions, but i don't see it being a disaster at all. the government says we are leaving the eu in march no matter what, but with parliament flexing its muscles, ministers may not have sole control over exactly how. for the second time in a month, a british airport has seen major disruption, because of drones. flights from london's heathrow were stopped for an hour on monday, raising fears of a repeat of the chaos at gatwick last month. heathrow is europe's busiest airport. authorities say they plan to implement the latest technology to combat any threat from drones. this from our transport correspondent tom burridge. europe's busiest airport is tonight almost back to normal after a drone sighting temporarily closed the northern runway. this flight radar website shows how atjust after 5pm this evening, all departures from the airport were suspended. some passengers were left waiting on the runway. so, we all boarded the flight and then we were told

that we wouldn't be departing until the police said it was safe. they had a police helicopter circling above and the emergency services came onto the runway to see if they could find the drone. and the door kept opening to the aeroplane, we didn't know if we were getting off or staying on. after about an hour we were told that we were good to go, so we took off. departures were suspended for less than an hour and flights continued to take off from the southern runway. unverified videos are circling on social media. we do not know if the flashing object is a drone, but a bbc cameraman who was at heathrow and works with drones is certain he saw it. i noticed way up in the sky, about 300 feet up, these lights, green and red, flashing, obviously attached to a craft that was offering still in the sky there. the traffic had slowed by that point, so it was quite safe to watch this thing, and i watched it for about a minute or so, and it was staying there up

in the sky, not moving left or right. heathrow said it suspended all take—offs as a precautionary measure and the police are investigating. on twitter, the transport secretary said the military was preparing to deploy the equipment used at gatwick at heathrow, should it prove necessary. it was just before christmas when tens of thousands of passengers were stranded at gatwick and elsewhere. all flights at the airport were suspended across two days. sussex police are still investigating and no credible arrests have been made. yesterday, the department for transport said it would increase the exclusion zone for drones around uk airports, and give the police new powers to investigate offences, part of a raft of measures. but many in aviation have been calling for action to counter the threat of drones for a long time. after the disruption at gatwick, i was told that heathrow was already

trialling some of the latest anti—drone technology, like devices which try to jam the signal drones need to operate, so the suspension of some flights here today again raises questions about how vulnerable britain's airports are. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: the fatberg the size of six double—decker buses found in a seaside town in devon. 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. weekend. whether to be wild and —— mild and relatively windy. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: donald trump has appealed directly to the american people — urging them to support his controversial southern border wall. afterwards — the democrats gave their response. they called on the president to immediately re—open the government. earlier i spoke to democratic strategist, mary anne marsh

and republican commentator ron christie. he said the president's address to the nation was sober and reflective. using the trappings of the oval office and/or the office of the presidency, he laid out in very clear terms whu he felt this was a national crisis at the border, and one of the things i thought that was most compelling was he mentioned that more people will die of drug overdoses in the united states than died in the entire vietnam war, which of course is 58,000 americans. and so, he tried to appeal to american unity, rather than appeal to a specific ideology or a party perspective, something i think the president has long not done and i think he did very effectively this evening. mary anne marsh, where do you think it leaves us? we have heard a rebuttal, or an attempted rebuttal from chuck schumer and nancy pelosi. further than that? i think it leaves us right where we were before the speech tonight. unfortunately, president trump's speech tonight, besides being full of inaccuracies and falsehoods, it really has nothing to do

with immigration, nothing to do with the wall, and everything to do with his attempts to try to hold on to his republican support. now you are starting to see republican senators who see him as a liability. already, five republican senators have come out and opposed the shutdown. you had nancy pelosi tonight outlining exactly what she is going do tomorrow. she will start to introduce a series of bills that will go into the house to reopen the government, department by department, and it is very possible tomorrow that 15 to 30 republican members of the house could support the democrats in reopening the government. if that happens, you will see senators, republican senators do the same thing, and donald trump will end up weak at the end of this week than he is tonight after the speech. ron christie, this issue of funding, the president suggested the wall is going to pay for itself

by stopping the trade in illegal drugs. nobody really believes that, do they? there are all sorts of ways for illegal drugs to come in the states. then he says it will be paid for by the new trade deal with mexico. we gather his advisers also have a plan perhaps to tax or to stop mexicans in the us from wiring money back to mexico, and insists the mexican government might pay for that, to stop that happening. none of this is going to work. it has to come from american taxpayers, if it is going to come at all, doesn't it? i have looked at the impact that this is having on my beloved home state, the billions of dollars that we spend on services for people who cross borders our illegally. there is a strong humanitarian case that can be made for people who immigrate to this country legally, so that we know who is coming, we know why they are coming, but the notion that somehow a wall is not effective, particularly looking at tijuana in san diego, the border there at mexico has proven to be very effective. so what i want to do, what i would hope all the people

in this town here would do, is listen to the border patrol, listen to the department of homeland security, not politicise this issue, and talk to the experts who know better than all of us what will take to secure the border, but the notion that somehow trump is wrong and not humane and the democrats are on the side of the angels, i think it is more of a political question then a factual one. the roman catholic church in the democratic republic of congo has promised to expose irregularities it says it's witnessed in the presidential election. the bishop's conference says it will respect the law forbidding it from publishing results, but that it can denounce what church workers and leaders have seen. the results have not yet been published. opposition politicians say the poll has been marred by fraud. the presidential candidate for the opposition coalition, martin fayulu, has demanded the electoral commission publish the results. translation: we affirm that the

election result is a nonnegotiable and under no circumstances will be congolese people or our souls accept such results. we call on the congolese to remain vigilant and to demand their choice through the ballot be respected by the independent national electoral commission. heavy storms have wrecked syrian refugee camps in the middle east. the un refugee agency estimates 50,000 people may be affected by flooding in lebanon and more are dealing with the impact of heavy rain in syria. this report from eliza philippidis. these flooded tents are home to displaced families in idlib, in syria. they have been driven from their communities by the conflict. tents have collapsed in heavy rain, some have washed away in the heavy rain. translation: look at this tent. everything that was inside it has gone, clothes, food, blankets. everything has been taken away by the water. people are looking for anything that can be salvaged

from the mud and flooding. through the winter, temperatures are low and drying up the tents will be tough. these boys living in a camp in lebanon are trying to keep theirfood dry, but it is not possible, there is too much water. people are now relying on the un refugee agency to hand out basics that have been lost or damaged in the storm. translation: today, we are trying our best to provide support and meet the refugees‘s basic needs, such as mattresses and blankets, so that refugees can at least be warm at night. across lebanon, at least 66 settlements have been heavily flooded, with 50 more completely destroyed. the un refugee agency say they have relocated around 300 people so far. eliza philippidis, bbc news.

a giant fatberg as big as a jumbo jet, or six double decker buses, has been discovered blocking a sewer in devon. made up of fat, wet wipes and grease, it was found near the sea in sidmouth. the local water company says it will take up to 8 weeks to remove, as jon kay reports. sidmouth — a regency seaside resort where queen victoria played as a child. but lurking beneath the town, a 21st—century reality. there's another layer of fat down there. a sludgy mass of wet wipes and sanitary products, glued together with tons of kitchen grease and fat. discovered last month, it has grown over christmas. it's the biggest one i've seen. it's probably about right here. charlie found the fatberg when he was inspecting the sewers with his crew. what were you saying to one another when he kept going on and on? when does it end?

when does it ever end? we took a few lights down there and we eventually saw the end of it. it is quite horrifying to see, actually. quite eerie to see that these two big lumps arejust sat there, waiting. so far they have only uncovered the tip of the fatberg. it'll be weeks before they get to the bottom. it lies beneath sidmouth‘s elegant espla nade, and is at least 64 metres. that is longer than the leaning tower of pisa laid flat, and even longer than a boeing 747. we tend to think of these being under big cities, not somewhere like sidmouth. we were surprised. we thought this was more something that you found in a bigger urban environment, but the fact is that the things that make up these fatberg, the fact that people put fat and oil and grease down their sinks or indeed flush wet wipes and other materials down the toilet, that goes on nationwide. the devon fatberg will be chopped up

like the even bigger one found under east london two years ago. work starts next month and will take eight weeks. does it smell? it probably does smell but obviously me being in the industry of two years i'm immune to that kind of smell. but as we break the fatberg up will be able to smell it because it'll give off that vapour and that gas. something to look forward to then, isn't it? it is, yes. but holiday—makers should not see or smell anything grim in the months ahead. now, most kids love being the centre of attention, so what if the focus is on one of your parents and not you? spare a thought for the son of california's new governor, gavin newsom, who stole the show at his father's inauguration speech in sacramento. a rather sleepy looking two—year—old dutch newsom wandered onto the stage much to the audience's delight, complete with his blanket and dummy.

his mother was able to coax him back to his seat — but he wasn't too keen to give up the limelight! ina in a prime—time tv address, his first from the oval office, president trump has urged the democrat to fund the construction of a wall along the border with mexico. it was one of his promises on the campaign trailand it was one of his promises on the campaign trail and insisted that mexico would pay for it. now he wa nts mexico would pay for it. now he wants 5—$.7 billion from the us congress and the political row that has erupted has partially shut down the government or three weeks. mr trump claims it could all be solved in 45 minutes and invited congressional leaders to the white house on wednesday. we will report on that as soon as we have more. 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. the latest headlines for you from bbc news: president trump has made a tv address from the oval office to press his case for a wall on the southern border between the us and mexico. it was an election campaign promise, but he insisted then that mexico would pay for it. now he wants billion of dollars from congress instead and the political row over that has partially shut down the government, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay.

after the president, a broadcast response from the democrats in congress. speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, and chuck schumer, minority leader in the senate, accused the president of malice, and urged him to re—open the government as soon as possible. mps have defeated the british government and passed a vote that might make the no—deal brexit less likely. the house of commons voted to limit the government's tax raising powers if the uk leave the eu without a formal agreement. ministers say the change is minor and technical. you are up—to—date on the headlines. time now