02/03/2018 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

I'm Kasia Madera.

Our top stories.

Theresa May spells out what she

calls the hard facts of Brexit.

In a major policy speech,

the British Prime Minister claims

the UK and EU are now close

to a deal on the transition.

President Trump insists the US can

easily win any trade wars sparked

by his decision to impose steep

tariffs on steel and

aluminium imports.

Italy prepares to go to the polls

on Sunday with the familiar face

of Silvio Berlusconi back

on the election trail.

Severe weather continues to bring

chaos to large parts of Europe.

At least 59 people have died

in sub-zero temperatures.

Hello and welcome.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May

has outlined her vision

of Britain's future relationship

with the European Union.

She reiterated that the UK would not

be part of the EU's single

market or customs union.

Mrs May said both sides would have

to accept 'hard facts'

and that no one would get

everything they wanted.

The Prime Minister also warned

that the UK would have to pay money

into some EU agencies

to maintain access to them.

What a challenge. To set up

Britain's future relationship with

the EU amid the political divisions

at home and profound scepticism

abroad. Acknowledging possible

downsides to Brexit for the first

time, she said Britain had to face

up to hard facts.

In certain ways

our access to each other's markets

will be less than it is now. How

could the EU structure of rights and

obligations be sustained if the UK

or any country were allowed to enjoy

all the benefits without all of the

obligations?

Mrs May is proposing a

profound separation from Europe, the

so-called hard Brexit of leaving the

Customs Union and single market. But

she says that should not stop there

being what she called a deep

partnership in the future.

We should

not think of leaving the EU as

marking an ending as much as a new

beginning for the UK and our

relationship with our European

allies. Change is not to be feared.

So long as they face it with a

clear-sighted determination to act

for the common good.

As to domestic

reaction, her Beech has prompted

calls for more detail from business,

which remains anxious about Brexit.

And has strong cautious praise from

both the anti-and pro-European wings

of governing Conservative Party. In

Europe, the EU chief negotiators

said Mrs May was at last facing

reality but there would be

trade-offs from Brexit. The European

Parliament's Brexit coordinator was

more harsh, Mrs May, he tweeted, was

still being vague. It has been at a

modulus week in the long-running

drama that is Brexit. But the

opposition Labour Party coming out

in favour of closer ties with the

EU. And two former Prime Minister --

Prime Minister 's morning of the

dangers of leaving Europe and

pleading with politicians and voters

alike to think again. The politician

left with carrying out the result of

a referendum that has divided

Britain like no other issue in

decades said the country was facing

a crucial moment. Thank you. Few

would disagree. How was the speech

received on the continent? Here is

Katya Adler.

Here in Brussels it has been

rather muted and wary.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator,

Michel Barnier, took to Twitter

to thank the Prime Minister

for her clarity and say that

confirmation that the UK would be

leaving the single market

and the customs union meant

that it was heading for a free-trade

agreement with the EU.

Privately, EU diplomats have praised

the Prime Minister's

more realistic tone,

they said, admitting that both sides

can't have exactly what they want.

But they said they couldn't find

much new in her speech

and they lamented the absence

of a workable solution, they said,

to the Irish problem.

Manfred Weber, he's very close

to Angela Merkel and a leader

here in the European Parliament,

he said that the UK was still

burying its head in the sand.

Tonight we've got working groups

from all the 27 EU member states

who are poring over detail

of the Prime Minister's speech.

One diplomat said to me today

he hoped that he would find coded

messages to the EU in Theresa May's

speech that would then become much

clearer once they sit down again

at the negotiating table.

He said something similar happened

with her last Brexit

speech back in autumn.

Katya Adler reporting. That has

turned to the US. -- let us turn.

International stock markets have

fallen after President Trump's

announcement of planned tariffs

on imports of steel and aluminium.

Many of the United States' trading

partners say they're

considering retaliatory action.

China's steel industry has

called the move 'stupid'.

European Commission President

Jean-Claude Juncker says the EU

will will react in kind

if Trump goes ahead.

Meanwhile the World Trade

Organization say the potential

for escalation is real and a trade

war is in no one's interests.

Our Washington Correspondent,

Nick Bryant, has more.

Harley Davidson, Levi and bourbon,

why are they significant? Because

Harley Davidson is made in

Wisconsin, where the Republican

House Speaker Paul Ryan comes from

and a lot of bourbon comes from

Kentucky, the home state of Mitch

McConnell. It does seem to be very

carefully targeted retaliatory

strikes against Republicans, who

frankly are not supportive of this

move to invoke tariffs. Paul Ryan is

calling for a rethink, he once the

President to consider the unintended

consequences but in the face of

criticism is at home and abroad,

turmoil in the global market, Donald

Trump has said, bring it on. Trade

wars are good thing and they can

easily be one.

He is being very

vocal on Twitter, his favourite form

of communication and China is also

calling this a stupid idea.

There

really has been a mirage of

international criticism for this.

From countries like China and close

neighbours like Canada, Justin

Trudeau very critical, saying this

would be unacceptable. Even allies

who are pretty slavish in their

support, like Austria. They have

been critical as well. And there has

been criticism within America from

manufacturing organisations, the

automobile group saying this would

raise the cost of cars.

Nick Bryant

in Washington.

The Turkish authorities have now

confirmed that 41 of their soldiers

have been killed so far in fighting,

in the north Syrian region of Afrin.

It's been one of the bloodiest

days in this offensive

which is targeting Kurdish fighters,

known as the YPG.

Turkey considers the US-backed

Kurdish militia that controls much

of north-eastern Syria

a terrorist group.

The BBC has managed

to film from the Kurdish

side of the conflict -

as Richard Galpin now reports.

Night-time in Afrin province in

north-eastern Syria. And Turkish

jets are pounding the target, at a

checkpoint. Bewildered survivors

emerge out of the dark. And are

picked up by ambulances. They have

been part of a large convoy of

vehicles bringing food and fuel for

the people of Afrin city. There were

casualties, including teenagers. But

most people had managed to run to

safety just in time. We came here as

a peaceful convoy for our brothers

in Afrin, we had no weapons, but the

forces rained shells on us. We don't

want them here or anywhere in Syria.

This, the remnants of the convoy.

Since Turkey began its offensive

against Kurdish fighters in the area

in January, human rights groups say

more than 90 civilians have been

killed and hundreds injured,

including children. They described

this as indiscriminate attacks. The

Kurdish areas, marked in yellow,

light along much of the border with

Turkey. The Afrin pocket in the far

north-west of Syria is a current

focus of the Turkish offensive. But

there may also be a move on the key

city of Graham Beech to enter

Kurdish fighters are driven well

away from the Turkish border. The

Turkish government says it is

targeting a Kurdish group known as

the YPG because it poses a strategic

threat as it is linked to

insurgents, also Kurdish, based

inside Turkey. Already the fighting

has forced an estimated 15,000

people to leave their homes in

search of safety. Many here

traumatised by what they have

witnessed. TRANSLATION:

Everyone had

fled from his village. The elderly

being carried. It was terrifying. I

fear the village has been destroyed.

No one knows how long they could be

stuck here. Turkey says the

offensive will continue until it is

completely uprooted the YPG fighters

from the border regions.

Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news.

In the US, more than 2000 people

have been paying their respects

to the world-famous evangelist Billy

Graham.

He died last week at the age of 99.

Both President Donald Trump

and his deputy, Mike Pence,

attended the funeral in Charlotte,

North Carolina.

Protests have been taking place

across Slovakia over the killing

of an investigative journalist

and his fiancee.

Jan Kuciak's work alleged links

between the Italian Mafia

and figures close to

the prime minister.

Tens of thousands of people

took to the streets

of the capital Bratislava alone.

Britain's Prince Harry

and Meghan Markle will invite more

than 2,500 members of the public

to the grounds of Windsor Castle

for their wedding.

They'll be able to watch

the couple arrive and depart.

Charity workers and school

children will be among

those invited to attend.

Stay with us on BBC

World News, still to come...

The secret life of penguins -

we'll tell you about the thriving

colony of birds enjoying life off

the Antarctic peninsula.

First, the plates slipped off the

restaurant tables and the tables,

chairs and people crashed sideways

and downwards. It was just a matter

of seconds as the ferry lurched onto

the side.

The hydrogen bomb, on a

remote Pacific atoll, the Americans

successfully tested a weapon whose

explosive force dwarfed that of the

bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Had they

heard the news earlier, my heart

went bang, bang.

The constitutional

rights of these marchers they are

the rights of the citizens of the US

and they should be protected, even

in the right to test them so they

don't get sent to hospital.

Religious controversy.

Does it worry

you that this will boil up? It

worries me, yes. Everything will be

all right in the end.

Welcome back.

The British Prime Minister,

Theresa May, has denied

that she wants to cherry-pick

the best bits of EU membership,

in a major speech setting

out her vision for a post-Brexit

partnership with the bloc.

President Trump has tweeted that

trade wars can be good,

because his country is losing

billions of dollars

in existing deals.

Mr Trump announced tariffs

on imports of steel and aluminium

to the US yesterday.

Immigration, independence

referendums, populist politics

and every day people

questioning their place in the EU.

We could be talking about any number

of European countries but right now,

the focus is on Italy with voters

going to the polls this Sunday.

Numerous parties are running -

but there are three main groupings.

There are also some

very familiar faces.

On the centre-right Forza Italia

is headed by a very familiar face,

former Prime Minister Silvio

Berlusconi.

He can't become PM until 2019

because of a tax fraud conviction.

But, depending on the results,

he could very much be

a kingmaker if it came down

to forming a coalition.

But his euro-sceptic coalition ally,

Matteo Salvini leader of League

has his own ambitions for the role.

The 5 Star Movement,

led by 31-year old Luigi Di Maio,

is one of Europe's biggest populist

movements.

And then on the centre-left,

there's the governing

Democratic Party led by the former

Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi.

Our Rome correspondent,

James Reynolds, explains why

predictions are difficult

in Italy's elections.

It is made all the more difficult by

the fact that Italian laws says that

for the two weeks before the

election you cannot have an opinion

polls so we can talk about the

opinion polls but they may be out of

date. Those last opinion polls taken

two weeks ago suggested the

centre-right coalition organised by

Silvio Berlusconi might be the ones

closest to the finishing line but

they might fall short of that. Those

polls also suggested that the Five

Star Movement might be the biggest

single political movement after the

election but they have struggled to

form alliances, essentially there

are two things going on. Italians

themselves vote on Sunday. Then the

Italian politicians who have been

elected will almost discuss among

themselves who should take power.

And when those discussions take

place, there is no one better, with

more experience, and Silvio

Berlusconi?

And it was fascinating

to watch him at one of his final

events in Rome. Organising and

convening his coalition partners as

if he had been doing this for years,

as if he was the one pulling the

strings. He cannot be King, the law

says anyone with a major conviction

cannot take part in public office.

But he can be the kingmaker. That

will depend on the numbers that come

out of Sunday. If the centre-right

coalition does well, it might be

that he looks to build the

government without coalition, it may

be at Forza Italia tries to break

away to form a grand coalition with

the centre-left and maybe five star

gets close. So many may bes because

this is how politics you usually

works.

In terms of the issues, what

is the main theme going through?

Immigration must be one of those?

I

will pick the other... Unemployment.

Going with yours, immigration has

become the key issue of this

campaign, in recent years more than

600,000 migrants have landed on

these shores from the Mediterranean,

not all of them have stayed but the

fact they have landed has changed

the way this country's debate

happens. The centre-right says

anyone who has come here illegally

should be deported. It appears they

have one strength in that. The other

issue is unemployment. Youth

unemployment in Italy is routinely

around 40% and there is a vast pool

of people who feel that Italy is not

listening to them. Those younger

people. It may be laid aside the

Five Star Movement, and

antiestablishment movement, is their

natural home.

James Reynolds

reporting from Rome. And BBC News

will be watching this race as it

unfolds, culminating with a special

programme right here on BBC World

News and the BBC News Channel as

well. That is Sunday at ten o'clock

in the evening.

There's no immediate end

in sight to the deep freeze

sweeping across Europe.

Heavy snowfall and deadly blizzards

will continue well into the weekend.

In parts of Eastern Croatia,

temperatures have plummeted

to minus 23 degrees.

The coastal Adriatic towns of Pula

and Split are covered in snow.

Though Thursday marked the first day

of the meteorological spring,

this morning was actually

the coldest this winter.

Italy remains stuck in sub-zero

temperatures, with snow blanketing

the cities of Bologna,

Venice and Florence.

The ice has left a number of major

roads blocked and caused disruption

to train and air travel.

Forecasters have warned that

conditions there aren't likely

to improve immediately.

This is the view overlooking

Westminster in London as the Houses

of Parliament and the London eye,

visible on a very cloudy night in

the capital.

In the UK, Storm Emma has collided

with the Siberian cold snap,

resulting in disruption across much

of the country.

Amid the misery for many,

stuck in cars, on trains,

struggling into work,

there've also been stories of great

heroism and of those who've gone out

of their way to come

to the aid of others.

Sarah Campbell reports.

An out of control car ends

up on the wrong side

of this Edinburgh road.

A collision seems inevitable.

No, no, no, no!

That it didn't happen

is thanks to the quick

reactions of the bus driver.

To me, it looks worse on the video

then I felt at the time.

I did get a fright,

but I managed to avoid it,

luckily, and then I got

on with my job after that.

I totally forgot all about it

and my husband asked me if he had

seen this video when I got home.

He didn't know it

was me at the time.

Born in Balgedie in Fife,

midwives made it to help

with a delivery and villages cleared

roads to get the baby

safely to hospital.

Across the UK people have refused

to let the weather get in their way.

This paramedic is part

of a cycle response team

for the London Ambulance Service.

And stranded drivers on the A1

in Northumberland were treated

to cream cakes and muffins,

by a fellow motorist happen to be

a delivery driver for Greggs.

This businessman paid for 12 hotel

rooms he offered to homeless people.

You can't expect people

to be out in that, it's

life-threatening conditions,

I thought, for the sake of £22 it

get's peple off the streets.

Lewis Hine, a patient

at Great Ormond Street Hospital

tweeted his heartfelt thanks

to the staff who made him

his very own snowman.

And stuck in Skegness

without an event to go to,

the BBC's Concert Orchestra

offered their services as a wedding

gift to fellow hotel

guests on their big day.

When they started, it

took your breath away.

Oh, yeah, totally unexpected.

Amid freezing temperatures,

the warmth of human

kindness has resonated.

What a great end to the package.

That is turn away from the weather

and get the sports news. Lizzy is

here. Great Britain's Katarina

Johnson-Thompson has won her first

world title, taking gold in the

pentathlon in front of the home

crowd at the world Indoor

Championships in Birmingham. Feeling

by 33 points going into the final

event, the 800 metres, she had two

seconds in hand over her nearest

rival. She did not need that,

comfortably finishing first.

I

cannot believe it. To come here and

do this in my hometown is something

I dreamt of doing. All my family are

here today. I went through a hard

year last year towards the end of

the year and I wanted my family to

see me actually achieve something so

I am so happy they were here to

witness it. Every event. It is just

something that I still cannot

believe, really.

Meanwhile, in the

men's long jump, Cuba had the

longest jump to take gold, the best

jump of the 19-year-old 's career so

far added eight metres 46 it was one

of the best indoor long jumps in

history. Kristin Wilde has claimed

gold after a dramatic day in the

women's omnium. Elinor Barker was

one of several riders caught up in

this crash during the elimination

part of the event, she got back on

her bike and was in bronze position

heading into the final event. But

she could not manage to hold on,

finishing in sixth place overall,

nine points from the middle. Wild

claims referred for the Netherlands.

The first medal of the day was won

by Cameron Meyer from Australia,

defending his title in the points

race, winning by some distance to

take his ninth world title. The home

rider took silver with Britain's

Mark Stewart completing the podium.

Real Madrid's Luka Modric has been

charged with perjury in his native

country, Croatia. It relates to the

midfielder making statements that

the tax fraud trial of his former

manager. , did say he made a full

statement in June last year over

details of his transfer from Dynamo

Kyiv to Spurs in 2008, and found

guilty he could face up five years

in prison. Boxing's WBC heavyweight

champion says he could beat anybody

at any time ahead of his title

defence on Saturday. Wilder is much

lighter than his opponent, as we

reported from New York. All the

talking is done, both fighters made

way to the next time when they see

each other, to settle their

differences at the Berkeley centre.

Deontay Wilder looked more muscular

and athletic but Luis Ortiz has

never been athletic but he is very

gifted, he is a southpaw and

unbeaten professionally. It is

called the biggest test of Wilder's

career. He said onstage that he is

coming in lighter but the wait will

mean nothing, he would rather be the

part and look the part and there is

a lot riding on this for Wilder,

victory could secure a unification

fight against Anthony Joshua, the

biggest name at the moment. England

was by Jonny Bairstow says he has no

plans to follow his one-day

team-mates into playing solely

limited overs cricket. England face

New Zealand in the third match of

their one-day series in just under

four hours and Bairstow says he

wants to stay in the test side as

well.

It is very much a personal

opinion, a personal decision. I will

not be playing solely white ball

cricket. For a long time. As I say,

it is an individual thing that

people have got to weigh up within

themselves.

And that is all the

sport for now. Thank you.

Now to those who are definitely more

at home in the snow -

a colony of more than 1.5 million

penguins has been discovered off

the Antarctic Peninsula.

With little human activity

on the Danger Islands,

a so-called super-colony of Adelie

penguins is thriving.

Our science correspondent

Victoria Gill has more.

A bird's eye view of

a seabird super colony.

1.5 million Adelie penguins

are nesting here on the aptly

named Danger Islands,

just east of the

Antarctic Peninsula.

Satellite images captured almost

four years ago had indicated that

a large colony might be here.

But it was only when a team

of British and US scientists mounted

an expedition to the remote,

rocky islands that they

were able to carry out

at detailed penguin census.

Painstaking headcounts,

along with aerial photography,

revealed the scale of

this wildlife haven.

I joined the same researchers

in Antarctica in 2016 and captured

just a snapshot of their decade

of wildlife monitoring

in this frozen landscape.

Work like this on the ground

in the Antarctic has revealed that

Adelie penguins on the west

of the peninsular are in decline,

so this discovery just 100 miles

away provides a vital clue

about a site that could be

a refuge for the birds.

And it might need more protection

from human activities like fishing.

One key to this island's vast

stable colony, researchers

say, is its sea ice.

As well as being a vital breeding

ground for the crustaceans,

or krill, that penguins rely on it

makes access to the island difficult

for fisheries and shipping.

There's already proposal

to make the Weddell Sea

around the Danger Islands

a marine protected area.

Views like this show just

what that could preserve.

Victoria Gill, BBC News.

A positive note to end the programme

on. We are on social media and there

is lots more online. Goodbye.