19/01/2017 World News Today

Donald Trump has arrived in Washington ahead of his inauguration

tomorrow as America's 45th President. Martin McGuinness, the

former IRA commander turned peacemaker has announced his

retiring from front line politics. The Sinn Fein politician recently

quit Northern Ireland's Power saving executive and he now says he is

suffering from ill health. The question I ask myself is are you

physically capable? Theresa May said Britain will be

open for business after Brexit as one high St bank predicted London

will remain your's top financial centre despite the UK's leading.

Also coming up, the latest on the unfolding crisis in Gambia.

Neighbouring Senegal has sent in troops to make sure a new present --

presidency. Under French -- and a winning record time.

Hello, and welcome to BBC News. Donald Trump has arrived in

Washington ahead of their inauguration tomorrow as the 43rd

President of the United States. Let's cross to our Washington

Correspondent Jane O'Brien. A sign of the times, our viewers saw

the pictures. That plane did not have the word Trump all over it and

it will be official tomorrow. The clock is ticking, fewer than 24

hours to go on Donald Trump will become president. He is on his way

right now to the national cemetery to lay a wreath. He has had lunch

with some of his cabinet picks and the Republican leadership at Trump

Hotel which he jokingly referred to as weird he would move in whether or

not he won the White House, also on Pennsylvania Avenue. He has a

concert with on this afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial which he is

expected to speak. The celebrations underway for Donald Trump at least

but a lot of protests expected to kick off, including a big march at

the weekend where women from all over the country had expected to

converge on Washington. There will be a huge security presence with

$500,000 spent on security around the inauguration site.

Non-collapsible umbrellas will not be allowed and no selfie sticks.

That is right, but the Park service has made a concession to the rain

because it is expected to report tomorrow, they say short collapsible

umbrellas will be allowed so you can take some shelter. Security will be

tight. We're not sure at the moment how many people to expect. There has

been some controversy. Donald Trump, as you would expect, said hotels are

booked solid but they are not. He has also got less than a stellar

line-up of celebrities, a lot refusing to appear with him, so a

bit of a B list for some of the events, but his new press secretary

today said the inauguration was 20% under budget and that the money

would be returned to the taxpayer. He said Donald Trump was already off

to a good start. This historians pour over presidential inaugurals.

What do they expect from President Tromp tomorrow? That is an

interesting question. His press secretary said it wouldn't be so

much an agenda as a philosophical document. I am not sure what we can

take from that. It will be quite short, we think. He has not finished

writing it as couple of hours ago. We don't really know whether it will

lay out his priorities. According to Mr Spicer it is about what it means

to be an American, this is a member of Congress, and what it means to be

a citizen at this point of time. This is all important because the

country according to the latest polls is more divided than ever, 86%

think Donald Trump is taking office over a deeply divided nation. Thank

you very much. I should say of course stay with us tomorrow because

you will be able to see the inauguration ceremony.

The former Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister,

Martin McGuinness has announced he is to retire from politics

and will not seek re-election to the Stormont Assembly in March.

Mr McGuinness says he had been planning to stand down in May,

on the tenth anniversary of sharing power with Ian Paisley.

But he says that plan was over taken by his health

problems and the political crisis at Stormont.

Our chief correspondent Gavin Hewitt has more.

Martin McGuinness is one of the most controversial leaders in British and

Irish politics. He has been a central figure in both Northern

Ireland's pain and peace and is now standing down due to illness. I have

to be honest with myself and the question I ask is are you physically

capable of fighting this election with the intensity with which they

need to be fought? The honest answered I am physically capable.

His background lay in the civil rights and riots in Londonderry but

Martin McGuinness chose violent resistance. By the age of 21 he was

second-in-command of the IRA in Derry talking about the bombing

campaign. Can you save whether the bombing is likely to stop in the

near future in response to public demand? We've always take

consideration the feelings of the people of Derry and these feelings

will be passed on. He served two prison sentences in the Irish

Republic and was also convicted of IRA membership. He openly attended

IRA events, he denied he was the IRA chief of staff but said he regarded

it as a compliment. We don't believe that winning elections or any amount

of votes will bring freedom to Ireland. At the end of the day it is

the cutting edge of the IRA that will bring freedom. Today he asked

-- was asked if he had any regrets. People have to remember the

circumstances that existed in the city when I joined the IRA are --

the IRA. We had a situation with people being murdered wholesale by

the RUC, as on bloody Sunday, and the fact many young people and

myself were supported by thousands in the city. I am not saying it was

a majority but we decided to fight back. He was one of the IRA leaders

who recognised that further violence would not bring political gains. In

1994 there was a ceasefire which laid the foundation of peace talks

and Sinn Fein nominated him for a lead negotiator leading to the Good

Friday agreement and eventual power-sharing. But foes sat

alongside each other in a new assembly. My journey has been a long

journey, more than 25 years building the peace. His departure from

politics comes at a sensitive time for Northern Ireland. Its

power-sharing assembly has collapsed and the Brexit poses difficult

questions about the future of the border with Ireland. Many people

would struggle to forgive the man who played such a key role in a

violent campaign but he earned grudging respect for his commitment

to peace and the gunmen had turned politician have the authority to

make compromises. Let's cross to our Northern Ireland

Political Editor Mark Devenport. This he had been ill for some time,

any surprise he is stepping down. Not particularly. It was probably

predictable from the time he appeared and resigned as Deputy

First Minister and appeared very weak on that particular day about

ten days ago. There had been a lot of speculation he would not be able

to fight the campaign but it nevertheless has the feel of the end

of a new dock and while he didn't use the word retirement he said if

he conquers the illness you could perform an ambassadorial role, there

is the sense of him stepping back from the front line. His family were

they are supporting him. And how much of a loss is this for Sinn

Fein? There is no doubt he will miss Martin McGuinness and he says this

is part of a process of transition which will like it will also see

Gerry Adams at some point yet to be announced stepping down. The new

generation are not as well-known and certainly across the world as Martin

McGuinness or Gerry Adams. They will be tested soon on handling the

difficulties because we have had the breakdown of the power-sharing

system in Northern Ireland over the renewable heating scandal. The one

hope is they will not be tested in the tough times that Martin

McGuinness lived through. The Prime Minister says she's

confident that Britain's financial services sector will continue

to prosper after It's a view echoed by the head

of Barclays who says he expects the City of London to remain

the financial centre of Europe. That's despite a number of OTHER

banks and financial institutions suggesting they will move thousands

of jobs AWAY from London.Theresa May has been talking to business

leaders in Davos - and to our economics

editor Kamal Ahmed. Wrapped up warm, whisked from

meetings with bankers to millionaire technology entrepreneurs. It is hard

to come to Davos cannot look like a member of the global elite. While

she was here to say that Britain is open for business she was also hear

with a warning. Talk of greater globalisation can make people

fearful. For many it means jobs outsourced and wages undercut. It

means having to sit back as they watch communities change around

them, and in their minds, it means watching as those who prosper seem

to play by a different set of rules. To these age came to the World

Economic Forum not so much to celebrate business as to warn that.

She backs globalisation and free trade and a deal with the European

rain, but she had another message for this rather privileged audience,

do more to make globalisation work for everyone or if you don't she

will be quite willing to intervene to ensure businesses change their

behaviour. It was sunny here today but the Prime Minister's visit to

Davos was overshadowed with a number of international banks involving

Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan saying they are reducing investment or

planning to cut jobs. The city is a big place with different voices and

for Barclays London are still in the lead. I think the UK will continue

to be the financial ones for Europe. We may have to change the legal

structure we used to operate in Europe but I think it will be at the

margin and will be manageable. I caught up with the Prime Minister

later. What have the bank said to you about why they are moving jobs?

I have had a positive discussion with banks about the benefits of the

City of London and what has brought them, and how we can continue to

build on that for the future. There are huge benefits for investment in

the UK. We have fundamentally strong economy and the service sector that

is very important but valued around the world. I believe a truly global

Britain can bring jobs and prosperity to the UK and across the

board including financial services. Many are reflecting on one of the

key tests of Brexit, keeping UK financial services buoyant. Hard

Brexit does the country damage but the point I am making to political

leaders is if businesses decide to leave London, they are going to

Paris, Madrid or Frankfort, they are going to Hong Kong and New York. It

is a lose- lose battle, bad for London and the UK and the EU as

well. Theresa May said she was an optimist and free trade discussions

had also started with India and Australia. She admitted the journey

ahead was unpredictable but with the right deal the future was bright.

Dozens of people are feared dead after an avalanche buried a hotel

At least three people have been killed

rescue teams are searching for up to 35 people still trapped

The avalanche happened after a series of powerful

earthquakes struck the area of Abruzzo yesterday

The three-storey hotel was pushed almost 10 metres downhill

as the huge wall of snow hit it directly as it raced down

It's the third in a series of earthquakes in the region

since last summer killing almost 300 people.

Our correspondent James Reynolds is in the nearby village of Penne.

At night, the quickest way through this the wall

These rescuers are among the most experienced in Europe.

Step-by-step, they shovelled their way up towards the Rigopiano hotel.

They went further in and came to where the avalanche hit.

A six foot high wall of snow and rock broke

Several miles away, a father waited for news

Straight after yesterday's earthquakes, they texted each other.

"I think the worst has already happened", he reassured her.

His daughter and many other people, may be trapped

These pictures, filmed after daybreak, show the Rigopiano

Do you think it's possible to find more people alive?

In the past, we found people after three days

And especially in this case, there could be some

Rescuers are helped by the fact that conditions here have improved.

We haven't felt any more earthquakes or tremors.

Relief workers a few miles up the hill, will hope the snow holds

And those rescuers continue on their path to and from

the destroyed hotel, searching for survivors or bodies.

James Reynolds, BBC News, Penne, central Italy.

you are watching BBC News, the top stories now.

Donald Trump has arrived in Washington, ahead of being sworn

in tomorrow as America's 45th President.

Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland's former

deputy first minister, has announced he's retiring

Dozens are feared dead in Italy, after an avalanche engulfed a hotel.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that six Britons have dry after a

road accident in Saudi Arabia. The victims were all thought to be on

pilgrimage when their minibus crashed. We understand that this

family travelled on a journey they had booked through the two operator

behind me, they have told us that all 12 of the people on the minibus

are part of the same extended family. Some from Scotland, some

from here in Manchester, with age ranging from pensioners down to a

small baby just a couple of months old. That baby, we are told that he

dry in the crash along with his grandparents who are from

Manchester. Another relative from Manchester as well. Also that the

two people from Glasgow who died were part of that family as well. We

believe from Glasgow Central mosque that they had five children who we

don't think were involved in the crash. There were also several

people injured including the mother of the baby and his siblings,

children aged between two and four, and also a pensioner in a critical

condition so the Foreign Office are providing consular assistance. The

tour operators say it is the first accident may have had anybody

involved with in the last 15 years since we have been running the trip

and they say the family was partway through a fortnight trip, making a

pilgrimage, travelling on a minibus to the second leg of their journey

to the holy site in the Medina. It is thought that one of the tires on

the vehicle had a blow out but they are still trying to work out what

happened and are providing assistance to other members of the

extended family from the UK now in the process of travelling over to

Saudi Arabia to find that information for themselves.

Senegalese troops have entered The Gambia to ensure Adama Barrow

assumes power as the country's new president, a Senegalese

Mr Barrow has been sworn in at the Gambian embassy in Senegal.

In his inaugural speech, President Barrow urged

Gambian soldiers to remain in their barracks, saying

those who did not would be considered rebels.

The UN Security Council has unanimously backed

the West African regional group, ECOWAS, which has threatened

military intervention to ensure that the new president takes power

from Yahya Jammeh who is refusing to stand down.

We're less than 24 hours away from the inauguration of US

Last year's elections had been dominated by the allegations that

Russia ran a hacking campaign to influence the results.

Stephen Sackur from BBC's Hardtalk has just completed an interview

with the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov who works closely

It's good to see you. Was he defensive as far as the ledger that

actions of Russia, as far as those actions are concerned, but America

clearly believes influenced the US election. I wouldn't say he was

defensive so much as combative and that really is Peskov's style. He is

spokesman for the president and also one of Vladimir Putin's most trusted

advisers, and he really is the spin doctor and message manager of the

Kremlin. Under enormous pressure in the last few days because as you

say, all these allegations of hacking and dirty tricks and

allegations of a honey trap being laid, all of this stuff has in a

sense being laid at the floor of the chief press officer, and when I saw

him a couple of hours ago when his office close to the Kremlin are said

to him, how do you respond to these allegations which, from the very top

of the US intelligence agencies, and this is how he responded to me.

Every day, we have hundreds and thousands of cyber attacks against

our digital systems in the Russian Federation. Some of them are coming

from the territorial of the United States. Dozens are coming from the

territorial Germany. Dozens from Great Britain. Do you think that it

means, with the high state of certainty, that those attacks

against our digital systems are being promoted by the governments in

Washington, London and Berlin? You would probably say no. We want to

have good relationships with America. We believe that we cannot

solve lots of problems in this world and in the region that are

endangering our country without cooperation with the Americans. That

is why we desperately need good relationships with Washington, but

it takes two to tangle. What would be the approach by President from,

this is the question. It takes two to tangle, clearly Russia hoping

there will be a reset when Donald Trump takes power in Washington,

that relations will be more cooperative and warmer with the new

US administration, but there is some scepticism and very much an attitude

of wait and see and that is what we all must do until we see what Donald

Trump really means by his talk of a new relationship by the mere Putin.

Thank you. It's nicknamed the Everest

of the Seas -- a gruelling solo round the world yacht race

which after 74 days finishes today. British sailor -- Alex Thomson --

turned round a disastrous start and looks set to come second

in the prestigious Our Sports correspondent

Natalie Pirks is following the race from Les Sables d'Olonne

on France's Atlantic coast. After ten unpredictable weeks, the

Frenchman celebrating was a well one story, for six weeks he has battled

everything the ocean has thrown at him, eating only freeze dried

noodles and jelly and surviving on as little as 20 minutes sleep every

few hours. When he set off with 28 other boats

on the 6th of November, the Hampshire yachtsman waved

goodbye to his wife and two young children and attempted

for the fourth time to become the first Briton to win the Vendee

Globe in the race's 27 year history. He headed around Antarctica, across

the Cape of good Hope, around the furthest place from civilisation on

Earth and back around Cape Horn. When he arrives here tomorrow

morning he was not stop somewhere between 25 and 30,000 nautical

miles. There have been good moments This is the southern ocean

moments and it's sunny. And moments over Christmas

where his family worried his wife is simply desperate to get

him home. I can't wait! I am so excited about seeing him. I have

spoken to him and been in contact but actually seeing him, I can't

wait. Just two weeks into the race has bought got so badly damaged that

usually affected his speed yet he still smashed the world record for

the greatest distance sailed so low in 24 hours. The big event tomorrow

if the inauguration of Donald Trump and stay with us on BBC News for

that, life. You are watching BBC News and no time for a look at all

the