09/08/2017 World News Today

A Pacific Island paradise becomes a ballistic missile target

for North Korea as the war of words with the US escalates.

TRANSLATION: The Korean peoples Army strategic force is carefully

examining the operational plan for making and enveloping fire for the

area around Guam. The American Defence Secretary warns

Pyongyang that it is grossly outmatched in an arms race

with the US. French police shoot and arrest a man

suspected of deliberately driving a car at a group

of soldiers in Paris. A network of 17 men and a woman

in the English city of Newcastle are found guilty of grooming,

drugging and raping Once the largest restaurant chains

in the United States, Hello and welcome

to World News Today. The war of words between

the United States and North The American Secretary of Defence

has now weighed in, warning that Pyongyang is grossly

overmatched and will lose any His comments come after the North

announced that it is considering a missile strike on the US territory

of Guam, in the western Pacific. Here's our North America

correspondent, Nick Bryant. A far-off American air post

in the tropical waters of the western Pacific now finds

itself at the centre This is Guam, the site this summer

of US military exercises, American territory, that North Korea

says now could be The warning was delivered

on North Korean state TV. The chilling headline,

Guam could be targeted by its medium It came hours after President Trump

had threatened Pyongyang with some of the most incendiary rhetoric used

by an American president in decades. North Korea best not make any more

threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury

like the world has never seen. And more tough talk

on Twitter this morning. My first order was to renovate our

nuclear arms strength and it is now stronger and more powerful

than ever before. Hopefully we will never have to use

it, but they will never be a time that we are not the most powerful

nation in the world. The US Secretary of State,

Rex Tillerson, used He said the island faced no imminent

threat and Americans should The president is sending a message

to North Korea in language they will understand

because they do not understand It is over 2000 miles

away from Pyongyang, but is a strategic hub for the US

military in the Pacific. Home to 6000 troops on two military

bases with a population of 160,000. This American paradise

is being disturbed. The first thing that comes to mind

immediately first word is my family. I am not nervous, I am confident

in our military capability. With the rhetoric at such a perilous

pitch, there is a danger most sides become captive to their own tough

words, that they'd talk themselves I'm joined from Washington

by Eric Gomez. He's a policy analyst for defence

and foreign policy studies Welcome to the programme. What do

you make of, first, the kind of rhetoric being deployed by the chief

of the Pentagon? I think it's pretty standard rhetoric coming from the

Pentagon, and I think that is correct in some ways, the United

States does have an ability to limit damage from North Korea, but I think

the worry that I have and that many share is that, in North Korea right

now, you have a situation where everybody is scrambling to get their

hands on the trigger as fast as they possibly can, so the situation is

ripe for escalation, which makes Trump's statements, even if they

were not meant to be taking incredibly seriously, as very

dangerous. I suppose it's also worth considering the mindset of the North

Korean people, who are taught from birth that America is their enemy

and is waiting to invade and destroy them. In that sense, you could say

the rhetoric plays into the hands of the North Korean leadership. Yes, I

think the idea of threatening North Korea with fire and theory will

further increase the value that the North Korean leadership places on

nuclear weapons and, in terms of targeting Guam, that is an excellent

target in North Korean terms, the bombs that are based there that

could deliver nuclear weapons to North Korea. They are concerned

about there being one in particular which makes repeated flybys of the

Korean peninsula whenever there is an escalation or a missile test.

Those can't carry nuclear weapons, but the Koreans think they can. From

a Korean point of view, do you think there is a justified concern about

Guam, and perhaps also a concern about the anti-missile defence is

now situated in South Korea? Yes, I think the United States put those

defences place in order to reduce or limit the damage that a North Korean

strike could inflict. I also think that, from the US perspective, the

perverse incentive that is offered in missile defence systems is that,

if you can use them to successfully absorbed a relatively small North

Korean attack, if you try to take out North Korean military forces on

the ground before they can be launched, fewer would survive to get

to test the missile defence system, increasing the chances of the

defence system intercepting all the targets. I know you are an expert on

military strategy in this region. Do you think there is any good literary

strategy? Looked at all. At this point, the Trump in demonstration,

instead of just ratcheting up pressure, should be considering ways

to approach the North Koreans with some sort of negotiated path to

getting what the United States wants. I don't know what exactly the

United States can offer all what the starting point for such negotiations

would be, but the current problem with US spectrum -- humour strategy

if it is so focused on costs, no diplomatic language, that it is

backing North Korea into record and, the further you do that, the hope is

that they will eventually break and give in to our demands, but what is

far more likely is that they will cling even tighter to their nuclear

arsenal and be incentivised to make escalate Tory sentence -- escalating

sentence. A final thought, is there any way of getting North Korea to

the negotiating table with the precondition that they have to give

up their nuclear aspirations, perhaps with massive economic aid?

No, I don't believe they would agree to that. Nuclear weapons are the

policy. Without them, the North Koreans feared that the United

States would be able to roll over them and depose Kim Jong-un

effectively, and the US history, especially the North Koreans are

fond of citing Getafe, who did give up a nuclear weapons programme to

the United States and was then deposed with US support in 2011.

Also Saddam Hussein, who had a nuclear weapons programme, might

have had one, but was eventually destroyed and later was deposed by

the United States. So there is good reason, I don't think the North

Koreans are irrational and fulfilled I think they have a very rational

calculus between the pursuit of nuclear weapons, and I think frankly

it works. Take a look at our website for more

on this fast-developing story. We've more context and analysis

including this piece from a former senior US diplomat

on the likely next moves Police in France have shot

and wounded a man suspected of deliberately driving a car

into a group of soldiers Six soldiers were injured

in the incident in the Parisian The man was arrested

on a French motorway, 260 kilometres north

of the French capital. Paramedics swarm around

injured soldiers. Just moments after a car ploughed

into a military patrol. Six soldiers were injured,

three seriously, after the car, waiting for the men, accelerated

sharply and knocked them down. Residents looked on as the emergency

services went to work. TRANSLATION: I heard a loud noise

and I looked out my window, I saw the ambulance and the fire

engine arriving and I didn't go out. It was a truly odious attack,

said the neighbourhood mayor. To target soldiers who were here

to protect the French people. After a morning of intense

investigation, the operation This is a quiet suburb,

some distance from the bright lights This morning's attack a reminder,

if one were needed, that France TRANSLATION: It's a problem

for us French people Even foreigners do not

feel safe in France. It ended with a hail of gunfire,

the suspect's car brought The country's long struggle

with terror continues. Let's take a look at some

of the other stories It's been confirmed that FBI agents

raided the home of President Trump's former campaign manager

Paul Manafort two weeks ago, seizing It's reported that the FBI agents

were working with special counsel Robert Mueller who is

investigating claims of Russian interference in the 2016

presidential election. More than 200 villagers held

by the Taliban in northern They were taken after an attack

earlier this week where as many Good news for Botswana

sprinter Isaac Makwala. On Tuesday he was withdrawn

from the World Athletic Championships here in London,

apparently because Well in the last hour he's qualified

to compete in the 200 On the previous two night of action,

he was barred from competing. So that's good news at the world

athletics championships. Seventeen men and one woman have

been convicted of sexual exploitation and drugs offences

in the northern English Most of the men were from Pakistani,

Indian or Bangladeshi backgrounds. Controversially, police paid $13

to a convicted child rapist for information that helped

to expose this network of abuse. Our correspondent Fiona Trott has

been following this case. Guilty of causing girls and women

serious harm, court as part of Operation Sanctuary,

one of the biggest sexual exploitation investigations

in the north of England. Almost 100 perpetrators have

already been convicted. One 17-year-old was raped at a party

session organised by local men. I woke up in the morning,

the wardrobe was pushed Her police interview

was played to the court. To protect her identity we have

asked actors to read what she said. He had had sex with us

while I was asleep. How did you feel when he told

you he had done that to you? It is in houses like these

where the sessions took place. Victims were given drink and drugs

and were unable to defend themselves But in 2013 two

of them came forward. One had been trafficked

from a children's home, It started a long and

complex investigation. Controversially, officers

recruited a convicted child It is not an easy decision,

it is a decision we have had What I can categorically

state sitting here today, there are dangerous men behind bars

now and vulnerable people protected that would not have been the case

had we not used that informant. What beggars belief is the decision

to cross this child protection line Most of the perpetrators

were from Pakistani, This city councillor says leaders

from all faiths should re-educate local men to stop similar

exploitation in the future. People should not be telling

the Asian community had It is like saying to the white

community we should be talking However, there is an opportunity

to talk about issues on a regular basis about the rights of women

and it is important to use religion, like Islam, to educate

some of these people. The chief executive

of Newcastle City Council says a serious case review

is being carried out but it is not the only authority

with problems of this kind. We do not believe that what we have

uncovered in Newcastle is unique. There has been evidence

of similar offending in many We believe that any area that says

it does not have a problem It has been a long and traumatic

journey for the victims, but their evidence has helped

jail the perpetrators. The rest are due to be

sentenced next month. Millions of eggs have been taken

from the shelves in Belgium. The Belgian government has accused

Dutch officials of failing to pass on information about a scare

involving eggs contaminated The Belgian agriculture minister

also told members of his country's parliament that the authorities

in the Netherlands became aware of the problem much

earlier than thought. Belgian MPs interrupted their summer

holidays today to quiz the head of the Food Standards Agency and the

agriculture and public health minister in Belgium, and the Belgian

government is fighting against this allegation that they knew for quite

some time there could be a problem with these contaminated eggs but

they failed to pass the information on to their European neighbours.

They are fighting back against that allegation by saying, hang on, we

asked the Dutch authorities for information in June and it took them

a month to provide it. I Belgian minister also suggested the Dutch

may have first become aware of a potential problem as early as last

November, much earlier than people thought. The priority is still

protecting public health. The health minister saying there is very little

risk to the public's health because you would have to consume vast

quantities of contaminated eggs to feel any ill effects. Nonetheless, a

third of Dutch poultry farms are still closed as a precaution and

last week the German government removed 3 million eggs from the

shelves. But it does seem that the real effects here will not be felt

in people's health but diplomatically and economically.

The latest on the Belgian egg scandal.

In Kenya, results in the presidential election

are still coming in - and so far indicate a steady

lead for the incumbent, President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The opposition leader Raila Odinga has claimed the computer system used

But the electoral commission says the system has

NOT been compromised - and ballots will be checked be hand.

Just hours after Kenya held a peaceful voting process, the veteran

opposition leader questioned the validity of the incoming results.

Raila Odinga claimed the electoral database systems had been hacked and

the results distorted in order to keep him from winning. A senior IT

manager from the Electoral Commission was murdered a week ago.

The opposition claim his login was used to access the main database.

This attack on our democracy affecting the presidential elections

in all 47 counties. But the Electoral Commission is posted as a

result of the presidential election is a fraud. Initial results put Mr

Odinya well behind the incumbent, president Uhuru Kenyatta, who has

promised to respect the outcome. Allegations of vote fraud are not

unusual here. Kenyans continue to watch and wait, anxious to avoid a

repeat of the post-election violence of ten years ago. In isolated cases,

police fired tear gas at protesters in an opposition stronghold in the

west. Kenya's electoral authority has called for calm, adding that the

early results. The verified, and it denies claims of foul play. --

adding that the early result will still be verified. In the past half

hour, the head of Kenya's Electoral Commission appeared before reporters

to deny the voting system was compromised. I wish to take this

opportunity to confirm that our election management system is

secure. There were no external or internal errors to the system at any

point before, during and after the voting.

Anne Soy is at the national count centre there.

Tell us more about the Electoral Commission reassuring the public.

The chief executive made that statement in this hall, where the

final announcement will be made, and they said that no informal complaint

was filed, but they got the reports from the media, did their own

investigation and discovered that the system has not been compromised.

We have had international observers coming to look at what has been

going on, the validation of results. The former Secretary of State of the

United States, John Kerry, was here that we asked him about his

observations, and he said he had a lot of confidence in the system and

he has appealed to political parties to exercise patience and let the

electoral process run its course. Then you are talking about counting

the votes, there is a paper trail back to the polling stations, isn't

there? That's right. It is a hybrid system. These are new electronic

systems, which many people have put hopes on, and which the opposition

party... Once the votes are counted in polling stations, those results

are put electronically to the constituency officers and here at

the national tallying centre, and people followed these results in

real time through a portal. But there are also forms that are signed

at polling stations. The count was established and they were signed by

party agents, and those are the documents Electoral Commission is

going through to make sure that this tallies with what they were sent

through the electronic system before they can announce the result.

Now for Americans of a certain generation - simply the mention

of a Howard Johnson's brings back memories of countless meals consumed

Today just one remains and you'll have to go to Lake George

So what happened to the once booming franchise?

Our correspondent with a certain connection went to find out.

It is 1950s America, and Howard Johnson's roadside

As more Americans buy cars and take the highways,

there is a growing need to feed weary travellers.

And, by the early 1970s, Howard Johnson's becomes the largest

food chain in America, with more than 1000 restaurants.

But fast forward to 2017, and there is only one left.

Before we explore the reasons why, I should declare I have a personal

interest in the story as my name is also Howard Johnson.

Growing up in the UK, visiting Americans would laugh

This would be my first visit to a Howard Johnson's restaurant.

I had arranged a meeting with 90-year-old Carl DeSantis,

In 1953, Carl agreed a franchise deal with Howard Johnson's to build

this restaurant in the tourist area of Lake George.

It was so successful that we went from one restaurant

You could almost put one anywhere and it would go in its heyday.

And also the competition, the chains, were not there.

Cutbacks after the company went public where one

But Ben and Jerry's also muscled in on the ice cream business,

while McDonald's became king of the road.

We could have made it go, but we did not.

But, you know, that is history and nothing is forever.

How likely is it that the last Howard Johnson's will still be open

I think what will really happen is Lake George, every year,

It has gotten to be where it could be a 60-40 kind of deal.

60% maybe not, 40% maybe still having it open.

That is sad news for HoJo fans who grew up with the brand.

When I was young, there were lots of Howard Johnson's.

This is the last one standing, so we are going to try to plug it

out and give it for as long as we can.

No way! That is not true.

Are you serious? That is so cool.

The decline of a once great American hotel chain.

Now before we go, have a look at this video from off

of the water off the coast of St John's in Newfoundland.

It's fair to say it caught the three people out fishing by surprise.

We don't know if they had any luck on the fishing line but a perfect

Just time to remind you of the top stories. The US Defence Secretary

has warned that North Korea will lose any arms race it initiates,

finding himself, as they put it, grossly outmatched by the United

States. He urged them to abandon their nuclear weapons programme and

cease making threats against US territories. Thank you for being

Dry and bright weather for many but some very heavy rain