Transcripts For BBCNEWS Outside Source 20171212

Election has been marred not only by scandal, but it could have implications for President Trump. It isa implications for President Trump. It is a real tight race. It is a two horse race between these two men the democrat candidate doug jones and the republican candidate roy moore. Lets look at how roy more votes. He arrives on a horse, a p pa re ntly votes. He arrives on a horse, apparently this is a bit of a tradition of his, to arrive to cast his vote on horseback. We wouldnt normally be paying this much attention to a senate election, but this one is significant in the number of ways. First, roy moore has been making headlines worldwide after multiple claims were made against him for once preying on teenage girls. He has always denied these allegations, and he did so again at the final rally last night. The Washington Post put out this terrible, disgusting article, saying i had done something. And i want you all to understand something. They said these women had not come forward for nearly a0 years. But they waited to 30 days before this general election to come forward. Now, a second reason why this election is so important the polls are simply too close to call a result. Its one of the issues of a predicted low turnout. If doug jones does win, this would be the first Democrat Senate win in this deeply conservative state in over 20 years. Thats what the wanted when he hit home to his supporters in a final rally last night. This election is going to be one of the most significant in our States History ina long, significant in our States History in a long, long time. And weve got to make sure. Weve got to make sure that in this crossroads in alabamas sure that in this crossroads in ala bamas history, sure that in this crossroads in alabamas history, we take the right road. To round it all off, this election means an awful what President Trump. Hes been supporting one more, despite the allegations against him at the weekend. The president held a rally in alabama in support of mr moore. Now donald trump needs the republicans to win this seat in order to keep their extremely slim two seat majority in the senate. He needs to do that if he wants to be able to pass laws ahead of next yea rs able to pass laws ahead of next years mid term congressional elections. Well, this would also be a victory for troubles populist brand of politics. Does this sound familiar . We are up to our neck in alligators, up to our neck in people who dont want change in washington, dc, they want to keep it the same, keep the power, keep the prestige, keep the power, keep the prestige, keep their position. And weve got to change that. That was at a final drain the swamp rally last night. Mr moore is aligned with much of troubles views, including the anti establishment line, which has been criticised by many fellow republicans much of trumps views. A win for roy moore could be seen views. A win for roy moore could be seen as a views. A win for roy moore could be seen as a win for President Trump, bringing the doubters in the party to heal. Polls close at 8pm local time. Lets talk to katty kay, who has been monitoring this closely. Simply too close to call . Yes, the opinion polls, some of them show that roy moore is ahead by ten points, and some of them show that doug jones is ahead by ten points, and people are wondering whether voters here in alabama or even telling the pollsters the truth. Some of them might feel when asked about roy moore that they dont want to tell a pollster that they are going to vote for somebody who has been accused of Sexual Harassment of teenagers. Some on the other hand may feel that they dont ever want to say that they are going to vote for a democrat, even though they are going to because their families come from long lines of republicans stop. Lets not read too much into the polls. Whatever happens here, its going to be fascinating. If roy moore winds and goes to washington and carries with him a firebrand, antiestablishment feeling, he upends the republican party, theres no guarantee that he will always vote with his fellow republicans, hes been kind of at war with them too in washington. Or doug jones wins, and for the First Time Since the early 19905 alabama sends a democrat to the senate, which would be remarkable given how deeply conservative this state is. What are the implications if the democrats do wind that . , republican majority in the senate is reduced, they would only have a majority of one. That makes it even harderfor the president to get his agenda passed, because he could only afford to lose one republican senator, and things dont get done. Thats why youve seen dont get done. Thats why youve seen the president come out so forcefully in support of roy moore. But i think, you know, the bigger risk, some republicans are saying, is if roy moore winds, and weve had plenty of republicans, even before this allegations of Sexual Harassment who came out and said they couldnt vote for roy moore because his position is really on the extreme wing of the conservative movement, he has said that homosexuality should be illegal, that muslims should be barred from serving in congress, who has likened the koran to mein kampf. Already on a whole load of issues he was a candidate who was pretty far out there and to some republicans were already uncomfortable with. Katty kay, thank you very much. Really monitoring that vote. It will be fascinating to get the result. We will bring that to you as and when we get it. Now we will turn to the french president , and emmanuel macron. He has issued a stern warning. He said the world is losing the battle against Climate Change. Now, here he is addressing around 50 world leaders, senior ministers, prime ministers, at a Climate Summit in paris. This is what he said. Translation we are losing this battle. Those who came before us had an advantage. They could say, we didnt know, and it was true. But for the last 20 years or so, weve known, and we find out more everyday. There have been plenty of climate meetings in the past, as you will no doubt the call. Whats different about this one, Lucy Williamson is in paris, and she explains. One thing that is being talked about a lot at this meeting is transparency. The idea that Companies Need to be, they are under pressure to be more transparent about the Carbon Footprint of the business deals they do, the investments they make, and there have been some moves in that direction. Weve also seen the world bank has come out and said that as of 2019 it will not Fund Exploration for oil and gas. Weve had other commitments by Big Energy Companies here in europe to do much more with renewables. One company saying it wa nts to renewables. One company saying it wants to be 100 renewable. Another French Company saying it was going to increase solar power by four times what it provides now. I think we are seeing times what it provides now. I think we are seeing some concrete commitments we are seeing some concrete commitments by individual companies and organisations. Lucy williamson. The other thing that is different about this Climate Conference is that even though this man, let me bring him up, there he is again, donald trump, he isnt present, his countrys looming large, the lack of its presence is really, really tenable and visible in this Climate Conference. Back in june tenable and visible in this Climate Conference. Back injune of course he announced that the us was pulling out of the paris deal on combating Climate Change. And president macron spoke a bit earlier about his disappointment at that decision. But also his hope that President Trump may change that decision. The us did sign the paris agreement. Its extremely aggressive to decide on his own just to leave. And nowhere a to push the orders to renegotiate because one decided to leave. Im sorry to say that. It doesnt fly. So, sorry, buti sorry to say that. It doesnt fly. So, sorry, but i think its a big responsibility, and im pretty sure that my friend President Trump will change his mind in the coming months oi years. Change his mind in the coming months or years. Optimism there are, isnt that . Fighting Climate Change isnt just about developed countries like france and the us. Christian aid is one of the Many Charities at this one of the Many Charities at this one planet conference. And its spokesperson has said that the missing piece of the jigsaw is the funding to help the world poorer countries Access Funding to help the world poorer cou ntries access clea n funding to help the world poorer countries access clean energy so that they dont follow that fossil fuel powered path into the rich world. And thats something that ive speaking about with the World Service environment correspondent. There has also been criticism that france, although it has hosted this meeting, france is still investing in. Fuel investments. So that question, you know, how does it do it . That is definitely there. And again, its one country that, again, we know that it happened in paris, so we know that it happened in paris, so definitely frances relation with that treaty would be quite close. It is its darling treaty. But again when it comes to implementation of that treaty. It is a huge commit huge business which has yet to be thrashed. It is just a vague agreement that was signed. The detail of how it will be implemented and who will verify that is supposed to happen next year, in 2018. Thats when thats not passed by cracked. What about china . When thats not passed by cracked. What about china . It is a huge stakeholder in this . China, on the home front, it has been applauded and congratulated for doing so many things. But again, china is elsewhere in the thing in fossil fuels. Many call plants elsewhere, in africa, for instance, the balkans, electricity in bosnia. We reported on the coal industry, the balkans are seeing a lot of chinese investment. Not to forget, the china thing is, china has a different kind of battle with developed countries. What china and india, these emerging economies say, is that you, developed countries, you have already done your bit, youve got your chance to develop, now it is oui your chance to develop, now it is our turn. So youve got to make those massive cuts in emissions, not us. Those massive cuts in emissions, not us. That is still there, that battle is still there. Last month, when they have this Climate Conference, that argument once again surfaced. And it was quite, quite serious. Developing countries effectively wa nt developing countries effectively want the chance to carry on developing . So, it depends. For instance, if you talk about india, china, asi instance, if you talk about india, china, as i said, or even this grouping called the six, brazil, south africa, china, india, they have always had this argument. Again, there are some countries that they say that if they got the right money, the right, what is known as the technical know how, the technical transfer, the knowledge transfer, then they are happy to change, to change gear and get into the cleaner energy. But mind you, there are countries that have huge deposits of coal resources, for instance. The own Oil Resources deposits. And they argue that, we have to use what we have, because they are cheap deposits, cheap resources , they are cheap deposits, cheap resources, and its very expensive. And then the technology transfer, which they expect from developed countries, it runs into trillions of dollars. And that is again another battle. Theyve always been arguing, can you give us that money, that technical transfer . Thats the question. Developed countries say, we have been doing so. But developing countries say, no, its been double counted, regular aid has been double counted, regular aid has been counted as climate aid, its not happening. This was again, this time also we saw in paris, and its not going to go away any time soon. He isa not going to go away any time soon. He is a stark warning against european governments. They are knowingly complicit in the torture and abuse of refugees and migrants in libya. That is according to Amnesty International. As you can see from this map,. Let mejust bring this up. This is a map that shows the main routes that migrants trying to reach europe take. Now, the biggest orange arrows represent the biggest orange arrows represent the biggest orange arrows represent the biggest flow of migrants. To try to prevent that, amnesty says that the European Union is actively supporting a system of abuse and exploitation of the libyan coast. Youre probably familiar with images like this. They show the italian navy rescuing migrants from the mediterranean. Well, after the eu started giving funding to the libyan coast guard, the number of migrants actually reaching italy has sharply dropped. But amnesty says that the libyan coast guard is actually working with criminal gangs who are guilty of a range of abuses. With the knowledge of eu officials. Now, this is quite difficult to see. These images were shot by the ngo gioup these images were shot by the ngo group c watch. They were shocked last of them by. As you can just about make out, you can see a fight. And the ngo claims that this shows members of the libyan coast guard punching a refugee. That refugee thenjumps punching a refugee. That refugee then jumps back into the water and is dragged along as the boat picks up is dragged along as the boat picks up speed. So, c watch says that such actions contributed to the drowning of around 50 people. Now, Amnesty International says that migrants intercepted by the libyan cows guard are sent to detention centres like this one libyan coast guard. Terrible conditions. Unlawful killings as well. The bbc filmed in one of these types of centres back in september. This is how one inmate described it and this is how our reporter saw all of this. Here, its like in hell. Its like in hell, for me. Thats how i feel. This is the reality for those being held in detention in libya. The men here have asked us to show these conditions. They are very anxious for all of this to be seen. This is prison by any other name. The only hope of release for these men is to be deported back to their home countries, but that can take time to arrangement some of those here have been languishing in this centre for six months. Orla guerin there. The eu has hit back at those serious allegations. They have given a statement them said the situation is not bad because of the European Union, its slightly better than the eu. They said. That eu spokesperson giving that a justification of those very. Against those very serious allegations. We have lots more coming up here on outside source. Stay with us. We will dive into jupiters red spot. The probe sheds like on the biggest storm in the solar system. We will be leave to hear the details. The met home office has warned of icy conditions that are expected to persist until tomorrow. Our correspondent has this report. A bed of snow with freezing conditions across parts of the midlands its not been easy, icy roads and extremely cold temperatures. For the children, though, its been another day off school. Weve been obviously sledging, snowball fights. Weve been like building snowmen. Yeah. Here in shropshire, more than 200 schools were closed and in gloucestershire and herefordshire almost 100 remained shut. It is pretty difficult trying to find them things to do. You know, keep them occupied. When youve got childcare issues and youre working full time then, obviously, it would be disruptive to you because obviously the schools are closing on a day to day basis and youre not knowing until that last minute. Obviously, its very disruptive to the home. Well, its bitterly cold here, the temperature is around minus four celsius and theres no sign of this snow melting any time soon. As night falls, the temperatures are expected to plunge even further. We are live from the bbc news room. Voters in the us state of alabama are choosing between a firebrand republican accused of Sexual Misconduct and a democrat seeking an upset win in senate elections. Lets ta ke upset win in senate elections. Lets take a look at what stories we are covering in the bbc news room. A former us sergeant who defected to north korea and was pyongyanged prisonerfor north korea and was pyongyanged prisoner for years has died. North korea and was pyongyanged prisonerfor years has died. That north korea and was pyongyanged prisoner for years has died. That is on the bbc World Service. Man flu may not be a myth as many believe. Researchers in canada suggest there is evidence that men suffer more than women from the symptoms of the common cold and they are not simply exaggerating. The us secretary of state Rex Tillerson has been speaking about his countrys foreign policy, particularly towards north korea. Heres some of what he had to say. Timeis heres some of what he had to say. Time is marching on with each additional test north korea does demonstrate the advancement of its programme. The most recent inter Continental Missile test demonstrates they have capability to continue to advance their programme. We would expect they are doing the same on other elements of an integrated Nuclear Weapon system. Rex tillerson speaking about north korea. Our correspondent is at the Us State Department for us. Barbara, does Rex Tillerson think north korea has the ability to put a Nuclear Weapon on a missile . |j has the ability to put a Nuclear Weapon on a missile . I dont think he was specifically declaring that is the case. He was talking about the seriousness of the threat. Ultimately the administration might decide it might need a military response. His whole line during the speech and previously was that he was exercising diplomacied and he said he would do that until the first bomb dropped, if it did. He had earlier talked about progress. He said he believed he had made progress in his campaign to Win International support to isolate pyongyang in a way it had not been isolated before. He said he was reaching the zenith of all his efforts. That wasnt a victory. The north koreans were working on their weapons, developing and testing them he said he hoped they would change course because if they didnt the Diplomatic Community wouldnt be able to do anything else. If that was the case he would take it as a personal failure. Was the case he would take it as a personalfailure. He also has was the case he would take it as a personal failure. He also has said if he hands over to the secretary of defence he is can department he will succeed in whatever he does. He he was outlining there that the us policy is diplomacy. What he is doing is working in the sense, getting support fo it, but the threat is growing. He also gave an internal speech at the state department. What did he say . Yes. That was long overdue, actually, i think. He talked about his efforts to redesign the state department. There hasnt been very much information for the past months and has caused anxiety here because its accompanied by steep budget cuts. So he outlined in more detail than ever before what he is after, in terms of revamping the Information Technology which is outdated. He talked about streamlining functions, including policy process and how careers are managed. Immediate changes could be made, he called them quick win that is would make work easier for employees. I watched, is would make work easier for employees. Iwatched, he is would make work easier for employees. I watched, he got applause from time to time. I went and did a straw poll afterwards, a thumbs up and thumbs down because people dont want to speak publicly. I got more thumbs up. People who feel more positive are more likely to respond. There is frustration about his managements style. Scepticism about where the project is going. Its a communication problem to a degree, what he is doing hasnt been effectively communicated. He has been able to hirea communicated. He has been able to hire a Senior Communications official talking about a broad and comprehensive strang gill going forward. We will see how that plays out. Thank you. Some business news. The worlds biggest social media site, facebook, is making changes to the way it records where it makes its money. Up until now it has been routing its earnings via its headquarters in ireland. It will book the income where it is earned. What does this mean . Dave the question we want to know is will facebook pay more in taxes . Good question. We wont know that until perhaps this Time Next Year when we have had a years worth of this change. The reason why its not obvious if they will pay more tax its simply because even though they are going to be booking those earnings in countries outside of ireland, which previously didnt do, it funneled all of its ad recipe knews into ireland where there is a low tax rate for them. It will pay more tax on those it will invest in different areas next year in expanding what it does, particularly when it comes to adding more human employees to monitor content on facebook. What that means is they may be able to offset tax in different areas. This change may not have a big impact on its overall rate of tax that it is paying and the amount of tax it pays as a result. A tricky one. May not make too big a difference in practical terms. Dave, as always, thank you very much there. Dave lee in san francisco, thank you. Bike sharing has grown massively around the world, including in australia where it hasnt all been smooth sailing. Just lying down all over the place. Its all a bit of a i think its mess. A good idea. I dont think its going to work. People here have their own bikes if they ride. People are kind of like trolling the system. They have thrown their bikes. Its a bit of a problem. They are park beinged where they have left. Pushed over in the side of the road, in the gutter. Major issued. They are uncontrolled. They need to be operating in a better way. Based on experience from other countries, it normally takes six to 12 months for people to get used to it and enjoy the service. Its a service thats good for people. Its convenient for people, its healthier and greener. A lot of people dont understand that is why it will take a little bit of time. You can see those schemes increasingly in cities. There is one in london. Never seen a bike left upside down. Let us know what you think. You can get in touch with me and the team. Thank you for watching outside source. Source. Good evening. Welcome along to our latest World Weather forecast. We will take a look at the temperatures across australia and Stormy Weather that has hit parts of europe. Wildfires remain the major concern across the south west usa. They burn across the south west usa. They burn across california. High pressure remains in charge of the weather across the western side of the us. At times there will be gusty winds blowing out of the desert. Dry area. The efforts to contain the fires wont be helped with the weather over the next few days. There has been snow and minus one the afternoon high in new york on wednesday. If you have travelled plans that take you to chicago later in the week, bear in mind temperatures will particular below freezing. Snow showers in denverfor a time, but it stays stubbornly dry across california where they could do with some rain. Flip flopping temperatures across australia. Cooling off in the west, heading up in the south east. 36 degrees in melbourne. Its getting into summer in the southern hemisphere, but its some way above average. A weather front will bring showers and storms. Melbourne will see a cool down as will sydney towards the end of thele week. In europe this has been the big story this curl of cloud named storm anna by the Weather Services of porch, spain and france. It brought heavy rain and winds and snow. Its not only us here in the uk that have experienced wintry conditions recently. These were the scenes in northern france as we headed through monday. Significant snowfall which caused some travel disruption. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we are bringing south westerly winds in across france, much milder air. South westerly winds in across france, much milderair. Any south westerly winds in across france, much milder air. Any snow that remains will readily melt, particularly when we see rain following on top of it. What we have is this weather front that becomes slow moving across southern italy and the balkans delivering a lot of rain in this part of the world through the middle part of this week. That could cause some issues with flooding. Up towards the north west of europe we get back into the cold area if anything as we go on through thursday. Temperatures dipping away again in paris. That is the story here at home. Wednesday sta rts the story here at home. Wednesday starts off a little bit milder. We see outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards. The wintry showers will return from the north west as temperatures start to dip away once again. Nothing as disruptive or as cold as we have had over the last couple of days, but things will turn colder on wednesday. Snow to low levels on wednesday night. It will stay chilly as we head towards the end of the week. For the long term outlook stick with us, well have it in halfan outlook stick with us, well have it in half an hour. Hello, im quaschner madeira, youre watching outside source. We start with the election that could test President Trumps brand of politics. All eyes are on this man, a firebrand republican accused of Sexual Misconduct. President and tells a major Climate Summit in paris that the world is losing its fight against global warming. The horrific conditions facing african migrants detained in libya. European governments are accused of complicity in their suffering. Scientists are beginning to unlock the secrets of a giant storm and jupiter that is larger than the earth. Well be telling you what they found. Welcome back. Lets bring you an update on the wildfires that are raging in california. Six major blazes are still burning across the state in the past week. The move from san diego up to santa barbara. The most significant of the fires is just in this area, between venturer and santa barbara. The fire is actually called thomas. Its been burning in for the past 2a hours. Lets have a look at some of the images. Thousands of firefighters have made some headway on this fire. But with 20 of thomas now roughly under control, it still poses a huge, huge major threat with these bone dry conditions and strong winds, and these conditions are expected to continue until at least thursday. Evacuation orders remain in place for some residents on the outskirts of santa barbara. 9a,000 people have been displaced already by this particular blaze. And around 18,000 structures, as you can see, are currently under threat. You get are currently under threat. You get a scale of just are currently under threat. You get a scale ofjust how large this fire is when you look at this image that was taken by scientists on board a nasa aircraft as it flew above the fire on monday. For the very latest, i spoke to the bbcs james cook from los angeles a short time ago. The fire covers an area that is as large as new york city and paris combined. So, much, much biggerthan it as new york city and paris combined. So, much, much bigger than it was earlier in the week. It is growing still. The firefighters have had some success. They have managed to put firebreaks some success. They have managed to put firebrea ks around some success. They have managed to put firebreaks around some 20 of the fire. About a fifth of the fire is now contained, to use the word that they describe. But of course with the scale that were talking about, it is clearly, there is clearly a lot more work to do. And there were some 7000 firefighting personnel doing that work, trying to stop spreading, and crucially trying to stop it coming down from the mountains above the Pacific Coast and into the towns and cities along the, including santa barbara. James, we are hearing about the thousands of people who have been displaced because of the thomas fire. Where did they go . How are they looking after themselves when youve got a huge fire . Yes, its very difficult indeed. Refuge centres have been set up indeed. Refuge centres have been set up by indeed. Refuge centres have been set up by charities and by local governments as well in different parts of the states. And of course other people go to stay with friends and family, go to hotels. But the tourist industry, despite that and despite people staying in what accommodation they can find, is really suffering. This is an incredibly picturesque stretch of the californian coast, it is very important for tourism. It is december, not the height of the tourist season, but the bars and restau ra nts tourist season, but the bars and restaurants when i was out yesterday, ive been out there after day, and the bars and restaurants we re day, and the bars and restaurants were practically empty a log the stretch of coast, and businesses we re stretch of coast, and businesses were suffering. We went to a greenhouse where they were making millions of lettuces. The lettuces had ash on them even though they we re had ash on them even though they were inside the greenhouse. They managed to get around that by putting a foul on them. It gives you a sense of the struggle for agriculture and tourism as well as people fighting to save their homes. We showed you the image of the California Wildfires taken by nasa. The experts have been busy, casting the sites further afield. Nasas probe, juno, has been shedding new light on jupiters great probe, juno, has been shedding new light onjupiters great red spot. This is the biggest storm in the solar system. It is an anti cycling. And its been around for more than 150 years. Anticyclone. It is wider than the earth. Scientists have been asking questions about it for many, many years. Now they have some answers, and its all thanks to a probe and juno. The probe has been using an instrument to look inside the red spot. These are images based on pictures and data that it has sent back. This image shows what it would look like if we were able to dive into the solar system. The bbcs donovan amos is that the American Geophysical Union Meeting in new orleans where scientists have been announcing the findings. He told me about seeing the red spot for the first time in 3 d. Told me about seeing the red spot for the first time in 3d. Yes, thats what theyve been trying to do for a very long time now. Weve been observing the great red spot on jupiter probably sense the invention of the telescope. Yes, weve got records 150 years back. But probably weve been seeing it for Something Like a00 years. Thats extraordinary. If you think about hurricanes on earth, they last about a couple of weeks. And then you think about how long the great red spot has been going. Why is that . What drives it . That is one of the Mission Goals ofjuno, to try and understand it. One of the first things it had to find out was just how deep its roots. Was it a feature just at the surface of the planet, ordid just at the surface of the planet, or did the roots go deep, deep down inside . Well, we know the answer to that question, or partially the a nswer to that question, or partially the answer to that question, because junor has a microwave radiometer that senses heat inside the planet. It can see that the roots go down at least 350 kilometres. That may not be the bottom of the great red spot. It may go down further. If we can do some gravity measurements over the coming months, meaning is about we may well find out that this storm extends over 1000 kilometres down inside the planet, which would be its ordinary. If it extends so deep intojupiter, its ordinary. If it extends so deep into jupiter, what does its ordinary. If it extends so deep intojupiter, what does that mean to us mere intojupiter, what does that mean to us mere mortals . Well, we want to know how jupiter works. Us mere mortals . Well, we want to know howjupiter works. The reason for that is the cars it is the biggest thing in the solar system next to the sun. If you go back to the formation of the solar system, a. 5 billion years ago, it is almost certain thatjupiter was a. 5 billion years ago, it is almost certain that jupiter was the a. 5 billion years ago, it is almost certain thatjupiter was the first thing to form after the sun. It sort of sucked up Everything Else that was around. If you take all of the other planets, though, it is, the asteroids, the bits of debris apart from the sun, you could fit it all inside ofjupiter. Unless you understand howjupiter works, you dont really understand how the rest of the solecism works. In many ways, this is one of the most Important Missions that nasa has ever undertaken, to reveal the great secrets of this amazing world. And when it comes to the size of jupiter, the suggestion is that because of its immense size it was the next thing that was formed after the next thing that was formed after the sun. The consequences of finding out more about it are immense, jonathan . They are. I think one of the things wed like to know is how long the great red spot is going to stick around. If it has been there for 200, 300, a00 years, stick around. If it has been there for200, 300, a00 years, how stick around. If it has been there for 200, 300, a00 years, how much longer can it continue . You can fit about1. 3 r3 longer can it continue . You can fit about 1. 3 r3 inside the great red spot. You go back about 50 years ago, you could probably fit two inside 1 3 earths. It is getting smaller, shrinking, losing some of its great girth. We have seen it in the past swallow the whole storms. Maybe that gives it some energy, to maintain its longevity. One to watch. Donovan amos at bbc, if you wa nt to watch. Donovan amos at bbc, if you want to get updates on that, its really worth it. This is the australian opposition senator sam dastis are, the is resigning after being accused of warning a chinese political bone that his phone might be tapped. He has been in trouble over china before. Last year, he resigned from a front bench role after allowing Chinese Companies to pay for travel and legal expenses. He quit position last month after a recording. His critics calling him shanghai sam. This is all happening as australias prime minister, malcolm turnbull, proposes new laws to restrict foreign interference in political activity. You can read them on the website. And you can check out. There are really little doubt that the laws have been written with china in mind. Today we had a reaction from china via the communist Party Peoples Daily newspaper. Well, they were saying that the racist and hysterical paranoia of the australian media had tarnished the countrys image as a multicultural society. They are not mincing their words. For more on chinas influence abroad, lets hear from the list and economist doctor linda yueh. China is going to spend up linda yueh. China is going to spend up to linda yueh. China is going to spend 1 linda yueh. China is going to spend up to 1 trillion investing not only in the pacific rim, but in east africa, eastern europe, even extending into western europe. With all that money especially going into infrastructure as part of this initiative, its very difficult to see how china would not have influence in terms of the workings ofa influence in terms of the workings of a government, in terms of wanting to get permissions or a good deal, all of that. I think this is one of the areas in which china not being a democracy makes it really pick. Linda yueh die. But small as always on our site linda yueh die. But small as always on oursite linda yueh die. But small as always on our site makes it really opaque. An explosion and a fire has ripped through austrias main gas pipeline, and has disrupted supply between russia and europe. This is where the explosion took place. Just east of the capital, vienna, near the slovak border. Sadly, one person has been killed. 21 other people have been injured. This explosion sent a column of fire rising into the sky, and is believed to have been caused bya and is believed to have been caused by a technicalfault. And is believed to have been caused by a technical fault. Gas supplies from the site had been cut for most of the day. That sent oil and gas prices surging in italy. Italy relies so much on the hub that it declared a state of emergency. Supplies to a number of other countries have also been affected. Among them, croatia, hungary and germany. Bethany bell gives us a little bit more detail about this. Austrias main gas pipeline hub in flames. An explosion at this plant set off a major fire. The flames. An explosion at this plant set off a majorfire. The blaze could be seen for miles. Firefighters rushed to the scene. One person was killed. The injured we re one person was killed. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals. Production at the plant was suspended. Translation we switched to a security mode, as we always do when Something Like this occurs. The gas flow was stopped in order not to make the situation any worse. All people working on the site with an evacuated. The blaze was eventually brought under control. It appears to have been caused by a technical fault. The plant in eastern austria isa fault. The plant in eastern austria is a key hub for imported russian gas. Which is sent on to a number of european countries. The company says supplies to austria were secured, but deliveries to the south and south east have been affected. Translation the gas supply towards italy in the south is now limited. The market gas providers in neighbouring countries and gas traders were of course informed. We are now in regular contact. We cant say at this time when distribution will return to normal. Italy, the largest recipient of gas from the plant, has declared a state of emergency. Gas prices soared. An investigation is underway. Its not yet clear when the plant will go back online. Bethany bell, bbc news. With the winter months coming up in europe, thats not great news. Lets turn to the russian olympic committee, it has decided to support its athletes who want to take part in next years Winter Olympics and a neutral banner. They are going to be performing and a neutral banner because of a ban on russian athletes by the International Olympic committee for what they describe as state sponsored the bill. Here is the head of the Russian Committee making the announcement today state sponsored doping. Translation the opinion of all who spoke at the meeting was united. Or sportsmen should go to korea, should compete and gain victory is to glorify russia, the motherland. Some of russias most prominent athletes have been vocal about their desire to compete. This is gabrielle, who was saying that. And the image that you can see is a photo of one of the countrys best known ice hockey players, waiting to hear from the committee. A lot of vocal reaction on this. Its not just athletes who are really pleased with this decision. This is what the chief of russias Anti Doping Commission had to say. Kuggeleijn yellow and think weve taken the right decision. Its accepted by our athletes and it allows us to participate in the game, and it doesnt stop us from pursuing legal action is connected with the disqualification. The decision to allow athletes to participate has received mixed reviews around russia. This was the reaction of some resident in sochi, whether Winter Olympics were held back in 201a. Translation i think the athletes should definitely go to the olympics without the russian flag. Because eve ryo ne without the russian flag. Because everyone will know which country they represent. They must go. Translation i believe they should compete under the russian flag only. We should understand the integrity of our country. And represent ourselves as the people of russia. We are part of russia. Some reaction from saatchi. To explain all of this, the decision in more detail, here is my colleague from the bbcs Russian Service reaction from so cheap. There is nothing surprising in the decision made by the russian olympic team, because a few days ago, the president of russia, vladimir putin, basically supported the idea of participating in the Olympic Games under the neutral flag, and definitely there are not that many people either to contradict mr putin in russia at the moment. So, russian athletes who will be allowed, they will go to the Winter Olympics under the neutral flag. They are not allowed to wear the national uniform, they are not allowed to colour their nails for example in the Russian National colours or do anyhow cuts which can reveal that they are schrems. But they will participate. Any haircuts. But they still have two proof that they are able to. They must pass a few tests, doping tests, they must have an absolutely clear record, and they also must qualify. They will be called olympic athletes from russia, which russia presents asa from russia, which russia presents as a small diplomatic victory. Just to remind you, russian officials still deny that there was state sponsored doping programmes in russia, and thats the point where International Investigators contradict official russian narrative. There was a lot of discussions, a lot of pressure on sportsmen before mr putin announced his decision. But afterwards, you know, at least on state media, there was unanimous support for the athletes. And definitely mr putin has done that committee has supported this idea, because president ial elections are coming in russia next year and he must show himself as a credible leader, as a wise father of the nation. Just to stress how emotive this subject is, its got really, really different reactions. All got was saying there isa reactions. All got was saying there is a lot of support for the russian athletes. Actually if you take a look at some of these tweets, russia says it supports its athletes competing in the olympics and a neutral flag. However, completely different view. So, a lot of emotion, a lot of reaction to this story. Because of course, russia does want to send athletes. But now they have to go and doa athletes. But now they have to go and do a neutralflag, not they have to go and a neutral flag. We will continue to monitor that. I next story off the western tip of africa, some of the major, let me bring you back to our main story. Of the west coast of africa, some of the major means of the Transatlantic Slave Trade remain. Wreckage of ships that sank carrying thousands of african men, women and jordan. Now a senegalese team is trying to uncover the stories behind these wrecks, as we now report. These divers arsenicals first generation of marine archaeologists. As part of the research, this professor and his tea m the research, this professor and his team explore the sea floor in search of remains of sunken slave ships. It took years of training to launch the slave wreck project here. Conflation yellow at the beginning it was not easy. In fact, yellow at the beginning it was not easy. Infact, i yellow at the beginning it was not easy. In fact, i could not even trained before this programme. The first year was very good for the whole team. Very difficult for the whole team. This morning, the divers are off a notorious stopover during the atlantic slave trade. Three years into the programme, these pioneers are now passionate about diving. Wa nts wants the wreck is found, the scientists take photos and notes. They also take a piece of the ship for analysis to determine the exact historical period of the sinking. The team has yet to do in Depth Research on archives and all the allegation registers. Dozens of slave rex could be lying along the coastline and at the bottom of the senegal river. The professor hopes that in time, the findings can shed a new light on the history of the slave trade. The elation translation the crossing of the atla ntic translation the crossing of the atlantic is a dark moment that is not very well known. We know some slave ships were right. And all the archives are here, and the sea. It is important to some slave ship we re is important to some slave ship were wrecked. It is important to document the time of the shipping. Back on land, at bacca university, there is growing interest in the arena archaeology. Having more and more african colours and african stu d e nts more african colours and African Students take part in this research, and involving local communities, is all part of the, rising the knowledge. Of the con lies in the knowledge. Translation for a long time, this research was done by people from the outside. It is crucial that a local, senegalese and african team take part. Beyond that, we really want to work with local communities who are directly impacted by the slave trade. So far, the funding for the slave wreck project has come from the united states. Professor chau believes that senegalese should contribute. He is adamant that no independent nation can thrive without preserving its own heritage. A mobile money wallet has transformed the lives of millions of kenyans by giving them access to Financial Services and health care, evenin Financial Services and health care, even in the most remote parts of the country. The system works by linking money to a mobile phone number, and allows those without a bank account to make payments via text message. We went to nairobi to meet a young family benefiting from this new technology. Almost half of nairobis population live in slums. For many, health care for slow down the priorities list. Susan is preparing for a six week checkup. The newest addition to the family of six. Translation with my other babies, i really suffered due to financial problems. I couldnt afford any hospital bills. For the first time, susan was able to pay for antenatal care, and can now also afford to vaccinate her baby. Translation i will go to the clinic late, like a few months to giving birth, andi late, like a few months to giving birth, and i would not have as many tests. But when i got pregnant with my child, i managed to visit the clinic due to my savings. In the past few years, more people in the poorer communities have been gaining access to medical care. It is due in pa rt access to medical care. It is due in part to Services Like m tiba and Electronic Health wallet accessed through the phones. It runs on a technology which generates a transaction fee. The mobile money Payment System is operated by safari con, which has revolutionised and monopolised the market. With mtiba, weve seen the numbers of people not affording to pay for Health Care Going down, because as they come, we encourage them to in roll into m tiba. Now you are seeing about 500 kids per month. Which is compare to about 20, 30, you are seeing 100 kids per month. As all mtiba transactions are digitally recorded, staff are able to keep track of patients better and remind them about checkups. But it has benefits for the clinic, too. The surgery is expected to see around 20,000 patients by the end of the year. As you can see, there really isnt a lot of space to stop medicines. By using the Data Collected by m tiba, the doctor here can decide which drugs to buy in stock. It probably isa drugs to buy in stock. It probably is a very sustainable method for about 60 of our population, and thats a big population. So it makes sense. Every time someone pays with m tiba, the data gets sent back in real time to the care pay lab in central nairobi about how the money is being spent. Amongst things, they can see what the most frequent treatments are and where it is happening. Injust treatments are and where it is happening. In just over a treatments are and where it is happening. Injust over a year, m tiba has gained close to 1 happening. Injust over a year, m tiba has gained close to1 million users and processed just under 1 million of medical transactions. Its not fully rolled out a cross kanye its not fully rolled out a cross ka nye yet, its not fully rolled out a cross kanye yet, but it has the potential to create a real Time Digital Health map of the population rolled out across kenya. An ingenious invention. Lots more as always on our website. If youd like to get in touch, let us know what you think about any of the stories we have covered outside source. It is hashtag os. As always, thanks for watching outside source. Goodbye. Hello, thanks for joining hello, thanks forjoining me. Im sure you know how it works by now, we do the detail for this week and we do the detail for this week and we look at the trends for the forthcoming week. Wednesday starts off on forthcoming week. Wednesday starts offona forthcoming week. Wednesday starts off on a chilly note, id is a consideration given the clear skies. Dont be fought by the dry start in the east, it will not last. From west to east will bring significant areas of showery rain, some of it quite heavy, there could be some hailand quite heavy, there could be some hail and winter roost of an high ground. To finish off the day, and a much milder day, certainly across the south, we will have significant snowfall again moving in, with these bands of whether tracking yet again the way from west to east in the south, given that it will have been a relatively mild day, we will keep it what it. Further north, decidedly wintry. The bounds of whether urged along by a lot of west to south westerly wind as we get on into thursday. Again, if used. Dry you probably wont stay that way, there will be plenty of showers across england, wales and northern ireland. Not1 across england, wales and northern ireland. Not 1 million across england, wales and northern ireland. Not1 million miles away from glasgow and edinburgh. For a good part of thursday the could well be significant snow fall. We keep a very close eye on that and noticed thatis very close eye on that and noticed that is a day that is alreadyjust a bit fresher than was the case on wednesday. No signs of double figure temperatures. You better get used to it. No more westerly and south westerly as we get into friday, wind coming straight on the ice bars from north to south. Giving us ice bars from north to south. Giving usa ice bars from north to south. Giving us a different orientation on the shower distribution. It is largely along the shoulders of the British Isles right down the spine, cold, bright and sunny. Yes, temperatures 36. Bright and sunny. Yes, temperatures 3 6. Weve been here before and were back there again. It is a short, sharp shock. Through saturday and into the weekend, beginning to crank the isobars back away from the northerly. There is an attempt to bush milder airfrom the northerly. There is an attempt to bush milder air from the atlantic across, eventually, istress bush milder air from the atlantic across, eventually, i stress the eventually come all parts of the British Isles. But it will be a slow process. Saturday, another chilly start after the cold friday. Still quite a bit of sunshine through central and eastern parts. The north westerly ushering the showers into the western side of wales down through the south west of england, one or two further north. We continue the process a pace as we get on into sunday, the first signs of atla ntic get on into sunday, the first signs of atlantic france bringing milder air infrom of atlantic france bringing milder air in from the atlantic at the expense of the sunshine, im afraid, for northern and western parts of the British Isles. You will notice we are beginning to push temperatures. We still struggling across the east. I said it would ta ke across the east. I said it would take a long time we complete the process. It is 6 7d as we get on into monday. Slightly drier breaking out across the southern half of the British Isles, it stays unsettled further north. That is the sort of trend that will do us for the greater part of the week after this. We will have disturbed weather, very disturbed weather potentially across northern and western parts of time further south, it could be that little bit drier, that little bit brighter. Because we have got that real mishmash of conditions across the British Isles, it will often be windy with the low pressure to the north and higher pressure to the south, and it will stay. Crisis in congo a humanitarian disaster as violence and Food Shortages ravage the country. The un warns at least a00,000 children are at risk of starvation. One and a half Million People have been forced from their homes. Such suffering isnt the natural condition of these people. Its manmade and that is the tragedy of congo. Well be looking at why congo has become the worlds forgotten disaster and what can be done about it. Also tonight. A rise in inflation to its highest for almost six years puts the squeeze on incomes just before christmas. The house fire in salford which killed three children. Police say it was a targeted attack. The extraordinary story of the baby born with her heart outside her body and the groundbreaking operations to put it back. And, by royal appointment and royal cameo