10/01/2018 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Ros Atkins,

this is Outside Source.

First to California where this

mudslide has destroyed homes

and taken at least 15 lives.

The desperate search goes on.

We dug down and found a little baby,

I don't know where it came from.

We dug it out, got

the mud out of its mouth.

I hope it's OK.

They took it right to the hospital.

Ethiopia has banned foreign

adoptions, putting the future

of thousands of orphans in doubt.

We hear reaction to one of France's

best known actresses saying men

should be "free to hit on" women -

in the workplace, or

indeed, anywhere else.

And Donald Trump has been

speaking to the press,

so we'll be speaking to our press.

Stay tuned for Anthony Zurcher,

who will break down

the President's latest comments.

We will also play use of the key

clips. -- play you some of the key

clips.

We know 15 people died

in the California mudslide.

At least 20 others are missing

and dozens of homes

have been destroyed.

This is the town of Montecito.

Rivers of mud flowed

down the street.

Now, this area was also hit

by wildfires last month -

it's thought the scorched earth

those fires created prevented

the rain from being

absorbed into the ground.

As you can see in this photo,

it wasn't just mud and trees

that was washed away -

so were huge rocks.

And all of this has blocked

roads and railways.

This is Santa Barbara's

County Sheriff.

The only words I can really think of

to describe it, was it looked like a

World War I battlefield. It was

literally a carpet of mud and

debris.

As always with natural

disasters, there have been

stories of terrible loss -

and of survival.

Trees are just coming down. We ran

into the house, and right then the

boulders blustered through our

house. We got upstairs and we got to

about eight feet, nine feet up the

stairs and we crawled out a window

to the roof. The house was wiped

out, just took everything out.

Later, we were worried about the

neighbour's house and we went over

to see if they were OK. We heard a

little baby crying. We found the

kids, we took down, found a little

baby, I don't know where it came

from. We got it out, got the mud out

of its mouth. I hope that it's OK.

They took it right to the hospital.

But it was just a baby, four feet

down in the mud, under the rocks. I

am glad we got him. But who knows

what else is out there?

Another journalist there

is Kacey Drescher, who's been

tweeting out some coverage.

This image shows you an SUV is set

in amongst the debris and the mud

and the water.

You can see more of her pictures on

her Twitter feed, but she joins us

live. Thank you for your time, tell

us more about what you had seen?

Thank you for having me, I am on the

very road where I snapped those

voters last night. The 101 freeway

closure, the entire interstate which

would take you to Los Angeles is

closed, it is a swamp. Cars are

face-down, lodged in the mud. We

have new information, 15 dead, 24

missing, homes destroyed.

I was in the brunt of the damage

yesterday. I saw homes completely

wiped off their foundations, roofs

scattered into piles of debris and

cars that had obviously tumbled down

the hillside, just into fragments of

metal. It was just astonishing.

Give us an idea of the ongoing

search operation?

That is correct,

there have been helicopters dipping

over my head all day. I saw aerial

fitted of certain rescue crews on

the roofs of homes opening skylights

to see if there were survivors. I am

backing up right now because their

vehicles trying to clear out this

road, I am standing in mud well over

my boots. It is still a very muddy,

destructive area that we are in the

middle of.

You can hear the helicopter going

over my head right now. All morning

we have been trying to see if there

are any survivors in the maths.

Who are the people we can see behind

you? Can anyone come to this area?

Oh, no. It is blocked out, I am on

coast village road, a major there

where in Montecito. It is an upskill

suburb of Santa Barbara, Ellen

DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey have

homes in these neighbourhoods. They

have authorities blocking off the

entrances to these areas. We had to

show our press pass and have a

conversation with a law enforcement

officer just to get through. We are

with a gentleman right now trying to

get up the hillside to see if his

home is still standing.

Are people being allowed to try to

reach their homes, or are there some

areas which the authorities have

come to be blocked?

There are some areas the authorities

have completely blocked off, but I

will say that I have seen several

people with large suitcases and bags

tracking down this thoroughfare in

Montecito. I will try to turn around

so you can get a scope of what I am

surrounded with right now. I have

seen people coming in and out,

trying to get supplies. They have

shot of gas to the town. People

obviously can't be here right now.

Thousands of people are evacuated

and I have seen several folks with

bags. You can obviously tell, just

trying to get essentials to live off

for the time being.

We are very grateful for you

bringing us up to date, thank you

very much. That is Kacey Drescher

live in the middle of the story,

speaking on her phone. It is not a

place very TV truck would easily

reach. We can speak to people on

their phones and we appreciate Kacey

breaking away from her reporting to

do that.

I have a map of California here, if

we go on much more closely we can

see the worst hit communities are in

Santa Barbara County, just up the

coast from Los Angeles. As Kacey

told is, Oprah Winfrey lives there.

Lots of the rich and famous live

this area. Oprah Winfrey posted this

video on Instagram.

This is how deep the mud is.

And...

It is gone.

We also heard from the

TV host Ellen DeGeneres, who says

the 101 freeway in my neighbourhood

is a river. My city needs your love

and support. Montecito is the name

of the place.

James Cook has been there. We

haven't actually had a full and

detailed update for some time. I

think that tells you that they are

simply focused on trying to get into

those neighbourhoods. They talked of

one area, Romero Canyon, where

around 300 people were stuck. There

are other areas closer to the town

of Montecito which is down on the

coast, we have seen helicopters in

action. It is a very big operation,

dozens of fire engines coming into

this area in the last couple of

hours as well. We came up here

trying to make our way up the main

highway along the coast. In parts it

is completely blocked apart from

access for emergency vehicles. Mud

is very thick across the road and

the power is quite staggering. There

are now questions about what

happened before this. The ferocity

of it may be a surprise, the fact it

has happened was not. It was

preceded by the largest wildfire in

California's history, but scorched

quite an enormous area in the hills

and mountains above here. The ground

was slick and hard, making it

difficult to absorb moisture. These

rings were forecast, forecast to be

heavy, albeit not very very

prolonged period. Some of the

evacuation orders were given but the

question is if they were given for

the right areas, if they were

enforced, if people listen to them.

We bring you the biggest global

stories, with the help of BBC

journalists from all around the

world. There was James in

California. Next we turn to France.

This is Catherine Deneuve, one

of France's best known actresses,

and she's caused quite a stir.

Along with a big group of French

women who have published this open

letter in Le Monde newspaper.

It is a response to the Harvey

Weinstein scandal and the fallout

that has followed.

It says men should be

"free to hit on" women.

They also argue...

"Men have been punished summarily,

forced out of their jobs

when all they did was touch

someone's knee or try

to steal a kiss."

Anne-Elizabeth Moutet

and Farideh Cadot are two of the 100

women who signed this letter.

The letter starts by saying that

rape is a crime, sexual harassment

in the workplace is a crying and

that this is not something we could

condo. What we do condone is the way

people find themselves subjected to

a kind of one-minute hate multiplied

ad infinitum on social media, they

lose their jobs and livelihoods,

there is no due process, legal

process in any way, and the

sentences... It is the idea that

women are so stupid and weak that

they can tell the difference between

a rape and a man who, frankly, tries

to pull. We are adults. One

signatory was a body who was gang

raped, one is an Iranian who

remembers and explains in the letter

Y regimes with a religious bent have

the security... Insecurity in men/

women relationships. There is a

great deal of difference between

somebody with charm and a good

manner that you might be interested

in and somebody who, frankly, is

being a complete pain on public

transport or something. Neither of

which is illegal, but there is a

difference. We are trusting

ourselves, men and women, that in

the end we will know the difference,

women will be able, because they're

grown-ups, to say sorry, mate, not

interested, and the men themselves

will realise that it succeeds better

if you do it nicely.

We all who sign this letter are all

agreed with what they say, with the

#BalanceTonPorc and #metoo and all

the Association. We do not say they

should not be punished, we do not

say that we should stop this, we

just say that women cannot eternally

stay a victim. Equality means also

that you can say no, you can react,

you can refuse.

It has gathered not

a little criticism.

Italian actress Asia Argento

tweeted, "Catherine Deneuve

and other French women tell

the world how their interiorized

misogyny has lobotomized them

to the point of no return."

She is one of the people who has

complained about Harvey Wednesday.

-- Harvey Weinstein.

Whatever your view, the story

perfectly reflects that these issues

play out differently in France.

Hugh Schofield in Paris explains.

There is a permanent strand in

French thought, French

intellectualism, which feels that

what comes from the American

Anglo-Saxon world is suspicious and

probably overstated, and what has

happened here is an expression of

that. These are women who are saying

there is puritanism out there, a

very American, Anglo-Saxon concept,

and we want to fight that. It is a

cultural difference. There has

always been the feeling that

American-style feminists are

different from the French feminism,

because the French can understand

femininity and sexuality in a

different way. One has to add that

there is a generational issue as

well, these are older women and

there is a younger generation of

feminists coming behind who are very

angry with Catherine Deneuve for

having made the stand that she and

the other women have.

Syria now.

The UN has condemned a rise

in civilian casualties in two

areas that are marked

as de-escalation zones.

First Idlib.

Idlib is a province in the North.

The UN says, "ground attacks and air

strikes have escalated

as a Government offensive

jeopardising the safety of hundreds

of thousands of civilians".

Next Eastern Ghouta,

just outside Damascus.

We talked about this place last

night.

It's held by rebels and has been

besieged for over four years.

We're told, "Since 31

December, at least 85

civilians have been killed."

Well, this distressing video came

into the newsroom earlier

from Eastern Ghouta.

It shows the aftermath

of an air strike.

The government is escalating its

attacks.

Earlier I spoke to Mahmoud Ali Hamad

of our Arabic Service

and asked why the government

was escalating its actions

in these two areas now.

East Ghouta is one of the last

stronghold held by the opposition.

We remember how the Russians managed

to conquer Idlib, the stronger

stronghold but the opposition never

had. The result was the desecration

of the city, the displacement of

around 400,000 people. The Syrian

regime believe this is the only way

to get the opposition militants out

of those pockets. They do not

believe in their own ability to

actually take back control of those

areas, which is why we see the

involvement of the Russians at its

maximum, it is a brute force and we

have seen it in some of the pictures

that have come out. We have been

speaking to civilians via telegram,

they were telling us that the kind

of bombing that is being carried out

on them is of a different order,

something they attribute to the

Russians. We cannot verify those

allegations independently but have

come to believe that the regime now

believes that if he is to conquer

and secure the outskirts of the

capital, which is most important are

the regime and its allies, they need

to get the Russians involved in the

air.

We have seen previous sieges

resolved with an agreement where

fighters and civilians have been

allowed to leave. Are any talks of

that nature happening?

This is a very important subject

that I have talked about to

civilians and militants. I spoke to

someone just before coming on the

show, he was a militant leader and

he said to me, basically, we have to

break-up because we know what is

awaiting us. We know that plan for

us is very similar to what happened

back in December 2017, and what

happened in Homs back in 2015. So

the ability of the regime to do

those kinds of military operations

is very limited.

With the Russians' help, they hope

to achieve as much result is

possible before there are any

meetings between the different

fighting factions.

These militants who you are talking

to, realistically what do they hope

they can achieve now? Do they accept

they cannot defeat?

I pose the

question you asked, basically it is

out of desperation. He used the

example of an injured beast being

cornered. They know what is awaiting

them, they know they will be ferried

away from their families, their

families will be taken to a

different place, they will be sent

north to Idlib. They know that. It

will come the time when Idlib itself

will be literally the last

stronghold of the opposition.

Basically they are saying we are not

going to die in any other place or

pocket in Idlib, we will have our

stand and we have to fight here in

the towns and cities.

We began the programme with stories

from Syria, France and California.

In a few minutes we will turn back

to the Korean peninsular and we will

talk about Canada, because it has

filed a trade complains against the

US. It is a long one. Samira Hussain

will take us through it.

Cancer patients at a specialist NHS

hospital could face delays

to their treatment due to a major

shortage of staff -

that's the warning from a senior

doctor in a leaked email sent

to staff at Churchill

Hospital in Oxford.

He says specialist nurse numbers

at the hospital are down by 40%.

Our health editor Hugh Pym

was there earlier.

There were concerns raised us to

this e-mail got into the public

domain, written by a very senior

clinical figure here in cancer care,

Doctor Andrew Weaver, sending a note

out to fellow clinicians who had had

a meeting to discuss the situation,

with concerns about the shortfall in

staffing, particularly for cancer

nurses, specialist cancer nurses, a

40% shortfall. He said as a result

of the staff shortage they were

having to reconsider when people

started chemotherapy. For those with

virgin conditions, it would go ahead

as usual. -- for those with urgent

conditions. But for others what

might have started in two or three

weeks will now be four weeks.

This is Outside Source live

from the BBC newsroom.

Our lead story is...

At least 15 people have died in

floods and mudslides in Southern

California. The same area was

recently hit by a huge wildfire.

Some people are reportedly still

trapped in their homes.

Some of the main stories from BBC

World Service. The search for

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is

back on. It disappeared in 2014 with

over 200 people on board. Malaysia's

government will pay an American firm

up to $70 million if and only if it

manages to locate the plane.

That is from BBC Indonesia. Around

5000 Iranians facing the death

penalty for drug crimes might be

spared after sentencing guidelines

were changed and it was decided to

apply this changes retrospectively.

That is from BBC Persia. One of the

most read stories on the BBC website

and individualist is a marine

biologist who says a humpback whale

protected her from a 15 foot tiger

shark during a recent dive.

The Ethiopian government has decided

to ban adoptions by all foreigners.

The best known case of this

is Angelina Jolie, whose

adopted daughter Zahara

is originally from Ethiopia.

And Ethiopia is one of the main

countries where Americans

adopt children from.

In the last five years,

nearly 3800 Ethiopian children have

been adopted by American families.

-- in the last 15 years.

And it's expensive.

It takes a long time.

The most recent figures

we could find are for 2013 -

when the average cost to adopt

was nearly $46,000.

Very relevant to this

week's decision is the

conviction of this woman.

She's Carri Williams,

of Washington State,

and in 2013 she was convicted along

with her husband of starving

and beating her adopted daughter

from Ethiopia to death.

That sparked a broader discussion

in Ethiopia about the number

and nature of adoptions

by foreign families.

This is the perspective

of a specialist in

family law in Nairobi.

I feel the decision is very

unfortunate.

We are in a similar

situation in Kenya with our

Government haven't declared a

moratorium against international

adoptions in 2014. The reason I say

it is unfortunate is because it

comes against a background where it

is a recognised international

principle set out in the UN

Convention on the rights of the

child and our very own African

Charter on the rights and welfare of

the child that the best place for a

child to grow up in is in a family,

and a family setup for the child's

best development. So decisions like

this by Government, what they do is

lock out a lot of children who then

remain institutionalised, and an

institution should be the very, very

last report. So I understand the

need for the child to grow up in

their own culture, that is

recognised by international

standards as well. It is recognised,

that is the international law on the

adoption of children that you first

try and make sure their children

stay in their families, and if they

cannot then find a family within

their own country. And then if that

is not possible, then if there is a

family that is suitable, that is

approved and has been vetted, then

that child should grow up in a

family, not an institution.

Canada and the United States are

once again at loggerheads on trade.

This time it's Canada

which brought a complaint

to World Trade Organisation,

citing 188 different examples

of alleged wrongdoing

by the United States.

The US trade representative has been

very quick to respond. He says

Canada's claims are unfounded and

could only lower US confidence.

This is to do with a range of

disputes. Samira Hussain is live in

New York. If you can, give us a

brief summary of all of these

different issues the Canadians have?

There are all kinds of trade issues

that occur between Canada and the

United States. It and back and forth

is between levels of Government and

Canada and the United States. What

Canada has done is taken all of its

complaints to the World Trade

Organisation. That is the governing

body that adjudicates any trade

disputes. They are saying about some

of the measures the United States

has been taken in some of these

decisions has been unfair and they

have not been in line with what the

World Trade Organisation has already

listed as ways to really resolve

these kinds of disputes.

I saw you

wanted to talk about this. Aren't

they talking about Nafta in a couple

of weeks?

The timing of this is really

interesting, Batty or three weeks we

will see that Canada, the United

States and Mexico will be meeting in

Montreal Canada to be discussing

Nafta and the real negotiation of

Nafta. These re-negotiation

processes have not been going very

well. There has really been no big

conclusions coming out of it. That

has lots of people worried about the

future of this trade agreement. In

fact there are some media

organisations that are reporting

that they are worried that the

United States will just walk away

from Nafta altogether. Even the head

of one of Canada's largest banks,

the Royal Bank of Canada, has said

the same thing, they are worried the

United States will walk away from

this decades-old trade agreement.

With only 30 seconds, I hope the

Mexicans are involved in these

discussions? The Canadians and

Americans are not just working it

out themselves?

They are absolutely involved, but

what is interesting is for all the

talk you have with regard to Mexico

and the United States, we are seeing

a bigger impact is possibly

happening between Canada and the

United States and their trade

relationship.

Thank you very much, Samira Hussain

in New York.

In the second half of the programme

we will hear what Donald Trump said

in a press conference an hour ago.

See you in a minute.

Good evening to you. Let's see what

is happening around the world. As is

often the case, there has been some

wild weather somewhere around the

globe. California has been making

the weather headlines in the last

day or so, without massive storm

that ripped through and brought all

the flash flooding. This is the mass

of cloud. I will add the jet stream

now. This dip in the jet stream,

that is what helps spawn bad storm,

the rainstorm which ravaged the

region. We saw the flash flooding

and mudslides as well,

unfortunately, people lost their

lives as well. We are seeing flash

flooding in parts of Las Vegas as

the storm system moved into the

desert regions. The good news is the

weather is improving, on Thursday,

tomorrow, sunny skies in LA and San

Diego, the really unsettled weather

is across the Pacific Northwest of

the United States and into Canada.

Elsewhere, a different storm is

brewing. Around the midwest and

Canada. It has warmed up in those

really cold spots in the last day or

so, but with the clash of cold and

mild air we will seek storms

swarming around the midwest, the

Great Lakes, so there is snow on the

way. It looks like places like

Chicago and Detroit and into Canada

and Montreal, there is a fair bit of

snow on the way. Look at the

temperature drop in Montreal, from 5

degrees 2-9, that is the daytime

high. Lots of weather action

continue across North America.

Closer to home, Europe, we have the

jet stream overlaid and a little

storm brewing very close to Iberia,

around the Bay of Biscay, pushing

through as I speak with severe winds

and heavy seas around the coastal

areas. Very disturbed weather across

Siberia, through the Pyrenees and

alter the western Mediterranean as

we go across the course of their

estate.

Improving a little in the Alps, lots

of snow in the Alps in the last few

days, here are the highs on

Thursday, Madrid, London and Paris

are on a par.

Come Friday, better conditions

across Spain and Portugal, we will

seize on sunshine to think that

hovering around 7 degrees in Paris,

London and Madrid.

The weather at home, this is the

satellite picture from earlier. You

can see the gloomy weather across

the East but much brighter skies

finally filtered into many western

areas. Fog may be a problem through

the course of tonight. Wednesday

night into Thursday, extensive fog

across many western areas of the UK,

it could be very dense and last into

the afternoon on Thursday. Thursday

itself could be quite grey and

chilly in some areas.

These are the highs, around 5

degrees in Cardiff, Glasgow barely

above freezing on Thursday. If you

want a bit more on the UK weather

forecast and the weather for the

week ahead, it is coming up, as

usual, just before 10pm.

Hello, I'm Ros Atkins,

this is Outside Source,

and these are the main stories

here in the BBC Newsroom.

At least 15 people have died

in floods and mudslides

in southern California.

A group of 300 people are reportedly

still trapped in their homes

east of Santa Barbara.

We dug down, we found a little baby,

we don't know where it came from. We

got it out, got the mud out of its

mouth. I hope it's OK, they took it

right to the hospital.

Ethiopia has banned foreign

adoptions, putting the future

of thousands of orphans in doubt.

One France's best-known actresses

says men should be free to hit on

women, in the workplace, or indeed

anywhere else.

Your questions are always welcome.

#BBCOS is the hashtag.

President Donald Trump

has been meeting with

Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg

in Washington DC.

About an hour ago they held a press

conference.

Donald Trump was asked

about the investigation into alleged

collusion with Russia.

It's a Democrat hoax that was

brought up as an excuse for losing

an election that frankly the

Democrat should have won, because

they have such a tremendous

advantage in the electoral college,

so it was brought up for that

reason. But it has been determined

that there was no collusion by

virtually everybody so we will see

what happens.

Will we be open to...

We will see what happens, certainly

will see what happens, but when

there has been no collusion and

nobody has found any collusion at

any level, it seems unlikely that

you would even have an interview.

Let's go to our North America

reporter Anthony Zurcher.

I wasn't aware that almost everyone

had decided there was almost no

collusion?

I think that is a bit of

a stretch, a bit of wishful thinking

on the part of Donald Trump. I went

and counted his answer, and he said

no collusion seven times in that

short response, think that is

obvious what he wants to try to

embed in the minds of the American

public, but the Robert mullah

investigation is still ongoing. It

doesn't seem like in any way the

investigation is winding down. If he

asks Donald Trump to testify, to

provide answers to questions, there

is pretty much no way Donald Trump

is that lawyers can say no. They can

negotiate over the details but

unless Mr Trump wants to claim fifth

Amendment protections, he will have

to answer.

Frankly it is an agreement I have no

problem with but as usual they made

a bad deal. So we could conceivably

go back in that I say this, we are

very strong in the environment, I

feel very strongly about the

environment. Our EPA commissioners

are very powerful, in the sense that

they want to have clean water, clean

air, but we also want businesses

that can compete, and the Paris a

cold really would have taken away

our competitive edge, and we're not

going to let that happen. I'm not

going to let that happen.

Anthony I

always get confused, because the

president always slips and slides on

what his position on the deal is.

Right, and the United States hasn't

formally withdrawn from the

agreement yet, it can't. But he

seemed to indicate that it has and

that we might go back. I think fate

less may be in his advantage here,

the more he doesn't -- being vague

maybe in his advantage. People who

think we have already pulled out

will believe that as well. But the

bottom line is he is trying to turn

this into an economic discussion,

and economic debate, even though the

climate accord marks are not

mandatory. They are simply goals

that are optional for the US. To

make it seem like it will be the

price the United States is paying if

it continues to be a part of it.

We

have not mentioned Norway yet, yet

it was a joint press conference.

What did they talk about?

They took

about arms sales to Norway, trade,

which Donald Trump emphasised should

be reciprocal. Every time Donald

Trump gets on stage with one of

these foreign leaders, he almost

sounds like the arms dealer in

chief. He talks about how great US

military weaponry is, and encourages

our allies to buy more of it. He

views that as an economic benefit

for the United States as well.

A

quick question about the book that

has been dominating the last few

days, is that furore starting to ebb

away?

I think it is 32. Steve Bannon

was perhaps the final bit of big

news coming out of this. That you

know how the news is here, which

Donald Trump it is or whiz onto the

next big swirling controversy or

interesting story, and I think that

is happening here as well. The

question about a lasting mark from

the book is is it going to undermine

the view of Donald Trump as an

effective leader, as a capable

leader? They're obviously many

Democrats who have their suspicions

and some moderates as.

Thank you.

South Korea has always said it hoped

hosting the Winter Olympics

would would help improve relations

with North Korea.

It seems to be working.

Yesterday the two had a meeting

for the first time in two years.

Now we're told they'll meet again -

at the International Olympic

Committee's headquarters

in Switzerland on January 20.

Noor Salman, to be precise. --

Lausanne.

Things are getting more political

still because America has

announced its Vice President

Mike Pence will lead

their delegation to the Games.

And we know talks between the US

and South Korea are ramping up.

Yesterday, their presidents spoke.

Here's the transcript -

President Trump said he'd be open

to talks with North Korea

'at the right time'.

And President Moon said this today.

TRANSLATION:

In terms of security

and defence, South Korea and the

United States are the closest of

allies. We also share the same view

of the significance of the threat

from North Korea. So South Korea and

the United States have been working

closely together against North

Korea's nuclear threat.

Here's how people in Korea

are responding to this

new level of engagement.

So the Olympics could only happen in

so many decades in Korea. If North

Korea participates in this, it will

be a once-in-a-lifetime event. It

also means it could be the only

place where we can show we are

caught operating.

I think it is a

good chance, North Korean people

coming to South Korea in

PyeongChang, I think it is a good

opportunity we can become one as a

country. Our South Korean citizens

can see how North Koreans do, and

think that they are not as bad.

It

was an

it was a good chance and opportunity

for both sides to have better

relationships than before.

On the face of it, this

is North Korea's desire to be

at the Olympics that is persuading

it to talk.

That may not be all though.

This is excellent from

Karishma Vaswani on the BBC

News website on how sanctions

are also making themselves felt.

Here's more from

Sophie Long in Seoul.

So I think today we really saw that

ferried difficult diplomatic lion

that the South Korean president has

to tread now. Yesterday it was all

about inter-Korean relations, and he

is trying to have all his government

was trying to have a genuine

dialogue with North Korea, and to

really reopen Corporation. But at

the same time he has to think on an

international level. He was saying

today these two processes are,

entry, that the inter-Korean talks

in hopes will be more of is all part

of the move towards

denuclearisation. He is also

standing by his allies start he said

at this that he would not ease any

sanctions in any way that would

undermine the international

sanctions, the UN sanctions imposed

at the end of last year.

Head to the BBC news website for

more on that.

We talk about the problems

in Venezuela frequently.

Its economy is in a perilous state -

and this means people struggle

to get the basics like bread

or toilet roll being two examples.

Contraceptives is another one -

there's a shortage -

and that means some people

are having to decide

whether to have sex or not.

This is the latest

report from Katy Watson.

Margaret's pharmacy is looking a bit

empty these days. She hasn't had any

deliveries of contraceptive pills

for a year. Everyday people, looking

for them, and every day she has to

turn them away. They are having to

adapt. TRANSLATION:

It used to be

just men buying condoms, but women

are buying them now too, because

there's nothing else, and the price

of condom is has gone up 200%.

This

lady is living with the

consequences, she is now expecting

her third baby because she could not

get contraceptives. TRANSLATION:

My

first reaction was to cry. At the

moment getting contraceptive pills

is really hard. There is nothing,

and when you can get a hold of them,

they cost so much. I am making plans

to get sterilised, because the idea

of having another baby: no way.

It

is a struggle, her older boy some

fantastic without new clothes and

shoes so she can pay for our medical

appointments. When the price of food

is spiralling and contraceptives

cost 88 months salary, something has

to go. That is not just

contraceptives in short supply.

Doctors and mothers have told me

that often women have to buy their

medical supplies, like clubs and

antibiotics, and hand them the

doctor when they give birth. This

doctor says of the births he

attends, the vast majority are

unplanned. He thinks the

government's priorities are wrong.

The government, instead of giving

you as an adult sex education, give

you anti-contraception pills, condom

is, what is this government do with

the populace? If you are pregnant, I

give you house, I give you money,

but that is only for the first year,

maybe, and sometimes in food.

Last

year, this kill 1015 and had a big

party marking her passage into

womanhood. In two months' time there

is another important date, the birth

of her daughter. She is excited but

apprehensive about the future.

TRANSLATION:

I'm scared. Once I give

birth, and because it is hard to get

contraceptives and condom is, I'm

afraid that if I have sex I will get

pregnant again.

It's a reality that

more and more women and girls are

facing here in Venezuela, the choice

to decide their future taken away

from them at a time when so many

future looked so bleak. Katy Watson,

BBC News in Venezuela.

Financial services are pivotal

to the "bespoke" Brexit trade

deal that the UK wants.

That's why these two men,

Chancellor Philip Hammond

and Brexit Secretary David Davis

have travelled to Berlin to persuade

- for the time being, remember,

the German government isn't yet

fully in place, CAROUSEL German

leader Angela Merkel

fully in place, German

leader Angela Merkel

to give her support to a trade deal

between the UK and the EU

which includes financial services.

Angela Merkel is desperately trying

to create a new coalition

government, after her disappointing

was out in September's German

election. That is not resolved yet.

For the view from

Westminster, Ben Wright.

Just before Christmas, there were

high fives around Westminster among

government ministers when the broad

terms of the divorce bill between

Britain and the EU was agreed,

including the financial settlement

Britain had the papers. But that was

just the first app, the first hurdle

that have to be cleared. What we are

seeing now is the beginning of the

second phase of Brexit negotiations,

and it's all about the future

relationship between the EU and the

UK, in particular the trade

relationship. So we are seeing two

key ministers, the Chancellor and

the Brexit secretary, who were on

different sides during the

referendum, showing a united front

on this charm offensive in Germany,

putting a chummy arm around German

businesses, saying even though

Britain is leading the singles

market and -- the single market and

the customs union there can still be

a really close, good trade deal

between the EU and the UK that works

in the interest of both sides. The

UK is asking for a bespoke deal that

incorporates goods and services. The

U:K.'s very worried about the future

of the City of London. That is the

case they are making in Germany. For

their part, the EU has said for

months that they will not

countenance a bespoke deal with the

UK, that the UK can't carry pick the

best bits of the single market it

once, and that there can be no

special arrangements of the City of

London. They go into the talks

fairly far apart, and while the UK

is in Germany, the EU throughout

this process has so far shown it is

very solid as a negotiating block.

Before their trip the pair wrote

an article in the German

newspaper Frankfurter

Allegmeine saying...

For the German perspective -

here's the German-British

Chamber of Commerce.

I think they are trying to get the

best deal for Britain. Whether they

will succeed remains to be seen

because from the German government

point of view and the European Union

point of view, yes and original

deals might help individual

businesses, but the Germany and the

EU it is also important single

market stays intact, and therefore

it will be difficult to negotiate

bespoke deals. As we recall just a

few months ago, everyone was talking

about no deal is better than a bad

deal and other want to do individual

deals and that will be difficult,

but they will try to convince the

German politicians and also the

business world that that might be an

option. Of course Britain wants to

sell financial services very easily

to the rest of the EU, but if it

doesn't want to stick to the rule

book it will be difficult for the

others to accept such kind a model.

If we start unpick the European

market and I think the whole market

is in danger and I will probably be

more expensive for the EU, and

therefore I think the EU is less

willing to come from as with Britain

on that front.

Thousands of people who've been

stranded in the Alps

are now seeing some relief.

Trains are moving again,

helicopters are ferrying people

out if they need it,

but others are making

the best of the situation.

Imogen Foulkes reports.

For those who are in a huge hurry,

the helicopters are waiting. Some

tourists, though, seem quite happy

exactly where they are. TRANSLATION:

Since we have arrived yesterday

morning, and we are leaving

Saturday, we don't feel blocked at

all.

But for communities across the

Alps, the heavy snow continues to

cause problems. Some villagers are

still cut off. Others are without

power. The biggest worry of all is

over avalanches. Tonnes and tonnes

of snow has fallen, and the weather

is warmer than normal. It means the

snow is loose, wet and heavy. More

likely to slip down the mountain.

Winter sports fans are being warned

to stay only on slopes and parts

marked clearly as safe. Meanwhile,

the Alpine authorities are working

round the clock to clear the snow.

Their window of opportunity may be

short. More snow is forecast for

Thursday.

Earlier in the newsroom,

BBC environment correspondent

Navin Singh Khadka called me -

he wanted to show me some pictures

he'd be sent of glaciers

in the Himalayas that are melting.

This involves vast amounts of water

- and new research has found this

water is being held in hundreds

of icy ponds above the surface -

and in rivers below it.

What happens then matters

because MAP the Himalayas cover

a wide area including India

and China - and water

is a precious commodity.

This study was conducted

at the Khumbu glacier in Nepal -

right next to Mount Everest.

And the ponds themselves are huge -

several times bigger

than an Olympic swimming pools.

Navin Singh Khadka.

So where is the place film of water

in the Himalayan region going? That

has been a puzzle for scientists. As

a result, this report has found that

on these debut covered place years,

hundreds of icy ponds have been

formed, and they are holding back

the water, and also releasing it,

regulating it basically. So what

scientists are saying is these icy

ponds will be holding more and more

water back, because they will become

bigger, more void, which means the

future water security, these icy

ponds will hold the key. They saying

is although the study is on one

particular glacier, this is a story

that resonates the entire Himalayan

region, China, no power, Afghanistan

-- Nepal. Scientists are saying if

there are closely is that our deep

recovered in the or Andes or

Rockies, similar situations will

happen in the wake of climate

change, the rising global

temperature that is causing

accelerated Lisa Hill notes. And it

is not just about water, when more

water gets accumulated, it also

could mean disaster is impending,

flash floods and so on.

We will finish the programme now by

looking at the British Army.

The British Army has defended

a new recruitment campaign

which focuses on the emotional

and physical support

it gives to soldiers.

The Army wants to reassure

applicants that their sexuality

or religion will not stand

in the way of becoming a soldier.

Mark Urban is a correspondent for

BBC Newsnight.

Mark, along with Jonathan Beale,

are two of the BBC's journalists

who know this story best.

This is Jonathan's report.

It is all right to cry and show

emotion in the army -

it is a recruitment

campaign very different

to those of the past.

Part of what is called

"Army belonging".

Voiced by soldiers to say

there is emotional as well as

physical support for new recruits.

The adverts answer questions

such as, "Can I be gay

and join the army?"

Whilst a Muslim soldier

explains how he can

still practice his faith.

All aimed at groups not seen

as the traditional target audience,

but minorities who may have been

reluctant to sign up.

Our traditional cohort

would have been

white, male, Caucasian,

16 to 25-year-olds and there are not

as many of those around

as there once were.

Our society is changing

and so it is appropriate

for us to reach out

to a broader base.

The Army has been struggling

to recruit, made all the more

difficult by a lack of a major

campaign like Afghanistan or Iraq.

War is often the best

recruiting sergeant.

It is also competing in an era

of relatively high employment.

The regular strength

of the Army should be 82,000.

But it is currently just

over 77,000 strong.

A shortfall of more than 4,000.

But some former soldiers question

whether the Army is trying to be too

politically correct

with these adverts.

They are aiming their recruiting

campaign at specific

minorities and they should be aiming

at more broadly at the kind of

people who will want

to join the army,

the people who are looking for a

fight, looking for

action and adventure.

This older advertisement

is what people might expect from

the Army.

A recent plan to drop

its "Be The Best" motto

because it was seen as elitist,

was blocked by the

Defence Secretary.

It is still an organisation

whose job is to be

ready for combat.

But the head of the army

says it must broaden its

appeal and reflect modern Britain.

Just quickly before we finish,

remember yesterday we were talking

about the Japanese astronaut who is

currently on the International Space

Station? He announced he had grown

nine centimetres in his three weeks

up in space. Now he has told us that

in fact he got that wrong, and in

fact he has grown two centimetres in

his three weeks in space. That is

average for astronauts in zero

gravity. They do grow, just not

quite as much as this man told us.

He says there was a measurement

error, which is one way of putting

it. Given that these astronauts have

to carry out lots of experiments, we

are hoping his attention to detail

is back on track pretty soon.

Apologies forgetting that wrong but

we took him at his word that he had

grown and he had not quite as much

as he said. See you tomorrow.