10/01/2017 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.

Let's look through some of the main stories here in the BBC Newsroom.

Jeff Sessions, the man who wants to become

Donald Trump's Attorney General - has been grilled by Republicans

He's rejected allegations of racial and accepted that same-sex

marriage and the right to abortion were the law of the land.

President Obama has taken off from Washington. He has headed to

Chicago, where he will make his farewell address McCormick

Convention Centre. We will look at this in a moment.

And our technology reporter is going to look at how the US military is

using many drones. An incredible story in about 15 minutes. -- is

using mini-drones. President Obama is preparing

to give his farewell address in his hometown Chicago in a huge

convention centre These are the last few days of his

time in the White House. It is in a huge convention centre.

He returns tonight to the city where he gave his acceptance speech

You will all remember those pictures. Where Laura Chevenement

was in Chicago was so wildly, we had to abandon those plans. This is what

Gary O'Donoghue told us earlier. In a sense, it will

mark President Obama's last chance to sum up, really, what he thinks

he's achieved. Two big end his presidency, to try and not just to

list his achievements as he sees it, but try and weave together those

achievements into some sort of idea of how America has improved over the

last 80 years, in his view, under his stewardship. There will be a lot

about the economy, the jobs. There will be a lot about criminal justice

reform. I am sure of course there will be talk about his signature

policy on health care reform. There may be an admission about what he

would have liked to get done but he didn't, such as comprehensive

immigration reform and gun controls. I told you it was windy and I think

it got worse, which is why Laura had to take cover.

To mark President Obama's imminent departure from the White House,

our North America editor Jon Sopel has one made two special reports.

The first looked at what the President did

There was always something upside down about Barack Obama receiving

the Nobel Peace Prize before he had really done anything as president.

When he came to office, one the greatest strategic threats

was Iran, a resurgent power in the region.

But more important than that was securing a multinational deal

to curb the nuclear ambitions of Tehran, an agreement was struck

despite fierce opposition from the Israeli Prime Minister.

When the Israeli Prime Minister came to address Congress two years ago,

there was fury in the White House, they were angry that an invitation

had been extended by Republican leaders and accepted

But very soon, someone much more to the Israeli Prime Minister's

liking will be occupying the White House and the quest

in the world is asking, will the Iran nuclear deal survives

For over a year, we have been told that no deal

His relationship with Netanyahu was one of the lows, relating

in the US refusing to veto a UN resolution critical of the Israeli

The chemistry with the Russian leader Putin

was no better, Crimea, cyber espionage and Syria left

The pledge at the start of his presidency was all about disengaging

from costly conflict and bringing the troops back home.

We can say to those families who have lost loved ones

to Al-Qaeda's terror, justice has been done.

But the optimism brought by the successful raid to kill Osama

bin Ladin in 2011 and the spread of the Arab Spring...

would eventually be replaced by a middle east in flames.

And the rise of so-called Islamic State, the fight against

Arguably, the low point for President Obama

in the Middle East has been Syria, which has been a humanitarian

catastrophe, sparking the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

And the president's failure to act against President Assad

despite much huffing and puffing, has come

A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons

I think it was a mistake not to enforce the red line.

When the US is clearly saying there could be

consequences for a certain action, it is important

I also would not confuse that with crossing the chemical weapons

red line with the notion that there was interventionist

The policy toward Syria is much like the embassy here in Washington,

an empty shell, newspapers piling up on the doorstep, the windows barred.

And in the talks to bring peace to the country,

Barack Obama has flip-flopped over whether to take military action,

too slow to react to the dangers of so-called Islamic State.

It's been a period in which American influence

has waned and Russian influence has increased.

From one empty embassy to another, that has had

new life breathed into it, this is the Cuban Embassy

For over 50 years, it had lain derelict, a last

In the warmth of the Caribbean island, Barack Obama consigned

the last piece of icy Cold War legacy to history.

Cuba had brought the world to the edge of nuclear war.

Now diplomatic relations are restored, an extraordinary

He leaves office largely admired and popular around the world.

Not least for his role in the global climate change deal.

He tried to carve out a foreign policy that he saw

But as the commander-in-chief was given the traditional

send-off, in his own way, was he as destructive

to US power and influence as his predecessor, George W Bush?

And what would the Nobel committee make of him, eight years on?

If you were watching Outside Source yesterday we were looking ahead to a

Fifa decision on whether the World Cup would get bigger and it is going

to. From 2026 it'll feature 48

countries, up from 32. There will be 16 groups

of three nations. The top two teams from each group

will progress to a 32 16 more games, but no more

games for the winner. The BBC's Richard Conway sat down

with the Fifa president. Fifa has finally cleared a path to a

World Cup of 48 teams from 2026, 16 more countries will join football's

flagship tournament. Speaking to me today, the world governing body's

president insisted in the face of much criticism, it's time for the

sport to look beyond its traditional borders. Football has now become a

truly global game. Many more countries, many more teams will have

the chance to qualify so they will invest in developing football, they

will invest in developing elite football as well as grassroots

football. They will invest in their technical elements and this will

raise the quality. The growth of the World Cup will bring enormous extra

revenue and Fifa stands to make an additional ?500 million profit in

2026 according to its own research. But the man elected as Fifa

President partly on a pledge to deliver a bigger competition, insist

it's not about cash politics. It's not only a money power grab. It's

the opposite. It's a football decision. The way we presented it

was, OK, we presented four formats, everyone in the four formats has

advantages in terms of the financial situation. Which means we are in a

comfortable situation to be able to take a decision, simply based on the

sporting merit. Asia, where interested football is booming and

Africa stand to benefit the most web they are divided up. There will be

more slots for fuller nations. They believe it will give them a

better chance of qualifying. After a number of years, when Fifa was a

byword for corruption its new leadership is determined to assert

itself. Gianni Infantino's task is to convince his critics ever formed

World Cup is a force for good. As you heard, Asia and Africa could

stand to benefit the most from this expanded World Cup.

A lot of support for it on the continent, they have been talking to

people from Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town. A lot of support for this move

because it means some of the smaller African countries will be able to

get the opportunity to get to the World Cup. But some people are

saying this world I lived there World Cup, the quality of the

football, at the World Cup. -- saying this will download the World

Cup. If we have some smaller countries not footballing nations

manage and develop for the World Cup, what happens when they meet

Germany on the big stage? -- managed to qualify. It reduces the chances

of a shock exit in the first round, two or three will go through. If you

look at the Euros, which just got expired last summer, some of the

football was dire. There was the shock value, we saw the likes of

Ireland, Wales, really performing on the big stage. That could happen.

With 48 teams at the World Cup, you've got to admit, those shocks

will be far and few between. Sir Dave Brailsford has given

an exclusive interview to the BBC about the ongoing questions

surrounding the Team Sky Many of those questions relate

to Sir Bradley Wiggins' authorised use of a banned substance in 2011

and to a medical package Here they are talking about the head

of UK Anti-Doping being critical of evidence that Dave Brailsford

gave to parliament. Most fair-minded people in Britain

would accept that if any issue from the start of process and there is an

authority, which is the right place, really, do get the bottom of

something, and it's a diligent process and we all trust and respect

that and we're in the middle of that, and there's an opening

investigation, which is still ongoing, the chair of that

organisation, to discuss the actual contents of that investigation,

whilst it's live and open, that's extraordinary. Do not except accept

that some people have lost trust in Team Sky because it has been handled

badly? -- do you not accept that. There is a differs between handling

and wrongdoing, let's be clear. There might be a PR issue. -- there

is a difference. And the facts of wrongdoing. They are separate

things. When Chris Froome was asked whether he still supported you on

Friday didn't give you his explicit backing, did that disappoint you?

Does that undermine new leadership? He was put in a difficult situation

but the questions he was asked. We're not talking about performance.

He does not need to be put in that situation because it is not for him

to answer, those questions are not for him to answer, they offered me

to answer. How much does this add a new, updated with Sir Bradley

Wiggins retiring over the festive period, the fact that this has cast

a cloud over his achievements. -- how much does this sad anew. His

achievements and Team Sky. Does that Saddam knew?

It is regrettable. But equally, the test of time is the key thing. Over

time, we will continue to perform at the highest level and continue to do

it at the right level and give people the reasons to feel proud of

our achievements. Give them a team they can believe in and support. You

can find that on the BBC sport at now. -- sport app.

Here's a sport that's just been officially registered

Some people also call it free running.

The UK is the first country to recognise it as a sport.

It originated in France about 30 years ago and has steadily grown.

It's recognition as a sport means parkour groups will be able to apply

Before we finish, a quick update on the English League Cup semifinal

1-0 to Manchester United at the moment. Commentary from the BBC

sport website right now. We will look at amazing stories soon. We

will explain how drones operate as a swarm and are being used by the US

military. There was more travel misery

for Southern Rail passengers today, as the network's drivers

started a 48-hour strike. Our Transport Correspondent Richard

Westcott reports that disputes over plans for driver-only operated

trains could spread to other More than 2,200 Southern services

weren't running today. Platform 2 for the delayed

07:47 Thameslink service. Their passengers were forced

to find other routes in. The whole situation seems

like a complete joke. I'd like to know that

when I get on the train, that I'm going to end up

at my destination at a certain time. Well, this is the queue just to get

into East Croydon station, all of these people are trying

to get to London, it's It snakes around a lot,

then actually goes down the side of the station,

probably about 100 meters For nearly a year, they've been

rowing about changes to the role Southern wants drivers to take over

closing the train doors. The unions say that

threatens safety and jobs. Southern says no-one's

losing their post and the safety This is The Body Shop's

new ?1 million lab in Croydon. They moved hundreds of staff

here last year because of the great train service, but Southern's

drivers aren't working overtime at the moment,

causing delays and cancellations It's having a devastating effect

on The Body Shop's staff. They're missing childrens'

birthdays, they can't arrange meetings,

they're having arguments at home. They're feeling stressed,

tired and irritable and there's a number of people saying every day,

from about 4:00pm, they're sitting getting more and more stressed

about whether they're going to get home, at all, or on time

for the commitment Back on board, several

commuters said this: I mean, the Government need

to do something about it. So the BBC put the question

to the Minister. REPORTER: What are you,

as Transport Secretary, Don't you have a duty

to step in on behalf..? The Government's engaged day in,

day out in trying to find a way to get this issued resolved,

and will carry on doing that. In Merseyside, unions are fighting

similar plans to bring It's Southern today,

but this issue threatens We are live in the BBC newsroom.

Senator Jeff Sessions is the man that Donald Trump would like to be

the US Attorney General. He's had a six and a half hour

Senate confirmation hearing and he has commented on a whole range of

issues from racism, from those allegations that Donald Trump groped

women, two other issues. You can get a full update on BBC news. Some of

the main stories, including what is coming outside of the UK.

If you're outside of the UK, it's World News America next

and they will be looking at the final days of

Barack Obama's presidency, Katty Kay will be talking

to Former Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Here in the UK, the News at Ten is next, they'll be looking

at the significant rise in the number of people

with mental health problems sking to be seen at Accident

These are quite something, these pictures.

I want to show these pictures of the US military

using miniature swarming drones during a test in California.

They are dropped out of these planes.

These are called Super Hornets and they release the mini-drones

It does pixelate but you will get an idea. Little black dots coming out

of the bottom of the planes. There are 103 drones -

they operate autonomously but share Not a phrase I felt confident

explaining to you. I'll let Chris Baraniuk

explain what that means. The key thing with these

drones is they communicate We don't know the full details

of how they work, but the point is, there is no one central computer

within the swarm, deciding what all the other drones

do and where they fly. They have a set of targets they move

towards and around and no matter where one or two of them go,

the swarm as a whole eventually Again, development of defence

isn't very forthcoming on too many details,

but the assumption is that this would be very good for

surveillance purposes. I've heard military analysts say

things like this kind of military system could allow for watching

traffic on a road. These drones could hover nearby,

out of sight, out of mind. Or maybe even in slightly more

built-up environments. With the number of important

technological developments, you get the development and then

everything gets smaller. Is the same now

happening with drones? This is really interesting

with the military applications here. There are a couple of very small

drones being developed. There is one called the Black Hornet

which costs about $40,000 but these drones are much,

much cheaper than that, we think. They could be produced

for the cost of maybe a few In terms of the computing

power within them, how do they compare with a mobile phone

or other small devices? We understand the circuitry

is pretty simple, really. It's all to do with the fact

that the software, the artificial intelligence software,

inside them is simply making And not relying on too much

hard number crunching. The mind boggles, thank you very

much for that explanation. We've had stories from Gambia, Ivory

Coast, Japan, Afghanistan and the US and UK and we will continue with a

story that involves Switzerland. The European Court of Human Rights

has ruled that Swiss schools can insist that Muslim girls take

part in mixed-sex school A Muslim couple had

brought the case. I turned to Athar Ahmed,

BBC Asian Network. The parents were two Swiss nationals

of Turkish origin living in Basel. They were fined 1300 euros for not

allowing their 22 teenage daughters to take part in mixed swimming

lessons because of their religious beliefs as Muslims. -- allowing

their two teenage daughters. They said it was a breach of Article

nine, freedom, conscious thought and religion. The European Court of

Human Rights said that although the religious freedom was interfered

with, there was no direct violation. Is this specific to Switzerland, is

this brooding having impacts across Europe? At the moment, last year in

Switzerland, there was another case similar to this one when a Bosnian

man, a Swiss National, was fined for not allowing his daughter to swim in

school. There is a trend emerging it seems. In terms of Switzerland's

approach to these issues, is it different to how the UK Government

might approach it? Or the French comment? The European Court of Human

Rights today have said that the Swiss authorities have the right to

dictate their academic setup. Whether that dictates their

educational setup, the lessons, is based on the values and that is

doubly something which is different to the British setup. Is this ruling

relevant to faith schools? In the UK, faith schools take a certain

approach that some state schools, other state schools don't. Are there

comparisons elsewhere in Europe? Potentially. This is why state

rulings are interesting because it is dictating for the first time the

significance of things like mixed faith interaction. Today Bosman

ruling was interesting because it is not just about these two girls

learning how to swim, the European court said it is about interaction.

And how these girls, who are essentially foreigners can interact

with Swiss society. Breaking news from the US in the

last few seconds from Reuters, a jury has condemned Dylann Roof to

death for the 2015 South Carolina church massacre. This was the attack

from June 2000 and 15. Nine people lost their lives in.

said he still felt he had to do it and was sentenced to death for

killing those people. Just before we finish, farewell and

we will pay tribute to one of the world's first female war

correspondence. Claire Hollingworth has died aged 105. She reported

German tanks were gathering on the Polish border in 1939 and she broke

the news of the Nazi invasion and that was the trigger for the Second

World War. She reported on many other conflicts around the world but

inevitably she will be remembered for what became known as the scoop

of the century. Thank you for watching, I will see

you tomorrow at the same time. The weather is turning pretty lively

over the next few days. A week whether fans drifting south and

east. Not much rain but as