:00:11. > :00:15.Welcome to Outside Source, an hour of international news. Let's begin
:00:16. > :00:19.in Los Angeles. All public schools have been closed. This is over a
:00:20. > :00:28.suspected security threat. There's now a suggestion it could be a hoax.
:00:29. > :00:33.We're live in LA shortly. Tim Peake and his crew mates have arrived at
:00:34. > :00:37.the International Space Station. The first Republican debate after Donald
:00:38. > :00:40.Trump's suggestion that Muslims should be temporarily banned from
:00:41. > :00:46.coming into the UK. We will talk to our correspondent in Washington. And
:00:47. > :00:49.the latest report all about allegations that China is exploiting
:00:50. > :00:53.natural resources in the South China Sea.
:00:54. > :00:56.We're live here on BBC World News television, BBC News channel in the
:00:57. > :01:01.UK and on the BBC News app. We're also online. If you use the hashtag,
:01:02. > :01:20.BBC OS I will pick up your messages. Straight to Los Angeles. A thousand
:01:21. > :01:27.schools there have been ordered to close. It's all due to an
:01:28. > :01:32.unspecified e-mail threat. This is a graphic of the school district. It's
:01:33. > :01:35.huge. The second biggest in the US. Around 700,000 pupils have been
:01:36. > :01:40.affected by this. They've been told to stay at home. School buses have
:01:41. > :01:43.been returned to depots. Now in the last half an hour, we've had what
:01:44. > :01:49.could be an important development. Because this is from the AP news
:01:50. > :01:53.agency. One house Intelligence Committee member says this threat is
:01:54. > :01:57.now believed to be a hoax. More on that element of the story shortly.
:01:58. > :02:11.First of all, let me play you some of a press conference held earlier
:02:12. > :02:16.The e-mail was very specific to LA county schools. The implied threat
:02:17. > :02:20.was explosive devices. The specific threat was attack with assault
:02:21. > :02:24.rifles and machine pistols. I think the circumstances in the
:02:25. > :02:31.neighbouring San Berne Deano, I think what has happened in the
:02:32. > :02:35.nation, I think what happened internationally, I as Superintendent
:02:36. > :02:44.are not going to take the chance with the life of a student. This is
:02:45. > :02:47.what's happening in Los Angeles. I showed you that line that it could
:02:48. > :02:51.be a hoax. That's interesting because on the other side of the US,
:02:52. > :02:56.on the East Coast in New York, officials there are saying they got
:02:57. > :03:02.the same threat and they did deem it to be a hoax. Back to the West
:03:03. > :03:05.Coast. Peter Bowes joins us live. First of all, before we speak to
:03:06. > :03:11.Peter, more from New York. We do not see that as a credible
:03:12. > :03:16.terrorist threat. We are investigating it as a hoax. We
:03:17. > :03:23.believe that the e-mail originated overseas. The language in the e-mail
:03:24. > :03:28.would lead us to believe that this is not a jihadist initiative, for
:03:29. > :03:33.example, that Allah was not spelled with a capital A. That would be
:03:34. > :03:37.incredible to think that any jihadist would not spell Allah with
:03:38. > :03:44.a capital A. Let's bring in Peter now. He's live in Los Angeles.
:03:45. > :03:48.That's not him. Our viewers can see you. Are you now hearing from people
:03:49. > :03:53.in LA, they think it's a hoax too? Well, yes. That's what the people
:03:54. > :03:59.think. It's just been confirmed, or at least the suspicions have been
:04:00. > :04:02.confirmed by a member of the House Select Committee on intelligence
:04:03. > :04:08.saying that this person believes it is a hoax and on the ground, that's
:04:09. > :04:11.generally what people here think. That's not what they thought six
:04:12. > :04:18.hours ago. People didn't know what to think when they were getting
:04:19. > :04:20.messages from the school, seeing breakfast television telling parents
:04:21. > :04:24.not to send their children to school. There was chaos for a while.
:04:25. > :04:28.The sentiment then was that people wanted to go along with the hunch of
:04:29. > :04:35.the local officials that this was the right thing to do, to close down
:04:36. > :04:38.these more than a thousand public schools affecting almost three
:04:39. > :04:48.quarters of a million children. That it was better to be safe than sorry.
:04:49. > :04:51.People remember just two weeks ago since San Bernardino and people
:04:52. > :04:53.remember Paris. The mood is that people are concerned. They're
:04:54. > :04:57.nervous that something could happen again and they just want it to be
:04:58. > :05:00.very, very cautious in this case. I'm sure viewers can understand that
:05:01. > :05:04.caution, I saw some reports that they're going to search every single
:05:05. > :05:08.school in this district. Is that still going to go ahead? It sounds
:05:09. > :05:12.like a huge amount of effort? It sounds like a huge effort. It is a
:05:13. > :05:16.huge effort. It is as far as I understand, continuing right now.
:05:17. > :05:20.Now to what extent every single school and every single room, every
:05:21. > :05:23.gym, every laboratory, every classroom, every playground will
:05:24. > :05:27.actually be searched, it's difficult to tell. They were determined at the
:05:28. > :05:31.beginning of the day to go through every school, all these premises to
:05:32. > :05:37.make sure absolutely that they were safe for children to return. Now the
:05:38. > :05:40.level of security that they can bring in, in terms of expertise to
:05:41. > :05:44.look through these buildings, it's difficult to assess. That was what
:05:45. > :05:47.they were saying a few hours ago Children won't be let back into the
:05:48. > :05:51.schools until they are absolutely certain they are safe. If it is
:05:52. > :05:56.determined categorically that this was a hoax, clearly that will put a
:05:57. > :06:00.different complexion on this. The mood will be different in terms of
:06:01. > :06:03.allowing children eventually back into those classrooms. Peter, thank
:06:04. > :06:12.you. Keep us posted if there's any more
:06:13. > :06:20.developments from LA. Let's talk about this story, the astronaut, Tim
:06:21. > :06:23.Peake, along with an American and Russian cosmonaut have entered the
:06:24. > :06:27.International Space Station. Here are some of the most recent pictures
:06:28. > :06:32.we have, from a couple of hours ago. Everyone looking relieved and well
:06:33. > :06:36.they might. Tim Peake is the first official UK astronaut. Now shortly
:06:37. > :06:44.after these pictures were taken the astronauts gave a news conference.
:06:45. > :06:52.Here's some of it. Hi, this is the Director-General of ESA. Tim Peake,
:06:53. > :06:58.I have just one question. You selected the window seat, what did
:06:59. > :07:03.you see? It was a beautiful launch. We got on with the work but that
:07:04. > :07:07.first sun rise was spectacular. We also got the benefit of a moon rise
:07:08. > :07:17.on the third orbit as well, which is beautiful to see. Hello Tim, it's
:07:18. > :07:23.mum. Hi mum. I think you would - hello Tim. I think you would call
:07:24. > :07:32.today a spectacular day in the office. I think we had a great time
:07:33. > :07:37.in the office, that's for sure. That's going to be some of the
:07:38. > :07:42.headlines tomorrow, "Hi mum, Tim Peake up in space speaking to his
:07:43. > :07:46.mum on earth. This morning our attention was on the practicalities
:07:47. > :07:49.of the journey. Now everyone's turning to the practicalities of
:07:50. > :07:56.living up there. Here's our science editor looking at life on ISS.
:07:57. > :08:00.It will be a strange existence on the International Space Station. It
:08:01. > :08:03.will take some getting used to. It's the largest stuckure ever assembled
:08:04. > :08:09.in space. It's about the size of a football pitch. Where is it? It's
:08:10. > :08:12.about 250 mile above us. That might not sound much but it's beyond the
:08:13. > :08:19.atmosphere, definitely in the hostile environment of space. This
:08:20. > :08:23.outpost of humanity is travelling around earth at 17,500mph, an
:08:24. > :08:28.extraordinary speed. Because each orbit takes roughly 90 minutes, the
:08:29. > :08:33.crew can see at least 15 sun rises and sun sets every single day. Now
:08:34. > :08:38.the Space Station was built section by section over the last 15 years.
:08:39. > :08:43.One module is European. This is called Columbus. It's a what lore
:08:44. > :08:48.triwhere Tim Peake will spend much of his time. Let's imagine that we
:08:49. > :08:51.could be right inside it. It's pretty cramped, filled with
:08:52. > :08:57.experiments that make use of those weightless conditions of space. One
:08:58. > :09:01.project looks at metal aRoys to help work out how they can be improved
:09:02. > :09:05.for the electronic devices we use. Another is testing if bacteria can
:09:06. > :09:11.survive in space, to see if they could be living on Mars. There's a
:09:12. > :09:14.study into how fluid behaves inside the brain. That could help with
:09:15. > :09:18.faster diagnosis of medical problems.
:09:19. > :09:22.There is extensive coverage of Tim Peake being on the ISS through the
:09:23. > :09:28.BBC News app and BBC News website. We will take a few minutes to turn
:09:29. > :09:31.to the work of one of our correspondents who's been following
:09:32. > :09:46.the transformation of the South China Sea. This is an ocean between
:09:47. > :09:52.China, Vietnam. There are tiny islands and reefs known as the
:09:53. > :09:58.Spratleys. There are various countries claiming them because of
:09:59. > :10:03.the important waters around them. This is an airstrip built by the
:10:04. > :10:06.Philippines, by dropping stone, Sanders cement into the seabed.
:10:07. > :10:12.China has taken this approach even further. This is mischief reef three
:10:13. > :10:16.years ago. That's the impath from three years ago. This is what it
:10:17. > :10:22.looks like today. You can see the evidence of the development. That's
:10:23. > :10:27.three years ago, this is today. There's another example as well. In
:10:28. > :10:32.total seven reefs have been treated. This is another. That's three years
:10:33. > :10:37.ago. This is today. The difference is even more marked than the last
:10:38. > :10:40.example, which can you clearly see. The US says potentially China is
:10:41. > :10:46.threatening international law by doing it. Here's a bit of the
:10:47. > :10:51.exclusive and extraordinary report filed on this issue.
:10:52. > :11:00.This is mischief reef. Until a year ago, there was nothing here, just a
:11:01. > :11:03.submerged. Now look at it. Then as we close to 12 naught cull miles
:11:04. > :11:19.this: We're a civilian aircraft flying
:11:20. > :11:26.over international waters. Yet we're being repeatedly threatened.
:11:27. > :11:34.As we fly on the full extent of the construction is revealed. The lagoon
:11:35. > :11:38.is teeming with ships. A cement plant is visible on the land. And
:11:39. > :11:42.then for the first time, a clear view of the new runway China is
:11:43. > :11:46.building here. A Chinese fighter taking off from
:11:47. > :11:52.here could reach the Philippine coast in nine minutes. You can get
:11:53. > :11:57.the full version of that report now online. Rupert has been speaking to
:11:58. > :12:00.Outside Source radio about the practicalities of making that
:12:01. > :12:05.report. The warnings began at about 20
:12:06. > :12:11.nautical miles. Our pilots wouldn't go any further. We landed again and
:12:12. > :12:14.we had hours more negotiations and discussions before they agreed to
:12:15. > :12:22.make a second attempt at mischief reef. What I had to sit down and
:12:23. > :12:27.persuade them was China was not going to shoot us down, we are in
:12:28. > :12:31.international airspace. We are not doing anything illegal. We need to
:12:32. > :12:34.tell the people on the ground to tell them that we're a civilian
:12:35. > :12:38.aircraft to engage with them and actually that process worked. When
:12:39. > :12:44.the pilots started to talk to the Chinese navy, I think it allowed
:12:45. > :12:47.them to feel like they were in control of the situation. It became
:12:48. > :12:51.very apparent that whoever was on the ground, on the island, sending
:12:52. > :12:55.us these warnings was reading a script. This was not someone
:12:56. > :13:00.engaging in a warning and saying, "If you don't go now, we will step
:13:01. > :13:07.up a notch." Once the pilots worked that out they calmed down and
:13:08. > :13:11.realised this is a bit of a game. This report focuses on geostrategic
:13:12. > :13:15.concerns. It's not just those concerns driving the expansion. The
:13:16. > :13:18.South China Sea say rich supply of natural resources, has been for
:13:19. > :13:21.centuries. The Philippines is accusing China of allowing poachers
:13:22. > :13:30.to plunder their reefs without doing anything about it.
:13:31. > :13:35.Far out in the middle of the South China Sea, this tiny speck of land
:13:36. > :13:39.we're about to land on is a Philippine military outpost. But the
:13:40. > :13:46.Philippine military's power barely extends beyond the island's reef.
:13:47. > :13:52.Less than a mile away, anchored on another reef, these boats we can see
:13:53. > :13:57.here, are Chinese poachers. We've come here to investigate reports
:13:58. > :14:02.that under the protection of the Chinese navy, poachers are
:14:03. > :14:09.plundering the reefs out here. Along with China's takeover of the South
:14:10. > :14:12.China Sea has come what the local Filipino fishermen here call
:14:13. > :14:18.environmental looters, people like these behind me here, who've moved
:14:19. > :14:23.in and are stripping the reef of its coral and of its precious giant
:14:24. > :14:31.clams. The poachers anchor their boats to the reef and then rev their
:14:32. > :14:38.engines. I ask this man what they're doing. What are you looking for, I
:14:39. > :14:46.ask. We're looking for sea clams, he says. From up here, it's unclear
:14:47. > :14:53.exactly what they're doing. It's time to get in the water.
:14:54. > :14:57.As soon as we, do the extent of the devastation is revealed. Just a
:14:58. > :15:02.couple of years ago, before the poachers moved in, this was a
:15:03. > :15:10.thriving reef system. Now it is being torn to shreds by the
:15:11. > :15:16.poachers. The scene underneath there is just unbelievable. They are
:15:17. > :15:20.literally destroying the reef wholesale, with these boats. It's
:15:21. > :15:26.just like a desert. It's been turned to a desert underneath here.
:15:27. > :15:35.Now the poachers are in the water too retrieving their prize.
:15:36. > :15:41.This is it, a huge, giant clam, perhaps 100 years old. They gather
:15:42. > :15:48.them in a pile on the sea floor ready to be hoisted onto their
:15:49. > :15:54.boats. On the international market shells
:15:55. > :16:02.like these can sell for between $1,000 and $2,000 a pair. The
:16:03. > :16:10.Chinese characters on the stern of their mother ships show they come
:16:11. > :16:20.from Tanmen. The crew shows no fear of us filming. They know no-one's
:16:21. > :16:24.going to stop them. As we leave, we get another glimpse of the reef from
:16:25. > :16:30.above. The long yellow plumes show fresh destruction. Beyond them what
:16:31. > :16:36.should be an aquamarine reef now turned to barren sand.
:16:37. > :16:42.That report gives you pause for thought. See both of those reports
:16:43. > :16:46.on the BBC News website now. Now it will be time for the
:16:47. > :16:49.business, we will look at regulations in the US coming in on
:16:50. > :16:51.the use of drones. They're one of the most popular Christmas presents
:16:52. > :17:03.in the US this year. The UK's inflation rate turned
:17:04. > :17:07.positive in November for the first time in four months, according to
:17:08. > :17:11.new figures. The Office for National Statistics said transport costs,
:17:12. > :17:15.alcohol and tobacco prices were the main contributors to the rise.
:17:16. > :17:19.Our economics correspondent can give us more detail.
:17:20. > :17:23.What happened was fuel prices started falling November last year.
:17:24. > :17:26.So whereas in October you're comparing with before fuel prices
:17:27. > :17:29.fell, in November you're comparing with after they started falling
:17:30. > :17:33.already. If you compare that year with year, it's a slightly smaller
:17:34. > :17:37.drop than it was in the previous month. That's happened not just with
:17:38. > :17:41.fuel, but also with things like second-hand cars and food prices
:17:42. > :17:44.too. Taking some of the downward pressure off the inflation number.
:17:45. > :17:48.Within that, you've got an interesting break down. Goods prices
:17:49. > :17:52.have been falling for most of the last year in most goods, not just
:17:53. > :17:54.food and fuel. Services prices have been rising. That's taking inflation
:17:55. > :18:11.above zero. Welcome back. Our lead story at the
:18:12. > :18:14.moment is that more than a thousand schools in Los Angeles have been
:18:15. > :18:17.shut because of an unspecified threat. New York officials say they
:18:18. > :18:20.received the same threat and considered it a hoax. Now we're
:18:21. > :18:27.hearing reports from lost arching less that it may be the same person
:18:28. > :18:33.-- os anding less saying -- rose anding less saying it may -- Los
:18:34. > :18:36.Angeles saying it may be the same person.
:18:37. > :18:41.Marine Le Pen leads the Front National and this case dates back to
:18:42. > :18:48.comments she made about Muslim street prayers in 2010.
:18:49. > :18:55.A letter written about by the Chinese Communist leader has sold at
:18:56. > :18:59.auction for $900,000. It was written to a leading British politician. BBC
:19:00. > :19:05.Chinese has that story. This is footage of a man losing his
:19:06. > :19:10.cool over a row over a hotel bill in Oklahoma. That's one way to make
:19:11. > :19:14.your point. He may have a lot of time to think about that. He's been
:19:15. > :19:22.arrested. No-one was hurt. Thank goodness. The video is on the BBC
:19:23. > :19:26.News app. Now, let's look at some elated Star
:19:27. > :19:31.Wars fans. Some of them had camped out for days before the premiere in
:19:32. > :19:37.LA. I've been out here since December
:19:38. > :19:41.5th. So it's been a long, long, well, it hasn't been that long, but
:19:42. > :19:49.yeah, it's been a long struggle to get here. Now we're here. The mother
:19:50. > :19:58.ship has landed, baby. I'm very excited about Star Wars again. Now
:19:59. > :20:02.we have the original cast back, Mark Hamill, harasson Ford, it's like the
:20:03. > :20:04.Star Wars we grew up with is now back. People are very excited about
:20:05. > :20:09.that. To be here and get here right at the
:20:10. > :20:15.right moment to get the lucky ticket, like, I feel like Willie
:20:16. > :20:18.Wonka's tour began. I got scared going into it. I had high
:20:19. > :20:21.expectations. They met the expectations. We talked about that.
:20:22. > :20:27.We were afraid that we were going to be disappointed. It was amazing.
:20:28. > :20:31.Yeah, good things and bad things. But nothing bad about the writing.
:20:32. > :20:35.It was all perfect. You will not be disappointed. It's amazing. It was
:20:36. > :20:41.amazing. It was a reledgeous experience. -- religious experience.
:20:42. > :20:46.It was amazing. You can rely on Star Wars fans to keep things in
:20:47. > :20:50.perspective. Let's bring you the business.
:20:51. > :20:54.In less than 24 hours we could have a big decision from the US Federal
:20:55. > :20:59.Reserve. It's all about whether it will raise interest rates in the US.
:21:00. > :21:03.To put this in context, that hasn't been done since 2006, but even if it
:21:04. > :21:09.happens, the process of getting to that point is pretty complicated.
:21:10. > :21:16.The decision to raise interest rates will be taken in Washington DC, it's
:21:17. > :21:19.the job of the markets desk inside this fortress-like building, the New
:21:20. > :21:25.York Federal Reserve, to make liftoff happen. How will the Fed
:21:26. > :21:31.raise rates? To understand that you have to think what a big commercial
:21:32. > :21:36.bank like JP Morgan Chase involves. One thing, it has to hold a certain
:21:37. > :21:40.amount of cash in reserve with the Fed. Banks loan that money to each
:21:41. > :21:44.other and charge a small amount of interest, the federal funds rate. It
:21:45. > :21:48.used to be that the Fed moved to rate up and down by trading assets
:21:49. > :21:53.such as government bonds with the banks. Now, though, after years and
:21:54. > :21:57.years of buying up assets, the folks at the markets desks believes
:21:58. > :22:00.selling them off isn't necessarily the most effective or stable way to
:22:01. > :22:06.influence the rate. Instead, they want to use another mechanism,
:22:07. > :22:11.essentially paying banks more money to hold their reserves, effectively
:22:12. > :22:15.paying them to hold cash, just some of the mechanisms involved in
:22:16. > :22:20.raising rates. That decision should come on Wednesday. Now the BBC's
:22:21. > :22:25.technology correspondent is always worth following online. Here's a
:22:26. > :22:29.tweet of his. He's written a blog post, "Will Europe ban under 16s
:22:30. > :22:33.from Facebook? It would be quite something if it did. We wanted to
:22:34. > :22:38.know what Rory's answer was to the question being asked. Here he is.
:22:39. > :22:42.This is all about a European debate on whether to bring in a new law,
:22:43. > :22:48.raising the digital age of consent, who knew there was such a thing -
:22:49. > :22:53.from 13 to 16. Which would mean that anybody under 16 would have to get
:22:54. > :22:58.express permission from their parents to be on any of those sites.
:22:59. > :23:02.The company would have to know that parental permission had been given.
:23:03. > :23:09.That would cause chaos for companies involved in those kind ever
:23:10. > :23:15.relationships with teenage users. At the moment, it's 13. Obviously it's
:23:16. > :23:19.not particularly widely observed, if anecdotal evidence from friends'
:23:20. > :23:23.children is to be believed. But it sets a bench mark for companies to
:23:24. > :23:27.know how to behave that they shouldn't be talking to kids under
:23:28. > :23:31.13 without permission of their parents. Now that could go up to 16.
:23:32. > :23:35.It's interesting because you sometimes see Twitter and Facebook
:23:36. > :23:39.described as advertising platforms. Is this about teenagers talking to
:23:40. > :23:43.each other as it is about companies talking to teenagers? This is
:23:44. > :23:48.actually in the context of a big European debate about data
:23:49. > :23:54.protection, a whole new, great big data protection law, data
:23:55. > :24:00.regulation. It's come in the context of all those revelations by Edward
:24:01. > :24:04.Snowden about surveillance and so on and European law makers concerned to
:24:05. > :24:07.tighten up data protection and look at what the big internet companies
:24:08. > :24:12.are doing with that data, not just that plonging to children. Let's
:24:13. > :24:17.talk about drones. 700,000 of them are expected to be sold in the US
:24:18. > :24:21.just this Christmas. Those figures might be behind a decision from the
:24:22. > :24:28.Federal Aviation Administration to make all drone owners register their
:24:29. > :24:33.machines in a national database. I guess this is all tying back to
:24:34. > :24:37.safety, is that the biggest issue? Yeah, and I don't know if you
:24:38. > :24:40.remember, but I immediately think about the incident on the White
:24:41. > :24:44.House grounds earlier in the year, when it triggered a lock down of the
:24:45. > :24:48.White House when a drone flew onto the lawn and there was a Secret
:24:49. > :24:52.Service investigation. You have incidents as extreme as that to just
:24:53. > :24:57.unmanned drones hitting aircraft. The FAA realise that come next year
:24:58. > :25:01.there's going to be more unmanned aircraft than aircraft in the skies.
:25:02. > :25:04.They've rushed to provide some kind of sense of relief for politicians
:25:05. > :25:11.and for others who worry about safety. So they've said that come
:25:12. > :25:15.December, if you buy a new drone that you need to provide your e-mail
:25:16. > :25:18.address, home address so that they can keep track of that. You'll have
:25:19. > :25:23.to put the registration number on your drone. At the end of the day,
:25:24. > :25:27.people say if someone wants to do something necessity fairious with a
:25:28. > :25:33.drone -- nefarious they're not going to register it. But it's an effort
:25:34. > :25:39.to put regulation in place. Thank you very much indoed. I guess
:25:40. > :25:42.it raises the issue of whether you can fly the thing safely or not.
:25:43. > :25:47.#12k34r any way, thank you very much for that update. More business news
:25:48. > :25:53.online of course. I will mention in about 20 minutes, we will take some
:25:54. > :25:55.time to talk about capitalism and its role in some of the world's
:25:56. > :26:12.biggest crises and their solutions. Thanks for tuning into our look at
:26:13. > :26:14.the global weather. One of the headlines in the world of