a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: putting pen to paper. donald trump signs an order to build his border wall and says mexico will end up paying. in his first interview since taking office, the president insists torture works, but there's unease in the intelligence community. chile suffers its worst wildfires in half a century, the us sends the world's biggest air tanker to help fight the flames. and mary tyler moore, the groundbreaking american television and film star, dies at the age of 80. president trump has been outlining how he plans to make good on two of his controversial campaign pledges. he's promised that construction of a new wall, to run the length

of the us—mexican border, will begin within months. he's also signed an executive order increasing the number of staff to patrol that frontier. but the white house has distanced itself from suggestions there could be a return to some of the more extreme security measures which were dropped under president obama. james cook reports. donald trump's signature pledge is now one step closer to reality. with a stroke of his pen, the new president ordered the construction of a great wall on the mexican border. it would begin, he said, within months. a nation without borders is not a nation. beginning today, the united states of america gets back control of its borders. we're going to get the bad ones out. the criminals and the drug deals and gangs and gang members and cartel leaders. the day is over when they can stay in our country and wreak havoc. strengthening and extending the existing barrier on this frontier will be hugely expensive.

mr trump has always insisted that mexico will pay, but mexico says it won't and the president now admits american taxpayers will have to cough up first. so who will pay for the wall? ultimately, it will come out of what's happening with mexico. we're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon and we will be in a form reimbursed by mexico. so they'll pay us back? yes. absolutely. 100%. so the american taxpayer will pay for the wall at first? all it is, is we'll be reimbursed at a later date. but here in a mexican border city of tijuana, business leaders are worried about the impact on trade and sceptical about the president's plans. the problem is that the majority of americans are not really familiar with the border and, consequently the idea of a wall seems to be appealing. we already have one. we call it the tortilla curtain, but the truth of the matter is that,

you know, i think that's a symbol. this fence at the pacific ocean is the very start of the land border between mexico and the united states and president trump has always said he wants to build a much taller, a much better, much bigger wall, stretching all the way from here, nearly 2,000 miles to texas. # this land is your land. # this land is my land... but even in liberal california there's backing for president trump's hard line on immigration, not least from these supporters who call themselves the trumpettes. i think it's a good thing. you know, i always say my scriptures ezekiel 22:30, "i sought for a man who build a wall." i was reading that the other day and it just stuck out in my spirit because we need protection, and i pray for america and i pray that god will shore up the border of our nation. as well as the wall, president trump is promising to deport

immigrants who commit crimes, to cut funding to states like california which refuse to arrest most illegal aliens and to hire 10,000 more enforcement agents. his actions are bold, sweeping and intensely divisive. james cook, bbc news, on the us—mexico border. well, if that wasn't enough news coming from the white house on wednesday, president trump has also been talking about waterboarding, saying that it work‘ when it comes to interrogations. but he added that he would defer to his cabinet on when to use it, including his new cia boss mike pompeo. the bbc‘s katty kay spoke earlier to leon panetta, who served as both head of the cia and the defence department under president obama. my view is that when president 0bama in his executive order said that we would not continue in harms procedures, that we would not continue enhanced procedures, that we would not engage in torture, that that was a very important step

for this country to take because it was a symbol to the rest of the world that we're going to ahdhere to our values and what we believe in. so i think that that is the proper course for the united states to take. to go back on that, to resurrect all of those procedures again, i think would be damaging not only to our image in the world, i don't think it would be effective in terms of our ability to protect the security of our country. in other news: so far the markets have reacted positively to donald trump's presidency. the main us share index, the dowjones, has passed the 20,000 mark for the first time. the markets anticipating that president trump's policies will promote economic growth. jihadist fighters in libya have lost one of their last remaining strongholds in the country's second city, benghazi. forces loyal to the military leader say they've finally driven local islamist militias out of the district of ganfouda. usain bolt‘s been stripped of one of his nine 0lympic golds because a team—mate has been

found guilty of doping. nesta carter was pa rt of the jamaican quartet that won the men's axioom relay at the 2008 games. his lawyer says he will appeal. a giant super tanker aircraft on loan from the united states has arrived in chile to help tackle the worst wildfires in the country's modern history. a state of emergency has been declared in a vast area south of the capital, santiago. chile's president ordered extra funds and resources to fight the fires as people called for help to save their homes and animals. sarah corker reports. in the tinder dry conditions, the flames spread quickly, sweeping through forests, farmland and towns across a vast area of southern and central chile. in the maule region, one of the worst affected areas, 4,000 properties have been evacuated. people fled as their homes burnt. this is what's left of a tractor,

a car, a neighbourhood. smouldering ashes all that now remain here. translation: it got here in seconds, in a second, and the wind blew and blew like a demon had entered the community. last week, the country declared a state of emergency. so far 85 fires have destroyed almost 2,000 square kilometres. the chilean president came to meet evacuees. translation: there are several families that were affected, losing everything. the decision for them to evacuate was hard because they wanted to stay and fight the fire until the end. they also want to know what support they'll get from the state. from the ground and from the air, firefighters tried to control the flames. international help has come from france, peru and mexico and on wednesday the world's biggest

firefighting plane arrived on loan from the united states. the country's famous vineyards haven't escaped either. the fires causing irreversible damage. translation: our evaluation is catastrophic from the point of view that it is not only direct damage to the vineyards that are totally burnt, but the grape harvest that has also been affected. some of the fires may have been started intentionally, the president said, and there have been a number of arrests. four firefighters have died and officials warned 35 fires are still out of control. sarah corker, bbc news. rescue teams in italy have found more bodies in the ruins of a hotel engulfed by an avalanche last week. 2a people are now known to have been killed, another five are still missing.

james reynolds has been speaking to two of the survivors, who say it's like being born again. how many of us will ever know what it's like to come back to life? on saturday, vincenzo forti and giorgia galassi were pulled from the hotel. the couple had been trapped underground for 59 hours. this afternoon we met them at home, they told me what happened when the avalanche hit. translation: it felt like a bomb, i felt glass exploding and it felt as if an entire wall had hit me. somewhere underneath these tonnes of snow and debris, they were jammed together in a tiny space. translation: i looked at vincenzo and i was panicking, the first thing he told me was, we have got to be calm. we just have to wait. i touched him to see if we were ok, if we were injured. we were lucky, we were alive. i thought we would be trapped for a week.

i did not want to tell her. after two days rescuers made contact with them. translation: when we heard a rescuer it was as if an angel was talking to us. as if someone had come to pick us up literally from under the ground. i was born again. it was a miracle. ifeel as if i've been brought to the world for a second time. and this time not by my mum, but by god. they survived, but many others died. a week on, rescuers continue to search for those still missing under the snow. james reynolds, bbc news, central italy. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: two girls born

with a disorder no—one could explain now scientists unlock the cases and offer hope to other families the shuttle challenger exploded soon after liftoff. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of the demonstrators. they were using the word "revolution". the earthquake singled out buildings, and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours pass. the new government is firmly in control of the entire republic of uganda. moscow got its first taste of western fast food as mcdonald's opened their biggest restaurant in pushkin square. but the hundreds of muscovites who queued up today won't find it cheap, with a big mac costing half the day's wages for the average russian. this is bbc news.

i'm mike embley. the latest headlines: president donald trump has said his government will start work on building a wall between the united states and mexico, something he promised on the campaign trail. a giant super tanker aircraft on loan from the united states has arrived in chile to help tackle the worst wildfires in the country's modern history. more on our top story, president trump's order for a wall to be built on the mexican border. james astilljoins us now, he's the washington correspondent for the economist. james, thank you very much for your time. you know of course immigration is very important to the many people who voted for president trump, how is the economist analysing his plans? i think the first thing to say is yes you're right, it's extremely important as an issue for

mr trump's core supporters, for the huge crowds that turned out at his rallies up and down the country, especially in the midwest, in the inner parts of the united states, screaming for this wall," build the wall, built the wall", they said and he is honoured that promise. i think he's surprised some of his supporters in washington who doubted that he would go at this with such alacrity. it seems that some sort of alacrity. it seems that some sort of a structure is going to be built along the southern border and it seems that congress is also going to p°ny seems that congress is also going to w“ ”p seems that congress is also going to pony up the money, perhaps $10 billion or so to pay for that wall. so he has honoured his promise, or certainly he's promising that he will do so with this executive action. i think it's a clear signal that mr trump means to be the president that he promised to be on

the campaign trailand president that he promised to be on the campaign trail and there are some wider consequences that flow from that. you have to wonder when flint michigan still doesn't have clea n flint michigan still doesn't have clean drinking water whether some people wonder whether $10 billion or more for this is still a priority. what are the chances of mexico paying for some or all of it?|j would have thought fairly close to zero. this has already been signalled by mr trump himself. he said on the campaign trail, and you implied this, mexico will pay for the wall. now he says initially the mexican taxpayer might have to stump up mexican taxpayer might have to stump up the cost but somehow america will carry that cost so it might not be in the form of a payment. he's implying there will be some kind of border tax levied on the southern border tax levied on the southern border to mexico's disadvantage and that money might be set off against the cost of building the wall. sounds an awful lot like flimflam.

american taxpayers are going to pay for this wall assuming it gets built. what do you make of the plans for deportations? barack obama already deported millions, and paul ryan says it won't apply to the so—called dreamers, the people who came to the us illegally as children, they don't have to worry, the focus will be on deporting criminals. but that definition, people who are criminal aliens prioritised for removal, this order vastly expands that definition, doesn't it? it changes the existing immigration policy. president obama when it aggressively after illegal immigrants which committed crimes and deported many of them, more than his predecessors. donald trumps said he will do all of the same but areas scepticism they are criminal immigrants to know that promise. he

says he will expand his attention to the other illegal immigrants. i think we need more certainty on this. there is a degree of ambiguity but it seems the direction has changed. the policy was about finding a pathway to citizenship on normalisation for president obama, for illegal immigrants or people without papers. mr trump has reversed that policy. it is very much a law and order policy. to normalise the law rather than the state of illegal immigrants. british scientists have identified 1a new disorders affecting children after analysing the genes of thousands of children with rare, undiagnosed conditions. identifying the genes responsible should lead to a greater

understanding of the serious disorders which affect the development of the brain and body and might eventually lead to treatments. our medical correspondent fergus walsh has the story. caitlin, so nice to meet you. a big moment for these two families, meeting for the first time. ten—year—old tamika and nine—year—old caitlin have the same newly identified genetic condition, called cdk 13 disorder. there are only 11 known cases in the uk. the girls are so alike, they could be sisters. living so close, we could have easily bumped into each other. do you think we would have gone home with the wrong child? looking at them, it would have been easy, they are so similar. it's quite amazing to finally come across somebody who also has a child so different to anybody else's child and yet, here we are, and they are like twins. they are. to look at them, they are

so similar, aren't they? the developmental disorder affects the girls' learning and communication. why do you think you took the wrong child? tamika has good language skills, caitlin has only a few words. it gives me hope as well, seeing tamika talking so much. it definitely gives me hope that caitlyn's speech will form. this is where caitlin and tamika's genetic condition was identified, at the wellcome trust sanger institute near cambridge. they mapped their genes and found an identicalfault in their dna. but the mutation was not passed on by their parents. so how is that possible? each of us inherits half our dna from our mother, through the egg, and our father in the sperm. sometimes, when those genes are passed on, spontaneous mutations occur that cause rare developmental disorders in children. the older the parents, the more likely that is to happen. scientists here have identified 1a

new developmental disorders and calculated that one in every 300 babies will be affected by a spontaneous genetic condition, not carried in their parents' dna. in the uk, that amounts to around 2,000 children every year. the research, in the journal nature, provides reassurance for many families all over the country. the discoveries end the long odyssey that these parents have had trying to find the underlying cause of their child's condition. it provides them with the risk for future pregnancies. which, for these conditions, is actually very low. and it provides opportunities for research into the causes and possible therapies that might be applied. katya was told last year that she had not passed on tamika's genetic condition and that gave her confidence to have another child, timo, who's unaffected.

both families say being part of this research has been hugely rewarding. it's like belonging to a club or a new—found family. yeah. it has felt like we've been, for the whole nine years, that we've just been on our own, that there's been no one else out there. but now, knowing that there are other families. all changed? yeah, completely. yeah. fergus walsh, bbc news. he's signed off on the building of a wall on the mexican border and next he's expected to suspend the issuing visas to several, predominantly muslim, countries. but there's one country that president trump is striving to build close ties with. on tuesday he called the indian prime minister, narendra modi. it follows a campaign in which he strived to garner support from america's hindu community. we love the hindus. we love india. he may have come under criticism for his statements on minorities living in the united states but there is one group

of americans donald trump has cosied up to. back in october, donald trump addressed the republican hindu coalition. the man who invited him there and donated nearly $1 million to his campaign was shalli kumar. he is gonig to introduce a government or a running government that is by the people, for the people, of the people and not some special interest groups which benefit only certain groups. despite being an immigrant to the united states himself, mr kumar is comfortable with the president's plan to build a wall on the mexican border. he also welcomes plans to make it harder for people from several muslim—majority countries to come to the united states. if you need to profile, you need to profile. i mean, you know, how does israel protect its airlines? they profile the customers that are coming in. and so security is very essential in the world we are living in. the republican hindu coalition does not speak for all america's hindus.

the community of more than two million people has traditionally voted democrat but president trump's statements on india has won him some new admirers. we are going to become even better friends. in fact, i will take the word "even" out, because we are going to be best friends. there won't be any relations more important to us. there won't be any relationship more important to us. on tuesday, india's prime minister, narendra modi, became one of the first world leaders to receive a call from the new president. a white house statement said that washington considers india a true friend and a partner in addressing challengers around the world. in the months to come diplomats will be watching closely to see if this apparent closeness with new delhi will lead to a change in amrican policy towards the region. rickin majithia, bbc news. madonna has denied reports she plans

to adopt two more children. there are reports she appeared in court and applied for adoption papers. but she says her visit is strictly for charity reasons. one of the comedy queens of the small screen has passed away. mary tyler moore created not one, but two iconic roles in the 1960s and 70s, and redefined the role of women on tv. peter bowes looks back at her extraordinary life and career. # how will you make it on yourown...# a darling of american television, mary tyler moore captivated audiences for more than half a century. she started out acting at the age of 17. within a year she was married and pregnant. six years later and divorced she got herfirst big break, playing laura petrie, a wholesome, independent—minded wife on the dick van dyke show. it was the best fun. you just couldn't wait to get to work in the morning and you sort of hated to go home in the afternoon. in 1962 moore married the tv executive, grant tinker,

and they formed mtm enterprises. its first tv series was the mary tyler moore show. set in minneapolis at a time when the women's liberation movement was growing, the sitcom was one of america's first prime—time programmes to feature a single working woman. that's just wonderful. in 1980, moore showed her acting abilities extended beyond comedy. buck never would have been in the hospital. that's enough! she played an icy, grieving mother in the film, ordinary people. it earned her a golden globe award she was nominated for an oscar. mary tyler moore had personal struggles. she battled alcoholism and diabetes and devoted much of her time to raising awareness. i have struggled with my disease and confronted its tyranny every day of my life. in 1983, moore remarried and continued acting in films, on stage and television. she received a lifetime achievement award from the screen actors guild but she will always be

remembered for that smile, sense of humour and independent spirit. some dramatic pictures for you. a commuter train crashing into the cargo truck. incredibly, no one was killed in this. 80 people were hurt but not seriously. much more on all the news at any time on our website and you can reach me on twitter. thank you very much for your company. good morning.

wednesday brought with it a day of contrasts. we had sopme beautiful sunshine out to the west, a depicted by this weatherwatcher‘s picture. lucky you. but unfortunately for many across the south—east saw some stubborn fog which lingered all day and made it feel cold. this was fog, good slice of sunshine behind, thicker cloud up into the north—west. and that's going to prevent temperatures from falling below freezing here but elsewhere it is going to be another cold night. a bit more of a breeze so not quite as much fog around but in rural spots it could be a bitterly cold start to the day, with temperatures down as low as —5 degrees. and it could be a little foggy, particularly to higher ground, and there could be some ice on untreated surfaces, so that's certainly worth baring in mind, and in particularly through pavements. a lot of cloud around first thing in the morning. it's going to be potentially a cold start, but we're dragging in a breeze from the south—easterly direction. it has been a bitterly cold in europe and that is going to make it feel really quite chilly

if you are out and about through the day. always out towards the west, the winds will be strong but the temperatures not quite as low but nevetheless it is going to be a windy start to the day and the winds will continue to feature in western areas. a good slice of dry weather around. a fair amount of cloud. eventually, that south—easterly breeze might just allow for some sunshine to come across southern england. but your thermometer may well say around 1—4 degrees, which is disappointing enough, but add on the strength and that cold source of the wind — it going to feel much colder than that. as we move out of thursday towards friday, the wind direction changes subtly, from a southerly. and it is allowing these weatherfronts to push in from the atlantic, so we start off potentially cold with a little bit of frost, particularly the further north you are, but as we go through the day, these weather fronts will bring some showery outbreaks of rain and eventually some milder air in as well — 8—10 degrees into the south—west, 3—5 in sheltered eastern areas.

that marks a change as we move towards the weekend. so something a little less cold but a little more unsettled. with the weatherfront trying to push in from the west. now, it looks as though we move out of saturday into sunday, there's a potential for more significant rain across southern england. a level of uncertainty just where that front is going to be sitting so keep watching the forecasts. that could bring some wet weather to the south. but double figures, slightly colder, but drier conditions up into the north. the cloud stays with us for the start of a new working week. but also double digits are likely to stay with us as well — 10 or 11 degrees the high. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. president trump's said his government will start work within months on building a wall between the united states and mexico, as he promised during the election. the mexican president says he does

not believe in walls and will not pay for it. president trump has asserted once again that torture, including waterboarding, "absolutely works" in interrogations. but he told abc news he would defer to his defence secretary and cia director, who have both spoken against it. torture is illegal. a giant super tanker aircraft on loan from the us has arrived in chile to help tackle the worst wildfires in the country's modern history. a state of emergency‘s been declared in a vast area south of the capital, santiago. now on bbc news, it's time for click. this week, the best view in the world, super—smart singapore,