:00:00. > :00:00.This is World News Today with me, James Menendez.
:00:07. > :00:10.All public schools in Los Angeles have been closed for the day
:00:11. > :00:15.That's nearly three quarters of a million pupils
:00:16. > :00:20.police say every school will be searched.
:00:21. > :00:23.The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, says Russia
:00:24. > :00:25.and the United States could make a significant difference
:00:26. > :00:30.to the war in Syria if they work together.
:00:31. > :00:32.The Soyuz space capsule carrying three crew members,
:00:33. > :00:35.and among them British astronaut Tim Peake,
:00:36. > :00:39.has arrived at the International Space Station.
:00:40. > :00:43.And like it or not, these little creatures are crawling on your face.
:00:44. > :01:05.We'll meet the microscopic mites that make the human face their home.
:01:06. > :01:07.The authorities in Los Angeles have closed all public schools
:01:08. > :01:22.All school buses have been ordered to return to their depots,
:01:23. > :01:24.Nearly three quarters of a million pupils,
:01:25. > :01:28.from more than 1,000 schools, are staying at home for the day.
:01:29. > :01:33.The city's mayor says it was the right decision. We continue to hope
:01:34. > :01:35.that this is nothing and our children can be back at school
:01:36. > :01:41.tomorrow. As a parent and as a mayor, I'm here to support this
:01:42. > :01:44.school district as it seeks to help to insure that we can look at each
:01:45. > :01:50.one of these campuses and make sure that they are safe for all of our
:01:51. > :01:51.children. An abundance of caution is something that all of us who have
:01:52. > :01:54.children appreciate. A similar threat was received in
:01:55. > :01:57.New York but the Police Commissioner there says it's being
:01:58. > :02:04.treated as a hoax. We do not see that as a credible
:02:05. > :02:09.terrorist threat, and we are investigating it as a hoax. We
:02:10. > :02:16.believe that the e-mail originated overseas. The language in the e-mail
:02:17. > :02:24.would leave us to believe that this is not a jet had its -- jihadist
:02:25. > :02:30.initiative. The name Allah was not spelt with a capital A. That is on
:02:31. > :02:31.think for that a jihadist would do that.
:02:32. > :02:34.Our correspondent Peter Bowes is in Los Angeles for us.
:02:35. > :02:38.Good to have you with us on the programme. The message from
:02:39. > :02:44.officials in the city is better safe than sorry. That was absolutely
:02:45. > :02:50.their message. An abundance of caution, they said, they made that
:02:51. > :02:54.decision early this morning to close all of the public schools in Los
:02:55. > :02:59.Angeles. That is a situation that is affecting hundreds of thousands of
:03:00. > :03:03.people around the city. The children who were expected to go to their
:03:04. > :03:09.classes today, their parents, who have had to deal with the situation,
:03:10. > :03:15.right now there is an eerie silence and many of those schools that are
:03:16. > :03:20.empty and are being searched. Some police officers have been seen going
:03:21. > :03:24.into those schools. They have better they will surge and leave no stone
:03:25. > :03:28.unturned. In terms of that search, every single school in Los Angeles,
:03:29. > :03:32.before declaring they are safe, and able to resume classes again. That
:03:33. > :03:39.will not be today. Tomorrow at the earliest will be when they can go
:03:40. > :03:43.back into the school. It has caused a tremendous amount of upset for
:03:44. > :03:47.people in the school. It is safe to say that after the attack in San
:03:48. > :03:50.Bernardino, many people here were still feeling nervous. There is an
:03:51. > :03:55.awareness that people need to be cautious at the moment and this
:03:56. > :04:00.incident today, this situation, has only served to worsen those fears
:04:01. > :04:05.for some people in this city of Los Angeles with an interesting, the
:04:06. > :04:08.discrepancy between the response of New York and Los Angeles. San
:04:09. > :04:13.Bernardino must be preying on people's mines where you are. That
:04:14. > :04:16.is what the officials said this morning come when the decision was
:04:17. > :04:22.made, that San Bernardino were certainly in the back of their
:04:23. > :04:26.minds, and other terrorist incidents around the world. The climate that
:04:27. > :04:30.everyone is living in at the moment. The focus now, apart from the search
:04:31. > :04:35.of the schools, appears to be on that decision and the discrepancy
:04:36. > :04:38.with New York, with the former police chief of Los Angeles now in
:04:39. > :04:45.charge of the police in New York City saying that LA had in effect
:04:46. > :04:47.overreacted, and it was determined that it was not a credible threat
:04:48. > :04:53.for New York. Questions are being asked, did it Los Angeles overstep
:04:54. > :04:56.the mark? Were they to cautious? Thank you.
:04:57. > :04:59.Steve Zimmerman is president of the Los Angeles Board of Education.
:05:00. > :05:09.He explained why they decided to shut down all of those schools. The
:05:10. > :05:18.actions we are taking today are swift and they are appropriate,
:05:19. > :05:25.given the situation that we are in, and we ask for the patience and
:05:26. > :05:28.cooperation and support of the city. The education of our kids is
:05:29. > :05:30.incredibly important. The only thing that is more important is their
:05:31. > :05:31.safety. She is a teacher and Vice President
:05:32. > :05:45.of the LA Teacher's Union. Thank you very much for joining us
:05:46. > :05:54.here on BBC programme. What do you think of the decision to close the
:05:55. > :05:59.schools? You support it? Yes. The teachers union here stands with the
:06:00. > :06:04.school district's decision to shut down the schools today. They
:06:05. > :06:09.received a credible threat, and we know that the district has highly
:06:10. > :06:17.trained people to assess these types of threat, and they decided to
:06:18. > :06:25.summarily close the schools. We support that decision because it is
:06:26. > :06:31.a top priority for the safety of our students and for the educators. What
:06:32. > :06:35.do you make of the discrepancy between the weight that New York has
:06:36. > :06:39.responded? They said they had a similar thread but decided it was a
:06:40. > :06:45.hoax. Do you think that the authorities in Los Angeles have
:06:46. > :06:50.overreacted? We support our School district. I cannot comment on what
:06:51. > :06:58.happens in New York. We are from LA, how school board president said this
:06:59. > :07:06.morning, and our mayor also stated this morning. We live in California,
:07:07. > :07:15.we are closest to San Bernardino. We know that safety is a primary thing
:07:16. > :07:21.for parents and students and educators. Is it fair to say that
:07:22. > :07:27.people in California are particularly nervous, given what
:07:28. > :07:30.happened in San Bernardino? I don't know if people are particularly
:07:31. > :07:36.nervous, I think we are living in a scary times all around the world,
:07:37. > :07:40.and we hope for peace everywhere. And so educators will be providing
:07:41. > :07:45.that support in the coming days at school, as we're heading off to
:07:46. > :07:51.holiday vacation. Thank you for being with us.
:07:52. > :07:53.Earlier, Rob Hayes, a parent to two small children,
:07:54. > :07:57.told us what happened this morning in LA.
:07:58. > :08:03.I took my kids to school this morning, just like I do on any
:08:04. > :08:07.regular day. When we got there, no one was there except for a few
:08:08. > :08:14.parents. There was a rumour that there had been a threat and then I
:08:15. > :08:18.saw it on Twitter. When I saw that, I decided it was serious. Do you dig
:08:19. > :08:26.it was the right decision? This was a view hours ago -- a few hours ago.
:08:27. > :08:31.Was it the right decision? Just last week, we had our own terrorist
:08:32. > :08:36.attack like you guys had in Europe, in Paris. We had one here as well.
:08:37. > :08:40.It must be taken seriously every time. You cannot just overlook that.
:08:41. > :08:45.Tell us more about that. You're talking about what happened in San
:08:46. > :08:51.Bernardino. Our people feeling very worried, very tense at the moment?
:08:52. > :08:56.You have to treat these cases seriously in any situation, because
:08:57. > :09:00.we don't we have these types of things happening over here in the
:09:01. > :09:05.United States will stop when they do happen, people are definitely on
:09:06. > :09:11.edge. I was in the Marine Corps, I'm a veteran, so I was in Iraq. I know
:09:12. > :09:17.it from both sides of the situation. That was Rob Hayes. His two children
:09:18. > :09:17.are staying at home today in Los Angeles.
:09:18. > :09:20.The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has said that
:09:21. > :09:22.if the United States and Russia worked together,
:09:23. > :09:24.they could make a significant difference to the Syrian conflict.
:09:25. > :09:26.Mr Kerry is in Moscow, where he's been meeting
:09:27. > :09:28.President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Foreign Minister.
:09:29. > :09:31.The two sides agree on the need to tackle so-called Islamic State,
:09:32. > :09:36.the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, would have
:09:37. > :09:45.and which opposition groups should be included in peace talks.
:09:46. > :09:50.With me is the BBC Russia Service editor, Artyom Liss.
:09:51. > :09:56.Good to have you with us in the studio. How much common ground is
:09:57. > :10:00.there between Russia and the US? Or are they very far apart which mark
:10:01. > :10:08.what is important if they have started talking. They making
:10:09. > :10:11.allsorts of noises suggesting that a relationship is better than it was a
:10:12. > :10:16.view months ago. We don't know what common ground there is. We will find
:10:17. > :10:18.that when they finish their talks. I will be surprised if they come up
:10:19. > :10:28.with something specific tonight. The interesting thing is that both sides
:10:29. > :10:31.have been making positive remarks. We have not heard that for some
:10:32. > :10:37.time. Tell us about Russia's support for the free Syrian army, fighting
:10:38. > :10:40.President Assad's troops. A confusing picture emerging, with
:10:41. > :10:47.lots of different comments from very senior officials in Moscow. Is
:10:48. > :10:51.Russia's 's board giving support to them or not? That is a good
:10:52. > :10:53.question. I don't know. I don't think anyone can tell you with any
:10:54. > :10:58.degree of certainty. President Putin said that Russia was supporting the
:10:59. > :11:06.FSA, providing them with military help. Another official denied it. On
:11:07. > :11:11.Tuesday morning, a senior Russian official said they are supporting
:11:12. > :11:18.the FSA will stop them when one of my colleagues in Moscow tried to
:11:19. > :11:23.push this point about it, he is said he had nothing to say that it. It is
:11:24. > :11:27.very confused. They don't pick Moscow has decided what it is that
:11:28. > :11:32.they want the outside to hear. It is worth pointing out that the Free
:11:33. > :11:35.Syrian Army are saying that they have not received any help from
:11:36. > :11:38.Moscow. It would be extraordinary if they were because the suction has
:11:39. > :11:42.been that part of Russia's mission in Syria is to support President
:11:43. > :11:47.Assad and the FSA desperate the want to see President Assad go. Indeed,
:11:48. > :11:54.and Russia has been saying for some time now that the only thing they
:11:55. > :11:56.are interested in is the fight with the so-called Islamic State. You can
:11:57. > :11:59.see how potentially this could bring them into the same group as the Free
:12:00. > :12:10.Syrian Army and the other opposition groups. But where does President
:12:11. > :12:15.Assad's figure go in this? This is something they could be discussing
:12:16. > :12:19.as we speak. We will see if clarity emerges. Thank you.
:12:20. > :12:21.Of course, the United States and Russia are not
:12:22. > :12:24.the only countries grappling with how they should respond
:12:25. > :12:26.to Syria's civil war and the threat from Islamic extremism.
:12:27. > :12:28.Saudi Arabia has just announced a military alliance
:12:29. > :12:31.of nearly three dozen Muslim nations in order to tackle terrorism.
:12:32. > :12:35.The Saudi Foreign Minister says the move is unprecedented.
:12:36. > :12:40.As part of this effort, there will be a joint operation
:12:41. > :12:52.set up in Riyadh that would coordinate the efforts onto tracks.
:12:53. > :12:56.One track is a security and military track that
:12:57. > :12:58.involves exchange of information, it involves the training,
:12:59. > :13:00.and providing the forces where necessary.
:13:01. > :13:02.The second track involves combating the ideology.
:13:03. > :13:03.How do you develop effective messaging,
:13:04. > :13:13.how do you counter the messages of violent extremists?
:13:14. > :13:16.Part of a Russian cruise missile hit a block of flats
:13:17. > :13:18.in the Russian Arctic during a test that went wrong,
:13:19. > :13:21.but nobody was hurt, the media reports.
:13:22. > :13:25.A fire broke out in the three-storey block in the village of Nyenoksa
:13:26. > :13:29.but residents were evacuated in time.
:13:30. > :13:32.The village is near a Russian naval base at Severodvinsk,
:13:33. > :13:39.The missile was fired from a defence ministry test range.
:13:40. > :13:42.The British astronaut Tim Peake has made history this evening -
:13:43. > :13:44.a short time ago, the 43 year-old former army pilot arrived
:13:45. > :13:51.He's the first publicly-funded British astronaut.
:13:52. > :13:54.The Soyuz space capsule carrying him and two other astronauts
:13:55. > :13:57.arrived at the space station half an hour ago
:13:58. > :14:06.after more than six hours of flight.
:14:07. > :14:10.Our science correspondent who is in Kazakhstan has this report.
:14:11. > :14:18.The momentous day for tempi. Tim and his fellow crew mates
:14:19. > :14:30.are at the cosmodrome in Baikonur, On the other side of
:14:31. > :14:33.the glass, his family. This will be the last
:14:34. > :14:36.time they will see him, He is waving and smiling
:14:37. > :14:44.and giving the thumbs up. Next stage to go on the the bus
:14:45. > :14:53.to go to launch pad. With him, on his left,
:14:54. > :14:54.is his commander, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and
:14:55. > :15:00.next to him, is Nasa's Tim Kopra. So how does Rebecca feel
:15:01. > :15:04.a few hours before the launch? I am really happy, you know,
:15:05. > :15:07.it has been a long journey We are really excited to get
:15:08. > :15:11.to this stage in the game. He looks so ready
:15:12. > :15:15.for it, it is great. A final wave goodbye,
:15:16. > :15:20.before Tim and the rest of the crew It stands on the same launch pad
:15:21. > :15:25.from which Yuri Gagarin set off to become the first man in space,
:15:26. > :15:30.more than 50 years ago. Lift off of Tim Kopra,
:15:31. > :15:53.Yuri Malenchenko and Timothy Peake on their way to the
:15:54. > :16:04.International Space Station. So far, getting good
:16:05. > :16:08.first stage performance, the Soyuz delivering
:16:09. > :16:10.930,000 pounds of thrust First stage of the Soyuz,
:16:11. > :16:15.68 feet in length, 24 feet in diameter, it will be burning
:16:16. > :16:18.liquid fuel for the first two minutes and six
:16:19. > :16:25.seconds of the flight. On the ground, jubilation
:16:26. > :16:29.from his friends, and family. In the capsule, Tim tells
:16:30. > :16:46.us he is feeling fine. The danger from the
:16:47. > :16:55.launch is now over. And coming into view,
:16:56. > :16:58.the Soyuz capsule, a scene from the International
:16:59. > :17:02.Space Station. Tim will have to wait
:17:03. > :17:25.until the hatch is opened Let's cross life to Kazakhstan and
:17:26. > :17:31.another of our correspondence. That process of opening the hatch, has it
:17:32. > :17:34.happened? Is it about the happen? It is a work in progress at the moment.
:17:35. > :17:41.In the next five minutes or so, we are expecting what is known as the
:17:42. > :17:44.ingress to begin. That is the word they use to discard the moment they
:17:45. > :17:55.pass from the Capshaw into the International Space Station. -- from
:17:56. > :17:57.the Soyuz capsule. It is about eight hours since they blasted off from
:17:58. > :18:05.here, from the launch pad in Kazakhstan. A nail-biting ride for
:18:06. > :18:09.anyone else perhaps but these astronauts are to it. They tense
:18:10. > :18:16.moment as we waited here and watched on the screens to watch the docking
:18:17. > :18:22.itself. The automatic systems apparently failed, and the commander
:18:23. > :18:26.then took over the controls and managed to dock perfectly safely in
:18:27. > :18:31.manual. Apparently that is what they train for. He managed to do it
:18:32. > :18:36.perfectly well. As I say, there was a little frisson here in the hall
:18:37. > :18:39.where I am now, where a lot of space officials are gathered from various
:18:40. > :18:43.countries. Also whether relatives of the group have come. They are here
:18:44. > :18:47.now because not only were they watching the docking but they are
:18:48. > :18:51.here because after the astronauts climb aboard the ISS, they will get
:18:52. > :18:53.a chance to speak to them from space. We will find out what that
:18:54. > :19:00.right was like. Many thanks. A memorial service
:19:01. > :19:02.has taken place in Australia one year after the armed siege
:19:03. > :19:05.at a Sydney cafe in which 18 people
:19:06. > :19:07.were taken hostage. Two people, as well as the gunman,
:19:08. > :19:10.Man Haron Monis, were killed in the police raid
:19:11. > :19:11.that ended the standoff. One year on,
:19:12. > :19:14.there is debate in Australia about whether the attack
:19:15. > :19:16.was an act of terror. From Sydney, here's our
:19:17. > :19:27.correspondent Jon Donnison. Sydney had never seen anything like
:19:28. > :19:32.it. After a 16 hour siege, two hostages dead in a massive police
:19:33. > :19:39.operation. Many more traumatised by a lone gunmen. Unlike the larger
:19:40. > :19:45.attacks in Paris this year, this was not an Islamic state operation. The
:19:46. > :19:50.man who perpetrated the siege acted completely on his own. We know that.
:19:51. > :19:55.However, he was influenced and inspired if you like by the success
:19:56. > :20:01.of the so-called Islamic State. That particular event was in no weight
:20:02. > :20:07.supported by the so-called Islamic State back in the middle East. The
:20:08. > :20:12.gunmen, who was killed in the raid, was well-known to police, with a
:20:13. > :20:20.history of criminal and unstable behaviour. The inquest into exactly
:20:21. > :20:25.what motivated him is still ongoing. But the Government believe it was a
:20:26. > :20:29.terrorist attack. It has led them to step up counter-terrorism action. To
:20:30. > :20:35.wrap this year, there have been a series of raids on suspected Islamic
:20:36. > :20:40.extremists. And Australia continues to be concerned about its citizens
:20:41. > :20:48.fighting in Syria and Iraq alongside jihadi groups. But some in the
:20:49. > :20:53.country's mainstream Muslim community feel they are being
:20:54. > :20:58.unfairly targeted, that the garment used the Sydney siege as
:20:59. > :21:06.justification to do so. They used it. They say we're under attack. We
:21:07. > :21:11.are not under attack. They are us! It is not in the Muslim character.
:21:12. > :21:15.He is a total madman. He is a bad guy, that is why he has done this.
:21:16. > :21:24.He is not a Muslim. Tonight at the site of the siege, Sydney civilians
:21:25. > :21:29.gathered to remember the two hostages killed.
:21:30. > :21:35.Like many countries, Australia does face a problem with a tiny number of
:21:36. > :21:42.Islamic extremists, but one year after the Sydney siege, we now know
:21:43. > :21:46.that it was not what people did at the time, it was not a coordinated
:21:47. > :21:50.attack by a group such as Islamic State. It was nevertheless hugely
:21:51. > :21:52.traumatic for those directly involved, and a profound shock for
:21:53. > :22:04.both the city and the country. It's probably the biggest
:22:05. > :22:06.Hollywood premiere of all time - the first public showing
:22:07. > :22:09.of the new Star Wars sequel, Fans have been out in force
:22:10. > :22:12.at the TCL Chinese Theatre one of three cinemas
:22:13. > :22:15.hosting the premiere. The boulevard itself
:22:16. > :22:17.has been closed all this week. Our correspondent,
:22:18. > :22:22.Lizo Mzimba, is there. John Boyega, one of the film's
:22:23. > :22:27.young British leads, who reprises his role
:22:28. > :22:32.as Luke Skywalker. The film's other new lead,
:22:33. > :22:35.Daisy Ridley, chats with George Lucas,
:22:36. > :22:37.the writer/director who created it
:22:38. > :22:42.all back in 1977. The meeting of the generations
:22:43. > :22:46.a key selling point for this film, the first in more than 30 years
:22:47. > :22:48.to feature the main actors What is it like being
:22:49. > :22:58.part of that again? Look, I've always been grateful
:22:59. > :23:00.for the success I don't think I can explain,
:23:01. > :23:10.I'm not going to take on the task and explain why they are,
:23:11. > :23:15.but this is a good movie Is this the day
:23:16. > :23:20.you have been waiting for, No, because then I think I would've
:23:21. > :23:26.wished the time away before. It's very exciting it is here now,
:23:27. > :23:30.but life is cool and the in-between bits are cool too, so it's nice
:23:31. > :23:34.to enjoy things in waves Disney paid George Lucas
:23:35. > :23:45.more than $4 billion for the rights to the series
:23:46. > :23:48.and other film properties. Thanks to one of the biggest deals
:23:49. > :23:51.in Hollywood history, This movie is the first stage
:23:52. > :23:59.of trying to recoup that investment by convincing
:24:00. > :24:02.millions of fans to see the film, buy the merchandise and then,
:24:03. > :24:04.crucially, to keep repeating that process as each new Star Wars film
:24:05. > :24:10.is released annually until 2019 Now this is the story that has had
:24:11. > :24:20.the whole newsroom talking today. Recent research has revealed that
:24:21. > :24:24.you, and me, and everyone around us, almost certainly have
:24:25. > :24:27.animals living on our face. The naked eye can't see them,
:24:28. > :24:31.but they are there. They are eight-legged,
:24:32. > :24:34.microscopic mites. They spend their entire lives
:24:35. > :24:36.on our faces, where they eat,
:24:37. > :24:39.mate and finally die. Before you start buying
:24:40. > :24:41.extra-strong face-wash, you should know that they probably
:24:42. > :24:44.aren't a serious problem. It's thought we all have hundreds
:24:45. > :24:51.of them, and possibly thousands. The type of mite you have
:24:52. > :24:53.is probably passed down through your family
:24:54. > :24:56.rather than person to person. Others think they're eating
:24:57. > :25:02.the oil from the sebaceous gland. well, I think I'd better leave that
:25:03. > :25:18.to your imagination. All public schools in the Los
:25:19. > :25:24.Angeles area have been closed for the day because of a security
:25:25. > :25:27.threat. More than 1000 schools, and nearly 700,000 pupils are affected.
:25:28. > :25:31.The message the authorities were acting out of an abundance of
:25:32. > :25:34.caution. Police in New York received a similar threat but said it was not
:25:35. > :25:40.credible. And the US Secretary of State, John
:25:41. > :25:44.Kerry, has met the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to
:25:45. > :25:50.discuss how to enter the covered in Syria. He said that between them, US
:25:51. > :25:51.and Russia had a chance to make a significant difference.
:25:52. > :26:02.But for now, from me and the rest of the team, goodbye.
:26:03. > :26:05.Exceptionally mild air will be pushing its way
:26:06. > :26:08.across the United Kingdom over the next couple of days.