welcome to bbc news, i'm ben bland. president trump says he won't declare a national emergency for now — to end a partial government closure, caused by a dispute over funding for a wall on the mexican border. in just a few hours, the shutdown will become the longest in american history. our north america correspondent, nick bryant has more. harvest time in the fields of virginia, where farmers hit already by the trade war with beijing are now feeling the bite of the political war in washington. john boder has been receiving federal subsidies to compensate for not being able to export his soy bean crops to china, a financial lifeline during difficult times, severed because of the shutdown. guess what — i don't need a damn wall. i need my money today. i need my money to plant my crop, i need my money to pay my labourer, i need my money to continue my farming operation. federal workers have mounted protests across the country, and today was supposed to be payday. but, on social media,

employees posted payslips showing they hadn't received a single dollar. a lot of things are working out well... to break the political deadlock, this billionaire president has warned he will declare a national emergency. but he is not ready to take that extraordinary step yet. it's the easy way out. but congress should do this. this is too simple, it's too basic, and congress should do this. if they can't do it, if at some point theyjust can't do it — this is a is—minute meeting. if they can't do it, i will declare a national emergency. invoking emergency powers could end the shutdown, because it would allow congress to pass spending bills without funding for the wall, that democrats and republicans could both support. but the trump white house would be violating the norms of us government by spending the money on the barrier without congressional approval. this constitutional showdown

would inevitably be settled in the courts. but, in the meantime, federal employees could return to work. heavenly father, we thank you for this time. we pray today for your wisdom, for your answers, for your help in the time of crisis... tonight at the white house, they prayed for this norm—busting president. but, for now, he is paying reverence to more earthly powers — the checks and balances of the us constitution. thank you, pastor, very much. i appreciate it, it was beautiful. a number of people, including a nine—year—old boy, have been killed in the extreme weather across europe. heavy snow is still continuing to fall, bringing chaos to a number of the continent's alpine regions. sophia tran—thomson reports. a true winter wonderland, but across europe, the heavy snow and the dangers that come with it are taking their toll. three people were injured when this hotel at the foot of the santis mountain in eastern switzerland was almost completely engulfed by snow. local reports said the avalanche

was 300 metres wide when it came down. storms in sweden and norway have made some roads completely impassable. in fauske, a bus carrying school students blew off the road, and one area on the swedish border with norway recorded winds of almost 180 km/h. in austria, several resorts and villages have been cut off. in recent days, the military has been helping remove the snow, in some cases using helicopters to blow it off trees, to prevent them from falling on roads and railway tracks. as you can see, we have a difficult situation currently here. we have on the mountains up to five metres of snow, and in the valleys, in the bottom, up to 50 metres. five districts have declared a state of emergency in bavaria.

rail services were closed in the south and east of the state, and roads were cut off by drifts and fallen trees. the red cross and the army sent officials to help hundreds of drivers who were caught. with more snow expected to fall across europe over the weekend, the urgency to clear routes and roads has intensified, and for many across the continent, there is still a long winter ahead. you're watching bbc news. the work and pension secretary, amber rudd, has been urged to make further changes to universal credit, after four single mothers won a high court challenge of the way the benefit is calculated. the women had argued that fluctuations in their monthly pay packets, had an unfair impact on how much benefit they received. mrs rudd said the system needed to be more "compassionate. our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, reports.

it's almost as if we're made to feel bad that we are claiming this benefit — that we don't deserve this money. ten—year—old ben has spina bifida. his mum, rebecca, is his main carer, and he has a younger sister. his dad works in a local shop and is paid monthly. a design flaw with universal credit, however, makes budgeting impossible, says rebecca, who is a labour party member. sometimes he gets paid a day or two early, if his payday falls on a weekend. they then think that he's been paid twice in a month, and our universal credit is then altered, depending on that. so some months we get a really low amount, and some months we get a really high amount. the high court today ruled the assessments were flawed. four women had sued the department for work and pensions saying the it problems in universal credit had cost them money. the government say they are considering this judgement, but it could be hugely expensive.

at a hearing last year, they told the court that it could cost them hundreds of millions of pounds to solve this problem. the court's decision came on the day amber rudd set out her plans to reset the benefit, aiming for what she called a fairer, more compassionate system. a standard offer cannot work for everyone. people's work patterns, the pressures they face, their families — everyone's circumstances are unique. i want to make sure universal credit has enough flexibility to adapt to personal circumstances, particularly the needs of the most vulnerable. last month i met kevin wilmot, who owns 200 properties in hartlepool, and hates universal credit. at this moment in time, i would rather keep a house empty and pay the council tax than put somebody in who's not going pay the rent. today, amber rudd said she would help him. private landlords will soon be able to have their rent paid directly to them, rather than relying on their universal credit tenants to pass it on. i'd be over the moon

if they paid me directly. it would be a big help to start getting the rent paid direct to the landlord, because otherwise, all of us are going to end up going under. charities and campaign groups have broadly welcomed today's changes, but labour says the government hasn't done enough. they want the roll—out of the benefit to be stopped, orfor people to be paid quicker when they initially apply. the idea that someone has to wait five weeks to receive any money has been — the policy has been designed by people who assume that everyone is paid monthly. lots of people aren't paid monthly. lots of people are paid weekly. this is a government that's really out of touch with the lives of working people. universal credit has led to some people going to food banks, building up rent arrears, orfacing eviction. such obvious problems are forcing the government to spend more money rescuing theirflagship welfare change. around a thousand jobs are under threat at a ford plant in bridgend in south wales, due to restructuring plans. the car giant announced on thursday it would be

reorganising its european operations, but gave no details about possible cuts in the uk. the union, unite, said it had now been briefed by bosses, and more than half of the bridgend workforce was likely to go by 2021. sarah dickens reports. so let the other guys keep dreaming about the future. we'll be the ones building it. the future is built — that is according to ford's publicity. but what is the future for hundreds of its workers in bridgend? the company is radically changing the type of vehicles it is going to make, where it is going to make them, and how. for two years, unions have been warning of more than 1,000 job losses at bridgend by 2021. the plant makes engines forjaguar cars, but that contract ends in about a year's time, and the ford petrol ecoboost engine that it has been making in bridgend comes to an end around the same time. there are some possibilities in terms of winning future work.

i mean, ford have said that they want to pursue an electrification strategy, putting more battery and hybrid vehicles on the road. perhaps the bridgend plant could win some of that work. it's early days yet, but this is just the start of that negotiation. bridgend won the contract for the new ford engine, the dragon project, but the number of engines it is making has been halved, and fewer workers will be needed. ford is has said it is not commenting on the timing of the plan, but acknowledges that the strategy will result in job losses, and adds it is premature to speculate. the union unite says the losses will take place over two years, and that it is devastating for families and the wider community. while another union at the plant, the gmb, says it will fight for every ford job in bridgend. fears of substantialjob losses have been hanging over the plant for two years. unless the plant manages to win more contracts to make other ford engines, or work for otherfirms, it looks like those fears may be becoming a reality.

sarah dickens reporting there. as many as 4,000 civil servants are going to be moved from their usualjobs to prepare for a possible "no deal" brexit. staff at the ministry of defence and the department for education are among those who will be redeployed. they could be away from their normal posts for more than six months. andy murray has broken down in tears as he announced that he'll be retiring from tennis this year. the 31—year—old has been struggling to recoverfrom hip surgery 12 months ago and was clearly upset during a news conference ahead of next week's australian open in melbourne. the three—time grand slam winner wants to compete for a final time at wimbledon this summer — but acknowledged that the pain he is in means the australian open could be the final tournament of his career. our sports editor, dan roan, reports. one of the country's greatest sporting moments, from arguably its greatest ever sportsman. cheering.

commentator: the waiting is over. andy murray's historic wimbledon win six years ago enabled british tennis fans to dream again. but after so many triumphs, today came tears, the star becoming so emotional when discussing a chronic hip injury, it all got too much. murray managed to return. sorry. but, when asked if the australian 0pen might be his last tournament, his anguish became obvious. um... yeah, i think — i think there's a chance of that, yeah, for sure. um...yeah, there's a chance of that, for sure. because, yeah, like i said, i'm not sure. i'm not sure i'm able to play through the pain, you know, for another four orfive months. murray had been hoping

to continue his recovery from surgery a year ago, ahead of the season's first grand slam. but his inability to compete became clear when, visibly out of sorts, he cut short a practice match in melbourne, just hours later admitting the game was up. i said to my team, look, i think i can kind of get through this until wimbledon. that is where i'd like to... that's where i would like to stop, stop playing. um...but i'm also not certain i'm able to do that. if this is the end, murray can retire with his head held high. three times a grand slam winner, his first success came at the us 0pen, before his defining victory in 2013, overcoming the weight of history to end britain's 77—year wait for a men's wimbledon champion. there were two olympic gold medals,

and he even inspired a tennis nation so often associated with failure to victory in the davis cup. commentator: great britain have done it. but the former number one's battle with his body proved too much. his time as a tennis player is coming to an end. when that will be, we don't know. but i think it will be sooner rather than later, because seeing him in that frame of mind, and that — i just can't see him going on too long. murray's record all the more remarkable given the era he played in, competing with and beating three of the greatest talents to ever play the game, in roger federer, rafa nadal and novak djokovic. the pressures he's had to deal with, i'm not sure that any other athlete and — or even team have had to deal with the pressures and expectations that he was under to achieve those grand slams. it was here on centre court that andy murray became that rarest of things — a british champion at wimbledon, not once, but twice, and in doing so achieved legendary status. it has become hard to imagine

this place without him, but we now know he may never grace this court again. either way, he will be remembered for a lot more than just tennis. one of the first high—profile tennis players to employ a female coach, murray consistently campaigned for equality in the sport, something he was praised for today by one of the game's legendary figures, billiejean king, who called him a champion on and off the court. the incomparable andy murray. such was his popularity, murray the only person to win sports personality of the year three times. not bad for a boy with a dream from dunblane, who through sheer hard work and talent, went on to conquer the tennis world. inspirational, emotional, exceptional — british sport can only hope it will see his like again. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has said he won't declare a national emergency to build a wall on the border with mexico,

meaning there's no end in sight to the us government shutdown. let's stay with our top story. earlier, our washington correspondent david willis explained why the shutdown is just hours away from becoming the longest ever in us history. the president and the white house there, as you heard in nick bryant's report, ruling out declaring a national emergency — for now, at least. he said it would be too simple, too basic, and he urged congress to reconvene to thrash this out. but you know what? there is no give on either side in this dispute, and it may be that the president finds that declaring a national emergency is his only way out of this impasse. but that idea has come and then being dismissed, —— but that idea has come and then been dismissed, and then it is floated again. where are we up to with that now?

well, i think there's a feeling on part of some, particularly the president's son—in—law and senior adviser jared kushner, that it would represent presidential overreach, declaring a national emergency, that this would be seen by some even in the republican party as an abuse of power on the president's part. but equally, there are some in his own party — the south carolina senator lindsey graham, for example — who put out a statement today saying "declare a national emergency, build the wall, and reopen the government." so they are split even along republican lines, and it's very difficult to see a way out of this with no talks planned, and congress not due to reconvene until monday. and with this friday that has come and gone, when people were expecting to get paid, the real pain is being felt as a result of the shutdown. is there any sense of who is being hit hardest by all of this? well, you know what? 0rdinary people, people who live pay cheque to pay cheque, are the ones who are suffering

in this situation at the moment and today marked the first day where they went without a pay cheque since this dispute started, just four days before christmas. but we have airport screeners working without pay, air—traffic controllers, fbi agents, and some union officials are already predicting that this could have security ramifications, ben, if it lingers on. david willis their speaking to me earlier. staying in the us. —— there. a 21—year—old man will appear in court in wisconsin on monday, charged with murdering two parents in order to kidnap their 13—year—old daughter. jayme closs was discovered on thursday, three months later and 100km away, having escaped while her alleged captor was out. jane 0'brien reports. jayme closs disappeared the night her parents were shot dead at the family home in rural western wisconsin. good morning and thank you for being

here on this amazing day. at a briefing, police described how thousands of volunteers searched in vain for the 13—year—old, who suddenly appeared on thursday, almost three months later, and approached a woman to help. —— almost three months later, and approached a woman for help. this lady immediately went to a nearby house, notified that neighbour of the claim, and this neighbour called 911 and my deputies responded en masse immediately and identified jayme as the person that approached the neighbour, took control of her and possession of her and put her in safekeeping. and a short time later, one of my patrol sergeants happened to find a vehicle that matched the description that jayme gave my deputies of the suspect and pulled the vehicle over and took the suspect in custody at that time. jayme managed to give a description of a man she said had held her captive.

the suspect arrested — was arrested, and is currently being held in the barron county jail. that suspect is jake thomas patterson. he is 21 years old, from gordon, wisconsin. he is currently being held of two counts of first—degree intentional —— he is currently being held on two counts of first—degree intentional homicide for the murder of jayme's parents, and one of kidnapping. police say patterson had no previous contact with the family but that jayme was the target of the attack. they believe she was held in the town of gordon, about an hourfrom her home. they said patterson went to considerable effort to avoid detection. the investigation attracted national attention, and a reward of $50,000 was offered for information. local officers say they never gave up hope of finding jayme alive. jane 0'brien, bbc news. there've been tributes to the award—winning bbc presenter dianne 0xberry, who has died at the age of 51 after a short illness.

she worked on radio 1, alongside simon mayo and steve wright. and, for more than 20 years, she was the weather presenter for north west tonight. her colleague dave guest looks back at her life. weather fronts will be starting... weather presenters must remain cool and calm whatever is thrown at them and dianne 0xberry was the coolest of them all. this chart might be the one you like... you can see that the warm air is moving out of the way... this is the comedian, peter kay, making an unexpected appearance during one of her forecasts on the bbc‘s north west tonight programme. god love dianne 0xberry. god love her. you've made it sunshine for everybody. i have. for once. she just had such a great rapport with the public and they loved her. everywhere you went, people would say, "is di coming?" "where's di?" dianne 0xberry began her broadcasting career with steve wright on radio 1 and she was a member of simon mayo's posse on the radio 1 breakfast show. there was a spark in the studio

when she was there, you know, and i think everyone is very devastated by the fact she's gone. she switched to tv in the early ‘90s, presenting the saturday morning children's show, the 8:15 from manchester. i am joined by mark and gary from take that... but she didn't only meet the fledgling take that on the show, she also met herfuture husband, iain — a cameraman on the 8:15. shejoined north west tonight in 1994. here for the first time is dianne 0xberry. yes, i am going to be here tonight and every night this week, bringing you a detailed weather forecast... in fact, she was to become a regular face on the show for almost a quarter of a century and a welcome visitor to so many living rooms. have you had your teas? but dianne 0xberry didn't just do the weather, she was often to be found trying her hand at so many other roles, too. her warmth, energy and down—to—earth nature made viewers and listeners see dianne as a friend,

even if they had never met her. they'll miss her, but so too will those of us who did know her and considered her a friend as well as a colleague. ella kissi—debrah was just nine years old when she died after suffering a severe asthma attack — one of many. she lived right next to one of london's busiest roads, the south circular — a notorious pollution hotspot. since her death six years ago, her family have argued that it was unlawful levels of pollution that triggered her asthma. now, a ruling by the attorney—general paves the way for a fresh inquest that could see air pollution officially recorded on a death certificate for the first time. 0ur environment correspondent claire marshall reports. ella was a healthy baby but as she got older, she developed acute asthma. panting. she was rushed to hospital almost 30

times in the three years before she died. she was breathing air so polluted that it broke legal limits. her home was just 25 metres from this road, london's south circular. her mother, rosamond, walked these choked streets with her to school. she's been campaigning for illegal air pollution to be put on her daughter's death certificate and today, she's one huge step closer. in a rare move, the attorney—general has looked at ella's case and will allow an application for the inquest to be reopened. it's great and it's the right decision. and now we can get to the bottom, really, of the health impact of air pollution on young people. key to this decision was new medical evidence that linked the harmful particles and chemicals in exhaust fumes directly to ella's death. this is the kind of air pollution that ella was exposed to.

you can almost taste it. and the expert report showed that almost every time she was rushed to hospital, there had been a spike in illegal levels. and the night before she died, it had been particularly bad. human rights lawyerjocelyn cockburn has been representing the family. for me, this case gives an opportunity for those people in public office who are responsible for protecting our health and for providing clean air to be asked questions, to be held to account. air pollution in the uk has been described by a cross—party group of mps as a public health emergency. so, what were pollution levels like today? this is a monitoring device. we went out with a top expert on the streets of east london to test the air. these were the results. look at the spike when we get close to the heavy traffic. the government says it is taking concerted action, but is it enough? the movement is in

the right direction. what i'm concerned about is, it's not fast enough. i'm interested in protecting children born in london, in birmingham and manchester today, not in 10—15 years' time. so, did air pollution help to kill ella? it's now down to the high court whether or not to allow a fresh look at all the evidence. claire marshall, bbc news. everyjanuary, bbc music starts the year by picking out a new artist as one to watch. the award goes to performers who've never had a top ten hit and aims to boost the profile of new musical talent. this year, the bbc music sound of 2019 is a 23—year old rapper from london who was previously homeless as a teenager. lizo mzimba reports. meet 0ctavian... # say my name now, say my name... ..one of music's most exciting new talents...

# i got bigger. i used to be little. # my belly got full when i've got that meal. # they used to cuss, used to diss. # now they ask me how i feel. ..unaware of what i was about to tell him. 0n the sound 0f'19 list, 0ctavian, you are actually the winner. is it? yeah, that's lit, that's lit, that's lit, that's lit, that's lit, that's lit! that's lit, that's lit, that's lit! that's lit! a year ago, i was, like, i was poor, like, i had no money, so to have, like, to be nominated for, like, the bbc sound poll, like, and to win it, like... it's mad, it's mad! it's crazy, it's crazy! his sound of win means he now follows in the footsteps of previous winners like sam smith... # won't you stay with me... # hello from the outside...

..and adele. it's all a huge change from 0ctavian's teenage years, much of which he spent homeless on the streets of south london. it was very hard for me. i was very young. i didn't know where to sleep. i didn't know when my next meal was going to be. it was very hard for me, very difficult. and how has that influenced the music that you produce today? it's inspired me to make music about where i was at, like, and inspire others to kind of follow in my footsteps. his win means his music will reach a wider audience, and potentially bring him even greater success throughout 2019 and beyond. lizo mzimba, bbc news. time now for the weather. the weekend is upon us. there will be some spells

of sunshine around, like there was to end the day on friday in portsmouth. it will also briefly be feeling a little bit milder, but also increasingly windy and there will be a few showers around as well. in fact, for western parts of scotland, some persistent spells of rain. and that comes courtesy of this cold front which we can see here, already delivering some persistent rain across the western isles through the early hours of saturday morning and slowly sinking its way south and eastward, so for much of the uk, it will be a fairly cloudy day on saturday. increasingly windy, a few showers sinking their way southwards but tending to dissipate as they do but the showers will give way to a more persistent spell of rain initially across the east of northern ireland and later in the day across northern and western scotland and some of that rain just arriving into the far north of england as well. quite a windy day, particularly across scotland. that's an idea of average strengths but gusts could well touch 30 or a0 miles an hour. but for many, a milderfeeling day, temperatures into double figures, around 10 or 11 celsius. 0vernight, it's cloudy, windy, a bit damp in places with some patchy drizzle but more persistent rain pushing its way across northern scotland and then slowly sinking its way southwards to arrive perhaps into the far north

of england by dawn on sunday, but it will be a mild night — temperatures not much lower than seven or eight celsius. so here is how sunday shapes up. noticed how the isobars are really quite close together. it's an increasingly windy day. this cold front will be sliding its way southwards, tending to weaken as it does, just bringing a few showers. we'll see plenty of showers, though, piling into northern and western scotland. a much cooler feel to the day here. further south, some bright or sunny spells. increasingly windy, though, and this is an idea of average gusts through sunday afternoon — quite widely 30 or a0 miles an hour. for northern and western scotland, gusts up to 50 or 60 miles an hour and a slightly cooler feel here during sunday afternoon with some blustery showers. further south, still quite mild — ten or 11 celsius. but not for long, because as we go into next week, we start to lose the milder yellow colours — they become confined to south—western fringes and elsewhere, it turns colder again. now, on monday, the winds will slowly ease down, so lighter winds, a mixture

of variable cloud and sunny spells. but aside from one or two showers across northern scotland, it should be a dry day. but everywhere starting to feel cooler — temperatures up to between five and nine celsius. and that's how the week continues in the week ahead. the temperatures will be starting to slide away. here is an idea of our city forecast over the next five days. by the end of the week, temperatures not much higher than six or seven celsius. so, for the week ahead, it will turn colder, a return of the overnight frost and some of the showers could be wintry.