06/01/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me Zeinab Badawi. Stay indoors, that's

the warning to people across North America as the big freeze takes

hold. Temperatures are down to Arctic conditions causing havoc with

roads, transport systems and air travel. We bring you the latest live

from one badly hit area, New York City. Al-Qaeda militants in control

of Fallujah warn residents not to help Iraqi government forces who are

trying to drive them out. The revolutionaries of the Lodz tribes

have resolved to punish those linked to the sectarian government. Former

foe turned mediator: Sudan's President Bashir arrives in Juba for

talks with south Sudan's leader Salva Kiir whilst face to face talks

between the warring parties start in Ethiopia. Another high-profile

skiing accident, this time it's emerged the German chancellor Angela

Merkel fractured her pelvis after a recent fall in the snow. So, who is

holding the reins of power now? Hello and welcome. People across the

United States and Canada have been warned to stay indoors to avoid

extreme cold weather. Many schools are closed and more than 3,000

flights in and out of the US have been cancelled. American weather

forecasters say the mass of Arctic air, known as a polar vortex, will

affect two-thirds of the country as it moves east from the Midwest. The

freezing conditions could be life threatening, temperatures are down

to minus 51 Celsius, if you factor in the wind chill. Beth Macleod

reports from Washington. The bitter weather is being

described as life-threatening in large parts of the US and Canada.

These people are out and about in Chicago despite warnings to stay

indoors. The cold temperatures we are expecting this coming week on

more than an inconvenience. They are serious, dangerous and they can

cause serious health risk. Exposed skin to become frostbitten within

minutes. Many schools in the midwest are closed. More than 3000 flights

into or out of the United States have been cancelled and there are

likely to be many more cancellations over the next few days. On the

shores of Lake Michigan temperatures hit minus 30 Celsius. The wind chill

made it feel even colder. The freezing weather is due to spread

from the midwest to the east coast over the next 24 hours. Like large

swathes of the country, Washington is bracing itself for bitterly cold

temperatures. And extreme weather warning comes into effect and local

authorities are publishing a hypothermia hotline, preparing

people for what could be the coldest temperatures in 20 years. In a few

minutes, we will be talking to an ABC News correspondent about the

freezing conditions. The battle for control of key cities in Iraq's

Sunni heartland remains tense, unpredictable and worrying for the

government. The Prime Minister, Nuri al Maliki, has called on residents

of Fallujah to drive out Al-Qaeda militants who have been seizing

control there. Mr Al-Maliki warned the people of Fallujah that this

would be the only way for them to avert a major offensive by

government forces. But now masked militants in Fallujah have said they

will punish anyone who co-operates with the authorities.

The fighting continues. There were sporadic clashes on Monday in the

provincial capital where Al-Qaeda fighters took control of most parts

of the city. Iraqi troops have been trying to dislodge them since then.

It was after Iraqi police broke up a protest last week that the present

tension and deadly clashes erupted across this province. After the

US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that brought Shi'ite majority rule to the

country, it became the heartland of Sunni insurgency. The other focus of

the new fighting, the nearby city of Fallujah. Al-Qaeda fighters and

their supporters are currently said to be still in control of the city

centre while government troops are surrounding the city. A command of

an anti-government group vowed to punish tribesmen backing the

authorities. The revolutionaries of the Lodz tribes have resolved to

punish those, the covetous, linked to the sectarian government.

Dashes-macro Fallujah tribes. At the same time, the Prime Minister called

on the people to expel the militants. It said this way they

could avoid an all out assault by government forces. They ordered the

troops not to strike residential areas. It is already said to have

been the deadliest violence in the province in several years. As of

now, how this challenge to the government 's authority will end

remains unclear. It has taken a heavy toll in blood in south Sudan

to get to this stage and still there is no guarantee the fighting will

stop. But at least the warring parties have begun face to face

talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, which it's hoped will bring

about a cease-fire in the first instance and then end the conflict

between Presidet Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar. The talks are

being brokered by foreign ministers from the East African community. The

BBC's Emmanuel Igunza is there for us now and has been following

developments. Can you tell us, we have all been waiting for these

face-to-face talks to take place? -- to take place, is anything emerging?

Today they talked about how they will address each other in the face

to face talks. They will talk about the cessation of hostilities in

South Sedan and also talk about the release of political detainees. That

work properly begins tomorrow. Today they were laying ground for how they

were going to engage each other. What about the talks that are going

on in Sudan - Southsea dan rather? Dashes-macro South Sudan. The

president sent a special envoy, a former general to attend peace talks

saying, as a good neighbour, a country that has interest in the

welfare of Sudan, it needs to have an interest in the process. He will

be sitting in the talks. What the envoy brought was they want a speedy

conclusion to the fight that is continuing in South Sudan, for that

country to go back to peace. Thank you. Meanwhile, in the capital, the

president has been holding talks with the South Sudan president. The

two countries share a long and precarious border. There are also

strong economic ties between them. The vast majority of income comes

from oil. The idea of a joint force to protect the oil fields in the

south has been raised. To talk some more about the talks going on, I

have been joined in the studio by the press Council of the Sudanese

Embassy in London. First of all, do you think that, given the history

between South Sudan and Sudan, he is the right person to try to mediate?

He is the right person. Before the referendum, President Bush if lead.

He said he will respect the result of the referendum. When the

referendum gave cessation as the outcome, he delivered and the

Sudanese army withdrew completely from the south. He is seen as an

honest - and honest broker? He has acted in the past as an adviser to

the president and here he is talking to the South Sudan president. Was a

long time ago. Most recent and more important is the cooperation

agreement, signed between the two presidents in 2012, September 2012.

It includes not only oil, banking, pensions, and the 40 billion debt,

which we have two try and work out. That is the 40 billion debt that

Sudan had when it was united country. You are trying to work out

what portion of that South Sudan pays. Basically, what you are saying

is there are very strong economic trade ties going beyond the oil. The

oil is very important. What about the idea we are now hearing

attributed to the Sudanese Foreign Minister about the possibility of a

joint force to protect the oil fields during this conflict? Until I

left my office one hour ago, according to the Sudan News agency,

it said we have a cooperation agreement with South Sudan. We have

many common interests. We are hopeful of a stable South Sudan and

hopeful of cooperation with the legitimate government to negotiate.

Would it be in keeping with that cooperation agreement that there

would be a joint force between the South Sudanese troops to protect the

oilfields? I am not here to speculate. There is a long border

between the two countries. Any word of refugees? Have any people cross

the border? They are preparing, in case refugees crossed the border.

Everything is in place on television. There is more than one

item of news. Remember that, chewing the long civil war, millions of

seven Sudanese cross the border to the north and stayed there for long.

When you look at what is going on between the rivals, it is very

tragic that given the long and bloody history, the conflict with

the North, the people of South Sudan still have not been able to reap the

peace dividend. People in South Sudan have not been able to beat the

benefits of peace. People in North Sudan still have been unable to reap

the benefits of peace. The people in Sudan were promised the lifting of

sanctions and many other actions to be taken, normalisation of relations

with the West. That has not materialised. As for the South, it

is very tragic. They have suffered a knot. It is time for them to enjoy

peace and prosperity. Thank you very much indeed for talking to us. Now

let's bring you some of the days of the news in brief. Police in

Afghanistan say they've detained a young girl wearing a suicide bomb

vest. An Interior Ministry spokesman told the BBC that the girl, who

could be as young as eight, was caught trying to attack a police

post in Helmand province. She failed to trigger the device and is now

said to be in a state of shock. A US woman involved in a plot to kill a

Swedish artist who'd offended Muslims has been sentenced to ten

years in prison. 50-year old Colleen LaRose had called herself Jihad Jane

online and agreed to kill artist Lars Vilks over his series of

drawings denigrating the Prophet Mohammed. Three political parties in

the Czech Republic have agreed to form a centre-left coalition

government. It's taken since October's election to get to this

stage. Under the deal, the Social Democrat leader, Bohuslav Sobotka,

will become Prime Minister. The election was prompted by a bribery

and spying scandal which brought down the last government. Let's get

back to those freezing weather conditions in the US. With us live

from New York City and out and about in the cold is ABC's Tahman Bradley.

Freezing conditions, I know. It does look a little more than nine behind

you. Nevertheless, give us an overview of what people have been

experiencing. -- more benign. It is the quiet before the storm. The

north-east of the US will be hit again. It is wicked cold. Every

single state in the continuous US, all of the 48 states, by tomorrow

are expected to see subfreezing temperatures. Texas, for example, is

colder today than it is in New York City. This is a cold, Canadian and

that is invading the untied US, Chicago, Minneapolis and other

cities across the Midwest, they are basically shut down. People who

dared to brave the temp job going out in freezing wind chill. Some

parts of the midwest and upper midwest are seeing wind-chill of -50

degrees. It is bitterly cold. It is a bit of a baptism of fire, isn't

it, for the New York mayor. Are the authorities coping all right? That

is exactly right. It was a big test. We had a monster storm which packed

quite a punch on Thursday evening and into Friday morning. It was

impressive to see all these snowploughs out and about and people

dropping salt. The new man wanted to show the people he could handle a

big snowstorm. Most of the primary and secondary roads were clear. The

male wanted to make people know he could do a better job picking up

snow than his predecessor. Here in Britain, victims of the TV

presenter the late Jimmy Savile are calling for a single inquiry into

how he managed to evade justice. Around 50 of the people who have

reported being abused by him say the current multiple investigations

won't answer the key questions about how Jimmy Savile operated and

they're worried the truth may never be uncovered. David Silitto reports.

This is BBC One. The year is 1964. The programme is Top of the Pops.

This triggers when in Manchester. One man remembers them rather too

well. He is now 64 but we met to discuss an encounter when he was

just 15 years old, an encounter with Jimmy Savile. It was unbelievable

what he had done to me with both of his hands. Unbelievable. It is a

difficult moment for you. I'm sorry. As I say, it is like yesterday, you

know? Yesterday. Why do people do these things? It ruins your whole

life. He was speaking to me because he wants answers. An enquiry that

answers all those questions. If there was just one enquiry, then we

might know exactly why Jimmy Savile got away with serious sexual abuse

for 50 years. There has of course been no shortage of investigations

into saddle. The Metropolitan Police and DNS PCC report came out just

under one year ago. Since then, there has been enquiry after enquiry

after enquiry. The BBC, police, Crown Prosecution Service, 32

hospitals. Or to answer all the questions? One solicitor

representing victims thinks not. There is no ability to compel the

production of documents or production of people to appear

before enquiries and to be questioned and subjected to tough

questioning. But 15 months have already gone by. The NSPCC has some

fears. All the time that enquiry was going on, every question anyone

wanted answered would be booted into that enquiry and the lessons which

we could learn quicker would be pushed off into the future. At the

heart of all of this is Jimmy Savile, and how victims get the

truth? How did he get away with it? She's been described as Germany's

Iron Lady, but today the Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has begun a period of

being confined to bed after she was hurt in a cross-country skiing

accident in Switzerland. At first it was thought she had just suffered a

bruise. But Mrs Merkel's spokesman said she had partially fractured her

pelvis when she fell before the New Year. The Chancellor has cancelled a

number of meetings and foreign trips, but she'll work from home for

the next three weeks. I have joined by Thomas Kielinger,

the London correspondent for Die Welt newspaper. The iron lady

showing a bit of fragility area chink in our armour. It is strange

that we have these incidents of its key accidents in Germany. Now we

have the top politician in Germany. Her incident is not related to speed

going downhill at great risk. It was a cross affair and she supposed to

have hit a tree, which makes me wonder what our security guards who

were accompanying heart were up to. That is the two of them. Why

couldn't they prevent her hitting a tree? Where was her husband? It is

one of these riddles I cannot solve. He probably does not want to ski

with her. The sheer keen skier? Annually, around Christmas, she goes

to Switzerland and enjoys leisurely hours and days. There is no danger

of suffering any untoward incidents like she has now. She's now bedbound

for three weeks and I would imagine she could learn from a person World

War II -- Winston Churchill and World War II the conducted his

business from bed. She wholeheartedly could easy in her

bedside. -- she will have to take it easy in her bedside. They will take

control in her absence? The Vice Chancellor. He is the head of the

other party who joins her in Government. He is the supreme law

about energy policy and Chancellor of the Exchequer. We can see him in

the picture. You would imagine an mammoth so many commitments and

responsibilities -- a man with so many communes and responsibility to

be ready for the job. But he is apparently going to take Wednesday

afternoons off in future to be with his two-year-old daughter, he will

pick up in kindergarten to relieve the workload of his wife, who is

also employed. That is the New Year resolution of the Vice Chancellor.

He cannot follow through with that because camelid meetings are

normally on Wednesday. Mrs Merkel will hold the one Cabinet meeting

this week, the first of the new Coalition. What, in her bedroom? No,

she is going to make it to their Cabinet room and conduct business in

crutches. We are an interesting way to relax country about such things.

Accidents do not prevent us from doing these things. Very

interesting. Let's hope Mrs Gabriel is understanding about the

two-year-old. Do you ski? I used to a long time ago, but not now. Weiss,

keep safe. -- very wise. Music talent contests have become

popular the world over. They can help launch a budding singer or

musician into almost instant stardom. Take the British singer

Adele, for instance. She's now one of the world's biggest-selling

artists after she won the BBC Sound of 2008 competition. We'll announce

this year's winner on Friday. But all week we'll feature the runners

up. First up today is 19-year-old singer-songwriter George Ezra. His

music has been described as "grizzly folk-pop". To find out more about

him, we joined him onboard a train at the London Transport Museum.

Hi, I'm George Ezra. I am a singer-songwriter.

I travel everywhere around England to bring, just long trains, it is

just me on the guitar. -- just on the trains. Whenever I am on a

train, although I paid for a ticket, that is a sense of, I do not know

where I am going. I took myself travelling around Europe on trains.

Yet, a lot of the album I have recorded as come from that

experience. It is brilliant. Travelling on my own funds the

nation was brilliant. I did not note I could cope with myself and deal

with myself, you know, and spend time with myself. It turned out I

can and I loved it. I have notebooks and I can record

onto my phone. Often I want in the street and harm a little melody.

Then you sit down and, you know, get the different bits together. I never

sit down and go, I'm going to write a song. I used to play in bands and

all that, and then I realised it is quite a bit easier to do it on your

own. MUSIC. I have been supporting a lot, and

that is a test. People do not go to see support that's a lot of the

time. It almost means that you cannot lose. Either they are not

going to listen to you and they never were they will listen to you

and that means you have done something right. My name is George

Ezra and I will play a few songs for you. This first one is called Blame

It On Me. I had never been to Glastonbury and I was invited to

play the BBC Introducing stage. I got silly behaviour out of the way

on Thursday and then focused Friday, Saturday. It went really well. It

was the first time I had people running towards the ten singing

along. I had never seen that. Cheer Thousands of people have gathered in

the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, to pay their last respects to one of

football's all time greats, Eusebio, who died on Sunday.

They clapped and chanted as the coffin was taken into the Luz

Stadium before a Mass and burial later today. Portugal has declared

three days of national mourning for Eusebio, who died from a heart

attack at the age of seventy-one. Born

that is all for now. Next up, the weather.

We're looking at a further heavy shower the next 24 hours. That will

continue overnight tonight, particularly affecting southern

England. We have the highest