28/01/2016 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten - a warning that the Zika virus is a threat

of "alarming proportions" which could affect millions

The virus - which has been linked to birth defects in Brazil -

Now the World Health Organisation says there's a threat to South

Thousands of soldiers are being deployed to hand out

We report from Brazil on the scale of the challenge.

It's almost inevitable that more babies will be born deformed

and there's a lesson in this for all the other tropical cities

around the world that are vulnerable to Zika virus

We'll have the latest on the international response,

and the warning by the World Health Organisation.

Also tonight: On hold - the Chancellor delays the sale

of the government's final stake in Lloyds bank,

blaming uncertainty on global markets.

Britain plans to take more child refugees from the conflicts in Syria

and Iraq - but not if they've already travelled to Europe.

Trump on the stump as the first primary election beckons -

And a test of IQ by GCHQ - how Britain's best brains

Tonight on BBC London: Our next Mayor has faced questions

from Londoners about what matters to them -

And a second air ambulance for London, serving us

The threat posed by the Zika virus could be classed as a "global health

emergency", according to the World Health Organisation.

Officials have warned that the virus is spreading at "explosive" speed

and could affect four million people in the Americas this year.

The virus - which has been linked to birth defects in Brazil -

is carried by mosquitoes .So far Zika has spread to more

Officials are warning that in Brazil alone 1.5 million people

Our science editor David Shukman is in the city of Recife

in north-east Brazil, where it's thought more than 100,000

people are affected, and he sent this report.

The slums of Brazil are the front line in what has become

We watch as soldiers try to search every single home here.

Because one of the very few ways to combat the Zika virus is to hunt

While we're with the patrol, the soldiers find exactly

the conditions that allow mosquitoes to thrive.

The challenge is that everywhere you look,

And because in a favela like this, the supply is not reliable,

But if there is just one little gap in a tank like this,

the mosquitoes can get in and you have got

Imagine multiplying that thousands of times.

A larva, which left alone would emerge as a mosquito

Health officials sterilise the water.

Her brain smaller than it should be. proving hard to win.

There is no definite proof that the Zika virus

caused her microcephaly, but the evidence is growing.

Her mother says she was caught by surprise, but she will do

everything to help make her baby's life better.

In this one city, Recife, officials say up to 100,000 people

On a map, pins mark the cases of microcephaly, and week

There is a major public health challenge, probably amongst the most

difficult challenges we have to face in recent Brazil history.

And it's already becoming a globalised issue.

In a government lab, analysis of a sample

But despite all the gleaming technology here, there are key

questions about the virus that scientists simply can't answer.

If a woman has Zika, is the risk of having

a microcephalic baby or 90% or 10% or even 5%?

We don't know if there is a viral treatment which given to an infected

woman will prevent transmission to the baby.

This is the first major city to be hit by the virus.

Because it was taken completely by surprise,

That means it's almost inevitable that more babies

And of course for many babies, and others yet to be born,

With me now is is our global health correspondent Tulip Mazumda.

What do you make today of the much stronger water from the World Health

Organisation? The threat level has gone from my old, to alarming. And

that's why the word help organisation has convened this

meeting on Monday, to decide whether to declare an international public

health emergency. The last time we saw that was during the Ebola crisis

and the point of that would be to say this is a global problem and it

needs a global response. It is very important to remember that the Zika

virus is not particularly dangerous for most people, but for pregnant

women and for women trying to get pregnant at the moment, it is seen

as a major concern. The advice from the UK, from Public Health England,

is if you are a woman in that situation to avoid going to any of

the Zika hit countries. There is a list of those on the Foreign Office

website. If you must go, see your doctor before you travel, and take

very stringent precautions when you are out there not to get bitten.

Where lots of mosquito repellent, long sleeves, trousers and stay away

from stagnant water, which as we saw there is where these mosquitoes

breed. Julie Masamba, thank there is where these mosquitoes

the update. -- julep with Sundar. And you can get more information

about the Zika virus The government has delayed

the sale of its final stake in Lloyds Banking Group,

which was meant to raise ?2 billion for the Treasury

in the coming months. The sale was a Conservative

manifesto pledge, but the Chancellor George Osborne said now

was "not the right time" because of uncertainty

in the financial markets and lower Our economics editor

Kamal Ahmed has the story. Joining a journey to a new era

of shareholder democracy? The government thought you might do,

and thousands were interested in buying into the biggest

privatisation since the 1980s. Today, the Chancellor

applied the brakes. Well, my principal concern

is frankly the turbulence That's not the right time

to have a big share sale to the British public,

so we need those markets to calm down and then we can

proceed with the sale. Since the New Year,

markets have tumbled. Banks have struggled and the UK

and the global economy has slowed. I have this morning announced our

plans to sell the remaining stake Three months ago it all

sounded a bit different. A policy sold by the Chancellor

as a way of raising ?2 billion to help pay off the

government's debts. Now selling off the government

stakes in Lloyds and that other collapsed financial crisis bank RBS

seems a long way off. When it comes to Britain's banks,

this is what the government The state has a 9% stake in Lloyds

bank, down from nearly 50%. It paid 74p a share

to rescue the bank in 2008. Those shares are now

only worth 64p a share, meaning the government would make

quite a loss if it sold now. It also owns 73% of

the Royal Bank of Scotland. Eight years ago it paid 502p

a share for the bail out. Now those shares are worth

just over 250p a share, It was the falling share price

of Lloyds, headquartered here in the City of London,

that really raised the red flags George Osborne is still keen

on a share sale, but my banking sources tell me it could be next

year before that share price is healthy enough to offer millions

of shares to hundreds of thousands Potential buyers of the shares

admitted they were disappointed. It's frustrating because

the decision seemed to have been made and now it's

been backtracked on. It seems to be something that's made

a decision on a day, this morning, and then all

of a sudden, they make the change. After the confident start to 2015,

this year, economically at least, Eight years after the financial

crisis there are still plenty The British economy slowed down last

year, according to the Office for National Statistics, which said

that Gross Domestic Product - the total value of all

goods and services - grew by 2.2 per cent in 2015,

down from 2.9 in the previous year. While service industries have been

growing, manufacturing and oil and gas production have suffered

because of weak global demand One of the areas most affected

by the oil slump is Aberdeen - the hub of the North Sea oil

industry - which learned today it's to get ?0.5 billion of investment,

as our Scotland editor Everyone who works at

Control Valve Solutions has had They know that at $30 a barrel,

North Sea oil simply So firms like this, that rely

on the offshore industry, We can't continue to make losses,

so the hard truth is if things don't Neither will the staff that we have

here, that I've built up The Prime Minister flew in today

to announce what the government calls a "city deal",

?250 million jointly funded with the Scottish Government,

to pay for better transport links, improved Internet connections,

and investment in skills With some extra money to help

find new oil fields. This demonstrates that the broad

shoulders of the United Kingdom can get behind the oil industry,

including the oil industry here in Scotland, when it faces

difficulties, and that's why effectively we are stronger

if we stay together, to make sure we make the most

of industries like this Opponents love to taunt the SNP

about their predictions for high oil prices during the independence

referendum and where Scotland The yes campaign didn't

win the referendum. So maybe we should look

at what the no campaign said Here's what David Cameron

said, in February 2014. ?200 billion oil boom,

if Scotland votes no. Maybe while he's in Aberdeen today,

he can tell us what happened to it. The crisis in the oil industry

is very uncomfortable for the SNP. There's a limit to what they can do

to help, but they have to be seen So now that the Prime Minister has

been to promise his support, Scottish ministers have managed

to find an extra ?250 million, which means they can say they're

doing far more than Westminster Aberdeen certainly benefits

from politicians competing Some of the new cash will be used

to extend the harbour. But there's nothing either

government can do to raise Until that goes up -

a lot - the measures announced today More child refugees from Syria

are to be brought to the UK. The Government says it will identify

'exceptional cases' among those in camps in the Middle East and have

been separated from their families. But the Government -

which has already agreed to accept 20,000 refugees over five

years from the camps - has rejected calls to accept

thousands of children who've Our home editor, Mark Easton,

has the story. Some fleeing war and persecution

with their families, but many millions

end up on their own. At the Calais camp known

as The Jungle, desperate young people are knocking on Britain's

door pleading for sanctuary. This 15-year-old from Syria says

he has a brother-in-law in the UK and just wants to be

a schoolboy again. The Government is under intense

pressure to do more to help the vast numbers of unaccompanied children

who've fled from Syria Some charities say the UK should

accept at least 3,000 more. But instead, ministers have come up

with a plan which they say will discourage vulnerable children

from arriving on Britain's doorstep. The Government's plan focuses first

on the conflict regions themselves. Working with the United Nations,

Britain will help assess the scale But only in exceptional

circumstances will they bring any Ministers say it is much better that

a vulnerable child remains We're playing our role and I have

said, we are prepared to take more orphans from the region,

but I think it is right our approach to take refugees from the region,

not encouraging people to make the difficult and potentially-lethal

journey to Europe. I think our approach

is compassionate, it is generous, The refugee crisis continues

to claim lives at the EU's border. Today, the UK pledged an extra ?10

million to support vulnerable children who do make it to Europe,

and extra resources for registering But beyond Britain's legal

obligations, there is no commitment I think we need to see a more

engaged Prime Minister here. They are really looking

at the issues, and not saying only help people in the region,

there is a crisis happening in Europe and there are children

who desperately need our help. Thousands of unaccompanied children

have arrived at the UK's border. Last week a court ruled that under

Britain's asylum obligations, three unaccompanied children

and a young adult in the Calais camp should be allowed to join close

relatives in the UK. A full ruling will be issued

tomorrow and charity workers are trying to find any child

who might be affected. We see a glimmer of hope

for the unaccompanied young people here that they might be able to be

reunited with their The number of refugee children

who might come to the UK under today's scheme is

likely to be small. A few with relatives

here will be allowed in, but ministers argue that to avoid

exacerbating the migrant crisis, and to protect overstretched British

services, equally desperate children Our Europe Editor, Katya Adler,

is in Brussels for us tonight. Let's talk about the difficulties

for European leaders having to find solutions to the problem with these

child migrants? Some described it as a headache and others an area of

concern. We have seen growing numbers of unaccompanied minors

coming from Libya to Italy, from Turkey to Greece, most of them

teenagers, but some as young as eight or ten. Why such large

numbers? Well, mainly because their families believe that because of

their age, they will be able to be granted asylum quickly. They are

hoping to use the laws of individual EU countries, the family

reunification laws, to bring over other relatives legally. This has

led to countries across the EU trying to play catch-up with the

legislation. Denmark this week tried to toughen its laws to stop the

trend and put migrant families off. Sweden received more than 30,000

child migrants and that put social and public services and the

government under a huge amount of strain. There is a separate

development tonight I wanted to talk to you about. This is on David

Cameron's continued efforts to try to renegotiate Britain's terms of

membership of the EU, what have you learnt about that? Well, just

tonight in Brussels, we have heard from a senior source close to the

negotiations that as we speak, versions are being sent backwards

and forwards between UK negotiators and the European Commission that

could find a breakthrough deal in the main sticking point in David

Cameron's attempt to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU.

That would be his ability to suspend EU migrant benefit for four years.

One of the founding principles of the EU is every citizen's ability to

live and work as an equal in any EU member state. So, the proposed

compromise is being described as "an e members of the -- an emergency

break". A problem here, though, is, in order to pull that brake, it will

need the approval of other European countries. It is not signed and

sealed, though, at all. Downing Street have said there is a weekend

of hard negotiations ahead. First when David Cameron comes here

tomorrow, and conversations continuing on Sunday in London.

Altogether this renegotiation deal isn't firmed up at all yet and the

possibility for European fireworks is still very real. Katya, thank

you. Katya Adler in Brussels. The president of Iran,

Hassan Rouhani, has been in Paris today signing a number of major

trade deals just weeks after international sanctions

against his country were lifted. Contracts worth billions of euros

were agreed with Airbus, Peugeot and the energy

company Total. The president's visit drew protests

from human rights activists, who drew attention to Iran's regular

use of the death penalty. Our diplomatic correspondent,

Bridget Kendall, reports from Paris. President Rouhani's official welcome

in Paris today. No longer an outcast, but an honoured guest.

Bonjour, Mr President. The first visit to Europe by an Iranian head

of state in 16 years and less than two weeks since sanctions were

lifted. When he went on to the Elysee Palace, there was some

awkwardness behind the handshakes, in the fact that Francois Hollande

decided not to host a lunch for him because Tehran demanded that no wine

was served. Overall, this was a day to play up the positives. There's

huge interest in this visit by President Rouhani and with good

reason. It is a big moment. The first concrete evidence that Iran is

being allowed back in from the cold, no longer a pariah, but a partner.

The question is, will it really usher in a new era. President

Hollande thinks it will. Today, a new chapter in our relationship

starts, he said. TRANSLATION: I'm glad to be here.

It was time to turn a page and make up for years lost to sanctions.

Ever since its Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran's relations with the West

have been chilly, made worse by suspicions it was trying to develop

nuclear weapons. But now there is a rush in Europe to try to revamp

relations. So, today, the French and Iranian government signed 20

separate deals for Airbus to sell Iran 118 planes and for Peugeot to

reenter the lucrative Iranian car market.

But protesters in central Paris warned that business opportunities

shouldn't blind the West to Iran's high execution rate. Its support for

President al-Assad in Syria and the influence of its hardline clerics.

So, is backing President Rouhani too much of a risk? One former French

ambassador who knows him well says no. If he is able to open a little

bit the society, to be re-elected in 2017, so we have a span of six years

in front of us. Any way, leaving Iran isolated could be the bigger

risk. Bridget Kendall, BBC News, Paris.

In France a man carrying two handguns has been arrested

at Disneyland Paris, one of Europe's biggest tourist attractions.

Police say the man was found with the weapons, ammunition

and a copy of the Koran after trying to pass through security at one

of the resort hotels. Our correspondent, Lucy Williamson,

is at the park, which lies east of Paris.

What are police saying about the nature of this incident? Are they

saying it is less serious than initially appeared? Yes, this

appears to have turned into a tale quite unlike the one many here had

feared. Tonight, we understand police are not treating this as

terrorism and both the hotel and the park itself remain open. The man in

question has not been identified but we believe he is a 28-year-old man

of European origin, who runs a bar in the south of Paris. Now, quite

what he was doing here with his female companion checking in with

two very small calibre pistols in his luggage remains to be seen.

Tonight, as it stands now, neither of those two people appear to be

dangerous. Lucy Williamson in Paris. Scotland Yard has dropped

its investigation into allegations of physical and sexual abuse linked

to the former charity Kids Company. Detectives say they found no

evidence of criminality, no failings by the charity

in its duty to safeguard children. The organisation -

which always denied the claims - closed last August when questions

were raised about its management. In Iowa the final televised debate

between the candidates seeking the Republican presidential

nomination will start But the front-runner,

Donald Trump, won't be there. He's refusing to take part

because of his continuing spat with one of the debate moderators

from the Fox News network. Iowa will be the first state

to pick its nominee, followed closely by South Carolina

where Mr Trump was campaigning yesterday, as our North America

editor, Jon Sopel, reports. As traders hawk their wares

to supporters queuing in a South Carolina field

to see Donald Trump, the outspoken, populist billionaire

who a growing number in this country Semi-retired, I work

in satellite communications. He is not a politician and I think

that a lot of this election is about tapping into a lot of anger

that there is in this country. I believe Donald Trump,

because he has many contracts with his companies,

that he is going to keep a lot Second, they love that he is

a businessman who will bring that I think somebody who has run

a multi-billion dollar empire that he's built from the ground up

and has negotiated with companies in other countries is much better

suited than a freshman Senator. This country is hurt financially

and needs some good help and Donald Third, they just like a man who says

it as it is. And if that means picking a fight

with Fox TV, and not participating in tonight's debate,

well, then so be it. As he points out, who needs

to when you have won All of these different polls,

they came out and Trump won the debate, every debate,

right from the beginning. Donald Trump is securing

support from all quarters. It is not about white collar,

or blue collar, it is about people who are hot under the collar,

that America is going in the wrong direction and that Washington

has let them down. His ability to tap into these

concerns has been nothing short of masterful, if not

to everyone's taste. They are bringing drugs,

they are bringing crime, they are rapists and some,

I assume, are good people. Then came Muslims after the Paris

attacks and the incident Donald J Trump is calling

for a complete shutdown of Muslims Sikhs after one protested

at a Trump rally. He wasn't wearing one of those

hats, was he? He offended disability groups

with this impression of a disabled You have to see this guy,

I don't know what I said, Women with this comment on a female

interviewer who had given him You can see there was blood coming

out of her eyes, blood coming Top Republican pollster Frank Luntz,

whose respect for the presidency is so great he's created his own

mini Oval Office at his Los Angeles home, says he's never seen anything

like the Trump phenomenon. He's made political

incorrectness politically correct. He has taken the hostility

towards the media and made it not Trump says things that

would disqualify anybody else. But it's not a reality show,

it's the future of America. Last night, many were left

watching his rally on TV In all early-voting states

Trump is out in front. When he launched his campaign

he was dismissed as unelectable, but now in the fight

for the Republican nomination, With just a few days

to the deadline, more than 600,000 people have started the quiz,

but no-one has managed Our security correspondent,

Gordon Corera, has been GCHQ, busy cracking

setting their own, creating a puzzle that 500,000 people have tried to

solve but no-one so far has succeeded. It started with an

innocent-looking Christmas card from the director of GCHQ. Open it up and

you get a grid, the first puzzle. Complete the grid and it becomes

what's called a QR code. Take your phone, scan the QR code and you are

taken to a website with a series of multiple choice questions. Now, it

taken to a website with a series of gets really difficult. What you end

up with is a series of brain-aching puzzles, which involve everything

from chess pieces, to some kind of mathematical equation, through to

things which, frankly are hard even to describe. All of this has left

people who enjoy code-breaking puzzled. Logic problems, there is no

technology needed to be understood here. One person who has been having

some success says that it takes a wide range of skills. You do need to

do a lot of maths at certain stages, it's a good understanding of word

association, looking for patterns and things, trying to unscramble

what's there behind something. There is a pedigree for this. During World

War Two, GCHQ's forerunner, Bletchley Park, used to recruit by

setting crossword puzzles in newspapers and offering jobs to the

winner. One person says the same kind of determination is needed

today. Certainly, the problems that they were having breaking enemy

codes would have seemed insurmountable at the time. And that

resolve to get it done in the face of those odds has got to be

something that is valuable. There are still three days for someone to

get the right answer, with a prize for anyone who does or comes close,

but not necessarily a guaranteed job at GCHQ.

But Newsnight's about to begin over on BBC two in a few moments.

Tonight, we reveal the woman making a legal challenge in the country

worst affected by the Zika virus to overturn its anti-abortion law.

In an exclusive TV interview, Gillian Barnes talks

about cowardice, corruption and Putin.

Join me now on BBC Two, 11.00pm in Scotland.

Now here on BBC One it's time for the news where you are.