welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: a final farewell to the white house press corps — but barack obama says he will still speak out to defend his "core values". i think we are going to be ok. we have to fight for it and we have to work for it. we cannot take it for granted and i know you will help us do it. troops mass on the border of the gambia — ready to force presidentjammeh to accept electoral defeat and step down. britain's foreign secretary appears to compare the french government to nazis. european leaders say brexit won't be easy. and until very recently a frontline in the syrian civil war, now deathly quiet. we have a special report from the city of aleppo. foreign intervention has transformed this war, and the way it's looking right now, foreigners, not syrians will dictate the way the war ends.

president obama has held his final news conference in the white house — ranging widely from the middle east to chelsea manning's prison sentence to voting rights and beyond. his successor has promised to dismantle his legacy, and barack obama was asked what he'd told his daughters about donald trump's victory. he said "i tell them the only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world. i think we're going to be ok." he wished the press good luck. our north america editor, jon sopel was there. for one last time, barack obama came to the white house briefing room to joust with the press. good afternoon, everybody. but amid reports that his successor wants to limit access and regularly accuses journalists of being dishonest and liars, the outgoing president spoke

of the importance of a strong and free media. you're not supposed to be sycophants, you're supposed to be sceptics. you're supposed to ask me tough questions. you are not supposed to be complimentary but you are supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power. this picture was released today of donald trump preparing his inaugural address. barack obama was asked what advice he would give his successor. on this, he steered a diplomatic course. this is a job of such magnitude that you can't do it by yourself. you are enormously reliant on a team. that's probably the most useful advice, the most constructive advice, that i have been able to give him. and then the final question. come on, mr president, are you really as sanguine as you are saying publicly about donald trump taking over? this is notjust a matter

of no drama obama. this is what i really believe. it is true that behind closed doors i curse more than i do in public. laughter. sometimes i get mad. and frustrated like everybody else does. but at my core, i think we're going to be ok. thank you very much, press corps. good luck. barack obama will spend the next year writing and being around more for michelle and his two daughters. he says he won't be a back seat driver. but he's given this warning, if he sees things that he really doesn't like then he will speak out. it seems that friday won't be the last we see of barack obama. but in the meantime, there's a new home to get ready. moving house is said to be one of life's most stressful experiences. but when you have been president for eight years making life and death decisions, where to hang your favourite picture is probably unlikely to keep you awake at night. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. as washington gears up for friday's

inauguration there was news today that former president george hw bush has been moved to intensive care at a houston hospital. he's 92 and suffering from pneumonia but is said to be in stable condition — a procedure was performed to clear his airway. his wife barbara has also been admitted to the same hospital, as a precaution. she is said to be very fatigued and coughing. troops are massing on the border of the gambia, in west africa, ready to force the president to accept electoral defeat, and step down. his elected successor is due to be inaugurated today, but president yahya jammeh has refused to leave office, and declared a state of emergency. west african leaders have mandated senegal to intervene militarily, if necessary, because the gambia is almost surrounded by its territory. greg dawson has the latest. with their safety under threat many

residents of gambia have decided they have little choice but to abandon their country. more than 45,000 abandon their country. more than 16,000 have now crossed the border into senegal and they are not the only ones who have left. planes have been flown in to pick up tourists, most of them from the uk and the netherlands. it is unnecessary, i think, at the moment but i understand we need to do it. to me it feels a stupid because will all be over within 2a hour was. this crisis centres on one man refusing to buckle to pressure from a regional alliance now surrounding his tiny nation. senegal, nigeria and dana are among the countries who had ordered yahya jammeh to step down as president. he initially conceded defeat in the election last month after 22 years in power during which he faced claims of torture and murdering opponents. but he changed

his mind. the man who defeated him, adama barrow fled to senegal but remains confident he will be sworn in on thursday. our president is a good man. i am in on thursday. our president is a good man. iam president—elect. he will pass to me. he will co—operate. and if he doesn't? we believe that he will co—operate. troops are now gathered along the border and nigeria has sent fighter jets gathered along the border and nigeria has sent fighterjets and a warship to the area. they have asked for permission from the un to intervene now that their deadline for the ruling cushman to power has passed. in the last big effort to president mara tania met the president mara tania met the president and has flown to senegal to talk to the president there. ya hya to talk to the president there. yahya jammeh once said he would leave his country fori billion yea rs. leave his country fori billion years. he now faces being forced from office in the next 2a hours. in other news: at least 50 people have been killed in northern mali in a car bomb attack

on a military base. a vehicle packed with explosives detonated at a camp housing soldiers and members of rival armed groups in the region's main city, gao. a mauritanian news agency, al akhbar, is reporting that the jihadist group al mourabitoun carried out the attack. a prominent mexican environmental activist and indigenous leader — who had been fighting illegal logging — has been shot dead. isidro baldenegro was killed in his home state of chihuahua, in northern mexico, after receiving death threats. he had spent many years in peaceful protests against illegal logging in the sierra madre mountains. m60 million is being committed to the fight against three relatively little—known diseases which which scientists believe could cause the next global health emergency. a coalition of health charities and governments has allocated the money to speeding up vaccine development for middle east respiratory syndrome, lassa fever and nipa virus. britain's foreign secretary has been criticised for appearing to compare

the french government to the nazis. borisjohnson said the uk should not be threatened with ‘punishment beatings in the manner of a world war two movie‘ for wanting to leave the european union. yesterday britain's prime minister outlined her brexit ambitions, and european leaders have been giving their reactions. our political editor laura kuennsberg reports. watch out, chaps, i'm worried about you falling over. "watch out, foreign secretary," more like. it's his job to win friends and influence around the world. on tour in india today. but as the delicate process of leaving the eu begins, rather indelicate words about our old friends and foes, the french. if monsieur hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who chooses to escape, rather in the manner of some world war ii movie, i don't think that is the way forward. i think, actually, it is not in the interests of our friends and our partners. from thousands of miles away,

he was slammed as crass. "not exactly what you would expect from a foreign minister," one diplomat told me. awkward, when back home the prime minister is urging everyone to play nice. the point he made was a reasonable one, but the language has got to be extremely careful in dealing with colleagues and friends. what does boris do? he comes up with these extraordinary phrases of which we should all be ashamed. borisjohnson's team says he was just making the point that it makes no sense for the rest of the eu to treat britain harshly. but only yesterday, theresa may publicly reminded ministers here at home of the need for discipline. and with a difficult deal ahead, britain needs all the friends it has. language matters, but it's the words and attitudes of european leaders that will prove vital. yesterday, the prime minister appealed to her eu counterparts, urging them to behave as good friends, even as we leave. the arch european,

jean—claude juncker, who leads the commission that will manage the deal was suing for peace. we are not in a hostile mood. we want a fair deal with britain and a fair dealfor britain, but a fair deal means a fair deal for the european union. yet europe's leaders are in no mood to let britain divide and conquer. and in public and private, here is the reality. whatever the uk asks for, the rest of the eu will not do a deal where the terms of trade are as cushy outside as in. we want a fair deal for the united kingdom, but that deal necessarily needs to be inferior to membership. are you playing hardball, prime minister? next tuesday it's over to the courts, who could force the government to give detail, much more detail, to parliament, before the technical process of extricating ourselves from the eu begins. in these negotiations it will not always seem that ministers are in charge. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. two major investment banks have announced they'll move some staff

out of the uk when it leaves the european union. one of the world's biggest, hsbc, has confirmed plans to transfer a thousand workers to paris. the swiss bank ubs says around a thousand of its london jobs could be affected. most are expected to move to frankfurt. a teenager snatched from a hospital in florida when she was only eight hours old, has defended the woman accused of kidnapping her. lexis manigo, who was named kamiyah mobley at birth, was tracked down after a tip—off. she says the woman she believed was her mother raised her well. she raised me with good morals, respect. she made a big impact on my life. i could go to her about anything. i could tell there was love. it hurt me more that she was in cuffs. like some animal. i don't... that's not her.

i've never seen her in cuffs, never. so that moment there was so surreal for me. i understand what she did was wrong, but i don't feel like... just look at my life itself, you know? i understand it was one mistake, but it wasn't all bad. everything that came out of it was not bad. i'm fine. i'm managing. i have another family. that's more love. for the people that have missing kids, this gives them hope, so that makes me feel great. stay with us on bbc news if you can't. much more to come including this— climate scientists declared 2016 the warmest year on record. the people of saigon have just heard there is to be a ceasefire. the reaction of american

servicemen was predictable. i'm going home! demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with teargas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him the butcher of lyon. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia but the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot, a tide of humanity which is believed by officials to have broken all records. good to have you with us on bbc

news. a final news conference, president obama has said he will still speak out to defend what he called core values after he leaves office. the deadline has passed for the president of the gambia— step down orface military the president of the gambia— step down or face military action. united nations officials believe 40,000 people have returned to their homes in eastern aleppo, the syrian city devastated by civil war. government forces cut off rebel supply lines and in just a few months took full control. our middle east editorjeremy bowen has sent this special report. this is the calm after the storm. the final battle for aleppo swept through the city like a man—made malevolent tornado. all sides in this war were prepared to destroy aleppo to possess it. in the end, the firepower of the regime and its russian and ukrainian allies was too much for the fractious rebel coalition that controlled east aleppo. this city is the key

to northern syria. right across the country, rebels who are still fighting are on the defensive. the battle for aleppo lasted four years. more than 200,000 civilians were trapped in the heat of the fight. attacks on civilians by any side in the war are crimes if it can be proved they were deliberate. zakaria mohammed juma lost his leg in east aleppo three months ago. at a clinic run by the international committee of the red cross, he is being measured for a prosthesis. rehabilitation is painful. when you can't walk, supporting a family is even harder.

it will take years and billions to rebuild. the east side of aleppo and much of the old city in ruins. with a photo of his clothes shop, salah stood in front of where it used to be. i've seen this much damage elsewhere in syria, but never in such a wide area. abu mahmoud is one of the first to return to his neighbourhood. if only they'd take away the rubble, he said, all the neighbours would come back. this corpse was still lying on the road a month after the battle. more are certain to be buried in collapsed buildings. abu mohammed, collecting firewood, showed where a mortar fragment had hit him.

look, he said, they took out my spleen, kidney, and part of my intestines. i've had many operations. in every queue for emergency aid there are tragedies. this child, who is 12, has seen more than anyone should in a lifetime. her grandmother is using all the strength she has left to care for her surviving grandchildren. translation: my daughter's 15—year—old girl and her son, who was seven, were killed. my son's three—year—old daughter lost a leg. another grandson, aged seven, lost a hand. my family's houses were all destroyed. translation: we don't know what's hidden in our future. the war has damaged all of us. my cousin lost her leg. i saw with my own eyes my other

cousin, his intestines were out of his body. president assad's resurgence in aleppo means talk about forcing him out sounds more hollow than ever. he is the strongest he's been since the war started. the empty, ruined, silent streets on the former front lines feel oppressive. no one has tried to move back here. it's haunted by violence and death. that is a home—made mortar, designed and built by the rebels. in itself, it's a fearsome weapon. but it is nothing compared to the power of the russian air force and the military know—how of the iranians and their lebanese allies.

foreign intervention has transformed this war. and the way it's looking right now, foreigners, not syrians, will dictate the way the war ends. the sun sets in aleppo on a dark, cold and broken place. it feels like a post—war city, but this is not a post—war country. syria has a fragile partial truce. for the first time, the president and his allies can smell victory. but they are not there yet. jeremy bowen, bbc news, aleppo. let's ta ke let's take you back to west africa, where troops are massing on the border of the gambia, ready to force

the president to accept electrical —— electoral defeat and step down. peter penar is a researcher at michigan state university with an interest in post—election disputes in west africa. it does not look good, does it, that a president who took power in a coup and has ruled for 22 years is refusing to accept the democratic result of an election. how do you think this is going to play out? that is a good question. right now the situation is very tense between ya hya the situation is very tense between yahya jammeh on the one hand, and the international community on the other. yahya jammeh has been given several opportunities as a sort of exit strategy in this period of time, including exile in a number of western countries —— west african countries, such as nigeria. today i also have the idea of exile in morocco floated. all of these options have been turned down by ya hya options have been turned down by yahya jammeh. the problem for ecowas is how to deal with this situation,

since today should be the end of his constitutional mandate. he has obviously attempted to extend his rule, but ecowas is really not interested in jammeh's rule, but ecowas is really not interested injammeh's legal acrobatics at this point. ecowas is of course the economic community of west african states. is it a problem? does west african states. is it a problem ? does it west african states. is it a problem? does it play into his hands that senegal, which is people can see virtually surrounds the gambia, is leading the military effort? do you think it is likely to come to a military effort? i thinkjammeh is talking a lot about this being a potential war of senegalese aggression against the gambia. the problem without is that west africa, in is very united. that united front includes both francophone countries such as senegal as well as anglophone countries. we heard today that garner is pledging up to 205 potential military troops. —— ghana.

nigeria is willing to contribute as well. this is notjust an issue of senegal and gambia, although senegal is taking the lead, which makes sense, because gambia is on their front doorstep. so logistically it would have to be that way. it it is a very pan west african movement. thank you, i am sure we will be speaking to you again. thank you. it's official. nasa scientists say 2016 was the hottest year since records began over a century ago. average global temperatures edged ahead of 2015, and are now 1.1 degrees higher than pre—industrial levels. in fact, it is the third consecutive year that the record has been broken. scientists believe that the el nino weather phenomenon played a role, but increasing levels of greenhouse gases were the main factor in driving up temperatures. our science correspondent rebecca morelle has more. our planet is warming, fast, and the latest data suggests that 2016 was a record—breaking year. this winter, parts of the arctic have had a heatwave,

temperatures were above freezing, when they should have been far below. while australia's great barrier reef was transformed to this. vast swathes of coral were killed off as the waters warmed. 2015 was the warmest year on record up until now, so 2016 has just beaten that. it's beaten it by about 0.1, 0.12 degrees celsius, which doesn't seem like a lot, but in terms of the year to year variations, it is actually huge. part of this rise was caused by an el nino event, a warm—ocean current that disrupts the world's weather. but scientists say greenhouse gases were the main driver. this shows how global temperatures have increased since the industrial revolution. the bigger the circle, the hotter the year. and the latest data, collected by nasa and meteorological agencies around the world, suggest 2016 is the third year in a row to break records. the global temperature

is edging ever closer towards some worrying figures. scientists say a rise of two degrees celsius above pre—industrial levels could lead to dangerous impacts around the world. so a lower limit of 1.5 celsius was set by the paris climate agreement, a global deal that came into force last year. but with carbon dioxide at record levels, scientists say this is a temperature threshold we are on course to surpass. to tackle global warming, the world is being urged to move away from fossil fuels, like coal. but in the us, donald trump has said he wants to revive the industry, and has threatened to pull america out of the paris climate agreement. the woman who brokered the deal is concerned. if the us chooses to exit the road and the path that is being pursued by every other country in the world, it is only going to damage itself, because it will become less competitive. we are moving toward a de—carbonised society. all eyes will now be on this year's data.

already, scientists forecast that 2017 won't be as warm, because the el nino event is over. but they say longer term, unless action is taken, the earth will continue to heat up. rebecca morelle, bbc news. still with the natural world, but something we cannot do much about. some spectacular pictures from mexico, where as you can see, the colima volcano is erupting, throwing ashen to the air. the colima volcano is one of the most active in the pacific ring of fire. all that and more at the website. thank you for watching. hi, there.

there is definitely a pattern emerging with our weather. i will say that much for the weather over the last few days. here is monday's satellite picture. a lot of cloud across the uk underneath building high pressure. spot the difference on tuesday. a bit of sunshine coming into south—east of england. otherwise it was cloudy. and yesterday's satellite picture also shows a lot of cloud. again, the south—east poking out in the sunshine. can you guess what the forecast will be for thursday? yes, today will be another cloudy day for much of the country. the cloud will be thick enough as we go through the first part of the morning to give a spit of rain in the midlands, maybe north—west england and wales. but under this blanket of cloud it's a mild start for most. perhaps a touch of frost in aberdeenshire. and certainly for southern wales and southern counties of east anglia it will be a cold start to the day. underneath relatively clear skies a widespread frost. but just as we've seen for the past couple of days there will be sunshine working across southern counties of england. cold, but bright.

a weather front continues to dangle across central portions of wales and england, where the thickest cloud is. that's where we could see the odd spit of morning drizzle. but temperatures about 6—9 celsius as we push into northern parts. in scotland, the cloud thick enough for a few spots of rain. this is the picture through the rest of the day. a cloudy day weatherwise for most of the uk, but again some faring better for sunshine than others. southern counties of england will keep the sunshine. breaks in the cloud across scotland. the best in eastern areas. generally the cloud is a little bit higher in the sky across the northern half, compared to yesterday, so at least it will look brighter underneath those cloudy skies. that's thursday's picture. through the night we're stuck with this cloud through thursday night. again there could be a few mist and fog patches forming, a bit of drizzle through the night.

with those clearer skies across southern england and wales we will have pockets of frost. maybe a bit of frost for northern ireland and eastern areas of scotland, but where it stays cloudy temperatures about 5—7 degrees overnight. into friday and the high pressure is still with us and so is the cloud for a good part of the country. again, some breaks in the cloud. the best of these towards southern england and parts of scotland. where sunny it's cold. underneath the cloud temperatures near normal for the time of year. as we go through the weekend and into the start of next week, don't expect any major changes. we keep a lot of cloud, but at least there will be bright or sunny spells and a little bit cooler through the weekend as well. that's the forecast. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. a deadline has passed for the gambian president president obama has won the donald trump to not raise sanctions against

russia. in his final press conference he said he would still speak out to defend what he describes as core values. a deadline has passed for the gambian president to step down. west african forces are gathering on the border, poised to move in and enforce a transfer of power to the winner of last month's elections. president jammeh, who's been in powerfor two decades is refusing to leave office. britain's foreign secretary, borisjohnson has been criticised after apparently comparing the french government to nazi prison guards in its attitude towards the uk leaving the european union. two investment banks have said they'll relocate some staff from london to the mainland as a result of brexit. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.