this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 2.00pm: 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 our family and still end up wondering if we're going to be able to pay our bills. two firefighters have been killed and dozens injured after a huge explosion at a bakery in paris, thought to have been caused by a gas leak. protester james goddard has been arrested in connection with incidents outside parliament on monday. 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

coming up at 2.30pm: what happened to brazil? the first of a three—part special series where we examine how brazil's dreams of a better future disappeared. hello and welcome to bbc news. the ministry ofjustice says it's considering proposals to abolish prison sentences of less than six months in england and wales. ministers say short sentences are less effective at cutting re—offending than community penalties. it's thought about 30,000 offenders would avoid jail every year under the plans. ben ando reports. 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 reoffend 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 was their home, 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 40,000 to 80,000. in 2017, 86,275 people were jailed.

and more than half of them received sentences of six months or less. we should not be imprisoning these people. we should be turning their lives around and giving them support, dealing with their drug addiction, their homelessness, and getting them to make amends for the wrong they've done. that's good for victims and it's good for the taxpayer and it will ease pressure on the prisons. abandoning such short prison sentences in england and wales is stilljust a proposal. legislation would be needed. and politicians know promising to send fewer lawbreakers 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. the stand—off 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. 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. it's just a time that is so unbelievable, that you can work really hard to get this education and be sure that we can provide for a family still, and end up wandering if we are going to be able to pay our bills, president trump had threatened to declare a national emergency in order to break a political stalemate. if they can't do it, if at some point, theyjust can't do it, 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. many us government workers are struggling to cope under the shutdown due to missed pay cheques, forcing many to turn to food banks. let's cross over to north carolina,

where we can speak to jessica slider whichard, a spokesperson for the food bank of central and eastern north carolina. you were speaking to us. this milestone has been reached. workers have mixed their first pay cheque. this mean at home? we are seeing folks who are receiving federal nutrition programmes wondering if their benefits will continue. we know that will continue to the end of february. we are seeing increased need from workers for the federal government who have not received their pay cheques and they don't know what they can pay for rent for food. we are trying to get more food into the community to paper about. what about the system of food stamps? is that being affected or are people still receiving their food stamps? right now people are

still receiving that, and that will continue to the end of their brief. after that, it becomes a bit more nebulous. what are people saying to you? just that people are having to make really tough choices. it is becoming those questions of what bills to repay, to be dry and get food, do we accept the late easter could become and because the funds on there from their pay checks? had he ever experienced anything like this? this is different from what we have seen. we deal with a lot of natural disasters here in north carolina, hurricanes, with the need is immediate and great. this is one where people were not prepared for it and to make choices and a system of support that they would normally rely on when things like and

national disaster just rely on when things like and national disasterjust isn't there. are you getting ready for the numbers increasing? we are. we have the food available and we just need to make sure that we know what they need isn't getting it into the communities where it is needed. we can't to this long—term, but for right now we can make sure that people have food. are you able to replenish the food supplies, where are you getting the donations from? we work with partners, grocery stores, agricultural people, and people donate food to us. if this we re people donate food to us. if this were to continue long—term, that will start to go away and it will affect all aspects of the food industry. do you get the sense that people are happy to hunker down and said the site? what is the mood like? i don't know ifi am really

able to speak to that. people are really worried about their own families right now and that is kind of the main focus. you were saying once february... the food stamps will last until debris, what after that's? we need to get hot meals then into the community, food into their pantries. then into the community, food into their pa ntries. that then into the community, food into their pantries. that will be the next information posted be put out, telling people where they can get food. thank you so much for speaking to us. thank you. thousands of demonstrators are marching through london demanding a general election and an end to austerity. it comes ahead of a crucial week in the commons, when mps are widely expected to reject theresa may's withdrawal deal with the eu. 0ur political correspondent, tom barton, is in central london at the protest. protesters arrived here about 20

minutes ago. the rally isjust getting under way. we will hear from the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, a little later. this rally is calling for a general election, the message is that breaks it is one of the number of issues affecting britain at the moment and that a general election is the only way to solve all of those issues, including unlocking that brags it —— brexit deadlock. another rally is being held in sheffield, that one is being held in sheffield, that one is being organised by the people's vote campaign, calling for another brags it -- campaign, calling for another brags it —— brexit referendum. mps are due to finally vote on tuesday on the deal that has been negotiated by

theresa may. she has a very difficultjob ahead of her getting back through parliament. it is noisy here today and it will be noisy in sheffield, as well. it is likely to bea sheffield, as well. it is likely to be a noisy week in the house of commons. police have arrested the hardline pro—brexit campaignerjames goddard. he was detained outside a london underground station this morning on suspicion of a public order offence. james goddard was involved in a protest outside parliament earlier this week when the remain—supporting conservative mp anna soubry was called a nazi. earlier we heard from our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford, who was with protesters in central london. we are following a protest by james gothard and we are following a protest by james gotha rd and other we are following a protest by james gothard and other people shouting at temp three earlier in the week. 200

oi’ temp three earlier in the week. 200 or 300 people marching from central london to victoria, down to pimlico. as the march assembled about 11:1i0am this morning just outside the tube station, we saw james gothard being arrested by police. when we has to police what that was about they said it related to a public order offence. there were more specific than that. certainly, james gothard hadn't done anything about point this morning so we assume it relates to events early on in the week. the french interior minister says two people have died and dozens 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. 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 headlines on bbc news: prison sentences of under six months could be scrapped 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. two firefighters have been killed and dozens injured after a huge explosion at a bakery in paris, thought to have been caused by a gas leak. canada has 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 flew from bangkok yesterday evening — and arrived in the canadian city of toronto today. kim gittleson reports. i'm still in the room. i had days ago 18—year—old rahaf mohammed al-qunun fled saudi arabia in the hopes of being granted asylum in australia but plans went awry when she was detained arrived when she was detained by thai officials who said she didn't have the appropriate visa paperwork. but he said she would be sent back home she barricaded herself in a bangkok hotel room and took to social media begging anyone who would listen to her to help her escape but she said would be certain death that she was sent back to her family. i'm not leaving my room until i see unhcr. sent back to her family. i'm not leaving my room until i see unhcri

wa nt leaving my room until i see unhcri want asylum. the world heard her and activist or up calls, using the hashtag save rahaf aspirin for the un to grant refugee status. in a rare step, the un complied, but she was granted asylum not in australia but in canada. the unhcr has made a request of canada that we accept ra haf request of canada that we accept rahaf mohammed 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 woman's right to run the world. human rights, to stand up for woman's right to run the worldm is unknown why her final destination changed at the last minute. for thai authorities it has led to a sense of relief and for other middle eastern woman online, inspiration. rahaf mohammed al-qunun, mark my words, is

going to start a revolution in saudi arabia. go on social media night and watched the accounts of so many young saudis saying one, you have shown us we can do this. by many questions remain unanswered, for now she summed up herfeelings questions remain unanswered, for now she summed up her feelings to this surprising outcome in, of course, tweed, thanking the online army pichai says saved her life. police in wisconsin have charged a 21—year—old man with kidnapping a teenage girl and murdering her parents. jake patterson was arrested on two counts of first—degree homicide and one count of kidnapping. 13—year—old jayme closs had been held captive since october, after her mother and father were shot dead. she managed to escape and was found yesterday. the opposition presidential candidate in the democratic republic of congo, martin fayulu, has demanded a manual recount of votes in the presidential election. he insists he won most votes and is due to lodge a court appeal to press his claim.

on thursday, the country's election commission announced that another opposition leader, felix tshisekedi, was the winner. mr fayulu has accused mr tshisekedi of striking a power—sharing deal with the outgoing president, joseph kabila. the country's highly influential roman catholic church insists that official results did not match the findings of its own election monitors. 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. 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 more expensive than 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. you can read and watch reports from the event by dave and the rest of the bbc tech team at bbc.co.uk/ces2019. using credit cards for gambling could be banned under plans being considered by the government. in a bid to target addiction, culture secretary jeremy wright will meet banks and bookmakers ahead of a review by the gambling commission next month. the move would affect billions of pounds worth of bets a year. promotional deals on unhealthy snacks placed at supermarket tills could be banned under new government proposals.

the department of health has said offers for high—sugar, high—fat foods linked to childhood obesity should be restricted. it said the number of children classed as seriously obese is at a record high and it's now consulting on its plans. the wreck of a world war i german submarine is gradually resurfacing on a beach in northern france after decades of being buried in the sand. shifting sand off wissant, near calais, is exposing the remains of the uc—61 which was stranded there injuly 1917. it is now becoming a tourist attraction again, although the local mayor warns it may only be a fleeting visit. since december, two sections of the submarine have been visible at low tide. it's that time of year — returns season. in fact, the office for national statistics estimates that a quarter of our christmas shopping could be sent back. anything bought online is more

likely to be returned and in women's clothing the percentage can be as high as 50%. it's a huge cost for stores and, as our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith reports, retailers are starting to fight back. picking, packing and mailing out. it has been a busy couple of weeks for this online fashion company. but staff here know that, like a boomerang, a big chunk of these clothes come straight back. this is just today's returns. 0h, we'd be flying if we didn't have any returns, but we sort of accept that. it's like, if you go into a retail shop, you do expect to try a few things on before you buy something. this week in our clearance sale, we've had ladies by three of the same dress in three different sizes, and i know that, best—case scenario, one will stay out. however, if they actually don't get the dress, three might come back, which is quite heartbreaking,

if you know the cost of getting things back and forth. but, increasingly, that is what shoppers are expecting. i will buy, like, a small and medium, and i'll see which one fits best, because i don't want to, like, risk it. so i'll send one back, because i don't need two. if you send it back, it's free. if you have to pay to send it back, i'll often give it to a friend, orjust a little something like that. and especially things for the kids, like clothes and things like that, we order loads just to try on, and then taking things back. with it being easier online, a lot of people will do that. maybe not so much in the shops, because it's more of a hassle to come back, but i think, yes, a lot of it is. royal mail say they are expecting this year to be their busiest ever for returning online goods. that is why even some

of the biggest stores, like next, have decided to start charging people to return some items. but most retailers are using softer techniques to make sure that too many things are not sent back. we're tending to see more online technology that suggests what size you might want to buy. they're paying more attention to the photography, or indeed the videos, of the things they're selling, to help the customer have a better sense of what they're buying. retailers will have to work harder to help customers get it right first time, or swallow the extra cost, because for customers, sending things back is now part and parcel of the shopping process. we all know the frustration of getting stuck behind slow—moving traffic when you're driving, but this was one jam where the drivers didn't dare hoot their horns no matter how impatient they got. this was the scene in south africa's kruger national park as four large male lions strolled along the road, apparently oblivious to the hold—up they were causing behind them. now it's time for a

look at the weather. it is pretty grey eyed therefore most of us at the moment, flat cloud, the odd glimmer of brightness, and the picture will stay pretty static. a few brighter spells in southern england in the next couple of hours. some of us have done pretty well so far, including northern ireland, but this weather system is getting ready to move in. western parts of scotland will see graham. look at the

temperatures, 11 degrees, very mild for the time of year and will stay that way this evening and overnight. some heavier downpours for scotland and some rain into northern ireland and some rain into northern ireland and northern england at the end of the night. it stays windy with particularly strong gusts across scotland. this is the temperature map for scotland. this is the temperature mapfor5am on scotland. this is the temperature map for 5am on sunday morning, it is very mild for the time of year. on into sunday, some changes are a foot. this weather front sliding its way site, a cold weather front, foot. this weather front sliding its way site, a cold weatherfront, not particularly pronounced cold air behind it, but colder than today. southern area staying mild, temperatures in double figures for sunday. to the north of that band of rain, not much we are much stress, we will see clearer, brighter skies but it will feel chillier in the afternoon. it will be windy, these are the gusts, scotland will face

the worst of the winds. come the afternoon, highs of seven or 8 degrees. 0nto next week, a cold day on monday, milder on tuesday, and it looks like we will move into and more established cold regime by thursday and friday. here is monday, pretty clear skies with decent sunshine. a northerly breeze and the chilly feel. 0ur temperatures on monday will‘ is. as promised, everything switches for tuesday, temperatures get back into double figures, but then the tail off again and we are in single figures with gloomy skies by friday. it looks like the chillier picture could stick around for next weekend, so quite a contrast between next weekend and this one.