:00:00. > :00:00.This is BBC World News Today with me, Tim Willcox.
:00:07. > :00:11.The headlines: Satellite images reveal the first evidence
:00:12. > :00:15.of a growing US presence in northern Syria.
:00:16. > :00:18.Images appear to show the Americans expanding a disused air strip
:00:19. > :00:24.Six American states declare a state of emergency ahead of a giant
:00:25. > :00:29.snowstorm threatening to paralyse parts of the East Coast.
:00:30. > :00:33.Also coming up: More than 40 migrants drown as two boats sink,
:00:34. > :00:56.And the actor Jerry Lewis comic at and the movie about the Holocaust
:00:57. > :01:03.he's suppressed for more than 40 years.
:01:04. > :01:08.We start in Syria where Satellite imagery obtained
:01:09. > :01:13.by the international intelligence consultancy Stratfor indicates
:01:14. > :01:16.that the United States is extending an airstrip in the north
:01:17. > :01:19.The imagery - although grainy - clearly shows the extension
:01:20. > :01:24.of the runway from 700 metres to over 1,300,
:01:25. > :01:30.The site is located near to the town of Rmeilan.
:01:31. > :01:33.American airpower has been used to help a Kurdish alliance trying
:01:34. > :01:36.to repel the forces of the so called Islamic State.
:01:37. > :01:39.But there are claims the US operation in the area could become
:01:40. > :01:43.a lot more substantial, involving troops and helicopters.
:01:44. > :01:58.Such a move is likely to attract strong opposition from Ankara.
:01:59. > :02:04.special intelligence gathering information by talking to local
:02:05. > :02:06.people Sim Tack works as a military analyst
:02:07. > :02:09.for Stratfor and says the satellite The significance of this
:02:10. > :02:13.is that this would be an important, qualitative step for the US to take
:02:14. > :02:16.in its support for the SDF, the Syrian Defence Forces,
:02:17. > :02:18.which is one of the branches of its strategy against
:02:19. > :02:20.Islamic State in Syria. By supporting this group,
:02:21. > :02:22.they are guaranteeing some sort of ground force that
:02:23. > :02:30.can push IS back. They have been supporting YPG
:02:31. > :02:33.in the past through air drops and that's fairly limited,
:02:34. > :02:35.so in terms of putting an actual presence on the ground or using that
:02:36. > :02:39.runway for logistical support of them, that really increases
:02:40. > :02:42.the ability of the US to push Let's speak to Murad Shishani,
:02:43. > :03:22.a correspondent with the BBC World if this is the case, it's Russia has
:03:23. > :03:30.already developed to a bases and now America is Russians have. Even with
:03:31. > :04:16.military experts, Americans and. But now they're It
:04:17. > :04:20.will be very important. A fully be beyond Raqqa, that is one of the
:04:21. > :04:25.major routes for supporting Islamic State, but now it is developing.
:04:26. > :04:30.That is the plan of the Americans as far as I can see. Why would they
:04:31. > :04:35.need to extend the runway like this, bearing in mind that those forces
:04:36. > :04:38.that they are supporting have already recaptured quite a
:04:39. > :04:43.significant amount of land from Islamic State. Indeed. It seems to
:04:44. > :04:49.me that they want to boost support and logistics. Many observers say,
:04:50. > :05:00.they downplay the ideal routes on the ground one way or the other.
:05:01. > :05:07.But, now, in this case in Syria, for all the region. Who would have built
:05:08. > :05:11.this? American special forces overseeing it, or would you have
:05:12. > :05:18.local engineers? It is hard to say who built that. From local sources,
:05:19. > :05:23.in the last few days they were talking about lots of movement in
:05:24. > :05:27.the area. They control the large area to expand the runway. We don't
:05:28. > :05:38.know who is exactly going to be behind it.
:05:39. > :05:41.Millions of people along the East Coast of the United States
:05:42. > :05:43.are bracing themselves for a blizzard, which,
:05:44. > :05:45.forecasters say, could be a "crippling" winter storm.
:05:46. > :05:47.A state of emergency has been declared across a number of states
:05:48. > :05:50.ahead of what's being called a "potentially life-threatening"
:05:51. > :05:52.weather system that could bring more than 50 centimetres
:05:53. > :05:55.Our North America editor Jon Sopel reports.
:05:56. > :05:59.A massive blizzard takes aim at 75 million Americans.
:06:00. > :06:03.The north-eastern seaboard of the United States is bracing
:06:04. > :06:06.itself for a once in a hundred years event.
:06:07. > :06:12.And the District of Columbia will be hit hardest.
:06:13. > :06:17.Washington, DC is bracing itself for a combination of epic snowfall,
:06:18. > :06:24.A state of emergency is in place and the public transport network
:06:25. > :06:27.is shutting down and apocalyptic warnings are being given.
:06:28. > :06:29.I want to be very clear with everybody, we see this
:06:30. > :06:33.It has life and death implications and all of the residents
:06:34. > :06:35.of the District of Columbia should treat it that way.
:06:36. > :06:49.Folks need to understand that this is a life-threatening storm.
:06:50. > :06:52.If you do not need to be out, we are asking folks to,
:06:53. > :06:54.by three o'clock today, beware they are going to be
:06:55. > :07:09.People are taking heed, if the lines in shops are anything
:07:10. > :07:12.to go by, by yesterday afternoon the supermarket in Washington had
:07:13. > :07:44.We're getting snow shovels and provisions of all Kent and we're
:07:45. > :07:56.going everyone was just running around no one was exempt, not even
:07:57. > :08:25.the passenger from this flight. The are people reading the instructions
:08:26. > :08:47.to get home as yes. There are still some
:08:48. > :09:02.people than there were an hour and the federal government the warning
:09:03. > :09:12.was that everyone should by three o'clock. That is 45 minutes because
:09:13. > :09:31.they're expecting there could be up to another two period. According to
:09:32. > :09:32.the weathermen, they're going for 80 the transport system has close for
:09:33. > :10:00.the entire weekend until Monday to they're going to keep the
:10:01. > :10:04.roads clear as the emergency services are still need to be able
:10:05. > :10:09.to get around so they're going to still do that. They have tens of
:10:10. > :10:24.thousands of more people booked in some parts of Virginia are going
:10:25. > :10:31.In fact, the mayor said that it could be a matter of life or death,
:10:32. > :10:35.this kind of storm, a deadly storm in that sense, and most people
:10:36. > :10:41.should try and stay indoors, not attempt to do anything, quite
:10:42. > :10:45.frankly, over the next 36-48 hours. Lots of flights cancelled, a couple
:10:46. > :10:49.of thousand today, probably a couple of thousand flights on the Eastern
:10:50. > :10:54.Seaboard tomorrow. It is not just Washington and Virginia and
:10:55. > :10:59.Maryland, it is right down from Arkansas in the South. They have had
:11:00. > :11:04.five, six inches of snow, Tennessee as well, right up into this area,
:11:05. > :11:11.the New York metropolitan area. It is going to affect tens of millions
:11:12. > :11:17.of people, this storm. People are keeping their fingers crossed that
:11:18. > :11:24.people can stay safe. OK, Gary, go and buy a hat and have a hot
:11:25. > :11:33.chocolate! Some breaking news. Spain's incumbent Prime Minister
:11:34. > :11:37.Mariano Rajoy has turned down a petition from the King to form a new
:11:38. > :11:42.government. He has declined to seek the confidence of Parliament.
:11:43. > :11:45.Mariano Rajoy toning down that invitation to form a government. --
:11:46. > :11:58.turning down. Let's turn to Syria. Government
:11:59. > :11:59.troops have made new gains against insurgents in
:12:00. > :12:01.the west of the country. Russian aviation is playing
:12:02. > :12:03.an instrumental role in this campaign and today, Russian forces
:12:04. > :12:06.took reporters to see a town, which had been out of government
:12:07. > :12:09.control for more than three years. Our correspondent Steve Rosenberg
:12:10. > :12:19.sent this report from Salma In the mountains above Latakia,
:12:20. > :12:23.there has been heavy fighting. The Syrian Army has been on the
:12:24. > :12:28.offensive. But it is the Russian military that is driving us here in
:12:29. > :12:33.one of its armoured vehicles. They are taking us to this town, Salma.
:12:34. > :12:38.The Russians said that the Syrian Army we took this town from rebels a
:12:39. > :12:41.few days ago. We have been told we can only spend a short time here
:12:42. > :12:43.because buildings are booby-trapped and security is still a major
:12:44. > :12:52.concern. You can see the scars of war here
:12:53. > :12:57.and feel the tension. There were battles raging here only days ago.
:12:58. > :13:03.It was rushing air power that help the Syrian army take back this town.
:13:04. > :13:09.Russia has helped us so much, the local governor tells me, by
:13:10. > :13:13.destroying terrorists, their weapons and their command posts from the
:13:14. > :13:19.air. Nearly months of air strikes have helped the Syrian army begin
:13:20. > :13:24.territory from rebels. That doesn't mean that President Assad is winning
:13:25. > :13:29.this war, but for now, Russia has stopped him from losing it. It's not
:13:30. > :13:35.only Russian airpower that is bolstering cilia's president. Its
:13:36. > :13:42.Russian warships, too, in the Mediterranean. We were allowed on
:13:43. > :13:57.board this Russian destroyer of the Syrian coast. They showed us their
:13:58. > :14:01.torpedoes and naval cannon and behind the site is, missiles for
:14:02. > :14:08.destroying submarines, not that so-called Islamic State has any of
:14:09. > :14:14.those. We face plenty of potential threats above the water, too. Like
:14:15. > :14:18.terrorists in speedboats, so we need to protect all the Russian warships
:14:19. > :14:25.that are out there. Russian force from the air and from the sea. It's
:14:26. > :14:29.a statement that Russia once again sees itself as a global power. To
:14:30. > :14:35.the West, the message from Moscow was clear. You may not like us, but
:14:36. > :14:37.you can't ignore as if you want to solve crises like the conflict in
:14:38. > :14:39.Syria. The US Defence Secretary Ash Carter
:14:40. > :14:43.has said that soldiers from America's 101st Airborne
:14:44. > :14:45.division will be sent to Iraq to join the fight against
:14:46. > :14:48.the so-called Islamic State. Dozens of countries are involved
:14:49. > :14:50.in a coalition to fight the militants, which has so far
:14:51. > :14:53.mainly taken the form Washington wants more aerial
:14:54. > :15:00.support for that campaign. The Nato Secretary General has told
:15:01. > :15:06.BBC World News that Nato is considering an American request
:15:07. > :15:08.for the alliance to get directly We can confirm that the
:15:09. > :15:12.United States has asked for support from NATO, in the form
:15:13. > :15:17.of support from our AWACS surveillance planes,
:15:18. > :15:24.and we are now looking We will, as an alliance,
:15:25. > :15:29.make decision. All NATO allies are part of fighting
:15:30. > :15:32.Isil, and when we get such a request, we are taking
:15:33. > :15:41.it very seriously. Greek and Turkish coastguards have
:15:42. > :15:44.recovered the bodies of more than 40 migrants - including 20 children -
:15:45. > :15:47.whose boats ran into trouble Dozens of other people
:15:48. > :15:50.remain unaccounted for. This latest tragedy comes
:15:51. > :15:52.as the Turkish and German governments held a special meeting
:15:53. > :15:55.in Berlin to discuss Afterwards a communique was signed
:15:56. > :16:02.by both countries in which Turkey promised to do more to stem
:16:03. > :16:05.the migrant flow into the EU. These people were trying to reach
:16:06. > :16:16.Greece. In the last 24 hours,
:16:17. > :16:18.more than 40 have died trying This baby was rushed
:16:19. > :16:21.to intensive care. Europe's leaders barely agreed
:16:22. > :16:27.on how to help. Today the German Chancellor met
:16:28. > :16:29.the Turkish Prime TRANSLATION: Deep inside I am
:16:30. > :16:39.convinced that the problem of illegal migration can only be
:16:40. > :16:41.solved if we work together in fighting the root causes
:16:42. > :16:43.of the refugee crisis. Europe's leaders have yet to fully
:16:44. > :16:55.implement a controversial quota system to relocate 120,000 refugees
:16:56. > :16:58.and migrants across Europe. They are setting up so-called
:16:59. > :17:01.hotspots, special reception centres in Italy and Greece
:17:02. > :17:03.from which migrants can be sent on to other countries
:17:04. > :17:07.or turned away. And they offered Turkey more
:17:08. > :17:09.than ?2 billion in return TRANSLATION: I want to tell people
:17:10. > :17:17.in Germany and the EU that this is not a German crisis,
:17:18. > :17:35.or a European crisis, We can't just pass this crisis onto
:17:36. > :17:41.each other. We have to solve it in Syria and in Iraq. Many are
:17:42. > :17:44.overwhelmed. Germany was the promised land of Europe. Look at it
:17:45. > :17:53.now. These people told us they have waited here for days and need money,
:17:54. > :18:00.hosting and help. They said they could manage these people in Germany
:18:01. > :18:06.and they can't. Across Europe, attitudes are hardening. Germany,
:18:07. > :18:10.after the sex attacks, is divided. We have to help refugees by all
:18:11. > :18:15.means at not by opening the gates and allowing millions to come. You
:18:16. > :18:20.cannot plan when war is in a country, so I think we're doing the
:18:21. > :18:31.right thing. This was less boss today. They are lucky to survive. --
:18:32. > :18:35.Lesbos. Politically, the refugee crisis has exposed fault lines
:18:36. > :18:39.running through Europe as one by one, member states prioritise
:18:40. > :18:43.national interest over European responsibility. There is now a fear
:18:44. > :18:47.at the highest level. The German president, the French Prime
:18:48. > :18:49.Minister, that the crisis as instantly testing Europe, but that
:18:50. > :18:53.it could destroy it all together. Over the last few weeks,
:18:54. > :18:58.some countries have tightened Macedonia, in particular,
:18:59. > :19:02.is now turning back many migrants, as James Reynolds
:19:03. > :19:06.reports from its border. It seems unlikely that anyone
:19:07. > :19:09.will be hiding in these bushes right But the police in Macedonia
:19:10. > :19:16.want to show us just how Here, the border police
:19:17. > :19:22.with colleagues from Hungary, keep an eye on a small
:19:23. > :19:24.group in the distance. Macedonia only allows
:19:25. > :19:27.in refugees from Syria, It deports everyone else,
:19:28. > :19:35.including these young men trudging But these rejected migrants,
:19:36. > :19:44.a new underclass, will not give up. At night, we followed
:19:45. > :19:49.a group from Somalia. They wanted to find a gap
:19:50. > :19:57.in the border fence. This route is difficult,
:19:58. > :19:59.one of them told me. It is freezing cold and this group
:20:00. > :20:02.wants to carry on walking They will try to navigate
:20:03. > :20:11.by moonlight and they hope to carry on on these paths and to avoid
:20:12. > :20:13.the Macedonian police and see if they can slip
:20:14. > :20:16.in the country unnoticed. Macedonia caught them and sent them
:20:17. > :20:27.back to Greece. These young men, from North Africa,
:20:28. > :20:29.were also caught. They say the Macedonian
:20:30. > :20:31.police attacked them. A doctor with the organisation
:20:32. > :20:53.Medecins Sans Frontieres says that she and her colleagues treat
:20:54. > :20:59.half a dozen injuries every night. The most things we see are bruises,
:21:00. > :21:02.serious bruises, very visible, that their stories are correct,
:21:03. > :21:04.it has been from violence. We send some to hospital
:21:05. > :21:11.because we suspect fractures. The Macedonian government rejects
:21:12. > :21:14.accusations of brutality and told the BBC its officers use
:21:15. > :21:19.all legal means to defend In other news, Tunisia has
:21:20. > :21:33.declared a nationwide, night-time curfew after four days
:21:34. > :21:37.of protests over unemployment. The demonstrations have descended
:21:38. > :21:39.into violence and looting. The Prime Minister has cut short
:21:40. > :21:42.an overseas trip and has warned that there was no magic
:21:43. > :21:46.solution to joblessness. The protests were triggered
:21:47. > :21:48.on Sunday when a young man, who didn't get a Government job,
:21:49. > :21:50.climbed a transmission tower The US vice president Joe Biden has
:21:51. > :21:57.criticised Turkey for restricting Speaking in Istanbul,
:21:58. > :22:02.Mr Biden said intimidating journalists, shutting down social
:22:03. > :22:04.media and accusing government critics of treason set a poor
:22:05. > :22:07.example to the region. Mr Biden visited the scene of last
:22:08. > :22:09.week's terrorist attack, which resulted in the deaths
:22:10. > :22:15.of ten German tourists. Brazilian health officials say
:22:16. > :22:18.they fear the mosquito-borne Zika The virus has been linked to a sharp
:22:19. > :22:24.rise in abnormalities The Zika virus, which affects many
:22:25. > :22:31.other countries in the Americas, is raising concerns ahead
:22:32. > :22:36.of the Olympic Games in Rio de The US health authorities have
:22:37. > :22:39.expanded a travel warning for pregnant women to avoid
:22:40. > :22:43.more than 20 countries. More than 40 years ago the American
:22:44. > :22:46.slapstick actor Jerry Lewis made But it was so controversial that
:22:47. > :22:50.Lewis himself banned the movie For decades, film buffs have
:22:51. > :22:56.wondered exactly what was in it. Now, still images from the film have
:22:57. > :22:59.come to light and have been seen But in 1972, he made a film
:23:00. > :23:21.about the Holocaust, Now for the first time since then,
:23:22. > :23:28.these stills from it have surfaced. Called The Day The Clown Cried,
:23:29. > :23:32.it sees Lewis playing a clown It was so controversial,
:23:33. > :23:36.Lewis changed his mind and has never Most of these images are not
:23:37. > :23:46.comic at all in my eyes. Which is why the photos are now
:23:47. > :23:49.being eagerly studied by scholars There were very many mentions,
:23:50. > :23:54.both in terms of literature and film So I don't think there's anything
:23:55. > :23:58.wrong necessarily with doing that. But of course, we are in a very
:23:59. > :24:01.difficult area here. You have to be sensitive
:24:02. > :24:07.to what you have made. It sounds as though Jerry Lewis,
:24:08. > :24:10.in his sensitivity, felt it was best that what he had made
:24:11. > :24:12.was best not let out. For years, the Internet has
:24:13. > :24:15.speculated about the unseen film. It's very iconic,
:24:16. > :24:20.isn't it, the outfits? The BBC asked the Jewish comedian
:24:21. > :24:22.David Schneider to look There's a whole difficult
:24:23. > :24:26.area of whether he has Once a thing is made,
:24:27. > :24:33.whether he has the right to not But I think when you look at these
:24:34. > :24:39.pictures, and you realise just how badly it could go, how
:24:40. > :24:41.offensive it could be, then he has probably
:24:42. > :24:47.done the right thing. The BBC did ask Jerry Lewis
:24:48. > :24:49.for an interview to talk So all we have to go on are these
:24:50. > :24:53.newly-released stills, As one film critic put it,
:24:54. > :24:58.this is one of the most talked about movies in history but no one
:24:59. > :25:02.has actually seen it. Three years ago, Jerry Lewis did
:25:03. > :25:05.give an insight into his decision I was grateful that I had the power
:25:06. > :25:15.to contain it all and never let The Day The Clown Cried is not
:25:16. > :25:22.the only film to inject humour But unless it is released,
:25:23. > :25:27.we will never know if it was Duncan Kennedy, BBC
:25:28. > :25:47.News, Southampton. Satellite imagery in Syria appears
:25:48. > :25:52.to show the extension of a runway from 700 metres to more than 1300,
:25:53. > :25:53.believed to have been overseen by American special forces.
:25:54. > :26:12.We are back in about an hour. See you soon.
:26:13. > :26:16.Hello hello, most of us will have seen rain today but the weather is
:26:17. > :26:17.good to pick