01/03/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten - thousands

of motorists are stranded on roads

in England and Wales,

as more snow and blizzards sweep in.

These cars on the A31

in Hampshire haven't moved

since 5pm this afternoon.

Conditions on many other

roads are treacherous.

We live in Devon, where there is a

severe red won warning tonight and

people are being told not to drive.

-- red warning.

And what hope for the homeless -

we report on how they're coping

with the bitterly cold temperatures.

I've been shivering for about three

weeks, do you know what I mean?

If it weren't for people coming

along with blankets then

I would be dead in a doorway.

The Met Office has weather warnings

in place for most of the UK tonight,

with up to 50 centimetres of snow

expected in some places.

Also tonight.

America First - President Trump says

he'll tax imported foreign

steel to protect jobs.

Some fear a trade war.

One of Russia's new generation

of nuclear weapons unveiled

by President Putin -

he says they can evade US

missile defence systems.

Boko Haram strikes again,

kidnapping over 100 more

schoolgirls in Nigeria.

Their parents tell us

of their desperation to find them.

And hoping for Oscar glory -

the profoundly deaf six-year-old

from Swindon who'll be joining

the stars on the red

carpet this weekend.

Coming up on Sportsday on BBC News -

could Arsenal avenge

their League Cup final defeat

against Manchester City,

with the Premier League leaders

tonight's visitors to the Emirates.

Good evening.

Hundreds of motorists

are stranded on roads in parts

of Southern England tonight,

as heavy snow and blizzards continue

to sweep across the UK.

The Met Office has issued weather

warnings for almost everywhere

Many have been stuck for hours on

the M62 near Rochdale, others in

Hampshire.

The Met Office has issued weather

warnings for almost everywhere

tonight, with amber alerts -

the second highest level

of warning - in place over

large parts of the UK.

But the worst of the weather

is here, in these parts of southwest

England and South Wales -

where a red alert is in force,

meaning there's a risk to life.

And Jon Kay is in Tiverton

in Devon with the latest.

Yes, as you join us tonight, the

snow seems to have stopped for a few

moments, but it's been replaced by

this horrible freezing rain and

that's going to cause all sorts of

extra problems tomorrow morning on

the roads. That's why this red

severe alert remains in place into

tomorrow. It was issued at 8am this

morning. We were told then stay off

the roads, but it seems a lot of

people have still been called out.

-- caught out.

The red warning zone, but tonight

there's only white to be seen.

Workers abandoning their cars

in Tiverton, hoping

to get home on foot.

Horrible.

It's slippery, it's cold.

It's just not very nice at all.

I wouldn't risk going out in it

tonight, there's too much risk

of having an accident.

Across the West Country

and South Wales tonight,

thousands of drivers have been stuck

and not just on remote

country roads.

These are some of the main

routes outside Cardiff -

strangers helping one another out.

It's a very busy road,

everybody's driving about 20

to 30 miles an hour,

people are going faster than that

but we're just stuck.

Despite all the warnings

and the plans, Holden Hill outside

Exeter has ground to a halt.

A dual carriageway now

a shivering car park.

This is the only route I could go,

this is the only one I thought

was going to be open,

but what can you do?

Yeah, it's been chaos.

We haven't been able

to move anywhere.

I thought we would

get home, didn't we?

Certainly did.

Not be victims.

They call this the English Riviera.

Torbay, in South Devon.

Treacherous.

But this afternoon

everything suddenly changed.

Snow from the east mixing

with winds from the south.

It's very easy in modern cars to be

cocooned from the outside

environment and to actually lose

touch with the fact that

it's freezing, the road

surface is becoming more

and more challenging.

Other than the main

roads which are gritted,

but that's proving challenging

for our Highway Authority

partners, we are saying take

real care on the roads.

In some areas of Devon

and Cornwall this seemed to be

the best way to keep moving.

Or maybe not.

It is the lethal combination

of snow, wind and ice that

so concerns the authorities,

and there is much more of all

of those to come in the hours ahead.

As well as treacherous freezing

rain, which could also be added

to the list tonight.

Jon Kay, BBC News, Devon.

Hundreds of motorists have been

stranded by the snow for at least

five hours on the A31

in the New Forest

in Hampshire tonight.

Our correspondent Duncan

Kennedy is one of them.

Yes, that's absolutely right. We

arrived here at 5:15pm, and we've

barely moved an inch since, so

nearly five hours we've been stuck

here. I'm actually standing on the

A31 as we speak tonight, along with

dozens, possibly hundreds of other

drivers in their cars. We've seen

children in cars, we've seen people

coming home from work, who have been

stranded here for hours and hours

and hours. It's about -10 here with

the wind chill factor, it's snowing.

We've seen people walking back down

this dual carriageway here to try

and find an escape route. We've seen

cars driving against the flow of

traffic on the hard shoulder, add

then to try and find an escape

route. Why is it happening? We're

not really sure. We've been told on

the radio there were some accidents

up ahead but those accidents have

been cleared and yet the traffic is

still stationary. What's more, these

people are going to be spending

hours here tonight, because these

haven't moved for hours and hours

and hours and also it's going to be

snowing right through the night.

Duncan Kennedy with the latest from

the new Forest, thank you.

Thousands of schools

across the UK will remain closed

for a third day tomorrow,

and railways will again

be severely affected.

In Lincolnshire many roads have

been impassable today.

The RAF was drafted in to help

the emergency services,

and police asked farmers

with tractors to help

clear the snow.

Danny Savage reports

on the situation.

Lincolnshire, one of many counties

battered by the Siberian weather.

This fan will not be

going anywhere for a

long time.

Make sure if the public stop

to speak to you, please engage

with them, more than happy.

A critical incident

was declared here

and the RAF was called in to help

the emergency services.

In County Durham, many

people woke up to find

deep snow.

Behind every frozen door

was a snapshot of life around the UK

today, children off school,

and parents wondering just how long

this is all going to go on for.

Childcare is an issue

for a lot of parents.

We end up with a house

full of children.

We've got old people,

vulnerable people that unfortunately

can't get out.

It's hard, you know,

to dig each other out.

A lot of community spirit goes on.

And they were digging

out from first thing

with all ages lending a hand

before it snowed again.

And here in Middleton

in Teesdale the unofficial

snow depth is 33 centimetres.

Venturing out into the countryside

around here was a battle with

the elements.

What's different today is the wind

and the immense wind-chill

that comes with it.

It's whipping the falling

snow and the stuff

that's going around

into these huge drifts.

Exposed to the strong easterly

wind, drivers in Norfolk

ended up in bother too,

and out came the shovels.

I phoned in to work and said I can't

make it because I'm stuck

in a drift and I won't be in.

So I'm just trying to get home.

It's really deep.

I'm only just able

to get through in low

ratio here so this is going to be

tricky and I don't think I've got

enough traction to pull this car

through the snow drift.

What are you going to do?

Go home and have a cup of tea.

I think that's the answer

to everything, isn't it?

The A19 near Teesside

saw accidents and

jackknifed lorries.

It was conditions

like this which meant

little Sienna Waring

was delivered nearby on the side

of the A66 at Stockton.

Dad Andrew helping his wife Daniela

in the freezing conditions.

This is what trans-Pennine

A roads looked like

in North Yorkshire and this wasn't

even on high ground.

The A65 between Skipton

and Kendal was best avoided.

In Ireland, a severe weather

warning has been issued for

the Republic.

The Siberian freeze

from the East has crept

further west.

Tonight, thousands of drivers are

stranded in long delays on the M62,

which has been closed because of

heavy snow and high winds.

Conditions are atrocious. Danny

Savage, BBC News.

The conditions have also had

a big impact on the NHS,

with many non-urgent operations

and appointments cancelled.

In Scotland, troops have been

drafted in tonight to help get

hundreds of hospital staff to work.

Some stranded passengers

are spending a second

night at Glasgow Airport,

while hundreds of motorists spent

last night on the M80.

Our Scotland correspondent

Lorna Gordon sent this report.

Scotland's road to nowhere.

Hundreds of drivers stuck in miles

of stationary traffic

on what is usually one

of the country's busiest roads.

I left Stirling at about eight

o'clock and I've been

here since, unfortunately.

That is a good 17 hours,

maybe, at the moment?

Just knocking on that, yeah.

I think I've moved about 100

metres in that time.

Last night, there was some old boys

came out with biscuits

and crisps and this morning,

it was all the schoolkids that came

out, so we're getting looked after.

I've got two biscuits.

The worst of circumstances bringing

out the best in people.

Volunteers handing out

food and water to those

stranded in their cars.

This storm was forecast well ahead

of time, but despite the warnings,

people did still venture out.

Now, after waiting nearly 18 hours

on this stretch of motorway,

it looks as if, finally,

the traffic might just be

about to start moving again.

Police officers clearing

the way ahead, one by one.

We've been coming up and down

the northbound carriageway,

because of the queueing vehicles

and the vehicles stuck

most of the night.

Hard work, I've seen

the guys digging it out.

Very much so, very much so.

Giving the public reassurance to say

we're getting to them

albeit, yes, it's slowly.

But the appalling weather saw even

the emergency services

struggling at times.

No worries, thank you.

Cheers.

Those though who have experience

of working in these extreme

conditions have been

putting their knowledge to good use.

We're picking up a prescription

for somebody out in the countryside

near Hawick who has not been able

to get their essential medication,

so we're going to take it to them.

For much of the day,

trains in the affected areas have

been off and the vast majority

of flights were cancelled from

Edinburgh and Glasgow once again.

There was fun for some...

But with blizzards, freezing

temperatures and drifting snow,

there are serious concerns for those

out in these conditions,

even as those who could heeded

the warnings to stay at home.

Lorna Gordon, BBC News, Denny.

The conditions this week have been

particularly harsh for the homeless.

In some big cities, hundreds

of extra beds have been made

available in shelters,

hostels and churches.

But in others, it's

a different picture.

Our social affairs correspondent

Michael Buchanan has spent the past

two nights talking to homeless

people on the streets

and has sent this report.

It's bad enough being

homeless, but in this?

Staying warm, never easy,

has been almost impossible.

Some have turned to

alcohol, lots of it.

Well, I'm going to be

helpful if you'll

let me.

In big cities like London

outreach workers have been

encouraging rough sleepers to use

emergency hostels, and offer that

some have readily taken.

But in other towns support

is less available.

By the coast in Eastbourne

the increasing numbers of

rough sleepers have

a particular enemy.

A biting wind has frozen

Kevin to his core.

Time passes slowly when

the temperature feels

like 12 below zero.

A warm drink donated does

help, but only for a

short time.

I've been shivering for about three

weeks and if it weren't

for people, along with blankets,

do you know what I mean, I would be

dead in a doorway.

What are you doing tonight?

Sleeping in a doorway.

Like I did last night and the night

before, and for weeks

before that.

There are few services for rough

sleepers in Eastbourne,

the town struggling to cope

with its rapidly rising

homeless population.

Part of the reason

a town like Eastbourne

has a growing number

of

rough sleepers is that homeless

people from elsewhere in the UK have

moved here because the weather

tends to be warmer.

It hasn't been this week.

Local churches are

taking the strain.

Each evening throughout winter

a different parish hosts a

homeless shelter.

A welcome respite for

those that can make it.

Refugee in my own country, I am.

That's the best way

of explaining it.

Refugee in my own country.

The breakdown of his marriage

has met Graham has been

homeless for the past fortnight,

the first time he's ever

had to sleep outside.

There's lots of dangers

you have to watch out for.

Like not making yourself sweat.

Things like that.

Because hyperthermia's

just around the corner.

Are you frightened?

Yeah, wouldn't you be?

I'm 56 years old.

I'm not a young man.

Not a young man at all.

I'm sorry, but I'm

finding it impossible.

He's no idea what he'll do when this

shelter closes on Monday.

For others, perhaps suffering

with psychiatric problems,

they prefer to remain outdoors,

prepared to dice

daily with nature's wrath.

Michael Buchanan,

BBC News, Eastbourne.

You can keep up to date with

the weather and travel situation

wherever you are by visiting the BBC

News Live page.

That's at bbc.co.uk/news.

You can also get updates

from the BBC news teams

where you are after this programme.

President Trump has announced he's

going to impose hefty tariffs

on imported steel and aluminium next

week to safeguard American jobs.

He said the industries had been

unfairly treated by other

countries for decades.

But his plans have already drawn

international criticism tonight

amid fears of a trade war,

as our Washington correspondent

Nick Bryant reports.

The derelict steel mills of

America's old industrial heartland

provided the seedbed

for the rise of Donald Trump.

He wouldn't have won

the presidency had it not been for

the support he received

from the rust belt.

The promise he gave to protect US

manufacturers from cheap

imports, even if it meant sparking

a global trade war, echoed through

these empty plants.

During his first year

in office he didn't erect the

kind of protectionist

barriers he'd promised.

But today came his most

controversial trade move yet.

Meeting with industry leaders

he announced big tariffs on foreign

steel and aluminium.

What's been allowed to go

on for decades is disgraceful.

It's disgraceful.

And when it comes to

a time when our country

can't make aluminium

and

steel, and somebody said it before,

and I will tell you, you almost

don't have much of a country because

without steel and aluminium your

country's not the same.

Chinese steel only

accounts for a small

proportion of US imports but the

massive expansion of its industry

has produced a global glut

driving down prices,

which has angered the President.

ANNOUNCER:

Mr Donald J Trump!

Much of his America

First rhetoric has

been directed against Beijing.

Because we can't continue to allow

China to rape our country, and

that's what they are doing.

It's the greatest theft

in the history of the world.

There's already been a fierce

international reaction.

The European Commission

warning tonight

of countermeasures in response

to what it called a blatant

intervention to protect US industry.

On Capitol Hill too, senior

Republicans are urging a rethink.

Free traders who have long believed

liberalised global commerce is good

for the American economy.

Fears of a trade war

helped trigger a large

sell-off on Wall Street.

Donald Trump is invoking

a Cold War era

measure not used since the Reagan

years, which allows US presidents to

impose tariffs in the interests

of national security.

But the fear is it could spark

a 21st-century global

trade war, which damages

every economy.

Nick Bryant, BBC News, Washington.

Theresa May is expected to set

out her plans tomorrow for the next

stage of negotiations

with the European Union over Brexit.

The speech, in London, comes

at the end of a week in which the EU

unveiled its negotiating strategy,

leading to tensions over issues

like the Irish border.

Our political editor

Laura Kuenssberg is in Westminster.

How much detail are we going to get

from the Prime Minister

about her plans?

You can see why the Prime Minister

had to move her speech from the

north-east to London but I'm not

sure the climate will be much more

hospitable here for her. I'm told by

ministers who saw the draft today

and disgust at around the Cabinet

table it is a long speech chock full

of details, in part in answer to

some of Theresa May pop critics who

for months have said she's being too

vague, greedy and she wants

everything and is not being

realistic. She's going to try and do

two jobs, the first to send a clear

message to the EU. She will say, we

know what we want and we understand

your principles too. Essentially

saying, I'm not unsure, not clear, I

know what I'm trying to get for the

UK and also implying that she is

willing to compromise, that she

doesn't even realise that the UK

cannot have its cake and eat it. One

of her colleagues in Cabinet said to

me today Theresa May will feel like

she's being honest with the public

tomorrow and that message could come

with some hard truths to use their

phrase. But the second thing she's

going to try and do tomorrow after

such a brutal time of debate in

Westminster since the referendum

that frankly in recent months it has

become very ugly, not just inside

the Tory party but also to call for

the country to come together, to say

that it is time to move on from the

referendum, to try to pull together

and create a sense of unity. Now, of

course, this is a complicated

process, politically very

controversial and one speech is not

going to answer one of the very many

questions that there are. But there

is hoping government that while this

might be an incremental step rather

than a giant leap, it does allow the

negotiations to get some momentum

again and to proceed to the next

stage.

Laura Kuenssberg, thank you.

Russia's President Putin has

unveiled a new range of nuclear

weapons, which he says could evade

American missile defence shields

and hit targets around the world.

He said the arms, which include

an underwater drone and a missile

capable of travelling at five times

the speed of sound, were either

ready or being developed.

He made the unexpected

announcement during his state

of the nation speech,

ahead of the Russian

presidential elections in March.

From Moscow, Steve

Rosenberg reports.

ANNOUNCER:

Vladimir

Vladimirovich Putin.

He never slips into a room quietly.

Vladimir Putin took the stage

for his annual State of the

Nation address.

The audience was expecting to hear

about the economy, social

issues and there was some of that,

but then the Kremlin leader took

everyone by surprise.

On a video screen he

showcased the very latest

Russian nuclear weapons.

200-tonne intercontinental

ballistic missiles.

Cruise missiles

with nuclear engines.

He claimed they could hit any target

and dodge any defence.

"And there's more," he said.

And the show continued.

The missiles kept

coming and with them a

warning to the West.

"Those who tried to

contain Russia have

failed," President Putin said.

"Believe me, I am not bluffing."

I think we're entering,

if not already

in, a new Cold War and that's not

just because of Putin's statements

this morning.

You hear President Trump also

thumping his chest and

talking about having

the best nuclear systems.

But in Moscow the reaction

from the hall - Russia is

acting in self defence.

It's reminiscent of

the Cold War, is it not?

We're talking about

an arms race here.

I don't believe - at least,

the statement of my President

isn't a Cold War rhetoric.

And if you are looking for the roots

of the next edition of the Cold War,

look to the West.

The Kremlin was delivering two

messages today with this speech.

The first message was to the West.

Russia will not be pushed around.

The second message, ahead

of elections here, was to

the people of Russia.

Vote for Putin and you will

have security at home.

That's how the Kremlin

wants Russians to

see their President,

as

the embodiment of Russia,

as the protector of their country.

Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow.

Four years after hundreds

of Nigerian schoolgirls

were kidnapped by the jihadist group

Boko Haram, the militants

have struck again.

They've taken over 100 more

in what Nigeria's president

is calling a national disaster.

The girls were kidnapped

from their school in the town

of Dapchi, in north eastern Nigeria,

ten days ago.

Boko Haram wants to establish

a hard line Islamic State

in the region, and opposes

Western teaching methods.

Our reporter Stephanie Hegarty has

been talking to some of the families

of the missing girls in Dapchi.

This is where Fatima

ran when the militants

attacked her school.

It was 7pm, she was in her dorm

with her best friend Zara.

They were just about to eat their

dinner when they heard gunshots.

TRANSLATION:

One of our teachers

told us to come out.

When we came out we saw bullets

flying in the air like fire.

There was confusion

all over the school.

Students screaming and

rushing towards the gate.

But the gate was locked.

This is the path that

many of the girls took

to try and get away.

The main exit is down that way

and you can see some

of their discarded sandals.

They're littered all

along this path here.

TRANSLATION:

Then we saw

the militants' trucks

and they were shooting and calling

us to get into the trucks.

They were pretending

they would help us.

During the attack Fatima managed

to run away from the militants twice

but she was with her best friend

Zara when they were attacked

and they got separated.

She said altogether five

of her closest friends are missing.

This is Zara.

She's 14.

Her friend Fatima said business

was her favourite subject.

Yes, business.

Her sister Falmata is 25 and went

to the same school as the girls.

TRANSLATION:

She was close to Zara.

It was three days before

the government admitted

that there had been a kidnapping.

Last week the authorities claimed

girls had been rescued.

Then they said that claim was false.

For Zara's mum that was

the hardest moment.

Nigeria's President has said

that the military and air force

are searching for the girls.

But parents aren't reassured.

TRANSLATION:

In this school

there are no children

of government officials.

All the students are

the daughters of poor people.

Now the school is eerily quiet.

The scene is chillingly similar

to the aftermath of the kidnapping

of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014.

It was three years before most

of those girls were released,

and over 100 of them

are still missing.

The parents of Dapchi are afraid

that they will also wait years

to see their children again.

Stefanie Hegarty, BBC News, Dapchi.

The Government has scrapped plans

to hold the second stage

of the Leveson Inquiry,

which was due to look

into unlawful conduct

within media organisations,

and relations between

police and journalists.

Lord Justice Leveson accused

ministers of breaking their promise

to phone hacking victims.

But the Culture Secretary said it

wouldn't be in the national interest

They were dubbed Britain's lost

children - thousands of them

forcibly sent abroad to countries

such as Australia and Canada

after World War II.

They were promised new lives,

but instead many suffered

physical and sexual abuse.

Now an independent inquiry

into the scandal has urged

the British government to pay

compensation to all the survivors,

as Tom Symonds reports.

A dark history.

British children lied to, deported,

sexually abused, and even tortured.

The pain has not gone even now.

All we did was do as we were told

and suffered immensely for it.

The child migrants

from poor backgrounds

were promised a better future.

When visitors came,

especially from Britain,

that's how it seemed.

But last year the now-elderly

migrants gave hours of chilling

evidence of what their carers said.

You're from the gutter,

you're nobody.

You've got nobody.

You've got no parents.

They're all dead.

And even worse, did.

The verdict today, even

by 1940's standards,

what was indefensible.

And the official archives show

the government didn't stop it

for fear of upsetting the charities

and religious groups involved,

or the Australians.

Politics put before children.

They ignored our plight.

They encouraged paedophilia

to a degree because they were made

aware of problems in Australia

where they were sending us to come

and yet they continued sending us.

Now, what does that tell you?

That tells me that they didn't

give a rat's backside,

if you'll pardon the vernacular,

about the British children.

Campaigners were delighted today

that the British government has

been held responsible.

At last, a measure of truth

and a measure of responsibility.

The buck stops with the government.

She uncovered all of

this in the 1980s.

Britain apologised in 2010 but this

report has called for all surviving

migrants to receive compensation

within a year.

The Government's

considering its response.

It's the first time this

much-criticised inquiry

has bared its teeth.

But the evidence heard in this room

was never really in doubt and this

was a scandal very much in the past.

The inquiry's other investigations

may not be as straightforward.

But this work had to come first

because half of those who have been

called Britain's lost children have

already passed away.

Tom Symonds, BBC News.

A six-year-old girl from Swindon -

who is profoundly deaf -

will be joining the stars on the red

carpet at the Oscars on Sunday.

Maisie Sly stars in the British

drama The Silent Child,

which has been nominated

for best short film.

Colin Paterson reports.

It's a story so happy it could be

the plot of a Hollywood film.

Maisie Sly had never even acted

before her parents were told

about film-makers looking

for a profoundly deaf girl to star

in their film, The Silent Child.

And now, here are the nominees

for Best Live Action Short Film.

This is the moment in January

when the team gathered to find out

if they had been nominated

for an Oscar.

My Nephew Emmett.

The Silent Child.

CHEERING

Yes!

And so, this week,

they reunited at Heathrow...

Hello, welcome on board.

And headed to Los Angeles.

Most people prepare for the Oscars

by meeting stylists and planning

acceptance speeches.

Maisie's schedule has

been rather different.

Welcome to Hollywood!

Although she is having to get used

to people recognising her.

I saw her on television,

just last week.

They say she's nominated.

Do you think she'll be able

to get a job one day?

Rachel Shenton wrote and stars

in The Silent Child.

She learned sign language after her

own father lost his hearing.

The nomination means

that ultimately, now,

we are in over 600 cinemas

in the US, which is huge

for us as a short film.

And really important

for the subject, which is obviously

deafness, and shining a much-needed

light on access to education

for deaf children.

There's Meryl Streep.

Her former Hollyoaks co-star

Chris Overton directed the film and,

at a lunch for all the nominees,

they got to meet one of his heroes.

Steven Spielberg was in

between me and Rachel.

And the person taking the photo

said, oh, can we move,

because the light's not good.

So we were ordering

Spielberg around!

Oh, an Oscar!

Now all that remains is to find

out if there will be

a Hollywood happy ending.

On Sunday night, Maisie could get

her hands on a real one of these.

Colin Paterson, BBC

News, Los Angeles.

And finally a quick update

on those stranded motorists

on the A31 in Hampshire -

the police now say it's a major

incident and the military

are being called into help.

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