:00:00. > :00:00.I'm Karin Giannone, this is BBC World News.
:00:07. > :00:10.Warnings that the Zika virus will spread across most
:00:11. > :00:14.The mosquito-borne disease is thought to cause devastating
:00:15. > :00:21.birth defects, impairing brain development in the womb.
:00:22. > :00:30.The explosive spread of Zika virus to new geographical areas with
:00:31. > :00:32.little population immunity is another cause for concern.
:00:33. > :00:34.The US Treasury accuses Russia's President Putin
:00:35. > :00:36.of corruption, saying he's used his power to amass a secret
:00:37. > :00:38.fortune - a special report coming up.
:00:39. > :00:42.Officials in the eastern United States caution that days
:00:43. > :00:46.of disruption lie ahead before life returns to normal.
:00:47. > :00:50.And British explorer, Henry Worsley, dies after falling just short
:00:51. > :01:20.of making an historic solo crossing of Antarctica.
:01:21. > :01:23.The World Health Organisation is warning that the mosquito-borne
:01:24. > :01:26.Zika virus - suspected of causing brain damage to thousands of babies
:01:27. > :01:30.in Brazil - could spread to nearly all countries in the Americas.
:01:31. > :01:33.Canada and Chile are the only countries thought to be safe.
:01:34. > :01:35.There is no treatment or vaccine available,
:01:36. > :01:38.and some countries have advised women not to get pregnant.
:01:39. > :01:42.Wyre Davies sent this report from Rio de Janiero.
:01:43. > :01:45.Cared for and loved as much as any other child.
:01:46. > :01:48.But an increasing number of babies in Brazil are being born
:01:49. > :01:56.with a condition that will affect them for the rest of their lives.
:01:57. > :01:59.Microcephaly is driving fear into the hearts of thousands
:02:00. > :02:05.In many cases, mothers may not be aware of it until the baby is born.
:02:06. > :02:08.Gentle physiotherapy helps to stimulate developmental problems
:02:09. > :02:14.While some physical effects, like smaller than average head size,
:02:15. > :02:19.may be obvious, some specialists say it is just the tip of the iceberg.
:02:20. > :02:26.IN PORTUGESE: Microcephaly and head abnormalities are just one extreme.
:02:27. > :02:33.pregnancies in the seventh or eighth month, there can be other
:02:34. > :02:34.consequences, such as visual or audio impairment,
:02:35. > :02:37.or even cognitive challenges, which will only become
:02:38. > :02:42.But I repeat, microcephaly is just one extreme.
:02:43. > :03:02.Chief suspect is the Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes.
:03:03. > :03:11.With the health system already under strain,
:03:12. > :03:16.Brazil has the added pressure of preparing
:03:17. > :03:19.for big set-piece global events, like this year's Olympic Games.
:03:20. > :03:21.While some countries have issued very strict travel advice,
:03:22. > :03:26.the real question is whether Brazil itself
:03:27. > :03:29.This is a favela right on the edge of the Olympic Park,
:03:30. > :03:31.with open sewers and lots of stagnant water, perfect
:03:32. > :03:38.But all the authorities have said they might do is fumigate these
:03:39. > :03:46.This house was demolished and now I am left with this standing pool
:03:47. > :03:50.of water, risking Zika and dengue fever, says this woman who has lived
:03:51. > :03:56.They haven't given us any information about how to prevent
:03:57. > :03:58.Zika, except to put on insect repellent.
:03:59. > :04:04.Brazil may not be at fault for the arrival of Zika,
:04:05. > :04:05.nor its spread throughout the continent.
:04:06. > :04:13.But with appalling levels of public citation and a critical year ahead,
:04:14. > :04:15.--sanitation this is developing into a major public health crisis.
:04:16. > :04:18.So what causes the devastating Zika virus, who's most at risk,
:04:19. > :04:23.Here's our medical correspondent Fergus Walsh.
:04:24. > :04:29.If infected with the Zika virus, it can pass it to humans
:04:30. > :04:35.It is the same mosquito which also spreads
:04:36. > :04:45.The Zika virus was identified way back in 1947 in Uganda.
:04:46. > :04:49.But until a few months ago, the Zika virus was not thought to be
:04:50. > :04:54.80% of those infected had no symptoms.
:04:55. > :04:57.In the rest, it can cause a mild fever and
:04:58. > :05:00.headaches, and a skin rash is common.
:05:01. > :05:04.As is conjunctivitis - red, sore eyes.
:05:05. > :05:09.Well, in less than a year, it has spread
:05:10. > :05:11.from Mexico, the Caribbean, to South America.
:05:12. > :05:18.There, doctors believe it represents a major health
:05:19. > :05:23.threat to women infected in the early stages of pregnancy.
:05:24. > :05:26.They think Zika may cause a normally rare
:05:27. > :05:30.condition in infants born with unusually small heads
:05:31. > :05:46.The only serious risk to public health is for pregnant women.
:05:47. > :05:51.Pregnant women, if they get infected, they can get the virus.
:05:52. > :05:56.So pregnant women should consider very seriously
:05:57. > :05:58.whether to travel to places where there is a Zika
:05:59. > :06:04.Zika is quite unlike the deadly Ebola virus which has killed more
:06:05. > :06:11.Ebola is highly contagious, whereas Zika does not pass
:06:12. > :06:25.This is not Ebola, this is a disease which is transmitted by mosquitoes.
:06:26. > :06:28.So it will only be a problem in eras weather is this same mosquito
:06:29. > :06:32.But like Ebola it is an infectious disease, and it is a crisis
:06:33. > :06:36.It is too cold in the UK for the mosquito which carries
:06:37. > :06:39.the Zika virus, so this is not a health risk here.
:06:40. > :06:41.But global health officials believe that in time it will spread
:06:42. > :06:49.to many more countries, including parts of the United States.
:06:50. > :06:52.The US Treasury has told a BBC investigation that it considers
:06:53. > :06:55.the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, to be corrupt.
:06:56. > :06:58.Though the American Government has already imposed sanctions on Kremlin
:06:59. > :07:01.insiders, it's thought to be the first time they've directly
:07:02. > :07:10.private finances and spoke to those who say they have inside knowledge
:07:11. > :07:17.Richard Bilton has this exclusive report.
:07:18. > :07:26.Vladimir Putin's secrets can be found beyond Russia's borders. In
:07:27. > :07:31.Estonia, there is a man who fled Russia after falling out with
:07:32. > :07:35.Kremlin insiders. He says he helped Putin collect money from Russia's
:07:36. > :07:41.super-rich. They thought it was for the nation's health care. So where
:07:42. > :07:46.are these oligarchs affectively just paying tribute to Vladimir Putin?
:07:47. > :07:51.I think this is exactly what they thought.
:07:52. > :08:00.This man says some of the cash was diverted and ended up with Putin.
:08:01. > :08:05.This is a recording of him talking to a Kremlin insider. They are
:08:06. > :08:09.discussing $440 million of investment, belonging to Putin. They
:08:10. > :08:23.refer to him using a nickname, Mikhail Ivanovich.
:08:24. > :08:31.Then their's Britain's most famous Russian- Chelsea owner Roman
:08:32. > :08:39.Abramovich. He allegedly gave Putin a $35 million yacht like this one.
:08:40. > :08:45.High, Dmitri, I'm Richard. This man told me he helped to manage
:08:46. > :08:48.the yacht. Dmitri was transferred to an offshore company, but the real
:08:49. > :08:56.owner was President Putin. This yacht was maintained...
:08:57. > :09:06.Why would that be kept secret? We asked Mr Abramovich about the
:09:07. > :09:10.yacht, bit his lawyers dismissed creams about him as speculation and
:09:11. > :09:19.rumours. The US Treasury has gone public with
:09:20. > :09:22.its view about Putin, they claim he is corrupt.
:09:23. > :09:25.He draws a salary or something like a dollars a year. That is not an
:09:26. > :09:32.accurate statement of the man's well. He has long time training in
:09:33. > :09:34.practices of how to mask his actual wealth.
:09:35. > :09:39.It's like Putin corrupt? In our view, yes.
:09:40. > :09:43.President Putin denies all the allegations of corruption. His
:09:44. > :09:50.spokesman said the issues we had raised were pure fiction. But with
:09:51. > :09:54.some of the world's most powerful men already linked to manager, use
:09:55. > :09:56.also went to corruption on an extra ordinary scale.
:09:57. > :09:58.You can see the full investigation on tonight's Panorama,
:09:59. > :10:06.The clean up operation is well underway in America after one
:10:07. > :10:16.of the most severe winter storms ever recorded.
:10:17. > :10:20.More than 22 inches of snow paralysed Washington, while 20
:10:21. > :10:22.inches fell in New York. Snowploughs have been working
:10:23. > :10:24.to clear main roads. The authorities say it could take
:10:25. > :10:26.days before they reach In Washington, government buildings
:10:27. > :10:30.are still closed and in New York, although the ban on travel has been
:10:31. > :10:33.lifted, most of schools remain shut. 1500 flights were
:10:34. > :10:45.cancelled on Monday. Michael abuse in the capital.
:10:46. > :10:50.It is Monday, the clearly not business as usual. I am in the deep
:10:51. > :10:55.in snow, three days after the snow hit. According to advisers, it could
:10:56. > :11:00.take several more days before the side roads are clear. The city is
:11:01. > :11:05.still in a state of emergency. We are working very hard today to
:11:06. > :11:11.get DC open for tomorrow. We would like to get our schools open. We
:11:12. > :11:16.working very hard to understand what habitation will be available.
:11:17. > :11:20.The roads are being cleared, but the promise would you put the snow? A
:11:21. > :11:24.lot is being dumped in car parks, the river and on the local football
:11:25. > :11:28.stadium down the road. But this here is going to have to stay put until
:11:29. > :11:32.the temperatures rise and it melts. And that could take a very long
:11:33. > :11:37.time. Even in the dead of winter, the
:11:38. > :11:40.White House is usually packed. But today, you can't even get close.
:11:41. > :11:43.White House is usually packed. But fact, most of the city's attractions
:11:44. > :11:45.are completely closed. Although tourists seem to be making the most
:11:46. > :11:55.of it. Just putting lots layers. I have
:11:56. > :12:01.of it. 40 on, stockings underneath. --
:12:02. > :12:04.thermal on. We had to sleigh ride down the
:12:05. > :12:07.Lincoln Memorial steps, that was fun.
:12:08. > :12:09.How long did you manage that for? We were there for about an hour.
:12:10. > :12:16.Did they move on? No, we were there for about an hour.
:12:17. > :12:20.It is not often you get the chance to walk down the middle
:12:21. > :12:22.It is not often you get the chance city's Main Street. But although
:12:23. > :12:30.this road is clear, no winners here to use it. The city is now asking
:12:31. > :12:32.for major federal funding, extra cash, to bring the nation's capital
:12:33. > :12:34.back online. The extreme weather is particularly
:12:35. > :12:37.bad news for homeless people. David P Jones is president
:12:38. > :12:39.of the homeless charity the Bowery Mission,
:12:40. > :12:46.based in Manhattan. He says the bad weather has placed
:12:47. > :12:52.big demands an existing services. The challenge of many more people
:12:53. > :12:56.coming in, normally at 50% increase on the publishing we normally serve.
:12:57. > :13:01.In the normal course we serve about 400,000 meals a year. It could be
:13:02. > :13:03.upwards of 1000 a day. In the course of the last two max days, that
:13:04. > :13:12.number has taped up per meal.
:13:13. > :13:16.A 50% increase, are you able to cope without?
:13:17. > :13:23.We have capacity, but it is all hands. One of the key factors is
:13:24. > :13:31.that our cupboards soon become bare. So we are all looking for donations
:13:32. > :13:36.of food and the like. So we were full up and preparing for the storm
:13:37. > :13:40.with the large groups coming through.
:13:41. > :13:44.So now we are trying to restock. It must have been a challenge to get
:13:45. > :13:50.volunteers in the right places at the right times?
:13:51. > :13:55.It is. We work with almost 6000 volunteers through the course of a
:13:56. > :14:04.year. We have a lot of friends to call on, so we were able
:14:05. > :14:05.year. We have a lot of friends to 18 to come in. So we had the
:14:06. > :14:10.resources on the ground. To make it work smoothly.
:14:11. > :14:15.You said more people were coming in for your services. I using it take
:14:16. > :14:20.something best bad, and that people would have been on the streets
:14:21. > :14:25.otherwise? It's interesting, we invite one and
:14:26. > :14:29.all to come will stop we have overnight shelter capacity as well
:14:30. > :14:33.as the meals we serve. The temperature drops below 40
:14:34. > :14:38.Fahrenheit, we opened up all night long and happy drop-in centre during
:14:39. > :14:42.the day. But when it is not blizzard conditions, we might see anywhere
:14:43. > :14:46.around 100 people a day in the drop-in centre for overnight
:14:47. > :14:54.shelter, 200 -ish for a particular meal. Suddenly, people that might
:14:55. > :14:58.otherwise have stayed out come in. In a blizzard, we have literally 27
:14:59. > :15:05.inches of snow on the ground, very dangerous to be out. And people were
:15:06. > :15:09.thankfully coming in but would not otherwise have come in.
:15:10. > :15:11.President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan has told the BBC
:15:12. > :15:13.that the Islamic State militant group will be
:15:14. > :15:17.A year on from the end of the Nato combat mission in Afghanstan,
:15:18. > :15:19.so-called Islamic State has been taking swathes of territory
:15:20. > :15:24.It has claimed them as a new province of what it calls
:15:25. > :15:27.the "caliphate" that it has already declared in areas of Syria and Iraq.
:15:28. > :15:29.Our South Asia Correspondent, Justin Rowlatt, reports
:15:30. > :15:43.The propaganda images are all too familiar. But these pictures were
:15:44. > :15:48.not shot in the Islamic state stronghold of Syria and Iraq. But
:15:49. > :15:53.more than 1500 miles away in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. IS
:15:54. > :16:04.has seized territory in three districts and has struck within an
:16:05. > :16:09.hour of carpool. Carpool. The police acknowledge it is only a
:16:10. > :16:14.matter of time before IS attacks the city and the threat is not just here
:16:15. > :16:19.in Afghanistan. The Pentagon analysis is clear, it
:16:20. > :16:26.says IS is openly fighting the Taliban to create a safe even in the
:16:27. > :16:29.mountains in the east of the country, potentially a second
:16:30. > :16:36.stronghold to launch attacks across the world.
:16:37. > :16:41.So how serious a threat is IS in Afghanistan? To answer that, you
:16:42. > :16:46.need to read Kabul. And I as commander has agreed to talk to an
:16:47. > :16:49.Afghan colleague. The ragtag bunch of fighters he
:16:50. > :16:55.meets isn't nearly as impressive as the propaganda videos.
:16:56. > :17:05.This man struggles to assemble his AK-47. But they do talk the talk.
:17:06. > :17:14.You must fight to the bitter end, he says.
:17:15. > :17:20.These are disaffected former Taliban who now want to fight a global jihad
:17:21. > :17:24.under the black light of IS. The commander says the plan more
:17:25. > :17:30.attacks. At the moment we exist in three
:17:31. > :17:33.provinces, but we only fight in one. In the others, we are awaiting
:17:34. > :17:38.orders from our leader. Then we will fight.
:17:39. > :17:43.We understand IS has hundreds, if not thousands, of fighters. It is
:17:44. > :17:50.not a huge force, but enough to bring mayhem and misery -- hundreds,
:17:51. > :17:53.not thousands. These are just a few of the hundreds
:17:54. > :17:58.of families driven from their homes by IS. These people are now trying
:17:59. > :18:04.to survive on a patch of wasteland outside the regional capital. They
:18:05. > :18:14.tell stories of horrific violence. She says IS - Daesh, they call it
:18:15. > :18:18.here- attacked her village. This girl says they took her house.
:18:19. > :18:28.I don't know where my father is, they tell us. This man's brother was
:18:29. > :18:32.one of more 100 men IS killed in the village.
:18:33. > :18:36.At first we had no idea what happened to him, but three men were
:18:37. > :18:39.released. Visit everyone was being held in a small room and IS was
:18:40. > :18:53.torturing and killing them. He recognised his brother in an ice
:18:54. > :18:59.as propaganda video. -- Isis propaganda video the video showed
:19:00. > :19:02.him being led with nine other villagers to wear a row of bombs had
:19:03. > :19:04.been buried. Each man was forced to sit on a
:19:05. > :19:17.bomb. The bombs were then detonated. The Afghan army has struck back
:19:18. > :19:23.against IS. It says IS has little support from locals, because it is
:19:24. > :19:26.so barbaric. But, the defence minister warns, eliminating IS in
:19:27. > :19:33.Afghanistan will require an international response.
:19:34. > :19:37.The key question is that from where I be getting all this funding, and
:19:38. > :19:45.how are they transferring that fund, and how are they putting that money
:19:46. > :19:48.and everything else? Silat is why Afghanistan cannot deal with all
:19:49. > :19:52.these challenges, because it is coming from outside stop it is based
:19:53. > :19:57.on us from outside. This is not the first foreign
:19:58. > :20:01.terrorist organisation to try and establish a base in the mountains of
:20:02. > :20:07.eastern Afghanistan. The Tora Bora cave complex is in the province
:20:08. > :20:17.where IS now operates. And Tora Bora is, of course, were Osama bin Laden.
:20:18. > :20:20.While warning that Afghanistan stronghold
:20:21. > :20:24.its president says the country will fight back against a group
:20:25. > :20:27.Our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet
:20:28. > :20:29.talked to President Ghani about the emergence of Daesh.
:20:30. > :20:40.I had warned about this in the very beginning of 2015. That, if Al-Qaeda
:20:41. > :20:46.was version one, with all due permits to Microsoft, Daesh was
:20:47. > :20:52.version five. We have, in particularly in the last
:20:53. > :20:58.week, a very significant focused on Daesh and they have inflicted severe
:20:59. > :21:02.damage on them. A BBC team has been into the local
:21:03. > :21:10.capital. Again, because we had to fight a war
:21:11. > :21:19.of survival, we could not focus as we had intended in the early stages.
:21:20. > :21:26.Daesh has four stages, orient, organise, decides... We caught them
:21:27. > :21:30.in this stage of decision. And that really puts them on the defensive.
:21:31. > :21:37.Once we are fighting across the country, they had the opportunity.
:21:38. > :21:41.The Taliban was able to penetrate the ring of steel around Kabul. What
:21:42. > :21:49.stops Islamic State from penetrating that ring as well?
:21:50. > :21:59.The difference is that Daesh is alienating the people. To a
:22:00. > :22:09.remarkable degree. In Jalalabad 700 commanders have retired from the
:22:10. > :22:15.army. Their atrocities, their pathological behaviour to capture
:22:16. > :22:22.the news - Daesh is of course making the news and dominating headlines.
:22:23. > :22:29.Of course we have honourable, because both new elements and old
:22:30. > :22:33.elements in combination produce an environment that was full of
:22:34. > :22:40.threats. What needs to be simultaneously understood is that
:22:41. > :22:46.security forces, within a wrote of the short period, have managed to
:22:47. > :22:50.reading the initiative and push them back.
:22:51. > :22:53.A British adventurer who had been attempting to become the first
:22:54. > :22:54.person to cross the Antarctic unsupported has died
:22:55. > :22:56.after suffering complete organ failure.
:22:57. > :22:58.55-year-old Henry Worsley, a former army officer from London,
:22:59. > :23:00.was just 30 miles short of completing his 1000 mile trek.
:23:01. > :23:02.He was attempting to complete Ernest Shackleton's unfinished
:23:03. > :23:04.South Pole expedition of a century ago.
:23:05. > :23:10.Nowhere on Earth is more hostile human life.
:23:11. > :23:14.The icy, vast and dangerous continent of Antarctica.
:23:15. > :23:17.And crossing it, alone and unaided was always going to be
:23:18. > :23:22.So Henry Worsley was trying something no-one had
:23:23. > :23:28.And even this veteran of the SAS and of polar exploration became ill
:23:29. > :23:33.and exhausted, and near his destination he had to give up.
:23:34. > :24:01.After a trek of 900 miles, with just 30 to go, he called
:24:02. > :24:08.He was flown to Chile where doctors found an abdominal infection,
:24:09. > :24:12.and after complete organ failure, he died.
:24:13. > :24:15.Henry Worsley knew the dangers of the polar world.
:24:16. > :24:20.Before a previous expedition he trained in Greenland and seemed
:24:21. > :24:24.to remain calm no matter what happened.
:24:25. > :24:33.Last year he told us what worried him most.
:24:34. > :24:37.The biggest threat will be the weather, and possibly crevasses
:24:38. > :24:42.on the final hundred miles as I come down the Shackleton glacier.
:24:43. > :24:45.His hope was to follow in the footsteps of the great polar
:24:46. > :24:48.explorer Ernest Shackleton, who tried and failed to cross
:24:49. > :24:53.He was distantly related to the captain of
:24:54. > :25:02.There is a reason why these things have not been done before.
:25:03. > :25:12.And going solo, with no resuppy and being an assisted in all shapes
:25:13. > :25:20.and forms, is the purest form, and the hardest form of travel.
:25:21. > :25:23.--unassisted Quite possibly on the surface of the Earth.
:25:24. > :25:27.Only a week ago, he believed he was still on course.
:25:28. > :25:34.With a deadline to meet for a pick-up.
:25:35. > :25:39.His friends, Princes William and Harry said he had
:25:40. > :25:46.And he will be remembered for coming so close to making Antarctic
:25:47. > :25:49.history. The explorer Henry
:25:50. > :25:58.Worsley who has died. The explorer Henry
:25:59. > :26:08.weather is coming next. From myself and the team though, bye-bye.
:26:09. > :26:13.For the time being we have waved goodbye to cold weather, and it is
:26:14. > :26:18.now the turn of the rain this week. Tomorrow things are turning very wet
:26:19. > :26:19.and windy for many of us. The rain