hello. this is bbc world news today. i'm ben bland. our top stories: pope francis arrives in abu dhabi for the first ever visit by a leader of the catholic church to the arabian peninsula. very excited to see the pope, actually, even though we have seen him during the world youth day, it isa him during the world youth day, it is a humbling experience once again to see him in the united arab emirates. the us offers to send emergency aid to venezuela. nicolas maduro says his country won't be treated like a beggar. and we're just a few hours away from american football's showpiece event of the year, as the new england patriots prepare to take on the la rams at the super bowl in atlanta. i'm seth bennett live in atlanta as the new england patriots prepare to take on the la rams. tom brady against jared tom brady againstjared goff. hello and welcome to world news today. pope francis has arrived in the united arab emirates for a vist making history,

the first by a pontiff to the arabian peninsula. he landed in abu dhabi where he was greeted by the crown prince. as well as a traditional greeting from musicians. during his visit, he will hold mass for 135,000 catholics. before he travelled, pope francis expressed his strongest condemnation yet of the war in yemen, where his host the uae plays a leading military role. urging the warring parties to ease the plight of millions of people threatened by starvation, the pope said the cry of yemeni children and their parents was rising up to god. 0n the plane, he looked ahead to the trip. translation: this will be a short trip at this morning i received news that it was raining in abu dhabi, and in this place, one thinks of

this as a sign of a blessing. i hope it will all be like this. we'll talk more about the significance of his visit in just a moment, but first let's hear what happened when our correspondent murad shishani met some of the christians who've been waiting for his visit. the pope's first—ever visit to the arabian peninsula. 130,000 people are expected to attend his mass. those are the lucky ones who got tickets. now people here have been telling me they are very excited, the mood isjubilant here. some of them told me they always hoped to go to rome, but they are happy now, rome is coming to them, as they said. yes, i think it is really such an historical event, and it isjust an honour and privilege to have him in the same land i am actually living in. i am so excited about being part of the moment. very excited to see the pope. actually, even though we have seen him during the world youth day,

it is a humbling experience once again to see him in the united arab emirates. oh, my god. this is a dream come true, because i never expected, in this place, where we live, to see the pope's visit happening. there are more than a0 churches here in the united arab emirates serving about one million christians. all of them are expats orforeigners. there are no local christians here. therefore, these churches are not allowed to preach among muslims of the country. in saudi arabia, where the religious tolerance and the freedom of worship is very reduced, almost null, and of course, people are expecting, also there, that step—by—step, there will be changes. i am expecting that the signal which is given here will spread, probably, to the wider region,

but we will see, if it is a dream, or if it will be reality. pressure is growing on venezuela's leader, nicolas maduro. france and germany are among the countries calling for him to declare fresh presidential elections by midnight. the united states says it is poised to begin deliveries of humanitarian aid to venezuela. and in an interview with the us network cbs, donald trump has said that sending the american military to venezuela is "an option". mr trump also said that mr maduro had requested a meeting with him several months ago, but he'd turned it down. what would make you use the us military in venezuela? what is the national security interest? i do not want to say that, but it is an option. would you personally negotiate with nicolas maduro to convince him to exit? well, he has requested a meeting and i have turned it down

because we are very far along in the process. you have a young and energetic gentleman, but you have other people within that same group, that have been very, very, if you talk about democracy, it is sort of democracy in action. we are going to see what happens. a number of months ago he wanted to meet. now because you're at that crisis point, would you negotiate? i would have to say this, i decided at the time no, because so many really horrible things have been happening in venezuela. mrmaduro maintains he is the legitimate leader, accusing the man who has declared himself interim president, juan guaido, of mounting a coup. the political protests of the last few weeks come amid an ongoing economic crisis in venezuela with many people struggling to survive, as our correspondent james reynolds has been finding out in caracas. at the sunday market in this district of caracas, there is food,

but not everyone can afford it. miriam has only managed to get a few vegetables for her mother and her son. translation: i'm trying to see what i can get a hold of. you have to work around so much to find affordable prices. hyperinflation raises prices here every day. venezuelan money is useless, sastesus who runs a banana stall. what do you do when someone begs forfood, i ask him. translation: i can give out one or two bananas, there's not much more i can do. i can't give out my goods for free. a crowd gathers. this woman is desperate to tell us that she has lost almost 20 kilos. a commotion then begins. a man shouts praise for president marduro. for president maduro. "maduro, get lost," shoppers yell back at him. a few years ago, this

would have been unthinkable. this was a pro—government district. but years of shortages have had their effect. access to food has become a vital part of this country's conflict. the government controls what comes in and out of venezuela, so the opposition is now planning to set up food centres outside this country's borders. the day—to—day fight to get food and medicine has worn down much of this country. it's sent millions into exile. for those who remain, there is little else to think about. joining me now is marianella herrera, director of the venezuelan health 0bservatory, a research centre at the central university in caracas. we saw the report. these struggles

people are having, day—to—day. is there any help getting through to them to alleviate the hardship and suffering we are going through? well, not yet. we do not have any help going on right now. eventually, agencies have been doing work... inaudible but the corruption... inaudible people are not getting the help they need. do you think that the foreign involvement and the comments coming from other countries is making any difference in a positive way or not? it might make a difference. inaudible

the n60 pluralmack are working along with people. they get the medicines. inaudible ok, 0k, we're going to have to leave it there. the line is not all that great. we are struggling to hear you a little bit. thank you for speaking to us. donald trump's comments on the option of sending us troops to venezuela came during a wide—ranging interview with the american tv network cbs. he also commented on us policy

towards iraq and iran. the bbc‘s chris buckler is in wasington has been listening. what more did he say on a run my? yes, many questions were asked about the foreign policy of this administration, not least to do with donald trump's disagreement with some republicans and members of the intelligence service about his idea it was time to remove trips from the middle east, bring those american troops home. there are some concerns about that. mr trump said he was right to disagree with some of the intelligence chiefs, for example, in his suggestion that isis had been defeated, he is concerned that they still have strongholds and they are worried about groups like that rebuilding if the americans were too too quickly. mr trump had already said he was prepared to keep a military base in iraq. he felt that was important, but what he told margaret brennan in an interview for cbs was that he also wanted to keep

that military presence in iraq to keep watch on iran. i want to be looking a little bit at iran, because iran is a real problem. whoa, that is news! you're keeping troops in iraq because you want to be able to strike on iran? no, because i want to be able to watch iran, all i want to do is be able to watch. we have an unbelievable and expensive military base built in iraq. it is perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled middle east. rather than pulling up... and this is what a lot of people do not understand, we're going to keep watching, and we are going to keep seeing, and if there is trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do. if you're looking for coherence towards the foreign policy, on the one hand there is the direction of bringing troops back from foreign

theatres, and on the other, the military being ready to go into be involved in venezuela. 0n involved in venezuela. on occasion you have this difficulty in working out what the trump administration's foreign policy is because republicans disagree with what they have decided. in iran, there is a clear concern by the president about their nuclear programme, but at the same time, intelligence chiefs say they are concerned about north korea and their nuclear ambitions. he says that concerns him less, but he has fantastic chemistry with the north korean leader, kim jong—un, fantastic chemistry with the north korean leader, kimjong—un, and p plans to announce details of the second summit with him at the state of the nation address in congress. your right to bring up venezuela because that is another concern for the americans going forward. he says he is not taking any options of the table, but there is the suggestion that potentially there could be some

kind of military involvement. many in the white house are saying it is farfrom in the white house are saying it is far from that at the moment. no suggestion the military could get involved in the short term. he is trying to keep pressure on president nicolas maduro. we have seen the international, the diplomatic pressure, we have seen international, the diplomatic pressure, we have seen sanctions and this attempt at economic pressure on the country. what president trump wa nts to the country. what president trump wants to do is to ensure that remains and that is why he is saying nothing is off the table. thanks very much. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: the british prime minister theresa may says she'll push on with brexit without delay, but the irish prime minister says he's "frustrated" by her attempting to renegotiate the deal. this is the moment that millions and

iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of the country. the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. three, two, one. the can down to a critical moment, the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. this recycling of the rocket will make this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. 0ne humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming and kernel. she smashed the world re cord and kernel. she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world nonstop. —— homecoming in

cornwall. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines: pope francis is in the united arab emirates on the first—ever papal visit to the arabian peninsula — the birthplace of islam. staying with our top story — the visit of pope francis to the gulf. the rev hani aziz of the national evangelical church of bahrain told me that all christians in the region would welcome the arrival of the pontiff. for the a pope to come to the emirates, it's not only for the catholics. it's for all the christian, for all of the catholic, protestant, orthodox, all of us, we are so, so happy to see the emirates invite the pope to their land. and beyond the symbolism of it, what do you hope the practical changes might be that come about from this visit? it doesn't have any change, but,

when you see the arab gulf area, you will see the grandparents, they are open, they have tolerance, they have coexistence. from the grandparents, you can see now in the parents. after, you will see it in the son and from time to time from nations to nations. this is, it has it from before, from the history. and now i feel, all of us, we want to work for peace. we need peace, we need love, we need

to love each other and live with each other in peace. just to give us a sense of what it is like as a christian practising your religion in the gulf, and how much it varies within the region as to the freedom of opportunity to worship. in bahrain, we have 18 churches under the ministry of social development, 18. and from the 18 churches, we have six churches has buildings. and the building has a cross in the top. and not only having bahrain 18 churches, but we have more than 100 churches, but we have more than 100 church groups. they pray in the

hotels, in their velez, church groups. they pray in the hotels, in theirvelez, in church groups. they pray in the hotels, in their velez, in their houses. we have freedom to pray, to go to the church any time. of course the law said here, we cannot go outside with bible or talk about christianity. this is the law, and we respect this law, but inside the church is, we have all of the religious freedom. the prime minister has said she's determined to end the brexit uncertainty, promising to return to brussels with new ideas and to make sure the uk leaves the european union as scheduled, on march the 29th. the "backstop" guarantee to keep the irish border open will be central to any fresh talks in brussels, after mps voted last week to seek ‘alternative arrangements'. here's our political correspondent chris mason. after a week when parliament had its say and mps voted to back theresa may's brexit plan if she could change one key part of it, the prime minister has said she's ready to do just that. but what are the new ideas?

i asked the border force months ago to advise me to look at what alternative arrangements were possible, and they showed me quite clearly you can have no hard border on the island of ireland, you can use existing technology, it's perfectly possible. the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill on the eu side. the sticking point is how to keep an open border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland under all circumstances after brexit. the existing solution, the so—called backstop, is deeply unpopular in parliament. its critics say it binds the uk and northern ireland in particular too closely to the eu.

the government says it's working hard to find a solution it can take back to brussels. the prime minister could be back there by the end of the week. work is being done to find an alternative to the backstop, and the attorney general is looking at legal changes that could be requested to put a time limit on the backstop or to find a mechanism where the uk could leave it at a time of its choosing. but, as things stand publicly at least, the eu is opposed to all of these options. my concern is that when we talk about or when they talk about alternative arrangements, they are talking about revisiting things that have already been rejected. the british prime minister and the british government resiled from an agreement that they made with 28 other governments. it demonstrates exactly why we need a backstop. labour argue theresa may needs to shift her position and keep closer ties with the eu. you must get a deal through

parliament that is acceptable. that means you must change your red lines about a customs union. it means you must look again at the way in which the future political framework is so vacuous. brexit is just over seven weeks away. there is no sign yet of a break in the deadlock. chris mason, bbc news at westminster. some breaking news — wreckage from the plane which disappeared with cardiff city footballer emiliano sala and pilot david ibbotson on board has been found in the english channel, search director david mearns said. the 28—year—old footballer and his pilot disappeared over the english channel 13 days ago during a flight to his new club, cardiff city. just to recap that breaking news,

the search director for the operation looking for the plane says wreckage has been found in the english channel which they believe to be the plane that the football star emiliano sala and his pilot david ibbotson were on which disappeared from radarjust under two weeks ago. catherine downes has all the sport. we will kick off with super bowl 53. four hours until the start of the match, the la rams take on five—time winners the new england patriots. the build—up has been going on for what seems like weeks. the patriots understandably the favourites but do you think the rams could provide an upset? it is a great question. most

people here feel that the patriots are heavy favourites, the side with the experience, that should go on to win this, but, if you want a little ray of light, if you follow the rams, it is the fact that they have a young coach with new ideas, a young, fresh quarterback injared goff who has taken the pressure of his leading role well going into this weekend. will it be the old guard or the new guard? b will hear from the rams camp in but first let's hear from veteran quarterback tom brady. he says it is playing in games like this that spurs him on. the goal is to reach the top and only one team reaches the top top, and pretty close. it is tough and it isa and pretty close. it is tough and it is a struggle and it is a daily grind and discipline, determination, mental toughness, all of those things that are really intangible to an individual, maybe things you cannot necessarily measure but that probably matters more than anything

you can measure. playing in this game you have the best two deans and you fight it out and one team wins. there are no retakes like in hollywood scripts, there are live bullets and we have to walk out there and get the job done under pressure. this is the last one, you got to play your best football, one of the biggest days i've ever played on. you've just got to keep playing foot ball on. you've just got to keep playing football at a high level. you've got to go out there one more time, one more game, and the opportunity to be a world champion. it is notjust about the football, this is an enormous global event. absolutely huge. anybody who's anybody wants to be here. i've seen gareth southgate the england manager, here, harry kane the england captain here. yesterday i was on radio and two men we re yesterday i was on radio and two men were tossing the ball backwards and

forwards playing football. it was very irritating, but they were two members of the backstreet boys, they used to be a pop group, they are probably too grown up for that these days but this is the place to be. ioo days but this is the place to be. 100 million people will you be watching on tv in north america, a billion around the greatest show on turf, just a few hours away. that is the sport for now. back to you, ben. breaking news, wreckage from the plane which disappeared with the cardiff city footballer emiliano sala a pilot david ibbotson on board has been found in the english channel. this is according to the search director david mearns. the 28 footballer and his pilot disappeared in the english channeljust under two weeks ago. —— the 28—year—old footballer. let's get a check on the

weather and find out what that is doing. that said we still have another speu that said we still have another spell of snow to come overnight in northern scotland. by the time it is said and done tomorrow, it could be 5-10 said and done tomorrow, it could be 5—10 centimetres, over 150 metres. most of us have rain spreading east. after the cold of last night it is into northern scotland we see temperatures struggling with that snow cover, elsewhere temperatures edging upa snow cover, elsewhere temperatures edging up a little as the night goes on. it is quite windy with the rain. very dusty through parts of scotland as mundy begins before those winds ease as the low—pressure pulls away. by ease as the low—pressure pulls away. by the start of the day many of us are behind the rain and we get to see some sunshine but back trailing with a pub hangs around to the far

south—east into the afternoon before we clear the rain before some cloud hangs across east anglia and the south—east. elsewhere, sunny spells, you might catch a shower, snow fizzling out in northern scotland, brightening up for some, and temperatures back to or a little above normal for the time of year, and that is where they are going to stay as the week goes on. with the winds easing under clear skies, monday night brings the last widespread frost for a while. there have been pockets of prost he went there. we may not get frost on the far south of england but across southern parts of england in particular, most at risk of seeing the most dense fog going into tuesday morning, but there could be some pop patches elsewhere also. 0n tuesday, another atlantic weather system pushing outbreaks of rain northwards, not reaching north—east scotla nd northwards, not reaching north—east scotland until quite late in the day, but those brisk south—westerly winds still bringing that mild air. that will fund will try to clear run through, and one moving towards the

south—east of england on wednesday to wednesday night. but for many of us, as the begins on it will be u nsettled, us, as the begins on it will be unsettled, several days of sunny spells and maybe the chance of catching a shower. you will be no thing —— noticing the temperatures getting into double figures. that is the big change in the week ahead, milder, unsettled, often windy but milder, unsettled, often windy but mild south—westerly ‘s. hello. this is bbc news. i am ben bland with the headlines. some breaking news: wreckage from the plane which disappeared with cardiff city footballer emiliano sala and pilot david ibbotson on board has been found in the english channel, search director david mearns said. pope francis has arrived in abu dhabi. during his visit he will meet some of the more than 1 million catholics living and working there. it is the first visit made by the head of the catholic church to the arabian peninsula. donald trump said sending us troops into venezuela

remains an option. he also said president maduro had requested a meeting with him several months ago, but president trump turned him down because he said the process was very far along. theresa