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 is dividing america. he campaigned on it. he won on it. so what's the big deal? why is everyone surprised? he is a crisis. he's a crisis to our country. spilling the beans. president trump's former lawyer and self—declared fixer 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. good morning.

it is 9:00am in singapore, 1:00am in london and 7:00pm 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 senator lindsey graham has called on the president to use his emergency powers to bypass the democrats and fund the wall. 0ur 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 is a crisis. he's a 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's 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's 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. and 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 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 vaidya nathan 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

that 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 to have actually said he was directed by donald trump to make those payments. so 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, and that's why this makes this such an important congressional hearing. rajini vadya nathan. 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 complete dismantling of isis, the isis threat, and the ongoing fight against radical islamism in all of its forms. but, as president trump has said, we're looking to our partners to do more, and in this effort we will do so, going forward, together. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, who is on a visit to britain, says 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. translation: we truly hope that no deal brexit will be avoided, and in fa ct, deal brexit will be avoided, and in fact, that is the whole wish of the whole world. japan is in total

support of the draft withdrawal agreement worked out between the eu and prime minister may, which provides for transition to ensure legal stability for businesses that have invested in this country. 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 kyaw 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. 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 are 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 is 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 has been a very complex case over

the past 7.5 weeks. what are the details? 50 he has now the past 7.5 weeks. what are the details? so he has now been arrested three times, two of which he has already been charged with. so that is for underreporting his income. the first arrest was from 2010 to 2016 and the second arrest was from 2016 and the second arrest was from 2016 to 2018. the new charge that he could face later today was for what you said, aggravated reach of trust. he is accused of shifting his private investment losses to nissan, and he is also accused of making quite a hefty payment to saudi businessman who helped him cover up those losses, as you say, when he appeared in court on tuesday he denied all the charges for underreporting his income. he said it is what is known as deferred income, so something he would have received in his retirement, and because the exact amount was not

decided, he said nissan's legal team said it was ok not to declare it. the aggravated reach of trust he says he entered what was known as foreign exchange contracts because he could only get paid in the japanese yen when he wanted to get paid in the us dollar so he was hedging the risks. but after the globalfinancial hedging the risks. but after the global financial crisis, the bank asked to increase the collateral, which he can do on his own. and so he asked nissan to take on the collateral temporarily but he and his lawyers have argued there was a written agreement that nissan would incurany written agreement that nissan would incur any losses, and therefore he is innocent, if their defence. they also said the saudi payment was a legitimate is this payment, but that is what is he —— he is expected to be charged with, after which his lawyers will probably request bail, but my sources say it is unlikely it will be approved. all right, these are very complicated transactions, and of course, the first two judges, eve i’yo ne and of course, the first two judges, everyone is looking if he will get out on bail. and this puts the whole

japanesejudicial out on bail. and this puts the whole japanese judicial system under the microscope. indeed, so in japan, if you get arrested by the special unit of the prosecutor's offers, you could be held for 48 hours, which can then be extended by ten days and then another ten days, so that becomes 22 days. this system has been criticised before, but there has never been this much international attention on the japanese system, and we have been seeing quite a lot of criticism, especially in the french media, describing the system as draconian, because mr ghosn does not have to have a lawyer present when he gets interrogated for hours. also there was a report yesterday that he had a high fever and that he couldn't even met up with his lawyers, which did receive quite a lot of sympathetic reaction in japan, because receive quite a lot of sympathetic reaction injapan, because it is said that there is not even a heater, and it is quite cold at this time of year, while he remains in jail. well, thejustice time of year, while he remains in jail. well, the justice system is being implemented to the max for carlos ghosn. brutal winter weather is set to continue for parts of central

and eastern europe, where severe storms have already taken a toll. at least 14 people have been killed and avalanche warnings remain at their highest levels in some areas. there was one dramatic mountaintop 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 is 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 is a constant struggle to keep paths and roads clear. austrians are used to the snow, but the sheer amount of it that has 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 is 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. this is newsday on the bbc.

he 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. president trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, will testify to congress next month. he's already been sentenced to three years in prison for crimes including the violation of 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 1st 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, 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 the australian foreign minister speaking about hakeem's case. i also appreciate the opportunity that both the deputy prime minister and the foreign minister gave me to raise concerns about the detention of and 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. that red flag notice was an abuse ofthe interpol system, interpol has removed it, however, bahrain is still submitting an extradition request and the thais are honouring when it is clear he should never have been arrested and he should not be in a bangkokjail and we think his case is equally as deserving as rahaf‘s and it's important the thai authorities are pressured in the same way they listened for the public campaign of support around rahaf‘s case and we are hoping to capitalise on that momentum and that thai authorities will consider the risk of torture if hakeem is returned to bahrain. now, he always denies the charges against him for the alleged vandalism. in terms of how he's coping in captivity, how is he doing now?

well, he's trying to put on a brave face but he says that he feels really broken inside, he's terrified of being sent back to bahrain, he's sitting in a bangkok prison, he has to share it with 50 other prisoners, he said there's not enough room ever to turn over at night time, so his conditions in prison are not very good. he doesn't have any access to speak to his wife, he's not allowed to make or receive phone calls.. 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 fayulu, says he will mount a legal challenge to the result. mr fayulu told our africa editor fergal keane he was concerned about violence in the coming days but that he would follow the proper legal appeal process. it is composed of people. we want to

give not any chants to him and his tea m give not any chants to him and his team at all right, they didn't follow the law. we want to do all we can do to have clear result. you prepared to call on your supporters not to demonstrate? collect it is not to demonstrate? collect it is not my duty. --is not magic. give its power. that my duty. we are not telling them what to do. i would like to see the congolese continued to ask for the truth. the truth from the ballot. di worry about the

violence in the days and weeks coming? ——do you worry. violence in the days and weeks coming? --do you worry. yes. i worry. if they continue to act as he is acting now. if they continue to dictate what the electoral commission has to do. the figure they gave yesterday, they have been imposed by their team. 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's run by a small homeless community that live by the tracks. each trolley carries around eight passengers. joel has been pushing trolleys for more than a decade. she earns around $10 a day. translation: at the start, it's push and run, push and run. if it's uphill and the trolley is full and you're the only one pushing, it's difficult. 0ur life here is, if you don't push, you don't eat. it costs around 2 cents to travel around 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.

the pandacan bridge is the most dangerous part of the route. if a trolley is on the bridge as a train approaches, pushers must move to the other side as quickly as possible. the alternative is a 30—metre drop to the river below. horn blares translation: it feels disconcerting and scary when a train passes by. we don't know if we are shaking because of how loud the horns are or the rumble of the wheels. last month, a train driver kept blowing his horn, 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 a lack of law enforcement in the area, there is very little they can do. our drivers are really religiously observing our speed restrictions. we are requesting the full cooperation of the riders also, not to patronise the rail skaters because it's really risky and also dangerous to the lives of everyone. lack of investment led to the decline of the country's

rail service. current president rodrigo duterte has promised to change that by spending on major rail infrastructure projects. but while a shortfall in service remains, trolley pushers will continue to plug their service. howard johnson, bbc news, manila. i hope the government does something about it for their safety. you have been watching newsday. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. hundreds of fifties style rock n rollers have gathered to catch the elvis express in sydney, at the start of their annual pilgrimage to a festival in the outback. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there.

it won't be as cold to start this morning as it has been recent mornings. it will still be chilly, temperatures close to freezing in a few spots but not the widespread frost that we've had this week. and actually with high pressure close by, it looks dry with a little bit of sunshine, but we've changed the air across the uk so behind this warm weather front on 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, that's the highest level warning, and indeed parts of norway, but across our shores, it's a generally milder air mass, if you like, during the next couple of days. which means that for most of us, it won't start quite as chilly. the fog will take a wee while to clear 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 and the fog to lift,

low cloud as well sitting on the hills courtesy of that weak weather front. there'll still be a weak front around the northern isles with drizzle here and patchy rain enters in the north and west but there will be brighter skies coming through, perhaps southern and eastern scotland, the north—east of england and temperatures in the south in particular will be 3 or 4 degrees higher than thursday. temperatures hold up through the coming night because we've got these weather fronts gauging southwards. quite substantial rain in the north and it peters off. it does hold the temperatures up above frost levels again. but the wind picks up and the wind will be a feature as we go through the weekend. the wind coming in from the west or north—west maintains relatively mild weather this time of year but there will be rain initially in the south and then showers and longer spells of rain in the north and west but very little rain coming further southwards. that brisk north—west wind becomes quite strong, particularly in the north, taking the edge of temperatures which otherwise are, as you can see,

well up from what they have been, but there could be quite a lot of rain coming in. saturday night and sunday across northern and western parts of scotland. it looks quite wet here. this low pressure accelerating across the north sea, it will just tighten those isobars and strengthen the wind. we could fairly widespread gales. quite a blustery old day. and more rain to come. again, even though the wind is blowing further south, it should blow some holes in the cloud and again temperatures at 11 or12, taking the edge offjust a little by the brisk wind. bye 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 is 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 will 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. and another story here in the uk: jaguar land rover is to cut thousands ofjobs in the uk. the company blames the slowdown in sales in china, doubts