this is the briefing. i'm victoria fritz. our top story: venezuela closes its embassy in the united states — as nicolas maduro accuses donald trump of trying to overthrow him. ten million per cent inflation. in business briefing we're looking at the scale of the economic crisis facing venezuela — as the standoff between the government and opposition continues. what's in a name? plenty, according to these protesters in greece, but why are they so unhappy with their northern neighbour? and the final resting place of the man who helped name australia — we'll tell you about the mystery of matthew flinders. a warm welcome to the programme —

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation — just use the hashtag bbc—the—briefing venezuela's embassy and all its consulates in the united states are being closed, on the orders of the president, nicolas maduro. this comes a day after the trump administration officially recognised the opposition leader, juan guaido, as interim president. the us has ordered all its non—emergency staff to leave caracas. at least a dozen countries, including canada and the uk are now also backing the venezuelan opposition. mr maduro accuses them of a coup. this report from katie silver. it might look like celebrations but for nicolas maduro, international

pressure hasn't been greater. after the opposition leaderjuan guaido declared himself acting president on wednesday, many foreign governments backed him and rejected nicolas maduro as illegitimate. from the us to big uk to the eu's donald tusk and a dozen regional neighbours, it seems his days as president are numbered. we are speaking with government in this hemisphere which are overwhelmingly recognising the constitutional government —— that the new constitutional government. we are top to our colleagues in europe and elsewhere to demonstrate widespread political support for the interim presidency and we are moving to do everything we can to strengthen this new legitimate representative government. but nicolas maduro still has some friends. russia and china to a handful of other latin american governments. crucially, the venezuelan army seems to support him for now. translation: we recognise and

demonstrate loyalty and absent —— absolute subordination to nicolas maduro. this all comes as the death toll from days of street protests reached 26. in the past three years, 2.3 million people have fled the country, facing crippling shortages. translation: i don't have any food at home and that is why i come down here. majura, we need to get rid of him. -- here. majura, we need to get rid of him. —— nicolas maduro. here. majura, we need to get rid of him. -- nicolas maduro. despite the international president —— pressure, he set his own dipper blow. —— diplomatic low. transmission that i have decided to return all of the consular people from the united states and close the embassy. —— translation:. he urged other

americans to do the same. new sanctions will be targeted at venezuela's oil industry and donald trump says no option is off the table. let's pick up on that now because later in this hour, in business briefing, we'll take a closer look at venezuela's economic woes. nina trentmann from wall street journaljoins me now. for our viewers around the world, just outline the issues that are facing the people of venezuela when it comes to their economy. the issues are huge. we have hyperinflation that is forecast to hit i0,000,000% this year after it hit i0,000,000% this year after it hit one point 3,000,000% up until november last year. what does that even mean? the currency must be absolutely meaningless despite the effo rts absolutely meaningless despite the efforts either government to introduce a new one? $1 equal is 637

bolivar ‘s. —— equals. it took two weeks prices to double. average venezuelans, everything weeks prices to double. average venezuela ns, everything they weeks prices to double. average venezuelans, everything they need for their daily lives, is getting more and more expensive with a cup of coffee i think costing 400 bolivar ‘s. even though you said the government has been trying to stem that by thinking the bolivar to a virtual currency which the government says it links to the country's oil reserves. 0ne government says it links to the country's oil reserves. one of last remaining assets that venezuela has. it seems the attempt to stem the decline in the currency hasn't really worked because all other economic factors are also pointing towards the downside. we have huge spending by the state, it is relatively higher, also of course problems with regards to access it and debt markets again because of previous sanctions so it is a very, very difficult situation. it certainly is that the interim president clearly has the backing

now of the us, the uk and canada. but nicolas maduro has the backing of russia, china, these big trade partners and presumably, if there are oil sanctions imposed by the us, that oil can find places elsewhere westj et that oil can find places elsewhere westjet market that is aptly one of the big challenges. . -- elsewhere? that is one of the big challenges. this could lead to any form of sanctions imposed by the us or other western partners to be relatively limited in tried to stave off the government in caracas. the greek parliament will vote today on whether to accept the name of its northern neighbour as the republic of north macedonia, bringing to an end a 28 year—long dispute between the two countries. greece has long claimed ownership over the term macedonia, which also refers to a northern greek province of the same name, and has blocked the government

in skopjejoining nato or the eu over the issue. from athens, mark lowen reports. tonight noisy protests here in central athens. 0utside tonight noisy protests here in central athens. outside the greek parliament building. the greek. the bill currently being debated means that great —— will mean that greece will finally recognises neighbour as the republic of north macedonia. these people gathered here in central athens says that is the name belongs to greece, belongs to the province of northern greece, also called macedonia. birthplace of alexandre the great more than 2000 yea rs alexandre the great more than 2000 years ago and that it is an attempt to steal greek heritage. they have been objecting since 1991 when the country to the north declared independence as the republic of macedonia. bleak —— greece locking

its access to the european union and nato. they said they will rename their country from macedonia to north macedonia —— blocking its access. if you think this is a dispute which is a filling, yes, it is. if you think itjust simply concerns these countries, no. it also brings in russia and the west. western governments have accused russia of interfering and meddling to stop a resolution of this dispute to stop a resolution of this dispute to keep macedonia and the balkans under russia's sphere of your clothes. moscow says that western governments have been bribing and them to bring them into the nato alliance. the parliament —— that greek debate in parliament will end soon. could this be an end to this intractable dispute in europe? let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. britain and france have agreed an additionaljoint action plan to prevent migrants attempting to cross the english channel

illegally in small boats. measures include improved intelligence sharing and better co—ordination to physically disrupt people smuggling on land and sea. a man convicted of killing his date in a speedboat crash on the river thames in 2015 is due to face an extradition hearing in georgia. jack shepherd spent 10 months on the run. he was convicted in his absence injuly of the manslaughter of charlotte brown and sentenced to six years in jail in his absence. rescuers have begun a new attempt to try to find a two—year—old spanish boy who fell down a well twelve days ago. the boy's parents have been maintaining a vigil at the site as miners dug a shaft parallel with the borehole. the team will now dig a four—metre passage to try to reach the boy. the us senate has rejected two plans to end the government shutdown as eight hundred thousand federal workers prepare to miss another payday on friday. president trump says he would back a ‘reasonable' proposal to end the record—breaking closure —

as long as it includes guarantees over border secuity. 0ur washington correspondent chris buckler reports. more than a month into the shutdown, hundreds of thousands of government employees have missed out on another paycheque and as another week without a wage goes by, the concerns are growing with their frustration. why are we at this point right now? we should be getting a paycheque, we could be feeding a family, we should be playing our bills. this administration doesn't take the human factor into consideration and we need to stop this now. inside the congress, both democrats and republicans put forward separate funding bills to try to reopen the departments that have been closed but with neither side prepared to compromise, they were always doomed

to fail. the motion is not agreed to. at the heart of this dispute is president trump's demand for more than $5.5 billion for a barrier along america's border with mexico. the so—called wall has caused a huge divide in washington and while president trump insists he will support a reasonable agreement to end the shutdown, he continues to say that any deal must come with money for the wall. you know, many of those people that are not getting paid are totally in favour of what we're doing. because they know the future of this country is dependent on having a strong border. especially as strong southern border. because we have tremendous —— tremendous violence and crime coming through that border. but the white house knows there are major political risks if such —— shutdown continues. particularly - the . g of bradl workers - on feed their —— help to feed their families. —— federal workers. many have been

angered by the —— angered by comments by the commerce secretary that they should simply have bank loa ns that they should simply have bank loans rather than depending on foodbank. the 30 days of pay that some people will be out, there is no real reason why they shouldn't be able to get a loan against it. those remarks were seized on by the democrats. those comments are appalling. and reveal the administration's callous indifference to the federal workers it is treating as pawns. democrats and republicans are talking a game which they have described as a step forward but they know they also need president trump to agree any deal. meanwhile, the shutdown goes on and with each day it continues to break records as the longest in the us government history. scientists meeting in norway are warning that climate change is redrawing the map of the arctic. in what researchers claim is the first sign of a major modern climatic shift, they say the barents sea — which has been

part of the arctic ocean for 12,000 years — is being swallowed by the atlantic. from the norwegian arctic, our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. sea ice, formed in the high arctic. it helps create a cold, fresh surface layer that acts as a cap on warm, saltier waters beneath. but with climate change, there is less sea ice getting to norway's barents sea. the north barents sea has been dominated for 12,000 years by sea ice flowing down from the high arctic. but now, that flow is diminishing and the character of the sea is changing fast. soon, researchers say, the region will have no sea ice at all, so it will no longer be part of the arctic. it had an arctic type of climate for the last 12,000 years. we are probably witnessing the first modern example of a rapid climate

shift event where the arctic shrinks in response to global warming. scientists say the barents sea could effectively become part of the atlantic in as little as a decade. let's imagine this is the north barents sea. this blue layer here represents the cold, fresh water flowing in from the high arctic. it is forming a cap on this layer of clear, warmer, saltier water coming in from the atlantic. but now the high arctic is changing, look what's happening. we are going to use this to give you a very simplistic demonstration. that, in a sense, is what's happening. and it is having a profound effect. but what does the warming mean for creatures that live in the barents sea? lisjorgensen says species like this brittle star could struggle to survive in warmer waters.

these creatures may also be sensitive to warmth. it's a snail giving a piggy back to an anemone. this sea slug loves cold water, too. so does this remarkable squid. if too many species are lost to the ecosystem, no—one knows what will happen. everything is depending on each other. —— scientists can't be sure yet. but they say they are struggling to keep up with the human impact on the planet. roger harrabin, bbc news, in the norwegian arctic. fascinating. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: it's raining wickets in the west indies — england try to fight back in the cricket. we'll have a full sports briefing. the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift—off.

there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of the demonstrators. they were using the word "revolution". the earthquake singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours pass. the new government is firmly in control of the entirely republic of uganda. moscow got its first taste of western fast food as mcdonald's opened their biggest restaurant in pushkin square. but the hundreds of muscovites who queued up today won't find it cheap with a big mac costing half a day's wages for the average russian. you're watching the briefing.

0ur headlines: venezuela closes its embassy in the united states as nicolas maduro accuses donald trump of trying to overthrow him. the nato secretary general has told the bbc that the defence alliance will become even more important in bonding european allies together after britain leaves the european union. jens stoltenberg was speaking after the german chancellor angela merkel called for the creation of an eu army. he's been talking to our diplomatic correspondent james landale. beta is 70 years old this year. 70 yea rs beta is 70 years old this year. 70 years on, what is it for? —— nato. the main purpose of nature is to

preserve peace and we do so by standing together based on the idea one for all and all for one and as long as any potential adverse reno ‘s that an attack on one ally will trigger a response from all allies, then we are able to maintain peace, stability and preserve the security of the alliance. but what is the threat these days? we see many threats, terrorism, nuclear weapons, fibre, and aggressive actions of russia on the streets of salisbury, crimea, to be straight in the eyes of c. we see also the challenges that relate to china's rising power, big economy, technological advances in industries and also rising military power. and in the united states for instance the focus on the comparison between the united states and china but if you add europe,

than actually we are by far the biggest, close toi billion people, half of the world's military might and half of the world's gdp or economic might so as long as europe and north america stand together we will be strong and safe. you mentioned russia. what do you see is the biggest threat from russia coming up now? it is this what do you call hybrid tactics, this combination of overt and overt means of aggression and bite for instance we saw in crimea but also we have seen we saw in crimea but also we have seenin we saw in crimea but also we have seen in the uk —— covert. the use of chemical agents there in salisbury. also, the efforts to try to meddle in democratic logical processors in the united states but also in other nato allied countries. so where should we be thinking? elections in ukraine or more closely at what russia is doing in the balkans. where is the focus? the challenges we have to do it all at the same

time, we don't have the luxury of choosing one challenge, we have to address a more assertive russia but also terrorism and all of those threats that are seen from there so thatis threats that are seen from there so that is in the way the new situation for nato, during the cold war it was one challenge, the union but now have many threats, many challenges at same time and there is a more blurred line between peace and war. we have all this hybrid fibre attacks, tactics, which makes the whole thing much more complex and wa nt whole thing much more complex and want more difficult. the most concerning singh actually today is that russia is violating a cornerstone of the treaty that banned the whole category of intermediary —— intermediate range weapons. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm will perry and this is your friday sport briefing. former champions japan and iran are both through to the semifinals of the asian cup in the uae. japan, who are bidding for a record—extending fifth title, squeezed past vietnam in their quarterfinal in dubai. the only goal of the game was a penalty, awarded for this challenge on ritsu doan

early in the second half. and it was doan himself who put away the spot kick to send japan into the last four. japan will now face iran, who enjoyed a comfortable victory over china in abu dhabi. mehdi taremi opened the scoring after 15 minutes. that was his third goal of the tournament. that put him level with team—mate sardar azmoun, but not for long. by half—time, azmoun scored his fourth of the competition to put his side 2—0 up. we know that really the big sharks, —y:; au 1:1; l5. as really, the favourites of asian football, japan, korea, they are coming. so we need to be better

than what we did against china. it will not be enough. the remaining quarterfinals take place on friday. south korea face qatar and the host nation, the uae, play the defending champions australia. cricket, and the west indies have the upper hand in the first test against england, despite losing eight wickets on the second day in barbados. they lost their last two first innings wickets in the morning session, including shimron hetmyer for 81, as they were all out for 289. england were then skittled out forjust 77 in reply with kemar roach the pick of the west indies‘ bowlers, taking 5/17. by close, the home side had lost six second winnings wickets, but they still look to be heading for victory. west indies will resume on 127/6 — an overall lead of 339. in melbourne, the frenchman lucas pouille is just one match away

from a place in the australian open final, but standing in his way is 6—time champion novak djokovic. play gets underway at around 0830 gmt, with a final against rafael nadal as the prize. it is funny that we are going to play for the first time against each other, we have this many times and we have known each other obviously a long time but here we go, you know. we will see. it is the semifinals and we both want to, i'm sure, go to the finals and, you know, hopefully we can both be fresh and fit and put ona we can both be fresh and fit and put on a great show. the goal is not to reach the final, the semifinal, first of all the goal is to improve my tennis, to put what i work on in practice into the match and starts... give me less pressure, just trying to focus on my game and

not on the consequences and the result is. —— and not on the consequences and the results. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, will perry, that's your friday sport briefing. the final resting place of one of the great heroes of maritime exploration has been discovered on the route of britain's planned new high speed railway, hs2. archaeologists have uncovered what remains of the coffin of matthew flinders, the man whose work led to the naming of australia. david sillito reports. this nameplate solves the mystery, the final resting place of one of the final resting place of one of the giants of the age of its oration. matthew flinders. a man whose voyages, writings gave us the first complete picture of australia and helped inspire the naming of the country. we are in the burial ground of st james gardens country. we are in the burial ground of stjames gardens and it was the burial grounds that started in the late 1800s and closed in the mid

1900 and time when london was going through massive social, economic and you know burgeoning population. and so you know burgeoning population. and so it would have been a really different landscape. london was just becoming a metropolis. the site is an old graveyard next if euston if 511-3 q’éféé’é fiéflflfé‘ffiiffif ,,,.- w " "w 57 511-5 57542575 “5511755155155“ ,,,.- w " "w which 57 511-5 57542575 {éfliifé‘ffiiflfrf ww w " ww which is due to be the terminal for a just terminalfor a just too. london terminal for a just too. however before building work can begin, 40,000 bodies have to be moved from an old graveyard —— hs2. matthew flinders had died aged just 40, a day before the book and maps that were to make his name were published, and it was always known he was buried here, somewhere, but his headstone has long disappeared. he and the rest of those buried here will now be moved to another as yet undisclosed burial site. david sillito, bbc news. stay with me on bbc news. i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments. we'll have more on the crisis in venezuela. see you soon. hello there.

today's the day that our weather turns significantly milder. if we look at the temperatures we had yesterday afternoon, they were languishing into low—single figures. two, three, four, something like that. this afternoon, up as high as 12 degrees so for some, ajump of some 10 degrees celsius or so. the thing bringing the warmer air is a warm front that continues to edge its way eastwards so we are in too much milder weather with the atlantic flexing its muscles for friday. as well as the milder air working in, a lot of cloud around with some light rain and drizzle, some fog patches, particularly across eastern england. temperatures continue to rise hour by hour. it will be quite mild to start the day across western areas. that's how we start off friday. extensive cloud around and thick enough to bring light rain and drizzle. it will ease from midday onwards across eastern england, but we will see more rain coming and going across the north—west of the country from time to time. the far north of scotland, still into cool air, but otherwise, central

and southern scotland, northern ireland, england and wales, will see double figures. quite murky for some of us and the rather grey skies will continue through friday night and into the early hours of saturday. a mild night with temperatures 7—9 for most of us. but the cloud will continue thicken with outbreaks of rain becoming increasingly heavy for northern scotland. that rain is all tied in with this area of low pressure moving in for saturday. we're still into the mild air behind this warm front. a mild start to the weekend but a cloudy start as well. outbreaks of rain in scotland, some wet weather pushing into northern ireland and eventually western parts of england and wales. it is probably no bad thing that we see some rain because january has been dry. it will be mild once again, temperatures between nine and 11, however, the second half of the weekend turns significantly colder. the same area of low pressure moves eastwards through the north sea and we see the winds coming down from the arctic, particularly across western areas of the uk. it will feel cold and we will have gales and potentially severe gales around coastal areas and hills. it will feel cold and we will have

gales and potentially severe gales around coastal areas and hills. notice some white on the chart, yes, we will see the rain turn to snow, particularly in the hills of scotland as the colder air continues to work in. outbreaks of rain continuing into eastern parts of the uk. that's your latest weather. this is the business briefing. i'm victoria fritz. ten million per cent inflation. the scale of the economic crisis facing venezuela — as the standoff between the government and opposition continues. plus: we have to level the playing field. the new boss of goldman sachs tells us he supports president trump's stand against china over trade. that's the latest from the world economic forum in davos. and on the markets, asian shares on the rise after a rally in us tech stocks. crude jumping on the prospect of oil sanctions on venezuela. and the pound on track for its best week in over a year — as uk prime minister theresa may faces growing pressure to rule out a no—deal brexit.