23/01/2018 Beyond 100 Days

You're watching Beyond 100 Days.

Donald Trump imposes tariffs

on China and South Korea -

is this the first salvo

in a trade war?

As the populist President prepares

to address the global elite in Davos

he is setting out positions he knows

they will hate.

The US slaps steep tariffs

on washing machines

and solar panels from Asia.

American consumers

will see higher prices.

US Attorney General

was interviewed by special counsel

Robert Mueller last week as part

of the Russia probe.

He's the first cabinet member to go

before the investigation.

Also on the programme:

Who really has the

special relationship.

President Macron will be the first

world leader to pay a state visit

to America under Donald Trump.

And the Oscar nominations are out -

Fantasy romance, 'The Shape

of Water' leads the field

with 13 nominations.

Get in touch with us

using the

hashtag 'Beyond-One-Hundred-Days'

Hello and welcome,

I'm Katty Kay in New York

and Christian Fraser is in London.

On the eve of a trip to shmooze

with the world's elite,

the US President appears to have

launched the first salvo

in his long promised trade war.

It is classic disruptive Trump.

In anticipation that tariffs

against Asian goods are only

the beginning of Mr Trump's populist

mission, markets in Latin America

also fell on the news.

Last year the Chinese President Xi

Jinping delighted Davos

with a robust defense of free trade.

They will get know such globalist

love from the new American leader.

And a the hefty tarrifs on Chinese

washing machines and solar panels

have already angered China and other

US trade partners.

So, how will Davos react

to President Trump?

Today one of the opening speakers,

India's Narenda Modi gave us a clue.

TRANSLATION:

Forces of protectionism

are raising their heads

against globalisation.

Their intention, is not only

to avoid globalisation themselves,

but they also want to reverse

its natural flow.

The result of all of this

is that we get to witness new types

of tariff and nontariff barriers.

Bilateral and multilateral trade

agreements and the negotiations have

come to a kind of standstill.

Joining us from Davos

is our business editor Simon Jack

and from Washington Jon Sopel our

north america editor

and from Washington Jon Sopel our

north America editor

Simon, it

Simon, it shows they are still

relevant, but I think some

nervousness Trump will eviscerate

them on Friday?

It has been set up

very nicely, president Xi came to

extol the virtues of globalisation

and got a warm welcome, and Modi

stepped into those shoes. South

Korea have said they will sue the

WTO, so a lot of anger. Voices

within the US including Michael

Bloomberg have said US households

will pay for this and it will cost

US jobs. So some clear fault lines

drawn before President Trump

arrives. Having said that, there is

widespread euphoria, almost, about

some of the tax reforms he has made.

People see that as a real dose of

rocket fuel into the global economy.

I would say the atmosphere is

economically very buoyant. Some

would say it is too buoyant, and

everyone is in a good mood and that

is a bad sign. But on this issue of

protectionism versus free trade it

is nicely teed up for the president

to arrive on Friday.

Jon Sopel, just

a hunch but I think the White House

decided to drop this tariff

bombshell deliberately this week, so

he can go back to his base and say,

I am still a populist?

I have spoken

to someone who has seen a draft of

the speech he plans to deliver on

Friday and the phrase they can use,

and I hope I can say this, is kick

ass. He will not be cosying up to

the global elite, he will give a bit

of Trumpism and America first, look

at what we are doing in our own

backyard, we are cutting taxes, the

stock market is soaring and

everybody loves what I am doing.

Yes, I believe in free trade but I

believe in fair trade and at the

moment the scales are tilted against

the US. Business leaders went in to

see the president last Friday,

begging him not to do anything that

could upset the apple cart, like

pulling out of Nafta and it seems

like their message could have fallen

on deaf ears? Why Michael Simon,

what is the long-term or medium term

imprecations on these rises on solar

panels and washing machines, does

one retaliation lead to another and

then we end up looking like a trade

war?

Several business leaders have

said it is looking rosy underworld,

economic front. We have global

growth forecast of 4%. The one thing

they say can derail that is a trade

war between the US and China.

Secretly, they suspect, as Jon Sopel

was saying, this is a message to his

domestic audience and the bark on

these things is often worse than the

bike. But the tariffs proposals are

real and they have brought up real

dissatisfaction. And if that can

upset the apple cart and make people

put them of their champagne here in

Davos it is the prospect of a trade

war with China. That prospect has

not retreated one inch as a result

of this announcement.

Some of the

mood music is America is withdrawing

from the world stage. We have news

that countries within the

Trans-Pacific Partnership are

pressing on, signing up to the deal

in March. We have just had a comment

from Justin Trudeau who says the new

deal will help reverse the growing

trend of protectionism around the

world. Is that why President Trump

is going, so he is still relevant?

I

think he saw what happened last year

with President Xi getting the

headlines and the attention. When he

saw President Macron on Bastille

Day, he said to him you should go to

Davos, set out your case and go to

these world leaders, there are loads

of them there. I think he thought it

would be fun and engaging and it is

interesting, the basketball term is

a full-court press. The huge number

of the cabinets of his cabinet, are

going over to Davos as well. They

want to sell their message, they

don't want to be shy about doing

that and they think it is a

worthwhile exercise and a different

argument to be put. That is the

conventional argument heard at

Davos.

You were quickly going to

come back on back, Simon?

Yes,

everyone is super keen to see

President Macron. There is a big

romance going on between Emmanuel

Macron and some of the bank chiefs.

And on the point of the reality

prospect of a trade war with China,

global trade has picked up very

aggressively in the last year. So

even a threat of a falling out

between the US and China hasn't

stopped the engines of trade firing

on all cylinders.

Thank you very

much. Nothing would make President

Trump happier that he has put the

champagne cork back in the bottle in

Davos and bursts of the celebratory

balloon that is invading that town.

The tarrifs the President has

imposed ARE the most significant

measures he has taken

since withdrawing from

the Trans Pacific Partnership.

There will be a futher decision

taken in the coming weeks

with regards to steel and aluminium.

On washing machines, the US

International Trade Commission found

local manufactures were being hurt

by imports, many of

them from South Korea.

So there will be a minimum 20%

tarrif slapped on imported machines.

The ITC found that Chinese solar

panel manufacturers were getting

government subsidies

and undercutting

American competitors.

Initially there will a 30%

tarrif imposed on solar

cells and components.

Although 11 million panels

will still be allowed into America

tarrif free each year.

In the last few minutes the

president has been talking about

these tariffs.

Let's see what he has

had to say. We are bringing business

back to the United States after many

years, many decades. That is why the

stock market is reacting the way it

is. Thank you all very much, very

proud. Thank you.

The Chinese have responded and that

those puts a strain on the

relationship with South Korea and

the president needs South Korea when

he's dealing with North Korea. But

the whole trip to Davos is

interesting. He likes the fact he's

going there to ruffle feathers, he

is the ultimate disruptor and wants

to go to this global environment and

preach protectionism and nationalism

and poke them in the eye. And that

is what his supporters here want to

see him doing as well. Putting

America first.

There will be a lot

of people in America who are saying,

washing machine companies and solar

panel manufacturers, taking state

subsidies and manufacturing with

cheap labour, exporting into our

country and taking away American

jobs. That is why they voted in

Donald Trump.

Let's see what happens

when those consumer prices go up and

there is a slowdown in the economy

because of any trade war. That could

be a problem for the American

economy.

Mr Trump can go to Davos

because the US government

is back up and running.

Mr Trump is blaming

Democrats for the shutdown

and suggesting a future deal

to protect the children

of undocumented migrants

is by no means sure.

"Nobody knows for sure

that the Republicans and Democrats

will be able to reach a deal on DACA

by February eight, but everyone

will be trying, with a big

additional focus put

on Military Strength

and Border Security.

The Dems have just learned that

a Shutdown is not the answer!"

A political ploy by Democrats

that backfired is how

it was described by spokesperson

for the Republican National

Committee, Kayleigh McEnany.

She's the author of the book,

'The New American Revolution'

and joins us now from Washington.

Thank you for coming on. The people

you spoke to when you were

researching your book, what would

they make of this shindig in Davos?

I think they would love it. I sat

side of two factory workers who lost

their job. Donald Trump brought back

those jobs before he became

President Trump but they were

frustrated. They felt they were left

behind by government. One voted for

Bernie Sanders and the other one

voted for Donald Trump. But they

like this protectionism, and at the

time Bernie Sanders.

Let me ask you

about the shutdown and the whole

issue of immigration. The president

clearly claiming victory over this

one, the Republicans happy with the

way it went and they have seen it as

a victory for them as well. The

broader issue, these young people

brought into America, the dreamers,

by their parents. There is

overwhelming support for doing

something to help them stay in the

country legally and overwhelmingly,

people do not want to see them

deported. How does that match with

the protectionist, nationalists,

anti-immigration message we keep

hearing from the people who voted

for Donald Trump in the election

campaign?

It is not so much

anti-immigration but pro-American

worker. That is one of the misnomers

of this populist movement which has

been mischaracterised as this angry,

populist nationalists. But it is

putting the American worker first,

moving to an merit-based system

where immigrants coming in will fill

voids in the market and not take

jobs from those who need them, from

a lot of these factory workers. But

when you look at immigration, there

is wide support for these Daca

recipients, 62% of Republicans want

to see a permanent fix for them. So

does the President, but according to

a poll yesterday, 79% one border

security as well. It has got to be

give and take. The Democrats have

taken and President Trump has been

given on Daca. The there will be

people in Davos who said they will

play host to this president because

he won't be there forever, but where

does the revolution go? Does it

start and end with Donald Trump? I

think it continues. We have seen on

the Paris climate accord, a lot of

pressure, even within Donald Trump's

own government not to withdraw from

that agreement. There are factions

within his own administration that

said yes, the other said no. He's

stayed true to his promise. If the

economy keeps going, which is great

in America, if the economy is going

the way it is and those promises

become material action, it continues

for a long time to come.

Kayliegh,

let me pick up on the point, the

historic unemployment, you write in

your book, I found Americans played

by the greatest issues of our time.

If things are going so well, what is

it causing them so disquiet? Is it

social issues and not economic

issues?

The disquiet was during

eight years of President Obama. Even

before that, factory workers have

been neglected by both parties for a

long time. The disquiet was the

latter end of the Obama

Administration. And with terrorism

and the attacks we have seen across

the country and across Europe as

well, with factory jobs going

overseas, regulations, owners where

you cannot even do your job without

ad hearing to five or six different

new codes that were put in place.

The disquiet, I think a lot of it

has been addressed. In a year we

have seen a lot of change, but there

is a lot more that needs to be

addressed. Veterans, we had a

problem in our country with veterans

dying on waiting lists for care. It

is a big problem, but we are seeing

a turnaround already.

Thank you very

much. The book is called The New

American Revolution. This issue of

whether Democrats and Republicans

can get along, don't expect this to

last very long, because Chuck

Schumer, the leader of the Democrats

in the Senate has said, you know

that money I was going to give you

for building the wall, I am taking

it off the table. We could end up

back where we were at a time of a

lot of acrimony.

Right where we

were.

Yes.

For the first time a member

of Donald Trump's cabinet

has been interviewed

in the Russia investigation.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions

has been questioned as part

of the FBI probe into possible

Russia meddling in the 2016

Presidential election.

That's according to

the New York Times, which cites

a Justice Department spokeswoman.

We don't know what special counsel

Robert Mueller asked Mr Sessions

but we do know the Attorney General

held several meetings

during the campaign with the Russian

Ambassador to Washington.

It's because he failed to disclose

those meetings that he had to recuse

himself from the whole probe

into whether the Trump campaign

colluded with Moscow

to get Trump elected.

Let's get the thoughts of our

North America Editor Jon Sopel.

He joins us again from Washington.

What words special Counsel Robert

Muller want to ask Jeff Sessions on

the issue of obstructing justice,

which seems to be the issue that

he's really focusing on?

Just to

rewind a bit, the Justice Department

has confirmed that interview took

place, so it is not just the New

York Times saying there was a

meeting between Jeff Sessions and

the special counsel's office, the

Justice Department has confirmed it

took place last week and it lasted

several hours. I think what they

would want to know is what were the

circumstances that led up to the

firing of James Comey. You will

remember at the time when that came

out, there was a statement by the

White House and it was to do with

James Komi performance as FBI

director and the way he investigated

Hillary Clinton and her e-mails.

Then it was the Russian think that

led to his firing and then the day

after, Donald Trump was hosting the

Russian Foreign Minister at the

White House and some of the details

of that meeting also leaked, where

Donald Trump having talked about

relieving the pressure on him. What

I think Robert Muller will want to

know, was there a clear causal

relationship? Was James Komi fired

because of Russia and if that was

the case, was there and obstruction

of justice. If there is an

obstruction of justice and an

attempt to obstruct justice, well

then that is one of the crimes are

misdemeanours that could lead to

impeachment. But that is clearly the

direction in which Robert Muller is

travelling and having interviewed a

lot of relatively junior people, it

is now getting a lot closer to

Donald Trump.

OK, Jon Sopel, thank

you very much for joining us. A

quick look at other news around the

world.

On the fourth day of its Afrin

offensive, Turkish troops been

targeting Kurdish positions

in northern Syria with air

and artillery fire.

Turkish media reports ground

troops pushing several

kilometres into the enclave.

Kurdish leaders in Afrin have

urged civilians to fight

against the Turkish army,

with the local administration

saying it was to announce

a general mobilisation.

French president Emmanuel Macron

is to visit the White House in late

April, says a senior

US administration official.

This will be the first visit

to the White House by a head

of state and will include the first

state dinner hosted by Trump

and his wife, Melania.

Donald Trump was welcomed

by Mr Macron in Paris in July last

year, where he joined

the Bastille Day celebrations.

He has played this quite well,

managing to get himself that big

state visit, state dinner, the kind

of thing lots of global leaders

would like. Unusual Donald Trump

hasn't had one already. He manages

to do it without being labelled a

poodle back home in France, how did

he do that?

He bosses the

relationship. This handshake that

went on for ever on Bastille Day and

the one when they first met, that

goes down well with the French

public. You are bound to compare

that with Theresa May, who has been

accused in the press of being the

lapdog of President Trump. She is in

a weaker position because she needs

the trade deal. Whatever she did,

the feeling here, she is playing

undue attention to Donald Trump and

she shouldn't be, given his

behaviour. That doesn't seem to play

in the United States. The one

question I have, can Theresa May get

a state visit question why he is the

president and the head of state in

France, what about Theresa May?

She

can have a steak dinner because

David Cameron had a steak dinner

when he was Prime Minister. I was

lucky enough to get an invitation to

it, so she can have a steak dinner

with all the trappings, you get to

stay in Blair house and I guess

technically, the state visit would

be for the Queen. But David Cameron

got a pretty good turnout when he

came.

There we are, the special

relationship that is Macron and

Trump at the moment. People on

Twitter saying we should be inviting

trouble here. We are being outdone

by the French. Anyway, we will move

on.

There is always that rivalry!

It is awards season in LaLa land

and today we found out

who is in the running

for an Oscar this year.

The American fantasy romance,

The Shape of Water, swept the board

with 13 nominations,

including for best picture

and best director.

And Oscars history was made today

with the first nomination

for a female cinematographer,

it's only taken almost 90 years!

Guillermo del Toro's

amphibian fantasy love story

The Shape Of Water leads the way

with 13 Oscar nominations,

including best picture.

A category which also sees

the critically acclaimed

dark comedy thriller

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,

Missouri nominated.

I want to go where culture is.

As well as the coming-of-age

drama Lady Bird.

Good to see another

brother around here.

Also short listed is

the horror mystery Get Out.

And a couple of British World War

II films, Christopher

Nolan's Dunkirk...

When will the lesson be learned?

And Darkest Hour, which sees

Mr Churchill struggling in his early

days as Britain's wartime Prime

Minister.

Several of the scenes

in Darkest Hour were shot

in a replica of this place,

the Churchill War Rooms

in Westminster, where I am joined

by the editor in chief

of the film magazine Empire.

Terri, welcome.

Thank you.

We're going to go through

the runners and riders,

starting with Best Film.

Will Darkest Hour win?

I don't think it will.

I think it will go

to The Shape Of Water,

Guillermo del Toro's

fantasy monster epic.

Actually, the film I think

should win is Get Out.

Which has a British rising star,

Daniel Kaluuya, in the lead role.

He gets a best actor nomination.

Along with Daniel Day Lewis

for Phantom Thread...

Timothee Chalamet for

Call Me By Your Name...

And Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour.

Quite a list for best actor,

quite a lot of stories.

Will Daniel Day-Lewis

win yet another Oscar

in what might be his last film?

Will Gary Oldman win

for Churchill for Darkest Hour

in the Cabinet War Rooms?

Or will it be somebody else?

I think it is Gary Oldman's year.

How he has never won an Oscar

is beyond me and Darkest Hour feels

like his finest moment.

The best actress category

will be really competitive.

So who will win - Sally Hawkins

for The Shape of Water?

Or Frances McDormand for Three

Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri?

Maybe Margot Robbie for I, Tonya.

Or Saoirse Ronan for Lady Bird.

Or even perhaps Meryl

Streep for The Post.

That's a great list.

Are you going to say we're

going to get another British

win for Sally Hawkins,

or maybe Meryl Streep?

No way, this year it's

all about Frances McDormand

in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,

Missouri, one of the great dramatic

performances of the year.

I suspect she is right.

We will find out on the 4th of

March, when the Oscars are awarded.

Will Gompertz, BBC News.

Loads of good movies. Have you seen

The Post?

No, I haven't.

It is your

weekend viewing.

I did see Dunkirk,

that was the last time I went to the

cinema.

It was scary, a lot of

people drowned.

As if the Hawaii false missile

alert incident wasn't

embarrassing enough already,

Hawaii's governor has now admitted

that he took 15 minutes longer

to tweet a reassurance

because he had forgotten

his Twitter password.

Heap didn't know his password for

Twitter?

I think the watchword for

this is confidence.

When you are

facing a nuclear attack, you don't

look for the governor's tweet. You

look for cover. It is ridiculous it

would make any difference to the

mass panic across Hawaii as

everybody scuttles further tunnels

of the...

Do we know what the

password was?

I don't know, what was

it?

I don't know, I am guessing. It

was rocket man or it was Kim

jung-un.

This is Beyond 100

Days from the BBC.

Coming up for viewers on the BBC

News Channel and BBC World News -

Can Angela Merkel work her magic

to form a coalition after four

months with no government?

And after more than a hundred women

testify against Larry Nasser USA

Gymnastics is accused of turning

a blind eye to his sexual abuse.

That's still to come.

That is Storm Georgina Howell Tinley

Atlantic. It doesn't look very much

but in the intervening hours and we

will see the isobars dropping in and

that means the wind is strengthening

all the while. N'Gales will be

widespread across western parts of

the British Isles and to the course

of the night we'll see the centre

closing into the North West of

Scotland. Not a cold night but watch

out first thing on Wednesday if you

are commuting. The wind will be very

noticeable indeed and there will be

heavy rain around as a weather front

slumps across the whole of England

and Wales. Closer to the centre,

this is where we have got a

combination of very strong winds and

also some rain as well. Gradually

pushing its way into the Northern

Isles, perhaps the western portion

coming back into the mainland of

western Scotland. Further south,

there will be a lull in proceedings

until we get back into the frontal

zone with a lot of rain and some of

it heavy, particularly across the

high ground of northern England,

Wales and into the south-west. May

have a dry start, but that won't

last because the weather front will

eventually come over all areas

across East Anglia and the south

east. Following Meehan, brighter

skies. Still windy, a peppering of

showers closer to the Centre across

northern and western parts of

Scotland. Getting into Northern

Ireland as well. Temperatures

dipping to single figures after an

mild day through Tuesday. As we

moved to the night and on into

Thursday, we will find a raft of

showers rattling around a new centre

of low pressure close to Scotland

and that will push the showers into

the greater part of southern

Scotland, England and Wales. A

somewhat quieter day on Friday.

Light winds for the most part,

scattering of showers and a lot of

dry weather to.

This is Beyond 100 Days with me

Katty Kay in Washington and

Christian Fraser's in London.

Our top stories: The US slaps steep

tariffs on washing machines

and solar panels from Asia.

American consumers

will see higher prices.

The Special council investigating

Russian meddling in the US

election has interviewed one

of the highest-ranking

Government figures,

Attorney-General Jeff Sessions.

Coming up in the next half hour:

As more women come forward

to share their testimony,

USA Gymnastics is accused

of ignoring the abuse carried out

by former team doctor Larry Nassar.

In Antarctic waters,

rare ecosystems have been found -

but now the race is on to make sure

they don't disappear.

Just look at it, it's absolutely

beautiful. No one can deny that this

region needs protecting, but what is

the best we could do it?

Let us know your thoughts

by using the hashtag #Beyond100Days.

It is nearly four months

since the German election

and still no ruling coalition.

Chancellor Angela Merkel

is currently in talks

with the Socialists the SPD,

trying to find a compromise

between left and right in order

to form a new Government.

The SDP is reluctant to get into bed

with Angela Merkel's CDU party

because the far-right would suddenly

be the official opposition.

Only today, the AfD were reported

to have won the right

to chair the powerful

Parliamentary Budget Committee -

another illustration of the growing

influence they have.

Earlier today, I talked to the CDU

MEP David McAllister,

a close ally of Mrs Merkel

and himself involved

in the coalition talks.

These times are challenging and I

would have liked to have seen a

so-called Jamaica coalition be

successful with our party, the

Liberals and the Greens but it

wasn't possible. And now we will

continue, hopefully, the grand

coalition and we need a stable

Government in Germany, not only for

national reasons but also because we

have two is our responsibility for

the future of element of the

European Union. AfD will then be the

official opposition and I regret

that they got such a good result at

the national elections but we will

treat the AfD according to the rules

but we will also make sure that the

German parliament will never be a

platform for racism and extreme

nationalism again.

Weird as the

sleeve Angela Merkel? -- where does

this leave Angela Merkel? Is she

weak in the eyes of the German

voters?

She's a strong and

well-respected Chancellor, leader of

my political party. She won for the

fourth time in a row in a national

election which is something quite

unique. We had experienced with

grand coalitions in Germany, from

2005 until 2009 and until 2013 and

22 larger parties in Germany

co-operated, we do see good results

for the people on the economy --

when the two larger parties

cooperate.

Emmanuel Macron has been

setting out reform is he taking the

shine away from Angela Merkel?

No, I

think it is good we have a French

president who is engaged in European

politics. He is pro-European and it

was excellent that he defeated

Marine Le Pen at the French

presidential elections. We have had

many French policy visions and we

have to combine them with German

pragmatism and if France and Germany

cooperate, then we can move things

forward in Europe. The French German

cooperation isn't everything in

Europe but we have seen in the last

few decades that these two countries

have two agree on a major policy

issues and then it is easier to

convince others. We need only form

of the Eurozone. We had to make the

Eurozone more strong to make our

currency stable but we have to

discuss the details not only with

the French but also with the other

partners in the Eurozone and we also

agree that Europe should be bigger

and bigger things and smaller and

smaller things. I want the European

Union to concentrate on the major

issues which can be dealt better at

European level than on a national or

regional level but this means that

the European Union will also have

that respect, the principle of

subsidiarity and proportionality

better than perhaps has in the last

years.

Use it on the committee for

European issues. Is it true that

Europe is trying to push it towards

a soft Brexit?

Like many other

Europeans, I deeply regret what

happened at the British referendum

in 2016 but we have to accept the

will of the British people and the

British Government to lead the

European Union and now it is about

getting this Brexit done in an

orderly manner. It's up to the UK to

decide what kind of future

relationship they want. I think

there are many good arguments to

have a relationship which is as

close as possible to the single

market but it's up to the House of

Commons to decide. We will accept

any British decision but what we're

in is to get this done in an orderly

fashion and whatever happens, the UK

will remain an important neighbour

and trading partner and Nato ally

for continental Europe.

Strange times, AfD as the official

opposition but I agree, they felt it

uncomfortable that they were leading

in Europe, they want the balance of

the French and German side for

historic reasons, they don't want to

be a country that is leading the

rest.

Manchester United have held

onto their position as the richest

football club in the world.

According a list compiled

by Deloitte, the team generated

£581 million last season,

coming ahead of Real Madrid

by nearly £2 million.

It marks the tenth time

Manchester United have

been top of the league.

The United Nations says the blue

flag and helmets no longer offer

safely to its peacekeeping troops.

It says they should be prepared to

take the offensive to eliminate

threats. Almost 200 peacekeepers

were killed in the past five years.

Missions in Africa and amongst the

most dangerous.

The funeral of Cranberries singer

Dolores O'Riordan has taken

place in County Limerick.

Around 200 people attended

the traditional, religious service

held in her childhood home

in the heart of the

Irish countryside.

Some Irish radio stations

simultaneously played the band's

1996 hit When You're Gone at midday,

in memory of Ms O'Riordan,

who died suddenly in London

last week, aged 46.

Neil Diamond is to retire

from performing after being

diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

The singer, who turns 77

tomorrow, said he'd made

the decision "with great

reluctance and disappointment".

In a statement, he apologised

to fans who'd already bought tickets

for his 50th anniversary tour

in Australia and New Zealand.

He says he'll continue

writing and recording.

For the past week, more than 100

young women have gone to a court

in Michigan and told heart-wrenching

stories of sexual abuse.

Several of the girls were members

of the US Olympic gymnastics team.

The molester was the team's doctor.

Larry Nassar sat in court day

after day listening as one victim

after another took the stand

and told their stories.

They confronted him

from just a few metres away.

Mr Nassar has been accused by 180

women, many of them underage.

He has admitted ten criminal counts

and could face life in prison.

Here are just a couple of the many

who gave testimony today.

The first is just 16-year-old.

The second is the mother

of an under-aged victim.

I was violated by Larry Nassar

hundreds of times between the ages

of ten and 14. The amount of

physical, mental and emotional

trauma this man has forced upon me

is immeasurable. What he did to me

and so many others is disgusting. He

took advantage of not only me as a

little girl but of my parents,

friends and many others just like

me. I trusted him to take care of

me. My parents trusted him. And he

used me as a toy for his own

pleasure. Larry Nassar destroyed my

childhood and shattered any positive

experiences I had had in the

gymnastics world.

I willingly took my most precious

gift in this world to you and you

heard her -- hurt her, physically,

mentally and emotionally and she was

only eight. I will never get rid of

the guilt that I have about this

experience.

This has been hard to

listen to. Our correspondent is with

us now.

The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan has

been following the case for us

in Lansing Michigan and we can cross

to her now.

It's extraordinary what people have

been saying about sexual abuse but

through the voices of those who were

young children.

The one thing that

I've been struck by and I have been

here for a week so I sat in the

courtroom as many of these emotional

testimonies have been shared, is the

fact that it is so rare for a young

woman, a survivor of sexual abuse,

to stand in court in the first place

and relive their ordeal, let alone

standing in court only a few meters

away from your abuser. They have

shown incredible courage and bravery

as woman after woman is taking to

the stand in the courtroom and come

forward and spoken. When it started

last Tuesday when I was first year,

it was something 80 women who said

they wanted to share their

statements. Some are still

anonymous, but as we've seen there,

many are now waving their anonymity.

The number is now around 158 to

every morning when we come to court,

more women say they now want to

share their story, so there is a

real sense of collective

empowerment, the idea that as more

women feel they can now speak out

because they are not alone and what

I am struck by is that most of these

junk women who Larry Nassar targeted

were young gymnasts and the stories

are very painfully similar. He would

treat them for back pain or injury

related to their sport and instead

of giving them medical treatment, he

was sexually abused them. -- Ewood

sexually abuse them.

What I have

heard repeatedly is not just

criticism of the Doctor, but of the

committee and organisation. Where

were they? There is anger about the

absence of the authorities.

Absolutely. There are two things

going on here. Many of these women

want to make sure that Larry Nassar

is served justice but there is also

the issue of accountability, he

didn't operate on his own, he worked

in a gym that was run by USA

gymnastics. He also treated so many

state-level gymnasts saw aspiring

gymnasts all the way up to decorated

Olympian 's and many of these women

are blaming the people around for

enabling this to happen. We have

seen gold medal winning Olympians

talk about this as well like Ali

Raisman who testified here last

week. Pointing the finger at USC

Gymnastics and the head was here

last year -- USC Gymnastics. She has

not been seen since. Officials were

Larry Nassar worked have been the

source of criticism as well and the

president of MSU was here and she

has not been seen since. USA

Gymnastics had a clear that the top,

three members of the executive board

resigned but many of the young woman

I've spoken to say that is not

enough. This is about an entire

culture and the winner gymnastics

works. These girls were very young

and vulnerable when they entered the

sport and it allowed people around

them to abuse them but is physically

late women who have accused Larry

Nassar but also emotionally -- not

just physically like the women who

have accused Larry Nassar but also

emotionally.

It is so heartbreaking

how many of them say it is not just

the abuse itself, is the years that

you live with the impact it has on

you, how it makes you feel guilty

and weak and traumatises you and

impact your relationships and

they're having their moments in

court.

This is part of his bargain?

This is part of his bargain and his

plea with the judges that he

couldn't take hearing it any more on

the judge turned around and said,

too bad.

The World Economic Forum,

which is taking place in Davos,

doesn't just attract political

leaders and businessmen.

Some very high profile singers

and actors have also swept

into the alpine town.

The Australian actor

Cate Blanchett is one of them.

She's been speaking

about her work as a UN

Human Rights Goodwill Ambassador

and the issue of refugees.

We try to teach our children to be

compassionate, to be tolerant, to

accept diversity, to share, yet all

of the structures that are around

are not doing the same thing so it

is quite a schizophrenic world that

they are living in and I want to be

on the compassionate path. That is

far more opportunity. When you

diversify your workforce and a

population in Australia, I can think

what would have happened if we

hadn't had those waves of refugees

coming. Our country would have been

quarter as interesting as it was

today -- as it is today. There are

so many benefits to being welcoming

and it is entrenched, lazy,

short-term thinking and I certainly

don't know when turning back

innocent people have got into a boat

became an election winning

proposition, I don't understand how

that happened.

Some people will have

sympathy but some say she is looking

at it too simplistically. Half of

those who come from Libya are not

refugees but economic migrants and

in five days last year, Italy took

11,000 people in at a time in

northern borders were closing and

Hungary and Poland didn't want to

take their quarter so there isn't

solidarity in Europe which is why

boards are being turned around,

that's part of the problem -- boats.

Unless you start spreading the

wealth and investing in countries

where economic migrants coming from,

then you will start to see these

waves. That's what we got to tackle.

It is one thing for Cate Blanchett

to say this but the other thing is

the political reality, we are living

in a moment when people are

sceptical about opening barriers and

borders and inviting in lots of

refugees and policymakers in Europe

and in Australia as well are

struggling with how to deal with

that. Still to come: we will look at

whether that is something afoot in

the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Theresa May has called

for discussions about future NHS

funding to remain private

after Boris Johnson publicly called

for more money after Brexit.

Our political editor,

Laura Kuenssberg,

reports from Westminster.

Long waits. Long days. Another

glimpse of the pressure that the

University of North Tees Hospital.

We need more beds in the hospital.

We need more beds for them to go to.

Number ten nose hospitals, patients

and the public looks to them for

answers. However unwelcome the

visitors making demands really are.

He called for more cash at Cabinet

for the health service, making

public before what he plans to raise

in private. The Prime Minister and

others, unimpressed. Inside, Boris

Johnson was told off for making it

known he would be making such a

call. No word after either way from

him. The other ministers didn't

quite manage to hide their annoyance

at what he had done.

You know as

well as I do, you can't go

discussing Cabinet.

The Foreign

Secretary has been discussing

Cabinet! You are frustrated that not

enough is being done.

We got record

funding going into the NHS and extra

money for winter pressures, we got a

good story to tell.

The Health

Secretary was hurried into a waiting

car. He was not surprisingly

sympathetic to the idea of more

taxpayers money. This has stirred up

a lot of fuss but don't expect the

Foreign Secretary's announcements to

make much difference soon but it's

different for number ten, not

because he is a loud voice doesn't

always toe the line, not just

because there are genuine concerns

about how health services coping,

but because there is an anxiety

amongst Tory MPs that number ten is

short of ideas and short on

ambition, too.

A key scientific research mission

to the depths of Antarctic waters

has revealed unique ecosystems

so rare that scientists say

they deserve special protection.

Campaigners hope this

will help build the case

for the creation of the world's

largest wildlife sanctuary.

The proposal would ban all fishing

in a large part of the Weddell Sea

and around the Antarctic Peninsula.

Our environment correspondent Claire

Marshall travelled to the area

on board a Greenpeace ship and sent

this exclusive report

Antarctica, the most remote

continent in the world,

encased in glaciers thousands

of feet thick.

It's still largely unexplored

and we know even less

about the icy seas that bring it.

Now, machines are making it possible

for us to catch a glimpse.

A mini-submarine is taking marine

biologist, Dr Susan Lockhart,

down into the Antarctic deep.

Above is a land of frigid ice,

below is a thriving mass of life.

That's really pretty.

No light penetrates this deep.

Plants can't grow,

these are all animals.

Then it was my turn to go

down with pilot, John.

We dropped much deeper.

More than 1,000 feet down

we find a wall of life.

Sponges and corals, sea stars,

feather stars, all thriving

in complete darkness.

in complete darkness.

A robot arm captures samples.

Some of these species have

never been filmed before.

They're threatened by an increase

in fishing in the region.

Too soon, we have to leave.

There is a storm apparently brewing

on the surface so the ship have

asked us to come up.

22, do you have a visual, over?

We surface very close

to some icebergs.

We might have to nudge some

ice out a way as well.

That will be a massive chunk of ice.

That will be a massive chunk of ice

hitting our little sub.

At last, the diver gets

a hook on our sub.

But then the crane breaks and we're

stranded for an hour.

It feels good to finally be down.

That's nice.

Yeah, yeah.

We gathered evidence of a unique

ecosystem that deserves protection.

It's really exciting,

really dense sea bed full

of life and huge diversity.

And also, organisms living together,

creating a 3-D structure.

So more organisms can move

and they can be very

vulnerable to disturbance

and they need special protection.

No one could deny this

region needs protecting,

but what is the best way to do it?

Is a line on a map going

to make much difference,

and who is going to police

anything out here?

The proposal to protect all these

creatures and their world will be

heard by the Antarctic

nations in October.

Claire Marshall, BBC News,

the Antarctic Peninsula.

A powerful earthquake in the Gulf

of Alaska this morning,

which hit 175 miles southeast

of the town of Kodiak,

prompted warnings of a possible

tsunami down the West Coast

of Canada and the United States.

Those warnings have now been lifted

but a lower-level advisory remains

effect for South Alaska.

As well as the quake off

the coast of Alaska,

seismic activity has been recorded

in Indonesia, the

Philippines and Japan.

I'm joined by Professor

Tiziana Rossetto from

University College London.

We are much better acquainted with

tsunamis nowadays. Now we know a

thing as an earthquake, there is a

tsunami threat and looking at Alaska

today, everybody immediately moved

to higher ground.

DS, unfortunately

because of the disasters, we know a

lot more about what to do in the

event of a tsunami -- yes. It was an

extremely positive response, the

evacuation happening in Alaska

today.

Talking about the Pacific

Ring of Fire, the eruptions in the

volcano in Japan, highly linked?

They're all attached to the same

sort of mechanism, the fact that you

have the oceanic plate, the tectonic

plates moving underneath the crust

plates in Japan or in the northern

USA and what they're doing, the

crust is being destroyed and saw the

seismically active -- so they are

very seismically active. But they

are not interconnected as such

although there is no proof that

seismic activity in one area will

trigger it in another.

I woke up

this morning and saw these

extraordinary graphs of how they

would be three foot tsunamis and 12

tsunamis all along the West Coast of

the United States and everybody was

very nervous and then it

disappeared, what happened?

It takes

time to understand what the

mechanism of the earthquake is after

it has been triggered. It is a

monitoring process and more

information comes in and saw the

updates on what is actually

happening. Unless the Cinema

displaces the ocean birds, causes a

lift, there will not be a sin army

-- tsunami. In this case, it was two

parts of the crust moving side by

side, quite a rare event in this

area which is more associated with

subduction and so it didn't create a

sin army that could have been

triggered but it is better to be

cautious in those circumstances than

not.

Thank you very much for coming

in.

Before we go, news coming in, Robert

Miller interviewed Jeff Sessions the

Attorney General, it is emerging he

interviewed the former FBI director

James Qaumi last year about the

memos he had written about the

interactions with the President --

James Comey.

It is not surprising he

would want to interview James Comey

about why he was fired, especially

because he was a note keeper

contemporaneously. He kept notes

about his meetings with the

president and around the president,

verbatim accounts on most of what

took place in the meetings to that

is definitely something that mother

would have wanted to look at but

that news is just coming in now --

Muller would have