27/03/2017 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Philippa Thomas, this is Outside Source.

Let's look through some of the main stories here in the BBC Newsroom.

Russia's opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been sentenced

to 15 days in prison following nationwide

Hundreds of demonstrators were detained in the biggest

anti-government protests for five years.

The Kremlin says they were breaking the law and provoking violence.

The UN General Assembly has held its first ever debate

But most of the world's nuclear powers, including the United States,

There is nothing I want more for my family than a world

without nuclear weapons. But we have to be realistic.

Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon meet just days before historic Brexit

talks are triggered, and the two leaders do not see eye to eye.

In sport, we'll hear about what may keep the US Women's hockey team off

the ice for the World Championship next week in Michigan.

Remember, you can get in touch at BBC OS.

Talks to bring about a global nuclear arms ban are under way

at the United Nations in New York, but most of the world's nuclear

The US ambassador to the UN explained why the United States

Is there anyone that believes that North Korea would agree to a ban on

nuclear weapons? So what you would see is the General Assembly would go

through, in good faith, trying to do something, but North Korea would be

the one cheering, and all of us and the people that we represent would

be the ones at risk. And so we've always said that the United States

thinks it's important to defend the citizens of our country, but just as

important to defend our friends, our allies and the rest of the countries

that want peace in the world. Nada Tawfik is in New York

and joins us now. I guess the fact that the US and

others are not backing the treaty puts a damper on things. Absolutely.

We heard from Japan, speaking in the General Assembly hall, they are the

only country that suffered an atomic attack, and they put the point on

this saying, if we have a nuclear ban treaty, but we have none of the

nuclear powers signed up to it, and if this doesn't stop the development

of even a single nuclear weapons, what is the point of all of this? We

heard from other nations who support and agree with Senator Haley, and

they think an international framework is in place, and they

think there needs to be step by step gradual approach to nuclear weapons,

because they are concerned about national security. Those supporters

of this would say that it is the only weapon of mass destruction that

doesn't have an international ban on it, and that should be the first

step. What I don't understand here is, it was entirely pricked a ball

that the US wouldn't sign up to this Treaty, so why have the debate in

the first place? They are hoping to get a treaty out

of this and there is an argument that it is really a treaty without

any teeth if it doesn't have the nuclear powers in it. But

campaigners are hoping this will at least send a message. It will show

that international norms are against nuclear weapons and the

proliferation of them, and they think it will force many nations the

same way, the cluster ban or the landmine conventions have forced

other states to change their behaviour and the way they operate.

That is the main gimmick you hear from campaigners and supporters of

this treaty. Their ultimate goal and ideal is for, late in the process,

for the states to sign up to the treaty once they get it ratified.

From speaking to the US and Britain, the UK, and others, it doesn't seem

like they would be interested in that. They see the NPT as the goal

of the nuclear free world. Nada Tawfik, thank you.

On Wednesday, the British Prime Minister Theresa May

That starts the clock on two years of negotiations

But Scotland's First Minister has a deadline of her own.

Nicola Sturgeon wants a second independence referendum

for the people of Scotland before Brexit.

Theresa May says it's not the right time.

The two leaders met today in Glasgow.

has the formerly warm relationship gone cold?

Theresa May knows this could be awkward. She's here to talk about

her Article 50 letter. She's here to press her demand for a referendum on

independence. So no handshakes, no press conference, just a couple of

souvenir photographs that neither woman looks like they're enjoying.

By stark contrast, their first meeting, eight months

ago, then it was called a good working relationship, now, Nicola

Sturgeon says the PM has not listened to her on Brexit, Theresa

May says that she will reject any request for a vote on Scottish

My position is not going to change, now is not the time

to be talking about a second independence referendum, because it

would not be fair on the Scottish people to make them make that

decision when the facts are not clear and also because now is the

time when we need to pull together to make sure we get the best

possible deal for the UK, including the people of Scotland.

I'm told the meeting inside this hotel

was businesslike, cordial, and probably

the longest meeting yet between them, the Scottish Government were

expecting an offer of more powers for the Scottish parliament after

Brexit, but they say they got no detail on that.

When Nicola Sturgeon told the Prime Minister how she

plans to make a formal request for a Scottish referendum, the Prime

Minister said simply, you know my position on that.

The First Minister says Mrs May agreed, the shape

of the Brexit deal should be clear in 18 to 24 months' time,

which is when the Scottish Government want to

We both agree, now is not the time to ask people to

make the choice, but since we both appear to be in agreement as to when

the terms of Brexit will become clear on the timetable, that would

underline my view that that is the right time.

In a speech to staff in East Kilbride, she says she wants to

build a more United Nations. But it is Scottish independence on the

agenda at the Holyrood parliament tomorrow, and they will almost

certainly vote to call for a second referendum.

USA Hockey, that's the US association for ice hockey,

That's because their women's team is threatening to boycott

the World Championships, here's the captain explaining why.

USA hockey has been desperately searching for replacements, in case

it needs them. Look at this, for example:

There has been support from sponsors and politicians, and we will see

from the men's national team, Alan Walsh, let me show you his tweet:

Somebody who knows a lot about this, a lot more than me, AJ Perez, sports

writer for USA Today, who's been following this story. How much

support would you say this boycott has? It is pretty much massive

support. You mentioned the senators that came out in support, all over

social media, the trending hashtag, and so much support, it has been

impossible for them to field a team of replacement players. This is a

big issue because the championships are being held in the United States,

and the American women's team might not play. Exactly. USA hockey would

have to pay a fine if they don't play. It would look bad in front of

all the international teams in Michigan. Not having a host team, it

has been going on for 4.5 hours. There has been no progress and time

is ticking down. I know that technically, the men don't earn that

much more than the women, but actually the male players have a lot

more cash, don't they. Yeah, 98 NHL players have played in the Olympics.

If you are 18 USA player, you make millions in the NHL, there is a leak

here that has been around for two years for the women, and it has a

top pay of 20,000 or $30,000. It is not really apples and apples. If

women don't get the living wage that they are asking for, and the

championship is in a few days, what does American hockey do? It's been

tough. They've been trying since last Thursday to fill the team with

players they have gotten from the under 18 's and under 16 's. They

have gone down to high school and reached out of players that have

been out of the game for a few years. They are paying women around

the nation, and so far have come up pretty far short of filling an

entire team. There is so much support for the boycotting women,

they may not have a team and may have to pay the fine. Thanks for

bringing us up-to-date. He was a member of Ghana's

football coaching team That ended in February,

but Mr Nus hasn't left Ghana yet. He's been staging a sit-in

at a hotel, because he wasn't Now though, the Ghana football

association says it has "finally Gerard Nus all his outstanding

bonuses on Saturday." More sport to bring you. We have

some extraordinary pictures from Motocross.

They're from the Freestyle Motocross World Championships,

the fourth round took place in Poland on Saturday.

This event is known as 'night of the jumps.'

One competitor broke his femur only six months ago,

But it was Spain's Maikel Melero who won.

Quite extraordinary pictures. I have rather got my heart in my mouth

watching that. We will move onto political story. European politics

this time. You might remember Dutch

voters went to the polls Almost two weeks on,

Prime Minister Mark Rutte is still trying to form

a new centre-right coalition. Four parties will enter

talks this week. Including left-wing

environmentalists GroenLinks, That's the Dutch and what is going

on there. It's Germany's turn to hold general

elections in September. Christian Democrats leader

Angela Merkel will try for a fourth term as chancellor and she's just

had some good news. It's about Saarland,

a small German state which had an election

this weekend seen as a significant test

of voter sentiment. Saarland was run by a coalition

whose makeup mirrors national government,

that's a mix of Merkel's CDU The Christian Democrats won

with 40.7% of the vote. That's UP by more

than 5% since the last election. The SDP, led by former EU president

Martin Schulz, polled 29.6%. Here's a somewhat

relieved Angela Merkel. TRANSLATION: Obviously, the citizens

have seen that this Coalition is a Coalition that governs well. We have

a lot of hard work to do. It is going to be a difficult campaign,

but we have all the chances. I have always said, it is in the hands of

the CDU. Stay with us, in a couple of minutes

we'll bring you a report from India about the wildly popular

but divisive new leader The mother of the Westminster

attacker has expressed her anguish Police also say they have found

no evidence to link Khalid Masood to so-called Islamic state.

Daniela Relph reports. The moment Khalid Masood began his

attack. We now know he was driving at up to 76 miles per hour across

Westminster Bridge, killing and injuring as he drove. This

afternoon, his mother has issued a statement condemning the attack.

Emphasising he does not condone his son's action. Janet Joa said:

those victims included Curt Cochran and his wife Melissa Cochran Payne.

It had been their first time in London, and their first ever visit

outside the USA. They had been on a tour of Europe to celebrate their

25th wedding anniversary. Kurt was killed after being thrown from the

bridge onto the pavement below. A single bunch of flowers marks where

he fell. Melissa suffered multiple injuries and is still in hospital.

Today, 13 members of their family spoke publicly for the first time.

From Utah, they are a Mormon family that have found strength in their

faith. It is hard for most of us to imagine what it is like to lose

somebody in this way. Can you give us some sense of the impact on the

family? I think it has brought us really

close together. Our family has always been close together and we

have had wonderful times together. We just love and support each other

so much and I think it makes it that much longer. None of us harbour any

ill will or harsh feelings towards this. So we love our brother, we

love what he brought to the world. Today, Tobias Ellwood was in

Parliament Square to pay his respects and see the tributes. The

Foreign Office minister had tried so hard to save the life of PC Keith

Palmer last week. This was a chance for him to remember all of those

killed. This is Outside Source

live from the BBC newsroom. Russian opposition leader

Alexei Navalny, has been sentenced to 15 days in jail after his arrest

on Sunday Mr Navalny was one of hundreds

of demonstrators detained He's just been appointed

as head of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous

state, home to more than He's a divisive figure,

because he's a Hindu nationalist, in a state where 18%

of the population is Muslim. One of his first acts was to order

police officials to close down slaughterhouses deemed

as illegal in the state. Critics say the ban

is being unfairly applied, and that it targets Muslims,

who own most of the slaughterhouses. Justin Rowlatt has more

on this appointment. The crowd celebrates the return of a

conquering hero. Yogi Adityanath wears a saffron robe of a Hindu

priest, but he is also a firebrand politician. They wouldn't know it

today. TRANSLATION: I promise to stamp out

corruption, to work for everybody, and to end Mafia rule.

Out on the streets, you see the passion he inspires. Yogi Adityanath

has been repeatedly accused of stirring hatred between Hindus and

Muslims. He was once imprisoned for incitement to riot, and has a

history of inflammatory remarks, and he is now one of the most powerful

politicians in India. Yogi Adityanath is a man who once said,

if one Hindu is murdered, 100 Muslims should die. There are 170

million Muslims in India, and not surprisingly, many are worried. They

shouldn't be, says one of the top leaders of the ruling party. Some

people have apprehension, I do appreciate. Why only advise them,

whatever is in the background remains in the background. You

cannot change it. It remains. Yogi Adityanath will prove that he is

committed to the same agenda that the Prime Minister is pursuing. Yogi

Adityanath was appointed by the Prime Minister after a landslide

victory in the state elections earlier this month. The choice is

being seen as a decisive moment in Mr Modi's leadership of India. You

wonder whether the veils have fallen, and whether or when you

remove the moss, what you see behind this Prime Minister that harps on

about development and this inclusive paradigms, actually the mask is a.

Four is behind this mask, you have a very divisive man, who believes that

India is a country of Hindus only. Yogi Adityanath's political career

began a quarter of a century ago in the unrest that followed the

destruction of a 16th century mosque by a Hindu mob. He's vowed to build

a Hindu temple on the site, and that is a move that risks reopening one

of the deepest wounds in modern Indian history.

Scientists from New York University have published a new theory

which could explain why our brains are so large.

Their new study, which examined the skulls

of primates including monkeys, lemurs and humans,

claims its down to diet, not social behaviour.

Our Science reporter Melissa Hogenboom has been

to New York where they carried out the research.

For the last couple of decades, a key idea has been that the social

brain hypothesis was the reason, the key driving factor for a big brain.

This suggests that social factors are the main thing that helped us

grow such complex lead large brains. You and I conversing right here, we

can do that because our brains have complex language abilities, and we

are allowed to do this because in human evolution, there were large

groups of us that supported each other and help each other find food.

We need a complex communication, so do social abilities were the key

binding factors of our group. The idea being that the group drove the

developing brain. What about the new theory now? The study looked at 140

primate species, including monkeys, apes and asked, and advertised what

they ate, social structures. They found that when they put these ideas

together, the key driving factor was actually food. It wasn't just food,

the fact that animals that eight calorie high food such as fruit,

tended to have bigger brains. That came first, then social groups

became important. And you had the outlier, the orangutan, who has a

big brain, but not big families. They are solitary creatures that go

round in small groups to avoid predators and to hunt together, but

usually roam alone. They don't have large groups. That takes away from

the social brain, because they have very large brains, one of the

largest primates around. They were not included in the original

analysis of the social brain analysis.

25,000 people have been told to evacuate as a major cyclone bears

Cyclone Debbie is expected to cross the north Queensland coast sometime

It's currently a category four system but forecasters say it

could go to category five - the highest level.

The Whitsunday region will be hardest hit.

Winds of up to 275 kilometres an hour are expected,

as well as tidal surges up to seven metres high.

This is what Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said

For those in the path of tropical Cyclone Debbie, take care and stay

safe. If you have received an official evacuation order, you and

your family must leave home immediately. Seek shelter with

friends or family who are inland or on higher ground. If you decide to

shelter at home, make sure you are prepared, have you or emergency kit

ready, and listen to the radio for cyclone updates. Check on your

neighbours and vulnerable friends, and family, help them get to an

evacuation centre. The worst is still to come but this

is one picture that caught our eye. A huge tree

was toppled by the winds. And this is the scene right along

the impacted coast line. People sandbagging

their homes and businesses We will keep you up-to-date on that.

We have reported recently on floods in per room said to be the worst in

two decades. Just to update you, today, we have heard that farms and

cut branches in the country have been particularly badly hit, and

have not received enough support from the government. -- cattle

ranchers. Many farms have been turned into mud swamps after the

heavy rain and flooding. That is the situation in per roof. That is all

your round-up of news from the outside source team. Think you very

much for being with us.