19/01/2018 World News Today

A warm welcome

to BBC World News Today.

I'm Celia Hatton.

Our top stories:

US lawmakers scrabbling

for a solution to fund

government operations - before

the money runs out at midnight.

A new front in the Syrian conflict.

Turkey intensifies its shelling

across the border -

into a Kurdish controlled region.

Scientists take a major step

towards one of the biggest

goals in medicine -

a universal blood test for cancer.

And fancy travelling

in a tube at 1,000kph?

We'll look at what some

engineers say could be

the future of transport.

Hello and welcome

to World News Today.

We start in the United States,

where the federal government

is on the verge of being shut down.

If the Senate doesn't

approve new budget measures

by midnight local time -

that's ten hours from now -

many services will be frozen.

The House of Representatives passed

the legislation on Thursday,

but it's not certain there is enough

support in the Senate to approve it.

Live now to our correspondent

in Washington, Gary O'Donogue.

We've got ten hours to go before a

possible shut down but this same

group of Democrats and Republicans

have come to last-minute deals

before, is a shutdown inevitable?

They have. It will be the fourth

time that Congress and the President

reach an agreement to temporarily

keep the government open while

long-term budget negotiations take

place. You mention the Senate

impasse. Donald Trump has invited

the head of the Senate Democrats to

the White House for a one-on-one

meeting that is going on right now,

we don't know of anything will come

of it but there were meetings bit

green them back in September where

they reached in original agreement

first the immigration protections

for children who were undocumented

migrants.

migrants. Perhaps behind closed

doors, they can come up with

something again. It is getting very

late in the game, only ten hours

before the government shuts down.

If

there is a shutdown, who will get

the blame?

The polls have pointed

towards the Republican because they

control the White House and both

changes as -- chambers of Congress.

I find that these sort of shutdown

since Jewish is, whoever was the

least popular going into them of the

ones who get the blame and right

now, Donald Trump Ozma popularity is

languishing. He came to Washington

campaigning on being able to change

the way things are done, change the

way the system runs here. Another

shutdown would not be a change to

the gridlock we have seen over the

years.

How would shut down effect

the US as a whole? The Foreign

Secretary has said that arguments

over the budget and possible

shutdowns have done more to damage

US military readiness than any enemy

in the field. Is that fair?

Without

a long-term budget agreement,

defence spending won't go up. That

is one of the sticking points, and

they could be mandatory cuts in

defence if they don't meet an

agreement. If there is a government

shutdown, 50% of the civilian

defence employees get put on furl L,

people will continue to work and

vital civilians will work but

underpaid but training and

maintenance will get suspended until

government reopens, which could

affect written -- Military Cross the

net. The budget director tried to

downplay the impact that a shutdown

would have, saying that national

parks would stay open, mud

operations would continue, things

like trash pick-up, the postal

Service, that would continue to

operate. But the longer this drags

out, the more implication it has

prolonged the programmes.

All of this comes

as Donald Trump prepares

to celebrate his first

year in office.

Our correspondent Laura Trevelyan

is in Pennsylvania -

one of the key states that

unlocked his path

to the White House.

Donald Trump won the great state of

Pennsylvania I just less than 1%,

just over 40,000 votes, but that was

enough to give him all the electoral

college votes and send him on his

way to the White House. If he is

going to be re-elected, winning a

state again will be crucial. One of

the reasons he won here is because

his message to Make America Great

Again really resonated in

Pittsburgh, known as steel city, and

also along the whole of the Mon

Valley here in western Pennsylvania,

formerly an industrial heartland,

and now an area where manufacturing

is in decline. I went to talk to the

blue-collar voters who likes Donald

Trump's message to find out how they

are feeling about him now.

The Mon Valley in western

Pennsylvania is the

birthplace of US steel.

This factory was once

owned by the 19th-century

magnate Andrew Carnegie.

In its heyday, it

employed thousands.

Donald Trump tapped into the sense

of industrial decline,

winning by promising to put

America first.

Over lunch, I asked

Donald Trump voters

for their verdict on year one.

It seems like he cares

about the working class,

he cares about the people

who are trying to make

a living and have businesses

and things like that.

Small businesses, I think he cares

about stuff like that.

Some of the stuff he

does, I agree with.

Like that tax cuts, looking out

for the working class people.

But I'm not a big fan

of all the rants on social media.

I think we can do away

with all of that.

How are you feeling about that vote?

A little disappointed.

Juan Lacey, a small-business owner

in the Mon Valley hoped Mr Trump

would run the government like a CEO.

So, does this former Obama voter

regret switching to Trump?

When I went into the voting booth

and pulled the lever,

I was satisfied.

I'm having buyer's remorse.

Why?

Because it is not consistent.

John Fetterman is a Democrat

in Trump country.

When you get out into some of these

areas that no-one has visited,

no-one has taken the time to care,

left it really open and rife

for someone to step

in like Donald Trump,

and say, I'm the guy

that can fix this.

The populist mayor of Braddock

with a tattoo of the town's ZIP code

counsels his party to understand

Trump's appeal.

It has got to be more than Trump

is awful, vote for us.

I think it has to come

back to an earnest,

progressive, populist message.

In his inaugural address a year ago,

Donald Trump promised people

in towns like Braddock

that he would give them

back their jobs and their dreams.

As an early electoral test

here in Pennsylvania

of whether the voters feel

he is delivering, there is a special

election in the state,

in what should be a safe

Republican seat.

But the president

is taking no chances.

A real friend and a spectacular

man, Rick Saccone.

That is the candidate here.

Mr Trump doesn't want

to lose this election,

and he was in the Mon Valley

on Thursday with this message.

Very simply, your paycheques will be

much weaker because under our tax

cuts, you will be keeping more

of your hard earned money.

-- much bigger.

The question is whether Mr Trump

can get the credit here

for an improving economy.

Or if the heat generated

by his tweets and feuds

is distracting even his supporters.

Well that is the question of course.

In his inaugural address a year ago,

Donald Trump talked about the

forgotten people of America and

promised them they would be

forgotten no more. He described what

he called American carnage, which is

something many people here in the

declining manufacturing towns feel,

where you see homes in fact trees

ordered up, so the question is

whether these could tax cuts for

individuals and the corporate tax

cuts which business leaders here in

Pittsburgh have welcomed will really

improve the economic situation in a

sustained way or whether Donald

Trump himself just can't get out of

the way. The tax cuts have yet to

take effect. Do you think that if

this vote was rerun again today, how

would Donald Trump do in

Pennsylvania?

Look, he won

Pennsylvania but just over 40,000

votes which is almost nothing.

Hillary Clinton outperformed

expectations in Philadelphia and

Pittsburgh, she does incredible it

well in the Metrocentre is. Donald

Trump got the benefit of the doubt

from people who the message that

Hillary Clinton was part of the

problem, they liked something

different. They felt he had his

business background, they had seen

him on The Apprentice, he seemed

like the real deal. My sense of it

is that that vision that he

presented of himself to the

electorate is not quite as bright

and shiny as it was a year ago. One

person in a report said he has by's

remorse. It was a very close

election last time and I'm sure the

next one will be very close to. --,

too.

If all that has left

you feeling a little confused -

don't worry - because you can find

much more on our website.

Our team has explained

what a US federal government

shutdown might mean,

how it can be avoided,

and what it's meant when it has

happened in the past.

While the battle over the US

federal government budget

has been rumbling on,

we've also seen a significant

announcement about a change

in America's military policy.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says

that instead of a past focus

on terrorism, US national security

is now focusing on competing

with great powers

like China and Russia.

Here's how he put it.

We've faced growing threats from

revisionist powers like China and

Russia, nations that do seek to

create a world consistent with

authoritarian models top --. Rogue

regimes like North Korea and Iran

persist in taking outlaw actions

that threaten global stability,

oppressing their own people and

shredding dead committee and human

rights.

One of the areas

where a change in US military policy

might have an effect is in Syria -

where there's a continuing fight

against the group calling

itself Islamic State.

America has worked alongside Kurdish

forces to drive the militants back -

so it will be interesting to see

how a Turkish offensive

against Kurdish-held areas

will go down in Washington.

Overnight, Turkish forces

began a bombardment

of several Kurdish villages around

Afreen.

Around 70 shells were fired.

Turkey says that no ground forces

have advanced on the area.

But the Turkish Defence Minister has

said his military will remove

what he calls 'terror lines'

near the border with Syria.

The US has said the Kurdish

peshmerga are training

a 30,000 strong border

force in the region.

The long threatened offensive

against the Kurdish offensive scenes

imminent. Turkish tanks have been on

the border. Reports that some Syrian

rebel fighters have crossed in.

We're waiting for the announcement

of this former launch by Turkey.

Turkey says the white PG in Syria is

a terrorist group, an extension of

its own Kurdish law -- militant

group. Ankara has been incensed by

American support for the YPG, as

Kurdish militias fought the Islamic

State group. The Turkish

president... They are worried about

the YPG extending their control

along the border with Turkey so they

are preparing for a ground offensive

in two flavours. That could start

within hours. This is a perilous

venture for Turkey which faces five

impediments. First of all YPG

firepower itself which has proved

extremely effective against Islamic

State.

State. The Russian presence on the

ground, they have supported the YPG

in the past although there are

reports that they have begun to

withdraw. The Assad regime in Syria

has warned it would shoot down any

Turkish jet, and the risk of

civilian casualties in these two

areas. That said, and caress still

seems determined to clear the YPG

from the areas and another front

looks set to open in this seven

years civil war.

Let's take a look

at some of the other

stories making the news.

Here in the UK,

Downing Street has said

there are "no specific plans"

for a bridge linking

Britain and France.

The comment came after the UK's

foreign secretary, Boris Johnson,

reportedly raised the idea

with France's President Macron,

at a summit on Thursday.

A spokesman for Mr Macron said

a bridge had been discussed,

but without any agreement to get

a project under way.

Pope Francis has made his first

visit to the Amazon

on the final leg of his trip

to Chile and Peru.

Speaking to thousands

of indigenous people on the edge

of the rainforest in Peru,

he said Amazon tribes had "never

"been so threatened",

and that they "bore deep wounds".

The Pope added that the region

was under pressure from business

interests that wanted

to exploit its natural resources.

New Zealand's Prime

Minister Jacinda Arden has

announced she is pregnant

with her first child.

She told reporters the news

was 'unexpected but exciting.'

The child is due in June -

Ms Arden says she plans to take six

weeks off after the birth,

before making a full return

to her political duties.

Some good news for you now...

Scientists say they've taken a step

towards reaching one

of the biggest goals in medicine -

a universal blood test for cancer.

A team in the United States has

trialled a method that detects eight

common forms of the disease.

Ultimately, they're hoping to design

an annual test designed to catch

cancer early and save lives.

Here's our correspondent

Fergus Walsh.

It is ten years since Allie was

diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

It is rare for anyone with

the disease to survive that long.

There is no screening

programme so tumours

are usually found too late.

At that test would make

a big difference.

If we are able to get more people

diagnosed sooner, like me,

then it is going to make me feel

a lot happier.

There are only 1% of us who are

surviving like me to ten years.

And it is a bit of a lonely place.

And it is a bit of a lonely place.

There aren't many of us around,

and I would really like pancreatic

cancer to become more of a chronic

disease rather than such acute

deadly disease as it is now.

Scientists at John Hopkins

University in Baltimore had made

significant progress towards a blood

test for cancer.

The team examined blood samples

from around 1000 cancer patients.

They had one of eight

different common cancers,

lung, liver, pancreas,

colon, oesophagus, breast,

stomach, or ovary.

Now, cancer cells shed bits of DNA

which circulate in the blood

so the test looks for 16 gene

mutations and eight

protein biomarkers.

Overall, the blood test found 70%

of the cancers but that success

rate fell to just 40%

with small early-stage cancers.

And this is when you want to detect

it, when there is the best chance

of the cure through surgery.

So, a reliable but test

for cancer is some way off.

But the Francis Crick Institute

in London, which is pioneering

research in this area,

believes it will come.

I'm almost certain that the next

five to ten years, we will see tests

like this become much more routine

in clinical practice to help us

diagnose tumours earlier and to help

us increase the cure rates

for patients suffering from cancers.

The American Cancer a lot test cost

around £350 per patient,

and each positive result

would need further investigation.

So, the burden on the NHS would need

to be weighed against the benefits

of early treatment and lives saved.

Fergus Walsh, BBC News.

Rail services are recovering

in Germany after a powerful storm

flattened buildings,

disrupted travel and killed

at least eight people.

It also caused just over

100 million dollars in damage.

The storm, called "Friederike",

is now headed towards Poland,

where it's expected to weaken.

Take a look at these pictures from

Dusseldorf in Germany -

where the high winds made coming

in to land rather tricky.

The winds approached 90 marks per

hour.

The winds are too strong.

Over the border

in the Netherlands....

wind speeds reached up to 140

kilometres per hour -

that's approaching 90

miles per hour.

More than 60 trucks were reported

to have toppled over.

Fallen trees also damaged vehicles.

There was also a near-miraculous

escape at a kindergarten.

As the hurricane winds across the

North Sea subsided, and the planes

and trains serving the airport tried

to catch up, people said about

trying to patch up their battered

homes and businesses. The skips

cannot contain the debris that has

come down across the country. Trees

have been rooted. This one came

crashing down on a creche. None of

the children were -- what teachers

inside the building at the time were

injured. -- none of the teachers or

children. Dutch meteorologists have

been accused of leaving it too late

before issuing the highest code red

weather warning. It took many people

off-guard. This storm is expected to

enter the record books as one of the

worst to hit the Netherlands since

records began in 1990. It took just

a few hours to sweep through but

will take millions of euros to put

parts of the country back together

again.

The Californian couple

who are accused of imprisoning,

abusing and torturing twelve

of their OWN children

have appeared in court.

David and Louise Turpin

were arrested on Sunday after one

of their children escaped

and raised the alarm.

Police say the children

were fed very little,

allowed to shower just once a year

and chained for weeks

or months at a time.

The couple deny the

charges against them.

James Cook reports from California.

Give up that right...

David Turpin, appearing in court

to deny betraying his

own children with a bewildering

catalogue of cruelty.

His wife, Louise, also pleaded not

guilty to inflicting physical pain

and mental suffering.

It's also alleged that one

of the couple's daughters

was sexually abused by the father.

Prosecutors say the siblings endured

the abuse for years,

as their parents plumbed the depths

of human depravity.

One of the children,

aged 12, is the weight

of an average seven-year-old.

Several of the victims have

cognitive impairment and neuropathy,

nerve damage, as a result

of this extreme and

prolonged physical abuse.

The children were supposedly

schooled here in their home,

but the district attorney said

they lacked basic knowledge.

Some did not even know

what a police officer was.

They were reportedly

allowed to shower just once

a year and were beaten,

chained up and tormented.

They would buy food, including pies,

apple pies, pumpkin pies,

leave it on the counter,

let the children look at it

but not eat the food.

About the only thing

the children were allowed

to do in their rooms,

or chained up, was to

write in journals.

We now have recovered

those journals, hundreds

of them, and we are combing

through them for evidence.

The 17-year-old who raised the alarm

after climbing out of the home

through a window had been plotting

the escape for two years.

One of her sisters made it out with

her but turned back out of fear.

This case has sent waves

of revulsion across

the United States and beyond.

The authorities say the siblings

are doing well but some of them

at least have almost certainly

suffered irreparable

physical and mental damage.

The parents are due

in court again next month.

If convicted, they

face life in prison.

James Cook, BBC News,

Riverside in California.

Moving onto something totally

different.

How would you like to be

strapped inside a pod,

and then fired through a tube,

hurting forward at more

than a thousand kilometres an hour?

It may sound terrifying -

but one group of engineers think

it's the future of travel.

They call it the Hyperloop.

Rory Cellan-Jones has been

to the Nevada Desert to see it

in action.

We heading through the Nevada

desert, north of Las Vegas,

for a glimpse of what its backers

claim is the future of transport.

This is Hyperloop, an attempt

to send passengers hurtling

at 700 miles per hour

through a vacuum tube.

Many think that is far-fetched

but this project got

the backing last year of Virgin

with Sir Richard Branson

becoming chairman.

In this 500 metre test track,

they say they have shown

that the technology works,

although they have not yet put any

human being is on board.

I think my background in spacecraft

engineering has given me the skill

set to be able to...

The head of engineering, a space

scientist recruited from Nasa,

sees no reason why people

might be scared.

The Hyperloop is a maglev train in

a vacuum system, or a vacuum tube.

And, so, you can also think

of it as an aircraft

flying at 200,000 feet.

People don't have any issues

flying in aeroplanes,

and people don't have any issues

going in maglev trains.

This is simply combining the two,

and allows you to be

more energy efficient.

This isn't the only project.

The electric car type two Elon Musk,

who originally floated the whole

idea, has proposed a tunnel under

Los Angeles that could carry cars

or the transformed into a Hyperloop.

The Virgin Hyperloop team say

they could take passengers

from London to Edinburgh

in 50 minutes.

Or cut the journey between New York

and Boston two and a half an hour.

But making this work in the real

world will mean running several

of these pipes alongside each other

over long distances,

perhaps underground,

and convincing governments of it

being realistic is going to prove,

well, pretty challenging.

At that giant CES tech show

in Las Vegas, Hyperloop's chief

executive was wishing that message

that this technology is ready,

and just needs someone

to push the button.

I've got 200 of the most brilliant

engineers from industries

from around the world who have

committed themselves

to bringing something really

new and important to the planet.

We can go 500, 600,

and 700 miles an hour.

That is not what worries me.

The biggest challenge ahead of us

is to find governments

and regulators that want to rapidly

introduce this technology.

Even if some government

do share that vision,

they share another challenge.

finding the money and the public

support to build this kind

of structure many miles

across or under their countries.

Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News, Nevada.

Don't forget you can get

in touch with me and some