:00:07. > :00:09.This is BBC World News Today with me, Philippa Thomas.
:00:10. > :00:12.Two fronts, one battle - the new threat from Al-Qaeda
:00:13. > :00:20.In the Syrian city of Aleppo, Al-Qaeda linked militants are
:00:21. > :00:23.accused of executing 50 prisoners, including rival fighters.
:00:24. > :00:26.In Iraq, they've overrun the city of Fallujah.
:00:27. > :00:30.A right royal scandal - the daughter of Spain's King Juan Carlos
:00:31. > :00:33.faces accusations of fraud and money-laundering.
:00:34. > :00:49.Coming up: A brutal blast of Arctic air heads east in North America.
:00:50. > :00:54.I'm Nada Tawfik in Central Park where the temperatures have been the
:00:55. > :00:59.lowest they have been since the 19th Century.
:01:00. > :01:03.And if stepping up your fitness was a New Year's resolution, then how
:01:04. > :01:06.about using one of these? We check out the latest wearable gadgets
:01:07. > :01:14.as the world's biggest electronics show gets under way.
:01:15. > :01:18.Hello and welcome. We start with the resurgence of Al-Qaeda linked
:01:19. > :01:26.militants in the west of Iraq - which is seeing some of the heaviest
:01:27. > :01:28.fighting in years. Islamist militants have seized territory
:01:29. > :01:31.there and across the border in Syria. And as Iraq's Shia-led
:01:32. > :01:34.central government gets military support - ironically - from both the
:01:35. > :01:38.US and from Iran - the BBC has heard that hundreds of civilians are
:01:39. > :01:42.fleeing Fallujah, fearing they may be caught in the crossfire of an
:01:43. > :01:45.offensive designed to retake that strategic city.
:01:46. > :01:52.Mike Wooldridge has more on Al-Qaeda in Iraq - and the backlash.
:01:53. > :01:57.Iraqi government reinforcements on the way to Anbar after militants
:01:58. > :02:00.captured ground in the province and held it for the first time in years.
:02:01. > :02:04.They will be joining other government troops who are battling a
:02:05. > :02:08.resurgence of Al-Qaeda linked militancy and what appears to be an
:02:09. > :02:13.attempt to create a Sunni Muslim state straddling the frontier with
:02:14. > :02:19.Syria. The western Anbar Province has seen some of the heaviest
:02:20. > :02:22.fighting for years. Government troops are battling the Islamic
:02:23. > :02:29.State of Iraq and the Levant. The fighting began last month in Ramadi
:02:30. > :02:35.after government troops broke up Sunni protest camps. The town is
:02:36. > :02:39.being controlled by Sunni tribes. The Islamic State of Iraq and the
:02:40. > :02:47.Levant is fighting government forces in Syria and it's being attacked by
:02:48. > :02:51.Syrian opposition groups in Aleppo. This amateur video purports to show
:02:52. > :02:57.the clashes between Al-Qaeda linked fighters and other rebels in Aleppo
:02:58. > :03:02.in the past few days. Analysts say behind such clashes lies competition
:03:03. > :03:07.for the control of Syria's opposition-held areas and a desire
:03:08. > :03:15.to regain Western support after a suspension of aid. At least 34
:03:16. > :03:18.jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, none of them
:03:19. > :03:24.Syrians, were killed after clashes with other rebel movements in Idlib.
:03:25. > :03:28.So, on different fronts, in two countries, there is a new and
:03:29. > :03:32.complex element in the tension and fighting across this volatile region
:03:33. > :03:36.reflected in Iraq in the stand-off in Fallujah, fiercely fought over
:03:37. > :03:41.and currently resembling a ghost town. Aid for civilians who have
:03:42. > :03:47.been caught up in the clashes in Fallujah, many have fled their homes
:03:48. > :03:52.in the town and from other places. The US is expressing increasing
:03:53. > :03:54.concern. Isolating extremists seen as a priority now and that's as much
:03:55. > :04:30.a political as a military issue. If we zoom out to the Islamic state
:04:31. > :04:33.of Iraq, I think we should be careful before attributing blame to
:04:34. > :04:40.any states. Many of the Islamist groups in Iraq and in Syria receive
:04:41. > :04:45.funding from private donors from the Gulf, countries like Kuwait, Qatar
:04:46. > :04:52.and Saudia Arabia. I'm not of the opinion that Al-Qaeda in Iraq is
:04:53. > :04:58.receiving funding from Saudia Arabia to give Iran a bloody nose. I don't
:04:59. > :05:01.think that is Saudi policy, that Saudia Arabia is willing to take the
:05:02. > :05:06.risk of backing Al-Qaeda outright. They may of course be backing
:05:07. > :05:10.extremist groups in Syria that are short of Al-Qaeda. I think we have
:05:11. > :05:14.to remember Al-Qaeda has been a resurgent force inside Iraq for the
:05:15. > :05:19.entirety of the past 18 months. This is nothing new. Most of the causes
:05:20. > :05:25.of this are really internal to Iraq, not external. Yet, the fighting in
:05:26. > :05:30.Syria and in the west of Iraq, clearly one source of turbulence
:05:31. > :05:35.feeds off the other? Absolutely. We are certainly seeing Al-Qaeda's
:05:36. > :05:41.resurgence within northern Syria, at least until recent weeks, sweeping
:05:42. > :05:45.aside moderate rebels having an effect on activities inside Iraq.
:05:46. > :05:48.You are seeing the region become awash with weapons, weapons captured
:05:49. > :05:58.within Syria can be used within Iraq. You are seeing movement of
:05:59. > :06:03.fighters across the border as well. It has boosted their opportunities
:06:04. > :06:07.within Iraq. It's also changed the sectarian climate within Iraq. It's
:06:08. > :06:12.made more and more Iraqi Sunnis feel that their government is backing a
:06:13. > :06:17.regressive, brutal state next door. So, I think the events are also
:06:18. > :06:21.deepening Iraq's own political divisions. The White House spokesman
:06:22. > :06:27.said today they are trying to take - I think he called it an holistic
:06:28. > :06:31.approach towards Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the area. How do you
:06:32. > :06:37.see American aims here? I think what it means is we want to give weapons
:06:38. > :06:41.to the Al-Maliki administration to fight Al-Qaeda, but we don't want to
:06:42. > :06:44.give them so many weapons they feel they can bomb their way out of this
:06:45. > :06:50.problem and they have no need to reach out to the countries aggrieved
:06:51. > :06:51.Sunni population. It is saying arms are part of the answer, but they are
:06:52. > :07:03.not the only answer. In positive news from Syria, there's
:07:04. > :07:06.been a significant development in the process of destroying the
:07:07. > :07:09.country's chemical weapons. The first load of highly toxic
:07:10. > :07:12.chemicals has been shipped out of the port of Latakia, a week after
:07:13. > :07:15.the formal deadline expired The UN has confirmed that a small
:07:16. > :07:19.number of containers are now on board a Danish cargo vessel - the
:07:20. > :07:22.first instalment of around 1,300 tonnes of weapons and
:07:23. > :07:25.precursors - which are due to be transferred to an American ship and
:07:26. > :07:33.destroyed at sea. Now to a new scandal shaking the
:07:34. > :07:36.Royal Family in Spain, where the King's youngest daughter -
:07:37. > :07:39.Princess Cristina - has been named as a suspect in a tax fraud
:07:40. > :07:44.and money-laundering investigation. It's the first time that a member of
:07:45. > :07:47.the Spanish Royal Family has been directly implicated in a corruption
:07:48. > :07:50.investigation. She'll appear alongside her husband
:07:51. > :07:53.in court in March. He's been under investigation over
:07:54. > :08:01.his business dealings since 2010. The Spanish journalist Miguel-Ansho
:08:02. > :08:15.Anxo Murado is following the story. I imagine this is getting quite a
:08:16. > :08:20.reaction in Spain? Yes, of course. This comes amid a string of, in some
:08:21. > :08:26.cases, scandals, in other cases I would call them mishaps which have
:08:27. > :08:33.to do with the Royal Family and with the king. It comes two days after a
:08:34. > :08:38.poll indicates that this is denting the prestige of the monarchy in
:08:39. > :08:45.Spain. That prestige has already been dented by the king himself?
:08:46. > :08:50.Yes, I was referring to mishaps. I think that more damaging than this
:08:51. > :08:56.case in which the king is not involved. He's not involved in these
:08:57. > :09:04.legal cases. Probably more damning to him was the mishap of what
:09:05. > :09:11.happened during his infamous, let's call it, hunting trip to Botswana
:09:12. > :09:16.where he was - well, people learned in Spain that he was hunting
:09:17. > :09:21.elephants, that he was there without the Queen. A series of things that
:09:22. > :09:27.were so far removed from the image he enjoyed among the Spanish
:09:28. > :09:30.population, that actually that cost, I think - that was quite a
:09:31. > :09:35.disappointment to many people. I think what these polls reflect is
:09:36. > :09:39.more of that than this case in which her daughter could be allegedly
:09:40. > :09:44.involved. Let's come back to Princess Cristina. Do you think the
:09:45. > :09:50.authorities will charge her? It's difficult to say. A previous summons
:09:51. > :09:54.to court was dropped by a higher court and this one is going to be
:09:55. > :09:58.appealed by the lawyers of Princess Cristina. So, we have to wait and
:09:59. > :10:06.see whether she appears in court. Even if she is charged by the judge,
:10:07. > :10:12.there are still lots of things, a range of things they can do to avoid
:10:13. > :10:18.being tried. Even though this story has been going on for three years,
:10:19. > :10:23.Spanish justice is painfully slow, we are at the beginning or at the
:10:24. > :10:33.beginning of a very long process. Where do the polls have the Spanish
:10:34. > :10:38.Royal Family? Well, this poll that was widely circulated by the Spanish
:10:39. > :10:46.media two days ago shows something astonishing. In 12 months, the
:10:47. > :10:51.King's popularity has dropped from 60% to 40%. Probably more worrying
:10:52. > :10:59.is the fact that most people interviewed believe that he cannot
:11:00. > :11:03.restore the prestige of the institution and they are already
:11:04. > :11:09.thinking of the Crown Prince Felipe, who is more popular than his father
:11:10. > :11:17.- this is another extraordinary turn of events - he could take over and
:11:18. > :11:21.become the King. The King has clearly said he doesn't want to step
:11:22. > :11:26.down. Crown Prince Felipe also says he doesn't want to step in. But the
:11:27. > :11:31.fact that we are discussing these things is really an extraordinary
:11:32. > :11:35.thing in Spain, a country where, until recently, the monarchy was not
:11:36. > :11:42.discussed in public, never criticised indeed. Thank you.
:11:43. > :11:45.Forecasters say parts of North America are facing dangerously low
:11:46. > :11:48.temperatures - not seen in more than 20 years. The blast of polar
:11:49. > :11:51.air that's hit the Midwest is spreading to the south and east,
:11:52. > :12:09.America's deepfreeze - more than half of the country's enduring some
:12:10. > :12:16.of the coldest temperatures felt in decades. It is freezing, man! It's
:12:17. > :12:20.cold! It's colder than it's been forever. But I've got more layers
:12:21. > :12:27.on! The cause of this unusually cold spell is what forecasters in the US
:12:28. > :12:31.are calling a polar vortex, an Arctic blast which has brought with
:12:32. > :12:36.it sub-zero temperatures. Days of snow have been followed by these
:12:37. > :12:42.high-speed gusts of wind. The result? Travel misery. Treacherous
:12:43. > :12:46.roads and thousands of flights cancelled, trains were also brought
:12:47. > :12:54.to a halt. Hundreds of passengers near Chicago were forced to spend
:12:55. > :12:59.the night on board. You are unsure of the unknown. The water has frozen
:13:00. > :13:05.over here in the centre of Washington DC. It is so cold I can
:13:06. > :13:09.barely feel my fingers. We have a reading of 10 Fahrenheit, that is
:13:10. > :13:16.-12 Celsius. If you want to get an idea of how cold it really is, then
:13:17. > :13:21.take a look at this. We poured water on a T-shirt less than five minutes
:13:22. > :13:27.ago and now it is solid! The mercury has been so low that parts of the
:13:28. > :13:31.east and Midwest have been colder than much of Antarctica. Doctors
:13:32. > :13:38.have warned people to stay indoors to avoid frostbite. Some have no
:13:39. > :13:43.choice, like John Willis. You have a face mask. My moustache keeps
:13:44. > :13:47.freezing! Schools and offices remained closed across large parts
:13:48. > :13:59.of the country. The crippling cold weather is forecast to last for the
:14:00. > :14:10.next few days. Nada Tawfik is in New York. You are in Central Park. What
:14:11. > :14:12.is it like in the city? Well, the deepfreeze has certainly reached New
:14:13. > :14:16.York. It is painful to be outside. People have really been staying
:14:17. > :14:24.indoors. We have only seen a few people out in the park. Forecasters
:14:25. > :14:30.have called this "Weather whiplash". It was 13 degrees Celsius yesterday
:14:31. > :14:36.and now it is -14 Celsius. So the temperatures here are dangerously
:14:37. > :14:41.cold. That, of course, is because of this polar freeze that has come down
:14:42. > :14:44.from the Arctic and gripped the Midwest states, all the way to the
:14:45. > :14:48.east coast, even down to Florida, where they are not used to these
:14:49. > :14:52.cold temperatures. Officials have warned people to stay indoors
:14:53. > :14:57.because besides the travel disruptions that we heard from in
:14:58. > :15:02.that package, people have died. This has been a deadly cold freeze
:15:03. > :15:06.gripping the United States. Four men in Chicago died of heart attacks
:15:07. > :15:11.trying to shovel their driveways of snow. So, I suppose, it's meant a
:15:12. > :15:20.lot of normal life, like schools, have had to be shut down?
:15:21. > :15:24.Absolutely. Across the nation, several businesses and schools had
:15:25. > :15:29.to be closed. Especially in parts of the south where they are not used to
:15:30. > :15:33.these cold temperatures. In New York, the Governor declared a state
:15:34. > :15:38.of emergency because they are concerned about people being outside
:15:39. > :15:40.for too long and getting frostbite. Frostbite can occur in minutes
:15:41. > :15:43.because of the temperatures. So, they are urging people to stay
:15:44. > :15:48.indoors, but if they have to come out, to cover their skin, to wear
:15:49. > :15:51.layers and the city has also been around scouring for anyone who might
:15:52. > :15:53.be homeless out on the streets to make sure that they are safe
:15:54. > :16:08.indoors. Thank you. JP Morgan Chase has agreed to pay
:16:09. > :16:12.$1.7 billion for its involvement in the Bernard Madoff scam. The
:16:13. > :16:14.American company was his main banker for two decades and US
:16:15. > :16:17.prosectors claimed that it turned a blind eye to his suspicious
:16:18. > :16:19.activities. When Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme came to light five
:16:20. > :16:22.years ago, his comapny claimed to have assets worth $65 billion
:16:23. > :16:42.despite only having about Two managers being held captive by a
:16:43. > :16:49.Goodyear tyre factory in France have been released after the police
:16:50. > :16:57.intervened. The workers' union wants to discuss a redundancy plan.
:16:58. > :17:01.One of Asia's most influential film moguls - Run Run Shaw - has died
:17:02. > :17:04.in Hong Kong at the age of 107. He founded the Shaw Brothers Studios
:17:05. > :17:06.which popularised kung-fu movies around the world.
:17:07. > :17:12.He produced almost 1,000 films, including the classic Blade Runner.
:17:13. > :17:16.Fitness fans are getting the chance to try out the latest wearable
:17:17. > :17:19.technology gadgets, which have been unveiled at the world's biggest
:17:20. > :17:22.consumer electronics show in Las Vegas. Technology giants like Google
:17:23. > :17:25.and Samsung use the event to showcase their latest innovations
:17:26. > :17:28.and our technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones,
:17:29. > :18:07.wearable tech. Whether that hope and hype comes to frui wigs, we will --
:18:08. > :18:21.fruition, we will wait to see. Will it ever appeal beyond a band of
:18:22. > :18:24.fitness fa Nat ticks determined to log their every? One of the new
:18:25. > :18:31.products may breakthrough from the pack, but there's plenty of
:18:32. > :18:34.competition. Epsom launched these reality glasses which allow you to
:18:35. > :18:41.watch HD movies or receive information. Technology giant
:18:42. > :18:44.Samsung unveiled a huge TV whose main attraction is the curved
:18:45. > :18:53.screen. There was a curved smartphone from LG. A tiny British
:18:54. > :19:01.firm was preparing its assault on Las Vegas, with a 3D printer. This
:19:02. > :19:05.is a huge deal. This is the first time that Robox has been seen by
:19:06. > :19:10.anyone, so we are keen to show the public and everybody what we can do,
:19:11. > :19:14.what Robox can do and how it can make 3D printing simple. Here is
:19:15. > :19:19.another technology that is big in Las Vegas this year. Unmanned aerial
:19:20. > :19:23.vehicles, commonly known as drones. People are finding all sorts of
:19:24. > :19:27.commercial uses for them. Amazon have already said they want to use
:19:28. > :19:34.drones to deliver parcels, but other uses may be more realistic. There's
:19:35. > :19:38.a lot more uses for it say like agriculture, monitoring crops.
:19:39. > :19:41.There's uses for search and rescue. You are able to throw something up
:19:42. > :19:46.in the air quickly without having to get a fully manned helicopter out
:19:47. > :19:50.there. Las Vegas this week is the place to see the big picture of what
:19:51. > :19:52.is new in technology. But remember, not all of the bright ideas hatched
:19:53. > :20:00.here will take off. With me is the technology journalist
:20:01. > :20:14.and gadget guru Caramel Quin. There is so much we can talk about.
:20:15. > :20:18.The curved smartphone. This is made with guerrilla glass? Yes, you see
:20:19. > :20:24.that on the front of iPhones. They can make it in 3D shapes like
:20:25. > :20:28.curves. So why would you want a curved phone? I don't know. It could
:20:29. > :20:41.be more ergonomic or it could be because you can. And wearable? You
:20:42. > :20:50.could get a flexible guerrilla glass as well, so it could be fold open to
:20:51. > :20:59.be a bigger screen. Because it can be done, it will be done. The ball
:21:00. > :21:06.of power, Intel, it allows you to throw all your devices in there?
:21:07. > :21:09.Yes. It's a concept right now. The technology is available. It's
:21:10. > :21:13.inducktive charging so, at the moment, you can buy cases for your
:21:14. > :21:17.phones so you can lay them on a special mat to charge them. They are
:21:18. > :21:23.trying to build the technology into each gadget and you could get one
:21:24. > :21:30.bowl or device like this. So our children will say, "You plugged them
:21:31. > :21:35.in?" There are two rival formats for doing this. The smart money is on
:21:36. > :21:44.waiting to see which one wins the format war. A few more. Swimming
:21:45. > :21:50.goggles, now they are using the colours? You buy the blue thing and
:21:51. > :21:54.it clips on to your favourite swimming goggles. It gives you a
:21:55. > :21:59.display here. A colour will indicate what your heartbeat is like. It has
:22:00. > :22:02.a heart rate monitor here. Serious training gadget? Very clever stuff.
:22:03. > :22:08.It will tell you how many laps you have done, how fast your turns are.
:22:09. > :22:12.The next one is about health. It is about a bracelet that can warn you
:22:13. > :22:16.of what? How much UV you are getting. Whether you have had too
:22:17. > :22:20.much sunshine. This is really good for kids? Yes, it is good for
:22:21. > :22:24.anybody really to know. You don't keep track of it. It looks really
:22:25. > :22:33.nice. That is the big challenge with wearable technology. It is looking
:22:34. > :22:38.so nice that you want to wear it. A jeweller designed that. You could
:22:39. > :22:43.spend all your money on all of this. Perhaps, just wait and see to find
:22:44. > :22:49.out which ones are real goers? Yes. Thank you.
:22:50. > :22:52.Now to this week's series on emerging artists from the BBC's
:22:53. > :22:55.Sound of 2014 new music list. Today we're looking at the British
:22:56. > :22:57.electronic producer and singer-songwriter Sampha, whose
:22:58. > :23:00.use of sparse beats and mournful piano chords have already seen him
:23:01. > :23:04.compared to James Blake. BBC News went to meet Sampha at his brother's
:23:05. > :23:25.flat - a place he says has inspired a lot of his music.
:23:26. > :23:40.This is my brother's flat. This is where I come to have a laugh. #6
:23:41. > :23:41.this is my -- this is my brother. This is like an inspirational place
:23:42. > :24:18.for me. a Celine Dion song. My mum loved it.
:24:19. > :24:25.I was getting a reaction. I was young. My mum was, like, "I love
:24:26. > :24:30.that." From there or nothing, I figured out harmonic progression.
:24:31. > :24:42.When I saw him perform live, it blew me away. And that was Sampha. Then
:24:43. > :24:53.this guy was on stage. It was so powerful. I had to hold back the
:24:54. > :25:16.tears a little bit. The music I make is honest music, I guess. I don't
:25:17. > :25:22.know how to describe myself. I went around to a friend and Jessie Ware
:25:23. > :25:23.was there and I sort of, like, was like, just spending time with them
:25:24. > :26:24.and he decided to making a track. Sampha there. We will have more from
:26:25. > :26:30.the BBC's Sound of 2014 tomorrow. The main news: Fears of a sectarian
:26:31. > :26:36.war in Iraq as Islamist militants overrun Fallujah. In Aleppo
:26:37. > :26:43.Al-Qaeda-linked militants execute 50 prisoners.
:26:44. > :26:53.Thank you for being with us on World News Today.
:26:54. > :26:57.Hi, there. We have a risk of further flooding as we head through the
:26:58. > :26:58.night-time. Hi, there. We have a risk of further
:26:59. > :27:02.flooding as we head through the night-time. Southern counties of
:27:03. > :27:03.England have the highest number of flood warnings in