30/12/2015 BBC World News

. The American comedian Bill Cosby

appears in court after being charged with an alleged sexual assault. The

latest storm to hit the UK causes yet more devastation and flooding

across Scotland and parts of northern England. It comes as Nasa

issues a warning that the El Nino weather phenomenon could be as bad

as the worst ever recorded. New Year fireworks in Brussels, a are

cancelled after two people suspected of plotting an attack are arrested.

And what is in the Russian President's diary for 2016 in we

take a look after Vladimir Putin's own calendar.

Warm welcome to you. Prosecutors in Pennsylvania have charged the

American comedian Bill Cosby with an alleged sexual assault 12 years ago.

A short time ago, the 87-year-old arrived at a court outside

Philadelphia for his arraignment on the charge. He is accused of

indecently assaulting a woman at his home. This is the first criminal

case against him who has faced similar accusations from more than

40 women. The judge has set bail at more than a million dollars.

Manufacture He played Cliff Huxtable,

the ultimate family man on NBC's The Cosby Show, for five straight

years, the most popular show Bill Cosby was for decades

an American icon, then came this. When a stand up routine by a lesser

known African-American comedian went viral a year ago,

allegations that surfaced occasionally over the years

acquired new momentum. Dozens of women came forward

to allege Bill Cosby drugged Some of those allegations

dated back to the 1960s, and were beyond the statute

of limitations, but now prosecutors in Pennsylvania, where Bill Cosby

lives, have filed charges in connection with an alleged

assault involving a woman called Those charges filed a day before

the statute of limitations was due On the evening in question,

Mr Cosby urged her to take pills, that he provided to her

and to drink wine. The effect of which rendered her

unable to move, or respond to his advances, and he committed

aggravated indecent Bill Cosby has denied

the allegations against him and as recently as two weeks' ago

filed defamation lawsuits Now 78, the man who was known

as American's favourite dad Earlier David told me about how some

previous testimony might be important in a future case against

him There was testimony given before, under oath, by Bill Cosby

which could be crucial to the criminal case that has started, has

been launched today, if you like, the evidence that Bill Cosby gave in

that civil case has now been basically released by the judge,

unsealed by the judge, and that can be used. It is believed that Bill

Cosby concedes that he gave women drugs, to, to basically relax them,

but he denies having sex that was anything other than consensual. Now

Bill Cosby was helped into court today, led into court by law

enforcement officials, he entered no plea, he wasn't required to and he

was released on bail of one million dollars. He is due back in court in

the next couple of weeks, and of course, it could be weeks if not

months before this case actually comes to trial.

And David, there has been this hiatus, since all of this first hit

the media. And as you mentioned as recently as two weeks' ago Bill

Cosby was opening up against lawsuits of seven of the women,

accusing them of defamation. Absolutely. He has strenuously

denied the allegation against. The lawyer Gloria Allred who is

representing 29 other women who allege they were sexually assaulted

by Bill Cosby lutely. He has strenuously denied the allegation

against. The lawyer Gloria Allred who is representing 29 other women

who allege they were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby, said "This

was the best Christmas present those women have ever received." Show was

referring to the announcement of prosecution, the prosecution in

Pennsylvania, and she said that should any of her client, any of the

29 women be required to testify, they would be willing, many of them

would be willing to do so. The US Space Agency Nasa has warn

had the effects of the current El Nino weather phenomenon could be as

bad of those of 1998. That is the strongest we have on record. It has

been linked to severe floods and in 2 US UK, so far 13 people have died

in the state of Missouri after days of flooding. Here is Peter Gibbs.

These scenes of flooding in Missouri are more reminiscent of the spring

months rather this than winter. In fact are the result of spring-like

warmth across this part of the USA. Fuelling exceptional rainfall

amounts. In fact Missouri had its wettest November on record, almost

twice the normal average rainfall, that has been followed by an

exceptionally wet December. There are concerns about the water levels

on the Mississippi now as a result. Better news in terms of the weather.

High pressure is building in, to settle things down but those water

levels will remain high. Meanwhile, El Nino is being blamed

for the exceptional rainfall in southern Brazil. Northern Argentina,

Paraguay, and Uruguay, which has led to extensive flooding over recent

days. This is only the early part of the rainy season which extend to

January and February, and it is a well-known fact that during a strong

El Nino such as the one we have at the moment, that enhances rainfall

across this part of the world. So there could be more problems to come

in the months ahead. Meanwhile, El Nino potentially to blame for the

storms that have been slamming into the UK, bringing extensive flooding.

The latest Storm Frank moving northwards, that it has pushed warm

up a up into the Arctic, in fact at the north pole, temperatures getting

just slightly above freezing, for a time, as the warm air pushes

northwards. It should be normally be minus 25 at this time of the year.

So as Peter was just saying, the UK is being hit by severe weather that

is leading to widespread flooding. Jane Francis Kelly has the latest.

A caravan dislodged by the sheer force of water is pulled along

on a bridge catch the moment of impact, before it is pushed

underneath by the strength of the current.

And simply floats away into the distance.

In South Ayrshire, passengers had a close escape when their bus became

stuck and began to fill up with floodwater.

They had to be airlifted to safety, one by one, after rescue

Got to the windows and it was like big waves,

But I have to praise the rescue people.

My phone was the only phone that had a signal.

I was in touch with a lady in Glasgow the whole time,

In Dumfries, police acted fast to move people away as the river

It floods in this part of town a lot but rarely like this,

millimetres of rain forecast over 24 hours.

what they could to hold the waters back, but with a strong sense

I have to try and get everything off the ground,

When the flood did hit mid afternoon, it lapped

Many are waiting to see what the damage is before they can

A saving grace is that few residential properties

Some will struggle to get going again.

There will be a huge clean up exercise.

Further afield, and Newton Stewart was the first place to see

evacuation - people tried to salvage what property they could.

In Peebles, the speed with which the water rose

was a surprise, even to those who thought they had seen it all.

I am Peebles born and bred, and I have never seen it as high

Brussels has cancelled the city's New Year fireworks display due

to the threat of attack by extremists.

It follows the arrest of two suspected Islamic State members over

an alleged plot to attack partygoers in Brussels over New Year.

Military clothing and IS propaganda were found during police searches.

Elsewhere, Turkish police have detained two men suspected

of plotting a suicide bomb attack in the capital Ankara,

A vest packed with a bomb and an explosive device containing

ball bearings were among items seized.

The traditional New Year fireworks display in Paris has

There's a visible police presence at landmarks in the city,

where 130 people were killed in a series of terror attacks

And 60,000 police and soldiers are to be deployed across France

I spoke to an expert on countering terrorism. I asked whether he

thought cancelling the New Year's fireworks was the right decision The

Government would not have taken that decision if they did not believe

that it was necessary, you know, the authorities look at intelligence,

they examine it. Determine the level of threat. I think they have found

and determined that it was at such a level that warranted cancelling the

event, and you know, otherwise, they probably would not have been able to

guarantee the safety of the people who would be attending the New

Year's gathering. What do you think is IS's strategy at the moment, in

targeting people in these particular countries over the New Year

festivities? I think IS's strategy for the New Year's and the holidays

and moving forward for the next year, 2016, comes in the context of

what IS's are experiencing. We know they have Gloucester triin both Iraq

and Syria, although you know, they still hold on to quite a bit of her

tri, but nonetheless, it seems as though there is momentum against IS,

and IS's strategy is to show it is not on the defence, it continues to

go on the offensive. Therefore, attacks in the west, if they can

pull them off, they have, you know, the resources to do so, then, you

know, those would help, in shaping perceptions, not just global

perceptions but people who support IS are the leadership of IS wants to

sustain the perception they are on the march and not being defeated.

Still to come, a run up of the sports news so stay with us here on

BBC World News. Now a couple from Reading who were

found guilty of planning a bomb attack in London to mark the tenth

anniversary of the July 7th attacks have been given life sentences at

the Old Bailey. Mohammed Rehman was told he would spend at least 27

years in prison. Sana Khan who was given a minimum of 25 years had

written to the judge expressing remorse. An 86-year-old man has

appeared in court accused of murdering his wife at care home.

Rita King was shot dead at the home in Walton-on-the-Naze on Monday.

Ronald King has been remanded in custody and is due to appear before

a Crown Court judge tomorrow. Oliver Letwin has apologised for offensive

comments he maids about black people in 80s. In a memo to Margaret

Thatcher released by the National Archives, the MP wrote that black

entrepreneur would only set up businesss in the disco and drug

trades. This is BBC World News. The latest

headlines. The American comedian Bill Cosby

appears in court in Pennsylvania after being charged with an alleged

sexual assault 12 years ago. The New Year fireworks in Brussels have been

cancelled, due to security reasons. Hundreds of self stied Islamic State

fighters are believed to be hiding out in Ramadi, even after Iraqi

forces claimed control of the territory on Sunday evening. Since

then, more than 50 families apparently forced to stay in the

city have been evacuated by the Iraqi Army. A council official from

Anbar province told a Kurdish news site that 80% of the city was

destroyed in the battle. Joining me live from New York is Dr Ellie

Halliwell. Many thanks for joining us. Ramadi is being described by

many journalists as a city that was sacrificed in battle. How would you

describe the level of destruction? Well, it is difficult to know until

we get more information coming out, and obviously it is very dangerous

to go in there and get pictures and direct information at the moment,

but certainly what we have seen from the level of destruction elsewhere,

and what we have seen from the different videos coming out, from

IS, we can imagine that the level of destruction will be very high and

will take a long time to recover from. Even before reconstruction

proper can begin, you have to secure the air, don't you? Areas are still

thought to be littered with IEDs, booby traps. Electricity and water

services have been damaged. The clean-up operation is enormous.

Quite, and security is key to reconstruction in these case, but

for two main reason, partially you can't do reconstruction if you don't

have security, you can't get materials in, you can't get people

to safely work in rebuilding the city, but also because until that

area is secure, you won't get people to come back and really a city is

made up of the community f, if you can't ensure it is safe they won't

come back. Of course, a city is made up of so much more than the physical

buildings. Of course they do have to be rectified, five out of six

bridges have been destroyed, all the major infrastructure, but how does

one go about rebuilding the life and the soul of the city, if to you

like? It is really a balancing act, any time you go to rebuild a place

that has been so terribly damaged by conflict, you have to balance out

the immediate needs, these kind of, these questions of infrastructure,

of water, shelter and so on, with the long erterm needs of security of

education and of rebuilding the very communities that once made up the

city. Some of the most problematic examples of post-conflict

reconstruction of cities we have seen, are those where they end up

reactual officialing the decisions Naidan by the conflict. The best way

is to go to the communities that live there and let them lead and say

we are here to support you in rebuilding the city in the way you

want, but let them set their priority, it is empowering for them.

A huge task ahead of the rebuilding of Ramadi. Thank you for joining me

from New York. Now the sports news. Captain Alistair Cook says he thinks

there are "good times ahead' for England after his side beat

South Africa by 241 runs They needed six wickets

on the final day and wrapped up Man of the Match Moeen Ali dismissed

AB De Villiers with just the third ball of the day,

one of his seven in the match. Am lamb says he wants to carry on,

as South Africa captain, he is under pressure. It's a four Test series.

The next starts in Cape Town on Saturday.

Saying how hard it is to win away from home.

We can't take this victory lightly, we have to be proud of that,

you know, the danger is saying how good everything

is, and what a great, you know, everything is so rosy,

it is very - defeat and victory are close margins, and we won

the close margins this game, and the result at the end

is exaggerated, and the lads can take a lot from it.

Have two days of rest, it is a short turn round to Cape

We have to be aware of that, and when you are playing

South Africa, and New Year's test, their home of cricket,

we know they are going to come back strong.

Struggling Sunderland are facing Liverpool in the last Premier League

They are inside the last 15 minutes at the Stadium of Light. Plenty of

chances for both sides but Liverpool made the breakthrough, with Benteke

scoring straight after the break, it is 1-0 to Liverpool at the moment.

There were five matches scheduled in the Scottish Premiership,

but champions Celtic had their match at Dundee called off

That means Aberdeen can go top of the table if they

In the early kick-off there were four goals

Hamilton equalising twice, but Liam Polworth scored a stunning

Real Madrid Manager Rafa Benitez was booed before kick-off

at the Bernebeu but praised Cristiano Ronaldo for "carrying

He missed a penalty, but scored twice in their 3-1 win

That briefly took them top of La Liga, but wins for Barcelona

and Atletico Madrid saw them go back to first and second in the table.

London's air ambulance is trialling a hand-held scanner that can detect

potentially life threatening brain injuries.

The device can spot clots on the surface of the brain -

that's significant because if they are left untreated they can lead

Our medical correspondent Fergus Walsh has the details.

For London's air ambulance, speed of diagnosis and treatment

of trauma injuries is often the key to whether patients make

In spring, it began a year-long trial of this hand-held brain

scanner and has since used it on over 60 patients to help

determine whether they needed urgent surgery

The hand-held device uses harmless infrared light,

The light beam penetrates the skull up to three centimetres.

A blood clot absorbs light differently to normal brain tissue

and the signal is bounced back to the scanner.

The whole procedure takes less than two minutes.

A green light means normal, a red means that a blood

In a hospital setting, it has proved 90% accurate

with patients then being given a more detailed CT-scan

On London's air ambulance we treat approximately five critically ill

The commonest causes of those injuries are road traffic accidents,

Many of those people have head injuries and brain injuries

So really in all that population, this has potential to give us

an earlier diagnosis and institute personalised, optimised treatments.

Eight years ago, the BBC reported on trials of an earlier version

of the infra scanner in India and the device is now being used

by the US Marines to detect battlefield head injuries.

of the most pressing issue - such as the conflicts

And the importance of Mr Putin as a leader and a personality

is manifesting itself in a range of different ways -

Steve Rosenburg's been looking at it.

Here is an idea for you. How would you like to spend a whole year with

Vladimir Putin? Well, now is your chance. Presenting the Putin

calendar. 2016. With this calendar, you don't just

get pictures of Putin you get his words of wisdom too. This is March.

He has a flower up his nose and the words I like all Russian women, I

think they are the most talented and the most beautiful. Then, if we

flick through to October. Military garb, serious expression, he says

no-one will succeed in gaining military superiority, over Russia.

And the following month, slightly less serious. Succeed in gaining

military superiority, over Russia. And the following month, slightly

less serious. Vladimir Putin says "Dogs and I have very warm feelings

for one another." Nice. And judging by some of the picture, this is

going to be a very big year for Russia, for example August. The Rio

Olympics but will Russian athletes be allowed to take part? And then

the following month, September. Parliamentary elections. The last

time Russians voted for a new Parliament that poll sparked giant

anti-Government street protests. Mind you, do you really want this

face, a Russian President, staring down at you, day in, day out for 366

days? Personally, for my 2016 calendar, I am going to do what a

lot of Russians do. And go Chinese. So, 2016, the Year of the Monkey,

instead of a whole year of Vladimir Putin.

From me and the team, thanks for watching.

Hello. December has been a month for record-breaking weather. Back in the

Cwmbran floods