earlier i was joined from th white house by our north america editor jon sopel, who was in today's briefingre the sanctions goi do? jon: well, if you look at venezuelan oil exports, the last rigors i saw showed that 41% of their oil exports came to the united states. effect, steven mnuchin, the treasury secretary, has more or less said they will stop now. they will have to close bank accounts. that will have a huge impact on the venezuelan economy, the state-owned oil industry. what you are seeing america doing is this concerted move --h e has not been a briefing at the white house for over a month. today they came, the treasury secretary, the national security adviser, to say that we are turning up the heat on the maduro government. they must make waÓor juan guai, the person they want to take over. he is currely recognized as e interim president. the americans are increasing the pressure. jane: you asked them whether or not the sanctions were having any effect and whether we were seeing cracks in the military. at was their reaction? jon: wl, i also asked about whether they had noticed ther

our north america editor jon sopel reports on another eventful day in u.s. politics. riday morning, and the extraordinary sight main domestic airport in new york at a virtual standstill. the government shutdown meaning there were not enough air traffic controllers to keep planes flying safely. day 35 of the longest shutdown in historyand 800,000 workers were missing another payday. but today, howevpo he sought to ray it otherwise, the president caved. pres. trump: i'm very proud to announce today that we have reached a deal to end the shutdown and reopen the fe government. jon: the shutdown was triggered en the president said unless there was $5 billion for his border wall, he would keep the government closed indefinitely.h thsaid he wanted a down payment. but now the federal government will reopen without a cent b havingeen pledged. as millions were affected and food lines grew, the pressure piled up on the president. polls showed he was overwhelmingly being blamed for the shutdown. rep. pelosi: disagreement on poncy should never be a rea to shut down the government,

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.r more on the political upheaval inside venezuela i spoke a short time ago to our venezuela correspondent who is in caracas. i started by asking what the tmood wight. reporter: well, there is a general view that yesterday might have been an historic day for the country. the day after, it seems to be ad etween hope and uncertainty. some venezuelans hope that this is the first step for a better future, but some are rather mor skeptical ar that this 'ill lead to new bloodshed, which this coun's history is rife with. laura: how important is it for aiesident maduro that he r the support of the military who helped him put down the last uprising? guillermo: well, the military has become crucial in this country, andt has been like this for years. this country has a long tradition of coup d'États, and the current regime, current political system, the bolivar revolution was founded by hugo chavez. nicolas maduro is his successor. in this context he has faced a lot of problems and the problem are

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.to other european leaders, and meeting members of her cabinet, to discuss the future of her brexit plans, which were overwhelmingly rejected by mps earlier this week. mrs may is due to present new proposals to parliament on monday. our political correspondent ben wright reports. mr gove, are you confident of getting a brexit deal toshare theiradvice... , , who has a brexit deal the house of commons hates and the eu insists cannot be changed. just got to get into a car. tight lipped, but for brexiteers, some red lines on trade must stay. i don't believe we could have an independent trade policy if we stayed in a customs union and the reason for that is, in a customs union, with the european union, we would have to apply european trade law, without having a say in how it's made. he's happy to sign agreements with australia, but he won't sign up to a customs union compromise that might lead to cross—party support in parliament for a new deal. but if there is no deal, there are no trade ag

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.ries in the world. but a collapse in oil prices and economic mismanagement has left much of the population desperately poor. the country's inflation is predicted to reach 10,000,000% this year. basic goods and food are in short supply. our correspondent vladimir hernandez has been following the crisis in venezuela and has this report. the clean up the day after. when there is chaos at a political level, it is normally followed by chaos on the streets. at least a dozen people we re the streets. at least a dozen people were killed in anti—government protests yesterday. many more, like jesus, were injured. lie last night, a battle broke out between armed local boys on the security forces. they came into the slum and people started shouting at them, saying things like, do you not struggle to get food, too? translation: it was horrible, there were bullets fired, rubber bullets as well, waves of people coming and going. but what is really going on in this country? i have been several times i

our north america editor jon sopel has this report. st night in caracas, like lot of recent nights in the venezuelan capital, gunfire, tolence, protests against government, a cycle seemingly nomy of end as the e this oil-rich country collapses. but there was one crucial difference -- it came after mass rallies as the leader of the national assembly, 35-ar-old juan guaidÓ, declared himself interim president, as thousandsk too the streets, a move that got immediate backing from the americans and demands that nicolas maduro, who presided over venezuela's economic collapse, step aside. pompeo: the regime of nicolas maduro is illegitite. his regime is morally bankrupt. economically incompetent. and it is profoundly corrupt. in light of these facts, we call on venezuelan security forces to ensurehe protection of interim president guaidÓ's physical integrity and safety. jon: other latin american countries have followed suit. so, too, canada, and britain as well with the foreign cretary in washington. >> this regime has done untold damage to th

let's bring in our north america editor, jon sopel.'t just it wasn'tjust non—isis, also on north korea. mr trump is said the new killer is the is positive, they said, not so fast. why are we seeing this discrepancy about the intelligence chiefs and what donald trump says? because donald trump doesn't trust his intelligence chiefs, never has done. two years ago you were able to save these were leftovers of the obama administration, representatives of the deep state, but these are his appointments. these are of the republicans that he trusts to run the cia, fbi and national intelligence. they didn't mention his policies, but one by one they demolished his position on north korea, they questioned his position on iran and questioned his position on iran and questioned his position on isis. for all of those reasons, most intelligence chiefs are out in the polar vortex for the rest of the day. one thing they didn't talk about is a national security threat was the border with mexico. in some ways, that was the most significant. donald trump h

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.iwe will hear more about roger stone's arrest in a minute, but first let's get the latest about the temporary end to the government shutdown. i spoke a while ago with our political analyst ron christie. 35 days. what do you think changed the game? ron: two game changers, rajini. good evening to you. number one was the secretary of commerce, a billionaire, making the flip comment about people who are out of work can borrow money and find other ways to survive. i a think it caoss as being very insensitive. number two, we saw six republican senators joined theat demolast night in an attempt to reopen the government. i think the president felt the pressure was coming on him. yhese senators were from j electoral states. he thought he would find a solution with the democrats to get more wiggle room. rajini: you say for now becauseo this solution y a three-week one so we could be in the same situation in february. ron: correct, although i don't e president, having gone through the five days o

many thanks for the update, jon sopel at the white house.g order. it comes after a crackdown by security forces on anti—government protesters, following a sharp rise in fuel prices more than a week ago. the country's human rights commission has accused the army of using systematic torture. the bbc has obtained footage showing government troops assaulting civilians in the capital, as our correspondent andrew harding reports from harare. exclusive footage of zimba bwe's rampaging army. soldiers have parked their trunk beside a busy road in harare. through the trees, you can see a man on the ground and a soldier dragging, kicking and whipping him. we're told there are 30 civilians being beaten here over a two—hour period. one makes a run for it. and here's another who finally got away. we met tatenda yesterday, soon after his ordeal and still in agony. today, we went to the spot where the soldiers had rounded up their victims — a busy bus station. again, the army patrolling here. they're everywhere right now, but why?

our north america editor jon sopel reports.st won't go away — the president and russia — and the most serious allegations to date about his attempts to hide the efforts the trump organization was making to build a trump tower in moscowjust before the election. after donald trump became president, his then personal lawyer michael cohen went before congress and said under oath that the plan was scrapped in january 2016. that wasn't true, and a lie that earned him time injail. but according to a detailed buzzfeed report, the lie wasn't his idea. the special counsel's office learned about trump's directive for cohen to lie to congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the trump organization and internal company e—mails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. and the report goes on. the president's current personal attorney, rudy giuliani, has categorically denied this. the white house has been more circumspect. this isjust another in a long line of ridiculous charges without any corroboration or credibility wh

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.s other news: rescue workers in southern spain are preparing to dig a vertical tunnel in an effort to reach a two—year—old boy who has been trapped in a deep well since sunday. the child fell into the well, which is just 25 centimetres wide and 100 metres deep, as his family walked through a private estate near malaga. the family suffered another trauma in 2017 when their three—year—old son died suddenly while walking along a nearby beach. thousands of poles have taken part in a procession following the coffin of pawel adamowicz. the 53—year—old mayor of gdansk died after being stabbed at a concert hundreds more central american migrants have crossed into mexico i they are joining the caravan that is heading towards the us border. most come from honduras, and say they are escaping poverty and gang—related violence. hundreds of central american migrants who arrived at the us the british prime minister, theresa may, has been meeting members of her cabinet to discuss how to move the brexi

here's our north america editor, jon sopel.in caracas, and, much like a lot of recent nights in the venezuelan capital, gunfire, violence, protests against the government. a cycle seemingly without end as the economy of this oil—rich country collapses. but there was one crucial difference. it came after mass rallies as the leader of the national assembly, 35—year—old juan guaido, declared himself the interim president as thousands took to the streets — a move that brought immediate backing from the americans and demands that nicolas maduro, who has presided over venezuela's economic collapse, steps aside. the regime of former president nicolas maduro is illegitimate. his regime is morally bankrupt. it is economically incompetent and it is profoundly corrupt. in light of these facts, we call on venezuela's security forces to ensure the protection of interim president guaido‘s physical integrity and his safety. a number of other latin american countries have followed suit, so too canada. and britain as well, with the foreign secr

our north america editor jon sopel has this report. caracas, and, much like a lot of recent nights in the venezuelan capital, gunfire, violence, protests against the government. oil—rich country collapses. but there was one crucial difference. it came after mass rallies as the leader of the national assembly, 35—year—old juan guaido, declared himself the interim president as thousands took to the streets — a move that brought immediate backing from the americans and demands that nicolas maduro, who has presided over venezuela's economic collapse, steps aside. the regime of former president nicolas maduro is illegitimate. his regime is morally bankrupt. it is economically incompetent and it is profoundly corrupt. in light of these facts, we call on venezuela's security forces to ensure the protection of interim president guaido‘s physical integrity and his safety. a number of other latin american countries have followed suit, so too canada. and britain as well, with the foreign secretary in washington today. this regime has done untold

jon sopel in washington, thank you.f hodeida have dealt a fresh blow to the fragile truce that's been in place since last month. the ceasefire agreed between houthi rebels and government forces backed by saudi arabia and western allies has allowed some much—needed aid into the country. the un says 80% of yemen's population are in need of assistance. but some of the more remote areas have yet to receive any aid at all. a bbc team travelled to one such village, raymah, that's had no outside help since the war began four years ago. nawal al maghafi reports. in the mountains of yemen, villages like raymah are sheltered from the war. but not its consequences. aid agencies can no longer reach these remote areas, and all government funding has stopped. 16—year—old samar is one of many children who have been forced to leave school in order to earn a little money to survive. she's carrying rice and flour to a local village. translation: i want to live like the other girls. they get provided for, they get to rest. the money samar

here's our north america editor, jon sopel. the president and russia — and the most serious allegations to date about his attempts to hide the efforts the trump 0rganisation was making to build a trump tower in moscowjust before the election. after donald trump became president, his then personal lawyer michael cohen went before congress and said on oath that the plan was scrapped in january 2016. that wasn't true and a lie that earned him time injail. but, according to a detailed buzzfeed report, the lie wasn't his idea. the special counsel's office learned about trump's directive for cohen to lie to congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the trump organisation and internal company e—mails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. and the report goes on... the president personally instructed him to lie, by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did in order to obscure trump's involvement. the president's current personal attorney rudy giuliani has categorically denied this. t

our north america editor jon sopel has this report. nights in the venezuelan capital, gunfire, violence, protests against the government. a cycle seemingly without end as the economy of this oil—rich country collapses. but there was one crucial difference. and demands that nicolas maduro, who has presided over venezuela's economic collapse, steps aside. the regime of former president nicolas maduro is illegitimate. his regime is morally bankrupt. it is economically incompetent and it is profoundly corrupt. in light of these facts, we call on venezuela's security forces to ensure the protection of interim president guaido's physical integrity and his safety. a number of other latin american countries have followed suit, so too canada. and britain as well, with the foreign secretary in washington today. this regime has done untold damage to the people of venezuela. 10% of that population have left venezuela, such is the misery they are suffering. but in venezuela, defiance from the president. translation: various no doubt in the world th

jon sopel, bbc news. oil reserves, venezuela should be one of the world's richest countries. but a collapse in oil prices and a series of economic missteps have left much of the population desperately poor. food and basic goods are in short supply and inflation is predicted to reach 10 million per cent this year. our correspondent vladimir hernandez has been following the crisis in venezuela for some time. the clean up the day after. when there is chaos at a political level, that is normally followed by chaos on the streets. at least a dozen people were killed in anti—government protests yesterday. many more, likejesus, were injured. translation: last night, a battle broke out between armed local boys and the security forces. they came into the slum and people started shouting at them, telling them things like, "do you not struggle to get food, too?" translation: it was horrible. there were bullets fired, and rubber bullets, too, over here and there, waves of people coming and going. but what is really go

our north america editor, jon sopel, is in washington. what is going on?ligence chief of the usa contradicting the president on the threat of isis, on iran, on north korea and on russia as well and that has brought the blast from donald trump that they are naive and should go back to school. these people other people donald trump selected to be his intelligence chiefs. almost more significant was what they did not say. they did not talk about the southern border, where donald trump wants to build a wall. the president is thinking about declaring a state of emergency. that would be challenged legally because they say it is exceeding presidential power. if he is challenged legally, you can be sure that those opposing it will say that if it is such a national emergency, why did none of your intelligence chiefs raise it? many thanks. councils in england are drastically overspending on their budgets for supporting children and young people with special needs. according to figures obtained by the bbc, councils across england have overspent by more than £321; mil

i think that isjon sopel‘s house. jon sopel lives two doors up and he was shaming you on twitter lastht feel it was tied toa——a somebody, you might feel it was tied toa ——atad somebody, you might feel it was tied to a —— a tad vacuous but for every bad egg on the internet there is a good one. meet prince ea, who makes videos on worklife balance and one of his latest videos has people talking on line, including katty‘s daughter poppy. it's about the education system, if she's talking about it we thought we should talk about it we thought we should talk about it. what is school for? feel free to call me slow but i spent 16 years going to school and i still don't know. i didn't know how to do my taxes, buy a home, don't know. i didn't know how to do my taxes, buya home, i don't know. i didn't know how to do my taxes, buy a home, i didn't know about investments, building credit for getting the job. i graduated top of my class and all i had with this fa ncy of my class and all i had with this fancy diploma to sit at home with. this prompted a discussion, we had 1113 —year—old girls in at t

you don't agree with jon more credit than he is getting. you don't agree withjon sopelstakenly give the public a little too much and potentially walk back, but yeah, i think we should give him a bit more credit than he is getting. you don't agree with jon more credit than he is getting. you don't agree withjon sopel, who says, iam don't agree withjon sopel, who says, i am he said don't agree withjon sopel, who says, iam he said i don't agree withjon sopel, who says, i am he said i am giving you a fa ct says, i am he said i am giving you a fact you don't know now, that has been his pattern, gets out in fronts of things and he seems to mistakenly give the public a little too much and potentially walk back, but yeah, i think we should give him a bit more credit than he is getting. you don't agree with jon more credit than he is getting. you don't agree withjon sopel, who says, iam don't agree withjon sopel, who says, i am reading don't agree withjon sopel, who says, iam reading his don't agree withjon sopel, who says, i am reading his tweet "either rude yes the world's mos

nigh—e 5; our north america editor, jon sopel, has more.teur, flamboyant, lifelong republican operative, specialist in dirty tricks, youthful aide to richard nixon, long—time friend and adviser to donald trump. i he emerged the very picture motivated investigation, motivations of the prosecutars is no circumstance whatsoever under which i will bear false witness at against the president, i'ioi’ witness at against the president, nor will i make up. to ease the witness at against the president, nor will i me myself. 7“! kw; thi - , .. his indictment; containing—details of text messages he had sent which read as though they were taken from godfather or the sopranos, to one he says... the indictment alleges that roger stone was the key conduit between russia, julian assange‘s wikilea ks and the release of thousands of stolen e—mails from the democrat national committee, deeply damaging to the campaign of hillary clinton. throughout 2016, stone was an ever hasn't figure. in donald trump, they see somebody who gets things done, talks straight,