01/09/2016 World News Today

Apple's chief executive hits back at a European ruling

that the company owes Ireland billions in back taxes.

A new year and new skills to learn, as terror drills become part

Also coming up, Donald Trump reinforces his tough

stance on immigration, and once again it's

We will build a great wall along the southern border,

and Mexico will pay for the wall.

And $200 million goes up in smoke when a test-fire of a SpaceX rocket

The row between Apple and the European Commission

On Tuesday the Commission ruled that Apple had to pay billions of euros

Both Ireland and Apple say they will appeal the ruling,

which Apple boss Tim Cook says is politically motivated.

He's defended Apple's handling of its tax affairs,

saying it pays a combined global rate of more than 26%.

He told Irish media that the company had done nothing wrong.

It's clear that this comes from a political place.

And, unfortunately, it's one of those things

When you're accused of doing something that is so foreign

to your values, it brings out an outrage in you.

The European Commission's Competition chief,

Margrethe Vestager, has responded to Tim Cook's comments,

saying that the Commission's decision had nothing

We rest our practices on something very fundamental

And the thing is that even if it weren't like this,

we always have the courts to keep us on a straight line based on fact.

Because I don't think the courts will hear any kind of political

opinions, or feelings, or what's in your stomach, or whatever.

They want the facts of the case and that is what we have to produce.

For more on this, let's turn to our North America

Technology Ccorrespondent, Dave Lee.

Tim Cook clearly is taking things very personally. Isn't it a risky

tactic to make a moral argument for a multi-billion dollar corporation

against paying taxes? I think depending on your view of Apple

prior to this row, that is one way to take it. The company has gone

through a huge amount of effort to move itself around the world and

minimise what it pays in tax. Apple maintains it has done up within the

law and it is some of the numbers that the European Commission were

talking about earlier in the week. -- its disputes some of the numbers.

The European Commission says it was talking about subsidiaries, not

Apple as a home. -- as a whole. It is all getting very bogged down in

technicalities. Tim Cook is making an emotional argument in interviews

today. It is similar to how Apple dealt with the row earlier this year

that encryption and it is all about gaining public support. It seems

they are using the same tactics to be that had been in the hope they

will get the backing in the business community, but also the general

public in an instant in tax. When a big company doesn't come to avoid so

much tax it will be a much harder sell to the public than the

encryption row was earlier this year. This whole issue is dividing a

lot of opinion that Apple does seem to be gaining some support? -- but

Apple does seem to be gaining some support? There has been some notable

support from the former EU commissioner who had a reputation

for being very harsh and technology companies. Many people refer to her

as dearly. She has written in the Guardian newspaper to say that while

a lot has to be done with taxes, particularly with multinationals

like Apple, retrospective punishment on the right way to go. While she

says that Apple does need to perhaps pay more into the tax kitty around

the world, particularly in Europe, she thinks punishing isn't the way

to do it. It is an interesting way to how a European Works, saying this

is in the right thing to do. Apple will be very pleased with that

support, certainly. An issue that won't be resolved any time soon.

Thank you, David Lee. that appears to be Donald Trump's

latest message as he pushes on with his campaign

for the White House. On Wednesday he went to Mexico

to meet President Pena Nieto, and then flew back to the US to lay

out his tough stance on immigration Our Washington Correspondent,

Laura Bicker, reports. There is to be no pivot,

no softening of his stance. Donald Trump is holding his course

on immigration, starting with the policy that has become

so popular with his voting base. We will build a great wall along

the southern border. And Mexico will pay

for the wall. As for the millions in the country

illegally, Mr Trump says it is time for them to leave, only then can

they apply to come back. Illegal immigrants who have

committed crimes I am going to create a new special

deportation task force, focused on identifying and quickly

removing the most dangerous criminal illegal immigrants in America

who have evaded justice, just like Hillary Clinton

has evaded justice. This was a very different tone

to the one he had taken earlier with the Mexican president

on a surprise visit. We didn't discuss

payment of the wall. However, this was disputed

by President Pena Nieto, "At the beginning of

the conversation with Donald Trump, I made it clear Mexico

would not pay for the wall." Just one more controversy

in a campaign which has It is a tale of two Trumps. We have

is the BBC's Katty Kay. It is a tale of two Trumps. We have

-- who do you believe? The person I went to Mexico is Trump trying to be

a good behaviour. The person who spoke so fervently in Arizona is the

person tromp really is. He seemed more comfortable with it, that is a

difference of opinion in his campaign. All of those campaign

officials who had been telling us that Donald Trump would suffer his

position on immigration, he refuted all of them and you can only suggest

that somewhere between flying back from Mexico City to Phoenix he

decided he will take a tough line on immigration. And it is a short trip.

Does this mean he has given up on trying to encourage the Hispanic

vote? Realistically, Donald Trump's chances after all of the things he

has said, all of the video clips about calling Mexicans rapists and

criminals, noting the wall, some of the disparaging comments, he was not

going to improve his standing with Hispanic voters whatever he did. The

trip to Mexico was more about looking presidential than winning

Hispanic voters. The speech last night was about shoring up his base,

giving them what he wanted, chucking red meat at the crowd. I think he's

decided he's not going to get those Hispanic voters so he will stick to

to his principles. What about moderate voters, those who might be

wavering? I just don't know how many moderate voters there left. I really

don't know how many waverers, after 1.5 years of two candidates who are

incredibly well known either through reality TV or being in the public

eye for the last 20 years, it's very hard to believe that the numbers of

Americans who have not made up their minds is very large. The number of

the persuadable is very small this time round. They also two of the

most unpopular candidates in American history. There has got to

be somebody out there thinking, "I can't do it for one or the other."

We know there are many people who don't want to vote for either and

bolster home during this election. What Donald Trump was doing last

night in Arizona was making sure those people who voted for him in

the primary turnouts to the polls on November the 8th. This will be an

election campaign about making sure your supporters are terrified of the

other candidate getting elected and that gives them an incentive to turn

out. Very quickly, do you think President Pena Nieto is regretting

anything today? I can't see how this helps him. He looked like somebody

who didn't stand up to Donald Trump in a press conference. He invited

this terribly unpopular man, and then Donald Trump gives him a slap

in the face by giving that red meat speech. And so it continues. Thank

you for joining me. 12 million pupils returned

to school today in France, but with more security measures

in place than usual because of concerns over

the threat of terrorism. Armed police were on patrol as many

staff and students entered And as part of the curriculum,

pupils will now be taught to hide, escape and help each other

in the event of an attack. There's no specific new threat

against French schools, just a general awareness that

as prime symbols of the French republic and as prime purveyors

of the French secular nonreligious culture, they are,

in the eyes of many jihadists, That's why as much tougher

security outside schools 3,000 reservists are

on patrol outside schools. But that's because the patrols

are randomly designated There is new money for security

at entrances to schools, Every school in the country has

to have a simulation exercise this term, simulating not

a fire or a natural disaster, That's because the response

of the children has to be different. In a terrorist incursion,

if you can, you escape. If you can't, you stay put,

stick together, keep quiet. Even kindergarten children will be

having this exercise, and they'll be learning

through a game. The game is called

The King Of Silence. The idea is that these tiny children

who, in the event of a real terrorist incursion,

would have no idea what was going on, that they learn to stay as long

as possible for their own safety Now for a look at some

of the day's other news. A powerful earthquake

with a magnitude of 7.1 has been The epicentre of the quake

was around 170 kilometres northeast of the town of Gisborne -

off the coast of the North Island. Residents of a small

community on the island have been asked to evacuate -

but there are no immediate reports Swiss prosecutors are investigating

the former German football star, Franz Beckenbauer, for alleged

corruption relating to Germany's successful bid to host

the 2006 World Cup. Police raided Mr Beckenbauer's

property in Austria as part The Swiss Attorney General's Office

says Beckenbauer and three others are suspected of fraud

and money laundering. Gabon says it has arrested more

than 1,000 people as it tries to restore order after disputed

presidential election President Ali Bongo condemned

opposition supporters His rival in the election,

opposition leader Jean Ping, told the BBC that on Wednesday night

a government helicopter Opposition supporters accuse

the government of rigging the poll. A law that comes into effect today

in the German state of Bavaria allows the authorities to tell

new refugees where to live. All refugees dependant on the state

for benefits and housing will be allocated a town where they must

settle for up to three years. Supporters say the law

helps refugees integrate But critics say that integration

depends more on helping refugees Tens of thousands of

demonstrators have gathered in the Venezuelan capital,

Caracas, to call for the removal The opposition blames the

president for a deep economic crisis in Venezuela,

and says his government has failed to tackle widespread

corruption and crime. President Maduro has accused his

opponents of plotting a coup. BBC Mundo's Luis

Fahardo is in Miami. This has been brewing for some time.

Why has it come to a head now? There is an actual deadline approaching,

in electoral terms, the opposition against President Maduro. It is

trying to get the electoral authorities to allow for a

referendum, a recall referendum. This referendum has to be done

before January, in case it succeeds for calling new elections. If it

doesn't, President Nicolas Maduro will have two lead. But the vice

President from his own party would probably stay in office. It is a big

deal for the opposition to have to get that done now, to try to

convince the electoral authorities to authorise the remaining parts of

the referendum to go ahead. Of course, this is all in a context of

great social crisis, of great economic crisis. As you know,

Venezuela has the highest inflation in the world, and growing discontent

in many two wards of the government of President Nicolas Maduro. How

unstable as the country right now? You would expect any kind of

government facing this amount of economic trouble to face very

serious difficulties. As I was saying before, Venezuela is having

major, major economic problems and an economic breakdown in many ways.

People are finding it difficult to get basic foods tables. In that

sense, you would think it is a great opportunity for the opportunity.

However, pro-government sectors have accused the opposition of not taking

into account the everyday difficulties of Venezuelans, facing

an obsession with getting the recall referendum. That said, they are not

addressing the needs and hopes the Venezuelan people either. At this

point, it has been going on for a while, a sort of stalemate between

two forces in Venezuela. The opposition and the government led by

President Nicolas Maduro, trying to continue the political movement that

Hugo Chavez is set in motion more than one decade ago. At this moment,

it is not clear that this will lead to a major change in the short term.

Thank you very much for the latest on the situation in Venezuela.

Africa's elephant population has plunged over the last decade,

The worrying results of the Great Elephant Census have

led campaigners to call for a world wide ban on the ivory trade.

Researchers have warned that half of Africa's remaining elephants

could be gone in the next nine years if the current rate of poaching

Our Africa Correspondent, Alastair Leithead, has sent this

Feeding time at an elephant orphanage in Nairobi.

Half of these youngsters are here because their mothers

All will be reintroduced back into the wild, but their future

is threatened by the poachers, the traffickers, and by Asia's

This particular elephant very close to us here, her name is Roie.

She is almost three, and she was rescued

This was after her mother had been killed by poachers.

She was found trying to protect the dead body of the mother,

who had been killed by poachers, and she was very young.

The first Great Elephant Census, which counted animals

across 18 African countries, says a third of the elephants had

You see countries like Mozambique, which has lost half its elephants

in the last five years, Tanzania 60% of its elephants,

other hotspots around the Continent, and this big prediction that

if things continue as they, if the poaching rates go on,

then half the elephants in Africa will be gone in just

Botswana has discovered a huge number of elephants have been

With 40%t of the continent's elephants, it has been

But, like everywhere else, the animals are under threat.

RADIO: The cosy pretence that Botswana's elephants are well

protected has been blown out of the water.

This is the last thing I expected to see.

Kenya's approach to conservation was illustrated quite

with the biggest ever ivory burn of the country's stockpile.

Despite the high price of black market ivory,

campaigners here believe it is worth nothing,

The situation facing elephants is critical,

and I doubt that any country in the world would support any

That is, you think, the solution to this?

I think elephants deserve to be unthreatened again in the future.

There should be no future ivory trade.

If the poaching crisis continues then Africa's elephants,

roaming wild across vast areas of this continent,

Joining me now from our Nairobi studio is Howard Frederick,

the Chief Technical Advisor to the Great Elephant Census.

That is a heartbreaking thought, the fact that elephants could completely

disappear. Why is it so difficult to stop the ivory trade that most

people are opposed to? I think stopping the ivory trade is such a

massive task. The scale of these protected areas, just in Tanzania

alone we surveyed about 300,000 square kilometres. Protecting these

areas is incredibly difficult. With these mass-market of overseas

demanding so much more ivory year-on-year, it is an incredibly

difficult task. What is your senses actually do and why is it so

important? -- your census. This is the first time we have been able to

look at all the elephant population in one go. Usually we get the

information in bits and pieces. We get news from Tanzania that some of

our area may be under threat, or we get news from Gabon or camera room.

But when we get a chance to really understand this can be covered it no

longer becomes a rumour, you get to see this incredible decline going

on. What we've been taking -- while we have been taking in various

different countries, now we can begin to change our focus to look at

the markets, we can actually begin to see the scale of this problem and

how massive it actually is. The other really important aspect of

this is we are beginning to see movement south. We've so far seen

the forest elephants declined dramatically. There have been

declines in Mozambique and Tanzania which are of great concern. But the

worry if it will continue on moving south. This gave the problem is bad

now, but it could get much worse. What more can we do that hasn't

already been tried? There is so much more that hasn't been done yet. The

scale of these areas is so huge. We have so many protected areas in

Tanzania which have a very low number of scouts. Areas in the north

of Tanzania, which is where I usually work, and areas north of

thing can you -- north of us in Kenya, the number of scouts is not

always effective enough to work. We need to keep up the effort. But in

particular its controlling the markets and trying to impact of the

trade in ivory and take real action over customs and the level of ivory

in the countries. Thank you. A rocket operated by the aerospace

company SpaceX has exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral,

in Florida, where it was being The force of the blast shook

buildings several miles away and sent a plume of smoke high

above the complex. SpaceX said "an anomaly" had

occurred while the rocket Eric Berger is the senior space

editor for the website Ars Technica. He has been following the events

closely, and joins us now What does that mean exactly, "An

anomaly"? It's not entirely clear, but what is known is that when you

do one of these test fires, you test the engines before a launch. You

load a lot of propellant into the rocket and these are explosive

materials. There was obviously some kind of error or problem when they

were putting the fuel into the rocket. This isn't the first rocket

explosion that SpaceX has encountered. How big a setback is

this latest incident? That is the big question. It's now is clear that

the problem occurred when they were loading fuel onto the second stage

of the rocket. This is a part of the rocket after it left off and reaches

space, the second part takes over and delivers your satellite to

wherever you wanted to go. You may recall in June 20 15th there was an

issue with the second stage of the Falcon nine rocket. -- in June 2015.

If this was a problem with the second stage again and not with the

fuel it could be a major setback to have two problems with the second

stage in the space of 12 months. So much stress is being put on the idea

of developing the private space industry. Is it going too fast too

soon, do you think? That's an interesting question and certainly

one that will be asked over the next months and years as SpaceX pushes

ahead. As you know, they're working on this rocket to deliver astronauts

to the ISS within a couple of years. They want to build a bigger version

and they are talking about going to Mars in the 2020s. These are grand

ambitions. I think at some point Nasa will step forward and tell

SpaceX they are delivering them -- paying them a lot of money and would

like them to address the problems before moving onto things. It's

rocket was supposed to be carrying a satellite for an Israeli telecoms

industry. That is right, SpaceX does have a robust private business that

has come into the market over the last few years. It has sold launches

at a much reduced price to its competitors, including the Russians.

Thank you very much for joining me. The skies above several

East African countries were today lit by a blazing

"ring of fire" solar eclipse. A normal solar eclipse

happens when the moon moves between the Earth and the sun,

blocking out our star A "ring of fire" eclipse is also

known as an annular eclipse, and happens when the eclipse

isn't entirely total. These images were captured in Zambia

this afternoon. Because of the movement of the moon,

some of the sun is visible around the outside of the moon,

leaving a stunning blazing ring of fire around

the outside of the dark moon. Something that must have been quite

a sight to see. Of course, now you don't even have to Google be

definition! But for now from me and the rest

of the team, goodbye. It was a good-looking day today

across much of England and Wales thanks to a ridge of high pressure.

Scotland and Northern Ireland saw a lot more