01/09/2017 World News Today

Kenya's Supreme Court has declared the results of last

President Kenyatta says he respects the ruling,

even though it means re-running the entire vote.

I personally disagree with the ruling that has been made today. But

I respect it. As nearly 40,000 Rohingya Muslims

flee Myanmar in the space of a week, the UN calls for restraint

from Burma's military. The worst floods in decades

bring misery to tens TRANSLATION: I've lost everything. I

had a cow and a goat. They were both killed. My house is totally broken

and I'm just left here sitting by the side of the road!

And the grainy images which show a close shave for planet Earth,

as the biggest asteroid for a century passes

Hello and welcome to World News Today.

Kenya's opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has described

the country's Electoral Commission as "rotten" after the Supreme Court

declared last month's presidential poll "null and void"

Fresh elections must be held within 60 days.

After the verdict there were celebrations in

Mr Odinga's hometown, as well as other opposition areas.

President Kenyatta said he disagreed with the court's ruling,

Celebrating a new lease of life, veteran politician Raila Odinga

gets one more chance to run for president.

A last-minute decision to challenge the result

of the presidential election paid off.

The presidential election held on the 8th of August 2017 was not

conducted in accordance with the constitution,

under the applicable law, rendering the declared results

Outside the court, celebrations erupted among opposition supporters.

It's now back to the drawing board for presidential candidates.

I disagree with it because, as I have said, millions of Kenyans

And six people have decided that they will go

The judges, however, found no evidence of misconduct

The judges did not limit themselves to what happened on election day

Rather, they looked at the electoral process in its totality,

from voter registration to civic education, as well as

the campaigning and the procurement of electoral materials.

So, in a sense, this judgment sets a strong precedent for election

disputes globally and a high threshold for the

The court directed the Electoral Commission to organise a fresh

election but the opposition says it has no confidence in

And therefore we are going to ask for prosecution of all

the Electoral Commission officers who have caused this monstrous crime

The Constitution states that a new election must be

For now, though, opposition supporters across the country

are basking in the glory of the court victory.

One of the big questions is where does this leave the international

observers who said they saw no sign of anyone manipulating the count. We

will be live from Nairobi to answer that question in a few minutes's

time. The plight of Myanmar's Rohingya

minority risks becoming a humanitarian catastrophe,

according to UN Secretary He is urging the country's security

forces to exercise restraint and says he is concerned by reports

of what he called "excesses during security operations"

in Rakhine state. According to the UN,

nearly 40,000 refugees from Myanmar's Rohingya minority

have crossed into neighbouring They're fleeing fighting

between Rohingya insurgents Here's the BBC's South East Asia

correspondent, Jonathan Head. This is the Naf River,

dividing Bangladesh from Myanmar. It's two days ago, and people

are swarming across wading, This dramatic exodus of ethnic

Rohingyas continuing even now speaks of a terrible conflict

on the other side. Inside Rakhine state,

Rohingyas are watching and recording from a safe distance the destruction

of village after village. It's a scorched earth campaign

by Myanmar's security forces as they wipe out the communities

which they believe harbour Rohingya militants who, last week,

launched a series of armed attacks Bangladesh doesn't want

them but the Rohingyas A stream of humanity, all telling

the same terrible stories. Of homes burnt, husbands shot dead

and of flight on foot to the border. But where the river is widest,

some of the boats floundered. The death toll in six days

of violence right across northern Rakhine state can only

be guessed at. Years of repression

and discrimination have led to this. Public sentiment inside Myanmar

towards the Rohingyas is almost Now a new generation of militants

have armed themselves and attacked the Myanmar security forces

in multiple locations. And the civilian population

is feeling the backlash. Over the river, the smoke

from wrecked communities sends an ominous warning that this

conflict isn't over, Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news. The speaker of the US House

of Representatives has urged president Trump not to scrap

a programme that protects young undocumented migrants,

known as dreamers, from deportation. Republican Paul Ryan

said Mr Trump should let Police in north-west

England say the former national football captain,

Wayne Rooney, has been They say the Everton striker

was stopped in his Volkswagen Beetle He's been freed on bail and will

appear at Stockport Magistrates' Last month, Rooney announced his

retirement from the England European football's governing body

Uefa has put the French club Paris Saint-Germain under formal

investigation in connection with the signing of Neymar

from Barcelona for a world In a statement, Uefa said

the investigation would focus on the requirement that

teams broadly break even. The full impact of the devastating

floods across South Asia is now Heavy rains at this time

of year are not unusual, but the monsoon in India,

Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh Millions of people have been

forced from their homes. A third of Bangladesh

is still under water. The BBC's Justin Rowlatt reports

from Bihar in northern India. Those least able to cope

are the hardest hit by the floods. Budhia Devi says her

life has been ruined. My house is totally broken

and I'm just left sitting The people here are subsistence

farmers, some of the poorest The floodwaters have

begun to drain back. Only to reveal the wreckage

of homes and of lives. More than 500 people have died just

in this one Indian state, 17 million affected,

and now there are new concerns - houses, schools, roads -

they all need to be rebuilt and then of course there is

the danger of disease. Filthy water, hot weather,

and the lack of basic sanitation can People remained in water

three days, four days. Their homes were

submerged in the water. They remained in the water but due

to water-borne dieases, they were drinking contaminated

water, so it's a huge risk. And this is a snapshot from just one

tiny part of a catastrophe that is unfolding across much

of South Asia. The region floods every year,

but this is different. Exceptional rains have

brought devastation right across the foothills

of the Himalayas, from Bangladesh in the east, across India and Nepal,

all the way to the West coast The death toll from the collapse

of a single building in the Indian financial capital,

Mumbai, rose to 33 today. Police suspect it was weakened

by the torrential rains. And 16 people have died

in flash floods in Karachi, Eid, one of the holiest dates

in the Muslim calendar, is tomorrow. It is typically one of the busiest

periods for the city as families More rain is forecast

across the region. President Trump is expected to ask

Congress for almost $6 billion to help people affected

by Storm Harvey in Texas. The latest pictures show

the devastation to flooded areas The total cost of repairing

the damage, and compensating residents whose homes have been

flooded, is estimated In Houston, Texas, and beyond,

there is little sign After more than four feet of rain

in less than a week, it could be days before the water

levels fully recede. Thousands of people have now been

rescued from their homes, grabbing what they can carry

and getting out. Overnight, the storm moved

on to Tennessee, bringing more I was walking in the grass

and I was walking, and I stepped down, and something just

swept me up under. My head was hit, I seen

light up under there, and I came out and I tried to grab

a tree, and it's And I grabbed onto another tree,

and I asked the Lord to help me, and I just started pulling myself up

out of there. The Vice-President, Mike Pence,

flew into Texas to see This is a key moment

for the embattled and historically We are here today, we will be

here tomorrow, and we will be here every day until this city

and this state and this region rebuild bigger

and better than ever before. But this level of devastation

is going to take vast Later today, the White House

is expected to ask Congress for an initial $5.9 billion

in emergency funding. But the authorities in Texas alone

say the state might eventually need People here are

vulnerable and in need. Recovery and rebuilding is going

to take months, if not years. Britain's Chief Brexit

negotiator David Davis, says he's a "determined optimist"

about the country's future His comments on a visit

to Washington, come after Trade Secretary,

Liam Fox, accused the EU, of trying to "blackmail" Britain,

into accepting a Brexit divorce bill, as the price for

beginning trade talks. Here's our political

correspondent Eleanor Garnier. The Prime Minister,

showing how it's done. At a meeting with the Emperor

of Japan, a lesson But it seems her Trade Secretary

hadn't got the memo. Speaking in Japan, he accused the EU

of bullying the UK into agreeing a Brexit divorce bill before it

will start negotiating any We can't be blackmailed into paying

a price on the first part. We think that we should begin

discussions on the final settlement, The outcome of this week's

negotiations in Brussels revealed that money remains a key sticking

point in the talks. It's clear the UK doesn't feel

legally obliged to honour Nobody will pretend it was anything

but a tough exchange this week. But I think the British taxpayer

would expect nothing less. It's no surprise there

is a bit of rough-and-tumble It's significant Liam Fox didn't

repeat the word blackmail when asked A moment perhaps when frustration

got the better of him. But it's certainly not

a phrase you can expect Fresh from his talks in Brussels,

the Brexit Secretary gave a speech to business leaders

in Washington today. He tried to laugh away his

colleague's controversial comments. I never comment on other ministers'

views on these things. Look, we are in a difficult, tough,

complicated negotiation. I have said from the beginning

that it will be turbulent. What we're having at the moment

is the first ripple. And there will be many more

ripples along the way. Critics here claim Liam Fox's talk

of blackmail will only This is sabre-rattling

from a Trade Secretary who is twiddling his thumbs

because he cannot do anything until the trade position of the UK

has been resolved with the EU. The Prime Minister rounded

off her trip cheering on the GB But when it comes to Brexit,

the government is still searching for some big points and will be

hoping for more Eleanor Garnier, BBC

News, Westminster. Drinking too much alcohol causes 3.3

million people to die every year. That's roughly 6% of all deaths,

according to the World In many developed countries it's

so bad that it's considered With this in mind, more and more

people are choosing to give up alcohol, either temporarily

or for good. Katie Silver has been speaking

to some of them and hearing about the programme that's helping

them stick to it. This might look like a typical catch

up of women over cocktails, It is because these women

are all going alcohol free. I was a binge drink,

so it wouldn't be that I wanted to drink every night,

but when I did, I was like a different

person when I was tricky. If I went for a weekend

away, it was 30 pints They signed up to a programme

called a one-year no beer. It is the brainchild

of Rory Fairbanks. Hypothetically, I signed up

to the 90 day challenge. And then we start sending

you daily e-mails. Inside is a little snippet

of the science which links you back to the site where we have broken

things down into sprints. This is a wider explanation

about the science behind what you're doing to rewire your brain,

and a video which is proven People pay to sign up

to the programme and the challenges you to go 30 or 90 days

without alcohol, with the help of a Facebook group and a daily

newsletter as support. He set it up when he realised

alcohol was causing I was probably drunk two times

per week on average. It wasn't that acceptable any more

to be hungover or coming home He aims to change the peer pressure

around giving up drinking and to give you tactics

for being in the pub. Stealth drinks are great,

you tip the barman, put a bit of nonalcoholic beer with lemonade

into a pint glass and nobody knows. Doctors say while such a programme

is unlikely to help people with severe alcohol dependency,

it could help those at risk of developing

an addiction later in life. I think that the studies

and the programme is really good for people that have hazardous

drinking, who are drinking excessively, but not

necessarily harmfully, who are on a slippery slope

and will eventually become maybe the dependent drinkers

in the future. If you have somebody

in their 30s, that can For these women, getting off alcohol

is already providing many rewards. Everything I want to

do, I can go and do. And that's something we can

all raise a mocktail to. Let's get more now on our top story,

the annulment of the Presidential The court's ruling is being seen

as a setback for the international election observers who had praised

the election as free and fair. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has

called for investigations into their conduct, saying

they had "sanitised fraud". Earlier, the head of the EU's

Observer Mission responded Well, I can only speak

from my own EU election observation mission, which is very

independent, impartial. We have a very rigid methodology

that we have followed. And in our preliminary statement,

we have pointed to irregularities. We've always encouraged

the competent Kenyan authorities to deal with them,

encouraged all parties who wanted to challenge

the results to go to court. And, so, we've been clear

that our work is ongoing. My team was in the courtroom until

this morning to hear the ruling, to look at the proceedings,

to see how it went. I suppose Odinga must feel

vindicated while there are big questions about the judgment, the

verdict of the international observers. That's right. That is why

his party has been celebrating because they didn't actually expect

this victory. And their strategy in court was to challenge the process

rather than the results. So the Electoral Commission offered to

provide the documents upon which they relied, but that was an offer

that was rejected by the petitioner, the opposition coalition in this

case. This is an interesting judgment in the sense that it looks

at the process and whether the law was followed in that process rather

than whether the result, the end result, was credible and whether

Kenyatta actually won. When he was announced winner, the Electoral

Commission said he had more than eight points 2 million votes against

Rail Odinga six million. People saw that as a decisive lead so they

didn't expect the court would allow that result. And some observers,

some analysts are saying this is in a roundabout way a rather proud

moment for Kenya, that the debate around the election and the outcome

was had in court, in a calm way and not on the streets, not leading to

the sort of bloodshed we saw previously when there was a

controversial and close election. That's right. It is a big plus for

the court, especially. They have asserted their independence and

shown that they can actually make certain unprecedented decisions. We

have been talking to some lawyers and they say that across the

Commonwealth, the judges generally exercise restraint when making such

judgments but this one, they strictly followed the law. OK, many

thanks indeed. An astronomer has captured images

of the biggest asteroid to pass close to Earth in more

than a century. Asteroid 3122 Florence,

which can be seen here crossing the background stars,

came within seven million kilometres The space rock measures five

kilometres across and is the most substantial since the first

near-Earth asteroid I'm joined now by Professor Alan

Fitzsimmons an Astronomer I'm delighted we can speak, how

close shave was this? In cosmic terms, it is our back garden, but in

absolute terms, and this is as good as a mile, and although this is

relatively close to us, it isn't going to come this close again until

2500 A.D. Is so we are happy to sit back and watch chipped go past and

perform observations of it to help us understand the nature of these

asteroids. Would anyone have been able to actually see this without

specialist equipment? It isn't bright enough to see by the unaided

eye. But it has been followed tonight and tomorrow night by, to

astronomers using just small backyard telescopes, so even large

pairs of binoculars, because this is a very large near Earth asteroids.

We found 16,000 of these so far in the surveys of our solar system. And

while many of them are relatively small, this is kind of a big beast.

It's over two miles across. Because it is so large, that makes it

relatively bright when it passes close to so it makes it relatively

easy to see. The asteroid is called Florence. Why Florence? When an

asteroid has its orbit around the sun well as this one has done for

many years or many decades, astronomers number it in the

catalogues and are allowed to give it a name and this one is named

after Florence Nightingale. It is kind of strange, actually, having an

asteroid named after one of the most famous people in medical history in

the UK. And it is foreign astroid, of course, that could one day in

thousands or tens of thousands of years' time hit us, causing much

devastation. What a sobering thought end on. Professor, thank you very

much indeed. Don't forget you can get

in touch with me and some of the team on Twitter,

I'm @BenMBland. This is BBC World News, thank you

for watching. We have a weekend of two halves

coming up, and here's Y. High-pressure holding on for the

start of the weekend. Here it is, this finger