BBC News Daily: 26 April 2017
Hello. Here's your morning briefing:
- Will Trump's Mexico wall happen?
- Labour promises NHS pay rise
- 'Critical work' on Madeleine McCann investigation
It was one of Donald Trump's big campaign promises, but as he approaches 100 days in office, the building of a border wall with Mexico looks no closer to happening.
Mr Trump said Mexico itself would pay - it's said it won't. And Democrats have threatened to block the president's money bill later this week if $1.5bn (£1.2bn) for the wall isn't removed, which could lead to a government shutdown.
Mr Trump's indicated he could back down by Friday's deadline, but he insists the project will go ahead. "This has been a stark lesson in the difference between campaigning and governing," says BBC North America editor Jon Sopel.
Analysis: Can Democrats trounce Trump in 2018?
By Justin Webb, Today programme, BBC Radio 4
Could this presidency be hit by enough scandal by next year that those Republicans who stick with him go down? Well, it's hardly impossible is it?
Other top stories
- Labour's promising a pay rise for NHS staff, as it continues to lay out policies at this early point in the general election campaign. The party also says that, under a Jeremy Corbyn government, trainee nurses and midwives wouldn't pay tuition fees. But the Conservatives say only they can provide the economic growth needed to fund the NHS properly.
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- It's almost a decade since three-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing on a family holiday to Portugal, but police say they are still carrying out "critical work" on the investigation. But Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley adds that there is no "definitive answer" as to whether Madeleine is alive or dead. Her mother Kate describes the 10th anniversary as a "horrible marker of time, stolen time".
- The system for providing school places in England and Wales is "increasingly incoherent and too often poor value for money", a committee of MPs says. It also argues that too much is being spent on free schools, while other schools are sometimes in poor condition. But ministers say free school places are key to meeting overall demand.
What the papers say
Several newspapers headline on the news that police are looking at a "critical" lead in the Madeleine McCann case. The Mail calls this a "final throw of the dice to end a decade of heartbreak", while the Express reports that there are "vital new clues".
Meanwhile, the Telegraph says the UK will continue paying into the EU after Brexit to ensure a "transition" trade deal. And the i highlights a survey suggesting that a majority of the public wants Theresa May to take part in live TV debates ahead of the general election.
Daily digest
Puppy farm shootings - "Cases to answer" for some police and staff
A&E figures - Injuries from violence fall in England and Wales
Giant rabbit death - United Airlines investigating cargo hold incident
Saturn diving - Cassini probe makes first of 22 plunges through planet's rings and atmosphere
If you watch one thing today
Unearthing the Terracotta Army
If you listen to one thing today
How the potato changed the world
If you read one thing today
Wednesday lookahead
Today The Prosperity UK conference, aimed at bringing together supporters and opponents of Brexit to discuss the practicalities of leaving the EU, happens in central London.
09:00 Tennis's Maria Sharapova makes a return after a 15-month doping ban, playing at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
12:00 The final Prime Minister's Questions before the general election takes place.
20:00 All US senators are being offered a classified briefing on North Korea at the White House.
On this day
1970 Future US First Lady Melania Trump is born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia.
1975 Labour members vote by almost two to one to leave the European Economic Community, ahead of a nationwide referendum.
1999 TV presenter and journalist Jill Dando is shot dead outside her London home.
Best of the rest
Colombia guerrillas come out of the jungle (New Yorker)
Could worms help degrade the world's plastic waste mountain? (Atlantic)
The greatest insults in British politics (Telegraph)
The language of estate agents decoded (Sydney Morning Herald)
