20/01/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Tim Willcox.

Stock markets around the world plunge.

Billions are wiped off shares, amid nervousness about slowing

Gunmen attack a university in north-west Pakistan,

It's official - 2015 was the hottest year ever --

and that record broken by the widest margin ever seen.

And the Hockey Mom backs The Donald in his bid to become President

Billions of dollars have been wiped off stocks around the world,

because of fears over global growth and plummeting oil prices.

The Chief Executive of BP, Bob Dudley, has told

he believes the volatility could continue for months,

He was speaking to our Economics Editor, Kamaal Ahmed,

who's at the annual meeting of world business leaders,

Another grim day for the global economy, the price of oil down

again, the main UK market is falling.

In New York, investors selling stocks, in Hong Kong shares down.

For business leaders at Davos, worrying times.

When you look at the oil price, the volatility of the market

since the beginning of the year, what does it tell you that

There is a lot of uncertainty not just in the oil and gas industry

but the whole financial markets are unsure of where the certainty

I think China, question marks about China, the debate

going on is creating a lot of uncertainty.

falling as world demand slows, but Mr Dudley says it will not last

Of course, low oil prices can be good for countries that import oil

There are a lot of emerging markets in trouble because of it,

a lot of emerging markets in great shape.

Part of India's benefit is benefit is it is a natural resource importer

and not an exporter and it is doing well.

A little earlier I asked this business leaders at Davos were

feeding a crash. I remember being at Davos this time last year than

probably then the markets were Rover doing the optimism. The financial

crisis seems something of a distant memory. This year the markets are

maybe overdoing the pessimism. Certainly people here believe they'd

is still lots of good and positive things happening in the global

economy. Let's not forget of course China is still growing. There are

forms and that growth level has tempered slightly. America is still

growing. Britain is still growing across the European Union and there

is some evidence of growth coming back. I think we are competing with

2014 when maybe there was a bit too much overexuberance in where the

global economy was going. Clearly there are still some hard battles to

be one in terms of cleaning up after a financial crisis but now the

markets are overly gloomy. Bob Dudley, Chief Executive of BP, said

he thought the oil price would recover strongly, because demand

would increase in America and China as those economies kept growing. So

the US and Europe solid, and the US has just nudged up interest rates.

Are we looking at a PDA with interest rates will remain pretty

low globally to actually contend with these problems? I think that

probably is the case. The chairwoman of the Federal reserve, the American

central bank, put 0.25% on two Federal reserve interest rates in

December, and to make a point, that only brings up to the level that

they are in the Bank of England in the UK, and in the rest of the

European Union, the European Central Bank still has negative interest

rates. We'll is not much sign of big central banks around the world like

the Bank of England in the UK and the European Central Bank raising

interest rates any time soon. So yes, she has moved in America and

the American economy is growing and there are some inflationary pressure

but not a lot of evidence of that spreading out across the world. Of

course all eyes will be on China, how do these reforms affect growth?

That is a country that is still growing from a much larger base than

it was before, so that growth is more important to the way the global

economy fuels. At least 20 people have been killed

after militants stormed a university The attackers launched

gun and grenade attacks Most of the victims

at the Bacha Khan University were male and were shot

in the chest or head. Pakistan security forces eventually

brought the situation under control after a fierce gun battle

with militants that lasted 3 hours. Arriving as the assault took place,

Army commandos race across open fields surrounding the University

University is the militants The attackers are believed to have

scaled the walls at the back of this large university under a cover

of early morning thick fog. Becoming a full-scale military

operation, this attack lasted The only way for those inside to

escape was through the main campus gates, many seen still

clutching their class books. There was so much panic and fear

that a friend of mine jumped The building is very high

but he just jumped from it We saw the militants chanting,

Allah is the greatest. We heard firing from

the back of the campus. then the fighting increased,

then we said, get into Inside, total devastation,

walls covered in bullet holes as the gunmen fired

at anyone they saw. It's unclear whether the Pakistani

Taliban militants responsible for this latest violence

but the attack is reminiscent of the one they carried out

in Peshawar where they killed 122 schoolchildren more

than one year ago. In a statement the government

here says it is determined This day started with a poetry

recital honouring the secular activists who advocated nonviolence

and quickly turned into carnage. Today's attack will raise violence

over why the militants are still able to strike soft

targets like this university and how effective the military operation has

been this past year, especially

with the mix of militia networks that is evolving

on the Pakistan-Afghan border. As residents bury their dead,

it's still unclear whether This will be a sleepless night

for many families across the country as they again fear sending

their children to school Seven Afghan employees

of a private television company, including two women have been

killed in a suicide attack The bomber struck a bus carrying

more than 30 employees The city police chief said more

than 20 other people were wounded. No-one has yet claimed

responsibility for the attack. 2015 was the hottest year

since records began, according to NASA

and the UK Met office. New figures show the earth's

temperature was one degree Celsius above the long term average,

dating back 166 years. Our Science Editor David

Shukman has the story. It was a year of violent extremes.

Record heat fuelled fires in California and Indonesia. Intense

rain storms triggered widespread floods. In the Caribbean and Japan,

an unprecedented downpour. And a punishing drought has left millions

hungry in Africa. Behind all this was a rise in global temperatures.

Scientists say that is partly driven by our greenhouse gases and partly

by a natural cycle called El Nino, we are warm water releases heat and

disrupts weather around the world. The main reason we have such warm

temperature is climate change, and El Nino is contributing a small

amount on top. So let's see the context for this new record. This

graph from the Met office shows temperatures in 1850 fluctuating

over the long-term average rising to the record high set last year. That

is an increase in 1 degrees over that time, halfway to the 2 degrees

limit that world leaders agreed should be the maximum for a global

warming when they met in Paris last month. 1 degrees doesn't sound like

very much but when you think about the differences on a planetary

scale, the last ice age was only 5 degrees colder than it is today, so

it is actually a very significant number and we are vaguely seeing

impacts on sea-level and heat waves and intense precipitation associated

with that change of temperature. In this Nasa image, areas marked red or

orange were warmer than average last year and there were lots of them

including the UK, where last year will be remembered by

record-breaking rain in December. The flooding

record-breaking rain in December. sorts of causes but scientists

always warm warmer they can produce more moisture and produce more

always warm warmer they can produce intense storms. The forecast is for

always warm warmer they can produce everyone will feel it, but

scientists say a warming trend is clear.

Now a look at some of the day's other news.

For the second day in a row police in the Tunisian city of Kasserine

have fired tear gas to disperse protestors demanding jobs.

Tensions in the area rose recently when a jobless man killed himself.

The demonstrations have spread to other cities,

Austria has said it will make a major cut to the number of asylum

The Austrian chancellor said the total number would be capped

at about 37,000 in each of the next four years.

The United Nations World Food Programme says half the population

of the Central African Republic are facing hunger because of the ongoing

It's found nearly 2.5 million people have limited access to food,

double the number who were going hungry a year ago.

candidate Sarah Palin, in the race to win the Republican

Mr Trump said he was proud to have her endorsement.

Sarah Palin is seen as an influential figure

on the right of the Republican Party.

Here's our North America Editor, Jon Sopel.

I think we can actually cross now to a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and

let's listen in... That's not the way they perhaps want the whole

campaign to run, we seem to have lost that. Let's catch up with the

endorsement with this report. I would like to bring up if I might,

Governor Sarah Palin, It's not often that Donald Trump

is out Trumped for brazenness, chutzpah and brass neck,

but last night he was as Sarah Palin announced her arrival

on the campaign stage Are you ready for

a commander-in-chief? Are you ready for

a commander-in-chief who will let our warriors

do their job and go kick Isis ass? It wasn't so much a speech

as a series of small explosions taking aim at the President but also

the Republican establishment. You guys are all sounding kind

of angry is what we're hearing Playing up Donald Trump

as the outsider. He is from the private sector,

not a politician, can In the private sector you actually

have to balance budgets in order to prioritise, to keep the main

thing the main thing. For the past few years,

Sarah Palin has been out of the political front line

concentrating instead on being a reality TV star,

but she's still a darling of the tea party right and the evangelical wing

of the Republican party, But she is gaffe prone as was seen

when she ran for vice president I love those hockey mums,

they say the difference between a hockey mum

and a pit bull, lipstick. You can actually see Russia

from land here in Alaska. Donald Trump will have weighed

the risks, the danger is that while Palin might help now to win

over the disaffected right in Iowa, she will alienate mainstream voters

when it comes to the critical presidential election in November,

and that will be almost as big a disaster as it was when the two

of them were filmed eating pizza together in New York

but with a knife and fork. I am not sure if Katty has ever

beaten pizza with a fork, but first some Republicans they are natural

bedfellows? They both say outrageous things and

love the spotlight and have been on the other the TV shows, and our

beloved by those huge crowds at night to see them, so in that

respect this is a very obvious political pairing, but in some ways

it is not. She is much more of a Christian conservative than Donald

Trump has ever been. He used to be pro-choice on abortion before he

became pro-life. That is certainly not Sarah Palin's stands. He has

also supported a national health care system in the past saying

Canada and Scotland have got it right. That is certainly not Sarah

Palin's politics, but what she brings to Donald Trump is a die-hard

commitment from the Christian base of the Republican party, that he

needs to reach out to, particularly of course in Iowa. And who will this

upset the most among other candidates? Ted Cruz, the person she

had in Dorset when he ran for the Senate in Texas and who is nipping

at the heels of Donald Trump in Iowa, that is the biggest upset. To

the extent that have endorsement could change things, and they do not

always change things, it will be over the course of the next two

weeks and the critical caucuses in Iowa. What have been talking about

for the last 24 hours? Sarah Palin and Donald Trump, the media

spotlight right back on him, and it might give the edge to him over Ted

Cruz. At the World Economic Forum,

the UN's special envoy to Syria's told the BBC he's optimistic that

talks on resolving the conflict in Syria will go ahead

BUT that the date they're set Staffan de Mistura's says Syrians

should lead the talks and outside players like the US and Russia

should support that rather than disagreeing over

who can take part. He spoke to our Chief International

Correspondent Lyse Doucet in Davos. Welcome to Davos, the networking

capital once a year for the global elite putting their minds together

to try to solve some of the worlds's most pressing issues and one which

keeps coming back year after year is the continuing war in Syria. This

year there's a more urgent question. Talks are on the agenda, and the

date, January 25, looms all too closely. Today, heard from the US

Secretary of State John Kerry and the Russian Foreign Minister saying

they do want talks to take place on the 25th, Serie A talks between the

government and opposition, although there is some talk of slippage, so

will the go-ahead? And if they do not, why not? We are joined by a man

part of every twist and turn, the United Nations Syrian envoy, Staffan

de Mistura. Will they take place on the 25th? I will be able to tell you

that on the 24th, because meanwhile there's a lot of work to be done.

When we had Geneva two, we learned many lessons. A few years ago.

Exactly, and this claim we have learnt the lesson that if we want to

have talks, they should be talks about talks and not starting with a

tense environment but addressing the real issue, which is how to stop

this conflict. But the Russians and Syrian government are now saying, to

use the phrase we don't want to talk to terrorists, they want to see the

list and have a say on the opposition delegate? In theory and

in practice this should be Syrian led Cox. That is the difference

between Geneva two. We are not inviting governments. We are asking

Syrians to talk amongst themselves. The outside players are so involved

and without the push from the outside players, as you know, the

talks might not take place at all. That is why I am relying on the

Americans and the Russians talking today and others like that, Saudi

Arabia and Turkey, in a way supporting. If they really want

talks and want a political process rather than conflict. Now is the

time to put aside to many discussions about who is attending,

who is participating, and rather than saying, do we have an agenda,

saying we do have an agenda. Yes, let me tell you. The agenda is quite

an interesting one and realistic timetable, so let's not lose time.

The UN resolution. One is a new all-inclusive government. That is

quite a challenge. A loaded term in Syria. I know, but it is agreed on

by everyone. Second, a new constitution, and you know very well

a new constitution everything is on the table. New elections and not

only parliamentarian elections, all this within 18 months. This is

meanwhile see some all this within 18 months. This is

the people in Syria. The all this within 18 months. This is

players, do all this within 18 months. This is

players have not shown exactly their cards

players have not shown exactly their alternative to talks? Is this

players have not shown exactly their conflict in five years

produce another five years now that even the Russians

produce another five years now that involved? Is this

there is a need for political work which will not be what they deem off

but something perhaps which will not be what they deem off

dream of, the end of this conflict? And by the way, and operational

approach of everyone against the real danger, which is in the

background, which is called Daesh. And the percentage of success right

now, how confident are you? You are asking the wrong person. I am a

chronic optimist, so I would tell you 60%, 65%. Not on the 25th, a few

days after? Within January. There is no biblical or Koranic date,

days after? Within January. There is an indication that within January we

need to do it, and I am confident that if the big players realise that

there's no time for playing on lists but actually playing the deal tops,

we are ready for doing so. Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Syrian

envoy, thank you very much, so you have that, the date of the 25th for

the talks are still in the have that, the date of the 25th for

place at all, it will be a small but significant development

place at all, it will be a small but move towards a

Much like the red London bus or the black taxi,

the red British postbox is a national icon.

And for 40 years, a group of British enthusiasts has compiled a database

of as many as they can find up and down the UK.

Their work was nearly signed, sealed and delivered

until the postal service, Royal Mail, surprised them.

Paul has been doing it for 38 years. Peter's wife is very understanding,

they are men with the passion. Post boxes.

I've looked at about 4000. This is a rear early box with

I've looked at about 4000. This is a slot. There is a more familiar type,

and the way you can tell it slot. There is a more familiar type,

type B? You walk up to the box and you put your arms around it. If your

arms don't touch it is A and if they do it is type B. It was at this

point we were asked what we were doing. We headed inside for a cup of

point we were asked what we were tea to discuss what it was all

about. Of all the tea to discuss what it was all

your favourite? The survey began in the 1970s and famous the world over

the British postbox has a fascinating history and we had

almost completed that but then the Royal Mail said it was creating

more. While they are safe for the moment, the letterbox men do have

fear for the future. Empty boxes and the decline of letter writing. It is

a real worry the decline of letter writing. It is

Mail well say we will reduce our postbox estate. Letter writing is in

decline but letter boxing does have a future. The group's youngest

member is Thomas, ten years old. This has actually had a lot of

modification. This one normally has a moulding round the aperture but it

has been removed. And as a special treat, Britain's tops the post boxes

as chosen by Thomas. At number three, world then. And

that number one, it is in Suffolk. Of course these are just Thomas's

choices and you may have your own favourite.

I think his choices were quite good. You're watching world News today and

a quick reminder of main headline which is that stock markets around

the world have suffered huge falls again amid growing concern over the

health of the British economy and plunging oil prices in London.

Shares have closed down 3.5%, a fall of 20% from the previous peak,

meaning it has become a bigger market. Paris and Frankfurt, the day

ended the percent lower and the Dow and Nasdaq are also sharply down.

Sunshine by day means cold and frosty conditions by night with

largely clear skies and the temperature already plummeting, but

tomorrow we are looking at more than the way of cloud and some rain

particularly across north-western parts of the country. This weather

system slowly moving and of