a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: 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 1a year—old's family say she took her own life under the influence of disturbing material online. we confront the owners of instagram. hello.

lgfiéfisfié.%, , '7 afterjuan guaido declared himself acti ng teaderdn ring anti government 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. national assembly earlier this month. weight sf us—esgnemierrr ,,. reporter: e ——;ii :

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.

and we will get more on this a little later on the programme from a specialist in venezuela. 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. f zfte’g—f” .:57 w ”w ””'

then her saying, actually, 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 ahead, set out his agenda, and put that to congress itself. instead, however, it seems he is planning an alternative event. we don't know what that means but given the love of tv time that ‘és: £542 ?z‘€€i?‘fzf?ziz§;2 125242125 of workers and a lot of this we guess is about who owns 95; -lu-— l- h;- 77 —— 7——

in some ways. geuceuldleekat this presidenttrumpinsomeflays , . 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. yeah, just a reminder about michael cohen, he is 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, they've been talking to him president trump's current lawyer, father—m—law'e—h'emefilieaj—mek

chris bucklerfor us in washington. 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. 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. 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 2,000 is fighters are holed up surprise announcement that he's withdrawing us troops frontsyria: 0ur 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.

now, the islamic state used to stretch all the way from libya to iraq, and across syria. 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. this has destroyed their strongholds, but no—one here thinks they are truly gone. they have sleepers in syria.

so, is are retreating into the shadows and into the desert, west of here. there is still fighting to be done. under the cover of more air strikes, we join a night operation into the last islamic state territory ahead. there is a mixture of bravado and fear. the fighters are men and boys from local villages and towns. they move at a cautious crawl — some 2,000 is fighters remain, including at least 20 british extremists. with home—made grenades and their bedding over their shoulders, they swagger on. bit by bit, armoured

bulldozers clear the way. but soon they get bogged down. they can go no further tonight. crying 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. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: he was known as we look back over his life. 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. demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests they called him 'the butcher of lyon'.

klaus altmann is being held here on a fraud charge in bolivia, a tide of humanitv than—behaved welcome with the united states. it follows washington's recognition of the country's opposition leader as the legitimate president. let's stay with that story. from new orleans, we can now speak to david smilde, who's a specialist on venezuela and a senior fellow at the washington office on latin america.

good to talk to you. how do you think is playing out? well, it is very ha rd to think is playing out? well, it is very hard to predict at this point. there are so many pieces in movement, is not really clear. at the current moment, venezuela has two president and has countries on either side recognising the two different presidents. so it is not at all clear how this is going to play out. i think it is a very tough for the nicolas maduro situation for the nicolas maduro government but it .; not really government but it is not really clear how much -juan quasi: is government but it is not really clear to v much -juan quasi: is government but it is not really clear to have, i-juan quasi: is government but it is not really clear to have, egg if juan ,ggaséi is government but it is not really clear to have, eeé if hein geese: is government but it is not really clear to have, eeé if he has seek is going'to'have. 'everrif-hehas ‘president of eiz the venezuela. and i do not think the national assembly actually q the _ national assembly actually has the power to remove nicolas maduro, does it against much will depend on the military? yeah, really what this comes down to is the military the end. it is real hard to imagine that nicolasjuan end. it is real hard to imagine that nicolas juan guaido would end. it is real hard to imagine that nicolasjuan guaido would be able to ta ke nicolasjuan guaido would be able to take over the institutions of the military does not say it sums point, this is enough, we have to go to a

transition. —— juan guaido. this is enough, we have to go to a transition. ——juan guaido. all eyes we re transition. ——juan guaido. all eyes were on the military today and after juan guaido declared himself president in the medical station, there was a long and several hour period in which the high command of the military did not say anything. in fact, when nicolas maduro gave his speech on the balcony of the presidential palace, there was no—one from the military command, the defence minister was not with him, they later came out with tweets saying that they supported nicolas maduro, even if they were not exactly effusive, but they did show significant support. so that was a big test and so significant support. so that was a big survived so 2: n significant support. so that was a big survived it. 2: n significant support. so that was a bi survived it. tell 3:7;2 significant support. so that was a big survived it. tell us more 2 significant support. so that was a big survived it. tell us more significant support. so that was a big survived it. tell | well, e significant support. so that was a big survived it. tell | well, here's; significant support. so that was a big young ed it. tell | well, here's g significant support. so that was a big young legislator. well, here's g the think a think lee— , a ‘for think lee—r a ‘for think for ., a ‘fc think think for ., a ‘fc thinkinink for—r new leadership. i think in previous yea rs, of t‘fi’

new leadership. i think in previous years, of the t‘fi’ new leadership. i think in previous years, of the nationalg new leadership. i think in previous years, of the national assembly, or ahead of the national assembly, or the seasoned politicians as ahead of the national assembly, or the seasoned politicians fig the seasoned politicians as well quite tired of the existing politicians, and so having a fres hfa ced politicians, and so having a freshfaced pacemaker is relatively charismatic, can speak well, it is just getting thejob charismatic, can speak well, it is just getting the job done, i think people have just flocked to him early out of their hunger for leadership stop white nicolas maduro of course would say the country in the economy, i guess, is in the state it is in partly because of the actions of the united states and other latin american countries who do not share these politics. —— nicolas maduro. i know mexico and cuba supporting in, how representative would you say the opposition within the country? well, i think within the coalition, it is that of the same people in terms of the actual politicians that are involved and they have had a long—term problem with really being representative of the country. the thing is now, it is a little bit difficult we talk about the opposition because 80% of the country opposes the government,

small, perhaps 85%, what we have seenin small, perhaps 85%, what we have seen in recent days is that protestors have actually been coming out of some of the popular barrios, the urban slums. usually, the protests come from the middle—class areas of practice, this time there has been cross class movement i think the first time since i have following this, so i think right now it is quite a broad movement, quite a broad opposition movement. thank you very much indeed. thank you. facebook has said that 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. 0ur 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 — we'd have to make sure that we look at these and ensure that those are taken down, if they are against our policies. and i.... don't you thinktheseshmeild-be people with pictures of slit wrists, which ia—year—olds can access? if people are posting in order to seek help, in order to seek support from communities, the experts

in this area tell us that is a valuable thing for them to do, and it can help with recovery, it can help with support. if it's there to sensationalise, glamorise, of course it has no place on our platform. it shouldn't be on our platform, and if we need to work harder to make sure it isn't on our platform, then we certainly will. how can brands trust facebook, and trust instagram specifically, 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. this morning, the company settled its dispute with consumer rights champion martin lewis, whose face had appeared on scam ads, even though he doesn't do ads. as part of that settlement, the company is giving £3 million to citizens advice, and launching a button to allow users 0ur society needs to make a decision 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. 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. a two—hour period. 0ne makes a run for it. and here's another who finally got away. we met tatenda yesterday, soon after his ordeal, and still in agony. today, we went to the spot

where the soldiers had rounded up their victims — a busy bus station. again, the army patrolling here — they're everywhere right now. but why? the answer, of course, is to instill fear. so for us to see soldiers almost each and every day, 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. 55: wire; eee, gee..— today at state house,

we were assured'thef’reeident is; the message from the zimbabwean state today is that, yes, the past week has been unfortunate, that mistakes on fixing the economy and on discipline. and for now, that discipline is still in the hands more news has emerged from harare, that's saddened many around the world. the zimbabwean music legend, 0liver mtu kudzi — known to fans simply as 'tuku' — has died in hospital. sophie ikenye looks back

on his life and his legacy. 0liver mtukudzi was a man whose career spanned more than four decades, with 67 albums to his name. his afro—jazz music crossed continents, creating a huge fan base his last album spotlighted some of zimbabwe's current political and social problems.

egfléiiéggl 1; some; gig mtukudzi had been battling ill health for quite some time. , of his friends, thomas mapfumo and angelique kidjo. he may be gone, but his music legacy lives on. the lovely musician. well worth checking his stuff out. that is it canal, thank you for watching. —— for now.

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. then. there'ltee ere-tie '* ”n and then behind it on friday, a legacy of cloud, some outbreaks of showery rain to come, but a noticeable difference to the feel of the weather. widespread double—digits across the country. now, as we move out of friday into saturday, another series some colder air.

and a noticeable difference to the feel of the weather as we move into sunday. so the rain eases away, a blustery wind, scattering of wintry showers to come, and your thermometer might read 4—7 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 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.