27/12/2017 BBC World News

This is BBC World News.

My name's Mike Embley.

Our top stories:

The US slaps sanctions on two men it

claims are "key leaders"

of North Korea's ballistic

missile programme.

Counting is under way in the run-off

presidential election in Liberia.

Brazil retaliates after Venezuela

boots out its envoy over claims

Counting is under way in a runoff

election to choose the next

president of Liberia.

It is a straight fight

between the current vice president

Joseph Boakai, and world renowned

footballer George Weah.

Umaru Fofana reports

from the capital, Monrovia.

Voting passed off peacefully with no

reports of incidents.

Accompanied by his

supporters, Vice President

Joseph Boakai cast his vote.

He sounded confident.

Asked as to whether he

would accept the results

he responded with a qualified yes.

After that, a decision will be made.

But we are willing to work

for whatever the final result is.

For supporters of the former

football superstar

George Weah, it looked

like a victory dance

when he went to vote.

The man who won in the first round

sounded incandescently confident.

I'm not associated with losing.

Today's victory is set

in and I will win.

Boakai cannot win,

and George Weah can.

It's an exceptional case.

What happened cannot happen again.

Initial indications

are that the run-off was better

organised than the first round.

Materials arrived on time

and there have been

no complaints so far of multiple

voting according to the main local

observation group.

But turnout appeared low.

It has been quiet here at this

convent high school in central

Monrovia.

Election officials are nibbling

around without a lot to do.

They say there's been like this

for most of the day.

Only one person has come

here in the last 30 minutes

to cast their ballot.

With the results expected this week,

Liberians are looking forward

to the outcome.

These elections mark the first

time in over 70 years

that this country has set the stage

for a peaceful transfer of power

from one elected

president to another.

The International Committee

of the Red Cross says the evacuation

of critical medical cases has begun

from Eastern Ghouta in Syria.

Eastern Ghouta,

a suburb near Damascus,

has been under the control

of the rebels - and almost 400

-- 400,000 people besieged by forces

loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

The United Nations had pleaded

for him to allow the evacuation

of patients who will die

without medical care.

Vladimir Putin has been formally

nominated by his supporters

for re-election as

Russia's president.

His main rival, Alexei Navalny,

has called for a boycott of the vote

after being barred from standing.

Mr Putin is seeking

a fourth term in office -

and will run as an independent.

From Moscow, Sarah

Rainsford reports.

It was a big gathering of big names.

At least, musicians and filmmakers

all here to nominate their candidate

for president.

Absent from this presidential

nomination was Vladimir Putin,

apparently so confident of winning

this election he did not turn up.

That did not dampen

the enthusiasm of his supporters.

They voted unanimously to back

Mr Putin for a fourth term.

TRANSLATION:

Our country has been

transformed from a country

that was destroyed and without

future, into a really

powerful state.

Their candidate, meanwhile,

was here with children

invited to a New Year's

party at the Kremlin.

This was Vladimir Putin

the benevolent.

Thinking of the future

of his country.

Earlier, Russian saw images of Putin

the powerful meeting his cabinet.

Here he told a boy that ruling

a country like Russia was not hard.

But after 18 years of him doing just

that, the Kremlin is struggling

to inject energy into

this re-election race

to ensure people come out

to vote when everything

is so predictable.

This man is now planning

to make their task even harder.

Alexei Navalny calls

himself the only real rival

to Vladimir Putin

but this week the popular

anticorruption campaigner was ruled

out of the presidential race.

He has a criminal conviction he says

is politically motivated.

TRANSLATION:

It is not about me.

It is about the fact

that a candidate

is needed who will finally come

to the election and speak openly

about everything that

happens in our country now.

who will describe our

reality honestly.

Absence of prospects, poverty.

I did that and that is why you don't

want to let me take part

in the election.

So now, Mr Navalny is calling

for a boycott of the entire process,

to undermine its legitimacy.

Mr Putin will not be

too worried unless

that boycott and any street

protests really grow.

Otherwise, he is betting

that his message of strength

and stability and plenty more images

like these will secure him another

six years in power.

The United States has announced

sanctions on two North Korean

officials who are developing

the country's ballistic missile

programme.

In a statement, the US

Treasury named the men,

on

the left Ri Pyong-chol

and on the right Kim Jong-sik

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin

added, "Treasury is targeting

leaders of North Korea's ballistic

missile programs, as part

of our maximum pressure campaign

to isolate North Korea and achieve

a fully denuclearised

Korean Peninsula.

Ry Pyong-chol is allegedly one

of the top people in charge

of the programme.

Kim Jong-sik is reportedly

behind the work

to switch from liquid

to solid fuel.

The move follows new United Nations

Sanctions introduced last Friday

in response to North Korea's

intercontinental ballistic missile

test in November.

Dr Balbina Hwang is Visiting

Professor at Georgetown University's

Centre for Security Studies <former

senior adviser at US state

at US state department.

What effect if any do you think

these sanctions will have?

Well, we

have to remember that there are UN

Security Council sanctions as well

is unilateral sanctions and these

latest sanctions levied by the

United States government are

targeting individuals. These are

really symbolic more than anything

else. They are a very important part

of President Tom's maximum pressure

on North Korea but they will have

little practical effect because it

is only about US jurisdiction and it

is unlikely either of these two men

at any assets, certainly in their

name, or any property in the United

States.

The broader problem is that

China and North Korea and Russia

want to see the US off the peninsula

altogether so at least China and

Russia will continue their support

for Pyongyang.

Certainly they will.

The UN Security Council sanctions

are important because it sends a

strong unified message but it is a

very subtle and possibly a triple

layered game that is being played.

This is in the context of quite a

lot of disorder and chaos in the

United Nations itself with the

United States isolated on many other

global issues.

If that China,

Russia, North Korea and to some

extent South Korea are on the same

page, and an alignment between US

and Japan, how will that play out?

The United States and South Korea

and Japan are all firmly on the same

side. The president of South Korea

has made absolutely certain that he

is fully behind these sanctions and

also wants to increase the pressure

but at the same time, he is talking

about wanting a peaceful solution

and frankly so, as has the Trump

administration. They've made this

point repeatedly.

It does seem that

the North Korean leadership is not

suicidal. It doesn't want war but it

has no intention of giving up its

nuclear weapons, it seems. Will the

wall hat -- will the world have to

get used to an armed --a nuclear

armed North Korea?

The thing here is

the global non-proliferation regime

and North Korea is testing this but

if we do accept North Korea as a de

facto legitimate nuclear power, that

means essentially Iran, perhaps

Syria and many other countries could

break away so we have a much greater

global concern here.

Professor,

thank you very much for talking to

us.

A heavy snow storm on the island

of Sakhalin in Russia's Far East has

caused severe disruption.

The authorities have opened mobile

warming centres for pedestrians,

many of whom were forced to walk

after public transport

all but ground to a halt.

A pensioner is recovering

in hospital after being blown

off a balcony.

The airport and the ferry service

with the mainland were closed.

Angry Kosovans have hung hundreds

of neckties on the fence outside

the government's

headquarters on Tuesday.

It's after Prime Minister Ramush

Haradinaj said he was justified

in doubling his own salary,

because wearing smart clothes

was part of his job.

He sparked outrage by passing

a measure raising his salary

from about $1800 to $3,500 a month.

A Peruvian football official accused

of taking bribes has been cleared

by a jury in the US.

Manuel Burga, who led

football in Peru until 2014,

was accused of taking cash

in exchange for distributing

marketing and media

rights to matches.

Two other South American football

officials were convicted by the same

jury on Friday.

A British woman has been sentenced

to three years in an Egyptian prison

after being found guilty

of smuggling drugs into the country.

Laura Plummer, who's 33

and from England's north,

was arrested in October

when she was found carrying 290

tablets of the painkiller,

Tramadol, in her suitcase.

Daniela Relph reports.

Laura Plummer's family

and friends say she is naive,

not a criminal.

But today the 33-year-old shop

worker from Hull is beginning

a three-year sentence

in jail in Egypt.

Her mother, Roberta,

and her Egyptian partner,

Omar Caboo, have been

at court to support her

during the hearings this week.

Laura Plummer had been travelling

to the Red Sea resort of Hurghada

to visit Omar in October

when she was stopped

by the authorities.

In her suitcase were 290 tramadol

tablets, a painkiller which is legal

on prescription in Britain,

but banned in Egypt.

She said the tablets

were for her partner,

who suffers from severe back pain,

but she was arrested and has been

held since then in a communal cell

with up to 25 women.

Her family at home in Hull

have described today's

sentence as horrendous.

She's just a normal

girl who works in Hull.

She just sells clothes,

she comes home, she watches telly

and she goes to bed.

She doesn't drink, she doesn't

smoke, she doesn't do anything.

She lives to go to Egypt.

She loves Egypt.

She loves the Egyptian people.

She's in love with Omar.

We cannot believe this

has happened to her.

We are absolutely devastated.

Her supporters say she has been let

down by the country she has loved.

This woman doesn't deserve to be

incarcerated in an Egyptian prison

and, to be honest with you,

as much as I respect the customs

of Egypt and the laws

and the judiciary and everything

else, this will put people off

travelling on holiday

to Egypt in the future,

and I think the Egyptian authorities

need to be mindful of that.

The Egyptian legal

system is complex.

Laura Plummer will now appeal

against the three-year sentence,

a jail term her family say

is shocking and unjust.

Stay with us on BBC World News.

Still to come:

We meet a sea lion brushing up on a

special skill as the New Year

approaches.

We saw this enormous tidal wave

approaching the beach,

and people started to run,

and suddenly it was complete chaos.

The United States troops have been

trying to overthrow the dictatorship

of General Manuel Noriega.

The Pentagon said the operation had

been 90% successful but it's failed

in its principal objective -

to capture General Noriega

and take him to the US

to face drugs charges.

The hammer and sickle

was hastily taken away.

The Russian flag was hoisted over

what is now no longer

the Soviet Union, but

the Commonwealth of Independent

States.

Day breaks slowly over Lockerbie,

over the cockpit of Pan Am's Maid

of the Seas, nosedown

in the soft earth.

You could see what happens

when a plane eight storeys high,

a football pitch wide,

falls from 30,000 feet.

Christmas has returned to Albania

after a Communist ban lasting more

than 20 years.

Thousands went to midnight mass

in the town of Shkroda

where there were anti-Communist

riots ten days ago.

This is BBC World News.

The latest headlines:

Votes are being counted

in Liberia's Presidential election,

where former World Footballer

of the Year, George Weah,

is seeking the country's top job.

Two North Korean missile developers

are hit with sanctions as efforts

to curb the country's

nuclear programme continue.

Brazil is expelling Venezuela's top

diplomat, just days after Venezuela

asked Brazil's ambassador to leave.

Relations between the two

neighbouring nations have

deteriorated since Brazilian

President Michel Temer took office

last year, following

the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff.

With me here is Leonardo Rocha,

Americas Editor for BBC World

Service.

What is the latest?

Brazil decided

to act three days after its own

ambassador was expelled from

Venezuela. Brazil said he is not

welcome any more. He will have two

leave the country. The whole crisis

started on Saturday when Venezuelan

decided to expel the top diplomats

from Brazil and Canada on the same

day. Candour retaliated on Monday

with the same measure. -- Canada.

Relations have been bad. Brazil in

particular, the president, Nicolas

Maduro, never recognised the

government of Michel Temer, because

Dilma Rousseff was a left-wing

socialist president close to his

government. They were building

together oil pipelines to take

Venezuela's oil and gas to Brazil.

There was a strategic left-wing

partnership in South America that

has gone. So, the reason given by

Venezuelan to expel the ambassador

is because he broke the

constitutional rule of law by

impeaching Dilma Rousseff. They say

relations would not be mended until

that is sorted which is possibly

never, because Dilma Rousseff has

that going on. It is a difficult

issue.

It seems Venezuela is

completely isolating itself to be

how important is this to trade?

Trade for Venezuela is mainly oil,

98% of its income. And it is with

the US. With Brazil, it is a very

important strategic relationship in

South America. But what President

Nicolas Maduro seems to be doing now

is his pre-election, he is running

for re-election next year, he is

getting closer to his left-wing

allies, mainly Russia, Cuba,

Bolivia, oil countries, and making a

statement to those against him.

Brazil has been critical, Canada,

very critical, they are making it

very clear they will not put up with

that.

Thank you very much.

Video has emerged of a fireworks

display that went horribly wrong

at a popular festival

in Cuba, injuring 39

people, including children.

Doctors say some of the injured

are listed "very grave"

to "extremely critical."

Virginia Langeberg reports.

The moment Christmas celebrations

sparked into terrifying chaos.

Fireworks are flying in all

directions, what was intended as

entertainment, ended up as a barrage

of missiles. Raining on spectators

as they ran from the scene. People

can be heard screaming during the

harrowing video captured during a

popular Cuban carnival on Christmas

Eve. The incident has left 39 people

injured, including six children. Of

those taken to hospital, doctors say

20 are seriously injured, with some

clinging to life. TRANSLATION:

We

have six patients in extremely

critical conditions, which is the

most grave status of a burn victims.

Two are in very grave condition.

The

central town has this festival every

Christmas Eve, drawing thousands of

tourists. All of the victims up to

be locals. An investigation is

thought to be under way into the

cause of the explosion. BBC News.

English footballer, Harry Kane,

has set a new record of 39 goals

in the Premier League in a calendar

year, doing it in style,

with a hat trick at Wembley.

Kane headed in a free kick

from Christian Erikson to give

Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 lead over

Southampton and break

Alan Shearer's 22-year-old record.

A second goal followed just before

half time as he swept

in across from Son Heung-min.

And midway through the second half,

Son was again provider,

as Kane completed his hat trick

with a delicate chip

over the keeper.

That takes his haul for club

and country to 56 goals,

making him the leading

goalscorer in Europe for 2017.

Earlier, the BBC spoke

to Bradley Allen.

He has been a coach at Spurs for 13

years and coached Harry Kane

as a youngster.

He also witnessed Harry Kane

make history at Wembley

as a co-commentator

for BBC Radio London.

My colleague Geeta Guru-murthy began

by asking him what he made

of his new record?

It's a remarkable achievement.

Something that all of

Tottenham Hotspur supporters,

everybody connected with the club,

the academy, and all the coaches

who have worked with Harry Kane

on this incredible journey,

it has been an outstanding 2017.

Have you spoken to him?

Has anyone heard from him since?

I have not had the opportunity.

I actually watched him

live this afternoon,

working in my media capacity.

I have seen him develop

and have worked with him

as a 14-15-year-old kid.

He went from strength to strength

to become the goalscoring

expert he is.

To break the Alan Shearer record

himself, the finest of a generation,

this is just an unbelievable

achievement.

Did you spot it early?

Were the signs there?

He showed glimpses.

One of the biggest compliments

I could give him is he was just

a fantastic learner.

It is just a small part the coaches

have played along the way.

The head of the academy,

John McDermot, he deserves a lot

of credit as well.

We were patient with him.

Mauricio Pochettino has allowed him

to blossom since coming to the club.

Can you explain what

it is he does so well?

Strength?

Speed?

Skill?

What makes him so good?

Any idea he was given,

he would be prepared to work

on those aspects of his game

and more, you know?

I think he's a player

of Frank Lampard's attitude.

Frank Lampard really got the maximum

amount of the ability that he had.

And the same with young Harry.

You know?

He comes from a tremendously stable

and very supportive family.

He's just a lovely

and humble young man.

He is a real credit to himself

and the people around him.

How big is his future career,

potentially, do you think?

Well, this achievement

is exceptional.

I think Tottenham supporters will be

hoping in future years,

with the new stadium

on the horizon in 2018,

that Harry Kane is going to play his

best football at that new venue,

I think.

You have the World Cup in Russia

next summer, of course.

And to be truly regarded

as one of the greats,

Harry would most definitely know

he would have to achieve and produce

at the biggest tournament.

He will be looking forward to that.

First and foremost, he loves playing

for Tottenham Hotspur.

He thoroughly enjoys scoring goals.

The Erie in the US State

of Pennsylvania has experienced

a very white Christmas this year.

The city received 53 inches of snow

from Sunday until Tuesday morning.

Videos uploaded to social media show

backyards completely covered,

buried cars, and dogs playing

in the winter wonderland.

It's not all fun and games though-

local authorities have declared

a state of emergency.

For most of us - Christmas

is now out of the way,

next up, New Year.

But one special animal in Japan

is thinking a little further ahead,

looking forward to

the Lunar New Year.

And this animal is trying

to develop a special

skill, in preparation.

Tim Allman explains.

This is one of the stars of their,.

He is no ordinary sea lion. He has

literary aspirations. With quite a

bit of help from his trainer, he is

trying his hand at calligraphy. That

is something that sea lions have a

natural gift for, apparently.

TRANSLATION:

It is a very smart

animal and can perform delicate

movements, so he is good at doing

this. We want to practise more so he

can perform cooled drawings on New

Year's Day.

And what exactly has he

been drawing? Well, it is the symbol

for a dog, the animal that will

represent the new year in the

Chinese zodiac. His audience seemed

fairly impressed. He still has a

little time to practise. The Lunar

New Year does not begin until

February. Tim Allman, BBC News.

Budapest Zoo has been showing

off its latest arrival,

a baby gorilla.

The mum, a western lowland

gorilla called N'Yaounda,

a western lowland gorilla,

gave birth on Christmas Eve.

This is the fifth baby that has been

born here in Hungary.

For now, zoo keepers can't

tell its gender or weight,

since its mother isn't letting it

the baby out of her arms.

Six gorillas live now live

in Budapest Zoo currently,

and two of them are youngsters.

Now, take a look at these pictures.

This is, or rather,

was, one of the towers

of the high-voltage power grid

in China's Hubei province.

According to state media,

the tower was demolished

after the local government decided

to dismantle the power grid

traversing the Yangtze River.

Look at that! Worth it, wasn't it? A

reminder of the news from Syria. The

Red Cross is saying the evacuation

of critical medical cases has begun.

The suburb of Gunta has been under

control from forces loyal to

President Bashar al-Assad. Much more

on the website. You can reach me in

the team on Twitter. Thank you for

watching.