this is newsday. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: venezuela breaks off diplomatic ties with the us — after washington recognises the opposition leader as the rightful president. after the democrats cancel his state of the union address in congress, donald trump says he'll hold his own. the state of the union speech has been cancelled by nancy pelosi because she doesn't want to hear that truth. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: this 1a year—old's family say she took her own life under the influence of disturbing material online. we confront the owners of instagram. there's a picture of some slit wrists, that's from instagram. there isa wrists, that's from instagram. there is a picture of some blood, that's from instagram. these are against your policies but they are all available on instagram. and we take it up new zealand's

steepest street. - take good morning. it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 8pm in caracas where tens of thousands of venezuelans have taken to the streets, in protest against the rule of president nicolas maduro. in a move which only increased the pressure, the us president donald trump said he recognised the opposition leader, juan guaido as interim president. in return, president nicolas maduro said he's breaking diplomatic relations with the united states and told us diplomats they have seventy two hours to leave. the bbc‘s barbara plett usher reports. is this the man is set to become venezuela's new leader? juan guaido,

who was sworn in as the head of the opposition assembly earlier this month. today he took matters a step further is hundreds of thousands marched in anti—government protests frag-flee! i". g-eé'iff'a'rsér-e'zé-e! eraiéziz he declared himself interim of the country. president of the country. that's the president 5555! president of the country. that's the president trump—iii president of the country. that's the president trump had a president of the country. that's the president trump had been signal president trump had been for, in minutes move, calling juan guaido the w m his“ h; elected i??? liegjt to back in with the full promising to back in with the full weight of economic and diplomatic power. are you considering a military option for them as well? we are not considering anything but all options are on the table. does that mean... i options are on bid g by breaking but the relations but the months american officials have been criticising his a disastrous dictatorship. rule as a disastrous dictatorship. this week they got more explicit, the vice president say in the us

would stand with the people until they restored democracy.” would stand with the people until they restored democracy. i am mike pence, the vice president of the united states and on behalf of president donald trump and all the american people, let me express the unwavering support of the united states is you the people of venice will raise your voice is in a call forfreedom. will raise your voice is in a call for freedom. mr trump has called on other countries in the region to follow suit and many have. be the turning hoping this will be the turning point for venezuelan. also in the news: us president donald trump says he'll deliver an alternative event to the traditional state of the union address, after he was blocked from appearing in the chamber by the speaker of the house nancy pelosi. and someone else who won't be appearing before congress anytime soon is mr trump's former lawyer, michael cohen. he's postponed his testimony because, according to his legal advisor, of threats to his family from the president. more from chris buckler in washington. on occasions when of the state of

the union is written in a letter and given to congress in that way, it has become something of a tradition for presidents to stand up and give a speech to congress. it is a speech whether president has a chance to set up the goals or agenda for the year ahead and speak to the legislative body which is all important in terms of fulfilling exactly what he wants for the year ahead. but there has been an exchange of letters, initially an invitation from nancy pelosi and that invitation takeaway and president trump said, i'm going to deliver it anyway, there are no security concerns. nancy pelosi is not backing down and the latest in this exchange of letters has seen her say well, frankly, you not welcome while the government remains in partial shut down here in washington dc. as a result, she has basically said you can't deliver this speech, president trump is gearing up for something different. frankly he wants that tv time, he wa nts to frankly he wants that tv time, he wants to be given an opportunity to set out his agenda and he says he

will do that in an alternative event. we don't know yet what that means. with michael coen, chris, let's talk through what he's been saying about these threats to his family by the president. in about two weeks' time, michael cohen, just to remind people, is donald trump's former lawyer, a man regarded as suspects and has now admitted to some crimes including of course lying to congress, was due to speak to about his past about his past about h with there of on there of on what 'e of on what 'e this eel?" g at one but never through with, -m ‘ had ‘had an in. was due to co before michael coen, was dde to go before michael coen, was dde te ge reefere to michael coen, was dde ts gs reefsre to have michael csen was dse ts gs sefsre to have those congress to have those conversations, to - about exactly

cs nversatiens—f its ta lk a best exa ctly he ce nversatiens—f rte ta lk a best exa ctly he knew. but he is now pulled . é biiiféi he says, . é whiz??? he says, let's . é gig-é he says, let's have . é whiz??? he says, let's have come out because he says, let's have come from the president and indeed the president's current lawyer, rudy giuliani, suggesting that example, they had information about michael cohen's father—in—law, suggesting it might bea cohen's father—in—law, suggesting it might be a distributable character, suggesting there was perhaps information there. they say as far as they are concerned, while threats remain to michael cohen's father—in—law, family and michael cohen himself, while this exchange of insults continues, he is not going to appear before the congressional committees, however they may different plans and there are suggestions that potentially they could subpoena him although at this stage, they are considering exactly what has been said. it is very different from an exchange of letters. we a re very different from an exchange of letters. we are already talking about an exchange of threats of insults at this case. also making news today: last words from the plane of argentine footballer

emiliano sala — lost without trace flying from france tojoin his new club in britain. guernsey police have said an intensive night— our search found no trace of the craft. rescuers said there was nogii of there was no hope of finding the 20 82 old argentine alive. more coming up 82 old argentine alive. more coming up in sport today in 30 minutes' time. the eu commission has told eu states to tighten checks on non—eu nationals who acquire citizenship through investments. malta, cyprus and bulgaria are the only eu countries which sell their citizenship, issuing so—called "golden passports" in return for investments. after implementing a crackdown on tax evasion, china's tax authority has collected in unpaid taxes from film a nd‘ televisicrrr'rndsstry“ it began after chinese actress fan bingbing was ordered the zimbabwean music legend

oliver mtukudzi has passed away in harare. he died in hospital, and had been battling ill health for some time. the has the - has started a the . has started a 5— the - has started a 5— day visit to panama where he i attending to panama where he is attending youth day. it's the - time to panama where he is attending been 1th day. it's the - time to panama where he is attending been ith d in it's the - time to panama where he is attending beenith d in central - time thailand authorities have? announced that the first general election since a military coup five years ago will be held on 2a march.

the military government promised a quick return to civilian rule after it seized power in 2014, but it has repeatedly postponed the election date, until now. for more on this, i'm joined now by our south—east asia correspondentjonathan head in bangkok. this election will be the first since the military coup in 2014. indeed, the first elections since 2011. we will have a very different electorate, a lot of young people who are not voted before, and that makes it quite difficult i think for people, after five years of political deep—freeze under the military, to know exactly how people's loyalties will work out during the election. the military did promise a speedy return, and aspirant at least five times, and even quite recently they did

stipulate the likelihood of an election in februaryjust a couple of months ago, which had to be readjusted because the king has chosen to have his coronation, his formal coronation in may which would have got in the way. long—awaited, the selection, and a lot of criticism of the military for waiting so long. of interest is the fa ct waiting so long. of interest is the fact that the military themselves clearly hoped to extend their power beyond the election. they have designed a constitution which will give them a lot of say over any future elected government and they have at least one party and a few smaller ones acting in effect as proxies, parties who would like the current prime minister, to continue. the military is a player in this. two months from today, apart from being, prime minister, who are the other front—runners who are aspiring to be prime minister? what's important ina

to be prime minister? what's important in a way is which party are likely to come out on top. in some ways, what is are likely to come out on top. in soms the s, w| wgéeefieee as- ;;;:i.:;.; efiififfifffififi ff are likely to come out on top. in son-“the estiwuée every i.:;-; .:i:iiiii:: iii are likely to come out on top. in som‘ the 5 thgvtéée: years every ll; efifififfifffififi ff are likely to come out on top. in 50m, the .. mam- years is”), i.:;-; .:i:iiiii:: iii are likely to come out on top. in son one 5 5 tbgvtéée: years is ary ll; effiffifffififi ff are likely to come out on top. in so” one that mug- years is hy i.:;-; .:i:iiiii:: iii are likely to come out on top. in son one that was 9" years is ery 144— 4331 i if are likely to come out on top. in son one that was originally rs is ery i444— 4171: ii . . l by billionaire tycoon thaksin shinawatra, a successful party that shinawatra, a successful partyjbat we re shinawatra, a successful partyjbat were unable to beat and people believe ii whole . . — ———~ —— n people believe ii whole point — ———~ —— n some people believe the whole point of them military crew was to stop thaksin shinawatra's of them military crew was to stop tha ksin shinawatra's parties, of them military crew was to stop thaksin shinawatra's parties, and thaksin. shieatsatra's earties, ares! —— ~ , ,, ~ , , his sister, yingluck. they don't know who they will choose to be a prime ministerial candidate but the new constitution has been written in a way which weakens the party, will’i it harder to win a lot of seats make it harder to win a lot of seats but it's always - well in the but it's always done well in the past. will it do as well this but it's always done well in the past. will it do will ell this - be s is e is is; 11; 111i; to s is s is zsie 11; 11:2? to form an alternative eels—es, sees is, iiiiiiei — — based around its own coalition based around its own new party. there is no question that

general prayut is their choice to go on. there is no indication of what the party will put up. both yingluck and thaksin the party will put up. both yingluck and tha ksin shinawatra the party will put up. both yingluck and thaksin shinawatra are in exile, fleeing what they say is political motivated charges and the rules make it clear that their faces and names can't be used in election campaigning and they have been very successful in using their image in the past. a lot of uncertainty about who will emerge. possibly resulting in quitea who will emerge. possibly resulting in quite a messy coalition. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we'll take a look at the new rivaly between new zealand and wales — and it's not rugby! also on the programme: she's the american singer

who's big in beijing. we'll reveal how christine welch has become a big hit. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first — america first. demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests they called him 'the butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held here on a fraud charge in bolivia, broken all records.

the democrats have cancelled president trump's state of the union speech, blaming the government shutdown. mr trump says he might stage an alternative event. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. starting with the japan times, and the country's prime minister, shinzo abe, is trying to resolve a decades—long territorial dispute with russia.

analysts say it's unlikely that president vladimir putin will handback four small islands that were seized by the soviet union after world war two. the straits times is reporting that an independent committee of inquiry will investigate the death of a singaporean actor. aloysius pang died in hospital after an accident during a military training exercise in new zealand. and the south china morning post has an image of hong kong activist, joshua wong, in a scuffle with security guards. he's protesting lawmakers‘ plans to make it a crime if anyone publicly and intentionally insults the chinese national anthem. and those are the papers.

facebook says it's deeply sorry after it emerged a british teenager who took her own life had viewed disturbing content about suicide on social media. molly russell, who was 14, died in 2017. her father says he believes instagram helped kill his daughter. facebook, which owns instagram, says graphic content which sensationalises self—harm and suicide has no place on the platform. the bbc‘s amol rajan challenged facebook‘s vice president in northern europe over the issue, and began by asking for his reaction to molly's death. the first thing i'd like to say is just what a difficult story that was to read and, like anyone, i was deeply upset and i'm deeply sorry for how this must have been such a devastating event for theirfamily. there's a picture of some slit wrists. that's from instagram. there's a picture full of blood. that's from instagram. those are all against your policies, but they were all available on instagram.

well, we have to make sure that we look at these and ensure that those are taken down if they are against our policy. don't you think these should be against your policies? people with pictures of slit wrists, which 14—year—olds can access? if people are posting in order to seek help, in order to seek support from communities, the experts in this area tell us that is a valuable thing for them to do, and it can help with recovery, it can help with support. if it's there to sensationalise or glamorise, of course it has no place on our platform. it shouldn't be on our platform. and if we need to work harder to make sure it isn't on our platform, we certainly will. how can brands trust facebook and trust instagram specifically to be a safe environment, when they're mixed up with this kind of material? they want to make sure that we're living up to the responsibilities that they have of us, and i think we can always improve. but there are... there are areas where we've made significant amount of investments, huge amounts of focus in trying to get this right. but i think it is recognised that this is a complex area. at the heart of this is a simple question.

how do you control the uncontrollable? social media now influences how we feel, who we vote for, even how businesses target us. but these platforms have so much content that, ultimately, it will be faster machines and better algorithms, rather than more manpower, that will have to tackle the bad actors. on that score, facebook are taking action. this morning, the company settled its dispute with consumer rights champion martin lewis, whose face had appeared on scam ads, even though he doesn't do ads. as part of that settlement, the company is giving £3 million to citizens advice, and launching a button to allow users to flag potential scams. our society needs to make a decision of who is legally responsible, both for adverts on a social media platform and for posts 22 s 2§5k33lii

but from everyone, is they want to see us take responsibility, and they want us to act. whether that's working with experts, whether that is putting the right levels of investment into protection, integrity in our team, there is a way is going to be more that we can do, e, , ~2— 252'42'5 more at bbc.com/news. new zealand and wales are usually rugby rivals, but now tensions are simmering in the battle to be crowned the world's steepest street. in the one corner, baldwin street in dunedin, on new zealand's south island, is defending its title, with a confirmed gradient of 35% at its steepest. but residents of harlech in wales are adamant that their challenger street is steeper at 36%.

measurements have been taken at forth pen klech, and sent to guinness world records. the results are expected later this month. earlier, i spoke to dave cull, the mayorpf dunedinin newleatamk i guess it was maybe surveyed and designed across the other side of the world, when the earliest settlers who set up the city arrived here. so it may not have even been obvious to the people who planned it. halsti bid was. so what has the guinness book of records meant to baldwin street? -- that is how steep

it was. look, it has attracted a number of tourist. there is no time during the day and often into the evening when there is not visitors going up and down, taking photos and doing other kinds of stunts, now and again, some risky sometimes. so, yes, it means quite a lot, it is a major attraction. and share with us the experience of walking up baldwin how long i it “new long i it 2 look, to valley medical help when they walk needs medical help when they walk 7 needs medical help when they walk up? well, it depends how fast they wa nt to up? well, it depends how fast they want to get there. there are people who have done gut buster runs up and down the street. i haven't done that for a good while. the guinness book of records will come up with the

decision sooner rather than later. what are you going to do if you lose the title? well, we will obviously have to rename the street the steepest street in the southern hemisphere or something like that and we might just hemisphere or something like that and we mightjust arrange an earthquake and give it a bit of a tilt and take the title back. earthquake and give it a bit of a tilt and take the title backm could also be called the original steepest street in the world. that's right. we will wait and see. how do residents find the increasing popularity of baldwin street? residents find the increasing popularity of baldwin street7m residents find the increasing popularity of baldwin street? it is sometimes a bit of a hassle for some of the residents. they look out the window and find tourists standing on their garden bed or theirfront lawn, as if it is a public place, so many of them. but mostly they enjoy sharing the street with our visitors. looking forward to that battle. american singer christine welch has been writing and singing in mandarin chinese for years, but got her big break when one of her songs went viral on the chinese internet. this is her story. i hope that my lyrics can really

reach people and speak to them. my name is christine welch. the name that i chose for myself is... i think it was around august that some people started coming to my facebook page and saying, hey, there isa facebook page and saying, hey, there is a ton of people who love your song on this new app, called tic tac. some of it was, like, some really weird videos with my music behind it. the song was written in 2013. at

that time was trying to decide what i wanted to do with my life, really. in every moment there are so many possibilities. that is the feeling i was trying to convey. the song itself ; reminded me of, was trying to convey. the song itself; reminded me of, like, itself really reminded me of, like, snow falling. at, of i started learning chinese at northwestern university. so after i graduated, i moved to taiwan. since at that time i was just really getting into chinese music, started writing songs and posting them on youtube. i have never written a song

in english. ijust youtube. i have never written a song in english. i just feel like youtube. i have never written a song in english. ijust feel like chinese isa in english. ijust feel like chinese is a very poetic language. i hope to keep recording music on i hope that my lyrics can really people and speak . them. a ‘the videos i s 2 videos i! ‘the videos i see are . tbe videos i see gjust, ! lot of the videos i see are just, like, g this foreigner sings like, oh, this foreignersings chinese. i hope fi like, oh, this foreignersings chinese. i hope g people will like, oh, this foreignersings chin to . i hopeé people will like, oh, this foreignersings chin to recognise é people will like, oh, this foreignersings chin to recognise that eople will like, oh, this foreignersings chin to recognise that i>ple will like, oh, this foreignersings chin to recognise that i am will able to recognise that i am an and be come alike, able individual and be come alike, able to know my name. beautiful voice. files 7” 7 2:5;2 2 sofarthis 22:22; 2 2 so far this week 5 so far this week it has been in the bleak midwinter,

hasn't it? and it doesn't look as though we are going to see that much change for today. but there are some changes albeit briefly to come. now low pressure in control. the isobars widely spread apart. that means clear skies, light winds and temperatures have fallen below freezing once again. so it's going to bea freezing once again. so it's going to be a chilly start with the exception out to the west. here a little mother with a little more cloud pushing in. but there could be the risk of some ice first thing in the risk of some ice first thing in the morning. we have had some nuisance showers moving down from the north—west, perhaps some fog lingering for a time. the showers first thing across lincolnshire, east midlands, down into the south—east corner, they will slowly ease away by lunchtime. behind it, brea ks ease away by lunchtime. behind it, breaks in this cloud, sunny spells coming through but all the time thicker cloud and outbreaks of showery rain starting to show their hand in the west. so here, seven to 90 greece, but in the eastern areas with the sunshine, chilly five degrees. —— nine degrees. this pair will gradually move into the south—west. quite a lot of cloud in

the first into friday. some is no for a time but that cloud will gradually move cold air, the early frost back down into the south—east corner. so east anglian and the south—east starting off chilly, then there will be some rain moving through and then behind it on friday a legacy of cloud, some outbreaks of showery rain to come, but a noticeable difference to the feel of the weather. widespread double—digit across the country. now as we of fronts to move on other series of fronts to move on from the atlantic, - some from the atlantic, bringing some cold — 1:15 snow to cold air. we could see some snow to higher ground for scotland. the rain quite heavy through northern ireland and western fringes. and top temperatures on saturday of around six to 10 degrees. but it is this rain as it pushes its way south and east across the country overnight saturday into sunday which allows the back door to open to this cold northerly air once again. so we could see the rain turning to snow once again and a noticeable difference to the feel of the weather as we move into sunday. so the rain eases away, a blustery wind

scattering of wintry showers to come, and your thermometer might read four to seven degrees, but factor in the strength and the direction of the wind, it is going to feel much colder than that, sub zero for many. so noticeable difference to the second half of the weekend i suspect. and the cold air is set to stay with us for the start of the new working week, although it should be largely fine and dry with a return to some sunny spells. take care. i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story. venezuela has broken diplomatic relations with the the united states after washington recognised the country's opposition leader as the legitimate president. earlierjuan guaido unilaterally declared himself venezuela's acting leader, in front of a crowd of tens of thousands of anti—government protestors. however nicolas maduro insists that he remains in control. president trump has said he might deliver an alternative to the traditional state of the union address, after he was blocked from appearing in the chamber by the speaker of the house nancy pelosi. the democrats say the event cannot go ahead because of the government shutdown.

sub—zero conditision have frozen parts of the stunning waterfalls. the waters are still flowing — but the spray is covering nearby trees and buildings with a glistening coat of ice. that's all. stay with bbc world news.