01/12/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News today.

Our top stories. The most senior

member of the Trump administration

so far is charged in the probe into

possible collusion with Russia.

Sacked National Security Advisor

Michael Flynn has pleaded guilty to

lying to the FBI about his contacts

with Moscow. The White House says

that nothing about the guilty plea

or the charge implicates anyone

other than Mr Flynn. We will be

bringing you the very latest.

Also, the EU will refuse to begin

talks on a post-Brexit trade deal if

Ireland is not satisfied with the

UK's offer on the Northern Irish

border.

Pope Francis comes face-to-face with

the agony of the Rohingya refugees

in Bangladesh and publicly uses the

word Rohingya in recognition of

their identity.

Hello and welcome to World News

Today. We start with news that

President Trump's former National

Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, has

pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI

about his contact with Russia. Mr

Flynn is the most senior former

official to be charged so far in the

investigation into alleged Russian

meddling in last year's US

presidential election. Well, this is

Mr Flynn leaving court earlier,

having admitted to making false

statements about conversations he

had with Russia's ambassador to

Washington during last year's

election campaign. He has agreed to

cooperate with the probe into

alleged Russian interference, saying

it is in the best interests of his

family and his country. In response,

a lawyer for the White House has

said that nothing about the guilty

plea or the charge implicates anyone

other than Mr Flynn. Ali-macro has

the latest.

It has sent political shock

waves through Washington.

General Michael Flynn,

Donald Trump's former National

Security adviser, turned himself

in to the FBI, and to a judge

admitted lying about his contacts

with Russian officials.

General Michael Flynn!

Michael Flynn developed a close

relationship with Donald Trump

during the election campaign,

at one point he was talked

of as a potential Vice President.

A truly great general.

I thank you.

At the Republican National

Convention, he famously led

chanting for

Hillary Clinton to be imprisoned.

Lock her up!

All the focus is on the mistake

Michael Flynn made

after Donald Trump's win

at the polls, when Barack Obama

was still in office and had imposed

sanctions on Russia for interfering

with the US election.

On 29th December, Michael Flynn

spoke to the Russian Ambassador

on the phone in the first

of a series of calls.

On 15th January,

Vice-President Mike Pence said

sanctions were not discussed

by Michael Flynn in those calls.

Only after 9th February,

when a newspaper revealed General

Flynn did discuss sanctions

when he was not organised to do

so, did pressure increase

and Michael Flynn lost his job.

-- not authorised.

Michael Flynn then became one

of those investigated by the Special

Counsel into Russia's attempts

to influence the election

and the potential collusion

with the Trump campaign.

This is unquestionably the biggest

moment of the Russia investigation.

Michael Flynn is the most senior

member of Donald Trump's

team to be indicted,

and is accused of lying

to FBI agents while still

serving the White House.

Most importantly, we now believe

Michael Flynn will testify

that he was directed to talk

to the Russian Ambassador

when he was not supposed

to by a senior official

in Donald Trump's transition team,

bringing this investigation ever

closer to the President himself.

Aleem Maqbool, Washington.

Our correspondent Laura Bicker is in

Washington for us. First, just

explain to us, why does Michael

Flynn matter so much?

This is the

most senior member of the Trump

administration, of the Trump team,

to plead guilty to lying. That is

one of the reasons why this is so

significant. Michael Flynn was not a

peripheral character in the Trump

team, he was there at campaign, he

basically was one of the main phases

of the national security policies

when it came to the Trump campaign,

he travelled with Donald Trump on

various occasions both of you saw

him on stage, leading that charge,

about Hillary Clinton, saying to

lock her up. -- leading that child.

When it came to the claims he had

lied about his contacts with Russia,

that he lied about that meeting with

the Russian Ambassador here in

Washington. Well, Donald Trump is

alleged to them have gone to the

then FBI Director James Comey and

sat down and said to him, can you

see yourself letting Flynn go,

leading the investigation into

Michael Flynn go? James Comey at

that time thought that was so

significant that when he left the

White House and left it oval office,

he wrote down a memo and give

testimony to Congress. That is one

of the reason why there has been

such a focus on Michael Flynn

himself. He lasted only 23 days in

office, you heard from the White

House they wanted to distance

themselves from him. But he did play

a key part both in the campaign and

it was that that led him to be

appointed as National Security

Advisor. So, when it comes to his

focus and focus on him, but is why

it is so significant.

So what

happens next? Where is this

investigation going to go next? What

are we going to see? I don't know if

you can hear me. Unfortunately, it

looks like we have lost Laura

Bicker.

Next, we are going to stay with this

story and go across to New York. Our

national politics correspondent at

Newsweek is here. Thank you for

joining us. I have noticed that your

publication is already asking who

spoke to Michael Flynn to say

whatever he did to the Russians was

not so, my question to you would be,

what did the President Noel, and

when did he know it? How crucial

will that be and what happens? What

did the President know?

Well, we are

assuming that because Michael Flynn

took a play on only one count and he

was allowed to only take a play on

one count when there were a lot of

other things going on, that he is a

valuable source of information on

the top of the food chain. That is

one of the assumptions. The other

thing that we are discovering is

that interesting kind of issue here

is that the involvement of Jared

Kushner, the President's son-in-law,

in directing Flynn in his

conversations with the Russian

Ambassador, not just related to the

sanctions that the Obama

administration has -- had slapped on

Russia, but a Security Council

hearing involving Israel, and of

course, Jared Kushner's family is

very tied into extreme right-wing

settler organisations in Israel, so

that is an interesting angle that is

opening up here. Especially at a

time when the President is said to

be considering throwing out his

Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson,

replacing him with a much more

hardline anti-Iran official, Mike

Pompeo, and also putting in charge

of the CIA a very pro-Israel and

anti-Iran Senator from Arkansas, Tom

Cotton. So, there are all sorts of

international implications bubbling

up for them in what happened today.

Do you think that this in any way

could possibly lead directly to Mr

Trump?

Well, I do think it could

possibly lead directly to Mr Trump,

because we know that he told the

former FBI Director, James Comey, to

lay off Flynn. And that is

obstruction of justice. So at that

point, if the investigation goes to

that level, it leads to the

President. As far as the

involvement, his directing these

people to say certain things to the

Russians, I cannot answer that. It

is hard to tell whether he was that

involve or whether it was just Jared

Kushner and others, Michael Flynn

making these decisions on their own.

It is hard to imagine that that was

going on, because he seems to be

ready hands on, aware of his small

group, but I cannot confirm to you

that this is leading directly to the

President of the United States. But

I think he is certainly in jeopardy.

Many people in Washington are

asking, or rather saying that this

probe could be politically

motivated. Do you think this is a

line that could stand up, that the

White House could use to control the

fallout?

Well, they have been doing

that for a long time. Certainly they

have been saying it is politically

motivated, and if you watch Fox

News, they are probably talking

about that right now. They would

like to divert the attention to

investigating Hillary Clinton and

Bill Clinton's foundation and their

involvement with uranium rights sold

to the Russians. So, yes, they will

absolutely be diverting too, this is

a political witchhunt, they have

been saying that all along, and

you're going to see more of that.

You're also seeing a diversion

today, it is all about diversion,

they are no diverting too, Trump and

is today, the USA is going to

recognise Jerusalem as the capital

of Israel, which is a very

contentious issue over dare-mac, as

you know. The other thing that is

going on, the timing really could

not be worse for Trump and the

Republicans, because today was the

day that they were going to try and

vote on the tax reform Bill, which

they absolutely need to have by the

end of the year finished, because

they need to have some kind of, to

be able to point to some kind of a

victory, some kind of concrete proof

that they have actually done some of

the things that they promised to do.

He has no legislative victories as

above. So this happening today,

while they were about to debate

their big tax reform bill in the

Senate, could not be worse timing

politically for the Republicans and

the President.

Thank you very much. Zimbabwe has a

new President, but does he want a

new start, or more of the same?

Emmerson Mnangagwa's Cabinet

includes many of Robert Mugabe's

told ministers, plus two military

generals in top jobs. It is not the

radical break with the past that

opposition activists and clearly

hoped for.

Our Zimbabwe correspondent reports.

This was Zimbabwe's exactly a week

ago, high expectations from its

first leader in 37 years. -- this

was Zimbabwe. Emmerson Mnangagwa

made all the right noises, alien

covenant, greater efficiency and

acknowledgement that the public

expectation was high. -- a leaner

Cabinet. He is rewarding the

military whose opposition helped him

to power. Two military officers are

in prominent positions. The head of

the air force, a feared figure in

southern Zimbabwe. He is alleged to

have taken part in the brutal

massacres that killed thousands of

civilians at the request of the then

Prime Minister, Robert Mugabe. He

believes the lands of -- he leads

the agriculture and land ministry.

Then the Foreign Minister, he

appeared on state television to

announce the military operation,

relatively unknown until then, he

has a doctorate in International

Relations.

The war veterans leader bounces back

to Cabinet as the new information

ministers will stop he was fired by

Mugabe for challenging the First

Lady and he led mast protests which

forced the former leader to resign.

Emmerson Mnangagwa has removed many

of his predecessors -- predecessor

old allies but he has retained half

of the Cabinet, some of whom were

deeply unpopular. Thousands of

Zimbabweans gathered here just a

week ago, celebrating in using Bob

Tway and some are now wondering

where -- whether this is the break

with the past they hoped for. Many

had hoped it would provide a new

direction and new confidence.

Investors will not cheer. The

indigenous Asian ministry has been

scrapped. But opposition politicians

have condemned the new Cabinet,

saying it is proof the military is

still in charge and that the

honeymoon is over. Just two weeks

ago, Zimbabwe celebrated the

people's General for leading the

military takeover. Now they wait to

see whether he also will be rewarded

with a vice presidency.

Pope Francis is visiting Bangladesh

has met some of the more than

600,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled

violence in Myanmar. He used the

word Rohingya in public for the

first time, a controversial move

because the Myanmar government does

not recognise the right anger as an

ethnic group. The refugees have been

brought to the capital, Dhaka. More

than 600,000 men, women and children

have fled their from Myanmar.

Their plight has overshadowed his

visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh,

and today, a group of Rohynga

refugees met Pope Francis in Dhaka.

One by one, they had

a chance to tell him

what they've been through.

Up until now, Pope Francis had

avoided using the term

"Rohingya", which is how these

people identify themselves.

But a word that Myanmar

refuses to recognise.

But today, the Pope

was more outspoken.

At a meeting of religious leaders,

the Pope asked for forgiveness

from Rohingya refugees for the hurt

they've endured, and for

the indifference of the world.

It's a crisis that has

overshadowed the Pope's visit

to Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Regardless of the politics

around the Pope's visit,

for many people from the Catholic

community of Bangladesh,

it was a chance to see the leader

of their religion in person.

They're a tiny percentage

of the population of this country,

but you couldn't tell that

by looking at the crowds here,

tens of thousands have come

from different parts of Bangladesh.

And they weren't disappointed.

Before he said Mass,

Pope Francis took a quick

tour through the crowd.

For some, it was a moment

they'll remember forever.

He's the first Pope to visit

Bangladesh in more than 30 years.

I'm so happy and so blessed that

I got to get here in this space,

so there are lots of people that

couldn't come over here.

So I'm so lucky!

I can see the Pope so near.

I was in tears when I saw him.

When I saw him, I thought

I'm seeing Jesus.

I was saying, "God bless you, Papa.

God bless you.

I'm so happy to see you again."

For this small community,

the Pope's visit is reassurance that

they're part of something bigger.

But for another minority,

it brought hope that one of the most

influential leaders of the world

could help them.

Yogita Limaye, BBC News, Dhaka.

US media are reporting that

President Trump is likely to make a

speech recognising Jerusalem as

Israel's capital on Wednesday. The

international community does not

recognise Israeli sovereignty over

the entire city. Palestinian

Authorities want east Jerusalem to

be the capital of a future state. US

policy in the past has been that

Jerusalem's status must be decided

in negotiations between the two

sides.

The biggest lithium iron battery if

the world has started delivering

power to Australia's electricity

grid, the US firm Tesla built the

device and says it is three times

more powerful than the world's next

biggest bat tri.

And the Spanish stream court says it

will decide on Monday, whether ten

jailed Catalan accept twists will be

granted bail so they can take part

in campaigning in regional elections

later this month. Eight former

Catalan Cabinet Ministers and two

others appeared in the court earlier

on Friday. They were arrested on

suspicion of sedition and rebellion

over their illegal campaign for

independence.

The EU will refuse to begin talks on

a post-Brexit trade deal, if Ireland

is not satisfied with the UK's offer

on the border. That is according to

the European Council President

Donald Tusk, he held a joint news

conference with the Irish Prime

Minister in Dublin. Ireland has

urged the UK to be clearer on how it

plans to avoid a hard border between

the republic and Northern Ireland.

Mr Tux who will chair a crunch

summit in two weeks' time said the

border within Ireland must remain a

symbol of cooperation.

We have

agreed today, that before proposing

guidelines on transition and future

relations to the leaders, I will

consultant the Taoiseach if the UK

offer is sufficient for the Irish

Government. Let me say very clearly,

if the UK offer, if unacceptable for

Ireland, it will also be

unacceptable for the EU. I realise

for some British politicians this

may be hard to understand, but such

is the logic behind the fact that

Ireland is the EU member, while the

UK it is leaving. This is why the

Quito the UK's future lies in some

ways in Dublin. At least as long as

Brexit negotiations continue.

That was Donald Tusk, at least nine

people have been killed and almost

40 injured after gunmen stormed the

campus of a university north-west

Pakistan earlier today. The attack

took place at the Agricultural

Training Institute located in

Peshawar. This report from

Islamabad. Three gunmen opened fire

after entering the compound housing

the agricultural training institute

this morning. Loud gunfire was heard

from the scene until security

officials announced they had killed

the attacker, today is is a national

holiday marking the birthday of the

Prophet Muhammad. So the training

college was closed although a number

of students were present. They make

up the bulk of those killed and

injured. Some as young as 17. A

number of students were injured

leaping out of the windows trying to

escape the attackers. The Pakistan

Taliban claimed responsibility. It

was the scene of one of the most

gruesome attacks when over 130

children were killed by militants in

an assault on their school three

years a since then the number of

attacks in Pakistan has greatly

reduced all those militants are

still clearly able to operate.

Japan's emperor will abdicate in

favour of his son in 2019. The

38-year-old emperor said last year,

that his age and health would make

it difficult to fulfil his duties.

-- 83. He could not choose to about

Kate himself, a ten member panel

chaired by the Prime Minister agreed

and set a date today. Today. There

is a cliche here that change never

comes quickly, and in the abdication

of the emperor that is certainly

appears to the case, the emperor

went on television to ask to be

allowed to retire more than a year

ark he said he was old and in poor

health and was corned he could no

longer carry on its duty, it took

until June to pass the relevant

legislation, now the imperial

household council has met to decide

when it will happen. The answer,

April 30th 2019. The following day

on May 1st, Crown Prince will ascend

the throne and a new era will be

declared and the emperor and empress

will finally be allowed to retire.

Now the draw for the 32 teams who

have made to it the 2001 football

World Cup has taken place in a

ceremony at the Kremlin, our sports

news correspondent Richard Conway

who is in Moscow for us casts his

eye oh the draw.

The draw has been made here at the

Kremlin state Palace in the heart of

the compound. Vladimir Putin

welcoming all 32 teams to come in,

and look, to take a look forward to

next summer's tournament. Russia

will kick off the entire

competition, on June 14th, next

yore, against Saudi Arabia. That

will be here in Moscow. I have been

given by Fifa my little wall chart,

already, so I have the map all laid

out of who will play where and where

they will be taking place, some

interesting matches. Portugal taking

on Spain, those neighbours clashing

once again, that will be a

fascinating tie. Argentina in group

D, they will have to take on Iceland

who are making their debut at the

World Cup, and England of course who

will be wanting to overturn a

frankly terrible record in recent

years at the World Cup, they will

take on Belgium, Tunisia, and

Panama, so some interesting games

there as well. Belgium having a

heavily contingent. Roberto

Martinez, he knows about managing

the top English sides. So that is

another one to look out for.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have

taken part in their first official

engagement together. They visited a

World Aids Day charity fair, meeting

representatives from the Terence

Higgins trust. Harry has become a

prominent campaigner on the issue

following in the footsteps of his

mother Diana, Princess of Wales, if

you are wondering where they went,

they were in Nottingham. You of

course will not forget the

announcement was made on Monday that

they will be guessing married.

A reminder of our top story.

President Trump's former national

security adviser Michael Flynn has

pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI

about his contact with Russia. She

the most senior former official to

be charged so far in the

investigation into alleged Russian

meddling in the US Presidential

election. Plenty more on this story

right here on BBC World News. Do

stay in touch with us.