24/01/2016 BBC Weekend News

The government says it's considering calls to take

in unaccompanied children who've arrived in Europe as refugees.

Charities say Britain should take 3000 of those who've made it out

of war-torn countries like Syria and are at grave risk.

Our teams across Europe who are welcoming refugees have been

seeing tens of thousands of children coming through who have already

suffered extremely harrowing experiences in the region or country

they are coming from and are now all alone in Europe.

The US east coast starts to recover from the weekend's snowstorms.

More than 20 people were killed and millions affected.

We've been stuck in the truck for 13 and a half hours.

We haven't had any food since yesterday.

After the doping scandal, a blow for world athletics as Adidas

is set to end its sponsorship deal early.

And the ground-breaking Antarctic study revealing how penguins

The government says its considering 'calls from charities to respond

to the numbers of unaccompanied child refugees in Europe and allow

An estimated 26,000 children from Syria alone are thought to have

fled conflict and managed to reach Europe but,

without their families, are vulnerable and at risk.

Today the International Development Secretary,

Justine Greening, said a call for Britain to take in 3,000

Our Political Correspondent, Iain Watson, reports.

Are these the forgotten victims of Syria's Civil War?

Some children fleeing the conflict risk the hazardous trip to Europe.

Thousands have been arriving, some as recently as this week,

with their papers but without their parents.

Earlier this month a cross-party group of MPs urged the Prime

Minister to go further in helping them by resettling 3000 refugee

The government has been signalling that this

We have been right at the forefront, frankly, of helping children

who have been effected by this crisis and will continue to look

at how we can do that over the coming days and weeks.

So just how big is the scale of the crisis?

Last year it was estimated that around 26,000 children arrived

in Europe without their families, escaping from Syria,

Afghanistan and some countries in Africa.

It is believed that many simply disappear after they arrive.

The call for the UK Government to take in 3000 unaccompanied

children would be in addition to the 20,000 refugees the UK has

already pledged to take direct from refugee camps.

Our teams across Europe who are welcoming refugees have been

seeing tens of thousands of children coming through who have already

suffered extremely harrowing experiences in the region or country

they are coming from and now are all alone in Europe.

These children are at risk of falling prey

The Prime Minister visiting refugee camps in Lebanon last year.

So far he has preferred to resettle vulnerable refugees from the region

rather than from Europe to discourage others from making

I'm told the Prime Minister has not yet made up his mind

He knows he could be on the brink of a referendum campaign

But Labour's leadership is urging him to do more.

They say if he helps his European partners tackle the migration

crisis, they could then give him a better deal to take

But he is under competing political pressure.

Ukip say they want to help the most vulnerable but there are risks

in taking children from Europe rather than from refugee camps.

Evidence is coming from Germany and other European countries that

suggests that, unfortunately, children are being used as a Trojan

horse for family members to come at a later stage.

That is why it is crucial that these children are assessed from the camps

and that it is an undertaking that we know they are genuinely

children who have lost their parents or families.

While many are moved by the plight of refugees,

some politicians say the Prime Minister must also listen

to a wider concerns about immigration.

Iain is at Downing Street for us now and Iain,

how likely is it that these children will be allowed in to the UK?

I'm told not to expect and in and an announcement from the Prime Minister

but you are right that it is tricky. He is under political pressure, not

just from the charities but from opposition politicians. Tim Farron

has said for some time he thinks we should do more to take in what he

calls our fair share of child migrants from elsewhere in Europe.

Jeremy Corbyn is visiting camps in Calais over the weekend and he says

that anybody with a British connection should have their

applications considered and that could be several thousand people but

beat by Minister is listening to competing advice, not least from

local authorities who say they would struggle to find enough foster

parents for child refugees. Above all he is genuinely worried by this

idea of taking people in from Europe rather than directly from camps and

this could provide a further magnet for migration which could form an

unwelcome backdrop to an EU referendum campaign that could be

just weeks away. He is likely to be offering more help to refugees in a

special conference on Syria that will take place here in the next few

weeks. Thank you. Eastern parts of the United States

may face days of disruption as they try to recover

from the weekend's snowstorms, More than 20 people were killed,

roads and rail lines blocked, and thousands of flights cancelled

as airports were closed. Eleven states were badly

affected including New York, Our North America Editor Jon Sopel

joins us from there now. They are calling it dig out DC day

as an army of officials and volunteers try to get the streets

ready so the capital can reopen for business tomorrow. After this

historic storm, when more than two feet of snow fell, that is unlikely

to happen. This is how come speeded up, the

face of a city and region were changed in 24 hours as

record-breaking levels of snow fell across the eastern seaboard of the

United States, affecting millions of people. As a state of emergency was

declared, the advice was to stay inside but some found themselves

caught, like the owners of these trucks and cars who have spent the

weekend stuck on a Pennsylvania motorway. We have no food, we have

water but we haven't had any food since yesterday. In New York, where

yesterday all private vehicles were banned, there has been some easing

of the restrictions but not without being accompanied by a serious

health warning. You do not need to be on the roads, you should not be

in that roads because there are still dangerous spots and spots with

black ice and this is still about getting the emergency crews out

there. More than 20 efforts have been associated with the storm, some

from car crashes, many from heart attacks brought on from shovelling

snow -- 20 deaths. Today, the big clear up has started. At the White

House and across Washington, snow blowers and people with shovels are

trying to clear streets and pavements. The transport network it

still paralysed. This is the airport, no planes are yet coming

in, only a few are going out. At the emergency centre in the city, they

are warning that subzero to butchers tonight will bring fresh problems.

We will have a hard icepack and that will hinder us -- sub zero

temperatures. We would urge caution because of the ice and we will still

be digging out two feet of snow so we make the decision to close

schools tomorrow. Full get the official ban on sporting contests,

unofficial ones were in full swing like this snowball contest. The

capital was the venue for mass sledging, some held their own

freestyle swimming dollars, rather than. And in Times Square was the

skiing and boarding contest which amused everyone. Well, nearly. As we

heard, the schools will remain shut tomorrow. Also on Capitol Hill there

will be no votes at all this week because of the difficult for

congressmen and women to get back to take part. We are also waiting to

hear if the federal government will open at all tomorrow. The storm may

have passed, the after-effects, not so much.

The BBC has learned that Adidas is to terminate its sponsorship deal

with athletics' world governing body, the IAAF,

in the wake of the doping scandal engulfing the sport.

Adidas has been the IAAF's biggest sponsor and is understood to have

made its decision as a direct result of the scandal.

Our Sports Editor Dan Roan is in the BBC Sports Centre

Dan, another blow for the organisation?

This really is the last thing that they needed with the sport already

in the grip of an unprecedented crisis. Last year the world

anti-doping agency found evidence of systemic state sponsored cheating in

Russia and earlier this month in a second damning report it said there

had been a culture of corruption at the governing body, the IAAF. This

seems to have proven too much for their sponsors, Adidas. We have

learned that senior executives at the German sportswear giant wrote to

the IAAF informing it of its intention to terminate its

sponsorship agreement. In context, they have an 11 year agreement, the

biggest one the IAAF had signed in 2008 and we believe that ending it

for years early could cost athletics tens of millions of pounds. It is

understood that Adidas believes the doping revelations could constitute

a breach of contract. Another major blow for the IAAF and its British

president Lord Coe as they desperately seek to recover after a

desperate few months in this, an Olympic year. And remember, Adidas

remains Fifa's oldest sponsor but when it comes to the athletic

scandal, it seems to be too much, even for them. Thank you.

Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said it

would be "a mistake" for David Cameron to hold

a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU as early

There's been speculation a vote could take place then

if the Prime Minister manages to agree a deal on EU reforms

But Nicola Sturgeon told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC One that

that would confuse voters because of elections due to be held

You might interpret it as being a bit selfish.

The Welsh, Northern Irish and London elections are in May.

I think to have a referendum campaign starting

in parallel would be disrespectful to those important elections.

The latest attacks in Iraq by the Sunni militants

of so-called Islamic State has set off a spiral

Since the US-led invasion in 2003, Iraq's Shia Muslim majority have

largely held the power, sidelining many Sunnis,

This month an attack on a cafe in the town of Muqdadiyah killed

nearly 30 people, many of them Shia, and was followed by deadly revenge

Our correspondent Jim Muir reports from there.

We travelled into Muqdadiyah with the main Shia armed faction

On the surface, life seemed to be more or less back to normal.

This is the cafe wrecked by a double suicide bombing

So-called Islamic State said it did it.

Clearly the aim was to provoke trouble between Sunnis and Shia

They come from rival branches of Islam whose differences

are currently sharply dividing the whole region.

It is in mixed areas like this that the future of Iraq

If coexistence between Sunnis and Shia doesn't work here,

the chances of it working elsewhere in Iraq don't look good.

Just across the road, the results of an outburst

A Sunni mosque partly reduced to rubble.

At least four others were also attacked.

Two journalists from a local TV station who tried to film

Less than an hour's drive away, Sunni families were on the move

but they are not fleeing, they are coming back.

These people ran away to years ago when the militants took over.

Now they feel safe enough to come back, encouraged by the government

and the Shia factions which drove IS out.

This woman says she and her family are glad to be back.

TRANSLATION: I've got three kids, the two older ones remember our

house here and are excited to be coming back to it.

There was a big reception to welcome hundreds of Sunni families home.

The head of the biggest Shia armed faction told them

TRANSLATION: Victory has no meaning if the displaced don't come back.

These people are Sunnis and they fled from IS which proves

The extremist conspiracy to stir up sectarian trouble has failed.

Fine words, but in Iraq it is actions that count.

Iraq's future will only be assured when all those who were uprooted

are back in their homes and there are more

Investigations into nearly 60 allegations of unlawful killing made

against British soldiers who served in Iraq have been dropped.

The Ministry of Defence said the body set up to review

accusations of abuse of Iraqi civilians had decided not to proceed

Hundreds of others are still being investigated.

Last week the Prime Minister ordered a clamp down on lawyers pursuing

what he called "spurious" claims against veterans.

Three dead whales have been washed up on a beach in Lincolnshire.

The sperm whales were found near Skegness and are believed to be

from the same pod as another whale which died a day earlier in Norfolk.

Scientists have taken samples to try and establish what happened

With all the sport, here's Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes at the BBC

There are highlights of the day's football on Match of the Day 2

after the news, or after Sportscene in Scotland.

So if you don't want to know the scores,

Arsenal missed out on going back to the top of the table,

beaten 1-0 at home by Chelsea after playing most of the game

Diego Costa once again a thorn in Arsenal's side,

prompting the sending-off and scoring the goal.

Earlier, Swansea's new manager, Francesco Guidolin, got off

to a winning start, beating Everton 2-1.

And there were two red cards but no goals as Hamilton drew with Hearts

Now, as England's cricketers fought to stay in contention in the fourth

Test in South Africa, one of their former players

was excelling in the Big Bash in Australia.

It highlights the sport's contrasting formats,

competing for attention, as our correspondent

In Centurion English tradition, the third day of the Test match,

technique, subtlety, another Joe Root 50. Meanwhile in Australia, the

Big Bash. New era cricket, the Melbourne Stars lost the final of

Australia's T20 competition but Kevin Pietersen walloped 74. The T20

World Cup is in March, Pietersen remains former England batsmen. He

could be that X factor, that difference between England competing

at a World Cup and potentially winning it. I don't think it will

happen but I would pick him, tomorrow. Test matches offer

different rewards for a young fast bowler will stop Kagiso Rabada took

seven wickets at England were all out for 342, 133 behind. South

Africa have already lost the series but Rabada is their future so which

England batsmen did he most enjoyed dismissing? Stokes and Joe Root.

Because they are the best players? Because of that and other reasons as

well. Can you elaborate? I don't like seeing them at the crease

scoring runs, that is as much as I will say. Anderson struck but South

Africa will resume on 42-1 will stop Test matches are long than the big

-- longer than the big as but no less intense. -- Big Bash.

Exeter and Northampton have completed the quarter-final line-up

for rugby union's European Champions Cup after a day for the calculators.

James Short scored a brace of tries in Exeter's 33-17 win

While Ulster were the other team to miss out.

It's the first time Exeter have reached the knock-out stages.

And their reward is an away tie with Wasps.

So, in the last eight line-up there are five English and three

French teams but none from Scotland, Wales or Ireland.

That's the sport. Thank you. lost their tri-series

British scientists working on a ground-breaking project

to monitor penguin life in the Antarctic have found evidence

of how they are adapting in the face of climate change.

Footage gathered using remote cameras shows penguin colonies

being established in new areas, while other research suggests

threats to some penguins' food sources and declining numbers.

Our Science Correspondent, Victoria Gill, has had exclusive

access to research sites on the Antarctic peninsula

The only continent on earth with no native human population.

This is our planet's great wilderness.

These are gentoo penguins and this is a new colony.

The birds started nesting here at Moot Point on the Antarctic

peninsular just ten years ago and there are now 500 of them.

That movement in their breeding sites is one of the signs

of penguins adjusting to a changing climate and that is why these

They are installing a network of cameras to keep watch

We can look at how many chicks survive or if they die off suddenly

we can look at what happened just before that.

Whereas if we turn up at the end of the season or next year,

and we see colony failure, there is no way to pin down

what the threat was, what the cause of that was.

It's like CCTV, rewind it and see what happened immediately

What those cameras reveal is a rare glimpse of Antarctic life.

This footage is composed of a photo taken every hour over an entire year

and for the scientists that is building up

The team now has 40 cameras just like this one in penguin colonies

throughout the Antarctic peninsular and it's only by having this

constant monitoring presence generating all of that data

that they can work out how threats like human activity and climate

change are effecting this continent's unique wildlife.

While the cameras show this environment in flux,

the team is also working with scientists from the US

This means a headcount in every colony they study,

It is revealing some worrying trends.

We are here at a colony of chinstrap penguins and this particular region,

this particular species is seeing a decline over the last few decades.

Those declines are likely associated with climate change and there may

also be a link with competition from fisheries, as in humans

obtaining the same food - krill - as these penguins

The Antarctic peninsular is one of the fastest warming places

on the planet and this project aims to reveal just how that change

is impacting the wildlife that survives and thrives

Victoria Gill, BBC News, Antarctica.

You can see more on all of today's stories on the BBC News Channel.

Stay with us on BBC One, it's time for the news

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