22/01/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Tim Willcox.

The headlines: Satellite images reveal the first evidence

of a growing US presence in northern Syria.

Images appear to show the Americans expanding a disused air strip

Six American states declare a state of emergency ahead of a giant

snowstorm threatening to paralyse parts of the East Coast.

Also coming up: More than 40 migrants drown as two boats sink,

And the actor Jerry Lewis comic at and the movie about the Holocaust

he's suppressed for more than 40 years.

We start in Syria where Satellite imagery obtained

by the international intelligence consultancy Stratfor indicates

that the United States is extending an airstrip in the north

The imagery - although grainy - clearly shows the extension

of the runway from 700 metres to over 1,300,

The site is located near to the town of Rmeilan.

American airpower has been used to help a Kurdish alliance trying

to repel the forces of the so called Islamic State.

But there are claims the US operation in the area could become

a lot more substantial, involving troops and helicopters.

Such a move is likely to attract strong opposition from Ankara.

special intelligence gathering information by talking to local

people Sim Tack works as a military analyst

for Stratfor and says the satellite The significance of this

is that this would be an important, qualitative step for the US to take

in its support for the SDF, the Syrian Defence Forces,

which is one of the branches of its strategy against

Islamic State in Syria. By supporting this group,

they are guaranteeing some sort of ground force that

can push IS back. They have been supporting YPG

in the past through air drops and that's fairly limited,

so in terms of putting an actual presence on the ground or using that

runway for logistical support of them, that really increases

the ability of the US to push Let's speak to Murad Shishani,

a correspondent with the BBC World if this is the case, it's Russia has

already developed to a bases and now America is Russians have. Even with

military experts, Americans and. But now they're It

will be very important. A fully be beyond Raqqa, that is one of the

major routes for supporting Islamic State, but now it is developing.

That is the plan of the Americans as far as I can see. Why would they

need to extend the runway like this, bearing in mind that those forces

that they are supporting have already recaptured quite a

significant amount of land from Islamic State. Indeed. It seems to

me that they want to boost support and logistics. Many observers say,

they downplay the ideal routes on the ground one way or the other.

But, now, in this case in Syria, for all the region. Who would have built

this? American special forces overseeing it, or would you have

local engineers? It is hard to say who built that. From local sources,

in the last few days they were talking about lots of movement in

the area. They control the large area to expand the runway. We don't

know who is exactly going to be behind it.

Millions of people along the East Coast of the United States

are bracing themselves for a blizzard, which,

forecasters say, could be a "crippling" winter storm.

A state of emergency has been declared across a number of states

ahead of what's being called a "potentially life-threatening"

weather system that could bring more than 50 centimetres

Our North America editor Jon Sopel reports.

A massive blizzard takes aim at 75 million Americans.

The north-eastern seaboard of the United States is bracing

itself for a once in a hundred years event.

And the District of Columbia will be hit hardest.

Washington, DC is bracing itself for a combination of epic snowfall,

A state of emergency is in place and the public transport network

is shutting down and apocalyptic warnings are being given.

I want to be very clear with everybody, we see this

It has life and death implications and all of the residents

of the District of Columbia should treat it that way.

Folks need to understand that this is a life-threatening storm.

If you do not need to be out, we are asking folks to,

by three o'clock today, beware they are going to be

People are taking heed, if the lines in shops are anything

to go by, by yesterday afternoon the supermarket in Washington had

We're getting snow shovels and provisions of all Kent and we're

going everyone was just running around no one was exempt, not even

the passenger from this flight. The are people reading the instructions

to get home as yes. There are still some

people than there were an hour and the federal government the warning

was that everyone should by three o'clock. That is 45 minutes because

they're expecting there could be up to another two period. According to

the weathermen, they're going for 80 the transport system has close for

the entire weekend until Monday to they're going to keep the

roads clear as the emergency services are still need to be able

to get around so they're going to still do that. They have tens of

thousands of more people booked in some parts of Virginia are going

In fact, the mayor said that it could be a matter of life or death,

this kind of storm, a deadly storm in that sense, and most people

should try and stay indoors, not attempt to do anything, quite

frankly, over the next 36-48 hours. Lots of flights cancelled, a couple

of thousand today, probably a couple of thousand flights on the Eastern

Seaboard tomorrow. It is not just Washington and Virginia and

Maryland, it is right down from Arkansas in the South. They have had

five, six inches of snow, Tennessee as well, right up into this area,

the New York metropolitan area. It is going to affect tens of millions

of people, this storm. People are keeping their fingers crossed that

people can stay safe. OK, Gary, go and buy a hat and have a hot

chocolate! Some breaking news. Spain's incumbent Prime Minister

Mariano Rajoy has turned down a petition from the King to form a new

government. He has declined to seek the confidence of Parliament.

Mariano Rajoy toning down that invitation to form a government. --

turning down. Let's turn to Syria. Government

troops have made new gains against insurgents in

the west of the country. Russian aviation is playing

an instrumental role in this campaign and today, Russian forces

took reporters to see a town, which had been out of government

control for more than three years. Our correspondent Steve Rosenberg

sent this report from Salma In the mountains above Latakia,

there has been heavy fighting. The Syrian Army has been on the

offensive. But it is the Russian military that is driving us here in

one of its armoured vehicles. They are taking us to this town, Salma.

The Russians said that the Syrian Army we took this town from rebels a

few days ago. We have been told we can only spend a short time here

because buildings are booby-trapped and security is still a major

concern. You can see the scars of war here

and feel the tension. There were battles raging here only days ago.

It was rushing air power that help the Syrian army take back this town.

Russia has helped us so much, the local governor tells me, by

destroying terrorists, their weapons and their command posts from the

air. Nearly months of air strikes have helped the Syrian army begin

territory from rebels. That doesn't mean that President Assad is winning

this war, but for now, Russia has stopped him from losing it. It's not

only Russian airpower that is bolstering cilia's president. Its

Russian warships, too, in the Mediterranean. We were allowed on

board this Russian destroyer of the Syrian coast. They showed us their

torpedoes and naval cannon and behind the site is, missiles for

destroying submarines, not that so-called Islamic State has any of

those. We face plenty of potential threats above the water, too. Like

terrorists in speedboats, so we need to protect all the Russian warships

that are out there. Russian force from the air and from the sea. It's

a statement that Russia once again sees itself as a global power. To

the West, the message from Moscow was clear. You may not like us, but

you can't ignore as if you want to solve crises like the conflict in

Syria. The US Defence Secretary Ash Carter

has said that soldiers from America's 101st Airborne

division will be sent to Iraq to join the fight against

the so-called Islamic State. Dozens of countries are involved

in a coalition to fight the militants, which has so far

mainly taken the form Washington wants more aerial

support for that campaign. The Nato Secretary General has told

BBC World News that Nato is considering an American request

for the alliance to get directly We can confirm that the

United States has asked for support from NATO, in the form

of support from our AWACS surveillance planes,

and we are now looking We will, as an alliance,

make decision. All NATO allies are part of fighting

Isil, and when we get such a request, we are taking

it very seriously. Greek and Turkish coastguards have

recovered the bodies of more than 40 migrants - including 20 children -

whose boats ran into trouble Dozens of other people

remain unaccounted for. This latest tragedy comes

as the Turkish and German governments held a special meeting

in Berlin to discuss Afterwards a communique was signed

by both countries in which Turkey promised to do more to stem

the migrant flow into the EU. These people were trying to reach

Greece. In the last 24 hours,

more than 40 have died trying This baby was rushed

to intensive care. Europe's leaders barely agreed

on how to help. Today the German Chancellor met

the Turkish Prime TRANSLATION: Deep inside I am

convinced that the problem of illegal migration can only be

solved if we work together in fighting the root causes

of the refugee crisis. Europe's leaders have yet to fully

implement a controversial quota system to relocate 120,000 refugees

and migrants across Europe. They are setting up so-called

hotspots, special reception centres in Italy and Greece

from which migrants can be sent on to other countries

or turned away. And they offered Turkey more

than ?2 billion in return TRANSLATION: I want to tell people

in Germany and the EU that this is not a German crisis,

or a European crisis, We can't just pass this crisis onto

each other. We have to solve it in Syria and in Iraq. Many are

overwhelmed. Germany was the promised land of Europe. Look at it

now. These people told us they have waited here for days and need money,

hosting and help. They said they could manage these people in Germany

and they can't. Across Europe, attitudes are hardening. Germany,

after the sex attacks, is divided. We have to help refugees by all

means at not by opening the gates and allowing millions to come. You

cannot plan when war is in a country, so I think we're doing the

right thing. This was less boss today. They are lucky to survive. --

Lesbos. Politically, the refugee crisis has exposed fault lines

running through Europe as one by one, member states prioritise

national interest over European responsibility. There is now a fear

at the highest level. The German president, the French Prime

Minister, that the crisis as instantly testing Europe, but that

it could destroy it all together. Over the last few weeks,

some countries have tightened Macedonia, in particular,

is now turning back many migrants, as James Reynolds

reports from its border. It seems unlikely that anyone

will be hiding in these bushes right But the police in Macedonia

want to show us just how Here, the border police

with colleagues from Hungary, keep an eye on a small

group in the distance. Macedonia only allows

in refugees from Syria, It deports everyone else,

including these young men trudging But these rejected migrants,

a new underclass, will not give up. At night, we followed

a group from Somalia. They wanted to find a gap

in the border fence. This route is difficult,

one of them told me. It is freezing cold and this group

wants to carry on walking They will try to navigate

by moonlight and they hope to carry on on these paths and to avoid

the Macedonian police and see if they can slip

in the country unnoticed. Macedonia caught them and sent them

back to Greece. These young men, from North Africa,

were also caught. They say the Macedonian

police attacked them. A doctor with the organisation

Medecins Sans Frontieres says that she and her colleagues treat

half a dozen injuries every night. The most things we see are bruises,

serious bruises, very visible, that their stories are correct,

it has been from violence. We send some to hospital

because we suspect fractures. The Macedonian government rejects

accusations of brutality and told the BBC its officers use

all legal means to defend In other news, Tunisia has

declared a nationwide, night-time curfew after four days

of protests over unemployment. The demonstrations have descended

into violence and looting. The Prime Minister has cut short

an overseas trip and has warned that there was no magic

solution to joblessness. The protests were triggered

on Sunday when a young man, who didn't get a Government job,

climbed a transmission tower The US vice president Joe Biden has

criticised Turkey for restricting Speaking in Istanbul,

Mr Biden said intimidating journalists, shutting down social

media and accusing government critics of treason set a poor

example to the region. Mr Biden visited the scene of last

week's terrorist attack, which resulted in the deaths

of ten German tourists. Brazilian health officials say

they fear the mosquito-borne Zika The virus has been linked to a sharp

rise in abnormalities The Zika virus, which affects many

other countries in the Americas, is raising concerns ahead

of the Olympic Games in Rio de The US health authorities have

expanded a travel warning for pregnant women to avoid

more than 20 countries. More than 40 years ago the American

slapstick actor Jerry Lewis made But it was so controversial that

Lewis himself banned the movie For decades, film buffs have

wondered exactly what was in it. Now, still images from the film have

come to light and have been seen But in 1972, he made a film

about the Holocaust, Now for the first time since then,

these stills from it have surfaced. Called The Day The Clown Cried,

it sees Lewis playing a clown It was so controversial,

Lewis changed his mind and has never Most of these images are not

comic at all in my eyes. Which is why the photos are now

being eagerly studied by scholars There were very many mentions,

both in terms of literature and film So I don't think there's anything

wrong necessarily with doing that. But of course, we are in a very

difficult area here. You have to be sensitive

to what you have made. It sounds as though Jerry Lewis,

in his sensitivity, felt it was best that what he had made

was best not let out. For years, the Internet has

speculated about the unseen film. It's very iconic,

isn't it, the outfits? The BBC asked the Jewish comedian

David Schneider to look There's a whole difficult

area of whether he has Once a thing is made,

whether he has the right to not But I think when you look at these

pictures, and you realise just how badly it could go, how

offensive it could be, then he has probably

done the right thing. The BBC did ask Jerry Lewis

for an interview to talk So all we have to go on are these

newly-released stills, As one film critic put it,

this is one of the most talked about movies in history but no one

has actually seen it. Three years ago, Jerry Lewis did

give an insight into his decision I was grateful that I had the power

to contain it all and never let The Day The Clown Cried is not

the only film to inject humour But unless it is released,

we will never know if it was Duncan Kennedy, BBC

News, Southampton. Satellite imagery in Syria appears

to show the extension of a runway from 700 metres to more than 1300,

believed to have been overseen by American special forces.

We are back in about an hour. See you soon.

Hello hello, most of us will have seen rain today but the weather is

good to pick