14/02/2017 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten: The White House tries to limit the damage after one

of the President's senior advisors is forced to resign.

There was a breakdown of trust following Michael Flynn's misleading

account of contacts with Russian officials before

The issue, plain and simple, came down to a matter of trust

Mr Flynn was said to have conducted unlawful talks with Russian

diplomats and senior Republicans backed the decision

I think the President made the right decision to ask for his resignation.

You cannot have a national security advisor misleading

We'll be asking what the resignation tells us about the workings

The half-brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un,

is reported to have been killed in a poison attack in Malaysia.

The Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall, admits it was wrong to claim

he lost close friends in the Hillsborough disaster.

A special report from the Central African Republic

where rival militias are driving the country towards anarchy.

You portray yourself as a protector of the people.

But there is another view of you and that is that

And, a glorious way to mark the reopening of the line

Coming up in Sportsday on BBC News: Find out if Barcelona could come

back from two goals down at half-time in their

Champions League last 16 tie at Paris St Germain.

The White House has rejected suggestions that Donald Trump's

presidency is in turmoil following the resignation

of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Mr Trump's spokesman said the level of trust between the two

men had been damaged, making Mr Flynn's

Mike Flynn had admitted misleading colleagues over his contact

with Russian diplomats before Mr Trump took office.

But the White House is now facing further questions

about the extent of its knowledge of Mr Flynn's activity.

Our North America editor Jon Sopel is at the White

There's always that question, did he jump or was he pushed? Overnight,

this morning, all the stress was on that Mr Flynn had reflected, thought

it was probably best for the administration, if he left. That all

changed this lunchtime when the former three star General was

unceremoniously thrown under the bus by the administration.

Politically inseparable, but after just three weeks

as national security adviser, Michael Flynn has gone

in a stunning fall from grace, after a day of chaos and confusion

The camera loving president, suddenly becoming camera shy

But today, the President's spokesman came out all guns blazing,

the former close friend had lost the President's trust.

We got to a point, not based on a legal issue,

but based on a trust issue with a level of trust

between the president and General Flynn had

eroded to the point where he felt he had

The president was very concerned that General Flynn had misled

The evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this

situation and a series of other questionable instances is what led

the president to ask for General Flynn's resignation.

The Republican leadership, always uncomfortable

about the unorthodox General, were relieved to see him go.

You cannot have a national security adviser misleading the vice

So I think the president was right to ask for his resignation

and I believe it was the right thing to do.

This all goes back to action taken over the Christmas

period by the former President Barack Obama,

to impose sanctions against Russia over its interference

On the 29th of December, Michael Flynn speaks to the Russian

Ambassador in the first of a series of calls.

On the 15th of January, vice-president Mike Pence denies

What I can confirm, having spoken to him about it,

is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time

that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing

whatsoever to do with those sanctions.

But in late January, the former acting Attorney General

warned the White House it might have been misled by General

But then on the 9th of February, the Washington Post revealed Flynn

did discuss sanctions and it was then pressure grew.

And Democrats are not going to let the matter go.

The resignation of Michael Flynn was brought about, not

by discovering the falsehood, but by the fact that

And that ought to be deeply disturbing to everyone.

Welcome to the stage, General Mike Flynn,

Michael Flynn was a spear carrier for Donald Trump

during the election, making Hillary Clinton's honesty

We do not need a wreckless President who believes she is above the law.

Yes, that's right, lock her up. But now it is Michael Flynn who on a

question of trust has been found wanting and finds himself very much

alone. In a moment we'll speak to Jon

at the White House but first to Moscow and our correspondent

there Steve Rosenberg. Steve, the Kremlin saying this is a

matter for the US but behind the scenes what's been said? Well, there

is a degree of anger. Today several prominent Russian politicians took

to social media to express their anger and to claim that Michael

Flynn was a victim of anti-Russia paranoia in America but the Kremlin

said it wasn't going to comment and tonight Russian state television

didn't even mention the story in its main news, partly, I suspect,

because the whole thing is embarrassing for the Kremlin, but I

also think that Russia feels it doesn't need to make a lot out of

this because, after all, Moscow is counting on Donald Trump to change

US-Russia relations, not Michael Flynn. The Russians believe it is

going to be the Trump-Putin chemistry or lack of it that will be

the decisive factor here. One other thing that the Russians are aware

of, if these two leaders don't get on, if relations don't improve, then

Moscow know it is can fall back on its old way of doing things,

treating America as an external enemy, as a scapegoat for Russia's

own problems. From here at least it looks like whatever happens Russia

emerges the winner. Let's go to Washington and Jon, when

we look at this latest sequence of events what does it tell us about

the way this White House is functioning? If you were being

extremely kind you would say it is an administration that is still

finding its feet. If you were being harsh you would say it is like a

hornets nest that's been bashed very hard, sometimes it's dysfunctional

the way it operates. What has been striking is I don't think they worry

too much about that, it is what the people in the country who backed

Donald Trump think that they care most about. They've loved what he

said about immigration and jobs and border controls and all of that.

They don't get his attitude to Vladimir Putin. This is a man

prepared to pick a fight with anybody on Twitter, except Vladimir

Putin. There was a marked change of tone from the administration today

saying you don't know how tough we are being on Russia. I had obviously

missed that. There is a new tone and they want that ring out. One other

twist in an extraordinary 24 hours, the counsellor to the President has

been found guilty by the Government ethics watchdog of a clear violation

of their rules when she went on television and actually advertised

Ivanka Trump's clothes line. It hasn't been a perfect 24 hours for

the administration. Thank you.

The half-brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un,

is reported to have been killed in a poison attack at

American intelligence sources say they strongly believe that

Kim Jong-nam was murdered by North Korean agents.

He'd been critical of his half-brother's regime and had left

North Korea after being passed over for the leadership of the country.

Our correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes -

who was detained in North Korea last year and is now in Tokyo -

This is Kim Jong-nam whose body is thought to be the one now lying

Officials there say he died after being sprayed in the face

with something at Kuala Lumpur airport this morning.

South Korean media immediately claimed North Korean agents had

assassinated Kim on the orders of his own younger

North Korea's young dictator has been tightening his grip

on power, ruthlessly purging potential opponents.

Last year I saw for myself how strange North Korea can be.

I was detained and expelled for insulting the Kim leadership.

Much more telling is what he did to his own uncle,

Jang Sung-taek was hauled away from a party meeting accused

Has he now also eliminated his brother?

Kim Jong-nam was once his father's favourite being groomed to one day

take over as North Korea's Supreme Leader.

But his downfall began here in Tokyo when he was caught sneaking

These pictures of his humiliating deportation from Japan are said

to have deeply angered his father, North Korea's late

His place at his father's side was taken instead by his younger

Kim Jong-nam then went into exile in Macau.

In interviews he repeatedly said he had no interest in power.

Kim Jong-nam, although he had been quiet and lying low for a while -

not low enough it seems - had gone off message badly before.

He had said some stuff about not believing in hereditary succession

and maybe in this kind of a system, like medieval Europe,

any other possible claimant to the Kingship could potentially

In the 21st century fratricide is normally

Yet again North Korea is showing it is not a normal country.

Rupert Wingfield Hayes, BBC News, Tokyo.

Inflation reached a two-and-a-half year high in January.

The Consumer Prices Index rose to 1.8% - up from 1.6% in December.

The rise has been driven by increases in the cost

The price of raw materials and fuel for factories is up 20%

because of the fall in the value of sterling since the Brexit vote.

Our economics correspondent Andy Verity reports.

Prices may be up, but it's not yet the consumer who's

being squeezed hardest, it's the company that sells

you the goods and even more so the companies that produce them.

This east London brewery has boosted prices by 5% but its costs have

We've got auto-enrollment for the pensions coming in this

year, we have a huge business rate increase this year.

And on top of that, we've now got a weaker pound so our imported raw

In the shops, prices rose by 1.8%, but further up the supply chain

The price of goods leaving the factory, wholesale

And producers aren't yet passing on the much higher

cost of raw materials - up by more than a fifth.

The inflation figure announced this morning at 1.8% is still below

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee is seeking to manage

inflation to maintain itself at or around 2%.

So when inflation is at this level the economy should be working well.

It's worth remembering we've been through one of the tamest periods

The price of food overall is down 2% on two years ago.

And if you take vegetables, like potatoes, down by 4%.

The key question is with petrol prices rise by 17%, when will these

In a report to be released tomorrow, the anti-poverty charity

the Joseph Rowntree Foundation fears they won't.

All over the country people are really struggling right

Their fuel prices are going up, their food costs are going up,

their heating bills are going up and if we see this increase

in inflation keep going we predict we could cost rises of nearly 10%.

That means we could see almost four million more people tipped

Increasingly, retailers are faced with an unpalatable choice -

absorb their higher costs and watch profits shrink or raise prices

and accept the risk that customers walk away.

The Ukip leader Paul Nuttall has been forced to admit that he did not

lose any close personal friends in the Hillsborough

football disaster - contrary to claims on his website.

He made the admission in an interview with

Liverpool's Radio City Talk and insisted he HAD been

at the ground on that day in 1989 - when he was 12 years old -

with his father and two uncles, despite recent press reports

questioning his account of what happened.

I haven't lost anyone who was a close personal friend,

there were people who I knew in football, and things like that.

I, basically, went through your website last night,

It's PaulNuttallMEP.com, that's your website.

Well, I'm sorry about that, but, you know that...that is...

That is something which I haven't put...

Mr Nuttall is standing as a candidate in the Stoke-on-Trent

parliamentary by-election later this month.

Our deputy political editor, John Pienaar, is there.

What do you make of this? Well, this is a an important by-election, Huw,

credibility at stake for Labour and Ukip and its leader. Paul Nuttall

apologised and said he never spotted the false claim on he is website

that he lost close friends at Hillsborough. A Ukip press officer

has taken responsibility and resigned. Labour will hope Ukip will

suffer from this. Why? The Stoke by-election, like the by-election in

Cumbria, they are acid tests of whether voters are deserting in

areas that voted heavily to leave the European Union. The it could be

a close fight it will be a tough fight in the last week of this

campaign. It's a fight that neither of those parties can easily afford,

Huw to lose. John Pienaar with the latest there in Stoke-on-Trent.

The parliamentary by-election in Stoke-on-Trent takes place

There's a full list of the candidates on the screen

and it's also available on the BBC News website.

A brief look at some of the day's other news stories.

A 10-year-old boy, who died after being injured in a Topshop

store in Reading, has been named locally as Kaden Reddick.

The retailer, council and police have all said that they're

His death is being treated as unexplained, but not suspicious.

The chairman of the electronics giant, Toshiba, has resigned

after the company reported a yearly net loss of more than $3 billion.

The announcement prompted unions in the UK to call for clarification

after the Japanese firm suggested it no longer wanted to be involved

in the construction phase of a new nuclear power

Rolls-Royce has reported a record loss of ?4.6 billion

among the biggest ever in British corporate history.

The jet engine maker blamed having to settle a corruption case,

costing more than ?670 million, and the slump in sterling's value

which has wiped ?4.4 billion off its value.

Union leaders from Unite will meet ministers tomorrow to discuss

the implications of a deal which could see General Motors

selling its European business to the owners of Peugeot.

It could lead to the French car manufacturer taking over

the production of Vauxhall, here in the UK, and Opel, in the rest

Our business editor, Simon Jack, has the story.

Vauxhall makes 60,000 vans here in Luton every year,

it makes another 120,000 cars at Ellesmere Port and both factories

could have a new owner if General Motors sells its European

business to the owner of Peugeot and Citreon.

Any potential deal would redraw the map

Across Europe, the PSA Group has 14 production sites

GM Europe is known as Opel and has eight factories outside the UK

with 39,000 employees and, of course, there's Vauxhall,

in Luton and Ellesmere Port, with 4,500 staff.

Now, these are only talks at the moment, but if a deal did go

ahead - putting together Peugeot, Citreon, Vauxhall and Opel -

it would be a game-changer, creating a giant, behind only

Volkswagen, in European car production and whenever you get

consolidation on that scale, it's bound to cause understandable

concern at plants like this in Luton and all around Europe

about whether job cuts could be on the horizon.

Where does that leave the UK, in the sense that we've got flexible

General Motors has already indicated that it faces a financial

I think there's going to be some vulnerability for the UK plants

The French government owns 14% of PSA, as does the Peugeot family,

so the boardroom of a new company would have a very French

feel, something not lost on union bosses here.

The French government own a significant chunk of Peugeot.

They've already come out and said they welcome the prospect of Peugeot

buying Vauxhall Opel and we want to make certain

that our Government is not sitting on the sidelines because you can

bet your life that the French government will be

Tonight, the BBC understands that the Business Secretary,

Greg Clark, has called a meeting with Len McCluskey for tomorrow

morning to discuss potential implications for UK workers.

There are a lot of moving parts in this negotiation,

but these two manufacturers have collaborated before and together

they hope to assemble a European car giant.

The United Nations says it is willing to use additional

force against militia in the Central African Republic

to prevent the country descending into anarchy.

Thousands of UN peacekeepers were sent to the country amid fears

of genocide when rival Christian and Muslim militias began fighting,

In the town of Bambari, where thousands of civilians

are sheltering, the UN had to intervene when an armed convoy

Our special correspondent, Fergal Keane, has been there.

His report does contain some distressing images.

Out in the countryside, the UN has already fired the first

shots to ward off an assault on Bambari, but the town itself

Muslims live in the centre of town, the Christians on the other bank,

civilians protected by soldiers of the United Nations.

23 years after I watched the UN fail to stop a genocide in Rwanda,

I've come to Bambari where the Blue Helmets try to avert

Every burned building here speaks of lives erased when the country

descended into sectarian massacre in 2013.

Civilians slaughtered, hundreds of thousands

Now, amid fears of renewed violence, there's no hope of going home.

"Leave here, I don't think so", this man tells us.

"Here we're protected by the United Nations."

Civilians are facing renewed terror from warlords.

These are Christians, but it's not as simple as just

Numerous warlords fight for power and wealth.

Vernonique's husband was murdered, leaving her

Madeleine lost her husband and three of her five children.

TRANSLATION: They were killing people.

They were going from killing to killing.

Some people even lost their children as they were running.

One name kept cropping up here, a Muslim warlord they blame

TRANSLATION: His name creates fear and terror.

Even now, here, when he sent his men to Bacula, all the people ran away.

It wasn't hard to find Ali Darassa, he and his bodyguards live

Guns are supposed to be banned here, but try telling that to these men.

The UN is unwilling so far to provoke a conflict over this.

The fighters are Muslims from the ethnic minority,

You portray yourself as the protector of the people,

but there is another view of you and that is that

Everything that happens is reported by people.

If I was a ruthless killer, people could not live peacefully near me.

The UN escorted us back across town to meet Ali Darassa's enemy,

the leader of a Christian militia also accused of atrocities.

Meet General Gaytan and his deputy, who calls himself General Tarzan.

The fighters hid their guns while we were there,

but General Gaytan was blunt about his own role.

I have thousands of men, ready to protect the population.

The self-styled protectors thrive because the central

There are too few peacekeepers and troops are of mixed quality.

It's a familiar story of peacekeeping in the modern age.

But tensions around Bambari are now so dangerous the UN mission's top

Diane Corner is a veteran British diplomat, now trying to ensure this

country doesn't slide into chaos again.

And then Gaetan, who waits in a room next door

In this prefabricated office, the international community

Diane Corner tells them the UN is willing to fight.

I'm giving very clear messages that we are going to do everything

to prevent a battle in Bambari, that we are reinforcing our

positions, that the UN is impartial, we're not taking sides with either

one group or the other, and that we expect them to respect

In the protected zone, the old life of the lost villages

A father studies, planning for a future beyond all of this.

But the calm depends on the UN continuing to enforce its red

Over the years, I've seen the failings of UN missions,

sometimes catastrophically, for example, in Rwanda.

And yet, standing now on the bridge at Bambari,

between the Christian and Muslim districts, it's clear to me, that

without a United Nations presence, there would be slaughter here.

The Swedish star, Felix Shellberg, is the highest paid star on YouTube.

His video clips have been watched 15 billion times.

He reportedly made ?12 million last year.

But Disney has now decided to end its lucrative

It says some of his videos have included Nazi references

Mr Shellberg denies the claims and says the films are meant to be

funny as our correspondent, Frankie McCamley, tells us.

My name is PewDiePie, and welcome to...

Felix Shellberg, better known as PewDiePie, rose to fame

With more than 50 million subscribers, he's become the world's

highest paid YouTuber, but recently his videos have been

extremely controversial, containing Nazi references

In this one, he asks these boys to hold up a sign saying,

It's led to Disney cutting its ties with the star, calling

The challenge comes with somebody like PewDiePie,

is of course his ability to reach a massive audience but brands,

at your peril, work with people like PewDiePie

because he is provocative, he can be a dangerous

proposition for any brands, particularly that like Disney.

The 27-year-old has responded by saying he was trying to show how

crazy the modern world is and that he's in no way supporting any kind

So what does that mean for PewDiePie here on YouTube?

Well, they told us he didn't actually break any of their rules,

however his up-and-coming subscription feature,

Scare PewDiePie 2, has been cancelled.

He's also been taken off the Google preferred list,

which means top advertisers won't be posting on his videos.

Promoting your channel and driving traffic to your video is a very

powerful thing and one way to do that is to shout the loudest and be

the most inappropriate or most controversial so that these news

broadcasters write about what you're doing, in a negative way,

but traffic's traffic, that's how you earn your living.

With more people heading online to do just that, it's yet to be

seen whether a YouTuber, like PewDiePie, can remain

controversial and still appeal to the masses.

For the first time in England, in half a century, a steam train

has been used as part of a mainline timetable.

The Tornado is pulling 12 services on the Settle to Carlisle line,

It's part of the celebrations to mark the reopening of the line

following the landslides of a year ago.

Danny Savage was there to see the new service.

On the Settle to Carlisle line today, the sights and sounds

It's a long time since the mid-morning service from Skipton

B. B.

But then this was the first timetabled steam train in England

Standard fares and discounts applied, you'd normally pay a hefty

premium for a steam trip, but not here, not this week.

I thought I'd fetch my wife for Valentine's Day.

So it was cheaper than a bunch of roses.

So what do you make of the Valentine's present?

I'm liking it, enjoying it. So, thank you.

On the footplates, the crew were working hard, tonnes of coal

were shovelled as the train went back-and-forth between

And this isn't just about a trip on a steam train,

for lots of people it's a ride through the Yorkshire Dales

countryside as well and crossing the Ribblehead viaduct.

Talking to some customers on the train that had

travelled from Essex, Norfolk, you know, just for

I think, you know, Valentine's Day, the Settle and Carlisle railway,

on a stream train, I mean, how better does it get?

So could we see more timetabled steam trains

It's something we could do once a year, maybe twice a year.

You know, it would fit in Cornwall in Anglia, in Scotland say.

Yeah, we could take it round the country.

This maybe the start of something special on Britain's railways,

49 years after mainline steam officially ended.

Tonight, we look at North Korea and ask if, with the apparent murder

in Malaysia, is it a nuclear regime out of control and a danger

The former British Ambassador there will be with us.

Here, on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.