welcome to bbc news, our top stories. donald trump's defence team concludes its case in his impeachment trial, denying mr trump incited an insurrection and accusing the democrats of waging a campaign of retribution. russia cracks down after any —— after weeks of protests, alexei navalny appearing in court again to face allegations that he defamed a second world war veteran. a dramatic rescue in syria after a four year old girl apparently falls down a dry well. protests in myanmar as the un passes a resolution deploring the military coup and calling for the immediate

release of suu kyi. justin timberlake apologises to timberla ke apologises to britney timberlake apologises to britney spears after a new documentary focuses on how he treated her after their relationship.— treated her after their relationshi. g , , relationship. my first response was he did _ relationship. my first response was he did not _ relationship. my first response was he did not write _ relationship. my first response was he did not write this - was he did not write this because it was note for note in my opinion, perfect. hello, welcome to the programme. starting in washington and the impeachment trial of donald trump. his lawyers accused the democratic party of waging a campaign of retribution against the former president. finish the defence case in a matter of hours, denying that mr trump provoked the deadly assault on the capital last month. they also say his speech that day was protected under the us constitution. 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 any more. begin 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! sing-song tone: 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 that 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. doctor lauren wright is from princeton university in new jersey. thank you for coming on the programme.— the programme. thank you for havin: the programme. thank you for having me- — the programme. thank you for having me. what _ the programme. thank you for having me. what do _ the programme. thank you for having me. what do you - the programme. thank you for having me. what do you make| the programme. thank you for i having me. what do you make of the defence _ having me. what do you make of the defence put _ having me. what do you make of the defence put forward - having me. what do you make of the defence put forward of - the defence put forward of donald trump here? the political _ donald trump here? the political retribution - donald trump here? tue: political retribution argument is particularly curious to me

because honestly, if wejust looking at this from a pure political standpoint, democrats would love nothing more than four donald trump to run again in 202a. i mean, he lost even before the insurrection that he incited and he will not do well next time. in incited and he will not do well next time-— next time. in addition to that document — next time. in addition to that document crosstalk. - next time. in addition to that document crosstalk. sorry| next time. in addition to that i document crosstalk. sorry for jumping in so soon but more than 70 million people voted for him this time.— for him this time. yes, and next time. _ for him this time. yes, and next time, you _ for him this time. yes, and next time, you know, - for him this time. yes, and next time, you know, he i for him this time. yes, and i next time, you know, he will not only have the failure of the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of other controversial things he did during his presidency, and policy failures, but now stood passively by at best and incited at worst an attack on his own government, that will not sit well with most people, as polls are already indicating.- as polls are already indicating. as polls are already indicatinu. . ~ ., , indicating. 0k, back to his defence — indicating. 0k, back to his defence then _ indicating. 0k, back to his defence then that - indicating. 0k, back to his defence then that we - indicating. 0k, back to hisj defence then that we were outlining today, what did you make of it? t

outlining today, what did you make of it?— make of it? i thought it was very scattershot _ make of it? i thought it was very scattershot and - make of it? i thought it was very scattershot and that i make of it? i thought it was very scattershot and that is| very scattershot and that is not to say there are not some cleaner, more straightforward arguments that strong's legal team could have made. they could have taken ted cruz�*s advice perhaps and gone strictly with the argument that we should treat this as a legal proceeding and the standard should be the legal definition of an incitement which is a high bar. they could have made the argument it is impossible to prove in trumpet�*s absence the attack on the capital would not have happened. i don't happen to agree with those arguments but the point is those are not being made in a clearfashion because those are not being made in a clear fashion because the defence team here is not the a team. there are many extremely talented conservative lawyers and constitutional experts to choose from but they believe there is a conservative case that not only can trumpet be impeached but they should be, if you believe in matters only in government, checks and

balances, and the preservation of the constitution, it is very hard to constitution —— argue against that —— madisonion. that is the way that the argument goes.- that is the way that the argument goes. that is the way that the arc ument noes. .,, ., argument goes. the “0b of the defence team arguably was not to do anything major because they know mathematically they have the numbers.— have the numbers. right, it is re have the numbers. right, it is pretty pathetic— have the numbers. right, it is pretty pathetic and _ have the numbers. right, it is pretty pathetic and politically | pretty pathetic and politically i think we are seeing the self immolation of the republican party. this is not good for them. politically orfrom party. this is not good for them. politically or from a small d democratic perspective for the health of our country. and that low standard i think will be embarrassing going forward in history, perhaps for the defence team but more importantly for the republican senators who you noted are very likely to equip the president tomorrow. likely to equip the president tomorrow— tomorrow. wait to get your take, lauren _ tomorrow. wait to get your take, lauren wright, - tomorrow. wait to get your take, lauren wright, thankj tomorrow. wait to get your - take, lauren wright, thank you. thanks. —— great. she russia, the opposition leader

alexei navalny has been in court to face allegations he defamed a second world war veteran. he denies that. he has already been sentenced to more than 2.5 years in prison in a separate case it is widely seen as politically motivated. steve rosenberg reports. 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 real 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 2.5 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 is carrying out the west's instructions", galina says. "we all know it's the west pulling navalny�*s strings", yulia tells me. "and 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. the latest from myanmar with

the united nations human rights council passing a resolution deploring the military coup in the country and calling for the immediate release of aung san suu kyi. and others who have been arbitrarily detained. hundreds of thousands of people are protesting in cities around myanmar for a seventh day, also calling for her release. than 326 people are reported to have been detained in the days since the coup, according to one monitoring group. the asia advocacy defector at human rights watch joins us now —— director. thank you for coming on the programme. day after day after protests now in myanmar and nothing much seems to have been changing so what do you make of that? fin been changing so what do you make of that?— been changing so what do you make of that? on the eighth day of rotest make of that? on the eighth day of protest starting _ make of that? on the eighth day of protest starting today - make of that? on the eighth day of protest starting today it - make of that? on the eighth day of protest starting today it is - of protest starting today it is time for the international community to really step up. there have been special sessions of the un human rights council, meetings at the un security council, joseph biden in the us has placed sanctions

on the myanmar military and it is not enough. what the myanmar military needs to see right now is co—ordinated international responses from the european union, united kingdom, the us, japan, south korea and others, all saying that they are going to —— there are going to be tough economic sanctions placed on the military leadership if they don't release political prisoners and restore civilian rule. ,, ,, �* prisoners and restore civilian rule. ,, ,, ~ ., _, rule. crosstalk. how confident are ou rule. crosstalk. how confident are you that _ rule. crosstalk. how confident are you that those _ rule. crosstalk. how confident are you that those economic - are you that those economic sanctions on those individuals in the military will make a difference?— in the military will make a difference? ~ ., _, difference? we are confident the will difference? we are confident they will make _ difference? we are confident they will make a _ difference? we are confident they will make a difference l difference? we are confident they will make a difference if they will make a difference if they are done in a co—ordinated way. the united states has gone ahead and made their designations and they have more to come. european union leadership need —— meets on fairbury 22nd and they hope they will also impose sanctions —— february. but the concerned governments need to tell the

corporations and banks who do business with the military leadership that they have to cut those ties and cease funds to force these funds to go to them military because it is only financial persuasion that will work. t only financial persuasion that will work-— only financial persuasion that will work. i wonder what your thou . hts will work. i wonder what your thoughts are _ will work. i wonder what your thoughts are on _ will work. i wonder what your thoughts are on the - will work. i wonder what your i thoughts are on the immediate future is in the days ahead. how much longer do you think the military there will up with these protest on the street? how does this end? the these protest on the street? how does this end? the hope is that the military _ how does this end? the hope is that the military will _ how does this end? the hope is that the military will realise - that the military will realise that the military will realise that they have miscalculated, that they have miscalculated, that they have miscalculated the people of myanmar and miscalculated the international response. and they will backtrack. the only way that will happen is if the international community stands by the people of myanmar. who are protesting for the eighth straight day today. hundreds of thousands of people. if they stand by them and show them they are serious about imposing co—ordinated and tough economic sanctions on the military, not the government, not the country, but the military

leaders inaudible and you will see perhaps backtracking and potentially a restoration of democratic rule.— potentially a restoration of democratic rule. lastly and 'ust democratic rule. lastly and just briefly. _ democratic rule. lastly and just briefly, we _ democratic rule. lastly and just briefly, we have - democratic rule. lastly and just briefly, we have seen i democratic rule. lastly and i just briefly, we have seen the protesters on the streets and of course huge courage and bravery from them. how much a risk, how much danger are they in? , ., ., ., ., in? there is a lot of risk for them because as _ in? there is a lot of risk for them because as many - in? there is a lot of risk for - them because as many viewers may know and back in 1988, the military escalated and conducted a brutal crackdown and killed thousands of protesters in the streets of rangoon and elsewhere and in 2007 also but we are also concerned about night—time arrest of government and dissidents and the hundreds of people who are already in detention who are at risk of mistreatment so there is some very serious concerns and part of the strong international response is that it will perhaps prevent the military from committing further abuses or mistreating the people they have already arrested. we must leave it there, _ have already arrested. we must leave it there, john _ have already arrested. we must leave it there, john sefton, - leave it there, john sefton, thank you.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come: an apology to britney spears. we will tell you why her ex—boyfriend, justin timberlake, her ex—boyfriend, justin timberla ke, has her ex—boyfriend, justin timberlake, has spoken out. 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 havej 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. i'm lewis vaughan jones. the headlines: donald trump's defence team has concluded its case in his impeachment trial, calling the claim that he incited an insurrection a monstrous lie. russian opposition leader alexei navalny has been in court again to face allegations he defamed a second world war veteran — something he denies. next, the white helmets, a civil defence force that works in rebel held areas of syria, normally used to rescuing people from bombed out but the search and rescue is have an

altogether different type of mission this week at a. searching for the four—year—old. hours after rescuers say she fell down this well while playing with her cousin. translation: �* ., , ., cousin. translation: �* ., �* translation: i've got you! i've not ou. translation: i've got you! i've got you- the — translation: i've got you! i've got you. the white _ translation: i've got you! i've got you. the white helmets - translation: i've got you! i've got you. the white helmets is. | got you. the white helmets is. and then the _ got you. the white helmets is. and then the dust _ got you. the white helmets is. and then the dust to _ got you. the white helmets is. and then the dust to daylight. l and then the dust to daylight. now checking her hand is ok, saying not to be scared —— dashon. but her mind is on searching for her doll. then assaf calls out for rope as she calls out for her

mother. preparing for the final waste to freedom. —— hoist. then it is all systems go. the white helmets now happy to report she is feeling fine and uninjured, with quite a story to tell. mark lobel, bbc news. let's get some of the other days news. karen carney is the new chief prosecutor of the international criminal court. the incumbent has ended up under us sanctions. she won on a second round of voting at the united nations in new york with support from 72 nations. doctors in france are treating a critical ill patient in first —— infected with the south african variant of covid four

months after he recovered after covid—19. the authors into the first of its kind. the 58—year—old man, who was admitted to hospital near paris after he initially tested positive for cover 19 september. the former head of the european central bank, mario draghi, has agreed to form a new government in italy. his government will be made up of politicians and fellow technocrats covering a broad swathe of the political spectrum. justin timberlake has apologised to britney spears after a new documentary led to criticism of how he treated her during and after their relationship. he also apologised to janet jackson after failing to support her over their controversial super bowl performance back in 200a. in a statement on instagram, he said:

well, earlier i spoke to the celebrity blogger and media personality perez hilton and asked his response to the apology statement from justin timberlake. my first response was he did not write this. because it was note for note, in my opinion, perfect. he expressed genuine remorse, he expressed accountability, he acknowledged bigger issues at play like misogyny and racism and he vowed to be better and be part of the solution going forward, which is wonderful, because he could have gotten away with saying nothing, like he has in the past. but he chose to speak up and i was happy to hear that. even if a team of crisis pr experts wrote that for him he still signed off on it and maybe he did write it. that's interesting.

just remind our viewers who perhaps weren't, perhaps, following britney spears and justin timberlake and the saga all those years ago, what exactly is justin timberlake apologising for? well, the new documentary that came out recently, framing britney, painted justin timberlake and many others in a not so favourable light. if you remember, in the early 2000s he released a song and music video called cry me a river which depicted the demise of their relationship and it was alleged that britney spears cheated on him. and after that he spoke in ways about her in media interviews that many perceive to be shaming and in less than gentlemanly ways. he also never really came to her defence — ever. so he sees that as a missed opportunity. along the same lines

as janet jackson. if we look back on the super bowl where they performed together, janet and jt, she got the brunt of all of the backlash. after the super bowl, both justin and janet were supposed to perform at the grammy awards, but after the incident they were both cancelled from performing. however, justin went and cried to the head of cbs, according to reports, and he got his spot back on the show, but janet was still not allowed to perform. thatjust goes to show you exactly whatjustin timberlake says in his statement earlier today — that the system is set up so that white men succeed and that women, and especially people of colour, don't get afforded the same privileges or passes as, you know, their white male counterparts do. perez hilton, can i ask about your role in all of this, because this was a time when britney spears,

of course, was huge news and you as a celebrity journalist at the time were accused of going too far and essentially bullying behaviour in your coverage of her. were you part of the problem? absolutely. and i have apologised to britney, publicly throughout the years, as well as privately, and also recently. and thankfully she has been very gracious and accepted my apology and has worked with me several times since then. in 2009 she asked me to be a part of her circus tour. i was in the opening video montage. and then several years later, think it was 2015, i was invited to her vegas concert and she brought me up on stage and chatted with me afterwards and was just so kind. and i think the big take away from all of this is that the world is concerned for her and the world really wants britney to be happy.

well, you've owned your mistakes back then, but of course there were lots and lots of readers and the public, reading what you wrote, are they complicit too? i don't think they were complicit, no. because it was a different time. we are viewing things through a different filter now. and while i hope and i do think the media has gotten somewhat better, i'm not sure if the majority of people have evolved as much as they claimed to. look at kanye west. look at how many — to most people — talk about kanye west on social media when he is having his very public incidents, his episodes, whatever you might call it. they don't often treat kanye with kindness or empathy. 0ur our thanks to perez hilton there. i will be back with the

headlines in a couple of minutes. get me online any time. i'm on twitter at @lvaughanjones. i'm lewis vaughan jones @lvaughanjones. i'm lewis vaughanjones and this is bbc news. bye—bye. 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 south—west 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. the headlines: lawyers acting for donald trump in his us senate impeachment trial have concluded their defence. they say the accusation that former president incited an insurrection was a "monstrous lie". they say prosecutors have failed to directly connect the actions of the rioters to mr trump. russian opposition leader alexei navalny has been in court today to face allegations he defamed a second world war veteran, something he denies. in recent days police have been targeting opposition activists across russia in recent days and critics of the kremlin are being put under pressure. there have been more protests against the military coup in myanmar. the un human rights council has called for the immediate release of aung san suu kyi and others who have been arbitrarily detained. more than 326 people have reportedly been detained since

the coup. now it is time for the week in parliament.