lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. the texas democratjulian castro has formally declared he wants to run for president of the united states. he's a former mayor of san antonio who went on to serve in president obama's cabinet. the announcement makes him the first hispanic in what looks set to be a crowded field of candidates vying for the position to challenge president donald trump in the november 2020 election. he's long been viewed as a rising star in the democratic party and will seek to position himself as a political outsider with liberal credentials. here's how he made his announcement. when my grandmother got here almost 100 years ago, i'm sure that she never could've imagined thatjust two generations later, one of her grandsons would be serving as a member of the united states congress and the other would be standing with you here today to say these words, "i am a candidate for president of the united states of america." cheering and applause. let's get some of the day's other news. more than 80,000 people hav

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. well, staying in france, and the french government says about 84,000 people took part in the latest round of ‘yellow vest‘ protests on saturday, sharply up on last week‘s estimate of 50,000. but the interior minister, christophe castaner, said the demonstrations across the country had been largely peaceful. unlike past protests, there were fewer reports of property damage and injuries, although nearly 250 protestors were arrested nationwide. kim gittleson has more. from paris to toulon, what began as a protest against the now—scrapped fuel tax at the end of november continues to draw thousands of french demonstrators to the streets, who say they‘re protesting against the rising cost of living. translation: i'm a civil servant and i don‘t have enough at the end of the month to take care of my son. is that normal after 25 years of service? at the end of the month, i‘m reduced to eating pasta, and i‘m not even the most unfortunate person here. in many of the cities, much

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. the partial shutdown of the us government has become the longest on record, now on its 22nd day. president trump is refusing to sign measures to pay all federal employees because democrats in congress won't include funding for the wall he promised on the border with mexico. our north america correspondent, david willis, is in washington. are there any signs of a breakthrough, david? it isa it is a side of the shear dysfunction here that the president is in the building behind me, waiting for congressional democrats to make contact and they are at home with theirfamilies, to make contact and they are at home with their families, hence the president is doing what he tends to do when he is restless, he is on twitter, and in response to claims that he doesn't have a plan to end the current shutdown he said that he does. adding, to understand the plan you would have to understand the fa ct you would have to understand the fact that i won the election and i promise safety and security for t

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. the texas democratjulian castro has formally declared he wants to run for president of the united states. the announcement makes him the first hispanic in what looks set to be a crowded field of candidates vying for the position to challenge president donald trump in the november 2020 election. he's long been viewed as a rising star in the democratic party and will seek to position himself as a political outsider with liberal credentials. here's how he made his announcement. when my grandmother got here almost a hundred years ago, i'm sure that she never could have imagined thatjust two generations later, one of her grandsons would be serving as a member of the united states congress and the other would be standing with you here today to say these words. i am a candidate for president of the united states of america. so who isjulian castro and what do we know about him? the 44—year—old is the grandson of an immigrant. his grandmother was born in mexico and he's used his family's p

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. the ministry ofjustice says it's considering proposals to abolish prison sentences of less than six months in england and wales. ministers say short sentences are less effective at cutting re—offending than community penalties. it's thought about 30,000 offenders would be affected every year under the plans. chi chi izundu reports. long enough to damage you but not long enough to heal you, that's how the prisons minister rory stewart described those serving sentences of six months or less in today's telegraph newspaper. right now, that's around 30,000 prisoners in england and wales, who have committed crimes like burglary or shoplifting. even a short spell behind bars could mean the loss of their home, job and family. we should not be using prison for these people. we should be turning their lives around and giving them support, dealing with their drug addiction, their homelessness, and getting them to make amends for the wrong they've done. that's really good for victims, it's good

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. a texas democrat, julian castro, has formally declared he wants to run for president of the united states in 2020. he's a former mayor of san antonio who went on to serve in president obama's cabinet. the announcement makes him the first hispanic in what looks set to be a crowded field of candidates vying to challenge president trump. here's what mr castro had to say. when my grandmother got here almost 100 years ago, i'm sure that she never could've imagined thatjust two generations later, one of her grandsons would be serving as a member of the united states congress and the other would be standing with you here today to say these words, "i am a candidate for president of the united states of america." cheering and applause. the bbc‘s david willis in washington has more. the former mayor of san antonio in texas, he gave a speech at the democratic national convention four years ago and was the youngest member of barack obama's cabinet. but more than anything else, he's looking to b

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. there have been more mass anti—government protests across france. police in the capital fired water cannon and tear gas at so—called ‘yellow vest‘ demonstrators as scuffles broke out near the arc de triomphe. thousands of officers have been deployed across the city, which has previously seen street clashes. groups of protesters gathered on and around the champs elysees, the scene of disturbances in recent weeks, many of them calling for macron to resign. small groups broke away from the designated route and threw bottles and other projectiles at the police. the partial shutdown of the us government has become the longest on record, now on it's twenty—second day. president trump is refusing to sign measures to pay all federal employees because democrats in congress won't include funding for the wall he promised on the border with mexico. 0ur north america correspondent david willis gave us this update from washington. this is a sign of the dysfunction. the president is in the building behind me but congress is nowhere to be seen. it is in rec

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. the secretary of state, mike pompeo, says he's optimistic that the us and turkey can reach an agreement on a way to protect america's kurdish allies in syria after its troops pull out. us forces have fought alongside the kurds in northern syria against islamic state jihadists. mr pompeo is on a middle east tour which is intended to reassure washington's allies following president trump's announcement last month that us forces would be withdrawn from syria. barbara plett usher is monitoring his trip from riyadh. this dispute with turkey over america's kurdish allies has overshadowed mr pompeo's sweeping mid east trip. but he told journalists he had spoken with his turkish counterpart and thought an agreement might be possible. one that would allow the turks to defend their country from legitimate terror threats. and would also protect those kurds who have been fighting the islamic state group alongside the americans and who he said were not terrorists. the turks think they are and have

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. meanwhile, across france, there have been more mass anti—government protests. police in the capital fired water cannon and tear gas at so—called ‘yellow vest‘ demonstrators as scuffles broke out near the arc de triomphe. thousands of officers have been deployed across the city, which has previously seen street clashes. groups of protesters gathered on and around the champs elysees, the scene of disturbances in recent weeks, many of them calling for macron to resign. small groups broke away from the designated route and threw bottles and other projectiles at the police. across the country, around 80,000 people are reported to have taken to the streets. the ministry ofjustice says it's considering proposals to abolish prison sentences of less than six months in england and wales. ministers say short sentences are less effective at cutting re—offending than community penalties. chi chi izundu reports. long enough to damage you but not long enough to heal you, that's how the pri

our correspondent lucy williamson has been to calais to see what is happening with the preparations there. eurotunnel is used to the pressures of just—in—time eurotunnel is used to the pressures ofjust—in—time manufacturing. eurotunnel is used to the pressures of just—in—time manufacturing. ten weeks before brexit it is starting work in calais on a new site for extra checks on lorries after march. a multimillion pound insurance policy, with space for a few dozen vehicles. no point in building more capacity, the company says, until it's clear what the future looks like. we are kind of in a - of like. we are kind of in a period of fijé have to like. we are kind of in a period of ’i:$ have to do something limbo where we have to do something by 77 nothing 7 limbo where we have to do something by 277; nothing we 7 limbo where we have to do something by 277; nothing we are e because by doing nothing we are trying to, you know, that isjust the getting there is a problem. but where we want to be is somewhere ee‘ee—e 25752 egg-e? 47-77 l7; i; e7-77-7—7e-777-l-7e7-e much more a

williamson has been to calais to see what is happening with the preparations there. eurotunnel is used to the pressures ofjust—in—time manufacturing. ten weeks before brexit, it is starting work in calais on a new site for extra checks on lorries after march. a multimillion—pound insurance policy, with space for a few dozen vehicles. no point in building more capacity, the company says, until it is clear what the future looks like. we're kind of in a period of limbo, where we have to do something, because by doing nothing, we're trying to, you know — that's just forgetting there's a problem. but where we want to be is somewhere much more advanced than the systems that are in place today. building work at the eurotunnel site here has onlyjust begun. the company says it will be ready, but the new system will rely on the efficient cooperation of thousands of companies and customs officials each day, and it is notjust infrastructure that takes time to prepare. at the moment, the only customs searches are spotchecks, :9299’ 9399nee’9e99 9:9— 9 9 99 9—9—