28/02/2018 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Kasia Madera,

this is Outside Source.

The children of Parkland return

to school, two weeks to the day

after a gunman walked

in and killed their friends,

while Donald Trump pins the gun

debate on mental illness.

I'll tell you this, you'd have to

have very strong provisions for the

mentally ill. A lot of people are

saying I shouldn't be saying that. I

tell you what, I don't want mentally

ill people to be having guns.

The

battle over Brexit, London and

Brussels at odds over the Irish

border as one former prime ministers

has Britain should reconsider its

current path.

Nobody can truly know

what the will of the people may then

be, so let Parliament decide, or put

the issue back to the people.

And

the latest on the beast from the

used, as cold weather is taking its

toll on Europe. Get in touch with us

-- beast from the East.

Welcome to Outside Source.

Gun control in the US has been back

on the agenda since a mass shooting

in Florida two weeks ago.

President Donald Trump is currently

speaking to a diverse mix

of senators and representatives,

urging them to come up

with comprehensive legislation

to prevent school shootings.

Let's cross over live to Washington

and have a listen to this meeting.

Because I want this to be the last

one of these I ever have to have. If

we can do universal background

checks and ban bump stock 's, and

get rid of the Dieke Amendment, and

do it now and show my American

people, that we are actually ready

to act, they will feel better, and

you can get this done, Mr President,

I want to give that to you.

Thank

you very much, thank you. So, if I

could just sum up, Chris and John,

Pat, Joe, maybe you could all get

together and you will start at, from

that standpoint. Other people,

Diane, you have some very good

ideas, we all have, Marco, I know

you have a lot, if you could all get

together, we could put in one great

piece of legislation, Chuck, I think

you will have an amazing result in

the vote. Votes are hard to get in

Congress, that is what has been

happening. You will have an amazing

result, people will be shocked to

see the numbers, it is not going to

be 60, it will be way above 60,

maybe even a number that nobody

would even believe. People want to

see something happening, but they

want to say something good happen

too, but just another piece of... I

mean, we didn't pass anything, let

alone some good stuff. We want to

pass something great, and to me,

something great has to be where you

stuff it from happening and I think

there is only one way. But, again,

if you feel not to have that, you

understand, I want a counter, I want

a very strong counterpunch, because

if you have a strong counterpunch,

you're not going in and you are not

go down this problem any more.

Remember the 98% figure, 19% of

these attacks, gun free zones, no

backlash, no death to them, death to

everybody else. But if you four can

do it together and do something and

maybe set the foundation, add to the

foundation with some of the great

things said, we would have a bill,

Steve, it is very hard to the one

thing that you want, I will tell

you, I am a fan. Let's consider it

for a separate bill. But, again, we

also want things that can be

approved. You have to look at the

age of 21 for certain types of

weapons, I mean, certain people

aren't going to like that but you

will have to look at that very

seriously. And I think we will have

a vote, I think we will have a very

successful vote, and I will sign it,

and I will call whoever you want me

to if I like what you are doing, and

I think I like what you are doing

already, but you can add to it. You

have to be very powerful on

background checks, don't be shy.

Very strong on mentally ill. You

have to be very, very strong on

that, and don't worry about bump

stock 's, we are getting rid of it

can be don't have to complicate the

bill by adding another two

paragraphs. We are getting rid of

it. I will do that myself, because I

am able to, fortunately we are able

to do that without going through

Congress. So if the full review

could work together and come up with

some beautiful foundation, add and

subtract to it, put it for a vote,

let's get it done. That is what we

have to do.

Mr President, what do we

do about weapons of war easily

accessible on our street?

What you

will have to do is discuss it with

everybody, no, it is a very complex

solution, you have weapons on the

street, these are black-market

weapons. You know the problem,

Diane, is these aren't where you

walk into a store and buy it, this

is where someone hands you a gun

and...

You go into a store, and you

can buy a AR-15, you can buy all

these weapons.

This is what you're

going to have two discuss, Joe and

Pat. You will sit down with Diane

and everybody else, and you will

come up with something. I really

believe it has to be very strong. I

would rather have you come down on

the strong side, instead of the weak

side. The weak side would be much

easier, I would rather have you come

up with a strong, strong bill, and

really strong on background checks.

With that, I just will end it, but I

just want to thank everybody. I

really believe we are on the road to

something terrific. Thank you all

very much, thank you.

STUDIO: So

that is the end of the meeting,

Donald Trump meeting various types

of politicians, and here talking

about gun control, putting the onus

on the politicians to come up with

some suggestions. That was the end

of the meeting but Nick Wyatt in

Washington has been monitoring this

farce. What was your reading of what

was said?

I think -- of this for us.

He was talking about a big con

brands of bill that would be

beautiful, actually it doesn't mesh

with quite what is on the table at

the moment. Donald Trump saying they

have to be very strong on background

checks, yes, there is a bill before

the Senate that would do just that,

but it is quite small reforms. In

the meeting, although he did not

omit to it, was possibly raising the

age that you have to be to 21 to buy

the semiautomatic rifles. An

interesting intervention from Dianne

Feinstein, the senior Democrat from

California, and he said you need to

talk to her and maybe we can get her

ideas incorporated as well. What she

is calling for is a ban on

semiautomatic weapons, and that is

very unlikely that the Republican

party would agree to that. But

Donald Trump was happy for raising

the age, in favour of getting

background checks, but the biggest

idea he had in this meeting, and

isn't worth stressing this, this pet

project he has had ever since the

parkland shootings, to put more guns

in schools, in the hands of school

staff, who could provide firepower,

as he put it, if eight gunmen walked

into a school and started shooting.

How -- if a gunman walked into a

school and started shooting. How was

that received?

There was a bid of a

pushback from the Democrats. The

meeting was interesting, most of the

Democrats in their work pretty

deferential. They saw this as a

chance to try and get from Donald

Trump a few public promises without

his aides or the NRA saying, hang on

a minute, you can't do that, you are

going to far. Sometimes Donald Trump

doesn't have a great command of all

the sort of granular detail of this

sort of stuff, and doesn't quite

fully understand, you sometimes

think, what precisely he is emitting

himself too. For instance, the

Democratic senator from West

Virginia try to get him to commit to

close what are called the gun show

loopholes in the background checks,

and he came very close to doing it

but he just stopped short. So it was

a very interesting meeting, but one

of the headlines to come from it, I

think, is that his favourite project

is to arm more teachers. But I think

one thing that was really into

during about that meeting was what

Donald Trump were saying about the

NRA. He says you are petrified of

the NRA, you are fearful of them,

more fearful of them than I am, and

I think that is absolutely true. And

publicly chiselling away at the

power of the NRA as Donald Trump was

doing there was something very rare

for a Republican president to do in

public. I think the NRA would have

been watching that, very nervous

about what he would commit to, and

also nervous about the sort of

public challenge he put two senators

and house members in that room at

the White House, to push back

against the NRA. It is very rare the

NRA hears that from a Republican

president.

Good overview to some

that up for us. Thank you. It is

particularly pertinent, this

meeting, because we had a feud of

elements, earlier today a major gun

retailer said they would stop

selling that type of rival that was

used by a teenage gunman to kill 17

people at the school in Florida we

have been talking about. It was my

called Dick's Cass sporting Goes, it

has about 300 stores across the US,

and it says they will no longer sell

that assault rifle or the firearms

of any kind to anyone under the age

of 21. Of course this comes as

students in Parkland, Florida,

returned to the school for the first

time since that shooting in February

14, a very poignant day to them. One

of the survivors has shared her

feelings with us.

I am scared it will happen again. I

will have that feeling for the first

week or two. I think eventually it

will be normal again but not the

same normal it was before. They will

probably be a new type of normal.

Though 17 people will not be there.

They will be weird.

Welcome back.

Thank you.

It is not going to be the

same, but it will be OK.

Let's talk to our correspondence in

Parkland in Florida. This has been a

particularly poignant day for the

students returning back to school.

Yes, absolutely. The walkway to the

school behind me, there are still a

makeshift memorial there with

posters from schools across the

country really honouring the 14

students and three staff members who

were killed. Earlier, this walkway

was lined with members of the

community, police officers, staff,

students from surrounding schools,

giving the students high fives,

hiding them, religious greeting them

and saying welcome back to show them

support. A lot of the students had

mixed reactions going in, mixed

feelings. They wanted to reconnect

with teachers on one hand, but they

didn't want to have to face the

memories from that traumatic day.

And we had from that student, I

spoke with Lyle Dawson when she came

out, and she said in school they

focused on playing board games and

having fun and trying to forget

about that day. But she said it was

also a very loving environment, and

so she felt like it did make her

heel, because as she said, life goes

on and this was just a necessary

step for them on their path to

healing.

This return to school comes

as Florida's lawmakers are also

preparing a package of gun-control

bills. They will consider raising

the legal age of buying rifles from

18 to 21 and giving police more

control to seize weapons from

mentally ill people. Something we

heard Donald Trump speaking about.

That is in response to a movement

that has been led by students and

those survivors of the Parkland

shooting. Students have been

releasing a series of videos, like

this one.

What if instead of

thoughts and prayers you had policy

and change?

Our thoughts and

prayers, our thoughts and prayers.

What if civilians could not access

assault weapons?

Might trigger

finger is getting tired.

What if we

voted our lawmakers who accepted

donation money from the NRA out of

office?

They have so many rifles and

so many guns, sometimes even I get a

little concerned.

What if

politicians actually listened to the

concerns of my generation?

We call

BS.

That video released by some

of the survivors...

Neda, we've spoken about US

gun laws many times

after these types of events.

Is this different?

Are we seeing a change?

Well, look, I think this is the

first time we've had survivors of a

mass shooting Beavis Vogel. You have

politicians in the past have said

let us not politicise this issue,

but here you have students wanting

to challenge politicians, to

challenge the NRA and speak about

this. One student, Dimitri

Foulquier, wears a red ribbon

everyday now, and he says he does

that showed able persevere, they

will continue to push this issue.

They were in the state capital in

Florida, specifically saying they

are against arming teachers, but

they want the age range raised there

to 21, and a ban on assault rifles.

They are really demanding

politicians to act and they are

trying to turn this into a voter

lead issue. In the past, we really

haven't seen people decide their

vote based on a politician's stance

on gun control, and that is what the

students here are trying to change.

Their next major push is actually a

march for our lives, they are

calling it, on Washington, to make

this a national campaign and

maintain this momentum.

Thank you

very much is always. We will have

much more reaction on what Donald

Trump is saying. Stay with us here

on Outside Source. Lots more still

to come on the programme.

Three men have been arrested this

evening in connection with an

explosion in Leicester. Five people

including three members of the same

family, other litre have died when a

flat and shop were destroyed on

Sunday. Police are yet to formally

identify them. Emergency services

said before search will take days.

Now we have this use, brief press

release from Leicestershire police

saying that three people are

arrested on suspicion of

manslaughter. They say they were

arrested between five and six this

evening. One man comes from East

Anglia, the second is from the

north-west and the third is from the

East Midlands. They say they would

be giving any more details about the

men at this stage, but they go on to

stress once more that there remains

no evidence that the explosion was

in any way terrorist related. Police

don't say what actually caused the

blast, so we still don't know.

This is Outside Source, live from

the BBC newsroom. Our lead story is

that the children of Parkland have

returned to school, two weeks to the

day after a gunman killed 17 people

at the school, and Donald Trump has

been meeting lawmakers to try to

push new legislation to combat

school shootings. From around the

BBC Newsroom Live, thousands of fans

have been paying their last respects

to the Bollywood star in India for

stop crowds lined the streets as a

specially decorated truck carrying

her body was taken to a cemetery in

Mumbai. The 54-year-old was cremated

with state honours. She died in them

by at the Wigan. BBC Arabic reports

that a South African born

construction worker who fell to his

death in Qatar was using potentially

lethal equivalent -- at the weekend.

They coroner's in quest into Zachary

Cox's death is hearing how he

plummeted 40 kilometres at Doha's

Khalifa International Stadium. Work

practices were described as

inherently unsafe. This is something

a lot of people are watching online.

As the heavy snow started to fall

across Scotland, these deer were

spotted walking down a street. Alan

Taylor filmed them from his home in

the morning.

We have been reporting about the

gun-control, America's uncontrolled

discussion, of course this effect

the business news as well. The most

prominent gun retailer, Dick's

Sporting Goods, so they will

permanently stop selling assault

style rifles, that is the type of

weapon used in the mass shooting at

the school in Florida two weeks ago.

Let's cross over to Joe Miller who

joins us from New York. How is the

business community? Of course the

NRA is conscious of this, how is the

business community looking at this

event?

I think it is a landmark

moment from the business community.

What we have seen after previous

shootings, previous tragedies, is

that after the backlash is against

politicians. And there have been

attempts to turn the eye of

campaigners against corporations but

they have generally fizzled out.

This time seems to be different. We

are now two weeks, from the event,

and momentum against corporations

that have involvement with the NRA

just keeps on going. So we saw

companies that give certain perks to

NRA members, like Hertz car rental,

ending their association with the

NRA, and now we have a big gun

retailer saying they would no longer

stock assault rifles. One very

important thing about this retailer,

Dick's, is that it sold a gun to

Nikolas Cruz in Florida, not the gun

used in the shooting but a gun

nonetheless, so it feels personally

involved in this story, and its CEO

came out today and said they could

no longer consciously do this and

they will be starting to sell us all

rifles in its stores, and raising

the age limit Howard 21.

Jo Konta --

to 21.

You mentioned this backlash against

the NRA, how corporations moving

this forward, then?

Corporations

have an economic calculation to make

here and there are two elements to

it. Number one is generally the gun

industry is suffering under Donald

Trump. It is something called the

tramps slump, and basically what

happens is when you have a president

who is in favour of gun rights or

perceived to be, fewer people go out

and buy guns because they are less

worried about the guns being taken

away. So the gun industry as a whole

is to colliding. And then you have

this rising movement for

gun-control, that doesn't want to

have anything to do with companies

that are seen as having links to the

gun industry. So if you are a big

company, like Dick's for example,

that sells in 700 stores across the

US, you have a calculation to make,

who is more reported than the small

number of Americans that own guns,

or the rest of your consumers who

may take exception to the fact that

you have connections to this

industry? And market forces, put

simply, are beginning to play into

these decisions and some companies

are saying that tens of millions of

gun owners competitive hundred

million consumers, we will stick

with the 200 million consumers.

Jo

Konta thank you for putting that

into context for us.

UK business news now.

Our changing shopping habits behnd

the collapse of two major British

high street chains -

Toys R Us and the electrical

chain, Maplin.

This is what Natalie Berg says for

Toys "R" Us's demise.

They are too

reliant on these large, out-of-town

stores, but a lot of their problems

are self-inflicted. They overlook

the importance of online, where

about 40% of toy sales take place,

and perhaps more importantly they

have neglected their stores.

Shopping for toys should be fun, it

should be interactive, it should be

a really exciting experience, but I

think a lot of shoppers left Toys

"R" Us feeling quite underwhelmed.

It is known as China's Netflix iQiyi

is one of China's biggest

streaming services and is to list

on the US stock market in a share

sale could raise more

than $1.5 billion dollars.

It is owned by the Chinese

technology giant Baidu, and has 15

million -- has 50 million

subscribers. It recently signed a

deal with Netflix. While revenues

have grown in recent years, it has

never posted a profit since it

launched eight years ago. But

investors believe there is huge

potential in a country where more

and more media is being consumed

online. The competition is big too

with Alibaba and 10 cents vying for

a share of what they believe is a

multi-billion dollar market.

From

business to weather.

Much of Europe has been blanketed

in snow as cold weather

spreads as far south

as the Mediterranean coast.

These pictures are from the UK,

where the cold spell has been

nicknamed "the Beast from the East".

Dozens of roads were closed

and trains and flights cancelled.

Hundreds of schools suspended

classes too, with some businesses

telling workers to stay at home.

Scotland has been most seriously

affected in the UK, and BBC

weather's Carol Kirkwood has been

saying the Met office has just

issued a red, a top-level severe

weather warning for central

Scotland, which is valid until ten

o'clock tomorrow morning.

At the tail end of winter, the

highest alert for snow. Driving

treacherous, the disruption

widespread. Heading out in these

conditions, not advised. This, the

first time Scotland has had a red

weather warning of this kind,

enforced for a large swathe of the

country's most heavily populated

areas, frequent showers, drifting

snow and the extremely low

temperatures means there's fear some

rural communities could become cut

off.

Marjorie? Is it OK to come in?

How are you doing?

In the village of

Bishopton on the outskirts of

Glasgow, the local minister has been

looking in on the elderly and

vulnerable. In this kind of whether

it is good for everyone to counter

the neighbours isn't it?

It is

indeed, and even the smallest

gesture, just checking in on

everyone is important. We wouldn't

be advocating people going out in

this kind of weather, stay warm,

stay safe and let someone come to

you for stop

the weather is brutal,

there are freezing temperatures

across pretty much the whole of

Scotland, and when the wind blows,

it feels much colder than that. The

school here in Bishopton shut for

the day for stop across Scotland,

more than 450,000 children have been

missing lessons.

I was meant to be

working but he is off school, so he

came with me.

Take your child to

work Day, but for weather-related

reasons?

Yes.

I wouldn't normally be

off but the school was closed, so my

boss told me to stay at home, work

from home if I could, but we ended

up sledging.

In Perthshire, these

deer coming down from the hills in

search of shelter or food, one

measure, perhaps, of just how

extreme this weather has been.

It is

pretty unusual for us here in

Scotland, we have some severe

weather, while it is not

unprecedented, it would have to be

unusual.

At least one skier took to

the streets, not the slopes, to get

about, and with condition so

difficult, tonight there are

warnings drivers could be stuck on

some roads for several hours, with

even the gritters struggling to get

through.

Yes, brutal weather, and the weather

team says there is biting cold and

it is expected to continue. Stay

with us on Outside Source.

Hello, this week has got ever

colder, ever snowy, and it is parts

of Scotland bearing the brunt as the

heaviest snow going through the

night and into the morning. Met

Office warnings, you can see the red

area that covers much of the central

belt, the highest level of warning,

the snow piling up, very dangerous

situation for anyone still

travelling, though the advice is not

to. Then you have this amber area

through the rest of the North East

England and Scotland, where further

show -- snow showers will add to the

accumulations we already have.

Elsewhere, scattered snow showers

around, a further few centimetres in

places, but as we take a closer look

at the snow running into Scotland

and North East England, and we put

some totals on it. Some spots will

get even more than this by the time

it is all said and done. That very

dangerous situation continues into

the South across the UK will get

increasing cloud, perhaps

numerically temperatures not as low

as they were overnight, but bitterly

cold overnight, and other severe

frost and it feels colder in the

wind. We start to see outbreaks is

now rather than just snow showers

reaching in across parts of southern

England initially during Thursday,

and then into parts of Wales as

well. The wind picks up this as

well, so the wind chill becomes even

more of a factor. Look at that in

Cardiff, feeling like -11 at times.

Things could get quite dangerous as

we run on through Thursday evening

and night into south-west England

and Wales. You can see a swirl of

wind pushing moisture northwards.

This is Storm Emma. The snow turning

heavier, drifting in the wind as

well across south-west England into

Wales with a Met Office amber

warning on through Thursday evening

and night, so the situation could

well go downhill quite quickly here,

and quite icy too, sunspots going

into Friday, the further south you

are, somewhat less cold air moves in

but that brings a risk of freezing

rain. On through Friday, an area of

snow affecting parts of England and

Wales, so quite widely we will be

seeing a few centimetres in places

with an impact on travel of course,

and we still have snow showers

running into eastern Scotland. It is

still bitterly cold, and colder in

the wind.

Hello, I'm Kasia Madera.

This is Outside Source,

and these are the main stories

here in the BBC Newsroom.

The children of Parkland

have returned to school,

two weeks to the day after a gunman

walked in and killed their friends.

Donald Trump has been

meeting lawmakers to try

to push new legislation

to combat school shootings.

I'll tell you this, you have to have

very strong

I'll tell you this, you have to have

very strong provisions for the

mentally ill. A lot of people say I

shouldn't be saying that but I don't

want mentally ill people having

guns.

The battle over Brexit,

London and Brussels at odds

over the Irish border,

as one former Prime Minister

says Britain should

reconsider its current path.

Nobody can truly know what the will

of the people may then be. So, let

parliament decide or put the issue

back to the people.

Everyday we featured BBC journalists

working in 30 languages. Your

questions always welcome.

Welcome to Outside Source.

A leaked United Nations report says

North Korea has been shipping

supplies to Syria that could be used

to make chemical weapons.

The report, which has

been seen by the BBC,

found some 40 previously unreported

shipments were made

between 2012 and 2017.

Materials included acid-resistant

tiles, valves and pipes.

North Korean missile experts

were also seen at Syrian

weapon-making centres.

We've had some American reaction

already to the report.

Robert Wood is the US representative

on issues of disarmament at the UN.

You know, I'm not going to comment

on the actual UN report because it's

confidential. Clearly there is a

history of a relationship between

North Korea and Syria with regard to

missile activity, chemical weapons

components. Let me just leave it

there at this point but we are

concerned about that history between

those two countries.

Our Washington correspondent,

Barbara Plett Usher, joins us.

Shipments are meant

to have taken place

over past five years.

What more detail do

we get in this report?

Details of recent transactions which

appeared to be aimed at building a

chemical weapons factory. The report

cites the interception of shipments

of acid resistance tiles, which

happened in January, 2017. Things

that can be used to build a chemical

weapons factory. It also cited that

there have been sightings of various

places in Syria of North Korean

missile technicians at facilities

that were known to have chemical

weapons and missiles before. The

report isn't definitive proof that

there is an ongoing collaboration

between them but it's the most

detailed information so far of what

exists, which is something experts

have long suspected was the case and

they have long suspected that Syria

did not give up all of its chemical

weapons in 2013, especially given

the recent attacks.

What is the

significance of this given the two

countries involved?

Well, this is a

long-standing relationship according

to experts. The North Koreans have

been supplying training and support

for chemical weapons programmes

since the 1990s. But given the

stringent sanctions on North Korea,

arms sales have become more

important as a source of income so

they are able to get around the

sanctions to fuel their own

programmes and this is the sale of

conventional and nonconventional

weapons to Syria and other countries

as well. The UN report cites

ballistic missile technology to

Myanmar and other countries are

mentioned as well. The Secretary of

State Rex Tillerson has talked about

proliferation, he was asked why the

US can't accept North Korea as a

nuclear armed state and then work to

contain it like it did with the

Soviet Union but he said it is

selling this stuff and can't be

trusted.

I want to ask you about

this man, the South Korean born

American special envoy for North

Korea, who has been a strong

advocate for engagement with Fillon

Yang. -- with Yong Yang. He is

planning to retire this week. What

impact does it have on the situation

between the countries?

It is a

significant setback, he has contacts

and my one has more experience than

him and there is no other point man

waiting to replace him. It is a

critical time because North Korea

says it will talk to Washington,

South Korea wants the dialogue and

he would like to take part in it but

he says he's leaving for personal

reasons. Reports suggest he feels he

doesn't have the support of the

administration to advanced diplomacy

and there have been differences

between the White House and State

Department on the value of

conducting diplomacy with North

Korea. The White House is more

hardline.

Thank you for joining us.

We've had a dramatic

day of developments

in the ongoing debate on Brexit.

These two have clashed on a solution

to the Irish border issue.

Michel Barnier released

a draft EU legal framework

for the UK's departure.

In no uncertain terms,

Theresa May rejected it.

It's on this document, on the

European Commission website. All 120

pages.

The most controversial part

is about the island of Ireland.

Here's the issue it's

trying to solve.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK

and will leave the EU after Brexit.

The Republic of Ireland

will stay within the EU.

Currently there is no physical

border between the two countries.

The EU says common regulations

on both sides of the border

would allow the status quo

to continue, if no other

solution can be found.

Here's its chief Brexit

negotiatior Michel Barnier.

Our approach is focused on those

areas where it is needed to avoid

border checks. The border should

continue as today. As I've said

before, already today Northern

Ireland has rules in place which are

different from the rest of the UK.

The British government has said such

a solution isn't acceptable. Michel

Barnier's proposal means that the

Irish Sea would effectively become a

border and Theresa May isn't happy

about that idea.

The draft legal text the commission

has published, if admitted, would

undermine the UK, market and

threatens the constitutional

integrity of the UK by creating a

customs and regulatory border the

Irish Sea. No UK Prime Minister

could ever agree to it and I'll be

making that absolutely clear.

Former British Prime Minister John

Major also made a dramatic

intervention in the Brexit debate.

Those of us who warned of the risks

that Brexit would bring to the still

fragile peace process were told at

the time that we didn't understand

Irish politics. It now seems we

understood it better than our

critics. We need their policy

urgently to protect the Good Friday

Agreement and we need one without

delay. And it is our British

responsibility to find one. We

created the problem, not the

European Union. We need to offer a

solution and not simply oppose what

other people suggest.

Brexit supporters have hit back,

calling the intervention cheap

comments and propaganda and it

hasn't been welcomed by the

government. Let's have an update

from Laura Kuenssberg.

In some quarters there was

frustration at the intervention by

John Major, just when Theresa May is

striving to hold together an uneasy

truce in the Tory party. But from

his point of view he chooses his

interventions and words carefully

and rarely and clearly for those

inside the Tory party and around the

country who don't think this battle

is over, it may well give some

comfort.

You've got a lot more detail on this

and full coverage on President

Tran's discussion with Democrats and

Republicans about gun control on our

website -- president Trump.

Russia's Olympic suspension

has been fully lifted

by the International Olympic

Committee.

It means Russia will be

able to fully compete

in future Olympic Games.

Russia was banned from

February's Games by the IOC over

state-sponsored doping.

Despite that, 168 athletes

who proved they were clean

ahead of the competition,

did compete as neutral

athletes under the banner,

Olympic Athletes from Russia.

Two of them failed drug tests.

Here's what the President

of the Russian Olympic Committee

said about their athletes.

TRANSLATION:

The letter we received

today says the International Olympic

Committee can confirm that all the

remaining samples from the Olympic

athletes in Russia were negative,

that all of the tests our athletes

took gave a negative result.

Here's the medal table from the 2014

Winter Games in Sochi,

where Russia topped the standings.

But their athletes dropped to 13th

place in Pyeongchang.

Here's Olga Ivshina from BBC Russia,

on how their performance

is seen in Russia.

If we look and the stats, Russia's

performance is worse compared to the

Sochi Olympics of 2014 but actually

in Russia, especially the media, it

is portrayed as a huge success

against the odds, that's how most

Russians see it. Most of the Russian

sports media were not participating

in the Korea games because some of

them... Some are not allowed to

participate and others were not

invited by the IOC. Basically this

was a team of young and the most

inexperienced sportspeople who

managed to win a few unexpected

medals. And a gold medal for the

hockey team was the most important

event I guess for most Russians

watching these Olympics and all

those sports men were today greeted

personally by the Russian president

Buddy Miku ten, which tells you how

open sport is nowadays in Russia and

that the main message they are

trying to spread, that -- the

Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Despite all that, Russian sports men

managed to succeed, that's the

message they spread. Many experts

doubt it but that's what Russia

wants to show.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil

war the UN describes

as the world's worst

man-made humanitarian disaster.

It's been almost three years

since the Saudi-led coalition

launched its first air strikes

against the Houthi rebels,

sparking an all-out armed conflict.

With the first in a series

of special reports, here's the BBC's

Chief International Correspondent,

Lyse Doucet.

High above the Arabian Peninsular,

just off the coast of Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and its allies

have ruled these skies

since the war began.

And they control the seas below.

These shipping lanes

are a vital gateway

for the world's energy supplies.

And a smuggling route

for illicit goods.

Among them, the Saudis say,

weapons that Iran supplies

to Yemen's Houthi fighters.

We land on board a Saudi warship.

Inspecting vessels

bound for the port.

Most of Yemen's imports flow through

there but it is in Houthi hands.

Saudis are on the look out

for suspicious vessels.

We meet the captain,

whose mission is a crucial

front line in this war.

Operational rules are to treat

all vessels as suspicious?

Yes.

A Naval blockade has

been lifted for now.

It had obstructed vital medicine,

food and fuel from reaching

Yemenis in desperate need.

But this war grinds on.

And on the ground,

it is Yemen's army who are

battling Houthi fighters.

Advancing slowly on hostile terrain.

Mountain by mountain.

Seizing strategic heights

of the approach to the capital.

Only about ten miles from here,

this area is in their sights

but still out of reach.

The general knows that

a tough battle lies ahead.

He tells me his men know

how to fight on this

harsh mountain terrain.

It'll take time and he says it

will not stop the advance.

The capital, Sanaa,

is the prize in this war.

The Houthis want to keep it and

the ousted government wants it back.

To take the fight into

the heart of this historic,

densely populated city,

it would be a bloody urban battle.

All roads in this war

lead to this capital.

Yemeni forces and their allies

have an ambitious plan.

Surround Sanaa and force

the Houthis to surrender.

But their enemy is well entrenched.

Supported by Iran, the Houthis

are well trained and well supplied.

Their ballistic missiles

have reached the heart

of the Saudi kingdom.

And fear is part

of their arsenal also.

Hundreds of journalists

and political opponents have been

detained arbitrarily.

Many have fled.

In a government-controlled area,

we meet 27-year-old Abbas.

His crime?

Posting comments on social media.

He tells us, "they hung me

up, tortured me until

I fell unconscious."

When he woke up he couldn't move.

Imagine, he says, in

a second you cannot walk.

"What can I be now?"

But Yemenis live with other fears.

This is the impact of the Saudi air

strike in a neighbourhood close

to the Defence Ministry.

The Saudi-led coalition has been

pounding enemy positions.

Armed with the most sophisticated

weaponry from allies

like Britain, the US and France.

The Saudis insist civilians

are not a target.

But they are being hit.

This family, like many

others, lost their home

in a coalition bombing.

They have taken refuge here.

"We are begging for

help," cries this woman.

"Yesterday my three

children did not eat."

"I am ill, always ill."

"Neither dead nor alive."

It is hard to escape from this war.

It has pushed these families

from place to place.

At this temporary settlement

they are digging in.

Trying to make a new home

from the little they now have.

The Arab world's poorest nation now

a battle ground for regional powers

in a Middle East which grows

ever more combustible.

Saudi Arabia and Iran know

they are playing with fire.

New data from Africa shows that not

a single country on the continent

is set to end childhood

malnutrition by 2030.

That target and date was set

by the UN as a Sustainable

Development Goal and is published

here on their website.

But these are just two of a series

of new detailed maps studying child

growth and education that conclude

that's just not happening.

Orange and red show where

children are moderately

Our science correspondent

Victoria Gill explains.

This is the most detailed study of

child health and education across

Africa ever carried out. It's a huge

international study, carried out by

specialists and the University of

Washington. They've gathered data

and the community level, zooming in

and gathering data about child

health, growth rates, whether

children are retaining healthy

weights, which is a good measure of

malnutrition, and education. Buys

evening in to the -- by zooming into

the communities they can see where

things are going well and where

targets are not being met and where

progress isn't good. The idea is to

map out how Africa how individual

communities in Africa are on their

journey towards meeting the

sustainable development goals of the

United Nations. The bigger picture

story is that no single nation is on

track to meet the goal of ending

hunger by 2030, that's the bad news

but the good news is that there has

been a huge amount of progress

especially in southern areas, Saha

and Africa, towards meeting those

targets, children getting nutrition

in a way that they weren't before.

Also these maps are just so very

detailed, they are incredibly

powerful. Scientists say that this

data is a call to action really for

policymakers and that by seeing on

the seat maps where things are going

wrong and where they are going

right, then they can learn lessons,

target resources and funding and do

a much more efficient job of driving

African communities towards those

goals.

Incredible detail.

Let's turn now to Slovakia

and the murder of an

investigative journalist.

This is 27-year-old Jan Kuciak.

And his girlfriend

Martina Kusnirova.

They were found with a single

gunshot wound to the head

here in Velka Maca, a village around

65 kilometres east of

the capital Bratislava.

There's been speculation over why

Kuciak's was killed.

Yesterday the Prime Minister offered

a reward for more information.

TRANSLATION:

Ladies and gentlemen,

there are 1 million euros

lying in front of me.

This amount is for a person

who takes courage and comes

to the police or otherwise tells

the police that he or she knows

something about this crime.

I will be meeting

with editors-in-chiefs of the most

important Slovak media

companies to discuss the fact

that the protection of the freedom

of speech and the safety

of journalists is our common

priority and that it is extremely

important to my government.

It is a huge reward but people are

focusing on Jan Kuciak's last final,

unfinished article, published

overnight by his former employer,

Actuality. S K, and the headline is

about the Italian Mafia extending

into politics in Slovakia. Other

outlets have published the article

in a show of solidarity like this

one with a damning headline, you can

kill a journalist but you can't kill

his story. What was Jan Kuciak

alleging? Here's a bit about his

article, he says Italians with ties

to the Mafia have found a second

home in Slovakia. They have received

subsidies and EU funds, but

especially building relationships

with influential people in politics,

even in the government. Jan Kuciak's

colleagues are urging the government

to look -- the police to look at his

article and the links between it and

his death.

Earlier I spoke to the editor in

chief of the Slovakian daily

newspaper, the SNE and I asked her

why her paper published the article.

We ran this story and it was really

a strong... And we repeated the

questions for the government, which

remain unanswered so far. It

implicated people close to the

government, having links to the

Mafia. They resigned today. Also the

culture minister resigned today,

saying that the murder of a

journalist was something too much to

absorb politically and he offered

his resignation. It truly shows that

the original line... The Prime

Minister's first response is that he

doesn't see any reason for calling

for political responsibility but now

it's changing. This story seems to

be a game changer. The government

must their lives that these murders

and out -- sent out a shock to

society because this is the first

murder of a journalist in this

country so we are asking the

question, are we becoming a Mafia

state? Are we getting too close --

closer to countries like Russia,

Turkey and elsewhere where it is

normal to kill journalists.

Slovakia

is a member of the EU, and Nato,

there is a lot of surprise about

what's happening. Are you concerned

about the safety of journalists in

your country?

It depends on how the

course of the investigation is going

and whether this government will

actually investigate this crime. If

Wheeler and the region, Slovakia is

still enjoying pretty wide freedom

of the press compared to Hungary, or

Poland where the ruling elite

completely suffocate the critical

media. In Slovakia, journalists can

write freely but what happened

shocked the journalists and scared a

lot of my colleagues because they

started asking questions, like

whether they are really safe if they

continue working on this or that

story. Before Monday they didn't

have to think about this question.

A little bit of breaking news from

Washington. We are getting news that

Hope Hicks, one of Donald Trump's

longest Irving H, has resigned from

her job as a White House

communications director -- longest

serving aides. According to the New

York Times, Miss Hicks says she's

accomplished what she can do in her

job in the White House. That is

breaking news