this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. donald trump's defence team conclude their case in his impeachment trial, calling the claim that he incited an insurrection "a monstrous lie". they say the storming of the capitol was pre—planned, and that prosecutors failed to directly connect the actions of the rioters to mr trump. no thinking person could seriously believe that the president's january 6 speech on the ellipse was in any way and incitement to violence or insurrection. after weeks of protests across russia, we report on the crackdown on president putin's critics in

the country's far east. more protests against the military coup in myanmar, as the united nations humourous cuts because for immediate release of aung san suu kyi. —— human rights council. how normal will valentine's day be? hello and welcome to bbc news. donald trump's lawyers have closed their defence arguments, concluding he was not responsible for inciting the riot at the us capitol onjanuary 6. michael van der veen, one of his attorneys, claimed mr trump couldn't incite "what was already going to happen." he argued the former president was simply exercising

freedom of speech when he said the election was stolen. jon sopel reports. chanting: fight for trump, fight for trump. . .! - much of this impeachment trial has turned on one section of donald trump's speech before an angry crowd onjanuary 6. we fight like hell. and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. ..the presentation of the case for the former president... the trump defence team, though, aren't in the least bit defensive. good afternoon, senators. this is ordinary political knock—about, they say, and produced their own campaign—style video to highlight how democrats use the exact same language. does one of us have to come out alive? fight that fight. we have been fighting. i was fighting very hard. time is of the essence, both in terms of the fight. i think we should be fighting. fighting for a policy, though, isn't quite the same as urging your supporters to go and march on the capitol, with the consequences that followed. and over the course

of this week, we've seen new and disturbing video — the then—vice president, mike pence, being rushed to safety by his secret service detail as congress is being overrun, the republican senator mitt romney, his life potentially saved by a policeman telling him to go the other way, and the trump—supporting mob menacingly searching for the speaker, nancy pelosi. where are you, nancy? we're looking for you! nancy! 0h, nancy! the central claim of the trump defence team is that it's preposterous to suggest he incited the insurrection. more importantly, they're seeking to argue it's unconstitutional to impeach someone who's already left office, and his lawyers are making what sound like highly political speeches. this unprecedented effort is not about democrats opposing political violence. it is about democrats trying to disqualify their political opposition. it is constitutional

cancel culture. donald trump has spent much of this week playing golf in florida, but republican support is fracturing. today, nikki haley, his former un ambassador, said... the chances are overwhelmingly the donald trump will be acquitted, but it's now not just the united states that's divided, it's the republican party too. meanwhile, at the white house, the new president and first lady are getting ready for valentine's day. healing, unity, compassion — noble sentiments, but it doesn't feel there's a whole lot of love in the air. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's cross life to our correspondent barbara plett usher, who is life on capitol hill. you had a very busy day today. the senate has adjourned

for today will somewhat next? what next is, the senate will resume its deliberations tomorrow and it looks like they are moving speedily towards a vote, so in the morning, they are going to first of all vote to see whether to call witnesses post up that almost her lea's not going to happen, and then both sides will make their closing arguments. you might get a certain amount of debate or speeches from the floor. the senators have not been allowed to say anything throughout this process, but then we are expecting things to move quickly to a vote sometime tomorrow, saturday afternoon, and that would make it the fastest impeachment trial in american history, starting on tuesday and ending on saturday, so less than a week.— so less than a week. barbara, are americans _ so less than a week. barbara, are americans following - so less than a week. barbara, are americans following this i are americans following this trial the way the rest of the world are?— trial the way the rest of the world are? ., ,, ., , world are? yeah, i think many americans— world are? yeah, i think many americans are _ world are? yeah, i think many americans are following - world are? yeah, i think many americans are following this l americans are following this trial, especially because donald trump wasn't such a

provocative and larger—than—life character, and la rger—than—life character, and especially larger—than—life character, and especially because the right was such a traumatic thing and the democrats in the senate made it their case to re—enact it or to reconstructed in as vivid and powerful away as possible, bringing forward video that had not been seen before, showing just how close the rioters had come to the lawmakers, so it was really kind of watching i don't want to say movie but it was definitely easier to watch than a dry senate impeachment trial, and it did have a lot of drama in it stop so i think for that reason, many americans are watching it. whether or not they are totally engaged with mr trump's state, pull show that a majority, not a huge majority but a majority, think he should be impeached. they also show most are publicans think he should not, so at the end of the day, those watching will be watching with their use

—— their views cleared up. barbara, we'll be speaking to you tomorrow, thank you very much. russian opposition leader alexei navalny has been in court again, accused of defaming a world war ii veteran, something he denied. he is also in a second case widely seen as political motivation full of the kremlin seems a stop to... in recent days, police have been targeting activists across russia. our russia correspondent steve rosenberg travelled to see how critic of the kremlin in vladivostok are being put under pressure there.

what do you find at the end of russia, where the pacific turns to ice? at first, russia here feels frozen in time, no hint of spring. but in vladivostok, there are signs that something is changing. last month, thousands here risked arrest to protest in support ofjailed opposition leader alexei navalny. there were rallies across russia. but there is no political thaw. the kremlin calls the protests illegal, and it's cracking down. vlogger gennady shulga had live—streamed one of the protests. a few days ago, police raided his flat and pinned him to the floor. the police video shows gennady�*s head over the dog bowl. translation: this show of force was meant to -

scare me and my wife. now the authorities are using that video to scare others, by showing what happens to people who tell the truth. scientist anton rasin, who is working on new cancer treatments, took part in the vladivostok protests. he too has been targeted by the police. they broke into my apartment, put me laying on the floor like some criminal, and it was really humiliating and infuriating. this isn'tjust happening here in the russian far east. in recent days, there have been reports of police raids and searches across the country, a sign ofjust how determined the authorities are to crush the protest movement. in moscow, alexei navalny was back in the dock, accused of defaming a world war ii veteran.

this month, he'd already been sentenced to two—and—a—half years in prison in a fraud case, widely seen as politically motivated. the police raids on protesters are an attempt to cut mr navalny�*s support base by spreading fear. it will send chilling waves across everybody else who is in their early 20s, idealistic, wants to work for team navalny. a lot of people will be scared. a lot of parents will insert a lot of pressure on their kids to notjoin the movement. there's something else the kremlin is doing to try to undermine public support for protests. it's telling russians, through the state media, that mr navalny is an agent of the west, and some people are believing it. "he's carrying out the west's instructions", galina says. "we all know it's the west pulling navalny�*s strings", yulia tells me.

"as for navalny being poisoned, he probably poisoned himself." where is this taking russia? with "blame the west" the official narrative, there is little chance of a thaw in relations with america and europe. russia is facing the prospect of growing isolation. steve rosenberg, bbc news, vladivostok. to stay with us here on bbc news. still to come... new york diners will soon be allowed back into restaurants ahead of valentine's day celebrations. there's mr mandela, mr nelson mandela, a free man taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader,

ayatollah khomeini, has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, ba by doc duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, - shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud - farm's central block. shergar was driven away. in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning — elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news.

our top story discovered... donald trump's defence team has concluded their case, calling the claim that he incited the instruction a lie. the united nations�* human rights council has passed a resolution deploring the military coup in myanmar and calling for the immediate release of aung san suu kyi and others who've been arbitrarily detained. hundreds of thousands of people have protested in cities around myanmar for a seventh day also calling for her release, more than 326 people are reported to have been detained in the days since the coup — according to one monitoring group. mya thwe thwe khaing is a young protester who was shot in the head in tuesday. she remains in critical condition and has become a symbol of the protests. her mother spoke to bbc burmese.

translation: she wanted to join translation: she wanted to 'oin sto i did translation: she wanted to 'oin stop i did not fl translation: she wanted to 'oin stop i did not have i translation: she wanted to 'oin stop i did not have a i translation: she wanted to 'oin stop i did not have a chance h translation: she wanted to join stop i did not have a chance to - stop i did not have a chance to speak to her. she went out with her sister. speak to her. she went out with hersister. she speak to her. she went out with her sister. she is 20. i cannot take it. i am proud of my doctor. i am take it. i am proud of my doctor. iam proud take it. i am proud of my doctor. i am proud of her courage. i want her to recover __ my courage. i want her to recover —— my daughter. i want that person to recover quickly. that was the mother of one of the protesters who was shot in those landmark protest. earlier, i wasjoined those landmark protest. earlier, iwasjoined by those landmark protest. earlier, i wasjoined by tom andrews, who is the un special rapporteur. i asked andrews, who is the un special rapporteur. iasked him andrews, who is the un special rapporteur. i asked him what it signifies. it signifies a unified myanmar.

we've seen extraordinary uproarings of opposition, hundreds of towns and cities, but the world is galvanising around this issue. this was just an outrage, and even countries that normally come to the defence of myanmar, china comes to mind. protecting them time and time again. even day, sitting today at the human rights council. this resolution was passed without opposition. it was a strong resolution, so i was very pleased to see what happened today. i'm hoping this movement will continue in the international community as is continuing inside of myanmar. will the sanctions hurt, though? will sanctions hurt? well, that's the point. we want them to hurt. we are not going to be able to appeal to their conscious apparently, but we can appeal to their economic self—interest. if they get bit in the wallet, if there is enough consolidation of the economic

sanctions that could happen around the world, the united states coming up two days ago. but if that's being joined by the uk, the eu, others, this could make a real dent in their ability to make money and they care an awful lot about making money. mrandrews, can you remember how tied in the military is to the country's economy? they have enormous wealth, enormous power. the constitution that they overthrew, and this is a remarkable thing, gives them incredible power. they control economic institutions that are linked to the vast natural resources of myanmar, and they control them, without any accountability to anyone in the civilian government. it is an extraordinary position they're in right now they've overthrown, and they're going to be paying a very heavy price, at least i hope so, from the international community. going back to your point of china and russia. they were part of this.

this was a unanimous vote, so they voted in favour. is that right? how significant is that? i think it's very, very significant. this was a strong resolution. it condemned what happened, it condemned the coup. it called for the restoration of the government, it called for the release of all those who had been detained. this was a real diplomatic slap. it's coming at them from all sides, all ends, including their friends. and that's exactly what has to happen because if we don't build this pressure, it could be real problems for the people of myanmar on the street. this is a brutal military regime. we seen what they've done in the past. they've massacred demonstrators of democracy, activists, in the past, they've massacred buddhist monks protesting, and we know what happened a few years ago

with the rohingya ethnic minority. so, this is very high stakes, and the citizens of this country are pouring out in thousands and thousands in hundres of cities, despite the fact they know full well what this military is capable of. so, we want to stop that and head that off by strong, strong international pressure. that was tom andrews, the un special rapporteur on myanmar. let's get some of the day's other news now. hundreds of nepalese have staged a mock foetal —— funeral procession, to catch those responsible for the murder of a teenage girl. they carried a young woman on a bamboo structure just to bless the victims of sexual crimes. the 17 euros student was returning home from school when she went missing last week. the us centers for disease control says schools in areas of low covid—i9 transmissions can fully reopen if they employ

universal mask wearing and other distancing measures. vaccination of teaching and support staff has begun in the number of states, but the agency said school re—openings should not be conditional on teachers access to a job. in a landmark ruling, the uk supreme court has ensured that two nigerian communities of more than 50,000 people, can bring their legal claims for clean—up and compensation against royal dutch shell and its nigerian subsidiary, the shell petroleum development company of nigeria. the 0gale and bille communities sought legal action in 2015 for polluting their communities over many years. it lead to a devastating impact on their lives and the environment. phoebe hopson reports. for the communities in the niger delta, oil extraction has felt like a curse. the riches go elsewhere and they are left with the deathly shine of oil spills. thousands of miles away, the uk supreme court

ruled in their favour. they handed down a judgement saying there was a good arguable case that royal dutch shell is legally responsible for the systematic pollution of the 0gale and bille communities. we are very grateful, we are very thankful to the british judicial system. we are worried why royal shell should take us through this long, long process, but all we're asking is, "come and fix what you've destroyed," and they are taking us through all this. the water in 0gale has notioo, not 200, 900% above the required safety level of that chemical in the water. for the 0gale and bille communities, this victory is the end of a five—year battle to get their cases

heard in english courts — something they can now do. this ruling by the uk supreme court could have implications beyond nigeria, in terms of corporate responsibility and the legal road to compensation when things go wrong in the places where they operate. it makes it clear that the potential liability of these sorts of parent companies is broad and can arise in many different ways. this means that the case against royal dutch shell will now represent a trial here in the uk court and shell would need to give full disclosure about relevant issues to the claim, including, for example, full disclosure about their relationship with their nigerian subsidiary and their role in the nigerian operation and their responsibility for the pollution that has occurred on the niger delta. shell told the bbc they're disappointed by the supreme court ruling and in a statement said the spills are heavily impacted by oil theft,

illegal oil refining and the sabotage of pipelines. it said that despite the causes of the pollution, they had worked hard to both clean up and prevent spills. millions more in the niger delta region have been badly affected by environmental pollution. the ruling comes just two weeks after a dutch court ordered royal shell to pay nigerian farmers compensation for the environmental pollution in another legal case. phoebe hopson, bbc news. it's a big day for thousands of pandemic—stricken restaurants in new york because a ban on indoor dining is being partially lifted. hundreds of restaurants have gone out of business in the past year. others are barely afloat. but as tom brook reports, the partial return to eating inside is not being welcomed by everyone. at friedman's, a popular restaurant on new york's upper west side, the pandemic has definitely dampened business, but it's still afloat. more than a thousand

other dining establishments in the city have closed, fallen victim to covid—i9. so, we'll start indoor dining on friday at 25%. governor cuomo's decision to lift the ban on indoor dining up to 25% of capacity is seen as a bit of a life—saver. we're excited to get our guests back in the restaurant. i think something that we've lost is that excitement and energy that you felt when you walked into a restaurant that had guests in it, eating and drinking and dining. it's fun. without indoor dining, restaurants have had to rely on take—out and delivery service to keep their businesses afloat. and in many instances, they've been very enterprising in devising ways to make outdoor dining flourish in freezing conditions — like this restaurant in greenwich village, where they created a plastic hut, complete with a fake warming stove, to keep their diners happy

in frigid conditions. in fact, all kinds of shelters have emerged to enable hardy new yorkers to dine kerb—side, but some outdoor diners won't be eating indoors anytime soon, even though governor cuomo has decreed they now can. i won't go into an indoor dining until this is all over because i think you're relatively safe if you're outside, but if you're in a dining area, i'd be too scared to do it. some health experts caution that the return to indoor dining is premature. opening indoor dining now, at least to me, while we're just first getting to the point of controlling the spread of this virus, does not seem like the right next step. those still working in the hospitality business know it's going to be a long, hard slog before the restaurant industry in new york returns to anything like normal. will it get back to where - it was, where you have people

shoulder to shoulder at bars? ijust can't see, - unfortunately — and this is sad — but i don't see i that happening anytime soon. the fervent hope is that the partial lifting of the indoor dining ban will mark the start of the long road back to where new york can once again boasts that it has one of the most vibrant restaurant scenes in the world. tom brook, bbc news, new york. in an auspicious start to the lunar— in an auspicious start to the lunar new— in an auspicious start to the lunar new year, the chinese space agency has released footage that shows mars. after six and a halfjourney through space, —— six and half month journey through space, they released footage. the footage shows the spherical outline of mars and even the moon of fritos on its surface. for

everyone celebrating, a happy year of the 0x. you can get hold of me on twitter. hello there. for most of us, this week is going to feel bitterly cold. that's because we'll have very strong winds. it's going to be windy, pretty much both saturday and sunday. but by the end of the weekend, we'll start to see some milder air making inroads, particularly across more western parts. but we start this morning off on a settled and bright note across eastern areas. windy and very cold, mind you. further west, for northern ireland, some disruptive snow to move in through the morning period. accumulations up to 5—10 cm and that snow will be blowing around and the strong winds drifting in places. the snow will then slowly move eastwards, affecting western parts of scotland, into wales and the southwest of england, but it won't reach central or eastern areas so, here, it'll stay dry, but cloud cover will move in again in the afternoon, so it will turn a bit grey.

a very windy, gusty day for all areas. factor in those strong winds with these sorts of temperatures, then it's going to feel bitterly cold wherever you are. these are the feel—like temperatures. it could feel even like —10 celsius across some spots of the east. so, a very cold day to come. as we move through saturday night, it stays windy and cold. there will be further rain, sleet and snow across northern and western areas. signs of something a little less cold just pushing into the far west of the country, but central and eastern areas, another very cold night especially when you factor in the wind. as we head into sunday, we've got a fresh tangle of weather fronts, bringing more rain, and it will be of rain because here, the milder air will start to make inroads. gradually, it will reach eastern areas, but it will take its time. sunday, a bit of an east—west divide with temperatures very cold across the east, and any rain moving across northern and eastern areas falling on frozen services is likely to cause a significant risk of ice.

beware of that. through sunday, it looks like it'll be rather cloudy for most areas, outbreaks of rain pushing into northern and western areas. some heavy across western hills. we'll see gales developing around irish sea coasts through the north channel and across western scotland, but a windy day wherever you are. signs of something much milder pushing into the west, double figure values. still quite cold across the east and southeast. as we head into the new week, that mild air wins out. double figures for all areas. it won't be completely settled. there will be some rain at times for some of us and nights will be much milder.

this is bbc news. a reminder of our headlines. lawyers for donald trump and his appeasement trial have concluded their defence. they say the accusation that the former president incited an insurrection was a monstrous live. they save prosecutors have failed to directly connect the actions of the rioters to mr trump. the actions of the rioters to mrtrump. russian the actions of the rioters to mr trump. russian opposition leader alexei navalny has been in court again to face allegations that he defamed a second world war veteran, something he denies. police have been targeting opposition activists across russia and critics of the kremlin have been put under pressure. there been put under pressure. there been marked protest against the military coup in myanmar. more than 326 people have reportedly been detained since the coup.