:00:00. > :00:00.This is BBC World News Today with me, Tim Willcox.
:00:00. > :00:10.An apparent link between one of the attackers in the Californian mass
:00:11. > :00:16.The woman involved is said to have pledged allegiance to the leader
:00:17. > :00:19.It comes as television crews, including the BBC,
:00:20. > :00:26.It is quite extraordinary really, isn't it, that, as I say, so much
:00:27. > :00:31.mayhem and misery was plotted from this really very ordinary
:00:32. > :00:40.German pilots prepare to join the international fight against IS, but
:00:41. > :00:49.For too long a time, we have denied our responsibility.
:00:50. > :00:57.Now we have to live up to what is our responsibility in Europe.
:00:58. > :01:03.Also coming up, a cult leader from North London is convicted of raping
:01:04. > :01:09.his followers and imprisoning his daughter for decades.
:01:10. > :01:10.And how London is calling, a new generation of African artists as
:01:11. > :01:25.auction prices for their work soars. There's growing evidence that
:01:26. > :01:29.the mass shooting in California, which left 14 people dead,
:01:30. > :01:32.was linked to Islamist extremism. It's reported that one of the
:01:33. > :01:35.killers, 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik, had posted on Facebook during
:01:36. > :01:39.the attack, pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader
:01:40. > :01:43.of so-called Islamic State. Now a news agency which supports
:01:44. > :01:46.Islamic State has posted on its website that followers of the
:01:47. > :01:51.group had carried out the attack. She and her husband Syed Farook
:01:52. > :01:54.carried out the massacre on Wednesday in San Bernadino,
:01:55. > :01:58.before being killed Our North American correspondent
:01:59. > :02:15.David Willis has just been given David. Yes, and we are expecting a
:02:16. > :02:19.lot more clarity on all of this in a news conference which is due to get
:02:20. > :02:24.underway a short distance from here any minute now. We will cross to
:02:25. > :02:29.that and bring you that live as we get it. But this, for all intents
:02:30. > :02:35.and purposes, has been the centre of activity this morning, the hosts
:02:36. > :02:39.were this couple were holed up before they carried out their
:02:40. > :02:43.murderous rampage on Wednesday morning, a short distance from
:02:44. > :02:48.here. Physical, the FBI over the last 24, 36 hours, -- basically, has
:02:49. > :02:56.been removing evidence from the scene. Amongst that, 12 pipe bombs,
:02:57. > :02:59.a veritable arsenal of ammunition, and several hundred tools which they
:03:00. > :03:09.thought could have been used to make bombs, were all removed from this
:03:10. > :03:13.fairly small apartment behind me. Then, they sealed it up, and the FBI
:03:14. > :03:20.regard it no longer as a crime scene, they handed it back and a
:03:21. > :03:27.short while ago, he opened it up, we went in with a number of other media
:03:28. > :03:36.folks to find out what lay inside. This, for those of you who have just
:03:37. > :03:42.joined us, is the apartment that was occupied by the two suspects in this
:03:43. > :03:50.attack on Wednesday. A lot of media interest, as I was mentioning. Let's
:03:51. > :03:58.have a look upstairs. Apparently, quite an ordinary apartment
:03:59. > :04:08.building. Going into the bedroom here. This is on the second floor.
:04:09. > :04:17.You can see a copy of the Koran here. You can see various other bits
:04:18. > :04:26.and pieces that have been left here, it looks as though it had been
:04:27. > :04:31.well searched by members of the FBI, they recovered, removed quite a
:04:32. > :04:38.lot of pieces of evidence yesterday, including, it is thought, some
:04:39. > :04:44.computer files and other information that was stored on computer, that
:04:45. > :04:49.they are looking to analyse, and to take it back to Washington, DC for
:04:50. > :04:58.firm and analysis. Let's move down now and go... I think if we can lead
:04:59. > :05:01.you in here, this is the front room. This is the front room of the
:05:02. > :05:11.building. There are various documents here. This was a couple,
:05:12. > :05:18.of course, let's not forget, who had a 6 -month-old daughter. They
:05:19. > :05:21.dropped her off with their grandmother on the morning of this
:05:22. > :05:28.attack on Wednesday morning -- her grandmother. Syed Farook went to
:05:29. > :05:34.work, had a disagreement, apparently, and after that, came
:05:35. > :05:41.back here to this house, assembled an arsenal of weapons and went with
:05:42. > :05:46.his wife back to the workplace and shot the place up, killing 14 people
:05:47. > :05:52.and injuring 21. We will move out of it now so we can give you a little
:05:53. > :05:58.bit more context, perhaps, on this, as far as the pictures are
:05:59. > :06:06.concerned. Some tools no doubt left behind by the FBI. Moving into the
:06:07. > :06:15.kitchen, it is a small, two-storey, two-bedroom apartment. Engaged in
:06:16. > :06:20.ordinary domestic activities, quite extraordinary, really, when you see
:06:21. > :06:28.this, all the weapons that have been found, just extraordinary that it is
:06:29. > :06:36.alongside the apparent preparations for a terrorist rampage, the place
:06:37. > :06:41.is boarded up, of course, the FBI in the last 36 hours, have been very
:06:42. > :06:46.busy. This is it, quite extraordinary, really, isn't it,
:06:47. > :06:55.that as I say, so much mayhem and misery was plotted from this really
:06:56. > :06:58.very ordinary apartment, two-storey apartment, in a leafy domestic
:06:59. > :07:04.street in the quietest town and possibly, you could find in Southern
:07:05. > :07:12.California. Really quite extraordinary scenes. We saw a bomb
:07:13. > :07:15.factory become a garage sale as people were kind of falling over
:07:16. > :07:23.themselves to pick up various bits of evidence. But you saw there, this
:07:24. > :07:26.life of domestic tranquillity, juxtaposed with all that we hear
:07:27. > :07:31.about the bombs that were being made in there, there were examples of
:07:32. > :07:35.baby food and all those things, really quite surreal. We are
:07:36. > :07:40.expecting that news conference from the FBI and we are expecting that
:07:41. > :07:45.they may well say they are taking over this entire investigation and
:07:46. > :07:50.that they are guarding it as what some are saying might be described
:07:51. > :07:55.as an act of home-grown violent extremism, which of course ruled out
:07:56. > :07:59.any possibility of this being a workplace dispute. There is no
:08:00. > :08:02.evidence, I am told, that this couple were involved in
:08:03. > :08:05.international terrorist organisations, certainly at this
:08:06. > :08:11.point in time, although who knows? But it is possible that this man's
:08:12. > :08:15.wife, she had radicalised him. There is evidence on the ground here that
:08:16. > :08:20.he suddenly changed his demeanour after returning from Saudi Arabia
:08:21. > :08:26.last summer. It was there that he met his wife and this apparently
:08:27. > :08:34.meek and mild and well liked man in the workplace somehow set about
:08:35. > :08:38.plotting this rampage. David, 20 very much. We will be returning to
:08:39. > :08:41.that FBI press conference as and when that starts.
:08:42. > :08:43.Within the hour, the White House spokesman, Josh Earnest,
:08:44. > :08:46.While not being able to confirm recent reports into
:08:47. > :08:49.the suspects' possible connections to terrorism, he did say that law
:08:50. > :08:57.enforcement were looking at all possible motives for the attack.
:08:58. > :09:02.The FBI is leading this investigation, as the President said
:09:03. > :09:10.yesterday, because of the possibility that this is a terrorist
:09:11. > :09:14.attack. And the President summoned his national security adviser, his
:09:15. > :09:20.top counterterrorism adviser, his Attorney General, the Director of
:09:21. > :09:23.the FBI, and the deputy Director of homeland security, to the Oval
:09:24. > :09:28.Office yesterday to get an update about what exactly transpired. And
:09:29. > :09:33.to make sure they understand how determined he is to get to the
:09:34. > :09:40.bottom of what exactly transpired. And that is exactly what the FBI and
:09:41. > :09:43.law enforcement officials, intelligence officials and others
:09:44. > :09:46.are doing, they are using the significant resources of the US
:09:47. > :09:53.Government to learn as much as they can about what exactly transpired.
:09:54. > :09:55.And the President has been giving recent updates, including as
:09:56. > :09:59.recently as this morning but it will be the responsibility of the
:10:00. > :10:03.investigators to make information public when they have concluded that
:10:04. > :10:04.it would not harm the investigation to do so.
:10:05. > :10:06.Belgium's prosecutor has announced they are searching
:10:07. > :10:08.for two new suspects, considered armed and dangerous,
:10:09. > :10:11.who are wanted in relation to the Paris terrorist attacks.
:10:12. > :10:15.They are accused of using fake ID papers to help wanted man
:10:16. > :10:22.Salah Abdeslam travel to Hungary in September.
:10:23. > :10:26.One of these identity card was also used to wire money to the ringleader
:10:27. > :10:30.of the attacks' family, four days after the massacre.
:10:31. > :10:32.Three weeks on from the devastating attacks in
:10:33. > :10:35.Paris, international action against militants from
:10:36. > :10:38.so-called Islamic State is beginning to take shape.
:10:39. > :10:41.Earlier this week, the UK Parliament voted to launch
:10:42. > :10:47.And now the German Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to join
:10:48. > :10:50.the campaign, although in a non-combat supporting role.
:10:51. > :10:59.Damien McGuinness reports from Berlin.
:11:00. > :11:03.Just hours after Germany's Parliament approved military
:11:04. > :11:09.involvement in Syria, the German troops started preparing Tornado
:11:10. > :11:13.jets for take-off. This will be Germany's largest current military
:11:14. > :11:18.mission abroad, but these warplanes were not -- will not launch bombs
:11:19. > :11:21.themselves, or other help identify the targets for American, British
:11:22. > :11:27.and French bombers. Which is exactly what is lacking at the moment, say
:11:28. > :11:30.German military leaders. TRANSLATION: We are making a very
:11:31. > :11:33.meaningful contribution to the existing reconnaissance system
:11:34. > :11:37.because with the Tornados we can make available highly detailed
:11:38. > :11:42.images of large areas in a short period of time. To support the fight
:11:43. > :11:46.against IS, Germany will send a frigate to assist a French aircraft
:11:47. > :11:51.carrier off the Syrian coast, six Tornados, as well as refuelling
:11:52. > :11:59.planes. 1200 German military personnel will also head to the
:12:00. > :12:02.region. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has so put -- support for the
:12:03. > :12:05.mission within her governing coalition and with a strong majority
:12:06. > :12:09.in Parliament there was never any question that she would not get
:12:10. > :12:14.approval from MPs for the mission. According to some polls, a majority
:12:15. > :12:19.of voters agree. But traditionally in Germany, military action is
:12:20. > :12:29.controversial. Left-wing opposition MPs voted no. TRANSLATION: You can
:12:30. > :12:32.be sure that the bombs in Syria killed more civilians than the
:12:33. > :12:36.barbaric attacks in Paris and the mothers of Raqqa are crying for
:12:37. > :12:40.their children. A war bombs also terror. Any Germans say the military
:12:41. > :12:45.mission is not well thought out and could make Germany more of a target
:12:46. > :12:48.for terrorists. But there are signs that the opposition to air strikes
:12:49. > :12:51.is dwindling. That is partly because of a sense of solidarity with
:12:52. > :12:56.France, and is the Paris attacks. Something which French resident
:12:57. > :13:03.Francois Hollande welcomed as he visited the carrier Charles de
:13:04. > :13:08.Gaulle. But also, Germans are feeling the impact of the conflict
:13:09. > :13:11.in Syria also to home. Almost 1 million refugees and migrants have
:13:12. > :13:18.arrived in Germany so far this year, many of them from Syria. Germany's
:13:19. > :13:23.government view is that without destroying the threat of IS, that
:13:24. > :13:27.flow of people will continue. This threat coming from Isis and Assad
:13:28. > :13:34.has caused the death toll of hundreds of thousands of people, and
:13:35. > :13:39.it is a challenge for Europe and for too long a time we have denied our
:13:40. > :13:43.responsibility. Now, we have to live up to what is our responsibility in
:13:44. > :13:47.Europe. Although German troops will not be bombing Syria, they will be
:13:48. > :13:51.in danger. There is a risk that German reconnaissance planes could
:13:52. > :13:55.be shot down by IS. If that happened, the growing support among
:13:56. > :14:06.Germans for military action in Syria is likely to suddenly evaporate.
:14:07. > :14:08.This is well used today. -- this is World News Today.
:14:09. > :14:10.Floods have brought the Southern Indian city of Chennai,
:14:11. > :14:12.formerly known as Madras, to a standstill after
:14:13. > :14:18.Around 280 people have died in the floods over the past few months.
:14:19. > :14:21.Rescue teams have been trying to get food and medicines to thousands
:14:22. > :14:24.But it has started to rain heavily again.
:14:25. > :14:34.The waters have been receiving all day because -- but just in the past
:14:35. > :14:38.couple of hours we have had some intense showers and you can get a
:14:39. > :14:43.sense of it behind me, just the pace at which the rain is coming down, it
:14:44. > :14:47.is very intense. I was told by eyewitnesses it was even worse
:14:48. > :14:51.earlier in the week when Chennai experiences heavy and intense
:14:52. > :14:55.showers. The huggers at the moment, unless this gets much worse, is to
:14:56. > :14:59.begin the whole process of relief and rehabilitation. There are many
:15:00. > :15:02.people who went home today for the 1st time after the rains let up for
:15:03. > :15:08.the 1st time since the waters receded. Just to get a sense of the
:15:09. > :15:11.damage to their houses and property. Many people I spoke to said they
:15:12. > :15:15.would have to rebuild their lives all over again because they had
:15:16. > :15:18.something lost so much. People living and working in the
:15:19. > :15:22.neighbourhoods where the water has reached after the 1st level of their
:15:23. > :15:26.homes so everything inside was completely destroyed. The priority
:15:27. > :15:30.for the administration at the moment is to try and get the infrastructure
:15:31. > :15:34.back up and running, phone lines have been down for days and it is
:15:35. > :15:38.difficult to communicate so that is a priority. The airports have been
:15:39. > :15:46.shut for most of the week. We understand there have been some
:15:47. > :15:50.clearance for civilian suit -- civilian aeroplanes. Some people are
:15:51. > :15:53.combining of major shortages particularly essential supplies such
:15:54. > :15:56.as milk. Looking ahead, the long-term impact of this is
:15:57. > :16:01.something that will have to be assessed, this is India's fourth
:16:02. > :16:04.biggest city, a major industrial base, the damage it has gone through
:16:05. > :16:06.in the last few days has been immense.
:16:07. > :16:09.A self styled cult leader here in London has been convicted
:16:10. > :16:11.of raping and indecently assaulting two of his followers,
:16:12. > :16:13.and imprisoning his own daughter in the commune for 30 years.
:16:14. > :16:17.Aravindan Balakrishnan used violence and sexual degradation to keep
:16:18. > :16:20.the women under control for several decades.
:16:21. > :16:26.Our correspondent Tom Symonds reports.
:16:27. > :16:28.Captivity, year after year, three decades in all
:16:29. > :16:38.Aravindan Balakrishnan's bizarre cult dominated the lives
:16:39. > :16:46.It became clear that the victims were so conditioned that
:16:47. > :16:51.they truly believed he was all powerful and all seeing.
:16:52. > :16:55.Some shared his politics but this young woman was his daughter, born
:16:56. > :17:02.into the cult and hidden from the world. What I first learned to write
:17:03. > :17:06.was about the love of Allah. My mother was saying, he is God, he is
:17:07. > :17:13.the star of our life so we have to watch him. This is her first ever
:17:14. > :17:25.interview. She told me he demanded loyalty. He is in charge and
:17:26. > :17:33.everyone is basically his slave. -- the love of Comrade Bala.
:17:34. > :17:36.Balakrishnan courted Chairman Mao and later the brainwashing started,
:17:37. > :17:41.that he had supernatural powers. -- quoted. There were always rules,
:17:42. > :17:46.work for the collective, forget your family. The doors were often locked,
:17:47. > :17:48.going out alone was frowned upon. Because of the risks outside on the
:17:49. > :17:53.British fascist state. Because of the risks outside on the
:17:54. > :18:04.We can go straight to California now. There have been some concerns
:18:05. > :18:09.in the area, people talking about law-enforcement not sharing
:18:10. > :18:13.information, and a potential at a movie theatre summer --, something
:18:14. > :18:19.of that nature. I want to address that right now. On Monday night,
:18:20. > :18:23.Tuesday morning, before the incident, November 30, December one,
:18:24. > :18:29.right around midnight, one o'clock in the morning, there was an
:18:30. > :18:33.incident at the Regal Cinema, and what that case was is that the
:18:34. > :18:37.gentleman who was described as appearing to be Middle Eastern came
:18:38. > :18:41.up and spoke to the security guard around the time the theatre was
:18:42. > :18:46.closing and he was asking the security guard questions about the
:18:47. > :18:51.movies and things like that but the security guard but it was odd. That
:18:52. > :18:58.person ultimately left in a silver Volvo 4-door vehicle, 2012, 2013, we
:18:59. > :19:04.do not have a plate. A security guard thought it was weird. Shortly
:19:05. > :19:07.afterwards, the guard noticed another car driving around the area
:19:08. > :19:10.with another person that was possibly Middle Eastern in
:19:11. > :19:16.appearance, that appeared to be taking photographs in and around the
:19:17. > :19:19.theatre. The security guard checked up and notified the police
:19:20. > :19:27.department. We have gone out that night, we took a report and we put
:19:28. > :19:33.that out to every law-enforcement agency in the county, simply that
:19:34. > :19:38.there were suspicious circumstances that were noted. That is all we have
:19:39. > :19:43.on that. Then, it went into the regular investigative channels and
:19:44. > :19:48.protocols with local authorities not. They are following up and
:19:49. > :19:52.looking at videos, trying to determine that there is a real
:19:53. > :19:56.threat or seeing if there are any crimes associated with those
:19:57. > :19:58.vehicles. At this point we have zero connection, 0 evidence or
:19:59. > :20:04.information, that connects that event of what happened here on
:20:05. > :20:11.Wednesday morning. I want to make that clear. But as a result of what
:20:12. > :20:16.happened on Wednesday, the police department has been on a tactical
:20:17. > :20:21.alert situation, we have every officer in the department working on
:20:22. > :20:26.12 hour shifts, we will maintain that until -- until we think it is
:20:27. > :20:28.appropriate to stand down. We do not have credible information to
:20:29. > :20:32.indicate there is a threat to this region right now. But I wanted to
:20:33. > :20:35.address that because of some things that came out to imply we were
:20:36. > :20:40.hiding information. We are not hiding information from anybody.
:20:41. > :20:46.Lastly, what I want to do right now is, this is going to be an official
:20:47. > :20:51.transfer of this investigation in terms of information and how it is
:20:52. > :20:55.going to flow on this, to the FBI. We have talked a lot about what that
:20:56. > :21:02.partnership is, I want to make clear our agency, the up other federal
:21:03. > :21:05.agencies investigating, continue to watch over the shoulder on this
:21:06. > :21:10.investigation to make sure we are doing the best job we can. But in
:21:11. > :21:19.terms of information, regarding the investigation on this incident, the
:21:20. > :21:24.search warrants, the officer injured as a result of this, this is an FBI
:21:25. > :21:28.investigation, they will be the lead on that. Myself and the sheriff will
:21:29. > :21:31.be the lead talking about local safety measures and security. With
:21:32. > :21:38.that, I will phone over to the assistant Director in charge from
:21:39. > :21:43.the FBI. Thank you. Good morning. First off, I want to stress again to
:21:44. > :21:49.the families of the victims, to the friends of the victims, to remember
:21:50. > :21:54.they are first in this scenario. We had victims who lost from one
:21:55. > :21:57.gentleman lost six children, one gentleman lost a baby and he was
:21:58. > :22:02.taking his first trip to Disneyland next week. Other people did not have
:22:03. > :22:05.the chance to have that. Every one of those lives can get and we want
:22:06. > :22:12.to offer our sincere prayers to those families. Secondly, I want to
:22:13. > :22:16.stress the partnership, you have seen this united front which is
:22:17. > :22:20.incredibly important for an investigation, of this complexity.
:22:21. > :22:23.This is a very conflict investigation, it is a very
:22:24. > :22:30.long-term investigation. My partners from the sheriff' Department, the
:22:31. > :22:33.San Bernardino police department and the ATF have been incredibly
:22:34. > :22:38.important in this investigation. We are lockstep in how we are handling
:22:39. > :22:43.this matter. I want to go forward today and tell you that as of today,
:22:44. > :22:49.based on the information and the facts as we know them, we are now
:22:50. > :22:56.investigating these horrific acts as an act of terrorism. We have
:22:57. > :23:01.uncovered evidence that has led us to learn of extensive planning,
:23:02. > :23:07.obviously we have uncovered evidence of explosives, multiple armaments,
:23:08. > :23:11.you know that, you know the ammunition that was out there, the
:23:12. > :23:18.high-powered weapons, the explosive devices, we are continuing to go
:23:19. > :23:21.down the path is to ensure that we find all of the evidence that
:23:22. > :23:27.pertains to this matter. We have also uncovered evidence that these
:23:28. > :23:31.subjects, they attempted to destroy their digital fingerprints, for
:23:32. > :23:38.example, we found two cellphones in a nearby trash can. Those cellphones
:23:39. > :23:43.were actually crushed, we have retained those and we continue to
:23:44. > :23:48.exploit the data from those cellphones. We do hope that the
:23:49. > :23:54.digital fingerprints that were left by these two individuals will take
:23:55. > :23:58.us towards their motivation. That evidence is incredibly important. I
:23:59. > :24:01.want to ensure that everyone understands that just because the
:24:02. > :24:06.FBI has taken the leadership based on the trajectory of this case, we
:24:07. > :24:11.are not just taking this on our own, we will continue down the same path
:24:12. > :24:14.we have been, which is a lockstep operation with these partners, that
:24:15. > :24:18.is important. They are the protectors of this community. We had
:24:19. > :24:23.a mandate to investigate terrorism to its fullest extent. We are
:24:24. > :24:26.working hand-in-hand with our other federal, local and state partners
:24:27. > :24:31.and hand-in-hand with our foreign counterparts to ensure that we find
:24:32. > :24:38.any connections that pertain to this matter. Next, I would like to
:24:39. > :24:42.introduce you that we have established a national task force,
:24:43. > :24:46.sorry, a national hotline, that I would like to invite the public to
:24:47. > :24:49.call if they have any information that pertains to this. I would ask
:24:50. > :24:54.the public to please be judicious and make sure that even though, if
:24:55. > :24:58.it is small, send it to us, please do not send us things that are
:24:59. > :25:01.obviously not pertinent to this matter because we have a lot of work
:25:02. > :25:04.to do in the future, but if you think in any fashion that what you
:25:05. > :25:12.have to offer pertains to this matter, please call us and give is
:25:13. > :25:19.that information, it is important. One 800 two to five 53 24. You can
:25:20. > :25:24.choose option for, which will take you to where you need to be stopped
:25:25. > :25:27.and I want to ensure to the public that your local state and federal
:25:28. > :25:32.law enforcement officials will continue to uncover Evaristo and to
:25:33. > :25:36.ensure that we find all the facts that pertain to these two
:25:37. > :25:41.individuals, I do not have all the answers now, I will take some
:25:42. > :25:52.questions. Are there other suspects? Can you give us any
:25:53. > :25:58.examples? We have been listening to this press
:25:59. > :26:02.conference from the FBI, about the mass shootings which left 14 dead,
:26:03. > :26:04.very convex investigation. They are treating it as an act of terrorism.
:26:05. > :26:13.This is BBC World News today. Severe weather warnings have been
:26:14. > :26:21.issued due to intense rainfall. It looks likely to affect the North
:26:22. > :26:23.West of England and Western Scotland through the course of