:00:07. > :00:12.This is BBC World News Today with me Zeinab Badawi. Stay indoors, that's
:00:13. > :00:18.the warning to people across North America as the big freeze takes
:00:19. > :00:21.hold. Temperatures are down to Arctic conditions causing havoc with
:00:22. > :00:27.roads, transport systems and air travel. We bring you the latest live
:00:28. > :00:32.from one badly hit area, New York City. Al-Qaeda militants in control
:00:33. > :00:42.of Fallujah warn residents not to help Iraqi government forces who are
:00:43. > :00:47.trying to drive them out. The revolutionaries of the Lodz tribes
:00:48. > :00:52.have resolved to punish those linked to the sectarian government. Former
:00:53. > :00:55.foe turned mediator: Sudan's President Bashir arrives in Juba for
:00:56. > :00:58.talks with south Sudan's leader Salva Kiir whilst face to face talks
:00:59. > :01:01.between the warring parties start in Ethiopia. Another high-profile
:01:02. > :01:04.skiing accident, this time it's emerged the German chancellor Angela
:01:05. > :01:07.Merkel fractured her pelvis after a recent fall in the snow. So, who is
:01:08. > :01:31.holding the reins of power now? Hello and welcome. People across the
:01:32. > :01:34.United States and Canada have been warned to stay indoors to avoid
:01:35. > :01:38.extreme cold weather. Many schools are closed and more than 3,000
:01:39. > :01:40.flights in and out of the US have been cancelled. American weather
:01:41. > :01:44.forecasters say the mass of Arctic air, known as a polar vortex, will
:01:45. > :01:49.affect two-thirds of the country as it moves east from the Midwest. The
:01:50. > :01:52.freezing conditions could be life threatening, temperatures are down
:01:53. > :01:56.to minus 51 Celsius, if you factor in the wind chill. Beth Macleod
:01:57. > :02:09.reports from Washington. The bitter weather is being
:02:10. > :02:15.described as life-threatening in large parts of the US and Canada.
:02:16. > :02:19.These people are out and about in Chicago despite warnings to stay
:02:20. > :02:25.indoors. The cold temperatures we are expecting this coming week on
:02:26. > :02:31.more than an inconvenience. They are serious, dangerous and they can
:02:32. > :02:35.cause serious health risk. Exposed skin to become frostbitten within
:02:36. > :02:40.minutes. Many schools in the midwest are closed. More than 3000 flights
:02:41. > :02:43.into or out of the United States have been cancelled and there are
:02:44. > :02:48.likely to be many more cancellations over the next few days. On the
:02:49. > :02:56.shores of Lake Michigan temperatures hit minus 30 Celsius. The wind chill
:02:57. > :03:01.made it feel even colder. The freezing weather is due to spread
:03:02. > :03:06.from the midwest to the east coast over the next 24 hours. Like large
:03:07. > :03:11.swathes of the country, Washington is bracing itself for bitterly cold
:03:12. > :03:16.temperatures. And extreme weather warning comes into effect and local
:03:17. > :03:19.authorities are publishing a hypothermia hotline, preparing
:03:20. > :03:27.people for what could be the coldest temperatures in 20 years. In a few
:03:28. > :03:30.minutes, we will be talking to an ABC News correspondent about the
:03:31. > :03:32.freezing conditions. The battle for control of key cities in Iraq's
:03:33. > :03:35.Sunni heartland remains tense, unpredictable and worrying for the
:03:36. > :03:38.government. The Prime Minister, Nuri al Maliki, has called on residents
:03:39. > :03:43.of Fallujah to drive out Al-Qaeda militants who have been seizing
:03:44. > :03:47.control there. Mr Al-Maliki warned the people of Fallujah that this
:03:48. > :03:51.would be the only way for them to avert a major offensive by
:03:52. > :03:54.government forces. But now masked militants in Fallujah have said they
:03:55. > :04:03.will punish anyone who co-operates with the authorities.
:04:04. > :04:15.The fighting continues. There were sporadic clashes on Monday in the
:04:16. > :04:21.provincial capital where Al-Qaeda fighters took control of most parts
:04:22. > :04:29.of the city. Iraqi troops have been trying to dislodge them since then.
:04:30. > :04:34.It was after Iraqi police broke up a protest last week that the present
:04:35. > :04:40.tension and deadly clashes erupted across this province. After the
:04:41. > :04:45.US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that brought Shi'ite majority rule to the
:04:46. > :04:56.country, it became the heartland of Sunni insurgency. The other focus of
:04:57. > :04:59.the new fighting, the nearby city of Fallujah. Al-Qaeda fighters and
:05:00. > :05:03.their supporters are currently said to be still in control of the city
:05:04. > :05:10.centre while government troops are surrounding the city. A command of
:05:11. > :05:20.an anti-government group vowed to punish tribesmen backing the
:05:21. > :05:25.authorities. The revolutionaries of the Lodz tribes have resolved to
:05:26. > :05:32.punish those, the covetous, linked to the sectarian government.
:05:33. > :05:35.Dashes-macro Fallujah tribes. At the same time, the Prime Minister called
:05:36. > :05:42.on the people to expel the militants. It said this way they
:05:43. > :05:46.could avoid an all out assault by government forces. They ordered the
:05:47. > :05:50.troops not to strike residential areas. It is already said to have
:05:51. > :05:55.been the deadliest violence in the province in several years. As of
:05:56. > :06:00.now, how this challenge to the government 's authority will end
:06:01. > :06:04.remains unclear. It has taken a heavy toll in blood in south Sudan
:06:05. > :06:07.to get to this stage and still there is no guarantee the fighting will
:06:08. > :06:10.stop. But at least the warring parties have begun face to face
:06:11. > :06:14.talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, which it's hoped will bring
:06:15. > :06:17.about a cease-fire in the first instance and then end the conflict
:06:18. > :06:24.between Presidet Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar. The talks are
:06:25. > :06:32.being brokered by foreign ministers from the East African community. The
:06:33. > :06:37.BBC's Emmanuel Igunza is there for us now and has been following
:06:38. > :06:45.developments. Can you tell us, we have all been waiting for these
:06:46. > :06:54.face-to-face talks to take place? -- to take place, is anything emerging?
:06:55. > :06:59.Today they talked about how they will address each other in the face
:07:00. > :07:03.to face talks. They will talk about the cessation of hostilities in
:07:04. > :07:09.South Sedan and also talk about the release of political detainees. That
:07:10. > :07:14.work properly begins tomorrow. Today they were laying ground for how they
:07:15. > :07:32.were going to engage each other. What about the talks that are going
:07:33. > :07:42.on in Sudan - Southsea dan rather? Dashes-macro South Sudan. The
:07:43. > :07:49.president sent a special envoy, a former general to attend peace talks
:07:50. > :07:55.saying, as a good neighbour, a country that has interest in the
:07:56. > :08:05.welfare of Sudan, it needs to have an interest in the process. He will
:08:06. > :08:13.be sitting in the talks. What the envoy brought was they want a speedy
:08:14. > :08:20.conclusion to the fight that is continuing in South Sudan, for that
:08:21. > :08:31.country to go back to peace. Thank you. Meanwhile, in the capital, the
:08:32. > :08:36.president has been holding talks with the South Sudan president. The
:08:37. > :08:44.two countries share a long and precarious border. There are also
:08:45. > :08:49.strong economic ties between them. The vast majority of income comes
:08:50. > :08:53.from oil. The idea of a joint force to protect the oil fields in the
:08:54. > :08:58.south has been raised. To talk some more about the talks going on, I
:08:59. > :09:03.have been joined in the studio by the press Council of the Sudanese
:09:04. > :09:09.Embassy in London. First of all, do you think that, given the history
:09:10. > :09:16.between South Sudan and Sudan, he is the right person to try to mediate?
:09:17. > :09:25.He is the right person. Before the referendum, President Bush if lead.
:09:26. > :09:32.He said he will respect the result of the referendum. When the
:09:33. > :09:37.referendum gave cessation as the outcome, he delivered and the
:09:38. > :09:48.Sudanese army withdrew completely from the south. He is seen as an
:09:49. > :09:57.honest - and honest broker? He has acted in the past as an adviser to
:09:58. > :10:04.the president and here he is talking to the South Sudan president. Was a
:10:05. > :10:09.long time ago. Most recent and more important is the cooperation
:10:10. > :10:21.agreement, signed between the two presidents in 2012, September 2012.
:10:22. > :10:30.It includes not only oil, banking, pensions, and the 40 billion debt,
:10:31. > :10:34.which we have two try and work out. That is the 40 billion debt that
:10:35. > :10:39.Sudan had when it was united country. You are trying to work out
:10:40. > :10:44.what portion of that South Sudan pays. Basically, what you are saying
:10:45. > :10:48.is there are very strong economic trade ties going beyond the oil. The
:10:49. > :10:53.oil is very important. What about the idea we are now hearing
:10:54. > :10:57.attributed to the Sudanese Foreign Minister about the possibility of a
:10:58. > :11:04.joint force to protect the oil fields during this conflict? Until I
:11:05. > :11:12.left my office one hour ago, according to the Sudan News agency,
:11:13. > :11:20.it said we have a cooperation agreement with South Sudan. We have
:11:21. > :11:29.many common interests. We are hopeful of a stable South Sudan and
:11:30. > :11:35.hopeful of cooperation with the legitimate government to negotiate.
:11:36. > :11:39.Would it be in keeping with that cooperation agreement that there
:11:40. > :11:46.would be a joint force between the South Sudanese troops to protect the
:11:47. > :11:51.oilfields? I am not here to speculate. There is a long border
:11:52. > :12:04.between the two countries. Any word of refugees? Have any people cross
:12:05. > :12:10.the border? They are preparing, in case refugees crossed the border.
:12:11. > :12:16.Everything is in place on television. There is more than one
:12:17. > :12:22.item of news. Remember that, chewing the long civil war, millions of
:12:23. > :12:28.seven Sudanese cross the border to the north and stayed there for long.
:12:29. > :12:33.When you look at what is going on between the rivals, it is very
:12:34. > :12:38.tragic that given the long and bloody history, the conflict with
:12:39. > :12:43.the North, the people of South Sudan still have not been able to reap the
:12:44. > :12:47.peace dividend. People in South Sudan have not been able to beat the
:12:48. > :12:54.benefits of peace. People in North Sudan still have been unable to reap
:12:55. > :13:01.the benefits of peace. The people in Sudan were promised the lifting of
:13:02. > :13:08.sanctions and many other actions to be taken, normalisation of relations
:13:09. > :13:14.with the West. That has not materialised. As for the South, it
:13:15. > :13:24.is very tragic. They have suffered a knot. It is time for them to enjoy
:13:25. > :13:28.peace and prosperity. Thank you very much indeed for talking to us. Now
:13:29. > :13:35.let's bring you some of the days of the news in brief. Police in
:13:36. > :13:38.Afghanistan say they've detained a young girl wearing a suicide bomb
:13:39. > :13:42.vest. An Interior Ministry spokesman told the BBC that the girl, who
:13:43. > :13:45.could be as young as eight, was caught trying to attack a police
:13:46. > :13:50.post in Helmand province. She failed to trigger the device and is now
:13:51. > :13:53.said to be in a state of shock. A US woman involved in a plot to kill a
:13:54. > :13:57.Swedish artist who'd offended Muslims has been sentenced to ten
:13:58. > :14:00.years in prison. 50-year old Colleen LaRose had called herself Jihad Jane
:14:01. > :14:03.online and agreed to kill artist Lars Vilks over his series of
:14:04. > :14:06.drawings denigrating the Prophet Mohammed. Three political parties in
:14:07. > :14:09.the Czech Republic have agreed to form a centre-left coalition
:14:10. > :14:13.government. It's taken since October's election to get to this
:14:14. > :14:17.stage. Under the deal, the Social Democrat leader, Bohuslav Sobotka,
:14:18. > :14:20.will become Prime Minister. The election was prompted by a bribery
:14:21. > :14:25.and spying scandal which brought down the last government. Let's get
:14:26. > :14:33.back to those freezing weather conditions in the US. With us live
:14:34. > :14:42.from New York City and out and about in the cold is ABC's Tahman Bradley.
:14:43. > :14:47.Freezing conditions, I know. It does look a little more than nine behind
:14:48. > :14:54.you. Nevertheless, give us an overview of what people have been
:14:55. > :14:59.experiencing. -- more benign. It is the quiet before the storm. The
:15:00. > :15:05.north-east of the US will be hit again. It is wicked cold. Every
:15:06. > :15:11.single state in the continuous US, all of the 48 states, by tomorrow
:15:12. > :15:16.are expected to see subfreezing temperatures. Texas, for example, is
:15:17. > :15:22.colder today than it is in New York City. This is a cold, Canadian and
:15:23. > :15:29.that is invading the untied US, Chicago, Minneapolis and other
:15:30. > :15:32.cities across the Midwest, they are basically shut down. People who
:15:33. > :15:36.dared to brave the temp job going out in freezing wind chill. Some
:15:37. > :15:44.parts of the midwest and upper midwest are seeing wind-chill of -50
:15:45. > :15:51.degrees. It is bitterly cold. It is a bit of a baptism of fire, isn't
:15:52. > :15:58.it, for the New York mayor. Are the authorities coping all right? That
:15:59. > :16:04.is exactly right. It was a big test. We had a monster storm which packed
:16:05. > :16:09.quite a punch on Thursday evening and into Friday morning. It was
:16:10. > :16:14.impressive to see all these snowploughs out and about and people
:16:15. > :16:20.dropping salt. The new man wanted to show the people he could handle a
:16:21. > :16:24.big snowstorm. Most of the primary and secondary roads were clear. The
:16:25. > :16:26.male wanted to make people know he could do a better job picking up
:16:27. > :16:36.snow than his predecessor. Here in Britain, victims of the TV
:16:37. > :16:39.presenter the late Jimmy Savile are calling for a single inquiry into
:16:40. > :16:43.how he managed to evade justice. Around 50 of the people who have
:16:44. > :16:46.reported being abused by him say the current multiple investigations
:16:47. > :16:48.won't answer the key questions about how Jimmy Savile operated and
:16:49. > :17:04.they're worried the truth may never be uncovered. David Silitto reports.
:17:05. > :17:08.This is BBC One. The year is 1964. The programme is Top of the Pops.
:17:09. > :17:14.This triggers when in Manchester. One man remembers them rather too
:17:15. > :17:17.well. He is now 64 but we met to discuss an encounter when he was
:17:18. > :17:21.just 15 years old, an encounter with Jimmy Savile. It was unbelievable
:17:22. > :17:32.what he had done to me with both of his hands. Unbelievable. It is a
:17:33. > :17:40.difficult moment for you. I'm sorry. As I say, it is like yesterday, you
:17:41. > :17:46.know? Yesterday. Why do people do these things? It ruins your whole
:17:47. > :17:51.life. He was speaking to me because he wants answers. An enquiry that
:17:52. > :17:59.answers all those questions. If there was just one enquiry, then we
:18:00. > :18:07.might know exactly why Jimmy Savile got away with serious sexual abuse
:18:08. > :18:12.for 50 years. There has of course been no shortage of investigations
:18:13. > :18:17.into saddle. The Metropolitan Police and DNS PCC report came out just
:18:18. > :18:22.under one year ago. Since then, there has been enquiry after enquiry
:18:23. > :18:26.after enquiry. The BBC, police, Crown Prosecution Service, 32
:18:27. > :18:32.hospitals. Or to answer all the questions? One solicitor
:18:33. > :18:36.representing victims thinks not. There is no ability to compel the
:18:37. > :18:42.production of documents or production of people to appear
:18:43. > :18:47.before enquiries and to be questioned and subjected to tough
:18:48. > :18:54.questioning. But 15 months have already gone by. The NSPCC has some
:18:55. > :18:58.fears. All the time that enquiry was going on, every question anyone
:18:59. > :19:01.wanted answered would be booted into that enquiry and the lessons which
:19:02. > :19:08.we could learn quicker would be pushed off into the future. At the
:19:09. > :19:13.heart of all of this is Jimmy Savile, and how victims get the
:19:14. > :19:16.truth? How did he get away with it? She's been described as Germany's
:19:17. > :19:20.Iron Lady, but today the Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has begun a period of
:19:21. > :19:24.being confined to bed after she was hurt in a cross-country skiing
:19:25. > :19:27.accident in Switzerland. At first it was thought she had just suffered a
:19:28. > :19:31.bruise. But Mrs Merkel's spokesman said she had partially fractured her
:19:32. > :19:35.pelvis when she fell before the New Year. The Chancellor has cancelled a
:19:36. > :19:44.number of meetings and foreign trips, but she'll work from home for
:19:45. > :19:49.the next three weeks. I have joined by Thomas Kielinger,
:19:50. > :19:54.the London correspondent for Die Welt newspaper. The iron lady
:19:55. > :20:01.showing a bit of fragility area chink in our armour. It is strange
:20:02. > :20:07.that we have these incidents of its key accidents in Germany. Now we
:20:08. > :20:12.have the top politician in Germany. Her incident is not related to speed
:20:13. > :20:16.going downhill at great risk. It was a cross affair and she supposed to
:20:17. > :20:21.have hit a tree, which makes me wonder what our security guards who
:20:22. > :20:25.were accompanying heart were up to. That is the two of them. Why
:20:26. > :20:32.couldn't they prevent her hitting a tree? Where was her husband? It is
:20:33. > :20:38.one of these riddles I cannot solve. He probably does not want to ski
:20:39. > :20:44.with her. The sheer keen skier? Annually, around Christmas, she goes
:20:45. > :20:53.to Switzerland and enjoys leisurely hours and days. There is no danger
:20:54. > :21:02.of suffering any untoward incidents like she has now. She's now bedbound
:21:03. > :21:08.for three weeks and I would imagine she could learn from a person World
:21:09. > :21:11.War II -- Winston Churchill and World War II the conducted his
:21:12. > :21:16.business from bed. She wholeheartedly could easy in her
:21:17. > :21:21.bedside. -- she will have to take it easy in her bedside. They will take
:21:22. > :21:27.control in her absence? The Vice Chancellor. He is the head of the
:21:28. > :21:32.other party who joins her in Government. He is the supreme law
:21:33. > :21:38.about energy policy and Chancellor of the Exchequer. We can see him in
:21:39. > :21:43.the picture. You would imagine an mammoth so many commitments and
:21:44. > :21:47.responsibilities -- a man with so many communes and responsibility to
:21:48. > :21:50.be ready for the job. But he is apparently going to take Wednesday
:21:51. > :21:53.afternoons off in future to be with his two-year-old daughter, he will
:21:54. > :21:59.pick up in kindergarten to relieve the workload of his wife, who is
:22:00. > :22:04.also employed. That is the New Year resolution of the Vice Chancellor.
:22:05. > :22:07.He cannot follow through with that because camelid meetings are
:22:08. > :22:11.normally on Wednesday. Mrs Merkel will hold the one Cabinet meeting
:22:12. > :22:17.this week, the first of the new Coalition. What, in her bedroom? No,
:22:18. > :22:28.she is going to make it to their Cabinet room and conduct business in
:22:29. > :22:34.crutches. We are an interesting way to relax country about such things.
:22:35. > :22:39.Accidents do not prevent us from doing these things. Very
:22:40. > :22:45.interesting. Let's hope Mrs Gabriel is understanding about the
:22:46. > :22:53.two-year-old. Do you ski? I used to a long time ago, but not now. Weiss,
:22:54. > :22:56.keep safe. -- very wise. Music talent contests have become
:22:57. > :22:59.popular the world over. They can help launch a budding singer or
:23:00. > :23:02.musician into almost instant stardom. Take the British singer
:23:03. > :23:05.Adele, for instance. She's now one of the world's biggest-selling
:23:06. > :23:09.artists after she won the BBC Sound of 2008 competition. We'll announce
:23:10. > :23:13.this year's winner on Friday. But all week we'll feature the runners
:23:14. > :23:17.up. First up today is 19-year-old singer-songwriter George Ezra. His
:23:18. > :23:21.music has been described as "grizzly folk-pop". To find out more about
:23:22. > :23:30.him, we joined him onboard a train at the London Transport Museum.
:23:31. > :23:47.Hi, I'm George Ezra. I am a singer-songwriter.
:23:48. > :23:55.I travel everywhere around England to bring, just long trains, it is
:23:56. > :24:03.just me on the guitar. -- just on the trains. Whenever I am on a
:24:04. > :24:07.train, although I paid for a ticket, that is a sense of, I do not know
:24:08. > :24:15.where I am going. I took myself travelling around Europe on trains.
:24:16. > :24:18.Yet, a lot of the album I have recorded as come from that
:24:19. > :24:21.experience. It is brilliant. Travelling on my own funds the
:24:22. > :24:24.nation was brilliant. I did not note I could cope with myself and deal
:24:25. > :24:27.with myself, you know, and spend time with myself. It turned out I
:24:28. > :24:50.can and I loved it. I have notebooks and I can record
:24:51. > :24:54.onto my phone. Often I want in the street and harm a little melody.
:24:55. > :24:59.Then you sit down and, you know, get the different bits together. I never
:25:00. > :25:08.sit down and go, I'm going to write a song. I used to play in bands and
:25:09. > :25:09.all that, and then I realised it is quite a bit easier to do it on your
:25:10. > :25:28.own. MUSIC. I have been supporting a lot, and
:25:29. > :25:31.that is a test. People do not go to see support that's a lot of the
:25:32. > :25:36.time. It almost means that you cannot lose. Either they are not
:25:37. > :25:39.going to listen to you and they never were they will listen to you
:25:40. > :25:44.and that means you have done something right. My name is George
:25:45. > :25:52.Ezra and I will play a few songs for you. This first one is called Blame
:25:53. > :25:57.It On Me. I had never been to Glastonbury and I was invited to
:25:58. > :26:00.play the BBC Introducing stage. I got silly behaviour out of the way
:26:01. > :26:09.on Thursday and then focused Friday, Saturday. It went really well. It
:26:10. > :26:27.was the first time I had people running towards the ten singing
:26:28. > :26:30.along. I had never seen that. Cheer Thousands of people have gathered in
:26:31. > :26:33.the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, to pay their last respects to one of
:26:34. > :26:36.football's all time greats, Eusebio, who died on Sunday.
:26:37. > :26:39.They clapped and chanted as the coffin was taken into the Luz
:26:40. > :26:42.Stadium before a Mass and burial later today. Portugal has declared
:26:43. > :26:45.three days of national mourning for Eusebio, who died from a heart
:26:46. > :26:49.attack at the age of seventy-one. Born
:26:50. > :26:51.that is all for now. Next up, the weather.
:26:52. > :27:04.We're looking at a further heavy shower the next 24 hours. That will
:27:05. > :27:06.continue overnight tonight, particularly affecting southern
:27:07. > :27:08.England. We have the highest