this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. prison sentences of under six months could be scrapped in england and wales for all but violent and sexual offences — under plans being considered by the ministry ofjustice. president trump digs his heels in over his mexican border wall as the us government shutdown enters a record—breaking 22nd day. hundreds of thousands of workers have not been paid we can work really hard to get this education and make sure that we can provide for ourfamily education and make sure that we can provide for our family and still end up provide for our family and still end up wondering if we're going to be able to pay our bills. europe braces itself as heavy snow continues to fall, bringing chaos to a number of alpine regions. austria suffers the worst conditions for 30 years. major tech companies showcase their freshest innovations at the ces expo in las vegas. and coming up on dateline london at 11:30 with carrie gracie, we look back at a key week

in parliament as mps prepare to vote on the most momentous question of the age — withdrawalfrom the european union. good morning, welcome to bbc news. prison sentences of under six months could be abolished under plans being considered by the ministry ofjustice. it's argued that community penalties are better than shortjail sentences at cutting re—offending rates. in england and wales it's thought the move would mean about 30—thousand offenders avoiding jail every year, including burglars and shoplifters. this report from ben ando. at any one time, around 3,500 people are behind bars in england and wales, serving sentences of six months or less for crimes

like burglary or shoplifting. but almost two thirds of those released will re—offend within a year. the prisons minister rory stewart has described these short sentences in a newspaper interview as long enough to damage you and not long enough to heal you, adding that those jailed even for a few weeks can lose their home, theirjob and their family and be set on a course to more crime. the ministry ofjustice says that prison is meant to protect the public from dangerous people, reduce crime, and also reform prisoners. but could it be our overcrowded jails are instead turning one—time offenders into career criminals? since the 1990s, the prison population has doubled from 110,000 to 80,000. in 2017, 86,275 people were jailed and more than half of them received sentences of six months or less. abandoning such short prison sentences in england and wales

is stilljust a proposal. legislation would be needed and politicians know promising to send fewer law—breakers to prison is rarely a vote winner. but a similar scheme in scotland has beenjudged a success and is being extended to sentences of 12 months. it could be that ending short sentences will benefit criminals, and the community, in the long term. ben ando, bbc news. well, in a statement, a ministry ofjustice spokesperson said: short sentences are too often ineffective, provide little opportunity to rehabilitate offenders and lead to unacceptably high rates of reoffending. we are exploring potential alternatives, but this work is ongoing and we have reached no conclusions at this time. let's get more on this now from andrea albutt, who's president of the prison governors association. we're very grateful your time.

what are your views on the new proposals? the prison governors association totally agree with them. we have said for many years that short sentences don't wait to leave my work. in a few months in prison, you can do very little with them. at best, you can deal with immediate health issues, drugs, alcohol, maintainfamily ties, health issues, drugs, alcohol, maintain family ties, get them accommodation or maintain the accommodation or maintain the accommodation they've got, deal with finance, benefits and debt, but you can't do anything about reoffending. you must presumably have some sympathy with people who might be rather alarmed by this and think, by keeping these people out ofjail, they are free to reoffend. absolutely, the victims of crime have to come first, but we know that short sentences don't work. people leave prison and continue to

reoffend, many of them. if they don't work, we will continue to have victims of crime. there are better alternatives, and we can do a community sentence where they give back to the community, work in the community and make it better. we have restorative justice, where the victims of crime can face the perpetrators and they can understand what being a victim of crime is like. there are all sorts of things we can do that have a better outcome. when you say that, let's dig deeper. what kind of conditions need to be attached to those alternatives to stop people reoffending? the conditions will be decided by probation. it's not necessarily a prison issue. and they will be monitored if they stay out in the community by probation. will be monitored if they stay out

in the community by probationm will be monitored if they stay out in the community by probation. if it is as obvious as you say, and reoffending rates are not altered by these short prison sentences, and prisons are overcrowded, why hasn't it happened before? it has been said many times that they don't work. there just doesn't seem to be a willing government to do it, because it is controversial. victims of crime might be sat out there now saying, this is wrong, they should be punished and go to prison. but the fact is that short sentences don't work and we should look at alternatives. the minister of justice said they are exploring alternatives, but the work is ongoing and they have reached no conclusions at this time. how confident are you that this will happen? we will see. as we know, our government is in a state of flux at the moment, so we'lljust have to wait and see if the current secretary of state and current

prisons minister continue in their roles and see this through. i think that's probably doubtful. we shall see. president of the prison governors association, thank you for joining us. the standoff between president trump and members of the us congress over funding for a wall on the mexican border has now resulted in a record—breaking government shutdown. the row has entered its 22nd day, leaving hundreds of thousands of government workers unpaid, as politicians argue over budgets. david willis has the latest from washington. we pray today for your wisdom, your a nswe i’s , we pray today for your wisdom, your answers, your help. at the white house, they prayed. among them, a president caught in a crisis so seemingly intractable, it might take divine intervention to solve. a government shutdown that started with museums closed and rubbish piling up in national parks has now seen hundreds of thousands of government workers go without pay. and following protests across the country, that shutdown has now set a dubious record as the longest

in american political history. cheyne was among those watching. when she and her family moved to the farming community of nokesville 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. we can work really hard to get this education and make sure we can provide for ourfamily education and make sure we can provide for our family and still be wondering if we will be able to pay oui’ wondering if we will be able to pay our bills. president trump had threatened to declare a national emergency in order to break a political stalemate. he still might, he says, but not now. this is a 15 minute meeting. if they can't do it, 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. around a quarter of the government agencies are out of operation until a budget is agreed, leaving 800,000 employees unpaid. one of those is sunny blaylock, who earlier spoke to us from her home in virginia. the federal government is shut down right now. i'm a federal government contract, so i'm not working. i'm not going to get back pay, like a lot of people think, i'm just out, out of work. my husband's a federal government employee, so he's working without pay. and it's incredibly frustrating, and i know it must seem confusing, and we feel confused that this is going on. a lot of people don't realise. they think it will

all be ok because we'll get back pay, which i think should be happening for the federal government employees, but federal contractors will not be getting back pay, so a lot of people are really getting hurt. then there is the second resource of the economy, like the people that support the federal employees in this area. i live outside of washington, dc, so that's a good chunk of the economy here. the dog walkers, the restaurants, the shops. it's hurting everyone. we are all being affected. it's an unknown. we don't know how long it's going to go. i really loved the work that i did. i'd like to go back eventually. i don't know how long it's going to be, and i don't know ifi it's going to be, and i don't know if i need to start making other plans. my husband's working without pay, so you have to re—evaluate your spam —— yourfamily

pay, so you have to re—evaluate your spam —— your family circumstances and how long you can hold out. you have to start using emergency savings for normal living, so you don't go out to eat, you don't make plans for any trips, you don't buy the kids extra things. we have to reserve summer camp the kids extra things. we have to reserve summer camp well in advance in this town. things like that we just aren't making any plans. we're hunkering down and holding out. sonny blalock speaking to us from her home in virginia. the transport secretary, chris grayling, has warned the uk could see a rise in political extremism if mps block the prime minister's brexit deal. in an interview with the daily mail, mr grayling said the 17 million people who voted for the uk to leave the eu would feel ‘cheated' by any attempt to water—down or stop theresa may's deal. meanwhile, thousands of people are expected to march through central london today, demanding a general election. with me is our political correspondent, tom barton.

tom, let's start with those comments from the transport secretary, chris grayling. tell us a bit morning about what he's warning against —— a bit more about. amber rudd has been warning about the consequences of a no—deal brexit, and today we have a brexiteer warning about the consequences of brexit not happening, or a soft version of it happening. chris grayling saying that if a true brexit isn't delivered, one which stops membership of the single market and customs union and ends free union, he says it would open the door to extremist, populist political forces, and says, well, he stops well short of saying there might be riots. he's does say —— he does say that people should not underestimate

the significance of what could happen, saying there could be a different tone in our society, less tolerance and the more nationalistic nation. we are expecting a vote on theresa may's deal on tuesday. the first question is, will that vote really go ahead? we think, this time five weeks ago, we thought it would go ahead, and it didn't. i'm going to stop very short of saying it will happen for sure, but we expect it at the moment. assuming it goes ahead, what are the chances of her deal going through? the mood music is pessimistic, isn't it? to put it lightly. almost nobody outside government or inside truly thinks the prime minister is going to get her deal approved on tuesday night. but there is a question about what mps will end up voting for. before

we get to the meaningful vote, as it's known, the final vote in the process , it's known, the final vote in the process, there will be vote on a series of amendments. we don't know how many. it was limited to six last time, but there won't be that limit this time. it is down tojohn bercow to decide which amendments are voted on. the speaker of the house. yes. there are amendments across the full range, from those designed to wreck brexit altogether and stop it happening, to ones which are designed to force the government towards a much harder brexit. any of those,in towards a much harder brexit. any of those, in theory, could pass through. the question is, is there a majority in the house for any one of those? the final vote could be on something different. if they don't get the amendments through, it will be on the prime minister's text. the prime minister is heading for some

sort of defeat on tuesday night u nless sort of defeat on tuesday night unless she can find a compromise which gets enough mps on board to make it at least look like a victory. meanwhile, two marches today, one in sheffield campaigning for another referendum, one in london calling for a general election. how likely are those marchers to achieve their aims? pretty unlikely, in the round, but politics is so volatile at the moment that anybody would be crazy to say that anything is completely off the table. the people's vote campaign, the campaign for another referendum, has generated momentum and headlines in recent months. the two biggest political parties are vehemently opposed to that idea. as for a general election, the difficulty for general played my jeremy corbyn is that the dup will line up with theresa may to try and

stop that, and it looks like a very difficult thing to force that issue. tom, thanks. several people have been injured after an explosion at a bakery in central paris. police suspect the blast was caused by a gas leak which was reported in the building this morning. a number of cars and shops have been damaged by the blast in the city's ninth district. firefighters are trying to contain a fire, burning at street level. the headlines on bbc news: prison sentences of under six months could be scrapped in england and wales for all but violent and sexual offences, under plans being considered by the ministry ofjustice. president trump digs his heels in over his mexican border wall as the us government shutdown enters a record—breaking 22nd day. hundreds of thousands of workers have not been paid. europe braces itself as heavy snow continues to fall bringing chaos to a number of alpine regions. austria suffers the worst conditions for 30 years. heavy snow is continuing to wreak

havoc across large parts of europe, leaving roads blocked, trains halted and schools shut. it's led to the deaths of seven people in austria in the past week, and two hikers are missing. conditions are also particularly treacherous in bavaria, as 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. 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 180km/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 snows forecast to continue across europe over the weekend. for many, there is still a long winter ahead. andy beatt, bbc news. the big tech companies lavish huge amounts of money on their gigantic stands at the international tech expo, the consumer electronics show. it's a chance to pitch their latest wares to electronic retailers and show off their freshest innovations. translation: we're waiting, for the moment. as the show closes in las vegas, our correspondent dave lee took a tour of some of the biggest displays. this is a demo to show off new kind of audio system, but what is 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 projector strapped 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 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 garment and it helps everything go away. how many times have you had to explain why this is shaking here at ces? way too many. you have the patience of a saint. here is a cute robot from samsung,

they call it the retail bot, and it is designed to intelligently know its way around a location such as a restaurant. it can bring you your food, warn you if the plate is hot and even suggested a dessert. because who needs a human to do that, huh? i guess we have found the sony stand. three, two, one, go! one of the trends we have found here is equipment being sold specifically for video bloggers or vloggers. it is big business for companies like sony, because many of those people are using equipment that is not as expensive as broadcast companies like the bbc. that's it for ces but it is not over

for technology in 2019. it will be a huge year and we are just getting started. sport and for a full round up, we go over to the bbc sport centre. leeds united have attempted to draw a line under the controversy surrounding the so—called spy that their manager sent to a derby training session on thursday. police we re training session on thursday. police were called when a man was seen acting suspiciously with a pair of binoculars outside the perimeter fence, but no arrests were made no rules were broken. leeds have issued a statement after their manager admitted he had sent the spy. in previous countries he worked in, it was commonplace. leeds say they will work with their head coach and staff to remind them of the integrity and honesty which are the foundations of leeds united. all eyes were on the

coach before the match, and he will have been delighted with the way leeds played. leeds are five points clear at the top of the championship. derby manager frank lampard championship. derby manager frank lampa rd conceded championship. derby manager frank lampard conceded it wasn't an excuse for how derby played. andy murray has been back on court after all the controversy surrounding his impending retirement. he was warming up impending retirement. he was warming upfor impending retirement. he was warming up for his opening australian open match on monday morning. it could be his final match because of the pain he has been talking about in his hip. if monday goes well, he could cling onto hope of going out in the summer cling onto hope of going out in the summer at wimbledon. a shocker for me, honestly, because we are the same age, the same generation. it is kind of sad to see him going through what he has been going through in the last couple of years with his injuries. as someone who has been

through a major injury with my elbow in the last couple of years, i can definitely empathise with him and relate to what he's going through. 0bviously, probably the extent of his injury is even worse than mine. seems like he had not a very long career, because today, players are playing that one. 31. ten years ago, if he retired at 31, we would say that he had a great and very long career. all the best for him. we will miss him. but today, it is in, tomorrow, another one. our generation, everyone is more than 30, and these kind of things happen. as to who will step into murray's you choose, —— murray's huge

shoes... cameron norrie could rise towards the world's top 50. it is bragging rights to ireland, who took a big step towards the quarterfinals of the champions cup. this try in the second half... that ends gloucester‘s chances of qualifying from pool two. in sydney, the hosts reached 288—5 after winning the toss. peter handscomb top scored with 73. there were half centuries for guzman and march. india tried to stay in the contest. it was a landmark day for ms dhoni, who went

past the 10,001—day international run mark. india reached 254—9, allowing australia to take a 1—0 series lead. that is all the spot for now. time for the weather. the we're back into milder air this weekend. the mild conditions continue throughout, tempered somewhat by windy conditions. a bit more in the way of rain around. it is subzero from many as we go through saturday afternoon, thanks to northerly winds in europe. we are one of the milder spots across europe, with temperatures in double figures this afternoon. early rain across southern counties at lunchtime will clear. it stays damper northern and western parts of scotland, more persistent rain in

the highlands later on, and the odd shower elsewhere in the west. parts of eastern scotland, eastern england will be sheltered. temperatures in the double figures for just about all. we stay with that mild run of wind into tonight. further spots of rain will move south across the country. the wettest weather in the north and west. temperatures don't really drop away. 8—11dc as we start tomorrow. the winds will strengthen, and weather systems will push south across the country. some places will stay dry, especially in the south. a fair bit of cloutier in the afternoon. a fair chance of sunshine for most of us through sunday. showers will continue in the west, and to the far north and west of

scotland, we will see showers and more persistent rain. wins touching 40-50 more persistent rain. wins touching 40—50 mph. the colder weather will slide down eastern parts of scotland and eastern england for monday. 0ne or two isolated wintry showers in the north—east, but most places will be dry on monday with sunny spells, increasing amounts of cloud in the west later. a few spots of rain in scotla nd west later. a few spots of rain in scotland and northern ireland. temperatures down in eastern areas. colder air is on the way for the end of the week and into next weekend. goodbye for now. hello and a very warm welcome to dateline london. i'm carrie gracie. this week the uk is living on the edge with mps about to vote on the most momentous question of the age ?withdrawal from the european union. is it a time for conscience, strategic vision or tactical voting? we game out the moves for mps, government and other key players

on the great brexit board. ?and after us china talks in beijing, where stand the trade hostilities which overshadowed the global economy throughout last year? in 2019, is this trade war to be hot, cold, on or off? my guests this week; ?agnes poirier of news magazine, marianne. isabel hilton of the website, china dialogue. thomas kielinger, author and long time correspondent of die welt. and john fisher burns of the new york times. welcome to you all. agnes, i'm going to start with you. theresa may is famously resilient and the past week has been yet another stress test for her. the government sustained two defeats in the house of commons, and dead on delivery was the verdict on her withdrawal bill, even from many of her own mps. but nothing daunted, the prime minister has mounted a last ditch campaign to win over political enemies. should we call this determination

and admire it or call it