Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. And now, bbc world news. Laura this is bbc world news america. Reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. The u. S. Government will be back in business, but for how long . A deal is reached, but some are less than impressed by the way things are being done right now. I think in the eyes of many americans, they feel like our country was founded by geniuses, but it is being run by some idiots. Laura a humanitarian crisis is unfolding near damascus. In the rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta, children are often paying the heaviest price. And from world soccer star to head of state. Liberias new president knows his way around the pitch. Laura welcome to our viewers on Public Television in america and around the globe. By tomorrow morning, the u. S. Government will be up and running again after a threeday shutdown. Following a weekend of negotiations, the democrats agreed to provide the muchneeded vote in the senate, but it may just be a shortterm fix instead of a longterm solution. The motion is agreed to. Laura this was the moment the impasse was broken and the way cleared for the government to reopen. The scene in the senate was the result of behind closed doors negotiations between centrist republicans and democrats. In return for voting to fund the government the next few weeks, democrats got this. Senator mcconnell assuming that the government remains open, it would be my intention to proceed to legislation that would address daca, border security, and related issues. Laura democrats had said they wanted a deal to protect the young people brought here illegally as children whose temporary permits start to expire in march. What they got is agreement to vote on this and other immigration matters in february. Democrats say the president was no help at all. Senator schumer since our meeting in the oval office on friday, the president and i have not spoken, and the white house refused to engage in negotiations over the weekend. The great dealmaking president sat on the sidelines. Laura the president did take an uncharacteristically low profile during the shutdown, other than these photos released by the white house and, of course, a few tweets. His spokesperson is making clear that donald trump is central to whatever happens next. Sarah sanders as i have always said come once the government is funded, my administration will work towards solving problem of unfair, illegal immigration. We will make a longterm deal if and only if it is good for the country. Laura the government will be funded until february 8. Unless there is a plan by then to address the fate of the dreamers, expect more drama here in washington. To helppaper break all of this down, i spoke a brief time ago with north america reporter anthony zurcher. There is an agreement to reopen the government for now, but what is to stop us from going through the motions again on february 8 . Anthony not much. They thought themselves 2. 5 they bought themselves 2. 5 weeks to do further negotiations. There is a promise by Mitch Mcconnell, Senate Republican majority leader, to bring up an immigration vote before the february 8, and if the government is shut down then, bring it on the floor with an open process. But the budget caps, military spending, all the immigration stuff, all of that has not been resolved. It is pushed down the road a little bit further. Laura how crucial is the president s engagement going to be to get a deal on the dreamers . This was about the deal on the democrat side. They dont have agreement. Where was he on this . Anthony he wasnt around a whole lot. They say he was around to help the process go smoothly that was White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders take on this. I dont know if the process went smoothly over the weekend, but he was very handsoff and if anything, he made things more difficult because he was not clear on the negotiating position on immigration, and it looked like he had a deal, he he signed off on something and then backed away from it. Congress is pretty much doing this on their own. They had a meeting at the white house with some of the republican senators and maybe they will have more of a picture going forward, but there are internal divisions in the white house on what to do. Laura it was divisions between the democrats, which means this could not be too long of a shutdown because centrist democrats up for reelection did not want to be exposed. Is it possible that in the end, we get a showdown from republicans of where they stand on the dreamers and amnesty . Anthony if you are a democrat, that is the bestcase scenario from the weekend. They sort of nailed it down Mitch Mcconnell on having a vote on immigration and they can bring up daca and try to force it and see where the republicans stand on that. Democrats were very upset that they folded up tent so early, but if something comes to the floor, you will see some republicans who do not want any kind of socalled amnesty and others who do want something, and that is going along with the popular opinion. They want to see some sort of daca protection. That will open up the divide. You saw the white house running an ad saying that democrats were siding with undocumented immigrants over the military. Laura and yet democrats are having to deal with fury from the progressive left. What do they say . Anthony well, we didnt leave this with anything less, we still have our powder dry, we have a negotiating position. Can we go down 2. 5 weeks come we have the whole fight again, but at least we have drawn a line in the sand at least for a couple of days. It is clear that that is not enough for the base. If you want the key tell, look at the senate vote on the filibuster. The people who did not vote to reopen the government, all president ial aspirants. You had kamala harris, kirsten gillibrand, Bernie Sanders they all voted against reopening the government. That is where the base of the party is. Laura and for the American People sitting back and watching this, this is how it is going to be this year . Anthony i suppose so. I dont think this will have a big impact. It was a long weekend for federal workers and it will be forgotten before you know it, but it shows that the tenor in washington, the conflicts will continue, whether it is over immigration, an infrastructure bill, military funding, the wall. All this will go back and forth until we get close to the midterm elections, and then the voters will have a chance to decide. Laura anthony zurcher, thank you for joining us. In other news from around the world, u. S. Vice president mike pence has told the Israeli Parliament that the American Embassy in israel will move to jerusalem by the end of next year. Arab members of the knesset heckled mr. Pence as he started his speech. It is the first time the u. S. Has set a deadline for the controversial move. Convicted of killing two of his patients, a german is facing 97 charges of murder. He has already been jailed for life and if found guilty, he would become one of germanys worst serial killers. Hes accused of injecting people with lethal heart drugs so he could show off his resuscitation skills. Vietnam has sentenced a former member of the countrys leadership to 13 years in prison for economic mismanagement. He was once chairman of the state oil company petrol vietnam. Another former Oil Executive was given a life sentence for embezzlement. Jeremy says that executive germany says that executive was abducted in berlin. Australia has announced a 48 million plan to save the Worlds Largest coral reef. The Great Barrier reef is being severely damaged by starfish as well is coral bleaching, which is caused by warmer ocean which Scientists Say is caused by warmer ocean temperatures. For five years, the syrian suburb of Eastern Ghouta has been endlessly attacked by president assads forces. Now some people in the area are 400,000 suffering with the u. N. Says is a humanitarian crisis. Despite being labeled a deescalation zone, the bombardment continues. The United Nations is meeting to address the situation. Reporter Eastern Ghouta is a suburb under siege. The airstrikes have become a daily occurrence here. Racing from emergency to emergency, there seems to be no end to the violence. And when half of the population that live here are children, it is them who suffer the most. Mahmoud, just three years old, survived an attack unhurt. His brother was lost in the rubble. Altogether, 8 civilians were pulled out of the remains of their homes. They survived this attack, but they cannot escape the siege. Surrounded for the past five years, the u. N. Has recently described Eastern Ghouta at the epicenter of suffering in syria. For almost 400,000 people, that means daily misery, with little food, winter temperatures, and heavy bombardment. Once the dust settles, the children are sent out to search. She has lost one child and is struggling to keep the others. Eastern ghouta might be 20 minutes drive from damascus, but food is 16 times more extensive expensive than the capital. I have six children. How am i meant to feed them . I cant even afford to buy them bread. They never get full. Have mercy on us. Reporter in an attempt to escape the shelling, he has made his abandoned building his home. With no windows, he has chosen to face the cold than the bombs. His two boys exposed to the chill of winter. When it comes to food, we cannot afford to buy much. We eat day by day. We cant fight it to why would, so we we cannot afford to buy wood, so we burn whatever we can find. I burned most of my belongings that i took with me when we were displaced. Reporter no aid has been allowed into the area since november. Without vital supplies, tens of thousands of children face the threat of malnutrition. As the attacks continue, the syrian and russian governments say their forces only attack islamist rebels in the area. For many children here born into this brutal siege, if something isnt done soon, it is all they will ever come to know. Laura meanwhile, the white house today called on turkey to exercise restraint in northwest syria. That is where istanbul has launched an air and Ground Campaign against u. S. Backed kurdish fighters in the region beyond turkeys border. In the afrin region of syria. For more, i spoke a brief time ago with the former assistant secretary of state for military affairs who has returned from istanbul. Since you are just back from istanbul, what insight do you have into why the turks chose this moment to launch this offensive against the kurds within syria . I dont think theres anything special about this moment. It is clear that the Kurdish Forces were gaining more and more control of the northwest border, and the United States unfortunately made a comment about creating a border force. I think the combination of those two events precipitated this event. Laura how awkward is it for the United States . Turkey is a nato ally, and the United States is very reliant on the kurds in syria to fight the Islamic State. Exactly right, and that is why i dont think we have registered disapproval or condemnation from the United States. We are concerned, but we also recognize the legitimate right of turkey to have security concerns on their own borders. Laura the white house, as you say, called on turkey to exercise restraint. Is that mild, in your view, compared to what they could have said . It really is. Reasonable constraint, keep the number of civilian casualties operationit a short that is about as soft as you can come. Laura right, but what impact is that going to have on the kurds in syria, who until recently thought they had the backing of the United States because of their key role fighting the Islamic State . I think they are concerned. They are wondering who their allies are and arent full so we and arent. We have worked with the ypg for quite some time. Given the situation with turkey, they would have expected more from the United States. Laura does washington feel that because the Islamic State is on the back foot, they dont necessarily need their allies in syria anymore . No, quite the contrary. We continue to say to turkey, lets continue this fight against isis. Once isis is defeated, we can move on to stabilization authorizations, diplomacy, and oppose the assad regime. Frankly, we feel this is a distraction from that fight and that process. Laura how about russia . President erdogan says that this incursion is happening with the backing of the russians. I find the russian position quite duplicitous. It is the russians who were the ones who propped up Bashar Alassad when he was about to lose the war. So the russians cant have it both ways. They cant be friends of syria, enemies of the ypg, and condemning the United States. I think it is diplomacy at its worst. Laura presumably, the russians want to drive a wedge between the United States and turkey, and they love stirring up trouble within nato. I think that is right. But i think in the long run, turkey recognizes the value of staying in nato, recognizes the value of being an ally to the United States. Laura but what about the wider situation . Other kurdish groups are very distressed by what is happening to the kurds in syria and talk about helping them fight. How destabilizing could that be . I really dont think it is destabilizing. It is clear they understand that the United States will not support the ypg as being the rump army for the independent syriakurdistan. It is temporary and only for the fight in isis. Laura thank you for joining us. Thanks. Laura you are watching bbc world news america. Still to come on tonights program, over 100 women are coming forward to confront former usa gymnastics doctor larry nassar. Now there has been a major shakeup in the leadership of the sport. Pope francis has finished his south american tour with a call for people to tackle corruption. For the second time during his stay in peru, the pontiff attacked what he called the violence of graft. He says politics on the continent has become disease because of bribery. Inorter waving to the crowd day, the pope on his final of a visit to south america, which began in chile before you a week before. Very happy. Today is my birthday, and it was a gift to me. I feel so excited, you cant imagine. I dont have words to explain it. Reporter it was very special, oneofakind. I feel very moved. Reporter pope francis celebrated mass sunday afternoon , the final few hours before flying back to rome. Francis gracias. Thank you for being here, thank you for praying for this trip and blessings to the peruvian people. To all of you, thank you very much. Reporter meeting with bishops earlier in the day, he talked about global politics, saying latin america faced a crisis of corruption. He has previously called corruption the gangrene of society. There was controversy on the trip, too. Before his arrival to my Catholic Churches were attacked over poverty and ancestral Land Ownership in chile, and he has had to address an ongoing scandal over sexual abuse in the Catholic Church here. Withfrancis ended his tour a mass at a military base in lima. His popularity insuring crowds of tens of thousands of people. Using his visit to highlight their grievances, too. Laura today, three Board Members of usa gymnastics resigned. It comes as former Team Doctor Larry Nassar is about to be sentenced for sexually abusing those under his care. There have been emotional statements for days at the courthouse. The Bbcs Rajini Vaidyanathan is in lansing, michigan, and joined us a short time ago. What exactly is u. S. Gymnastics saying about the resignation of these officials who have been widely criticized for months . Rajini well, there is no mention of this ongoing case. They say this is just part of a change at the top. But of course it is connected to what has been going on in the courtroom at the end of the corridor from where i am standing. Ive been speaking to a lot of the young women who have been sharing their stories in the past week, and all of them of course want to make sure that larry nassar, the man they say sexually abused them when they were much younger, is given justice. They want to make sure he spends life behind bars. But the other thing they want to make sure is that usa gymnastics is held accountable, because they believe there was in many senses a sense of enabling a culture of enabling is a phrase that one woman used, where usa gymnastics was given many complaints about Larry Nassars behavior. He was the team doctor for the u. S. Gymnastics team and treated a lot of statelevel gymnasts here and around the country. Used his medical treatment, under the guise of medical treatment, to abuse these young women. The concern is that usa gymnastics covered up what was going on and didnt address it, so in many ways, they would say that they are addressing this with the resignation of these three top Board Members and many women here say then needs to be a complete reorganization of that. They believe that the culture runs deep in usa gymnastics, and hope that things can change for others, even though after two decades larry nassar spent two decades working there things wont necessarily change for them. Laura just how many gymnasts abused by larry nassar have made these statements during this extraordinary hearing . Rajini well, so far i think the total count we have got from today is as many as 124 have now given statements, and at the moment, the list, unofficial really, just what people are saying in the court, as many as 144 women want to come forward and share their stories. It is worth noting that in the court this afternoon, laura, not Everyone Wants to speak in public. We have seen incredibly brave and emotional testimony in the past week, with many women facing larry nassar facetoface, standing there, looking him in the eye, telling him what he did to them. But not Everyone Wants to speak in public. This hearing will continue tomorrow and the judge says anyone who wants to share the stories will be given the chance to. Laura rajini vaidyanathan, thank you. A former soccer star has been sworn in as the new president of liberia. George weah told the bbc he was ready to meet the expectations of his people. His victory is the latest extraordinary chapter in liberias emergence from the horrors of civil war. Monrovia, herel, is africa editor fergal keane. Fergal a fanfare for the peoples man who rose from the slums to become an International Football star and now president of his country. George weah is the face of a changing nation. For the first time in over 70 years, power is being transferred between democratically elected leaders. Can you possibly be a success as a president as a footballer . President weah whether you only look at me as a former footballer, but im a human being and i strive to be excellent. And i can be successful. Fergal today he was leading a team of friends against an Army Selection and still scoring. It was in europe playing for teams like chelsea that he became a legend. Fifa footballer of the year. George weah inherits a nation still struggling with the legacy of war. In the slum where he grew up, they are hoping he will bring jobs, health care, housing. When you come here to the streets where george weah grew up, the scale of problems facing liberia is very clear. Meaningful change to take place, peace is essential, and this is a generation that has grown up without knowing more, in a country that was once a byword for anarchy. In 14 years of war, a quarter Million People were killed. Child soldiers like joseph became symbols of pitiless violence. Today, he is one of those looking to george weah in hope. Like his nation, joseph is scarred by the past, but determined not to repeat it. Fergal doing homework with his children, josephs life challenges those who would write off a nation, even a continent, as failed. What do you hope george weah can do for you . E hope he will design we hope he will programs and bring investors, joseph tells me, so there can be jobs and have a better liberia than before. Expectations are high. Can george weah possibly need meet them . President weah i know i can meet expectations. Liberians love me, what ive done before in my life. Making sure they are ok, im going to do it again. Fergal football teaches that you cannot succeed alone, and the new president has people on his side. But more than anything now, george weah will need their patience. Fergal keane, bbc news, monrovia. Laura finally, some dramatic pictures from the philippines. The country most active volcano. As erupted again last week, thousands of people were evacuated from the area around the volcano after lava began slowly flowing from its crater. It is considered the most volatile of the countrys 22 active volcanoes. Amazing pictures there. Remember, you can find more of all the days news on our website, and to see what we are working on at time, check out our facebook page. I am laura trevelyan. Thanks for watching world news america. With the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed to work around your lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the news of the day and stay up to date with the latest headlines you can trust. Download now from selected app stores. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. You can find it here in aruba. Families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. Bbc world news was presented by kcet, los angeles. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff good evening, im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight. In a few hours the government will reopen. We have a lot to do. Woodruff . After three days of a political standoff, the Senate Reaches a compromise to end the Government Shutdown in exchange for immigration talks. Then, in a tense trip to israel, Vice President mike pence announces the u. S. Embassy will move to jerusalem by the end of next year, speeding up original plans. Plus, a look at the story behind the new film the post. What it can tell us about a key historical event and our current political environment. They also altered the state of the First Amendment and the history of the world. By what . By printing the truth. Dear lord, if t