Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20171216

And in half an hour here on bbc news we go through the lens, capturing Iconic Images of moments that shaped history. Barry sherman, a billionaire who founded canadas largest drugs firm, and his wife honey, have been found dead at their home in toronto. Police described the deaths as suspicious, but said they were not being treated as murder. Angus crawford reports. One of torontos richest suburbs, a house for sale. In the basement, a discovery, two bodies, a man and a woman. Barry sherman and his wife, honey, one of the richest couples in the country. Police cannot yet say what happened. The circumstances of their death lead us to believe that there may be suspicious circumstances. It is an investigative tool. Until we know exactly how they died, we treat it as suspicious, and once a determination has been made by the pathologist and the coroner, we move forward from there. Barry sherman, who was 75, is thought to be worth more than £2 billion. He made his money in pharmaceuticals, setting up apotex in the 1970s, and building it into one of the biggest Drugs Companies in the world. Stepping down as chief executive in 2012, he dedicated himself to charity work. Today, canadian premier Justin Trudeau said that he and his wife sent their condolences to the shermans family and friends and everyone touched by their vision and spirit. Local people came to the couples home to lay flowers and pay their respects. This woman still could not believe the news. At work, extremely respected. People looked up to him. People are in shock, crying. They are genuinely heartbroken. Apotex released a statement, saying for now, the Investigation Continues into two deaths which leave a community in shock, and a family in mourning. A special meeting to elect a new leader of south africas governing party, the anc, has been delayed by arguments over who is allowed to vote. President jacob zumawhos been beset by allegations of corruption is standing down. There are fears among members that the vote could split the party ahead of the next president ial election in 2019. 0ur correspondent Pumza Fihlani reports. A call for change by members of the embattled African National congress. These are some of the delegate who is ll be voting for the anc leader. The party has never been more divided but its time to present a united front. These people waiting patiently have the future of the anc in their hands and possibly south africas. Underjacob zumas leadership, the party has been plagued by allegations of corruption and croneyism and the row over his governments has split the party down the middle. There is a desire that the middle. There is a desire that the vote should bring africas old est the vote should bring africas oldest Liberation Movement back together. I hope that on the conference floor people will find one another. This has not been easy, for the last five years. Its a hope against hope, but i hope that, you know, the life of the anc will somehow surge today. The anc has been losing support and the two candidates have very different ideas on how to arrest that decline. Its been such a bitter fight that whoever wins will have the difficult task of bringing the opposing faction on board. But with a National Election in just two years, many say unless the party cleans up house, it could find itself out of power for the First Time Since the end of apartheid. A leading supporter of brexit has said the uk cannot become a colony of the eu during the expected two year transition period after britains withdrawal in march 2019. Jacob rees mogg made the comments after eu leaders yesterday agreed to move to the next phase of brexit discussions in the new year. They also suggested the uk would continue to participate in the Single Market and remain under thejurisdiction of the European Court ofjustice during any transition phase. The date when the uk leaves the eu, march 29 2019 is now likely not to be set in law. Lets speak to our Political Correspondent tom barton. Tom, take us through what has upset Jacob Rees Mogg . Tom, take us through what has upset Jacob Reesmogg . Its all about what is in this document. This was published by the European Council after that summit that theresa may attended earlier in the week. Now, im sure you will remember back in september at a speech in florence, theresa may committed the government to trying to get a transition deal for about two years and essentially, what this does is lay out what the eu thinks that transition period involves. In essence, what they are saying is that the uk will have to continue to accept eu laws, but also to a cce pt continue to accept eu laws, but also to accept any changes or new laws which were introduced during that period. 0n which were introduced during that period. On top of that, theyll have to carry on with things like Free Movement and carry on accepting the judgments of the European Courts of justice. But its that detail around having to accept changes to laws which is really getting Jacob Rees Mogg worried. Which is really getting Jacob Reesmogg worried. The prime ministers consistently said that she is in favour of an implementation which means we leave in march 2019 and that the consequences of in march 2019 and that the consequences of leaving are implemented. But we cannot be a colony of the European Union for two years from 2019 2021 accepting new laws that are made without any say so of the british people, parliament or government. That is not leaving the European Union, that is being a vassell state of the European Union and i would be very surprised if that were government policy. Does he have support for his view . On the broad issue of transition period, there is generally consensus within the conservative party. After the florence speech, the idea of a couple of years of transition was generally accepted and it was mostly for the reason that although trade talks are going to start now, formal trade negotiations cant begin until after britain has left the European Union and so it seems that across the board the views been taken that some sort of transition period which gives continuity for business while those detailed trade negotiations are taking place is broadly a good thing, there are though, as we heard from Jacob Rees Mogg the questions around the detail of that and in particular whether or not we should be forced to a cce pt whether or not we should be forced to accept changes to the rules after weve left. 0n to accept changes to the rules after weve left. On that broad issue today, Philip Hammond, the chancellor, on a visit to china, was asked whether britain was committed to essentially maintaining the status quo. In his answer, he said yes. We will no longer be members of the European Union. We wont technically or legally be in the Customs Union or in the Single Market, but we are committed, as a result of the agreement we have made this week, to creating an environment which will effectively replicate the current status quo so that businesses can carry on trading with their commercial partners across the European Union as they do iiow. Across the European Union as they do now. Borders will operate as they do iiow now. Borders will operate as they do now and financial services, businesses will be able to carry on conducting their business across borders, as they do now. So it seems nor the transition period at least, things are going to stay the same. 0bviously beyond that, its all down to the trade deal which is going to be negotiated over the next year or so. Be negotiated over the next year or so. Thank you very much. Officials in california say the biggest of the wildfires which have driven tens of thousands of people from their homes now covers nearly four hundred square miles. A firefighter has died tackling the flames north of los angeles. 0ur correspondent james cook sent this report from the town of fillmore. 12 days on and still it burns. More than 8,000 men and women are now battling this blaze, saving homes one by one. Not far from here, the fire claimed the life of 32 year old cory iverson, a firefighter, a father and a husband. He is survived by his wife, ashley, his two year old daughter, evie. Cory and ashley are expecting a second daughter this spring. The fire has destroyed homes, too. More than 700 of them and another 18,000 buildings remain at risk. This is one of five homes in this tiny neighbourhood which was destroyed when the flames swept through here so fast that firefighters had to abandon the area. Which ones survived and which were destroyed was a matter of pure luck. Aaron lawson and his family were among the lucky ones. Their home was scorched, but it survived, thanks in part to neighbours who lost everything but stayed to fight the fire. The most rewarding thing is seeing them, some of the guys who lost their houses, working with us, side by side, to keep our houses safe those first few days. All week, they have been racing to contain the fire, and with fierce winds forecast again tonight, that battle is about to intensify. James cook, bbc news, fillmore in california. Austria is poised to become the only western european country with a far right party in government. The conservative Peoples Party which won the parliamentary election two months ago, but failed to secure a majority struck a Coalition Deal with the anti immigration freedom party. The leaders of the two parties have met with the austrian president , who has given his approval for the deal. The head of the Peoples Party, Sebastian Kurz whos 31 will be the Youngest National leader in the world. The first gay wedding has taken place in australia, since the countrys Marriage Equality act was passed just over a week ago. Marriage is the union of two people. Lauren price and amy laker both wore traditional dresses as they became the first legal same sex couple to marry at a ceremony in camden, south west of sydney. All but 4 mps voted for australia to become the 26th country to legalise gay marriage, following 60 percent support from a nationwide postal referendum. David cameron is to lead a uk Government Investment with china. The announcement comes off the back ofa the announcement comes off the back of a two day visit to the country by the chancellor, Philip Hammond. Mr cameron will be involved in the new 1 billion fund which will invest in the uk, china and other countries. Earlier, bbcs china correspondent, robin brandt was asked to explain why Philip Hammond was bringing David Cameron back into the political fold. I think maybe the answer to that is more about uk institutional investors, their desire to have such a prominent figure on board and mr camerons desire to continue the work he did in government where he championed even closer ties, expanded ties, between the uk and china. Philip hammond told me a few hours ago here in beijing that he supports this investment fund, he endorses it but it is not public money, not taxpayers money, not a government fund. Nonetheless, David Cameron, very well known, has taken a pretty low profile since he left downing street a year ago. He has campaigned on some health causes, hes been involved in the National Citizen service for 16 17 year olds in the uk. But he is now turning his aim to institutional investing and continuing that focus on, as i said, trying to improve and expand economic ties between china and the uk. So i think Philip Hammond thinks that David Cameron will lead this fund, is going to invest in a swathe of projects, possibly, pipelines, railways, infrastructure projects, closely linked with the rather awkwardly named belton Road Initiative which is chinas number one Public Policy priority and is aimed at helping economies to the west of china and beyond in europe to develop, because that helps china gain access there and then helps those countries improve their economic ties with china. But i think what it shows more than anything, when you add it to comments from Philip Hammond, is how much the uk continues to believe in better relations with china, better economic ties, because it believes, especially as brexit approaches and then passes, that china, the worlds number two economy, is key to helping the uk economy grew. Heinz wolff has died aged 89. We ask teams of three to perform miracles in science and technology. His trademark bow tie and hair, the german born inventor became known to british tv audiences in the 70s and 80s on the great egg race which encouraged teams to invent useful things out of every day objects. The Headlines Police in canada say theyre treating the deaths of the billionaire businessman barry cherman and his wife as suspicious. After a bitter campaign, south africas governing anc is preparing to vote for a new leader to replace president jacob to vote for a new leader to replace president jacob zuma. And a leading brexit supporting mp says hes unhappy about the idea of britain staying in the Single Market and Customs Union during any transitional period. Thousands of romanians are lining the streets of bucharest for the funeral of king michael the first. King michael was best known for the coup he staged in august 19114, switching romania from the nazi to the allied side in the Second World War. He was however later forced to abdicate by the communist government in 19117. He died last week in switzerland at the age of 96. Doctor mark almond is a lecturer in modern history at the university of oxford. Hejoined my colleague he joined my colleague to speak about the funeral. It is a symbolic moment, hes the last surviving head of state from the Second World War and in that sense, although our own queen was alive and active as a young person in the Second World War, it marks the end of an era and also marks the end of an era for the monarchy. We see why so many european monarchs or future monarchs like Prince Charles who has gone to the funeral, he was part of an International Big family of royalty, even if he had been excluded from romania until 1990. Being born in the period that he was, he was presumably connected to all of the crowned heads of europe. So, through his greek side, of course he connected with Prince Philip and Prince Charles, Prince Charles has always been interested in romania before communism and was anxious to mitigate the effects of the regime and since 1989 he promoted various charities and so on. And this coup 119811, he must have been a very young king. Was he taking a risk or was it opportunism because he could see how the war was running . 1944. The roaming in elite got rid of his father in 1940 and brought him as a young man to be king and he was a figurehead. With the arrival of the red army, a lot of politicians decided that they wanted to get rid of the dictator, he had the constitutional power to get rid of the pro minister. Constitutional power regarding the prime minister. The germans occupied hungary and arrested the head of the government. King michael the first took a risk and the problem was, the communist party was enormously enhanced by the arrival of the red army and they had no time for moderates, even those that had for monarchs, even those that had cooperated with stalin. That gave him the victory and one of the most distinguished medals that you could get. And he was kicked out of his country, i heard a story the other day after he died, apparently he drove himself out and was allowed to take a couple of his fondest souvenir cars with him as he left the palace . It seems that ironically, being an exile monikers it seems that ironically, being an exile monarch and the easiest thing in the world to do. How do you live . He went into business but this medal that stalin gave him was worth 60,000 due to the diamonds on it. At the time that amount of money was very worth having. He had to work for a living and found himself in the twilight world. Nobody expected communism to fall. If you like your salability is a royal was limited. It was one thing to still be a moderate in western europe or his relations in spain to come back to the monarchy in 1975. He was obliged to live a very modest life, a business life, and he lived in the shadow of his flamboyant father. He was an austere, a very shy man. I think that that was part of both why he had respect and affection but also why he wasnt able to make a comeback after 1990. More than a million homes and businesses across the uk still struggle to get good broadband. The report by 0fcom found roughly 4 of properties in the uk were stuck with slow internet speeds. The situation is worse in rural areas with 17 of homes having a poor connection. Severn trent water has apologised for customers in tewkesbury still without water because of a burst main. The company said a wide area has been affected and it was a complicated job to get the system back to normal. Severn trent has been handing out water to around 10,000 homes and businesses. Its the second major leak to hit the utility in recent months. Emergency services are expecting this weekend to be one of the busiest of the year. Extra ambulance crews were brought in ahead of last night, amid concerns that so called mad friday, the most popular day for works christmas parties, would see a surge of alcohol fuelled incidents. Michael cowan reports. It is one of the busiest nights of the year for our Emergency Services, so much so that londons Ambulance Service are bringing in an extra 30 crews. Were going to be incredibly busy this weekend, and we will take lots of 999 calls to patients that have suffered the effects of alcohol. That puts a massive strain on our system. It means that we will divert ambulance resources away from patients, perhaps an elderly patient on the floor with a broken hip or a baby with a broken arm, in order to attend those patients that present as immediately life threatened. The pubs are packed and the pints are poured, but with many of us drinking to excess over the festive period, Ambulance Services across the country have to bring in scores of extra staff, and that puts huge pressure on our Emergency Services. In bath, locals have banded together on volunteer boat patrols along the river avon to support the stretched Emergency Services. And they are saving lives. Cold water shock is a killer. You lose your bodily functionions, you are unable to control your limbs and swim properly. The main casualties are students celebrating the end of term. 0ne fell in the river last week. We asked him, how did you get in there . Not sure. I have been drinking. We whisked him away to hospital. After that we are not sure what happened in terms of, did he need further treatment. And if you had not been here . Probably dead. In scotlands Party Capital of glasgow, pastors have been patrolling the streets. It is the volume of people coming into town, it is the fact that some people, this is their annual night out in glasgow, theyre not used to the city centre, drinking, the temperature. The whole mixture together makes it a bit more vulnerable for them. And with tonight set to be busy again, Emergency Services are asking people to drink responsibly as they deal with one of the most difficult periods of the year. They were thought to be lost forever but now tv shows starring cilla black and Pete Postlethwaite will be seen for the first time in decades today at an exhibition in london. The event by the British Film Institute celebrates the discovery of programmes which were believed to have disappeared from the archives. 0ur entertainment correspondent Colin Paterson has had a preview. I could learn a lot of things from you. You shine at every single thing you do. Cilla black and dudley moore together on her bbc one variety show. This episode of cilla has not been seen since it was first transmitted in march, 1968. Youre the one whos really versatile. A copy has turned up in the house of a former fairground worker near blackpool, whose dad was a film collector. Today it will be shown in full at the Bfi Southbank as part of their missing believed wiped series, where rediscovered tv is showcased, including a crackly recording of the first ever tv appearance by Pete Postlethwaite at the age of 29. I still like you, sometimes. Come on. Local loony hears voices from outer space, get on with it. Lets get it over with. One was a half hour bbc play broadcast in 1975, from which he played a journalist investigating a possible arrival of an alien spaceship. The original was wiped, but the director held onto the video of the first edit, which has been restored. 0ther discoveries include the only surviving episode of late night horror from 1968, which was cancelled by the bbc after one six part series, due to the number of complaints about it being too scary. And an episode of itv police drama no hiding place has turned up in australia. In the 1960s it had audiences of seven million, but only 20 of the 236 episodes survived. This one is from 1960 and features a guest appearance by Patrick Troughton as a grumpy prisoner, six years before hejoined dr who. They dont release nutcases you know, not even after seven years good conduct. You will do another seven, in a straitjacket its hoped events like this will encourage more people to come forward with their own tv treasures. Talk about Magic Moments of television a rare piece of a woolly mammoth has been discover and could fetch up to £450,000. Hugh schofield reports from paris. According to the auctioneers, it is the largest woolly mammoth skeleton in private hands. On display at the auction house in the city of lyon, it stands 3. 4 metres high with magnificent curving tusks which reach more than three metres in length. It is also a rare example because 80 of the skeleton is the original bone, and only 20 is resin used to complete the assembly. Translation if you want to put it in a room it must be big. Look here, in a building hall, it does not seem disproportionate. Indeed, you need space. There are not 50 people in lyon who could find room for it but in the world there must be 500 or 1000 who could, if they want, put it in an apartment hall, a company hall, everyone would be pleased and it is funny translation in one year after exhibiting the mammoth, a wine seller doubled their turnover they had the opportunity to do a special mammoth vintage wine which brought tourists from the region and all over the world because the Tourist Office promoted this skeleton. Unique in the region. Woolly mammoths lived alongside early man, who hunted the animals and portrayed them in cave drawings but they became extinct more than 10,000 years ago. This male is believed to have been about 50 years old when he died. Scientists say that his teeth show signs of decay, which may have been a factor in his death, if it was unable to graze. Hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. Talking about permafrost, i heard it was meant to be mild this weekend, what is going on . Well, it is going to bea what is going on . Well, it is going to be a slow process. As you will see, we are going to get rid of this sort of malarkey in the run up to christmas. Im not going to go as far as christmas weekend or christmas itself but there is an absolute militia mash of weather on offer just at the moment. Absolute militia mash of weather on offerjust at the moment. It really depends where you are. This boundary of cloud and rain is quite important because, to the south and west of that, its relatively mild. To the north and east, its much brighter and crisper. That is how it stays overnight. Watch out for frost and fog patches in that brighter regime. 0ut towards the west, its much milder. There is mild air already in the south west, it will be joinded by this area of milder air coming in from the atlantic. But as im sure you are aware, as soon as from the atlantic. But as im sure you are aware, as soon as i say mild, it probably means wet and that is the way for scotland and Northern Ireland, im afraid and increasingly the western fringes of Northern Ireland and wales, as we start the new day on sunday. 0ut east, nowhere near as bright as you are having it today, that is for sure. It will be an unfortunate combination across east anglia and the south east because you will still have the cold air but no sunshine. Therell be quite a bit of cloud in northern and western parts out east, still that