BBC在线收听下载:美国政府历史最长停摆暂时解决

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

The five-week standoff between President Trump and the Democrats that led to the longest shutdown in US history has been resolved, at least for the moment. Mr. Trump has signed bipartisan bill to fund the US government for the next three weeks. He did so without securing the 5.7 billion dollars he wanted for a wall along the Mexican border. Chris Buckler reports. Most commentators believe Mr. Trump had to back down because he was being blamed in the polls for a dispute that led to workers queuing at food banks and planes being grounded because of a lack of air traffic control staff. The Minority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer insists Democrats will not agree to money for the wall. Shutting down the government over a policy difference is self-defeating. It accomplishes nothing but pain and suffering. President Trump is also considering the option of declaring a national emergency at the border with Mexico that could allow him to build the wall from other funds, although it would probably face a legal challenge.

Up to three hundred people are missing and feared dead in Brazil after a dam collapsed at a mining complex in the state of Minas Gerais. Nine bodies have been recovered so far. Julia Carneiro reports. A sea of slides swept through a green rural area near the city of Brumadinho, swallowing everything in its track. It was a regular weekday with over four hundred workers busy at the local valley headquarters, many having lunch in the cafeteria which was buried. The government has set up the crisis cabinet and firefighters will continue rescue operations today.

The Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova is about to play for a first Grand Slam title since suffering hand injuries in a knife attack two years ago. She's facing Naomi Osaka of Japan in the Australian Open final in Melbourne. Here's Russell Fuller. Kvitova's surgeon feared she was unlikely to be able to compete at the highest level ever again. She underwent surgery in the Czech Republic in December 2016, just hours after an intruder had burst into her apartment and slashed all the fingers on her playing hand. Last year Kvitova won five tour titles and like Osaka, will also become the world number one if she triumphs on the Rod Laver Arena. Osaka's story is also a remarkable one. Her stunning victory over Serena Williams in Septembers's US Open final was overshadowed by the American's row with umpire Carlos Ramos. But if the 21-year-old wins in Melbourne, she'll be the first player for eighteen years to win a second Grand Slam title in the event immediately following her first.

BBC News.