this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: president trump travels to the mexico border to make his case for a wall — triggering a shutdown that's dividing america. he campaigned on it. he won on it. so what's the big deal? why is everyone surprised? he is the crisis. he's a crisis to our country. president trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, will testify to congress next month. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: japan's prime minister tells theresa may that the whole world wants britain to avoid leaving the eu without a deal. and risking their lives to earn a living — we meet manila's homeless trolley pushers. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday.

glad you could join us. it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london, and 6 in the evening in texas, where president trump has been visiting the us southern border. the aim was to push the case for his controversial plan to build his long—promised wall. he blamed democrats — who are refusing to authorise the billions of dollars needed for the wall — for the ongoing government shutdown in washington. and, within the last couple of hours, senator lindsay graham has called on the president to use his emergency powers to bypass the democrats and fund the wall our north america correspondent nick bryant reports. crowd chants: build the wall, build the wall! the fight over the wall has exposed the angriest faultline in us politics — immigration.

chanting: no border wall, no border wall. and a barrier intended to separate america from mexico... go back to your homes! ..is deeply dividing the united states itself. make me leave! for supporters of donald trump, awaiting his arrival at this border town in texas, it has become a do—or—die issue. he ran on it, you know? he campaigned on it, he won on it, so what's the big deal? why is there surprise? we need it, we need it now. we need it done, yes, sir. for opponents of the president, it has become a battle for the soul of america. this is a made—up crisis that the president has made. the crisis is — he's the crisis. he's the crisis to our country, to our democracy. he thinks he's a king. "make america great again" read the cap of a president in political war mode, but he created another storm by claiming untruthfully that he had never promised that mexico would make a one—off payment to fund the wall. when i say mexico is going to pay for the wall, that's what i said, mexico is going to pay. i didn't say they're going to write me a cheque for $20 billion or $10 billion.

no—one is going to write a cheque. i said they're going to pay for the wall. for the trump administration, these images of immigrant families trying to cross into america offer graphic proof of a national security crisis. but more than a third of the border has fencing already along its more vulnerable sections. migrant crossings have actually been declining for nearly 30 years. for donald trump, the wall has always been a political device as well as a physical barrier. it was a promise that helped win him the white house. it has become the defining issue of his presidency. and it is also a battle about the idea of america — what sort of country should this be? which is why both sides have so far refused to back down. visiting the border, donald trump threatened again to declare a national emergency — a move that could fund the wall by sidestepping congress, but one that would be challenged in court. this government shutdown could soon become a constitutional showdown.

nick bryant, bbc news, texas. let's stay in the united states for the some of the day's other news. donald trump's former lawyer michael cohen has agreed to testify in public before a us house of representatives committee next month. mr cohen, who used to describe himself as a fixer for the president, was sentenced to a total of three years in prison for his role in making illegal hush—money payments during the 2016 election campaign, and for lying to congress about a proposed trump tower project in russia. the president told reporters at the southern border that he was "not worried" about mr cohen's testimony. 0ur correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan, has more from washington michael cohen pleaded guilty and was sentenced for a number of offences, including campaign finance violations and lying as well. now

those campaign finance violations related to payments he made to two women who claimed that they had had affairs with donald trump, one of them was the porn star stormy daniels. now donald trump denied those affairs, but in prosecuting documents michael cohen was said that he was directed by donald trump to make those payments. so they could of course ask about that. they could of course ask about that. they could also ask about plans to build a trump tower in moscow, which michael cohen said he was working on through the election campaign. they could ask about a range of things, this is why this makes this such an important congressional hearing. rajini vaidyanathan. keeping the focus on us politics. mike pompeo, the us secretary of state, has insisted america is not withdrawing from the middle east in a major speech outlining us strategy in the region. speaking in cairo, he said the us was a force for good and that the fight against is would go on, despite president trump's announcement of a troop withdrawal from syria. president trump has made the

decision to bring our troops home from syria. we always do and now is the time. but this isn't a change of mission, we remain committed to the com plete mission, we remain committed to the complete dismantling of isis and the ices threats and the ongoing fight against radical islam is in all of its forms —— isis threat. as president trump, we are looking to oui’ president trump, we are looking to our partners to do more, and in this effort we will do so, going forward, to gather. —— together. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, who's on a visit to britain, has said that the "whole world" wants the uk to avoid a no—deal brexit. during a meeting with prime minister theresa may, mr abe said he fully supports her eu withdrawal deal, because japan sees britain as the gateway to the european market. the high court in yangon is due to rule later on an appeal by two burmese journalists jailed for reporting on the rohingya crisis. wa lone and chaw soe 0o, who work for reuters, were sentenced under the official secrets act for possession of classified documents. their defence argued they were entrapped in a police sting after investigating

the massacre of rohingya men during the army's brutal crackdown. the socialist leader nicolas maduro has been sworn in for a second time as the president of venezuela despite calls for him to step down. he said he had been democratically—elected and accused the united states of leading an economic war against his government. many countries in the americas, as well as the us and the eu, say they won't recognise mr maduro's second term as president. the opposition leader felix tshisekedi, has been declared the surprise winner of the presidential election in the democratic republic of congo. but his rival, martin fayu—lu, has told the bbc that he will mount a legal challenge to the result. the dispute has dented hopes that the country might celebrate its first ever democratic transition of power, since gaining independence in 1960. police in las vegas have issued a warrant demanding a dna sample

from the portuguese football star cristiano ronaldo as part of their investigation into rape allegations made against him. ronaldo denies assaulting kathryn mayorga at a las vegas hotel in 2009. us media reports say police have found someone else's dna, on a dress belonging to ms mayorga. the duchess of sussex has been made patron of the national theatre, as well as the association of commonwealth organisations. she will also be supporting a british women's charity and the mayhew animal charity as patron. they're all causes she has had a long interest in. the former nissan chairman carlos ghosn — who is facing financial misconduct allegations — is not expected to be released from detention in tokyo, although the maximum period he can be held for questioning

expires on friday. ghosn, who appeared in court on tuesday, denies wrongdoing and says he's being "unfairly detained". prosecutors are now expected to press a formal charge over allegations of aggravated breach of trust, meaning he will likely stay in pre—trial detention. with me is mariko 0i. it's becoming a very complex issue. talk us through the details. let me break it down. he has now been arrested three times. two of which he has already been formally charged with, that is for underreporting his income, firstly from 2010— 2015, and the second arrest was 2016— 2018. the total amount he has allegedly misreported was $80 million. it has already been charged about. what he is facing today, possibly, if the

charges of aggravated breach of trust, as you mentioned, and that is way more serious. trust, as you mentioned, and that is way more serious. he is accused of shifting his private investment losses two to and he is accused of making quite a hefty payment to a saudi businessman who helped cover up saudi businessman who helped cover up those losses. he denied all the charges when he appeared in court on tuesday. he called it deferred income, something he would have received in his retirement. because the exact amount was not decided, he said, nissan's legal team, said it was a caper him not to declare it. the aggravated breach of trust he said that he entered into this because he wanted to be paid in the us dollar but he was only allowed to be paid in the japanese yen. it was time to hedge the risks. after the globalfinancial time to hedge the risks. after the global financial crisis the bank asked for more collateral, he could not do it on his own, so he transferred that collateral to nissan. he and his lawyers argue that there was a written agreement that there was a written agreement that nissan should incur no losses. that is their defence. also about

the saudi payment, they say it is a legitimate business payment. that is what is expected to be charged with later today before his detention expires. after which his lawyers can request for bail, but my source as it is highly unlikely it will get approved because of the seriousness of these allegations. it has become really very complicated. 0n the other hand, his lawyers are seeking bailfor him, but it looks like he may not get it. this puts the japanesejudicial may not get it. this puts the japanese judicial system in the spotlight. indeed. injapan if japanese judicial system in the spotlight. indeed. in japan if you get arrested by special unit, the prosecutors office, you can get held ball 48 hours, which can then get extended by ten days and then another ten days, so that is 22 days in total. if you got arrested by police it gives them an extra 2a hours, so that becomes 23 days. this system has been criticised before, but nowhere near this much international attention has been

paid on japan's judicial system. you have seen quite a bit of foreign media, especially the french media, criticising the japanese system as draconian because he has no lawyer present when he gets interrogated for hours. yesterday there was a report that he had a high fever and could not be interrogated or meet with his lawyers. so that received quite a bit of sympathetic reaction injapan, quite a bit of sympathetic reaction in japan, because it quite a bit of sympathetic reaction injapan, because it is said there is no heater and it is quite cold at this time of year injapan. is no heater and it is quite cold at this time of year in japan. the drama continues. thank you so much for that update, my collie, mariko oi. -- for that update, my collie, mariko 0i. —— colleague. brutal winter weather is set to continue for parts of central and eastern europe where severe storms have already taken a toll. at least 1a people have been killed and avalanche warnings remain at their highest levels in some areas. there was one dramatic mountain—top rescue by helicopter. 0ur correspondent, bethany bell, reports from the foothills of the austrian alps. winter has central and eastern europe in its grip. for days now, much of the region has been covered in a thick blanket of snow. and more is on the way.

in turkey, roads have been blocked and ferry services cancelled. in greece, temperatures have dropped to —23 degrees. the snow has even reached south—eastern italy, where some schools have been closed. but it's the alps which have seen some of the greatest disruption and loss of life. there have been some spectacular rescues. this helicopter pilot, near chamonix in france, couldn't land as he tried to save an injured climber, so he stuck the nose of his aircraft into a snow drift in order to let the rescue team land. translation: it'sjust to gain time when we have rapidly changing conditions on the mountain. clouds can come down at any minute, so we choose to do this to deploy

as quickly as we can. it's something we train for, not in such spectacular conditions, but we do practise. in austria, some ski resorts and mountain villages have had to be evacuated. and it's a constant struggle to keep paths and roads clear. austrians are used to the snow, but the sheer amount of it that's fallen in the past few days is making life very difficult for people here in the mountains. this path was shovelled clear just a short time ago, but as you can see it's now completely white again. people are bracing themselves for more. across the region, heavy snowfalls are forecast over the next few days. the risk of avalanches is very high. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: calls for the release of a bahrani

footballer detained in thailand despite australia granting him refugee status five years ago. also on the programme: we meet the homeless people in manila risking their lives pushing trolleys along active railway lines. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage

of laws, passed by the country's new multiracial government, and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard about her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. the japanese people are in mourning this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories. president trump has visited a town on the us border with mexico to try to win support for his plans to build a wall, which have triggered a government shutdown. presidentjohn‘s former lawyer will

face court. his already been sentenced for illegal dealings regarding campaign finance laws. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the straits times leads on the ongoing trade dispute between the us and china it says that experts are optimistic of agreement on thorny issues such as intellectual property protection by the march first deadline. the international edition of the new york times reports that measures taken by the south korean government to promote economic growth have not worked. it reports that the rise in taxes and the minimum wage along with slowed growth has left small business owners disgruntled. and the south china morning post reports on the discovery of a chemical compound that helps to stave off viruses. researchers in hong kong found the compound stopped viruses including the deadly sars virus from multiplying. it raises hopes of a drug that

could work on multiple viruses. australia's foreign minister, marise payne, has returned from thailand where she's made a case to have a bahraini footballer sent back to australia. hakeem al—araibi has been held in a bangkok detention centre since last november when he travelled to thailand for his honeymoon. the 25—year—old was granted refugee status by australia in 2017, after leaving bahrain five years earlier. he's a vocal critic of the bahraini royal family and is wanted there for allegedly vandalising a police station in 2012 — claims he denies. this week, the case of saudi woman rahaf al-qunun attracted worldwide attention after she fled her family back home and barricaded herself in a bangkok hotel room. the un refugee agency has asked australia to consider granting her asylum.

here's marise payne speaking about hakeem's case. they also appreciate the opportunity that both the deputy prime minister and the foreign minister gave me to raise concerns about the detention ofan raise concerns about the detention of an potential —— possible return of an potential —— possible return of mr hakeem al—araibi to bahrain. the thai government is certainly aware of the importance of this matter to australia. elaine pearson, the australia director at human rights watch in sydney, says it's quite a complicated case. he is someone found to be a refugee in australia, he travelled on an

australian document to thailand but there was an interpol red flag notice which alerted thai authorities that he was coming. interpol has removed it however bahrain is still submitting an extradition request and the thai authorities are honouring it when it is clear he should never have been arrested and he should not be in bangkokjail arrested and he should not be in bangkok jail rethink his arrested and he should not be in bangkokjail rethink his case is equally as deserving as rahaf al-qunun‘s and it's important the thai authorities are pressured in the same way they listened for the public campaign of support around the case of rahaf al-qunun, we are hoping to capitalise on that momentum and that thai authorities will consider the risk of torture if hakeem al—araibi is returned to bahrain. he always denies the charges against him for the alleged vandalism. in terms of how he is coping in captivity, how is he doing? well, he is trying to put on a brave face but he says that he

feels really broken inside, he is terrified of being sent back to bahrain, is sitting in a bangkok prison, he has to share it with 50 other prisoners, he says there is not enough room to turn over at night time to his conditions in prison are not very good. he doesn't have any access to speak to his wife. how come the australian foreign minister has gotten so involved? well, i think australia is much more involved in this case because first, is found to be refugees was clear he has legitimate fear of persecution if he returns to bahrain to this case sends a terrible precedent. the other reason white australian authorities are involved is because there was a massive screwup when australian police informed thai authorities when this red flag was out. while interpol removed the notice it hasn't resulted in the right action so hasn't resulted in the right action so clearly there needs to be accountability from australia and how that happened but in the

meantime, the australian government is leading the charge in pushing for his return and other like—minded governments should really be pressuring thailand to return hakeem to australia. it may be a risk of persecution. that was elaine pearson from human rights watch in sydney. now, to the philippine capital manila, where an unofficial rail car service is filling in the gaps of the city's struggling transport network. a community of homeless people pushes commuters along rails, still used by the philippine national railway. last year, at least nine people died in accidents involving trains, but rail officials say they are powerless to stop the trolley pushers. the bbc‘s philippines correspondent howard johnson reports. this is manila's unofficial rail

service. it is run by small homeless community that live by the tracks. each trolley carries around eight passengers. joe has been pushing trolleys for more than a decade and she earns around $10 a day. at the start, its push and run, push and run. if it's uphill and the trolley is full and you are the only one pushing, it is difficult. if you don't push, you don't eat. because of rap ——it costs around 2 cents to travel a kilometre on these tracks and commuters like it because it's cheaper and more efficient than other forms of transport but using it does come with risks. and that's because the line is still active. around four trains pass along these tracks every hour. this bridge is the most dangerous part of the

route. the trolleys on the bridge as a train approaches, pushers must move to the other side as quickly as possible. your tentative is a 30 metre drop to the river below. translation: it feels disconcerting ends —— scary when a train passers—by. we don't know if we are shaking because of how loud the horns are all the rumble of the wheels. last month, a train driver kept blowing his worn but he hit a trolley pusher. even his heart came out of his body. the pusher died. the rail authorities say because the problem rests with the lack of law enforcement in the area there is very little they can do. our drivers are very little they can do. our drivers a re really very little they can do. our drivers are really serving our speed restrictions. we are requesting the full cooperation of the writers also not to patronise the rail skaters because it's really risky and dangerous to the lives of everyone. lack of investment led to the

decline of the country's rail service. the current president has promised to change that by spending on major rail infrastructure projects. while a shortfall in service remains, trolley pushers will continue to plug their service. my will continue to plug their service. my goodness, what a dangerous way to earn just my goodness, what a dangerous way to earnjust a my goodness, what a dangerous way to earn just a little bit of money. i've seen these trolley pushers in manila, it is very dangerous and it has to stop soon. let's hope they will find it different way to earn something to get something to eat. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. coming up, we'll have more on that story about ex—nissan boss carlos ghosn. we'll see whether he's formally indicted on a fresh charge. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. it would be as cold to

start this morning. it will still be chilling, temperatures close to freezing in a few spots but not the widespread frosts but had this week. with high—pressure close by with a little bit of sunshine, but would change gear across the uk so behind this warm weather front trim down thursday, we had the arrival of some slightly milder atlantic air. but that weather front is pushing towards the alpine regions to give more heavy snow through the day ahead. there are red warnings out for the alps, the highest level warning and parts of norway but across our shores, the generally milder ms if you like during the next couple of days. it means that the most of us, it would start quite as chile. it will take awhile to declare this morning. it is largely frost free. those temperatures are not too many degrees away from freezing so it will still be cold,

the odd spot of frost out in the countryside in the fog to lift, low cloud as well sitting on the hills courtesy of that weak weather front. around the northern isles with drizzle here and patchy rain enters when the north and west but there will be brighter skies coming through, perhaps southern and eastern scotland, the north of england and temperatures in the southin england and temperatures in the south in particular will be three or four degrees higher than thursday. temperatures hold up through the coming night because we got these weather fronts gauging southwards. quite substantial rain in the north and the peters off. it does hold the temperatures up of frost levels. the wind picture —— picks up and it will bea wind picture —— picks up and it will be a feature as we go through the weekend. the wind coming in from the west north—west maintains relatively mild weather this time of year that there will be rain initially in the south and showers and long spells of rain but very little rain coming southwards. a brisk northwest wind becomes quite strong, particularly in the north, taking the edge of

temperatures which otherwise, they could be quite a lot of rain coming in. saturday night and sunday across northern and western parts of scotland. it will just tighten those isobars and strengthen the wind. we could fairly widespread gales. quite a blustery old day. again, even though the wind is blowing further south, it should close holes in the cloud and temperatures at 11 or 12, taking the edge offjust a little by the brisk wind. goodbye for now. i'm kasia madera with bbc news. our top story: president trump has visited the united states' southern border to continue to make the case for funding a wall. he said he's prepared to use emergency powers to get the wall built if necessary. the democrats are refusing to agree to fund the wall. the impasse has led to a partial government shutdown which is now in its 20th day. japan's prime minister has said that his country offers its "total

support" to theresa may's eu withdrawal agreement. shinzo abe said that the "whole world" was hoping that the uk would not crash out of the european union without a deal. and this video is trending on bbc.com. the duchess of sussex, meghan markle, has named four charities she'll be supporting as patron. one of them is smart works, which helps vulnerable women find jobs and provides them with interview outfits. its founder described her as a natural coach. that's all. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news it's hardtalk.