welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. 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 weeks of protests, alexei navalny appearing in court again to face allegations that he defamed a second world war veteran. protests in myanmar as the un passes a resolution deploring the military coup and calling for the immediate release of aung san suu kyi. justin timberlake apologises to britney spears after a new documentary focuses on how he treated her after their relationship.

hello, welcome to the programme. senators in the united states are expected to vote later in the second impeachment trial of former president donald trump. lawyers representing mr trump have accused democrats of using the proceedings to settle political scores and said the charge of incitement to insurrection relating to the right of the us capitol was a monstrous lie. barbara plett usher reports from capitol hill. donald trump told his supporters to fight like hell. but did he really mean it?— mean it? nothing in the text could ever — mean it? nothing in the text could ever be _ mean it? nothing in the text could ever be construed - mean it? nothing in the text could ever be construed as l could ever be construed as encouraging, condoning, or enticing unlawful activity of

any kind. {iii enticing unlawful activity of any kind-— enticing unlawful activity of an kind. , ., any kind. of course he did not, his lawyers _ any kind. of course he did not, his lawyers argued, _ any kind. of course he did not, his lawyers argued, in - any kind. of course he did not, his lawyers argued, in a - his lawyers argued, in a combative brief defence. this was ordinary clinical rhetoric. to make its point of the defence produced a selectively edited video of democrats offering the same words. fight that fight- _ offering the same words. fight that fight- i — offering the same words. fight that fight. i was _ offering the same words. fight that fight. i was fighting - offering the same words. fight that fight. i was fighting very l that fight. i was fighting very hard. that fight. i was fighting very hard- time — that fight. i was fighting very hard. time is _ that fight. i was fighting very hard. time is of _ that fight. i was fighting very hard. time is of the - that fight. i was fighting very hard. time is of the essence | hard. time is of the essence both in terms _ hard. time is of the essence both in terms of— hard. time is of the essence both in terms of the - hard. time is of the essence both in terms of the five... l both in terms of the five... there — both in terms of the five... there was_ both in terms of the five... there was no _ both in terms of the five... there was no attempt - both in terms of the five... there was no attempt to l both in terms of the five... . there was no attempt to play down the horror of the violence, but mr trump's lawyers argued that those responsible had hijacked the event for their own purposes. the fact that the attacks were apparently premeditated, as alleged by the house managers, demonstrates the ludicrous nurse of the incitement allegation against the president. you can't insight what was already going to happen. what was already going to ha en. , . what was already going to ha . en, , ., , what was already going to ha..en_ , ., , happen. instead, they accused democrats _ happen. instead, they accused democrats of _ happen. instead, they accused democrats of a _ happen. instead, they accused democrats of a politically - democrats of a politically motivated witch—hunt, the climax of years of trying to drive mr trump from office. mr

heinrich, _ drive mr trump from office. iii heinrich, mr hickenlooper, drive mr trump from office. m heinrich, mr hickenlooper, mr hickenlooper, ms barone no. the defence was _ hickenlooper, ms barone no. the defence was performing for an audience of one and he will almost certainly be acquitted in a vote later today. the shortest impeachment trial in us history. if there's one thing clear it's that both sides want this finished as soon as possible. and on one other thing they could agree. officer goodman, thank you. applause . the courage of a police officer who protected them from the dangers that crossed party lines that day. barbara plett usher, bbc news, washington. political scientist doctor lauren rowe says trump's defence lawyers could have used stronger arguments. defence lawyers could have used strongerarguments. it defence lawyers could have used stronger arguments.— stronger arguments. it was very scattershot- — stronger arguments. it was very scattershot. that _ stronger arguments. it was very scattershot. that is _ stronger arguments. it was very scattershot. that is not - stronger arguments. it was very scattershot. that is not to - stronger arguments. it was very scattershot. that is not to say i scattershot. that is not to say there aren't some cleaner, more straightforward arguments that

trump's legal team could have made. they could have taken said chris's advice, perhaps, and constantly with the argument that we should treat this as a legal proceeding and the standards should be the legal definition of incitement, which is a high bar. they could have made the argument that it is impossible to prove, that in trump's absence the attack on the capitol would not have happened. they don't happen to agree with those arguments, but the point is those aren't being made in a clearfashion because the defence team here is not they team. there are many extremely talented conservative lawyers and constitutional experts to choose from, but they believe that there's a conservative case that not only can trump the impeached, but he should be. if you believe in medicine in government, checks and balances, and the reservation of the constitution, it's very hard to argue against that and that's

why conservative scholarly consensus looks the way it does. �* , , does. but briefly, the job here does. but briefly, the 'ob here of the defence h does. but briefly, the 'ob here of the defence team _ does. but briefly, the job here of the defence team was - of the defence team was essentially not to do anything major because they know, mathematically, they've got the numbers anyway. mathematically, they've got the numbers anyway-— numbers anyway. right. and that's pretty _ numbers anyway. right. and that's pretty pathetic - numbers anyway. right. and that's pretty pathetic and - that's pretty pathetic and politically i think we are seeing the self immolation of the republican party. this is not good for them politically or from a small not good for them politically orfrom a small d not good for them politically or from a small d democratic perspective of our country. so that standard will be embarrassing, i think, that standard will be embarrassing, ithink, going forward in history, perhaps for the defence team but more importantly for the republican senators who you noted are very likely to acquit the president tomorrow. likely to acquit the president tomorrow— likely to acquit the president tomorrow. ., ., ., tomorrow. our thanks to lauren riht tomorrow. our thanks to lauren right there- _ in russia, the opposition leader alexei navalny has been in court again 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 that is widely seen as politically motivated. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg travelled to vladivostok to see how critics of the kremlin there are being put under pressure. 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. blogger gennady shulga had livestreamed 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 is 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's little chance of a thaw in relations with america and europe. russia is facing the prospect of growing isolation. steve rosenberg, bbc news, vladivostok. he 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 have been arbitrarily detained. hundreds of thousands of people are protesting in cities around the country for a seventh day,

also calling for her release. more than 300 people are reported to have been detained in the days since the coup, according to one monitoring group. john sifton, the asia advocacy director at human rights watch says more needs to be done on an international level. it is time for the international community to really step up. i mean, 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, but it is not enough. what the myanmar military needs to see right now is coordinated international responses from the european union, united kingdom, the us, japan, south korea and others, all saying that there are going to be tough economic sanctions placed on the military leadership if they don't release political prisoners and restore civilian rule. ok, how confident are

you that those economic sanctions on those individuals in the military will make a difference? we are confident they will make a difference if they are done in a coordinated way. the united states has gone ahead and made their designations, and they have more to come. the european union leadership meets on 22 february and we hope they will also impose sanctions. but ultimately, what needs to happen is that concerned governments need to tell the corporations and banks that do business with the military leadership that they have to cut those ties and seize funds that go to the myanmar military, because it's only financial persuasion, not moral persuasion, that will work. ok — i just wonder what your thoughts are on the immediate future, as in the days ahead. how much longer do you think the military there will put up with these protests on the street? how does this end? well, the hope is that the military will realise that they have miscalculated —

that they have miscalculated the people of myanmar and they've miscalculated the international response — and they will backtrack. but 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, the hundreds of thousands of people. if they stand by them and show that they are serious about imposing coordinated and tough economic sanctions on the military — not the government, not the country, but the military leaders... inaudible - then you will see perhaps backtracking and potentially a restoration of democratic rule. just lastly and just briefly, we have seen the protesters on the streets — of course, huge courage and bravery from them. how much a risk, how much danger are they in? there's 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. 2007 also.

but we are also concerned about night—time arrests 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. thanks to john sifton thanks tojohn sifton there. stay with us on bbc news. the headlines. donald trump's events team has concluded its case in his defence trial calling the claim 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. the white helmets are a civil

defence force who work in syria. they normally used to rescuing people from bombed out buildings but they had quite a different mission this week, as mark lobel reports. searching for the four—year—old sumaya. hours after rescuers say she fell down this well while playing with her cousin. "i've got you! i've got you," white helmet member assaf says. and then the dash to daylight. now checking her hand is ok, saying not to be scared, but sumaya's mind is on searching for her doll. then assaf calls out for rope as sumaya calls out for her mother.

preparing for the final hoist to freedom. then it's all systems go. the white helmets now happy to report brave sumaya is feeling fine and uninjured, with quite a story to tell. mark lobel, bbc news. some of the day's other news. british human rights lawyer khan has been elect to be the new chief prosecutor of the international criminal court. he won a second round of voting at the united nations in new york and had support from 72 nations. the former head of the european central bank mario draghi was formally, agree to formally form a government in italy, making up his cabinet of technocrats and ex— politicians

to cover a full swathe of the political spectrum. to cover a full swathe of the politicalspectrum. for to cover a full swathe of the political spectrum. for years, one of south africa's great tourist attractions has been the opportunity to see up close one of the world's most fearsome predators, great white shark. but barely a single great white has been spotted off the coast of cape town for two years now where once they used to be hundreds. so what is going on? andrew harding has been investigating. ona on a hillside overlooking the bay, shock spotters are keeping a close watch on the waves. after all, this coastline near cape town has long been home to hundreds if not thousands of the world's most famous predators —— shark spotters. until now. africa's south great white sharks, the stuff of nightmares and of nature documentaries, have gone mysteriously missing. wherever ou o, if mysteriously missing. wherever you go. if you — mysteriously missing. wherever you go. if you put _ mysteriously missing. wherever

you go, if you put your- mysteriously missing. wherever you go, if you put your feet - you go, if you put yourfeet into the water you expect to encounter a shark. but that is not the case anymore. i don't even remember the last time i saw a shark. even remember the last time i saw a shark-— even remember the last time i | saw a shark._ none saw a shark. none at all? none at all, saw a shark. none at all? none at all. none _ saw a shark. none at all? none at all, none in _ saw a shark. none at all? none at all, none in falls _ saw a shark. none at all? none at all, none in falls bay. - saw a shark. none at all? none at all, none in falls bay. it - at all, none in falls bay. it is two years now since they vanished and the economic impact has been devastating. great white tourism has collapsed. great white tourism has collased. ., ., , ., collapsed. unfortunately we are suffering a _ collapsed. unfortunately we are suffering a lot. _ collapsed. unfortunately we are suffering a lot. it _ collapsed. unfortunately we are suffering a lot. it is _ collapsed. unfortunately we are suffering a lot. it is very, - suffering a lot. it is very, very difficult times.- suffering a lot. it is very, very difficult times. for the whole town. _ very difficult times. for the whole town. the _ very difficult times. for the whole town. the whole - very difficult times. for the l whole town. the whole town, es. whole town. the whole town, yes- the _ whole town. the whole town, yes. the whole _ whole town. the whole town, yes. the whole industry. - whole town. the whole town, yes. the whole industry. it i whole town. the whole town, yes. the whole industry. it is| yes. the whole industry. it is really, really sad. we - yes. the whole industry. it is really, really sad. we miss i really, really sad. we miss these sharks a lot. but really, really sad. we miss these sharks a lot. but why do these sharks a lot. but why do they disappear? _ these sharks a lot. but why do they disappear? this - these sharks a lot. but why do they disappear? this amateur| they disappear? this amateur footage shows the arrival of two suspects, a pair of orchids, killerwhales. two suspects, a pair of orchids, killer whales. they have scared off all of those great whites.— have scared off all of those reat whites. ., .., , ., , great whites. -- orcas. for us, the arrival— great whites. -- orcas. for us, the arrival of _ the arrival of these orcas and the shark activity appears to

be correlated and it appears the orcas arrive and the sharks are aware they are not the apex predator anymore. but are aware they are not the apex predator anymore.— predator anymore. but another theo , predator anymore. but another theory. local — predator anymore. but another theory, local fishermen - predator anymore. but another theory, localfishermen have i theory, localfishermen have been catching smaller sharks to export to fish and chip shops in australia. those sharks formed part of the great white's diet. this quite simply meant that the bulk of their food was no longer available in falls bay so logic tells you if your food falls bay so logic tells you if yourfood is not available here yourfood is not available here you go look elsewhere and that is what a lot of us believe is what has happened. but others see a more detective crime —— are more difficult crime scene. doctor sarah andreotti used to study the sharks but now is using a harpoon to scrape dna from smaller species. haifa using a harpoon to scrape dna from smaller species.- from smaller species. now we have to collect _ from smaller species. now we have to collect this. _ from smaller species. now we have to collect this. very - have to collect this. very carefully. have to collect this. very carefully-— have to collect this. very carefully. have to collect this. very carefull . , ., carefully. her view is that the treat carefully. her view is that the great white — carefully. her view is that the great white population - carefully. her view is that the great white population has i carefully. her view is that the i great white population has been shrinking unnoticed for many

years because of climate change, pollution, overfishing, a range of human activities. it is notjust frustrating, it is the feeling that it happened under a watch, you know? we saw the sharks, this all the numbers were not great. and the work we did was not enough to get them the environment that they are protected in, in a way, or maybe it was too late. her conclusion is that the great whites did not move elsewhere. they simply died out. their turf taken over by these copper sharks. plenty of beautiful sharks down here but no great whites. none at all. and so many theories about why they may have disappeared but they may have disappeared but the real fear is that they may have gone for good. perhaps,

but nothing in this great white mystery is certain. except the knowledge that we humans are, as usual, prime suspects. andrew harding, bbc news, south africa. justin timberla ke has apologised 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 installation —— on instagram, he said i specifically want to apologise to britney spears and janice jackson individually because i care for and respect these women and i know i failed. i spoke to the celebrity plotter and media personality progress hilton and asked for his response —— perez.

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 perceived 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, i 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. our thanks to perez hilton. a quick reminder of our top story and senators in the united states are expected to vote later in the second impeachment trial of former president donald trump. that's it. i'll be back with the headlines in a

couple of minutes. let me online anytime on twitter. before get me. i'm lewis vaughanjones. this is bbc news. hello there. for most of us, this weekend 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—10cm 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 here through 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. now, 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 — particularly when you factor in the wind. now, as we head on into sunday, we've got a fresh tangle of weatherfronts pushing in, bringing more rain, and it will be of rain because here, the milder air will start to make inroads and gradually, it will reach eastern areas, but it will take its time to reach the east of the country. so 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 surfaces is likely to cause a significant risk of ice, so just beware of that.

through sunday, though, it looks like it'll be rather cloudy for most areas. areas, some heavy across western hills. and 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 here. still quite cold though across the east and the south—east. but as we head into the new week, that mild air wins out. you can see 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. he

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 again to face allegations he defamed a second world war veteran, something he denies. in recent days police have been targeting opposition activists across russia 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.