03/01/2017 Outside Source

Welcome to Outside Source. It is the first day of the new Congress in

Washington. The new Republican controlled lower house has performed

a sharp U-turn on a high profile reform hours after Donald Trump

Syria's fragile ceasefire is under Syria's fragile ceasefire is under

further pressure. One of the cubicle groups is boycotting planned peace

talks organised by Russia and Turkey because, it says, the Assad regime

isn't sticking to the terms of the ceasefire. -- key rebel groups. An

update on this video. In 2015 a group of Chelsea fans are

abused a man as he tried to get onto abused a man as he tried to get onto

the Paris Metro. Some of those fans have been convicted. More details on

that. First, let's find out about two vast new energy projects in

India, one of which is the biggest solar panel plant in the world.

Let's pick up on one story, several Syrian rebel groups have withdrawn

from planned peace talks that have been organised by Russia and Turkey

for later this month. One of the most significant of them is the free

Syrian army, the FSA is seen as the biggest and most important of the

moderate rebel groups. It says today that the Syrian revolution armed

groups signatories to the ceasefire agreement of a few days ago abided

by the ceasefire, but however the regime and its allies

their onslaught. I have been their onslaught. I have been

speaking to the BBC's correspondent from BBC Arabic for an assessment of

that statement. It is useful to look back at immediately after the

victory of Assad and his allies in Aleppo on the 22nd of December.

Immediately after that asset, backed by Russia, Iran, and other militias,

they turned into two areas near Damascus. That development

important. One of the areas supplies important. One of the areas supplies

almost 60% of the water supply to Damascus. It relies on a route which

has been used by the Hezbollah group to get supplies from Lebanon on. The

Assad regime focused on this. On the 29th, and the 30th, there was a

ceasefire agreement. There was a disagreement between the rebels and

the Syrian government about whether this area is included in the

ceasefire. Nobody has seen the text of the agreement. There is also a

disagreement about whether the affiliate 's group is present in

this. The fighting is going on. It looks like the Assad government is

determined on getting it back. The rebels are saying if this carries on

they may call the whole thing off and the ceasefire will collapse. So

it is all hanging by a thread now. The talks won't have a great deal of

value unless the FSA is there, is that fair? By one of the main

groups. But another thing is, we don't know who will be at the talks

come if they happen, we do not know which representatives and

negotiations will be there. The Saudi backed committee going to be

there? They say they haven't received an invitation. Some of the

rebels want them to be there. What is certain is that the Allies are

focusing on these areas for now. Just a question about the people in

Aleppo who we saw evacuated a couple of weeks ago. Are they now safely

into Idlib province, have they managed to create some sort of new

life there? The people who were holed up in this eastern enclaves,

Some of them went into Some of them went into

government-controlled areas, some of them went into rebel controlled

Idlib areas, some went into Turkish controlled areas, and some even

crossed into Turkey. If you speak Arabic you can get coverage of the

If not, those English speaking If not, those English speaking

website for more information. website for more information.

This time last year you will know that we carried a lot of reports

about a huge number of women being sexually assaulted on New Year's Eve

in Cologne. 12 months on we're now starting to cover a similar story

that is emerging from Bangalore, India. Huge crowds gathered for New

Year's Eve and many women reported being sexually assaulted by groups

of men. This is one photographer describing what he saw. I should say

that this clip has been voiced over. Like every year I went to cover the

celebrations. This year the crowd was three times the size. Around

11:45pm, people started shouting, women were calling for help. Some

women were being harassed and their male friends had formed a around

them because they get away. -- formed a cordon. The crowds cleared

away later. Some women were on the verge of fainting. Others were

running to police claiming they had been abused or groped. It was

physical on their faces. Some were weeping uncontrollably. The state's

home minister is taking an enlightened view on this. You might

have thought that the groups of men doing the attacking were responsible

but not according to this minister who said the young women were

attacked because they were dressing and behaving like Westerners. As you

might expect, that hasn't gone down well. We can speak to our BBC Hindi

correspondent. It isn't the first time such a

comment has been made by somebody that senior. Unfortunately it won't

be the last time. There have been numerous incidents in the past,

where those in authority has said casually that rape happens because

copying Western culture, etc. copying Western culture, etc.

Unfortunately it is still a part of our society that things like that...

It happens many times. Even at home you will hear people say, you are

being very Western. There is this growing amount of awareness, women

who are standing up, and acknowledging that it isn't a

woman's fault, she can dress however she wants. Even a big hit Bollywood

film has been made recently on this exact issue of the mindset of men in

things like that. Why it is all things like that. Why it is all

right to stigmatise victims. Even in this incident the police say they

haven't received any formal complaint yet for the same reason

that it will be them who will be told of saying, you were wearing

short clothes, it was your fault, why did you go where men were drunk

and you knew there was a certain kind of people there. We are talking

about Bangalore. Bangalore is the IT hub of India. Youngsters from all

over the country go to Bangalore for work. A lot of big multinational

companies, big computer giants are present there. It is the place for

youngsters to be. If such an incident is happening there, then,

you know, it's quite embarrassing. It is ridiculous that in this day

and age, in a modern city like Bangalore, which is full of

youngsters, and young professionals representing India's Next

Generation, that women cannot go out without being touched

inappropriately. That is what angers people, that one, it happens, and

second, people are justifying it by blaming the women themselves. We

have heard stories from India, Syria, the UK and US, next we are to

Hong Kong. Its former leader has pleaded not guilty to corruption

charges. He is the territory's highest ranking official to get

these kinds of charges. He is charged with two counts of

misconduct and one of bribery. It is Hong Kong's most high-profile

corruption case ever. He was the chief executive from 2005 to 2012.

He was very popular when he started. He served as a civil servant in Hong

Kong both before and after the handover. He was Hong Kong's first

ethnic Chinese financial secretary. And the British government awarded

him a knighthood for his services to Hong Kong. Now his reputation has

been badly damaged by these allegations. He has been charged

with two counts of misconduct in public office and one

bribery. Prosecutors allege he bribery. Prosecutors allege he

rented a luxury flat from a tycoon who owned shares in a media company.

They say that he was in rental negotiations with the tycoon when

his government approved licence applications from the media company

and that he didn't declare the conflict of interest. They also

alleged he nominated an architect who have designed the interior of

his flat for an award again without declaring it. Finally, they accuse

him of accepting advantages from the company in the form of renovations

in return for making decisions about the licence applications. He has

denied all of the charges and he says he is confident he will be

exonerated in court. Hong Kong has a reputation for clean government. It

has a serious corruption problem in the 1960s and 70s but it cracked

down seriously on it after that. A lot of people of Hong Kong are proud

of the city's reputation for being transparent but this latest case has

thrown up questions about the relationship between tycoons and

government officials. One sport story tonight. You might remember

this image of Chelsea football fans this image of Chelsea football fans

in Paris back in February 20 15. -- 2015. This was filmed at a Metro

station before a game between Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain. You

can see repeatedly being pushed out of the carriage. The Chelsea fans

who are doing that are charting "We are racist, we are racist, and

that's the way we like it" well, four of those men have been given

suspended prison sentences and they were ordered to pay more than

$12,000 in compensation to the victim. Here is his lawyer.

TRANSLATION: We are very happy. Justice has been served. It is good

we are finally recognising in this country today that racist chance can

In a few minutes we will return to a In a few minutes we will return to a

story from Saudi Arabia about a group of workers who were late in

receiving their payments. They work in the construction industry. They

protested about it in violent ways. Today they have been sentenced. Some

have jail terms, some have been sentenced to lashing is -- lashings.

A couple in their 50s who narrowly A couple in their 50s who narrowly

escaped death after a night in the Cairngorm Mountains have been

speaking of their ordeal. The couple speaking of their ordeal. The couple

from Leicestershire were caught out after miscalculating the length of

their walk. They said the snow came up to their waste at times and they

had a shelter from blizzard conditions using a light survival

bag. Our correspondent has the full story.

The brutal conditions of a Scottish winter -

out on the hills, 50 mile an hour winds, freezing

Experienced walkers, Bob and Cathy Elmer,

had become disorientated in the appalling weather

and had realised their only option was to hunker down

This the moment Mountain Rescue teams found them and then

The snow was at times up to our waist.

We eventually got out onto the plateau with the intention

of trying to find the summit of Cairngorm, then my head lamp gave

up, so we decided that we couldn't go on any further because we didn't

You couldn't see a hand in front of your face,

so we decided to get the survival bags out and get down

It was a move rescuers believed saved their lives

and that of their dog, Meg, who had her own

Conditions were Arctic and in the area they were, you know,

no matter which way they walked there was steep ground

there and in the dark, with one head torch and disorientated,

it would have been so easy to take a very, very serious tumble.

This is one of Scotland's highest mountains and conditions further up

towards the summit can close in quickly, catching out even

The couple's close call underlines just how dangerous

It's like they say, if we hadn't had the right equipment,

It is a grim place up there in the winter time, especially

You know, you can - if you're not prepared for it -

you can seriously run into some serious situations.

Willie's a very careful driver, he'll look after you.

The Elmers say they will return to the mountains,

although they added not to this one, where their New Year's Day walk

Lorna Gordon, BBC News, Cairngorm mountain.

Welcome back to Outside Source. It is day one of the new Congress in

the US. There has already been a big U-turn from the Republican help

lower house on the issue of congressional ethics. The U-turn

came hours after Donald Trump had tweeted he was not keen on the

reforms. Coming up after: If you're watching from outside the UK, there

is a report from Yemen where there has been more fighting between

pro-government forces and rebels. Here in the UK, the News at ten,

leading on the resignation of Sir Ivan Rogers, Britain's most senior

diplomat at the EU. We have got reports from Saudi

Arabia that say a number of foreign workers have been given punishments

for protests, some of which were violent, when their wages went on

page. That happened last year. The development comes this week. Saudi

newspapers telling us there has been a court case in Mecca and around 50

workers have been sentenced by a court there. They have either

received a short jail terms and in some cases 300 lashes. This is our

correspondent talking about the case. These workers worked for one

of the biggest companies in Saudi Arabia, a massive construction

giant. It has particular problems last year. The Saudi economy faced

the biggest challenges that I can remember in the last couple of years

thanks to oil prices collapsing. As a part of that, a lot of contracts

on construction were suspended or stopped. Also, the company got in

trouble with the Saudi government over certain things. So they stopped

paying the company for those contracts. The company did not pay

its workers and laid off more than 50,000. That led to the protests.

Are these punishments in line with previous punishments? Protests are

very rare in Saudi of this kind. Some of the pictures that came out

of those protests back in May out of Mecca were unprecedented in Saudi

Arabia. There were buses belonging to the company that were set alight.

That isn't something that you see often in Saudi Arabia. These are the

people who have been accused, basically, or writing. In a sense, a

four month prison sentence is not a lot in Saudi Arabia. But 300 lashes

is a terrible punishment and it can exact to a huge physical toil. But

in one sense these are not the most extreme punishments you might

expect. We talk to Rebecca Morrell all the

time on Outside Source on science stories. She has made a report on

one of the big science stories for the New Year and here it is.

Here is what to look out for in 2017. China will once again be

heading for the moon. After the success of their robotic lander in

2013 they have decided it is time to go back. This time their rover will

grab moon rock and bring it back to Earth. This sample return mission

could help China to lead the way in lunar mining.

In the US, the sun will put on a spectacular display. From the west

Coast to the east in August a total solar eclipse will be visible,

moving across the whole of the US. It'll be visible to an estimated 12

million people. Fingers crossed for clear skies. We are going to cancel

billions of payments to the UN climate change programmes. In 2017,

all eyes will be on Donald Trump and global warming. He wants tweeted

that climate change was a hoax. During the election he said he would

pull out of the Paris climate deal. Nobody yet knows what he will do. He

has recently met with Al Gore. He has also just appointed key cabinet

members who have expressed sceptical views about climate change. And

could we see the land speed record broken? After funding setbacks, the

supersonic car will finally be put to the test. The team will be

heading to South Africa where they are hoping to reach speeds of 1600

kilometres per hour. And it is time for a last look at Saturn as the

Cassini mission comes to an end. Nasa's spacecraft has transformed

our understanding of this giant world. And for its grand finale

it'll fly closer to Saturn than ever before, swooping in between its

rings before diving into the thick atmosphere to bring the mission to a

close. Here are a couple of stories I am

sure Rebecca is following closely. There are many clean energy projects

that have opened in India. This is the world's biggest solar plant. It

is ten square kilometres. This picture only gives you a slight feel

of how big it is. It is already designed to power 150,000 homes

close to the site. The second project is about 100 kilometres

away. It is an industrial plant which specialises in removing carbon

dioxide from a coal powered boiler. They are using the carbon dioxide to

make baking powder. It is a holy make baking powder. It is a holy

Grail, this. We are pumping all of this carbon dioxide into the

atmosphere. It is warming the atmosphere, causing climate change.

What if you could find a good purpose for it? That is what they've

dioxide, you rained on chemicals dioxide, you rained on chemicals

which will absorb carbon dioxide. Two young Indian entrepreneurs could

not get funding in India, they are funded in the UK and the US, what

they have done is they have devised a new chemical which has brought

down the cost of doing this. They are using it in conjunction with a

chemical making plant, so what they are doing is, a steam boiler, a

coal-fired boiler, that produces steam, that is taken through to the

chemical plant to help make the chemicals. And the chimney which

gives off the carbon dioxide, the carbon dioxide is stripped out of

the chimney and then fed into the chemical plant. They will make

baking soda out of it. This particular plant cost ?3 million. It

is completely without subsidy. That surprised me because so far

governments have been forced to governments have been forced to

capture the carbon dioxide. It just capture the carbon dioxide. It just

isn't realistic. They appear to have found a way to do it commercially. I

asked the factory owner. I said you seem to be a reluctant

environmentalist. They said it was accidental. He said it made good

business sense and it is cutting emissions almost to zero. We will

see how that performs in a few months' time. A story that keeps

coming, record sales in the UK are at their highest levels for 25

years. I mean vinyl records. The strange twist to this story is that

a lot of these records being bought are not being played.

MUSIC: Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin.

For Phil Barton of Sister Ray Records, there is no debate,

music just sounds better when it comes on a 12 inch disk.

However, things have begun to change.

Listen, ten years ago, I would have given you the keys

the shop and said, look, I can't make any money out of this.

I didn't realise this stuff was still going

David Bowie was the biggest seller last year.

Prince was also in the top ten, along with Amy Winehouse,

A recent survey has found that nearly

Of course it is worth putting this into

context, imagine that each of these records represents 1 million sales,

if you add in streaming, digital download, CDs, about 123 million

The number of vinyl album sold last year...

But both are dwarfed by the real music titan,

Streaming is a totally different beast, 45 billion streams,

at the other end of the spectrum, not really recorded music in the

It is felt that streaming can help younger

listeners to eventually try the hard stuff...!

What a lot of people at university by vinyl.

For some, this was an entirely new experience.

And it goes on the thing that goes round.

You really have never touched or handled this ever before?

Even Drake, the world's most streamed artist has

issued his back catalogue on vinyl, after discovering they were being

But for most fans of Justin Bieber and other kings of

streaming, this way of listening is finished.

We're into the last moments of Outside Source. Take's parliament on

Tuesday has backed the motion to extend a state of emergency by three

months. It has been in place since the back-end of July when there was

that failed coup attempt against President Erdogan. The state of

emergency has been a place since then and will continue for at least

another three months in Turkey. Thank you for watching, I will see

you tomorrow. It is early days but so far January

weather hasn't been troubling. We have seen Winter features.