welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories. no wall, no deal — and no pay for many government workers as president trump heads to the southern border. on day 20 of the crisis — the divide runs deep. he campaigned on it, he won on it so what's the big deal? why is there a big surprise? he is the crisis, he is a crisis to our country. also on the road, secretary of state mike pompeo tries to reassure american allies in the middle east on a visit to cairo. felix tshisekedi is declared winner of the presidential elections in the democratic republic of congo — but it's disputed and the runner—up tells the bbc he'll mount a legal challenge. at least 16 people are killed — and there's more brutal winter weather ahead for parts of central and eastern europe. a tearful andy murray tells reporters next week's australian open could be his last tournament — he says he's in too much pain after hip surgery. with the partial shutdown of the us

government about to become the longest in american history, there is no breakthrough in sight, and many government workers won't get paid on friday. president trump refuses to sign any legislation to re—open the government unless it includes more than $5 billion to fund his long—promised wall on the mexican border. he's again threatened to declare a national emergency, and today took his case to texas, speaking with some of those patrolling the border. nick bryant was there. 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, 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 everybody surprised? 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. just weeks after

president trump sparked international uproar by his surprise announcement that he was pulling us troops out of syria, the us secretary of state has been in cairo, attacking president obama's policy decisions in the middle east. mike pompeo is on a trip intended to reassure american allies — he spoke of the "dire results" of what he called barack obama's "misjudgments" and insisted the us is committed to defeating the militants of the so—called islamic state group, and to opposing iran. we will continue to assist our partners in the efforts to guard our borders, prosecute terrorists, screen travellers, assist refugees and more. but assist is the key phrase. we ask every peaceloving nation in the least to shoulder new responsibilities for defeating islamic extremism wherever we find it. this trip was in the works already when mr trump made that

announcement so i think it's more a question of mr pompeo working it in or working around it to what he had already planned and essentially, this speech that he gave was about iran, about iran being the focus of the trump administration's middle east policy, countering it, isolating it, setting up an access of sunni arabs, and israel against it but what they are pursuing or taking into account is the threat of islamist extremism so the way he handled that was to say, we are completely committed to dismantling islamic state, we are not in retreat and we never will be however we want our partners to do more and we will be withdrawing troops from syria and our partners should do more. we will continue in what sounded like counterterrorism you heard in the clip but the keyword was assist and that

language is very trumpian, the way mr trump has approached its so he worked it into his speech the way the overall framework, the way the trump administration had been able to wrest back an activist role in the middle east from president obama who had been on the retreat. it is "the wish of the whole world" that britain should avoid a no—deal brexit, according to japan's prime minister, visiting downing street for talks on thursday. meeting the british prime minister theresa may, shinzo abe said he fully supports her eu withdrawal deal, which she is struggling to get through parliament, because japan sees britain as the gateway to the european market. translation: we truly hope that no deal breaks it would 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 into this country. on a visit to athens, the german chancellor angela merkel has praised her greek counterpart alexis tsipras for leading his country out of a very difficult period. ever since the start of the country's financial crisis ten years ago, mrs merkel has been vilified in greece for insisting on tough economic policies as a condition for an international financial bailout. has praised her greek counterpart alexis tsipras anger in athens. hundreds of leftist protesters defied a ban on demonstrations and marched to the prime minister ‘s residence. they we re prime minister ‘s residence. they were dispersed in clouds of tear gas. translation: angela merkel is not welcome our country. just like all the european union policies that the greek society and in which angela merkel has played the leading

role, they are not welcome in our country either. one banner read" merkel and tsipras, partners in the people's misery." inside, those partners were trading compliments. translation: i'm happy to see the situation has changed so much, unemployment has fallen, greece has been able to complete the bailout programme. it is not the end if you will of the period of reforms but it is the beginning of a new situation. lam happy is the beginning of a new situation. i am happy and everyone here increase is happy that after this misadventure, we can now say that greece went from being part of the problem, part of the crisis in europe but has now become part of the solution. we now have the strength and willingness to move forward. greece joined the euro in 2002 and the availability of cheap borrowing terms of the economy into a massive bubble. for the next seven yea rs, a massive bubble. for the next seven years, the only way was up. but in

2009, the bubble burst, bringing hardship and misery to millions. germany took the lead in demanding major economic reforms and greek protesters delighted in portraying angela merkel as a nazi. back then, a radical lexus tsipras talked about leaving the euro. now one years on, however, greece is still in the single currency, expecting to return to the financial markets and the economy is back to its pre—2002 growth path. but austerity is still inflicting pain that won't go away. let's get some of the day's other news. nicolas maduro has been sworn in for a second term as venezuela's president, despite international criticism that his re—election was illegitimate. last year's poll was boycotted by the opposition and there were claims of vote—rigging. last week 11! countries, including the us, refused to recognise his presidency. he says his his new six—year term is a "step of peace" for the country. the high court in yangon

is to rule later on an appeal by two burmese journalists jailed for reporting on the rohingya crisis. wa lone and chaw soe oo, who work for the reuters news agency, were sentenced under the official secrets act for possession of classified documents. their defence argues they were entrapped in a police sting as they investigated the massacre of rohingya men in a brutal crackdown by the army. the case has drawn international condemnation. police in las vegas have issued a warrant for a dna sample from cristiano ronaldo as they investigate rape allegations against the juventus forward. the footballer‘s lawyer has insisted it is a "very standard request". ronaldo denies assaulting kathryn mayorga at a las vegas hotel in 2009. in the democratic republic of congo, one of africa's poorest and most unstable nations, political rivals have denounced the surprise result of the presidential election as "fraudulent" and a "coup." the catholic church, which posted thousands of election observers, has also questioned the election of felix chiss—ekaydi. —— felix tshisekedi.

there had been hopes the country might be able to celebrate its first democratic transition of power since independence in 1960. our africa editor fergal keane is in the capital kinshasa. these are the winner's people, convinced he triumphed fairly. nothing you could say will persuade them otherwise. we are really happy about the result. it's something we have been fighting for for so long, 36 years. but we avoid shedding blood, so we went peacefully and we have the power. felix tshisekedi is not a notably effective political figure and was seen as the opposition candidate least objectionable to president kabila. here at the tshisekedi headquarters, there is a mood of celebration, people singing, showering themselves with talcum powder, with water. but it's vital to remember that this mood is not universal. it's not shared across the country, or indeed this city. tshisekedi tshilombo, felix...

this was the moment the winner was declared at three in the morning. the fact that congo got this far at all is due to civil society and church pressure on president kabila. he'd clung to office two years past his allowed term. but when the winner, felix tshisekedi, appeared a short

time later, he praised president kabila as a partner, something that will infuriate those who suffered under his rule. by noon, the most influential non—state group in the country was ready to give its verdict, and the catholic church wasn't congratulating the winner. translation: the results published by the electoral commission do not correspond with the tally from our observers. the cheering of activists echoed the other side of this narrative. around 40% of congolese are catholic. the church is a powerful force. in effect, the bishops have said they don't believe these results are valid. but what options are open now to the church, to civil society and the defeated opposition? tonight, i met the man who claims he's the real winner. martin fayulu told me he's preparing a legal challenge, and significantly, refused to call on his supporters to refrain from public protest in the current volatile climate. my duty is to tell the congolese and to tell the electoral commission to give the truth, not to do anything which can bring violence. the presidency may be stripped away from him, but many believejoseph kabila will remain the real power here.

the risk is that congo will have the appearance of democracy, but too little of its true substance. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: new roles for the duchess of sussex — meghan markle is named patron of the national theatre, and three other charities. 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. very good to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump visits the border with mexico and insists on building a wall as the government shutdown over the funding argument is in its 20th day. felix tshisekedi has been declared winner of the presidential elections in the democratic republic of congo, but it's disputed and the runner—up has told the bbc he'll mount a legal challenge.

donald trump's former personal lawyer michael cohen has agreed to testify in public next month before a committee of the us house of representatives. he used to describe himself as a fixer for the president, and was sentenced to three years in prison for 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 he was "not worried" about mr cohen's testimony. more from our correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan. 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. the former world number one tennis player andy murray has said he'll retire from the sport after wimbledon this year and he may even quit before that. at an emotional press conference ahead of next week's australian open the two—time olympic champion admitted the hip problems which have plagued him for 20 months have taken their toll. at one point murray had to leave the press conference to get his emotions under control. this was his response when he was asked if next week's open could be his last tournament. um, yeah, i think there's a chance of that, yeah, for sure. yeah. there is a chance of that, for sure, because... yeah. i'm not sure, i'm not sure i'm able

to play through the pain, you know, for another four orfive months. my plan, you know, kind of the middle to the end of december during a training block, i spoke to my team and i told them, you know, i can't keep doing this. and that i needed to have an endpoint, because... playing with no idea of when this pain was going to stop. i felt like making that decision, you know, as set my team,

look, i think i can kind of get through this until wimbledon, that is where i would like to... that's where i would like to stop, stop playing. but i am also not certain i'm able to do that. andy murray clearly struggling in all kinds of ways. police investigating match fixing in tennis by an armenian criminal gang have arrested 15 people in spain. authorities say 83 people have been implicated, including 28 professional players who played in the lower level challenger and futures tours. they haven't been named but it is understood took part in last year's us open. europol says the investigation began in 2017 when the tennis integrity unit detected irregular betting patterns. heavy snow is continuing to cause widespread disruption in many parts

of central europe. at least 16 people have been killed in avalanches over the past few days, and ski resorts and mountain villages have had to be evacuated. three regions in austria have been declared catastrophe areas and in germany they've called in the army. russell trott reports. under orders to move quickly, german soldiers called into what has become a battle against the elements. in bavaria they declared a state of emergency as the snowfall brings many towns and villages to a standstill. carrying their own life—threatening risks. translation: we have many requests to help clean the roots of buildings. 13 years ago almost around the exact time 15 people died. many of them children. where one might think the road is not clearly dangerous, it could get dangerous, and you have to stay

safe. safety is the rarity in many areas, where trying to dig through five metres of snow or more is a tha nkless five metres of snow or more is a thankless task —— priority. the austrian military were out in force, not only on the highest slopes, the risk in some parts of the alps has been raised to the highest level. there have been several deaths. the latest victim make 16—year—old boy who was skiing with his family. many schools, roads, and ski resorts have had to be closed because of the heavy falls. tourism has taken a hit, too, with holidaymakers cancelling hotel bookings. and the balkans, which, like much of central and southern europe is experiencing big seasonal extreme weather. the conditions are expected to continue into the weekend and beyond. evacuations are made more difficult as falling trees blocked roads and the authorities are struggling to keep buildings and roofs clear. and

still these are kids falling. russell trott, bbc news. in the philippines, an unofficial rail car service is filling in the many gaps in manila's struggling transport network. and let's be clear exactly what "unofficial" means. it means homeless people pushing commuters along rails — rails that are still used by the philippine national railway. at least nine people died last year in accidents involving trains, but officials say they are powerless to stop the trolley pushers. this from the bbc‘s correspondent howard johnson. 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. jo 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. our 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 the gaps. howard johnson, bbc news, manila. that is a tough gig. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. hundreds of ‘50s—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.

the 1957 hit all shook up will be the theme for this year's elvis festival. street markets, parades, and of course lookalike contests are planned. these pics were shot at sydney's central railway terminal before everyone caught the elvis express to the rural town of parkes, some 357km, 222 miles, westward. tribute artists serenaded passengers on the six—hour train trip to the festival. it's expected to attract at least 26,000 people overfour days — more than doubling the town's population. there is more on that and all the news for you on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. thanks for watching. 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 mostly 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. as i say, it is largely frost—free. those temperatures are not too many degrees away from freezing so it will still be chilly, 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 and drizzle 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 during the day on thursday. temperatures hold up through the coming night because we've got these weather fronts edging southwards. quite substantial rain in the north and it peters off as it comes southwards. 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 for this time of year but there will be rain initially in the south and then showers or longer spells of rain following 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 in recent days, but there could be quite a lot of rain coming in through friday night, saturday. 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 over the coasts and hills. 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 or 12, taking the edge off just a little by the brisk wind. bye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: with the us government shutdown over funding for a border wall about to become the longest in american history, president trump has repeated his claim that only a wall on the mexican border can protect the us from illegal immigrants and crime. on a visit to southern texas, he again threatened to declare a national emergency. felix tshisekedi has been declared

winner of the presidential elections in the democratic republic of congo. the highly influential catholic church, which posted thousands of election observers, says its own tally doesn't match the official result. the runner—up, martin fayulu, called the result a scam and told the bbc he would mount a legal challenge. british tennis player andy murray, who had hip surgery a year ago, has said next week's australian open could be his last tournament. an emotional murray told reporters in australia he had had been in a lot of pain for about 20 months. the duchess of sussex has been named as the patron of the national theatre, and of three other charities,