welcome to bbc news — e';;5f;zé:—z;~ 5: 25:53:55”: my name is mike embley. our top stories: 7, ,—_ venezuela cuts diplomatic ties with the us — as washington recognises the opposition leader as rightful president. after the democrats cancel his state of the union address in congress, donald trump says he will hold an alternative one. the state of the union speech has been cancelled by nancy pelosi because she doesn't want to hear the truth. once they ruled half of syria and iraq — now the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, is down to 30 square kilometres. we're on the frontline. and this 14—year—old's family say she took her own life under the influence of disturbing material online. ejeéldsgtjel-lregbes pffidally

just minutes afterjuan guaido declared himself acting leader the current president nicolas maduro was only sworn in for a second term earlier this month — but there were widespread allegations of vote—rigging. barbara plett usher reports. is this the man who is set to become venezuela's new leader? juan guaido, he was sworn in as the head of the opposition national assembly earlier this month. today, he took matters a step further — as hundreds of thousands marched in anti—government protests, he declared himself interim president of the country. that's the signal president trump had been waiting for. the legitimate elected leader, weight of us economic and diplomatic power. reporter: are you considering a military option for venezuela?

we're not considering anything but all options are on the table. does that mean you're considering... all options, always, all options are on the table. it was a co—ordinated bid to oust nicolas maduro, the hard—left president blamed for venezuela's profound economic crisis. he has responded by breaking off diplomatic relations with the us. but for months already, american officials have been criticising his rule as a disastrous dictatorship. this week, they began to get more explicit. the vice—president said the us would stand with the people until they restored democracy. hola, i'm mike pence, the vice—president of the united states, and on behalf of president donald trump, and all the american people, let me express the unwavering support of the united states as you, the people of venezuela, raise your voices in a call forfreedom. mr trump has called on other countries in the region to follow suit, and many have.

the us is hoping this will be the turning point for venezuela. barbara plett usher, bbc news, washington. president trump says he's looking into giving a state of the union address in a location other than the us house of representatives — where it's normally held. the democrat house speaker, nancy pelosi, has insisted he cannot give the address in the chamber until the partial government shutdown ends. our correspondent in washington, chris buckler, has more on the president's response. it's quite interesting when you look at previous fights the president has had, when you look at those angry tweets. in reality, some polite and some would say old—fashioned letters in which they thank each other to their letters, nancy pelosi and president trump saying thank you for the invitation, i would like to attend. nancy pelosi saying, i withdraw the invitation. thank you for your concern, i'm still going to attend. that's not going to happen. it gives you a sense that under those polite words there is a great deal of anger and frustration on both sides and it comes down to this partial government shutdown

which continues to cause problems in washington and across america. it's left hundreds of thousands of workers either on temporary leave or being told they don't know when they will get paid. as a result, you have this real battle between the president and the democrats inside congress. as things stand, he's been told he won't be able to go there to deliver the state of the union address. this is a chance for a president to set out his goals for the year instead, however, it seems he is planning an alternative event. president trump has, you can expect some kind of event. if he does go ahead, it ensures he's on television. so, chris, considerable hardship among hundreds of thousands of workers and a lot of this we guess is about who owns the shutdown, who takes

the political blame. yes, and going forward, there are real risks for both sides in this. in some ways, you could look at this battle over whether the state of the union address is given or not, is something that could play into that. president trump in some ways could present himself as the victim, saying that congress are not prepared to play along traditional lines because of course, the president is very used to going and giving that state of the union address. democrats on the other hand point out that it has been given in the form of a letter. it has been effectively written. instead, they are saying that the president made very clear at the start of this that he was prepared to own this shutdown. he was prepared to be the one who took the blame for all of these people not being given their money and, as a result, you still have this question about ultimately, he will pay the political price but it's a dangerous game for both the democrats the white house. very briefly, president trump's former fixer now saying,

i gather, that he won't testify to congress voluntarily, at least, but it may not end there. a reminder about michael cohen, the president's former lawyer, as you mentioned, his fixer, a man who knew all of donald trump's secrets, some would argue, certainly during some periods, and that's what congress want to learn about, as it is, michael cohen is saying iéfiéiéééiiiééaééfifé'fé2;22:"' ' " ,. father—in—law‘s business dealings, so for the minute, that

congressional hearing seems to have been called off. but there are suggestions that some in congress would like to subpoena michael cohen and force him to testify. chris buckler there. let's get some of the day's other news. a man convicted of killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the river thames has given himself up after ten months on the run. jack shepherd walked into a police station in the former soviet republic of georgia. he was found guilty in his absence of the manslaughter of charlotte brown. since monday evening. no wreckage has been found. police in arizona have arrested a nurse after a patient in a long—term vegetative state at a care facility gave birth. nathan sutherland has been charged with sexual assault and abusing a vulnerable adult. the patient, aged 29, has been in the clinic in phoenix since she was a toddler.

the so—called caliphate of the extremist group known as islamic state once reached across syria and iraq. it's now been scaled back to just the area round one small town in syria, thanks to gains by the syrian democratic force, backed by the us. it's thought around 2 thousand is fighters are holed up in the town. but the mainly—kurdish fighters of the sdf, confronting them, are without their most important ally, since president trump's surprise announcement that he's withdrawing us troops from syria. our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville has been with the sdf on their frontlines. after years of waging war on the so—called islamic state, the syrian democratic forces have their full cornered. is has lost most of its territory. these may be its finals days. they march like an army from another age, on their way to destroy a mediaeval caliphate,

but with 21st—century airpower. we're just south of the village sousa and this really is the very front line. well, it's been reduced to this tiny pocket, just 30 square kilometres. and south of here, there are only two villages remaining still under is control. america will soon withdraw its support from these fighters. utter ruin marks the islamic state's retreat. in the hurry to get out, american air strikes havejumped by a quarter. this has destroyed their strongholds, ' but ncrcrne here thirrksi they are truly gone. translation: the coalition, we have defeated islamic state many times. but they are religious extremists. fighters are trying to escape with civilians. they have sleepers in syria,

iraq and all over the world. the desert, west of here. there is still fighting to be done. under the cover of more air strikes, wejoin a night operation into the last islamic state territory ahead. ertfingfiffegfizgf w " "f" syria is a country of constant

mourning and near daily funerals. the family of 25—year—old khalil gather to mourn him. he died on the front line last week. it's the kurds and arabs who fought this war against is, and died in the thousands doing so. and before the battle is won, more will die. some fought for revenge, and is has been repaid in blood. islamic state is almost beaten. western troops will soon leave. these men and boys will then stand—alone. it could prove to be a precarious victory.

quentin somerville, bbc news, deir ez—zor, syria. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a 9—year—old who's doing his bit to help during the shutdown, hoping his artwork will bring in some extra cash. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first — america first. 2

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: venezuela's president is breaking diplomatic relations with the united states. it follows washington's recognition of the country's opposition leader as legitimate president. let's stay with that story. dany bahar is a venezuelan and israeli economist, and a fellow at the brookings institute. he joins me live from washington. how precarious is mr maduro's position? how do you see all of this playing out, most likely? well, i think it shows a little bit of

desperation by the government. they are desperation by the government. they a re really, desperation by the government. they are really, for the first time in months, definitely, and perhaps a year or two, they haven't been under so year or two, they haven't been under so much year or two, they haven't been under so much pressure year or two, they haven't been under so much pressure by their own people. and they really are trying to, as always, blame somebody else for their mistakes. i think that they put up this attempt to expel diplomats, and to break the dramatic ties. it is not clear how it is going to play out, because the us doesn't accept him as the president any more, and the diplomats have been asked to stay in the country, so been asked to stay in the country, so it will be interesting to see how this will play out, i feel. what is your best guess? well, there are so many open questions, to be honest. because it is not only about the diplomats. it is aboutjuan guaidoz now being recognised president by the us, he might have access to assets and us soil, he might actually have the power to deal with bond holders. so i don't want to

forecast, because we are not good at that, but there are definitely a lot of a nswers, that, but there are definitely a lot of answers, there are going to be a lot of answers in the next couple of days. mr maduro, and mr chavez before him, would say the country in the economy is in the state it is partly because of the actions of the us and other countries in the region who don't share their politics. what would you say? well, you know, maduro is an expert, in being a professional liar. he's an in blaming everybody else for what is his fault. venezuela is going through the worst humanitarian crisis that the hemisphere has seen. according to any socio economic indicator that you see in venezuela, it is the same or worse as countries which are in the midst of civil war oi’ which are in the midst of civil war or very bloody conflicts. there is a refugee crisis in venezuela, more than 3 million people have left. so this is as a result of wrong

economic policy in particular the last three or four mac is. so here's an expert in blaming everybody else, but the truth is the solution is in their hands. they have to restore democracy, they have to restore constitutional order, and they have shown no signs of willingness of doing that. that is why the opposition will struggle to restore that democracy. and just briefly, how representative would you say the opponents of mr maduro are? are they to be the noisiest, or do they represent the majority of the country? well, the interesting thing is that the interim president, juan guaidoz, who was the president of the assembly, in invoking the constitution, he is running as interim president of the country, he isa interim president of the country, he is a new figure. he has brought a lot of hope, he is a 35—year—old member of the national assembly who was pretty much unknown until two or three weeks ago, and he has brought a lot of hope and unity. so i think a lot of hope and unity. so i think a lot of people respect him and understand that he is really trying to ta ke understand that he is really trying

to take the opposition through a transition that will allow the country to go back to democracy. so i think these are moderate voices that are trying to fight and to struggle against this regime, they are trying to do their best to keep this as peaceful as possible. thank you very much. facebook has said it's says it is deeply sorry after it emerged a british teenager who took her own life had viewed disturbing content about suicide on social media. molly russell was 14. her father believes instagram helped kill his daughter. facebook, which owns instagram, says graphic content which sensationalises self—harm and suicide has no place on the platform. our media editor amol rajan challenged the company's vice president for northern europe, first over molly russell's death. well, the first thing i'd like to say is just what a difficult story that was to read. and, like anyone, i was deeply upset, and i'm deeply sorry for how this must have been such a devastating event for theirfamily.

there's a picture of some slit wrists. that's from instagram. there's a picture full of blood. that's from instagram. those are all against your policies, but they're all available on instagram. well, we'd have to make sure that we look at these and ensure m—l» ll—i all-l -lu ll against your policies — lllllg to be a safe environment, when they're mixed up with this kind of material? they want to make sure that we're living up to the responsibilities that they have of us,

and i think we can always improve. but there are — there are areas where we've made significant amounts of investment, and huge amounts of focus in trying to get this right. but it is a — i think it is recognised that this is a complex area. at the heart of this is a simple question. how do you control the uncontrollable? social media now influences how we feel, who we vote for, even how businesses target us. but these platforms have so much content that ultimately it will be faster machines and better algorithms, rather than more manpower, that will have to tackle the bad actors. and on that score, facebook are taking action. rights champienr ”at" lewis. to citizens advice, and launching a button to allow users to flag potential scams. our society needs to make a decision of who's legally responsible, both for adverts on a social media platform, and for posts on a social media platform.

i did this because i wanted to protect consumers. it's for the government and our legislatures to make policy, and frankly, i think they've been copping out. the clear thing that we hear, not just from advertisers but from everyone, which is they want to see us take responsibility, and they want us to act. and whether that's working with experts, whether that's putting the right levels of investment into protection, integrity in our team, there's always going to be more that we can do, amol. sadly, scam ads, fake news and pictures of self—harm online may never be eradicated. amol rajan, bbc news. and you can find out more about the issues raised in that report at the bbc news website. there, you'll find a link to organisations and websites offering support here in the uk, and if you're outside of the uk, there may be similar organisations which offer those services. more at bbc.com/news. in zimbabwe, a presidential spokesman has defended the role of the military in restoring order. security forces have cracked down brutally on people protesting the doubling of fuel prices, and zimbabwe's human rights commission has accused the army of systematic torture.

the bbc has obtained footage showing government troops assaulting civilians in the capital. andrew harding reports from harare. exclusive footage of zimba bwe's rampaging army. soldiers have parked their truck beside a busy road in harare. through the trees, you can see a man on the ground, and a soldier dragging, kicking and whipping him. we're told there are 30 civilians being beaten here over a two—hour period. 0ne makes a run for it. we met tatenda yesterdayl we usedrte havejéhe—pehee

so for us to see soldiers almost each and every day, moving around in their trucks, is not something which is really quite chilling. that chill began in 2017, the army staging a coup against robert mugabe. when a new president was sworn in, the generals promised their troops would return to barracks. but last year, they were back on the streets, and this week, more of the same — the army accused of systematic torture. so who is really in control here? today at state house, we were assured the president is,

and that any criticism of army excesses has been overblown. it's not a science, it's not calibrated. there is always that element of excesses which come along with that kind of reaction, and that we fully acknowledge. the message from the zimbabwean state today is that, yes, the past week has been unfortunate, that mistakes were made, but that now is the time to focus on the future, of zimbabwe's ruthless soldiers. effie 552? el ggifié this government shut down has been

terrible, so i have been selling my heart and trying my best to help all the shutdown stuff —— art. doing my art is, like, one of my favourite things to do. doing it and selling it will help us, will help me and my mum, pay our bills. i am a government contract, and unemployed because of the shutdown. my husband is an essential government worker, working without pay. shutdown has caused a lot of punishments to a lot of people, wall or no wall, i want this to shutdown the end. at first, tiger said he wanted to sell his

art, and someone asked me how much. in so art, and someone asked me how much. insol art, and someone asked me how much. in so i told them $5 billion. but then other people wanted to know about his art, sol then other people wanted to know about his art, so i let him sell a few. it makes me feel sad that he thinks he needs to provide for us. he doesn't, but when families are put under anxieties, the only silver lining is it pushes your mind to the limit, and creativity can be on that. he made this one for me the other day. if you're wondering where all my ideas came from, they came from nowhere. they just all my ideas came from, they came from nowhere. theyjust went into my head one day. i went, maybe your mac hey, maybe i should do this to help the shutdown. there is more on all our stories on the bbc news website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. good morning.

so far this week, it's been in the bleak midwinter, hasn't it? and it doesn't look as though we're going to see that much change for today. but there are some changes, albeit briefly, to come. now, low pressure in control, the isobars widely spread apart. that means clear skies, light winds, and temperatures have fallen below freezing once again. so it's going to be a chilly start, with the exception out to the west. here, a little milder, with a little more cloud pushing in. but there could be the risk of some ice first thing in the morning. we've had some nuisance showers moving down from the north—west, perhaps some fog lingering for a time. the showers, then, first thing across lincolnshire, east midlands, down into east anglia and the south—east corner. they will slowly ease away by lunchtime. behind it, breaks in the cloud, sunny spells coming through, but all the time thicker cloud, and some outbreaks of showery rain starting to show their hand in the west. so here, 7—9 degrees, but in eastern areas with the sunshine, chilly, 3—5 celsius. but it's this milder air that's going to gradually move into the south—west.

quite a lot of cloud first thing into friday. some snow for a time, but that cloud will gradually move the colder air, the early frost, back down into the south—east corner. so east anglia and the south—east starting off chilly, then there'll be some rain moving through, of showery rain to come, to the feel of the weather. widespread double—digits across the country. fringes, and top temperatures ail sat—ezdeyeferee "w but it's this rain, as it pushes its way south and east across the country overnight saturday into sunday which allows the back door to open to this cold northerly air once again,

degrees, but factor in the strength and the direction of the wind, it is going to feel much colder than that — sub—zero for many. so a noticeable difference to the second half of the weekend, i suspect, and the cold air is set to stay with us for the start of the new working week, although it should be largely fine and dry, with a return to some sunny spells. take care. the latest headlines for you now from bbc news: the venezuelan president, nicolas maduro, has responded with defiance to the us, the european union and several latin american countries who've recognised the opposition leader, juan guaido, as interim president. he has declared himself acting leader. nicolas maduro has said he's breaking off relations with the us and giving american diplomats 72 hours to leave. president trump is looking into giving his annual state of the union address somewhere other than the house of representatives, where it's normally held.

the house speaker, nancy pelosi, who's a democrat, has insisted he cannot speak there until the partial government shutdown ends. emergency teams in guernsey have suspended the search for a light aircraft missing over the english channel since monday evening. the plane was carrying footballer emiliano sala, newly—signed to cardiff city, and pilot david ibbotson. no wreckage has been found.