this is bbc world news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: the partial government shutdown is now the longest in us history, but president trump says he won't declare a national emergency. it's the easy way out. but congress should do this. this is too simple, it's too basic, and congress should do this. when the united nations made the request of us that we grant ms al-qunun asylum, we accepted. the prime minister of canada confirms his country has offered asylum to the saudi woman who'd fled to thailand in fear for her life. a teenager from wisconsin held captive since her parents were murdered in october has been found after she managed to escape. and heavy snow causes more widespread disruption across europe with some mountain villages evacuated. hello, and welcome to bbc news.

the partial government shutdown in the us has now officially entered the record books as the longest in history. the row is about whether to provide $5.7 billion in funding to build a wall along the southern border with mexico, which president trump demands, and congress refuses. as a result, hundreds of thousands of workers haven't been paid, as our north america correspondent nick bryant reports. well, the president has said he will not be declaring a national at the white house they prayed. among them, a president caught in a crisis is seemingly intractable it might take divine intervention to solve. a government shutdown that started with museums closed and rubbish piling up to national parks has now seen hundreds of thousands

of government workers go without pgy- of government workers go without pay. and following protest across the country, that ship down has now set a dubious record as the longest in american political history. —— shutdown. shane was among those marching. when she and herfamily moved to the farming community of knoxville in virginia, she was looking forward to life as a stay at home mother to her young twins. but her husband works for the government and has not been paid, leaving her to fret about how to make ends meet. it is just to fret about how to make ends meet. it isjust a to fret about how to make ends meet. it is just a time that is so unbelievable that you can work really ha rd to unbelievable that you can work really hard to get this education, and be sure that we can provide a family still, and end up wandering if we are going to be able to pay oui’ if we are going to be able to pay our bills, wondering if we are going to be able to send our kids to preschool, wondering, you know, how we are going to, just how we are going to get by. things are working

out well. president trump had threatened to declare a national emergency in order to break a political stalemate. he still might, he says, but not now. it is the easy way out. but congress should do this. this is too simple. it is too basic. and congress should do this. if they can't do it, if at some point they just can't if they can't do it, if at some point theyjust can't do it, this is a15 point theyjust can't do it, this is a 15 minute meeting, if they can't do its i will declare a national emergency. there has been no formal contact between president trump and democrat leaders since talks collapsed in the middle of this week. and with none planned, washington's winter of discontent threatens to drag on and on. and we will hear more from david willis later in the programme. canada's granted asylum to a saudi teenager who was stranded at an airport in thailand, after running away from her family.

rahaf mohammed al-qunun publicly renounced islam and feared her relatives would kill her. she's now on a plane heading to canada from bangkok, where she initially tweeted for help from her hotel room. kim gittleson has the latest. and i'm still in the room... five days ago, 18—year—old rahaf al-qunun fled saudi arabia in the hopes of being granted asylum in australia. but her plans went awry when she was detained by thai security officials for not having what they said was the appropriate visa paperwork. when she was told she would be sent back home, rahaf instead barricaded herself in a bangkok hotel room and took to social media, begging anyone who would listen to help her escape what she said would be certain death that she was sent back to herfamily. i'm not leaving my room until i see unhcr. i want asylum. the world heard her, and rights activists took up her cause, using the hashtag #savera haf to demand that the united nations

grant her refugee status. in a rare step, the un complied. however, in a twist, she was granted asylum not in australia, but in canada. the unhcr has made a request of canada that we accept ms al-qunun as a refugee, and we have accepted the un's request that we grant her asylum. that is something that we are pleased to do, because canada is a country that understands how important it is to stand up for human rights, to stand up for women's rights around the world. it is unclear why her final destination changed at the last minute. for thai authorities, her departure has led to a sense of relief, and for other middle eastern women online, inspiration. rahaf mohammed al-qunun, mark my words, is going to start a revolution in saudi arabia. go on social media now and watch the accounts of so many young saudis saying, rahaf, you have shown us that we can do this. while there are many questions

that remain unanswered, for now, she summed up herfeelings about the surprising outcome in, of course, a tweet, thanking the online army that she says saved her life. let's get some of the day's other news. the us—led coalition fighting so—called islamic state in syria, says the withdrawal of american forces from the country has begun. at this stage it's believed only equipment is being shipped out, not troops. president trump's announcement that he was to pull out us forces almost a month ago surprised many in washington and some foreign governments. a british computer hacker described by the national crime agency as perhaps the most significant cyber—criminal yet caught in the uk has beenjailed for 32 months. daniel kaye is thought to be the first person to knock an entire nation offline, after his attack on an african phone company caused the internet to crash across liberia. a prominent us congresswoman, tulsi gabbard, says she plans to be a candidate for the 2020

presidential election. ms gabbard, a democrat from hawaii, is a former vice—chair of the democratic national committee. she was the first hindu to be elected to congress in 2012 and earlier served with the us army in iraq. a 21—year—old man will appear in court in the us state of wisconsin on monday, charged with murdering two people in order to kidnap their 13—year—old daughter. jayme closs was discovered on thursday, three months later, and 100 kilometres away, having escaped while her alleged captor was out. jane 0'brien has been following the story. 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 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 on two

counts of first—degree intentional homicide for the murder ofjayme's parents, and one count 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 near 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. heavy snow is continuing to fall across large parts of europe, wreaking havoc, with roads blocked, towns cut off and schools closed. at least seven people have been killed in the past week. andy beatt reports. from scandinavia to switzerland, and the baltic to bulgaria, vast swathes of europe in the grip

of a deadly, debilitating freeze. in austria, the heaviest snowfalls in 30 years have left alpine resorts and villages stranded, up to three metres of snow bringing many to a standstill. rescuers are continuing to search for two hikers missing since saturday. in a rare break in the weather, a rescue flight reuniting a ten—year—old girl with her waiting mother, safe and smiling after being snowed in for days, telling reporters, no, she wasn't scared, and yes, she was planning to get pizza. translation: we're very happy to make these helicopter operations today. it helps a lot in hard—to—reach areas, where there's no chance to get the snow away. translation: people are quite relaxed. you have to cope with it and do the best you can. in germany, hundreds of soldiers joined emergency workers to clear roofs and roads in bavarian towns.

five districts declared a state of emergency, with schools closed and many communities cut off. further north, in saxony, helicopters were used to blow snow off trees, to stop them falling on roads and railways. but some remain blocked, while more than 100 flights have been cancelled. three people were injured when an avalanche swept through this hotel in eastern switzerland. local reports said the wall of snow was 300m wide. and storms across scandinavia have made some routes impassable. in northern norway, a bus full of students blew off the road, while winds on the swedish border approached almost 180 km/h. 1,000 miles further south, more snow and sub—zero temperatures. drivers in romania battling blizzard conditions, police rescuing some, but reportedly finding the body of one man in a car park. translation: you cannot see three metres in front of you.

right here, 200m back, you cannot see. translation: we're waiting, for the moment. we're waiting for the snowfall to stop. but there is little sign of that, with heavy snow forecast to continue across europe over the weekend. for many, there is still a long winter ahead. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: he was homeless at the age of 1a. now the rapper octavian has turned his life around. he's been chosen as the bbc‘s sound of 2019. 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 of 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 bbc news, the latest 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.

it's now entered it's 22nd day, becoming the longest ever. let's stay with that story — our washington correspondent david willis has the latest on whether the us president plans to bypass congress and declare a national emergency. well, the president has said he will not be declaring a national emergency, not now, at least. he believes congress should reconvene and talk this matter out and he said that basically, calling a national emergency would be just "too easy." he thinks this is something that should be solved by other means, and that is a view that is not shared by some in his party. today we heard from the south carolina republican senator lindsey graham, urging the president to declare a national emergency and reopen the government. conversely, there are those like his son—in—law,

jared kushner, senior adviser to the president, who argue that a national emergency, though it would be a way out of this, on the whole would be seen as presidential overreach and an abuse of power. it would almost certainly take the whole thing through the courts, and ultimately to the highest court in the land, the supreme court. meanwhile, 800,000 government workers are going without pay. there are repeated stories now of hardships on the part of some of those people, and we have airport screeners and air traffic controllers and fbi agents, currently working without pay. union officials are warning that if that continues then the security of the general public could be compromised. where does public opinion stand on this shutdown? which side is being blamed? it is very much a battle

for public opinion. president trump and the democrats are so far apart, as far apart as they were when this started, really, four days before christmas. the opinion polls would have you believe that the majority, 51%, blame president trump for the current impasse. but these figures fluctuate day by day. it does require one or the other to back down, otherwise this isjust going to go on and on. in the kenyan coastal town of kilifi, an unusually high number of children are born with a rare condition called microcephaly. it causes improper development of the brain and an abnormally small head. many local communities cast the children out — and they're often left to die. but now a school is trying to change things.

seif abdalla reports. this is leah. she is 1a years old, she was born with microcephaly, a condition which has stunted her brain from growing. she is not able to do basic tasks, and needs co nsta nt to do basic tasks, and needs constant assistance. when she was born, her parents were told they would have to give her up or move from the village. at them, they say, she is miracle child. —— but to them. translation: what we do? i ask my wife and i told her we are now pa rents my wife and i told her we are now parents and we are not going to throw the kid away. if it means leaving out —— our ancestral home to ta ke leaving out —— our ancestral home to take care of the kid somewhere else, so take care of the kid somewhere else, so be it. but our parents insisted that even if we leave home, the kid will not grow. fully and her pa rents, will not grow. fully and her parents, the special school in kilifi county has been a blessing. here she is able to be with other

children who live with microcephaly. at this school, the kids, once shunned by their communities for superstitious regions can be with other children. people believe in that. the family who have this child with microcephaly, it is like a bad open, and people think it brings calamity not just open, and people think it brings calamity notjust on the family but the whole community. at this government institution they can smile. they had a special bond and it shows their resolve to live life ina it shows their resolve to live life in a society that cast aside if they are lucky to escape death. some are sent there by their parents and some are rescued by authorities. there was one student that we rescued, tied in the forest to die there. he is now here and here is happily, he is now here and here is happily, he is improving a lot. microcephaly has been linked to the zika virus, which

in 2013 was declared a outbreak of national concern similar to the dollar. still experts are not certain what causes microcephaly and why it is so prevalent in kilifi county. why it is so prevalent in the rest of the world and the rest of cannier. it could be tetanus, but it could be nutritional deficiency, i don't think we have had adequate studies. while they wait for more research into microcephaly, liaise happy to be back with herfamily. —— leahis happy to be back with herfamily. —— leah is happy. a japanese professional footballer has signed a new contract with his team, at the age of 51. kazuyoshi miura started his career in 1986, and played for teams in brazil and europe, and won the last of his 89 caps forjapan, 19 years ago.

in 2017, at the age of 50, miura broke the longstanding record of stanley matthews to become the oldest professional to score a goal. 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 major 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 has been to meet him. meet octavian... # 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. on the sound of 19 list, octavian, you are actually the winner. is it? laughs. 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 octavian‘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. the big tech companies lavish huge amounts of money on their gigantic stands at the ces tech show. it's a chance to pitch their latest wares to electronic retailers and to show off to the competition, their freshest innovations. as the tech expo closes in las vegas, the bbc‘s dave lee took a tour of some of the biggest displays. this is a demo to show up new kind

of audio system, but what is capturing people's attention is the fa ct capturing people's attention is the fact that the whole screen here is coated with this image like a big screen. the way they are doing a right now is by using a project to strap to the ceiling, but i guess it is one idea of what we might be able to do in the car if it was to become self driving in the future. tell us what we have here. this is the new lg styler. all you do is fill the rort of —— water reservoir, it generates the steam. what does the shaking do? it drops the wrinkles out? the steam comes up from the bottom and allows the

wrinkles to be released, the steam penetrates from the inside out, opening up the garden —— garment and it helps everything go away. how many times have you had to explain why this is shaking here at ces was back way too many. you have the patience of a saint. here is a cute robot from samsung, they call it the retail boss and it is designed to intelligently know its way around location such as a strong. it can bring you your food, warn you of the plate is hot and even suggested as it. who a human to do that? —— who needs a human to do that? i guess we have found the sony stand. three, two, one, go! of all

the trends we have found here is equipment being sold specifically for video bloggers for vloggers. it is big business for companies like sony, because many of those people are using equipment that is not as big as broadcast countries like the bbc. is it for ces but it is not overfor bbc. is it for ces but it is not over for technology in 2019. it will bea over for technology in 2019. it will be a huge year and we are just getting started. our top story this hour, the partial shutdown of the us government has 110w shutdown of the us government has now become the longest in us history, with no sign of a breakthrough in the row over president trump's water wall. the us president says he will not declare a national emergency, which means that the sharp downward not end any time soon, and it has now entered its 22nd day. affecting hundreds of thousands of government workers. hello.

the weekend is upon us and 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 milder—feeling day, temperatures into double figures, around 10 or 11 celsius. overnight, it's cloudy, it's 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. notice 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 of 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. 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 partial government shutdown. it has now entered its 22nd day, becoming the longest shutdown in history. rahaf mohammed al-qunan, the 18—year—old saudi woman who fled

to thailand in fear for her life, is now on her way to canada. the canadian prime minister said his country was pleased to offer her asylum. she'd said she feared being killed if she was returned to her family in saudi arabia for having renounced islam. seven people, including a 9—year—old boy, have now been killed in the extreme weather across southern europe. heavy snow is still continuing to fall, bringing chaos to a number of the continent's alpine regions. now on bbc news, it's time for the travel show.