:00:07. > :00:12.This is BBC World News today, with me Philippa Thomas.
:00:13. > :00:16.WHITE The US Congress edges closer to a deal that could stave off a
:00:17. > :00:18.massive debt default and end the partial government shutdown.
:00:19. > :00:26.WHITE The Senate has agreed, but will the more sharply-divided House
:00:27. > :00:29.of Representatives follow suit? And a history Will Iran soon allow
:00:30. > :00:37.greater inspections of its nuclear facilities? Was Top-level
:00:38. > :00:44.negotiations in Geneva end with renewed optimism. The moment a
:00:45. > :00:52.massive earthquake rocked the Philippines. We now know more than
:00:53. > :00:56.140 people have been killed. And we speak to the youngest-ever winner of
:00:57. > :00:59.the Man Booker prize. New Zealand author Eleanor Catton wins the
:01:00. > :01:07.prestigious literary award for her novel, The Luminaries. Hello and
:01:08. > :01:11.welcome. It is all still all in the balance in Washington and, by all, I
:01:12. > :01:14.mean the vote in the House of Representatives, the United States'
:01:15. > :01:20.good standing, or otherwise, as a debtor and the reaction of markets
:01:21. > :01:23.around the world. Politicians on Capitol Hill have reached a deal to
:01:24. > :01:27.avert a massive debt default, Thus far, a deal has been agreed only in
:01:28. > :01:31.the Senate, but it is a start. Let us hear what has been said by
:01:32. > :01:42.Democrat and Republican leaders in the Upper House. It is another easy
:01:43. > :01:49.for two sides to reach a consensus. It has been really hard. But after
:01:50. > :01:57.weeks facing off across the divide, our country came back from the brink
:01:58. > :02:05.of disaster. In the end, adverse arrays settle the differences to a
:02:06. > :02:11.fear that disaster. We began a series of conversations about the
:02:12. > :02:17.way we had to get real to prevent default. I am confident we will be
:02:18. > :02:23.able to do these things. Crucially, I am also confident that we will be
:02:24. > :02:32.able to protect our spending reduction, as a result of the budget
:02:33. > :02:35.control pact. But getting a deal in the Senate was always the easier
:02:36. > :02:37.half of this equation. It is the House of Representatives where
:02:38. > :02:40.President Obama's most fiery Conservative opponents have been
:02:41. > :02:52.making their stand. Katty Kay always knows what is happening behind the
:02:53. > :02:58.scenes. What is the latest? The question is going to be whether the
:02:59. > :03:02.Speaker of the House can look on these tea party Republicans today
:03:03. > :03:07.and say, I did everything I could. We tried to give you the deal you
:03:08. > :03:17.wanted, but it did not happen. If you've fought against this, we will
:03:18. > :03:20.face default and he will paint a picture of Armageddon. He will have
:03:21. > :03:27.to hope he can carry enough of them along, along with the Democrats to
:03:28. > :03:31.push this through. There have been some was it of science. The Texas
:03:32. > :03:37.senator in the vanguard against this finally came around today and said,
:03:38. > :03:47.clearly enough, I will not block the deal which has been done in the
:03:48. > :03:53.Senate. Senate Republicans united, as they had united with the
:03:54. > :03:56.Republicans from the House of Representatives, it would have been
:03:57. > :04:03.a very different outcome. However, that did not happen. I hope the
:04:04. > :04:09.Senate begins to listen to the American people. A lot of people in
:04:10. > :04:14.Washington loved to focus on the politics. It is the game of this
:04:15. > :04:19.town. But what matters more than any politician, is all the people in
:04:20. > :04:28.this country who are hurting at the moment. Do you think we may get to
:04:29. > :04:32.the point today via the House of Representatives works out its own
:04:33. > :04:36.deal, or is this simply too optimistic? I think there is
:04:37. > :04:40.optimism. I think the House and the Senate will go ahead and agreed to
:04:41. > :04:46.this and it will then go to the President 's desk and pass into law.
:04:47. > :04:50.We have seen the financial markets up 100 points today because they are
:04:51. > :04:58.up to mistake about it deal being done today. I hate to rain on the
:04:59. > :05:01.parade, but I do worry if it is rather too much short-term
:05:02. > :05:06.optimism. The fundamentals of the finances of the Government have been
:05:07. > :05:09.exposed over the past 16 days. Agreement cannot be reached on the
:05:10. > :05:16.important matters are now we have done here today is pushed the
:05:17. > :05:20.problem down the road. This will come back again in the middle of
:05:21. > :05:25.January and on the seventh of them but temporary, we have the debt
:05:26. > :05:30.ceiling which has been raised will run out again. It has not solve the
:05:31. > :05:36.underlying problems. There is a sigh of relief today, S New Year freer we
:05:37. > :05:40.are to see whether this is a valid prediction of where we are. This
:05:41. > :05:50.problem goes down to the fact that the grassroots, many members of the
:05:51. > :05:56.Congress, are tied because they are looking for re-election in the next
:05:57. > :06:02.two years. Yes, they are not worried about the fact that it maybe looks
:06:03. > :06:07.as if the Republican party have suffered over this. They are worried
:06:08. > :06:12.about the opinion polls in the individual districts. They are
:06:13. > :06:24.worried about getting the elected Conservative parts of the country.
:06:25. > :06:34.In the Philippines, the death toll over the earthquake has risen to
:06:35. > :06:38.144. These pictures show the moment part of the oldest church in the
:06:39. > :06:41.Philippines collapsed. The bell tower of the centuries-old Basilica
:06:42. > :06:44.Minore the Santo Nino was reduced to rubble within minutes. With more,
:06:45. > :06:52.here is the BBC's South East Asia correspondent. The so many buildings
:06:53. > :06:57.to damage to sleep in, this is where many occupants spent the night after
:06:58. > :07:04.the earthquake, many of them thankful just to be alive. There is
:07:05. > :07:15.no sudden helper hand. At the epicentre, the damage was much
:07:16. > :07:24.worse. This was the home of Daniel. We have been calling out for him,
:07:25. > :07:34.said his daughter. This is so hard for us. Retrieving the bodies is
:07:35. > :07:37.taking many hours of toil. This is what a fusidic instead to the
:07:38. > :07:45.historic churches in the region Great blocks of stone, built three
:07:46. > :07:59.centuries ago, simply crumbled. The city Hall feared little better. The
:08:00. > :08:08.tones have been reached and one of these was very heavily hacked. We
:08:09. > :08:14.are extending our support to that town. They have already started the
:08:15. > :08:22.clean-up, but to rebuild homes and lives will take much longer. Now to
:08:23. > :08:25.Russia, where there has been another extraordinary twist in a court case
:08:26. > :08:28.against the country's main opposition activist, Alexei Navalny.
:08:29. > :08:30.In July, Mr Nalvany was jailed for an embezzlement conviction, but
:08:31. > :08:41.later released, pending an appeal. A court has now upheld the conviction,
:08:42. > :08:43.but suspended his jail sentence He has always denied the charges,
:08:44. > :08:46.accusing the authorities of prosecuting him for political
:08:47. > :08:49.reasons. While on bail, he stood for mayor of Moscow, coming second and
:08:50. > :08:54.nearly managing to force the Kremlin's candidate into a run-off.
:08:55. > :08:59.Let us go via webcam to Moscow. Natalia Pelevina is a spokesperson
:09:00. > :09:14.for Alexei Navalny. So he has walked free? He is, luckily. But even he
:09:15. > :09:20.does not have to go to jail tonight, the suspended sentence means he will
:09:21. > :09:23.not be able to run for office and, that of course, is very
:09:24. > :09:29.disappointing for both him and all of us who support and work with
:09:30. > :09:34.them. That means he cannot stand in the next presidential elections
:09:35. > :09:40.Exactly, that is what the authorities are trying to achieve.
:09:41. > :09:52.Unfortunately that is what they got. That is not to say he will not
:09:53. > :09:56.take part in political life. He will contribute as much as deeply
:09:57. > :09:59.recently dead. Unfortunately, he will not be able to run for city
:10:00. > :10:09.elections, but he will still play a huge part in these elections. How is
:10:10. > :10:13.he going to lead then if he is not the figurehead standing for
:10:14. > :10:17.election? What policies or alias does he want to draw public
:10:18. > :10:23.attention to? How much will we see him out there? He will be
:10:24. > :10:28.campaigning a lot for all of the candidates. He is a Leader of the
:10:29. > :10:36.Opposition movement and will remain a leader. He will set the tone. He
:10:37. > :10:41.will continue to support the candidates who will be running for
:10:42. > :10:49.office as year from now. He will be out there and as open and outspoken
:10:50. > :10:54.as he has always been. He does not want to compromise that. His name
:10:55. > :11:00.not be on the ballot paper, but he will still be Weathers. He has a
:11:01. > :11:06.suspended sentence, so that is always the danger that he could be
:11:07. > :11:16.tried once more under other charges. He will be a way he is not entirely
:11:17. > :11:20.free? Yes, they are is the possibility of that. He was charged
:11:21. > :11:28.twice already. This could very well be the case, unfortunately. In this
:11:29. > :11:34.regime, the Assembly is no telling what will happen. We are very lucky
:11:35. > :11:40.that he is not in jail now. But we do not know what to expect. We will
:11:41. > :11:49.work as hard as we have been doing and stay at the front. Thank you
:11:50. > :11:52.very much for joining us. Now, the latest on the fight against
:11:53. > :11:55.preventable deaths among children being waged by doctors around the
:11:56. > :11:58.world. The World Health Organisation says there has been huge progress in
:11:59. > :12:01.the past decade. Measles deaths have been cut by 70%, polio is close to
:12:02. > :12:05.eradication and global child mortality has fallen by nearly half
:12:06. > :12:11.since 1990, despite the population growing. But as our medical
:12:12. > :12:24.correspondent Fergus Walsh reports, millions of children are still
:12:25. > :12:31.missing out on basic vaccines. Giving every child the chance of
:12:32. > :12:44.life. Children have now got a healthier chants of staying healthy
:12:45. > :12:48.than at any time and the Passat 50 years ago, things were very
:12:49. > :12:54.different, even in Britain. Even better than children faced many
:12:55. > :12:59.diseases which have now disappeared. Smallpox only disappeared in 19 0.
:13:00. > :13:14.It showed that vaccines have transformed health care. They
:13:15. > :13:21.prevent many diseases. There was a list of the basic vaccines that
:13:22. > :13:26.every child should get. Just one in 20 of the world 's children is fully
:13:27. > :13:34.immunised, getting all the required dozers and most of those are in
:13:35. > :13:44.healthier countries. Letters have a look at these. Fewer than ten in 20
:13:45. > :13:48.get these vaccines. For those which prevent diphtheria, tetanus and
:13:49. > :13:53.whooping cough, 16 in 20 are provided for. But that means 20
:13:54. > :14:02.million children do now get fully in median eyes. That has a huge human
:14:03. > :14:13.cost. There are one and a half million deaths from preventable
:14:14. > :14:19.diseases. The first vaccines for them were introduced less than a
:14:20. > :14:27.decade ago. Dozens of developing countries are beginning to use them,
:14:28. > :14:30.but there's a long way to go. Health services in developing countries are
:14:31. > :14:35.overstretched that there are not enough medical staff to carry out
:14:36. > :14:39.immunisation. Vaccines must be kept cold or the parish and it can be
:14:40. > :14:47.difficult to get them to remote communities. Closing the
:14:48. > :14:50.immunisation gap between pure and healthier nations remains a key
:14:51. > :14:58.target for the World Health Organisation. Letters bring you more
:14:59. > :15:05.on the top story about the possibility of a deal
:15:06. > :15:16.Weekender to capitol Hill now. Do you think they could be a deal with
:15:17. > :15:21.the house tonight? Insurer appears that a Bill is coming over from the
:15:22. > :15:27.Senate. I would like to read that and see what is in it. Let us
:15:28. > :15:31.remember it is a temporary fix. It is for a few months. We need to get
:15:32. > :15:37.into the real issue on the table. That issue is a 17 trillion dollar
:15:38. > :15:40.debt in the country. There are 6 trillion dollars of unfounded
:15:41. > :15:46.mandates that they cannot account for how we will pay. If you are
:15:47. > :15:50.taking into 0.5 trillion dollars and spending three trillion dollars,
:15:51. > :15:57.you have a problem, that is why we have a debt ceiling increase that
:15:58. > :16:01.needs to be addressed. Hopefully in these three months we will have
:16:02. > :16:07.time to took get with the Democrats and I am something out to bring our
:16:08. > :16:14.country back into real fiscal accountability for the future. From
:16:15. > :16:16.your point of view, at the house, or Republicans in the house, might
:16:17. > :16:23.be prepared to do the deal now and say that the US financial system --
:16:24. > :16:30.saved then US financial system from a disastrous default. The Speaker
:16:31. > :16:36.has made it very clear in this process that if we raised the deck
:16:37. > :16:41.feeling we could create instability in the markets here and globally so
:16:42. > :16:44.we are committing to that. The real issue is that President Barack
:16:45. > :16:49.Obama must give leadership where he has not in the past. He has not
:16:50. > :17:05.addressed our debt or the spending trajectory that we are on. Yet, his
:17:06. > :17:10.own former budget writer and their budget right to have all stated
:17:11. > :17:15.that we could collapse just like Greece. This have to be central and
:17:16. > :17:21.get on the radar screen in America and we need to address the problem.
:17:22. > :17:24.I just want to clarify. You said you wanted to avoid default in the
:17:25. > :17:29.short term, are you speaking for the poll caulkers, do you think all
:17:30. > :17:34.Republicans will come together on that? I cannot speak to everyone
:17:35. > :17:39.but I think it is important for us to have some time and hopefully I
:17:40. > :17:43.in these issues out. We have had months to do it. We have had a
:17:44. > :17:47.budget plan that would balance our budget in 10 years. It is horrible
:17:48. > :17:52.and reckless that we have not had that type of Budget commitment
:17:53. > :17:57.today. The President, frankly I gave a speech in the last week, a
:17:58. > :18:01.speech that he gave in March 20 6, where he lambasted President Bush
:18:02. > :18:06.for failed leadership and having a five trillion dollars of debt and
:18:07. > :18:11.is said it was irresponsible. Let us do what we have to do today. Let
:18:12. > :18:15.us come together with reasonable minds and plan the future of
:18:16. > :18:18.America so that we can have a growing economy that creates jobs
:18:19. > :18:28.and will have a positive impact on the entire world. You are a very
:18:29. > :18:32.busy man and we thank you for your time.
:18:33. > :18:38.Now in Geneva two days of negotiation over run's Mutual -
:18:39. > :18:41.nuclear plant have ended positively. The talks are said to have been the
:18:42. > :18:51.most detailed they have had yet and more talks are planned. We heard
:18:52. > :18:59.from a Catholic who was representing the EU but she did not
:19:00. > :19:04.give much away. -- Cathy Ashton She declined very politely to get
:19:05. > :19:08.into the detail of water run discussed. Another official told me
:19:09. > :19:12.and told a number of journalists that we shouldn't take it as a bad
:19:13. > :19:17.sign. It is a positive sign because real negotiations are not leak in
:19:18. > :19:21.public, they are done in public -- private. When calves are kept close
:19:22. > :19:25.to the chest it is easier to reach an agreement. We can provide a lot
:19:26. > :19:28.of information about how long John Dennis Vieira de Freitas and Mark
:19:29. > :19:36.Phillip Gomes Pires for and the atmospherics of the meeting but we
:19:37. > :19:40.cannot describe to you what went on but we know the two sides are at
:19:41. > :19:45.the start of a process and we don't know when it might end. You said
:19:46. > :19:48.that at the beginning of the talks the bigger stumbling block was
:19:49. > :19:55.trust. Has the third will be lowered?
:19:56. > :20:04.Clearly a need to chip away, not just a decade of mistrust about the
:20:05. > :20:08.nuclear programme but a decade of mistrust as a whole. In the last
:20:09. > :20:12.few days Iran and the United States have made some progress with their
:20:13. > :20:18.particular relationship. The two sides met one on one last night
:20:19. > :20:22.with no intermediaries. It was described as useful. Here is the
:20:23. > :20:26.key point, meetings with a run and the United States are becoming a
:20:27. > :20:29.habit. They are meeting regularly and directly and that could be the
:20:30. > :20:35.quarter resolving the issue in the long run, those two countries and
:20:36. > :20:38.their relationship. Now a look at some of the day's
:20:39. > :20:42.other news. A passenger plane has crashed into
:20:43. > :20:45.the Mekong river in southern Laos. Officials say that all 49 people of
:20:46. > :20:53.eight different nationalities on board were killed. The Lao Airlines
:20:54. > :20:56.plane was on an internal flight from the capital, Vientiane, to the
:20:57. > :20:59.south of the country when it crashed in bad weather.
:21:00. > :21:01.In Japan, at least 17 people have been killed and 40 are missing
:21:02. > :21:04.after flooding and landslides triggered by one of the most
:21:05. > :21:06.powerful storms in years. Typhoon Wee-pa narrowly missed the crippled
:21:07. > :21:09.Fukushima nuclear plant. Its operator, Tepco, pumped rainwater
:21:10. > :21:17.out of the facility to prevent further flooding. The Greek
:21:18. > :21:20.Parliament has voted to lift the immunity from prosecution of six
:21:21. > :21:23.politicians from the extreme right- wing party, Golden Dawn. It's part
:21:24. > :21:26.of a crackdown on the group which is accused of operating as a
:21:27. > :21:28.criminal gang. Three other top party members, including its leader,
:21:29. > :21:30.are awaiting trial. This time yesterday, we were
:21:31. > :21:33.waiting to discover who'd won this year's Man Booker Prize, one of the
:21:34. > :21:40.world's most prestigious literary awards. Well, Eleanor Catton was
:21:41. > :21:43.the youngest writer ever to scoop the prize, and The Luminaries is
:21:44. > :21:52.the longest ever winner in the 5 year history of the Booker. It is
:21:53. > :21:55.weighty in all senses. You can see the 28-year-old from New Zealand
:21:56. > :21:58.getting the news and the award here. The Luminaries is her second book,
:21:59. > :22:01.and on the face of it, it's an atmospheric Victorian murder
:22:02. > :22:11.mystery set during the New Zealand gold rush of the 1860s.
:22:12. > :22:15.Eleanor is with us now. I know you have had a busy date. It is great
:22:16. > :22:21.to have you with both now. The book is huge. I have had questions from
:22:22. > :22:26.our view was about the process. How long did it take to write this
:22:27. > :22:33.book? About five years but only three of those years were sitting
:22:34. > :22:36.down at a desk and writing. It takes me a long time to get going
:22:37. > :22:40.when I start a project and the first few years were reading and
:22:41. > :22:43.dreaming about what I wanted to do and following avenues of thought
:22:44. > :22:55.from book to book and seeing what came up. You have got the up front
:22:56. > :22:59.story about the murder and the mystery and the atmospherics of the
:23:00. > :23:04.gold rush time but behind that you have an astrological structure. You
:23:05. > :23:08.have to read more deeply. Yes, I was another of the idea when I
:23:09. > :23:11.started writing the book of a fictional experience with two
:23:12. > :23:17.hemispheres in the same way that the brain has to hemisphere's or
:23:18. > :23:24.the globe. I wanted to write on the face of it a straight forward
:23:25. > :23:29.plopped but behind that it almost a harmonic architecture or that the
:23:30. > :23:37.music of the Spears was understood as being beautiful music that was
:23:38. > :23:45.playing at all times, just beyond what we could hear. I know one of
:23:46. > :23:49.the judges putted very beautifully and said it was like 15 gold in the
:23:50. > :23:54.gold plan and you have to look very deeply into the novel, even though
:23:55. > :23:59.it is 800 pages you have to read it a few times. I think the best
:24:00. > :24:03.compliment anyone can receive is that a reader would want to read a
:24:04. > :24:09.book more than once. Have already moved on to your next model? No I
:24:10. > :24:13.only finish this one in January so the turnaround time was quite swift,
:24:14. > :24:17.especially for a novel of this side. I have only been reading and
:24:18. > :24:22.enjoying putting my feet up and not thinking about anything. When you
:24:23. > :24:25.started the process of writing this you said you had dreams and
:24:26. > :24:30.thoughts and strands going through your mind. By United to move on to
:24:31. > :24:34.something very different of some in the same vein? I hope so. My
:24:35. > :24:39.favourite writers are all people whose books look very different to
:24:40. > :24:43.all of the ones that came before. I hope I will never repeat myself
:24:44. > :24:49.over the course of my career and I am just waiting for an idea to take
:24:50. > :24:52.root. Someone said today that reacting to your success, she is in
:24:53. > :24:57.the vanguard of the evolution of the novel. But is a weight on your
:24:58. > :25:02.shoulders. Yes, the world novel means new, doesn't it? It only
:25:03. > :25:08.really makes sense if we keep trying to reinvent it as a form and
:25:09. > :25:12.magic to the changing world. Our world is changing so swiftly and
:25:13. > :25:16.the novel is such a supple and generous form that it can really
:25:17. > :25:22.look like anything at all. I kind of like the idea that we are all at
:25:23. > :25:26.the vanguard. I have to ask you as you well from New Zealand, the
:25:27. > :25:32.second winner from New Zealand of the Booker, what do you make of it
:25:33. > :25:39.going global? I think it is a really good idea. I can understand
:25:40. > :25:42.a contrary point of view but for any nation to put their literature
:25:43. > :25:45.up against the literature of another nation is a very
:25:46. > :25:49.interesting thing because certain things come to light and you notice
:25:50. > :25:52.certain similarities and differences. Ultimately it will
:25:53. > :25:56.mean that American literature and British literature, chiefly, but
:25:57. > :26:00.also Commonwealth literature at large, just speak to each other in
:26:01. > :26:03.more of a conversation which will be a good thing. Thank you very
:26:04. > :26:06.much for coming up. I will not let you leave the studio
:26:07. > :26:10.without signing my copy so stay here while I reminded viewers of
:26:11. > :26:13.our main news. US Democrat and Republican senators
:26:14. > :26:18.seem to have reached a deal to avert a default and avert a partial
:26:19. > :26:21.government shutdown. The plan must be approved by the House of
:26:22. > :26:26.Representatives which is controlled by the Republicans.
:26:27. > :26:28.Iran have and the world powers have ended their most detailed
:26:29. > :26:33.negotiations about the nuclear programme amid optimism that a deal
:26:34. > :26:37.can be reached. More talks are planned for early next week --
:26:38. > :26:40.month. That's all from us today. Now for
:26:41. > :27:00.the weather. Goodbye. Good evening. The day has turned
:27:01. > :27:04.out to be a complete contrast. Some parts of the British Isles and rain
:27:05. > :27:09.to start the day and then it was pleasantly warm in the sunshine
:27:10. > :27:13.That is how it will be for many more people up on Thursday. There
:27:14. > :27:17.is a mild feed of their coming from a long way south in the Atlantic,
:27:18. > :27:21.pumping the mild air up and across parts of England and Wales. If you
:27:22. > :27:24.are not plugged into their air supply and that goes for the
:27:25. > :27:28.northern part of Scotland, it will have a distinctly cool the field to
:27:29. > :27:33.the day. Plenty of sunshine around across a good part of England and
:27:34. > :27:35.Wales, not without the possibility first game of head teacher was
:27:36. > :27:41.running through the southern counties of England and Wales. The
:27:42. > :27:42.residue still to be had in