31/08/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today. I'm Ros Atkins.

Fire at a chemical plant in Houston, as floodwaters wreak more havoc.

Hundreds are moved amid confusion over the threat.

I know they got all kinds of chemicals and I don't know what's

in the water coming down into my house.

I got water in the house right now, so it's going to be pretty nasty.

Thousands of villages in India, Nepal and Bangladesh are cut off

President Macron reveals his controversial plans for reforming

France's labour laws, but he will face tough opposition.

It's more than a game - it's a multi billion dollar business.

The high stakes gambling that is football's transfer deadline day.

Hello and welcome to World News Today.

People living near a chemical plant in Texas have been told to flee,

Yet more damage caused by Tropical Storm Harvey.

At least 33 people have been killed across the state and the crisis

Fumes coming from the chemical plant have been described

Two explosions have been reported at the Arkema structure

in Crosby near Houston, after it lost power,

meaning it could no longer refrigerate its volatile chemicals.

It is an unsettling sight, a fire smouldering in the water.

This plant makes organic peroxides which must be kept cool,

but when the hurricane hit, the power failed and now

They planned for this, but not well enough.

Police have a simple message - get out, now.

Already 15 officers have been to hospital for checks amid fears

Max Del la Rosa's car was trapped by the floods

inside the danger zone, but he was told he had to walk out.

I guess something went on because then I just heard the alarms.

I was like, "oh, man, it's so serious now."

Then my mum was trying to get me, my dad was trying to get me,

I know they've got all kind of chemicals and I just don't know

which ones is in the water and coming down into my house,

it means I've got water in the house right now.

As specialist teams rolls in, the messages coming out

Reports of explosions are now being denied.

Federal officials say the smoke is incredibly dangerous,

This isn't a chemical release, what we have is a fire,

and when you have a fire where hydrocarbons,

these chemicals burning, sometimes you have incomplete

And any smoke is going to be an irritant to your eyes or your

The company which operates this plant says there's only one thing

to do now and that is to let this fire burn itself out.

In the meantime, people are being are being warned to stay back

In Houston, with the floods receding, Frank Rogers is heading

When he escaped, the water in here was up to his chest,

and this scene is being repeated today in thousands

Upset, all the work we've got to do to get back up.

It's going to be a long, trying time.

And still this storm is not stopping.

The rain and the rescues are continuing to the east,

on the border between Texas and Louisiana.

And she wants to know, everyone wants to know,

James Cook, BBC News, Crosby, in Texas.

The BBC's Laura Trevelyan joins us now

I guess the question everyone is wondering is is the water started to

go down? It isn't here. In fact, here they have been told that there

are yet more mandatory evacuations at Fort Bend County and people here

are told that the river that has burst its banks is going to crest

tomorrow, on Friday, at 56 feet, is that means these homes here which

are already flooded, the water levels are going to rise even

further and that is a source of tremendous anxiety for people here

because it is most a week after hurricane hardly made landfall.

Tubby but had hoped that they were out of the woods, but now they are

realising that because of the tremendous amount of rainfall that

happened when the hurricane turned into a tropical storm and just hung

around over the Houston area for days, that has made the levels rise

in the rivers and now you're getting the run of coming into the rivers

and this extraordinary unprecedented level of flooding is happening and

so there is going to be record flooding here in Richmond, Texas,

and people are braced for what they will find when they can finally get

into their homes. I was going to ask you about when they can access their

homes. Have people been given any sort of idea of the kind of weight

they are looking at? Just talking to one man here who has lived for 25

years in this area and he was telling me that it could be the

middle of next week before they are able to get into their homes, so it

is really an incredibly difficult situation but what is happening here

is just a snapshot of what is happening across the Gulf Coast of

Texas in the wake of the hurricane, that people are experiencing record

levels of flooding, loss, displacement, and weeks, months,

maybe even years before they can even fully recover. And the people

who have had to leave their homes, Howell nearby are they? Have they

had to travel far to get some work to lay their head? Well, it is

strange, because just across the street from me, up the hill, there

isn't any flooding. So it all depends where you are. Some people

are staying with friends, with neighbours, nearby. Other people

have gone in local hotels. Other people have gone even further

afield. Of course, people are trying to stay close at hand because they

are worried about their properties and looting and thieves. They have

been reports of lots of looting happening in Houston, which has

really alarmed people, so everybody wants

to stay close at hand and get their belongings and possessions just as

soon as they can, which in the case of Richmond, Texas, is not going to

be for a while because we are still expecting the peak flooding

tomorrow. Thank you very much, Laura.

Aid agencies are struggling to get help to people

affected by devastating floods across South Asia.

More than 41 million people are believed to be affected.

In India, the worst-hit area is the eastern state of Bihar,

where there are reports that the death toll has

Nearly 300 people are understood to have lost

their lives in neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal.

Aid agencies are calling the floods one of the worst

regional humanitarian crises in years.

Weeks after the worst flooding in decades,

a third of Bangladesh is still under water.

Many villages in the northern part of the country still cut off.

Aid agencies are desperately trying to reach those affected.

It's a similar situation across large parts of South Asia.

The eastern Indian state of Bihar has been hit the hardest.

Heavy rain and overflowing rivers have left large areas under water.

More than 500 people have been killed here in the past few weeks.

Tens of thousands of people have lost their homes,

There's a lot of people still out of their homes.

People are surviving and getting on with things as they can.

And India's financial capital Mumbai, a city

of more than 20 million, was brought to a standstill

after torrential rain hit the city on Wednesday.

Transport services ground to a halt, forcing many to simply wade home.

We're in the middle of the annual monsoon season and it's been raining

intensely across India, but also neighbouring

Nepal and Bangladesh for the past several weeks.

It's caused the worst flooding in decades and it's led

to a massive humanitarian crisis across the entire region.

South Asia is not unused to floods, especially at this time of the year,

but the scale of the disaster this time round has meant

that the authorities have struggled to cope.

At least 22 people have died after a building collapse in Mumbai. This is

the third building collapse in the city in less than a month. This

particular building is thought to be 100 years old and is residential.

About 40 people were inside when it fell.

Let's take a look at some of the other

The United States has ordered Russia to close its San Francisco consulate

and two other annexes by the weekend.

It is in retaliation for Moscow's expulsion of 755

US diplomatic staff, which takes effect tomorrow.

After 11 days of fierce fighting, Iraq's Prime Minister has declared

that the northern city Tal Afar and surrounding areas have been

"fully liberated" from the so-called Islamic State group.

The full recapture of Nineveh province comes weeks

after Coalition-backed Iraqi forces ousted the jihadists

from the provincial capital, Mosul.

Bangladesh coastguards have found the bodies of 20 people,

mostly children, who drowned fleeing Myanmar.

Thousands have left Rakhine state, following escalating

violence in the country, after Rohingya rebels attacked

30 police stations last Friday, which triggered a military response.

So, how much progress is being made in talks over Britain's

departure from the EU? Well, it depends who you believe.

Europe's chief negotiator Michel Barnier says there has been

no decisive movement and highlights problems of trust.

His British counterpart David Davis, though, claims some things

Here is our Europe Editor, Katya Adler.

Trust building between the two sides.

That's what the EU says this first phase of Brexit negotiations

So, by today, the end of round three of the first talks, how

It's clear that the UK does not feel legally obliged

to honour its obligations after departure.

How can we build trust and start discussing a future

For his part, David Davis said the UK couldn't blindly

trust a divorce bill presented by the EU.

The commission has set out its position and we have a duty to

our taxpayers to interrogate it rigorously.

Behind the smart suits, the stiff smiles, it was clear that

both sides were talking at cross purposes today about what Brexit

subject to tackle in what order, and whether and much progress is

David Davis picked it deliberately painted a

It's only through flexibility and imagination

that we will achieve a

deal that truly works for both sides.

Michel Barnier insisted the UK had to be more clear, and realistic

He said the EU couldn't be flexible if the UK didn't show its

TRANSLATION: I'm not frustrated but I am impatient.

We know that Brexit will have a big impact on our lives, but

how huge will depend on the nature of a transition deal and a future

permanent trade deal between the EU and UK.

We are nowhere near that yet, and all this deal-making could

still fall apart, but there is no need to panic just yet.

The EU refuses to talk about the EU- UK

future until various substantive progress on the divorce deal.

Both sides agree reassuring EU citizens

in the UK and UK citizens in the EU is a top priority, but they still

disagree over whether the European Court of Justice should have a role

in guaranteeing the rights of individuals.

On Ireland, progress has made, especially around

protecting the Northern and Republic of Ireland Common Travel Area, but

the so-called divorce bill is the biggest

The EU wants the UK to pay up to 100 billion euros

in what it sees as financial

The UK says it will pay something, but it refuses to

These Brexit talks have largely been technical, political

pressure to push for progress is unlikely

EU until after the Conservative Party conference or the formation of

a new German government after elections next month.

Meanwhile, as the EU likes to repeat, the clock to

the end of the UK's EU membership is ticking.

It is the issue that may come to define his presidency.

Can Emanuel Macron push through reform of France's Labour laws?

Some economists say changes are needed to make

the country more dynamic, though the unions are sceptical.

Among the proposed changes unveiled on Thursday,

a cap on the amount of money workers can be awarded

more flexibility for small companies to directly negotiate employment

terms with their workers, making it easier for companies

to fire their staff, with the sweetener of raising

and streamlining worker representation into a

Joining us live from Paris is Nicholas Vinocur, who is covering

They differ joining us. The politics of this looked easier a couple of

months ago for Emanuel Macron? He was more popular. He was coming off

his incredible election and the country still seem to be very much

enamoured of him. Sadly, that is very much in the rear-view mirror

now. He is approaching this reform as unpopular as Donald Trump in the

United States. Now, you say this is a problem, but doesn't he have the

support in parliament and via the powers that come with the presidency

to get this through regardless of what public opinion is saying? He

certainly does. He has an absolute majority over the lower house of

parliament, and that's what counts to get legislation through. This

bill is going to be an executive decree, so he doesn't need even any

support in parliament. The issue is going to be the street and how the

country be axed to these reforms. And that is important for the

president, because they could be an enormous backlash. And people often

focus on September in France because it is a time when we see lots of

protests, but I was interested but a couple of unions had worried the

said that they would not take part in planned protests. That is right.

The negotiators have been very shrewd in playing a game of divide

and conquer with the unions. They held secret negotiations, they

compartmentalised talks with the different unions, and gave out

sweeteners to the different groups to get them to play ball, and the

one union that has promised to go out and protest is the hardline CGT,

but it is not even getting its kid brother to go out and protest

alongside it, so the protests, well they should be impressive, are

looking fairly scattered for the time being. Just quickly, before I

let you go, some viewers may become peers that someone who was so

popular has lost popularity so quickly. What has he done wrong?

There have been some miss steps. There have been some communication

problems with the president that he has tried to correct this time. And

there has also been the dawning realisation that all of these

reforms might actually affect regular French people and might

actually affect me and my neighbour, and I think that has soured opinions

on the president very quickly indeed. Thank you very much for

joining us and you can see the analysis on political Europe.

The South African President's son, Duduzane Zuma,

has denied being involved in any wrongdoing, despite persistent

allegations of corruption involving his family

The Guptas have been accused of wielding undue influence over

President Jacob Zuma, to advance their business interests.

Our correspondent Milton Nkosi travelled to Dubai, to meet Duduzane

This is Duduzane Zuma, the son of President Jacob Zuma.

He has been facing allegations of corruption involving dodgy

Government contracts, while working with his

business partners, the

The finger-pointing was not just limited

There have been repeated calls by the members

of the public for President Zuma to step down.

Precisely because of his relationship with the controversial

But after a long period of silence, in this rare BBC

interview, Duduzane Zuma has denied these allegations too.

I have not involved myself in any corrupt

I asked whether he and his business partners offered a bribe to a former

deputy finance minister back in October 2015, as the minister had

Mr Jonas was not offered a bribe by the something.

There was no such thing that took part.

He has also refuted claims that he and

his father own residential properties in Dubai, as has been

Does your father own a house, an apartment here?

In Dubai, he does not own any property

Are you concerned that you may be in the end locked up

following all of these allegations, going to prison for corruption?

It's the first time that it crossed my mind.

I don't know if you saw it cross my mind, but it's gone.

It's just crossed now, since you mentioned

I actually saw it crossing and it's gone.

The South African President's son, Duduzane Zuma, on corruption

Whether you have been crying tears of joy or despair

about your team since the start of the football season,

the fees paid in this transfer period have been

More than $4.8 billion has been spent in Europe's top five leagues.

It has been a summer spending spree like no other.

Big names with even bigger price tags.

From Manchester to Chelsea, from Arsenal to Everton,

across the Premier League clubs have been splashing the cash

Among the early movers, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

swapping his Arsenal shirt for a Liverpool one

It has been a window of such mind-boggling numbers,

but fans of the summer's biggest spenders say it's worth it.

That's why we pay the money, basically.

We want to see success, we want to win trophies.

Don't get me wrong, some of the fees are ridiculous but apart

Five summers ago, Premier League clubs spent just under half

Last summer the figure had more than doubled, but that record has

By this morning, clubs had spent more than 1.2 billion,

and by tonight's deadline it will be far more.

Well, a 50% increase in TV money, which brought last year's title

winners Chelsea some ?150 million, and some say the club's buying power

I think we have talked for the last 20 years

about the bubble potentially bursting, and it hasn't burst yet.

What will happen to football rights if an Amazon,

a Netflix or a Google wish to acquire the rights?

You can't really predict that at the moment, but you would expect

that the value will go up even further.

The summer's most jaw-dropping transfer was in France -

Neymar's ?200 million move to Paris Saint-Germain,

but collectively it's the Premier League that

leads the pricing or, as some see it, the overpricing.

If ever there's a time to be a professional footballer, it's now.

Average pay is over 35 million, my goodness.

And tonight there could be more hefty numbers.

Manchester City offering 60 million for Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez.

A cricket match has been abandoned after a crossbow arrow was fired

The discovery prompted play to be suspended and sparked a security

alert, which led to the match eventually being declared a draw

Police say there is not evidence of terrorism and they are keeping an

open mind about the motive. It is 20 years to

the day since Diana, the Princess of Wales,

died in a car crash in Paris. The event, which also took

the lives of Diana's friend Dodi Fayed and her driver,

Henri Paul, will be marked privately Members of the public have been

gathering at Kensington Palace to mark the anniversary

of her death. Our Royal correspondent

Nicholas Witchell reports. The news had come in the early

hours of the morning. Diana, Princess of Wales had been

involved in a serious As the world waited for news,

the then British ambassador to France, Lord Michael Jay,

was at the hospital with France's Interior Minister,

Jean-Pierre Chevenement. As time moved on, it became clear

it was more serious than we thought, and then Chevenement was taken out

by one of the nurses and he came He came up to me and said,

"I'm afraid she's dead." Later in the day, the Prince

of Wales arrived at the hospital to bring Diana's body

back to Britain. It had been Charles who'd had

to break the news to William and Harry that their mother

had been killed. 20 years on, Lord Jay

recalls the conversations He was clearly deeply moved

by what had happened and talked a little bit about what it had been

like in Balmoral that morning. He said how Prince William

had wanted to go to church that morning -

which was not, he said, something Prince William always

wanted to do on a Sunday morning - But throughout that day,

that morning, he had wanted to do what he thought was in the best

interests of two children who had It was a week when many people

struggled, not least, says Lord Jay, The nation wanted to share

their grief, it seems to me, with someone, and the person

they wanted to share their grief Lessons were learned at the palaces,

but most importantly it's Diana's sons, now in adulthood,

who appear to embody the style of monarchy people

want for the future. Yesterday they looked

at the tributes to their mother which had been placed outside

Kensington Palace. 20 years on, Diana's

impact is still very real. Don't forget, you can get

in touch with me and some Hello.

If you got caught in a heavy