18/01/2017 World News Today

This is BBC News with me Clive Myrie - the headlines.

I'm at the White House where journalists have packed

the briefing room for their last chance to question President Obama

On a visit to India, Britain's Foreign Secretary warns EU

leaders not to penalise the UK over Brexit.

If Mr Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody

who chooses to escape rather in the manner of some sort

of World War II movie then, you know, I don't think

Meanwhile European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker

promises to seek a "balanced" Brexit deal - but warns

We want a fair deal with Britain and a fair day for Britain

but a fair deal means a fair deal for the European Union too.

Thousands of Gambians and foreign tourists flee the country

due to political unrest after the President

Also this hour, record breaking temperatures

Scientists say it's due to climate change -

Good evening and welcome to BBC News.

It's just two days until Donald Trump becomes the 45th president

In the next few minutes, the current occupant

of the White House, Barack Obama, will be holding his final news

President Obama is expected to use the news conference

to defend his decision yesterday to shorten the sentence

of Chelsea Manning, the former US soldier convicted of revealing

Our State Department Correspondent Barbara

The front part of the conference is likely to be dominated by the

commutation of that sentence for Chelsea Manning. I think so, there

have been questions about that and critics in the Republican party have

said it was the wrong decision and it was the largest leak of US

classified material ever and it put lives and American interests at risk

and to shorten the sentence and released Chelsea Manning sent the

dangers message for those who also want to leak dangerous or classified

material. President Obama will likely be asked about that and is

likely to defend his decision. White House officials have said Chelsea

Manning went through a trial and was convicted and punished and spent

time in jail and has taken responsibility and expressed regret

and should therefore be released. Also taking into consideration her

emotional and mental health, a transgender woman in a male person

trying to go through a gender change for the game critics have said you

should not treat a traitor like a martyr. That will take up a large

chunk of it and you assume he will also be defending his record. He

probably will, although he has done that quite copiously in the past

weeks. He had a speech where he did that, a press conference in

December, he has given many interviews to US and international

news outlets so in terms of legacy issues I think many of the questions

from journalists will be about this kind of hard news. But they will be

aware that this is their last outing with the president and that tomorrow

is the last day that he and his staffers are cleaning up their

desks. They have to be gone by midnight. To be ready for the new

Trump administration on Friday. So there is a sense of the last moments

with President Obama and concerning questions about what they will face

in the press briefing room if indeed there will be press briefings in the

same way under Donald Trump. The press have been, they have had the

ear of the president for the past eight years or so. It seems to be

the case that President Trump when he becomes president is not going to

be itself forthcoming with his press conferences. Do you expect President

Obama two are to that? He might do if he is asked about it. The Obama

administration ran a pretty tight ship on information and was not as

transparent as promised. But he has held some 163 press conferences. And

regular daily press briefings with jealous in the White House, where

they are able to speak to senior officials. The Trump administration

has been tossed around different ideas, we do not know exactly what

is going to happen but we do know that Mr Trump has not liked to give

press conferences in the past. His team have said they would perhaps

love the press to a nearby location amongst other things. So there is

concern. It could come up today, we will see. Thank you for that. We

will of course be renewed that conference live. -- bring you.

EU leaders meeting in Strasbourg have been

giving their first reaction to Theresa May's Brexit speech.

The prime minister of Malta, which holds the EU presidency,

said any deal had to be inferior to the relationship Britain

With both British and EU politicians trying not to antagonise each other

Boris Johnson has been blamed for doing the opposite.

He's been accused of comparing France's President

Our political editor Laura Kuennsberg explains.

Watch out chaps, I'm worried about you falling over.

Watch out, Foreign Secretary, more like.

It is his job to wins friends and influence around the world.

But as the delicate process of leaving the EU begins,

rather indelicate words about our old friends

If Mr Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody

who chooses to escape, rather in the manner of some

World War II movie, I don't think that is the way forward.

I think it is not in the interests of our friends and our partners.

From thousands of miles away, he was slammed as crass.

Not exactly what you would expect from a Foreign Minister,

Awkward, when back home the Prime Minister is urging

The point he made was a reasonable one, but the language has to be

extremely careful in dealing with colleagues and friends.

He comes up with these extraordinary phrases

Boris Johnson's team says he was just making the point thatit

makes no sense for the rest of the EU to treat Britain harshly.

But only yesterday, Theresa May publicly reminded ministers

here at home of the need for discipline and with a difficult

deal ahead, Britain needs all the friends it has.

Language matters, but it is the words and attitudes of European

Yesterday, the Prime Minister appealed to her EU counterparts,

urging them to behave as good friends, even as we leave.

The arch European Jean-Claude Juncker, who leads the Commission

that will manage the deal was suing for peace.

We want a fair deal with Britain and a fair deal for Britain,

but a fair deal means a fair deal for the European Union.

Yet Europe's leaders are in no mood to let Britain divide and conquer.

Their goal right now is sticking together.

We now have a clearer idea of what Britain wants,

Angela Merkel said, the most important thing is that

And in public and private, this is the reality.

Whatever the UK asks for, the rest of the EU will not do

a deal where the terms of trade are as cushy outside as in.

We want a fair deal for the United Kingdom,

but that deal necessarily needs to be inferior to membership.

She may smile, her speech yesterday pleased most of her party,

but Theresa May is still under attack for not giving

It is not so much the Iron Lady as the Irony Lady.

Next Tuesday it is over to the courts, who could force

the government to give detail, more detail, to Parliament,

before the technical process of extricating ourselves

In these negotiations it will not always seem that

Our Europe correspondent Damian Grammaticas is in Strasbourg.

It is interesting, the comments by Boris Johnson, although some

here see them as at best insensitive and at worst offensive,

have not made a big impact because here the view

is there are serious issues at stake and the important thing to be

remembered is what they are saying is the UK needs to understand

it is trying to achieve unprecedented things.

Theresa May wants a free-trade deal and an unprecedented amount

of time within two years and for that she needs

goodwill on behalf of the negotiating partners here.

What the Maltese Prime Minister who will chair the EU countries said

was that Theresa May had made a political decision

to prioritise stopping the free movement of people,

and the UK leaving the single market would not achieve

Angela Merkel clear, saying outside the EU,

the UK could not cherry pick because from the EU perspective,

any deal would not offer benefits that would make any other country

want also to follow the same path outside the EU and from the EU point

of view that is what would do greatest harm to their unity.

Thousands of British holidaymakers are on their way home

from The Gambia after a state of emergency was declared there.

The Foreign Office is advising people to avoid all but essential

travel to the country, after its President refused

to accept that he lost last month's election.

It's basically that we are going to evacuate everyone back home today.

About half the holiday-makers in The Gambia are British.

Most are following Foreign Office advice to leave,

Asking us to leave is unnecessary, I think, at the moment.

But I understand that we need to do it.

To me, it feels stupid, because this will all be over

But it's not just foreigners fleeing the capital, Banjul.

Many Gambians fear possible violence, as the President

tries to cling to power, defying his election

President Yahya Jammeh at first conceded that he lost,

22 years after seizing power, and facing mounting

accusations of torturing and murdering opponents.

But then he changed his mind, and refused to step down.

The man who won, Adama Barrow, fled to neighbouring Senegal.

He insists he will be sworn in as President tomorrow,

and other West African states, including Nigeria,

are preparing their forces to intervene on his behalf.

The Foreign Office stresses that one of its first

duties is the protection of Britons overseas.

So ministers say they had no choice but to urge those

The Americans took a similar decision, more than a week ago.

Ministers feel caution has to be the watchword.

We have been putting a contingency plan together,

should the advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office change.

And of course, that happened last night.

And the advice, to stop all but essential travel,

effectively translates into, you shouldn't go unless you have to,

and if you are out there, you really ought to come home.

So now, charter aircraft are flying into The Gambia

empty, flying out full, as the tourist exodus accelerates.

Tonight, Senegal is seeking UN backing for West African

Its troops are already massing on the border.

Our correspondent in the Gambia, Umaru Fofana, has been to Banjul

international airport to assess how holiday-makers on their way home

Thousands of European tourists are streaming out of the Gambia,

with special flights having been arranged for them.

They are mostly from the United Kingdom, which has nearly

1000 tourists in this country at present.

But there are also others from France and from the Netherlands.

Some of them have reacted negatively to having been asked to leave,

but others say that it is safety first, therefore they are

pleased to go back home, at the insistence of the governments

All of this comes just a day after President Yahya Jammeh

declared a state of emergency, which was endorsed by Parliament,

which also extended its mandates, which should have ended

All of this comes amid uncertainty as to what will happen next,

with a massive troop build-up by particularly Senegal and Nigeria.

To install Adam Barrow as the elected president

of this country, something which President Yahya

Some news coming in, the former US President George bush senior who has

been in hospital in Texas since the weekend, since Saturday, he has

apparently been moved to intensive care. He is said to be in a stable

condition after being treated for pneumonia. And he is 92 years old.

His wife Barbara has also been admitted to the same hospital as a

precaution because of fatigue. So the former US President George Bush

senior who has been in hospital in Texas since last Saturday has been

moved to intensive care suffering from pneumonia. The headlines.

President Barack Obama prepares to make a final farewell speech in

front of jealous of the White House with two days remaining of his

presidency. A visit to India, Britain's Foreign Secretary has

warned EU leaders not to penalise the UK over Brexit. Thousands of

Gambians and foreign tourists are fleeing the country after political

unrest, the president refusing to stand down after the elections last

month. Let's show you the scene live at the White House, where President

Obama with just a couple of days to go before standing down as

president, journalists there gathering for the final press

conference of the Obama administration. Hundreds of

journalists there. And one of the questions the president will have to

answer is why he decided to commute the sentence of Bradley Manning, the

soldier who was responsible for the biggest league of classified

information in American history. That is Chelsea Manning, she already

served seven years in jail but the president decided to commute her

sentence. That will be one of the big talking points obviously. The

president perhaps will be reflecting on the last eight years and perhaps

what he thinks the next four years of the Trump administration might

look like. We're waiting for that press conference from the president.

It's being hailed as a victory for disabled people.

Doug Paulley, who uses a wheel chair, took legal action

because he couldn't board a bus in Leeds, when a mother

with a pushchair refused to make way for him.

Today judges at the Supreme Court ruled that the bus company's policy

of "requesting" but not "requiring" other passengers to move

Our disability affairs correspondent Nikki Fox reports.

It has taken almost five years of legal battles

But finally, Doug Paulley had his day in the highest

All seven judges agreed the bus company's policy

requiring a person to vacate the wheelchair space was unlawful.

Today the Supreme Court has allowed the appeal of Doug Paulley, albeit

to a limited extent. But it is not quite as clear-cut,

because the judgment does go as far as insisting

someone move from the space. It has not gone as far as some

people would like or it has gone too In the end, this is about disabled

people's right to access, to travel on the bus, and,

hopefully, today has been a step in It began in 2012 when Doug

was unable to catch a bus because the space for wheelchairs

was occupied by a mum She refused to move which meant

Doug could not get on. First Group admit that

following the verdict, they might have to amend training

they provide staff, but are pleased drivers will not

have to force people off the bus. We really welcome the fact

the court confirmed that to remove a passenger from a bus

if they refuse to move from the space, which is important

for drivers to have that clarity. The impact of the judgment will have

much wider implications that Any service provider or company that

has a dedicated space for disabled people, which could be

a supermarket disabled bay, or accessible toilet

in a restaurant, they will have to make sure wheelchair

users get priority. I will not go on the bus and take

the woman with the pram... I am disabled, but I am still a man

and this just feels not right. It is not quite as simple

as wheelchairs versus pushchairs. It is better to remain a grey area

for people to use common sense. However, nuanced, today's ruling

paves the way for a closer look at legislation when it comes

to prioritising access 2016 was the hottest year

since records began over a century Average global temperatures

edged ahead of 2015 - and are now 1.1 degrees higher

than pre-industrial levels. In fact, it is the third consecutive

year that the record Scientists believe that the El Nino

weather phenomenon played a role - but increasing levels of greenhouse

gases were the main factor Our Science Correspondent

Rebecca Morelle has more. Our planet is warming, fast,

and the latest data suggests that This winter, parts of the Arctic

have had a heatwave, temperatures were above freezing

when they should While Australia's Great Barrier Reef

was transformed to this. Vast swathes of coral were killed

off, as the waters warmed. 2015 was the warmest year

on record up until now, It's beaten it by about 0.1,

0.12 degrees Celsius. Which doesn't seem like a lot,

but in terms of the yearly Part of this rise was caused

by an El Nino event, a warm ocean current that disrupts

the world's weather. But scientists say greenhouse gases

were the main driver. This shows how global

temperatures have increased The bigger the circle,

the hotter the year. And the latest data,

collected by Nasa and meteorological agencies around the world,

suggest 2016 is the third year The global temperature

is edging ever closer Scientists say a rise of two degrees

Celsius above pre-industrial levels could lead to dangerous impacts

around the world. So a lower limit of 1.5 Celsius

was set by the Paris climate agreement, a global deal that came

into force last year. But with carbon dioxide at record

levels, scientists say this is a temperature threshold

we are on course to surpass. To tackle global warming,

the world is being urged to move away from fossil

fuels, like coal. But in the US, Donald Trump has said

he wants to revive the industry, and has threatened to pull America

out of the Paris climate agreement. The woman who brokered

the deal is concerned. If the US chooses to exit the road

and the path that has been pursued by every other country in the world,

it is only going to damage itself, because it will

become less competitive. We are moving toward

a de-carbonised society. All eyes will now be

on this year's data. Already, scientists forecast that

2017 won't be as warm, But they say longer term,

unless action is taken, Going back to the White House and

pictures of journalists just waiting for President Obama to stand at that

podium in the next couple of minutes or so. We expect his final news

conference shortly. Our correspondent is just outside. He

has had well over 100 news conferences, daily press briefings

and so on. But the suggestion has been that this administration has

not been as forthcoming as many people had hoped. He is at the

moment fashionably late, he has not been as forthcoming as people might

have hoped. There has been quite a lot of control of information in

this White House even though he promised great transparency. They do

send out briefings and notes about decisions they have made but they

have also kept the limits and controls about what they release.

But they have had fairly good access in terms of a press briefing room,

daily press briefings, as we said. Quite a lot of press conferences and

when Mr Obama comes to them he tends to talk fulsomely, he not only

answers the question but gives an explanation of why he believes what

he believes or defends what he did. So we have had a lot of time of him

talking to the press. Just to cut you off, we are going to hear the

president himself. Let me start by saying I was sorely

tempted to wear a tan suit today. For my last press conference. But

Michelle whose fashion sense is better than mine tells me it is not

appropriate in January. I covered a lot of the ground I want to cover in

my farewell address last week. So I am just going to say a couple of

quick things before questions. First we have been in touch with the

family of President George Bush and his wife being admitted to hospital

with morning. They are not only dedicated their lives to this

country, they have been a constant source of friendship and support and

good Counsel for Michelle and me over the years. They are as fine a

couple as we know. And so we want to send our prayer and our love to

them. Really good people. Second thing I want to do is to thank all

of you. Some of you have been covering me for a long time. Folks

like Christie and linen. Some of you have just gotten to know me, we've

travelled the world together, hit a few singles, a few doubles.

Barack Obama at the White House with the final press conference of his

presidency. Even when you complained about