20/06/2017 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.

Some breaking news from Belgium, the central railway station in in

Brussels has been evacuated after a small explosion.

We start with another incident in the sky over Syria.

The US coalition have shot down an Iranian made drone.

This comes just a day after Russia said they would view

The head of the UN is calling for calm.

We hope that there will be a de-escalation of the situation,

because these kinds of incidents can be very dangerous in a conflict

The US has responded furiously to the death of Otto Warmbier -

the American student held captive in North Korea and returned home

The President has called it a disgrace.

If he had been brought sooner, I think the result would have been a

He should have been brought home that same day.

And in Phoenix, Arizona, more than 40 flights have been grounded,

because it's too hot for the planes to fly.

Let's start in Brussels and look at some of the news copy coming into

the BBC newsroom. A spokesman for the Belgian police has told the BBC

a man triggered a small explosion in the central train station in

Brussels. We are told the man was neutralised by military forces. No

one else is believed to be injured and the police say the situation is

under control. This is Brussels central station in the centre of the

city. It has been evacuated and these are the pictures that we have

coming in to the news room. From just outside the central station.

You can see the area cordoned off. Only a few police officers inside.

Let's bring in... In a minute we will bring in some more updates from

our colleagues in Brussels. At the moment, the police are saying the

situation is under control. One person who was at the centre of the

incident has been neutralised, although we don't have a definition

of neutralised from the police. They say the situation is under control.

We believe this large train station has been evacuated.

Aircraft shoots down armed Shaheed-129 pro-Syrian #UAV

"It displayed hostile intent and advanced on coalition forces."

The coalition being referred to is the US and its allies.

See all this in the context of the US shooting down

And the Russians saying they would treat any

Today they've accused the US coalition of "complicity

We've also heard from the UN Secretary General.

We hope that there will be a de-escalation of the situation,

because these kinds of incidents can be very dangerous in a conflict

situation in which there are so many actors and in which the

situation is so complex on the ground.

So indeed I'm concerned and I hope that this will not lead to

any escalation of a conflict that is already as dramatic as it is.

Sebastian Usher is the Syrian analyst.

An Iranian made drone. The area where it happened on the border,

Syria, Iraq and Jordan, is where the US is training force. Some going to

fight in Iraq and other places. It has been the scene of several

incidents like this. There was another drone the US shot down just

a couple of weeks ago. So these are multiplying these incidents, where

this takes us is to perhaps unchartered territories. This was

the concern of Obama administration that the Syrian conflict could draw

the US into direct conflict with Russia and Iran. We are beginning to

see that happening. The Russians reacted strongly in one sense by

saying the areas where their air force is operating, to the wefs of

the the area is out-of-bounds. They will regard any flying object, any

drone, any plane there, as a target potentially. So they're telling the

Americans to stay on the other side of the river to the east, where is

the Kurdish-led rebel forces who are taking the fight to Raqqa, that is

the side they're on and it is a warning, we saw Australia pull out

of coalition earlier today, because of that. Seeing that there is

complications ahead. This is all about partly what is happening now

and partly what happens after Isis goes. We are getting to the stage in

the conflict where the division of Syria, the division of these areas

which have been put to some extent in suspension by the fight has all

been against IS and now having to be looked at more choice Klosely. What

-- More closely. What time scale are we looking. After Isis has been

forced out of its main areas in Raqqa and Mosul, Isis will still

have areas it controls, but they won't be cities, they won't be

towns, so those areas, if you look at a map of much of it is desert,

the largest part of Syria is under Isis control. And you are looking at

who gets those areas. You're seeing Syrian forces moving into those

areas, looking to ensure they're not pushed out, that they have a say the

Russians, the Iranians and the Turks are involved and invested in the

future of Syria. This is what I think we are seeing the start of. It

might escalate into something worse and might be kept at this level. We

will have to see. Thank you. Now back to the dropping story in

Brussels, a security incident at the central railway station. A lot of

different information. Reuters quoting local media, police have

neutralised the person wearing an explosive belt. The BBC heard from

the Belgian federal police that a man had triggered a small explosion,

he was neutralised, this word is being extensively used, because the

police are using it, no one else is believed to be injured. CBS said

explosion-like noises prompting an evacuation of the main square. These

are pictures coming in. You can see armed police and a big area around

the station has been cordoned off. The police are saying in interviews

with the international media and local media that the situation is

under control. Working on this story for the BBC in Brussels is Damian

Grammaticas. I have gone through some of the basics of the story,

what more are you hearing from the contacts talking to you there? What

we have heard is from a witness who was at the scene in the train

station. At the time of the incident. This was a gentleman who

was trying to catch a train at the time. He saw the initial part of

this incident. What he described was a small ignition so, something that

caught fire. He was very clear, he said there was not an explosion or

any pressure wave or anything that you would expect from that. This is

someone with a military background, so he speaks from experience, he

said, there was a small ignition, a bag or something that had been there

in the station ignited. There were flames that erupted from it. He saw

one person close to it at the time. But thought that person was a passer

by. Somebody carrying what looked like a folded bike he thought. He

moved away quickly from the scene. Left the area. He wasn't witness to

any particular explosion. But he did see the a device that was possibly a

device igniting. Possibly failing to explode. That is unconfirmed. What

we then know is coming from the official police sources or the

crisis centre, that the security forces, police and military, were

quickly at the scene and there have been security forces deployed around

the train stations. This is the central station. Ever since those

attacks before. They moved quickly and the crisis centre said they had

neutralised one person in connection with this incident. That is what we

know. There was a slew of social media reports coming out in the

immediate aftermath. Our witness told is happened at 8.44. He knew

because he was catching a train. It was after that we saw police move

in, lows close down the station and roads around it. Quickly bringing

the area under control. And since then they have been, they have moved

their perimeter, but they have had control of that whole area. I have

seen tweets and references a suicide belt or an explosives belt. Can we

confirm that detail? That I can't confirm, no. What we have heard from

the crisis centre was this statement, that one person, the

implication was this was somebody believed to be connected with the

ignition or the flames that erupted. That that security force had

neutralised a person, thought to be connected with this incident. So

that is what we know officially at this stage. So I couldn't confirm

more than that. Thank you very much. You know where we are if you find

out any more. Of course I'm live with you with the BBC's news room in

London. As and when we get more information on this, we will bring

it to you. To reiterate, I will keep an eye on the news wires and the

latest social media. Next we can speak to David Coburn, a Ukip MEP,

live us with on the phone. Tell us what you know about this incident?

I'm having dinner in a restaurant and people started running past in a

panic. Quite a big panic. We all, we thought it might be some people

armed or something like that. And they were panicking, saying

terrorism and stuff like that. So I immediately ordered another bottle

of wine. When in doubt. The next thing is we, they were saying

that... The station had been closed off, but they said a 1930s Art Deco

station and it is sort of underground. There is a mall and you

go down. It is difficult to see what would have happened. You couldn't

find out what happened inside. By that time the police had cordoned it

off. We know the situation is under control at the moment, we are seeing

pictures as I talk to you of police vehicles and ambulances on the

scene. What is the situation like where you are, please? They have

closed off a lot of car parks and such like in the Old Town and more

or less seems to have been closed off. I live in the Old Town, so it

is not such a problem. But other people are stuck here. There is a

police helicopter flying about. Or I think it has stopped now. But

they're taking it seriously. But the, Brussels for some time has been

a bit like Belfast in the 1970s, not a good situation. When I was first

here as an MEP you didn't have that nonsense and it was a fun and free

and easy town. The it is not that way now. David, thank you. David

Coburn, a Ukip member of the European Parliament who was close by

to Brussels central station where this incident took place. Just to

reiterate if you're turning on and these are some of the news wires

coming into the BBC, we saw this coming in from colleagues in the BBC

newsroom in Brussels, central railway station evacuated.

Both our guests have said the level of security has increased in

Brussels in the last 18 months. I will keep aBrest of this and as

there are new develops I will bring them to you. Now a story that came

through to us this time yesterday. Donald Trump has been speaking

about the death of Otto Warmbier. This is the 22-year-old American

student who died yesterday - after spending over a year

in custody in North Korea. He'd returned to the US last

week, but was in a coma. It's a total disgrace

what happened to Otto. It should never ever have been

allowed to happen and, frankly, if he had been brought sooner,

I think the result would have been a He should have been brought

home that same day. The result would have

been a lot different. But what happened to

Otto is a disgrace. Let's bring in Barbara Plett Usher.

What efforts were made to get Otto Warmbier home. There was efforts

since he was arrested and imprisoned. We know that, because

that is the general way it happens, also because Otto's father talked

about his contacts with the previous administration. He said they were

told not to talk about it. But that is the way it was done. This case

was different in term o's of what happened to Otto and the father felt

if they had spoken out something more might have happened. We

understood from the white House that President Trump told the secondary

of state to prioritise getting the prisoners out of North Korea and

there were discussions and through that process they discovered that

Otto Warmbier was in a coma and agreed to be bring him home and the

state department envoy went there and came back with him and there he

met the others three, a face to face meeting the spokeswoman said. But

bringing back Mr Warmbier, although they were happy to have him back, it

was a tragedy with his death yesterday. When we talked, I pulled

up a tweet from Donald Trump, he said s I appreciate the efforts of

president Xi it has not worked. I know China tried. Sips we spoke --

since we spoke, I have read some analysis of this tweet, trying to

understand this, whether China got involved in trying to free Otto warm

bear. I was referred to the White House. It is not clear whether he is

referring to negotiations over Warmbier or the larger issue of

dealing with North Korea's nuclear weapons. For Warmbier, all we have

heard is by lateral negotiations, they haven't mentioned China. We

know that there are going to be meetings tomorrow involving the

Secretary of State and the Secretary of defence and high level counter

parts from China to talk about security issues, but North Korea

will be high on the list and officials said they had seen

co-operation from China, although they were looking for more and they

will be discussing for example North Korean entities that are sanctioned

through the UN but work with China. But there is a feeling this is

something we continue with and that hasn't changed. If he China has

failed on the larger issue, that feeling is not reflected in the

state department. Thank you. Stay us with. We are going to go back to

America to look at Georgia, there is a congressional election that is

turning into what most consider to be a referendum on Donald Trump.

The duch has warned a deal to shore up Theresa May's -- DUP has warned a

deal to shore up Theresa May Conservative Party Government is not

iminnocents. Our correspondent said it is not clear what demands are

preventing a deal. We can't be absolutely certain,

what we do know is they have been looking for funding proposals

for Northern Ireland, whether it be in health

or education funding, or possibly aallowing Northern Ireland

to cut its local rate of corporation tax to compete with the low rate

south of the Irish border in

the Irish Republic. It may well be there has been

some resistance from the But beyond that the DUP

have been complaining about what they claim

is a chaotic approach by Downing Street

to the negotiations and they say it certainly was not

what they had expected. As you will know, our lead story has

been that the Americans have shot down a pro-regime drone over Syria.

But we have been covering this breaking story in Brussels, where

there has been an incident at the central railway station. The police

say a person has been neutralised and the situation is under control.

Barclays and four former of its executives have

This is over their actions in the 2008 financial crisis -

and it's the first time criminal charges related to that

period have been brought against a bank in the UK.

You can find the charges online if you're really keen -

Charged with criminal conduct, Barclays and four members

of the bank's top brass, including former Chief Executive

John Varley and former head of Barclays' Middle Eastern

This is the first time senior executives of any British bank have

faced criminal proceedings for their conduct during

While the UK Government was busy using taxpayers money

to rescue RBS and Lloyds, Barclays came here,

to Qatar, for emergency cash to keep it afloat.

In 2008, Barclays raised a total of ?12 billion

from Middle Eastern investors, including Qatar Holding,

There was a sweetener, ?332 million was paid to Qatar

for advisory services, payments that weren't disclosed.

Not only that, but Barclays lent ?2 billion to Qatar Holding

allegedly to buy shares in Barclays, lending others money

So why did Barclays turn down Government money?

The Chief Executive at the time, and one of the people charged today,

The circumstances were very far from normal.

We needed speed, we needed certainty and we needed size.

Looking back on, it I have to say, given the extreme fragility

of the sentiment in the markets at that time, I'm very glad indeed

that we managed to raise the capital that we did raise at that time.

Government ministers at the time have a different explanation.

Barclays did not want to have anything to do

I believe that was partly because of a political view

that this would look like creeping nationalisation and also,

quite frankly, because the UK Government's money came with quite

Now, if it's proven that crimes were committed here to some it

still won't be clear who the victims were.

The taxpayer didn't have to shell out.

Shareholders in Barclays did better than shareholders in RBS or Lloyds,

but others will say rules are rules and if this approach of prosecuting

individuals as well as institutions helps change a stubborn culture

throughout banking of not following those rules then

Now we're starting to move to a more American approach where individuals

are in the frame for doing things wrong within the business world.

That is likely to concentrate people's minds and make

them think about - is what I'm about to do a really

sensible thing if it's going to be me standing in the dock?

Fraud convictions can carry sentences of up to ten years,

Richard Boath, have said they will defend

John Varley is yet to comment and Barclays the company said

Let's return to a developing story in Brussels, concerning an incident

at the central railway station. These are pictures coming into the

BBC at the moment, you can see police present, the whole area has

been cordoned off. A lot of copy coming into the BBC newsroom as

well. This is the Brussels prosecutor's office, saying there

appears to be no civilian injuries or deaths. The AP news agency

telling us that. This is from the BBC in Brussels, they have spoken to

the police who, say a man triggered a small explosion in a train

station. The man was neutralised by military forces and we shouldn't be

surprised there was armed police presence, because of recent attacks.

There is a reasonable security presence all the time. It says no

one else is believed to have been injured and the police say the

situation is under control. If you look under these bits of wire copy,

that message is being repeated, the police saying is it is not an

ongoing situation. A man has been neutralised, to use the police's

words. Although they haven't expand what had they mean by that. All they

say is that the city's main train station is empty and has been ehave

been aing waited the but the situation is -- evacuated, but the

situation is under control. We will keep monitoring this and I will be

back with another half an hour of Outside Source in a couple of

minutes' time. A look at some weather stories from

around the word. A lot of activity in Africa with a lot of thunder

storms is that have drifted across the