welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: president trump calls a meeting with democrats to end the government shutdown "a total waste of time" as both sides dig in. again, we saw a temper tantrum because he couldn't get his way and hejust walked out of the meeting. i think the president made his position very clear today — that there will be no deal without a wall. in australia, police investigating dozens of suspicious packages sent to foreign embassies arrest a 48—year—old man. provisional results show the opposition leader felix tshisekedi's won the presidential election in the democratic republic of congo. look at me! how dare you! close your eyes! and, there's one clear ‘favourite‘ among the bafta nominees as awards season picks up steam. we'll take a look at the contenders. fellow.

—— hello. talks to end the us government shutdown collapsed on wednesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers in limbo. president trump called the meeting with democratic leaders a total waste of time after they again refused his demand to fund a border wall with mexico. they accused him of storming out. well, unfortunately, the presidentjust got up and walked out. he asked speaker pelosi, "will you agree to my wall?" she said no. and he just got up and said, "then we have nothing to discuss," and hejust walked out. again, we saw a temper tantrum because he couldn't get his way and hejust walked out of the meeting. but vice—president mike pence says the president won't budge. i think the president

made his position very clear today — that there will be no deal without a wall. there will be no deal without the priorities the president has put on the table. the white house drama comes a day after mr trump took his case for a wall to the american people in a prime—time televised address. many of the 800,000 federal workers who have been affected by the shutdown were watching closely. the bbc‘s nick bryant has more. washington is stuck in what seems like an unending loop of gridlock and dysfunction, just three sleeps away from breaking the record for the longest government shutdown in us history. my fellow americans, tonight i am speaking to you because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. summoning all the authority the oval office conveys, donald trump restated the case for his long—promised wall, claiming it would protect americans from murderers entering illegally from mexico. then why do wealthy politicians

build walls, fences and gates around their homes? oh, my god. nowhere was this presidential address more closely watched than in the living rooms of the 800,000 government employees who aren't being paid. this is so offensive to me as a researcher. i'm sorry. but what ashaki robinson heard from this billionaire president actually escalated what for her is a personal financial crisis. he doesn't get it and he doesn't care, and i think it's obvious — when you don't mention federal workers. we've been out of work for how many days now? 16, 17 days? didn't even mention us. it's like we don't exist! chris, did anything the president say tonight persuade you that the shutdown is the right thing to do? no, did not — at all. the widespread view in washington is that the president last night failed to shift the needle, that this was a fizzer of a speech urged upon him by aides. and it's heightened republican concerns that the trump white house

is losing this political blame game. president trump came to capitol hill to rally his party, and later on, he walked out of a meeting with democrats, claiming it was "a total waste of time" and tweeting, "bye—bye. " so, will he ultimately declare a national emergency that could allow him to totally bypass congress? nick bryant, bbc news, washington. james ecker is a nasa computer scientist who has been furloughed. paid off from work. —— laid off. hejoins me from hampton, virginia. he was furloughed, home with his daughter for three weeks. it had been three weeks at home with my daughter, hanging out and finding out if i will go back to work or not. is the impact mentally and financially? a little bit. every day

that it goes on, you get a little more stressed about how long it is going to do on? how much work is not getting done? how much science is not getting out there that we at nasa need to be doing. the president said it could go on for years. yeah, that would severely damage my confidence that this would be ending any time soon. do you feel anyway it is worth it in terms of the bigger picture, to build the wall on the southern border? i don't know, i don't know enough about it. i wish i could tell you more about that. the wall just seems like could tell you more about that. the walljust seems like the wrong thing to be using for a prolonged shut down. the wrong tool to be using to win some type of policy battle like that. the president also says, to

put it bluntly, most people are suffering because of this shutdown are democrats that wouldn't vote for him anyway. what you make of that? at the federal employee, i know that there are multiple political ideologies around the office, we all go to work, we work under one president, just like we work under the other one. we are just trying do the other one. we are just trying do thejob the other one. we are just trying do the job that the american people hired us to do. the president has said he feels for everybody laid off who are losing pay, but there will be back pay. if that true? there will be back pay as far as i understand, we will be back pay for the people who are designated as accepted, so these are the people who are currently working without pgy- who are currently working without pay. the non— accepted people who we re pay. the non— accepted people who were sent home and are not working without pay, as far as i understand, that pay is not promised to us yet.

that would be people doing what kind ofjobs, and that would be people doing what kind of jobs, and how that would be people doing what kind ofjobs, and how many people that you know of? pretty much i don't know anyone that is actually still working. everyone i know from around the centre for who i work with, we are all at home. so there could be people taking a really big financial hit. i know some people are expecting, maybe relying on refunds, tax refunds. if the irs is not working properly, they won't get those either. yeah, so recently i heard that they are attempting to make sure that refunds will go out as an emergency measure, but i don't know a lot about that. thank you very much indeed to talking up. all the best to you. absolutely. you do. thank you. let's get some of the day's other news. police in norway have confirmed that they're treating as kidnapping the disappearance of a woman who's married to one of norway's richest men.

anne—elisabeth falkevik hagen has been missing since october and police believe she was probably abducted from her home. a man has been arrested after 27 suspected migrants were discovered by police in the back of a lorry on a major motorway here in the uk. the vehicle was stopped by police near the city of stoke—on—trent. it's understood those on board have been medically assessed and transferred to immigration officials for interview. britain is ending its policy requiring women saved from forced marriages abroad from taking out a government loan to cover the cost of their rescue. the decision follows a newspaper investigation which found that some were made to pay for their food, shelter and flights back to britain. forced marriage is illegal in the uk, punishable by up to seven years in prison. now to political gridlock in the uk where members of the prime minister's own party are again adding pressure to her proposed deal. conservative lawmakers joined forces with their opponents to insist if theresa may's plan is rejected, as expected,

in a vote on tuesday, she will then have just three days to come up with another one. so, what exactly is at stake? chris morris of the bbc‘s reality check explains. so, in downing street, they're trying to figure out the numbers in the house of commons to work out whether they have any hope of getting this vote passed. but don't forget amidst all the political drama, it's the documents that have been negotiated behind closed doors that are at the heart of the debate. so, we've come into the cabinet room for a reminder of what mps are talking about and eventually voting on. but the credibility of the prime minister and her brexit plan very much at stake. first of all, the withdrawal agreement itself. this is the legally binding document that would take the uk out of the eu. it includes the financial settlement or divorce bill that the uk will pay — an estimated £39 billion. it also sets out basic rights for uk citizens elsewhere in the eu, and eu citizens here in the uk. and the terms of a transition period of at least 2! months after brexit when all the rules

would stay the same. but most controversial of all — there's the protocol on ireland and northern ireland, including the backstop plan for keeping the irish border as open as it is now under all circumstances. now, the backstop would only come into effect at the end of a post—brexit transition period if a future trade agreement to afford a hard border hasn't been achieved. the prime minister has been given assurances from the eu that the backstop would only ever be temporary, and that no—one actually wants it to come into effect. but it still exists in the treaty and there is no unilateral way for the uk to get out of it without the eu's agreement. there's also a non—binding political declaration on the future relationship between the uk and the eu, and the wording here is so vague, that it doesn't offer any guarantee of any particular outcome. so, the government's facing an uphill battle to get this vote passed, and it will probably have to ask mps to vote more than once,

maybe after getting even more reassurance from brussels. and after that, well, if the vote goes through, the withdrawal agreement then needs to be turned into uk law through new legislation. it also needs to be given the green light by the european parliament, and if all that happens in time, the uk will leave the eu on the 29th of march. but if the government is defeated, well, the default position is that the uk would still leave, but with no deal, or mps could try to come up with an alternative plan for leaving. a relationship more like norway's, for example, which is still in the single market. or we might be looking at a new prime minister, and new election or even another referendum, which could mean no brexit at all. the truth is no—one can say for sure what's likely to happen over the next three months. this street has seen its fair share of drama in the past, but nothing quite like this. chris morris doing his best to make

sense of it all. australian police have made an arrest in their investigation into dozens of suspicious packages sent to embassies and consulates across the country on wednesday. a 48—year—old man faces charges of triggering security alerts in three cities. the bbc‘s hywel griffith is in sydney and gave me more details about the accused man. he is savas avan, he lives a couple of hours north of melbourne, and that's where police arrested him overnight australian time. now, they allege that he is behind sending 38 parcels to different embassies and consulates, including the british high commission, the us embassy, also to india, to new zealand, the list goes on. in every case, we understand that there were envelopes, and inside those envelopes were little packages, and it's alleged that they contained samples of asbestos or material that looked like the best. in some cases, the word "asbestos" was written on them. now, while that isn't an immediately toxic hazardous substance, it did trigger a security alert,

in some cases, the embassies were evacuated, staff sent home for the day. and the police managed to track him down, they say, by using cctv footage. so, he was arrested and, as i say, has recently appeared in court. many questions, i guess, how. any suggestion of a motive so far? and is it confirmed it was asbestos, and whether anyone was actually at risk? so, the police have taken away the samples, they say, forforensic testing. they say of the 38 so far, they've got their hands on 29 of the packages, so there are more out there, but they say there's no greater risk to the wider public. in terms of motive, nothing said in court so far. it was explained in court that he did not have any previous convictions against his name, but there's no application for bail either, so he is still on remand until his next appearance early in march. much more to come here on bbc news.

rescued from the wrecking ball — a centuries old theatre turns over a new leaf as a bookstore in buenos aires. 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 bbc news. the latest headlines: donald trump has been accused of having a temper tantrum by the democrats after he walked out of a meeting to discuss funding for his border wall. australian police have arrested a man after dozens of suspicious packages were sent to several foreign embassies and consulates. heavy snowfall and strong winds have led to the deaths at least than 11! people across europe. 0ne village in northern greece has experienced a record low temperature of minus 23 celsius. the risk of avalanches are at the highest level in parts of the alps and norway, and forecasters are warning of more extreme weather to come. caroline rigby reports.

snow is often welcomed in the alps at this time of year, but you can get too much of a good thing. dramatic footage has emerged of a rescued in france. the pilot of this helicopter forced to carry out a daring manoeuvre in an effort to reach an injured hiker, heeding the nose of the aircraft into the mountainside, the blades brush against the snowpack. translation: it's to save time when you have extremely challenging mountain weather. the team chose to perform this in order to be as fast as possible. elsewhere in europe, the wintry weather has created some unusual scenes. this each in athens more used to sun now covered in snow. in greece, a number of people have died in freezing storms, but it is the alps, austria and southern germany which have been worst affected. icy conditions have led to

major travel disruption for german commuters, who have faced long train delays and traffic jams. commuters, who have faced long train delays and trafficjams. this village in bavaria has been com pletely village in bavaria has been completely cut off. it's nearly 900 residents relying on emergency crews to deliver supplies through the forest. avalanches are a particular concern, with many areas of the alps and norway on their highest level of alert. six schoolchildren from germany had a lucky escape in austria after four of their group became trapped ski slope. —— on a ski slope. people are doing what they can to prepare for the bad weather, but with such sustained conditions, some are struggling to cope. translation: at the moment, it isn't good. the wind is picking up again. the snow situation remained bad. we have been shovelling snow for three days now. the deepest deposit was around 3.5 metres. and

it is not only humans finding the weather challenging. rail workers in austria helped save this mountain goat after it became trapped. it is the relentless nature of this weather system over europe which has made it so dangerous, and forecasters warned that, with more snow on the way, the situation could get worse before it gets better. awards season kicked off this week with the golden globes, and now we are moving to the next round with the baftas. the favourite leads the pack, with 12 nominations. four other films grabbed seven nods each. the british academy film awards are considered a precursor for the oscars. here is our arts editor will gompertz. who did your make—up? we went for something dramatic, do you like it? you look like a badger. the favourite is a darkly comic period drama set in the 18th—century court of queen anne, who is played by olivia colman in a warts—and—all performance, alongside her two co—stars emma stone and rachel weisz. ..makesa sound, but releases no shot.

well, the favourite is clearly the favourite, but will it win? what do you think, larushka? let's start with best film. i think the favourite is odds—on favourite to win. stick your money on it now. i think period dramas always do incredibly well, especially at the baftas. i think its biggest rival will be roma, beautiful memoir of childhood from alfonso cuaron, of his time in mexico. all right, larushka — best actor? best actor — i think it's less of a competition than it is in the best actress category, for once, this year. well, rami malek won the golden globe for best actor for his transformation into freddie mercury. but i think this is christian bale's nomination to lose. i think he was just astonishing in vice. it was a total transformation as dick cheney. the vice presidency is mostly a symbolicjob. right, right. ok — best actress? embarrassment of riches this year. there are so many, i'm pleased

to say, female—driven dramas. but i think it's got to be a straight competition between the wonderful olivia colman for the favourite, surely she's got to win on home turf, but huge competition from glenn close in the wife, where she plays this apparently downtrodden wife of a nobel prize winner. so, while i was out being a drunken lush, you were seducing the luscious linnea? nothing happened. ow! ok, and finally, best supporting actress? i think the two favourite ladies are the two favourites, rachel weisz and emma stone, and i think emma stone is going to swing it. fantastic to see a film which had three female leads this year. progress? maybe. but it is also worth noting that once again there was no female representation in baftas' best director category. will gompertz, bbc news. the electoral commission in the democratic republic of congo has just given provisional results in the country's recent presidential election. and it appears to be good news for the opposition, with their candidate, felix tshisekedi, named the winner. let's cross live to the capital, kinshasa, and speak to the bbc‘s

louise dewast. this result, though, is disputed by the roman catholic church, which has considerable standing in the country. right, this is a historic moment for this country, but also for the udp yes, the party of felix tshisekedi, who was declared the winner in these provisional results announced tonight —— udps. his party has tried to seize power for decades, so this is really a big moment for them. but in recent days there had been rumours of a deal between felix tshisekedi and presidentjoseph kabila, a deal that has raised concerns among other members of the opposition, felix tshisekedi himself has acknowledged talks with the ruling party to prepare what he calls the transition of power. the question now is how

will the country react to this announcement? candidates can appeal if they wish the results. the constitutional court will have a week to deliberate on those appeals and issue a final decision later next week. and as you mentioned, the catholic church, which is very powerful in this country, more than half of the country's population are catholic, and in recent days they haveissued catholic, and in recent days they have issued a clear warning to the electoral commission to publish real results. and they have said that they will come out and reject results that they feel are fraudulent. so still a lot of reactions, we expect. still a lot of reactions, we expect. still a lot of reactions tonight and in the coming days. so louise, this could be the country's first democratic transition of power since independence from belgium back in 1960, but of course, the drc has a

terribly violent, bloody history. how serious could these disputes get, do you think? if felix tshisekedi is confirmed as the country's next president, he would be the country's first leader to ta ke be the country's first leader to take power from the ballot box since independence. so it is really a historic moment for this country. and it is also unprecedented in central africa for an outgoing president to hand over to a candidate from the opposition. so really crucial moment at the moment in central africa and in the drc. thank you so much for that. one of argentina's most important cultural landmarks is celebrating its centenary. the grand splendid opened as a theatre in 1919, but was later converted into a cinema. it has now become a book shop, and notjust any old book shop, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. from the outside, the grand splendid has a certain weary,

rundown glamour. but inside, it'sjust about the most beautiful bookshop you have ever seen. ornate sculptures, majestic frescoes on the ceiling. oh, and books — lots and lots of books. translation: this is a classical—style theatre. throughout its history, it's held a cultural significance. max glucksmann, the man who built it, was important for various forms of cultural expression — theatre, cinema, radio and music. it was a very thorough journey of culture throughout the 20th century. around a million people visit each year, locals and tourists. they come from far and wide to browse and to read, and to just admire. translation: one of the things that i thought of doing in argentina with my husband was to visit this bookshop. we're both lovers of literature,

and we know this is a temple for those who are passionate about the written word. the environment here is an inspiration. each book is like a new adventure. we read about this library on the internet, how it was formally a theatre and was converted to a library, and our guide was telling us it's the best library in the world. so i love books. in every city that we visit, we try to go to a bookstore, so we thought this was the perfect place to come to. the grand splendid — 100 years young. a philosopher once said a room without books is like a body without a soul. well, this is quite a room. much more on all the news for you at any time on the bbc website. thank you for watching. hello.

our weather prospects are still looking comparatively quiet through the next few days. if anything, our major shift will be to rather more cloudy weather. today, though, some slightly milder making a return to our shores for some, but not actually in the most traditional way that we see milder air arriving. normally it comes sweeping up from the south—west off the atlantic. at the moment, we have high pressure, and milder air will be toppling in to the north of it, behind a warmer weather front which is sinking its way south. so first thing, still very chilly with a frost across southernmost counties of england. this line of cloud here just about marks out the warm weather front. to the rear of it, quite a lot of cloud through the course of the day, butjust slightly milder weather than we saw through midweek. so top temperatres in double figures for belfast. we're going to struggle at around 6 or 7 in the likes of cardiff and london. and we will struggle throughout the day, i think, to see much in the way of sunshine.

overnight thursday into friday, that weather front slides away into the continent. plenty of cloud around, and we sit in the relatively milder air. so our map is green for first thing friday, rather than seeing that blue as we will do to the south first thing thursday. temperatures — well, they're down on the lower end of single figures, but essentially frost—free to get friday under way. another day offering us quite a lot of cloud. we have got a northerly breeze, but remember it's tipped around that area of high pressure, so instead of actually coming straight from the arctic, it's been modified by the atlantic. hence things will start to get milder, actually, as that northerly breeze drags the milder airfurther south. so, for the weekend, our temperatures making a return closer to average. it could be quite windy through the weekend, actually, as areas of low pressure try to erode this high. the isobars become increasingly tighter packed. much of the rain will fizzle out before it sinks too far south, i think, across the uk. greatest chance of any significant rain probably

and scotland, but quite cloudy on saturday. as i said, it will be a windy day as well and temperatures more typically average values for the time of year, perhaps 10—12 degrees. some brightness hopefully across eastern counties. similar picture again for saturday, the high still sitting to the south—west. this low tumbling over the top of it, bringing some rain in briefly for scotland, northern ireland, perhaps some patchy rain for northern england. if anything, perhaps sunday the slightly brighter day of the two. and again, temperatures a little more favourable than we've had in recent days — back into double figures for most of us. this is bbc news. the headlines: donald trump's described a meeting with democratic leaders aimed at ending the partial shut down of the us government as a "a total waste of time". democrats again refused to approve funding plans for a border wall with mexico. they say the president threw a temper tantrum and walked out. australian police have arrested a 48—year—old man over suspicious

packages mailed to foreign embassies and consulates. they say 38 items were sent to the missions of countries including the us, uk, and south korea. the suspect is charged with sending dangerous articles through the postal service. the contents have not been identified. opposition candidate felix tshisekedi has been declared the provisional winner of the presidential election in the democratic republic of congo. the result could lead to the country's first democratic transfer of power since independence from belgium in 1960. but vote tallies by the catholic church have put rival martin fayulu ahead.