20/02/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today, broadcasting in the UK

The Headlines: Britain's Prime Minister sets the date

for a referendum on whether the UK should remain in the European Union.

David Cameron tells voters they're making the biggest decision

The choice is in your hands, but my recommendation is clear. I think

that Britain will be safer, stronger and better off in a reformed

European Union. Round three of the race

for the White House and the front runners are facing tough

challenges from their rivals. I'm Nick Bryant in Columbia South

Carolina, where Donald Trump's hoping to see off a challenge

from his closest rival Ted Cruz And I'm Kim Ghattas

in Las Vegas Nevada where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders

are neck and neck in Plus Fiji takes a battering as it's

hit by the worst storm Britain's Prime Minister has fired

the starting-gun in a referendum campaign which will decide

whether the UK remains David Cameron has announced

that the vote will be held It'll be Britain's second referendum

on European membership in just In June 1975, voters backed

membership of the then European Economic Community

by two thirds. Mr Cameron was speaking

in Downing Street after a special cabinet meeting, where he outlined

the deal he secured at marathon That includes the power to limit

some EU migrants' benefits for four years and an exemption

from "ever closer union". But five members in his cabinet -

including the Justice Secretary Michael Gove - have already joined

the Vote Leave campaign. Here's our political

editor Laura Kuennsberg: Just what has the Prime

Minister opened up? An argument that not

all of his colleagues Why didn't this deal

convince your colleagues? As the Cabinet gathered to tell

each other, at last, Was it a difficult

decision, Mr Gove? An awkward entrance for one

of the Prime Minister's closest While ministers met,

a crowd gathered. It's no secret how big

a decision this is for us all. But what the Prime Minister

would recommend was never really With the deal from Brussels

in his back pocket, here it was. We are approaching one

of the biggest decisions this Whether to remain in a reformed

European Union, or to leave. Our plan for Europe gives us

the best of both worlds. It underlines our special status,

through which families across Britain get all the benefits

of being in the European Union, including more jobs,

lower prices and greater security. But our special status also means

we are out of those parts of Europe I will go to Parliament and propose

that the British people decide our future in Europe

through an in-out referendum I believe that Britain will be

safer, stronger and better off Don't be in any doubt,

this is one of the biggest political He has finally confirmed you will be

asked the biggest political question in decades and he is putting

at stake our membership of the European Union,

the unity of his party and, I think everybody thinks

this is a good deal. The question is whether it is a good

enough for everybody to think And it's a great deal

for Scotland as well. Those who will fight him

slipped out the back door. I'm a member of the Cabinet,

I'm the Secretary of State Yes, I am actually ringing

you from the Vote Leave campaign. Going straight to the headquarters

of one of the out campaigns. The first Cabinet minister

to speak for out told me. There are things that we could

and should be doing in the interests of this country that we simply

cannot do as members of the EU. I want to be able to

control our borders, to limit the number of people

who come and live and work here, but, above all, I just do not

believe we can take decisions in our national interest when we are

part of the European Union, when we have given up so much

control over what this country does. How dangerous a moment do you think

this is for the Conservative Party? For the next few months,

we are going to have senior figures, from top to bottom, publicly

disagreeing with each other over I'm not going to attack

the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has worked

immensely hard to deliver change for our relationship

with the European Union. The debate is whether that change

is sufficient to enable us to stay, Britain to stay in

the European Union. The campaign to stay

will have the backing of most Tory, Lib Dem, Labour and SNP MPs,

even if for different reasons. Our position is quite simply

that we want to be in government in 2020 to deliver a much

stronger social Europe, better workers' protection,

better environmental That is the agenda that Cameron

should have been following. Number 10 hopes a new and improved

relationship with the EU can But the referendum will ask if this

place, if all of us, Deputy Director of Britain

Stronger in Europe. And Neil Hamilton -

Deputy Chairman of the UK Independence Party -

is in our Bristol studio. Lucy, if we come to you first, the

EU is far from perfect, costing the UK taxpayer billions of pounds. What

is going to be your main argument in order to convince them to stay in? I

would agree with you that the EU is not perfect. But that is why you

Reform Act, as the Prime Minister has just done, and as British prime

ministers over history have done successfully and will continue to

do. We will be arguing that Britain is stronger, safer and better off in

Europe than we would be on our own, and that means we are safer working

together with 27 other countries to fight terrorism and other global

threats, we are stronger as part of one of the biggest organisations in

the world, dealing with big problems, and we are better off as

part of the largest free-trade single market in the world, allowing

businesses to trade freely, creating jobs and meaning lower prices in the

shops. Neil Hamilton, Lucy makes that argument, the Prime Minister

says we are economically and in terms of national security better

and more secure. I think that is a load of rubbish. There is no reform

of the European Union. David Cameron asked for next to nothing and got

even less. Just restricting migrant benefits in work for a short period

of time is no reform at all. He has not brought back any treaty change,

we have not repatriated any powers to Parliament, we have not reduced

the powers of the European Court, we have not cut budget contributions,

we have no control over large areas of national life. Parliament at

Westminster has been reduced to a eunuch. Thousands of jobs were lost

at Port Talbot in the steel industry, because of huge energy

prices imposed by EU environmental legislation, and because we cannot

protect our jobs in this country because the EU has our place on the

World Trade Organisation board, so that we cannot apply ourselves for

anti-dumping duty is to be applied on Chinese imports. Britain is in a

position where it cannot take any of the major decisions it needs to do

to be a successful economy in the world. It is amazingly the fifth

largest economy in the world. The doom monger is on the other side of

the argument are saying we cannot survive. This is absurd. It seems to

me that nobody really knows what a Brexit would mean, and uncertainty

is really dangerous for the British economy? It's quite easy to see what

it will mean. There are 100 countries in the world that trade

perfectly well with the EU without being members of it. We trade with

the United States, Canada, Australia, China, India, but we are

not part of their political unions. You don't have to be in a political

union to trade with them. We have a massive trade deficit with the EU, a

surplus with the rest of the world. We will be able to have a free trade

arrangement with the other countries in the EU. The EU already has

free-trade agreements with 60 countries in the world, why were

they not want to have a free-trade agreement with us when they are

massively the beneficiaries of British trade? The people that want

to push for a British exit from the European Union, they say you are

going to be running a really negative campaign, fear mongering. I

would like to pick up on a couple of points there, he has failed to think

about the successful reforms which have been achieved that Britain's

parliament will be able to block EU regulation, we will not be dragged

into the ever closer union, political integration, and were we

to leave, it would be far worse, we would still have to apply many EU

rules, but we would have no say over them and we would continue to pay

into the EU budget as we would continue to accept free movement of

people. I think Neil and his colleagues have to be clear about

what leaving really means, which they have not done to date. We talk

about our campaign, we will be honest about both the benefits and

the risks of leaving, because that is the choice on the ballot paper.

It is the benefits of being stronger, safer and better off,

within the largest free-trade market in the world, or leaving, which is a

leap into the unknown. Lucy Thomas, Anthony Hamilton from the UK

Independence Party, thank you both very much for being with us.

Republican and Democratic candidates for the US presidential nomination

are facing their third big electoral test this weekend.

Voting is underway in the South Carolina Republican

primary - which is likely to be a tight contest between Donald Trump

Meanwhile, in the past few hours, Democrats have begun voting

Well our correspondents are here to give us more analysis.

Nick Bryant is in South Carolina and Kim Ghattas in Nevada.

It seems that Donald Trump was on the march, but he is facing some

stumbling blocks? Yes, ever since he declared his candidacy last summer,

he has been in the lead in South Carolina. There has only been one

poll that has not shown him out of the top of the pack. In the last few

days, the race has tightened. It has been an eventful few days for the

billionaire, even by his remarkable standards. There was a spat with

Pope Francis, although it is worth remembering there are not that many

Catholic voters, proportionately, in South Carolina, and many people

support his desire and goal to build a wall between America and Mexico,

which was what the row was about. He has also picked a fight with former

President George W Bush, in South Carolina campaigning for his

brother. He has called him a liar for going to war in Iraq on flimsy

evidence about the existence of weapons of mass destruction, which

Donald Trump claims George Bush knew was false. In the past few days, he

has had a rocky time. What has damaged in most is a barrage of

negative television and adverts put up by Ted Cruz, his Texan rival,

questioning whether he is a Republican at all, reminding voters

that Donald Trump used to support the woman's right to abortion, an

anathema to many Republican voters in South Carolina who are

evangelical Christians. Who comes third and fourth is very important,

it could be a crucial test for Jeb Bush? It really could be. He needs a

strong third-place finish today. He really needs to beat his Florida

rival Marco Rubio, who used to be his protege, but has emerged as the

stronger candidate. Jeb Bush has had his brother in town. He has had his

mother in town as well. They have really highlighted his weaknesses as

a candidate. They are much better on the stump than he is. He has fought

a fairly lacklustre campaign and has not broken through. He hoped to be

the standard-bearer of the Republican establishment, that

position looks like it will be occupied by Marco Rubio. If he does

not do well enough tonight, I think many supporters will come up to him

and say, it is time to put your ambition of following your father

and following your elder brother into the White House to one side.

Kim, in Nevada, a crucial test for Jeb Bush, but also for Hillary

Clinton, who lost out in New Hampshire? Yes, absolutely. There is

a lot at stake in Nevada, for both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Some key questions that both candidates will be trying to answer

today, or hoping to be able to answer. One of the questions is if

Bernie Sanders can show he has support beyond the very whitest

states of Iowa and New Hampshire, where he did very well? Certainly

from the results we are seeing right now in Nevada, it looks like he's

going to have a strong showing. Remember, this is a state where

Hillary Clinton was leading by quite a few points until recently. The

question for Hillary Clinton today, here in Nevada, is Will she be able

to have a whim, perhaps even a decisive win or enough of a win,

that she can put behind the narrative that her campaign is

struggling. Hillary Clinton has accused her arrival of making

promises of an unachievable revolution, but Bernie Sanders is

gathering a lot of enthusiasm. What do his supporters think of his

promise for universal health care and affordable, or rather free,

tuition for college? My colleague went to a Bernie Sanders rally, just

outside Las Vegas, to find out. You can't really get

results if you don't try. Wanting to try free tuition

in public universities, I feel like, you know,

it's not unrealistic. There are plenty of times

for compromise if we don't get He has put more amendments

on bills than I believe So he knows how to compromise

when that is necessary. But we need to start

out with bold ideas. As a mom of two biracial children

and one Native American daughter, we are very impressed

with Bernie standing up and saying our lives

are important and black lives As a cancer survivor,

I appreciate his stand on improving I'm OK with him not

being so realistic. I think sometimes you

have to dream bigger than where you are in order to make

the place you are better. We are allowed to

believe in a dream. The dream that Bernie

stands for may not be real, in my generation,

I believe that it's going to be If there are people in Congress not

pushing through bills that we want to see put through,

they need to find new bills and we need to elect people

who are going to help us out. We have to go out there,

we have to vote for more liberal people from the House,

the representative houses, the Senate, get more

left-wingers in there. There you have it, a lot of support

for Bernie Sanders in Nevada, a state that Hillary Clinton thought

she could easily win. The results we are getting so far show it is a very

tight race. We will have more in the next few hours, as the results

continue to come in. We are standing right here at the location where

Hilary Clinton will give her speech in a few hours. Will it be a victory

speech? Will she be able to show that she has a campaign that can

move forward, all will she have to concede defeat to Bernie Sanders? Or

will it be such a small win for her that she will continue whatever aids

are calling a long, hard slog into the month of March. We will have all

of that for you later on. Thank you very much.

Stay with us on BBC World News, still to come:

30 years in office and counting - Uganda's Yoweri Museveni wins

Nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into Afghanistan, the final

troops were coming home. A withdrawal completed in good order,

but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. And has an

effect on the morale of the people, recognitions in the streets. --

repercussions. As the airlift got underway, there

was no letup in the eruption itself. Lava streams from a vent low in the

crater flowed down to the sea on the east of the island, away from the

town for the time being. It could start flowing again at any time. The

Russians heralded the station with a spectacular night launch.

The latest headlines: Britain's Prime Minister,

David Cameron, announces that a referendum on whether to remain

in the European Union will be held on the 23rd of June

Republican and Democratic candidates for the US presidential nomination

are facing their third big electoral test in the race for the White

Yoweri Museveni has been declared the winner of Uganda's presidential

election, giving him a fifth term in office.

The country's electoral commission said that Mr Museveni won 61%

But the main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye - who was placed under

house arrest on Friday- described the election as a sham

and has called on the international community to reject the result.

The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga has more.

There is a heavy police presence outside the home of Kizza Besigye,

the main opposition leader in Uganda.

He hasn't been allowed to leave his home today.

He is disputing the announcement that

the President won the election in Uganda.

He has called it the most fraudulent election in Uganda's

There has also been criticism from international

observers, for example, the Commonwealth Observer Group says

this election fell short of democratic benchmarks.

The United States ambassador to Uganda also

told us she was concerned about the fact that there has been

restrictions on social media and certain parts of the internet

It remains to be seen whether Kizza Besigye will challenge

The most powerful storm ever to hit Fiji is clearing away

As it made landfall, Tropical Cyclone Winston,

brought strong winds and waves of up to 12 metres.

Flights were cancelled and hundreds of evacuation centres set up -

though there are no reports of casualties so far.

The Fijian government has declared a state of natural disaster,

with the Prime Minister calling the cyclone an ordeal

A curfew is in place across the nation.

Well here's Ben Rich from the BBC Weather Centre

Severe tropical cyclone Winston is clearing away from Fiji, but it

certainly made its mark. It is the strongest tropical cyclone to have

made landfall in Fiji since records began. The storm has been on an

incredible journey. About a week ago, it was sitting to the

south-west of Fiji, then it lost some of its strength as it died down

to the south. It moved eastwards into warmer waters. The warmth of

them enhanced by the current El Nino. That caused it to spring back

to life and strength. You can see on the satellite picture, a clearly

defined eye to the storm as it moved across Fiji. A short time ago, the

centre of the storm was sitting to the west of Fiji, continuing to

clear away. But it has caused some significant impacts. In fact, some

real destruction in places. The gusts got up to 320 kilometres per

hour. 200 mph wind. We saw wave heights up to 12 metres. That caused

some significant coastal flooding. There was flooding elsewhere as

well. We recorded more than 200 millimetres of rain in places. It is

no surprise this storm has caused such huge destruction and so many

problems. What happens with the storm next? As I mentioned, it moved

away to the west of Fiji. There is some disagreement between computer

weather models about exactly where it will go next. It looks like it

will pass perilously close, and might not make landfall, but you

will feel the impact, some strong wind, potentially rainfall. Then it

looks like the centre of the storm is then going to dive away to the

south. As the story continues to develop to the next few days, we

will keep you up to date. Serbia says two of its nationals

have been killed in a US air strike on so-called Islamic State

militants in Libya. Serbian authorities say

they were trying to secure their release and are now demanding

an explanation from Washington. It seems the kidnapped Serbs

were being held near The strike killed

more than 40 people. Here's what the Prime Minister

of Serbia said a little earlier. TRANSLATION: This is the first major

hostage crisis that the Republic Our state security acted very

professionally, very seriously. If they had not been killed

in allied bombing, our people would have been freed,

as we have said so many times before Earlier I spoke to our correspondent

in Tunis, Rana Jawad. They condemned the move, saying that

the US did not coordinate with them, the Libyan government. That it was a

flagrant violation of sovereignty and national conventions. The

Serbian Prime Minister also said they would be seeking an explanation

from US authorities, at some point he said that apparently the

Americans did not know that there were foreigners held in the building

that was struck. Have there been any responses from the United States? We

have not seen any official response so far. I think overall the fact

that these two Serbian nationals were held in that building that was

struck poses a worrying development. It was never entirely clear who

exactly abducted them. The fact that the Serbian government was, as they

put it, negotiating their release, even the Foreign Minister said that

the kidnappers were asking for a very high sum of money that the

government and their families could not meet, it poses a worrying

development because if they were kidnapped by a criminal group that

sold them to the Islamic State, that is certainly a new thing for Libya.

If you want to get in touch, you can. That is it for now.

Most of us will have seen rain at some stage, otherwise there is huge

variety up and down the UK at the moment. It hinges on