Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20171229

Of treacherous conditions in the worst affected areas. Glasgow airport reopens after snow caused it to suspend all flights. Its advising passengers to check with their airlines. At least 12 people have died including a baby after a fire at an apartment block in the bronx district of new york. Apple apologises for deliberately slowing down ageing iphones. It says the move was intended to prolong the life of the phones. Also easing the impact of excessive drinking on busy accident and emergency units. The nhs considers making mobile drunk tanks a permanent feature across england. And we investigate why africa is in the midst of a baby boom. Thats in half an hour here on bbc news. Good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. Weather warnings are in place for parts of Northern England and scotland today after heavy snow and blizzard conditions affected large parts of the uk. Glasgow airport was closed for a few hours with flights suspended, but has now reopened. The temperature plunged to 12c at Loch Glascarnoch in the Scottish Highlands overnight and forecasters say driving conditions will remain difficult for the rest of the day. Judith moritz reports. Grounded at glasgow, flights out of the citys airport were suspended after snow settled overnight. The airport reopened by mid morning, but managers have apologised for the knock on disruption that was caused. Temperatures plummeted in scotland. Heavy snow fell in glasgow city centre, and in the highlands the mercury fell to 12 celsius on what the met office described as the coldest night of the year. Gritters have been covering the major routes, with everybody keeping an eye on the forecast. Conditions are constantly changing at this time of the year. Even with the detailed forecasts we get, we cant always get it 100 right. In daylight, the gritting continued. Motorways remained free flowing. The snow has been falling steadily all morning across swathes of Northern England. As predicted, it has been settling most in areas like this just outside huddersfield on the higher ground. In cumbria, Hazardous Conditions left some vehicles stranded on the motorway. There were also delays on other main roads. But with schools closed and many off work anyway for the holidays, disruption has not been too bad. And there has been plenty of opportunity for snow themed entertainment. And judith gave me the details in the last few minutes about how people have been affected in huddersfield and across the north of england. It depends where you are, obviously. We usually report from this area in the winter because it is often the first place that gets any disruption, the Trans Pennine routes the first to be affected. At the moment, the usual suspect roads have been closed. The cat and fiddle section of the row between buxton and macclesfield, the wood had passed, those tra ns pennine and macclesfield, the wood had passed, those Trans Pennine routes we re passed, those Trans Pennine routes were closed this morning. But the m62, which you can see running freely behind me, has been running all morning, although it was treacherous earlier on. And the m6 in cumbria has also stayed open, although it was reduced earlier today. I believe conditions there we re today. I believe conditions there were also difficult. Rogue Recovery Services today have predicted problems. The aa said there would be 10 million cars out on the roads today, and the rac says it is expected to deal with one break down every ten seconds. So it has not been without difficulty but by and large, the roads are moving, the main roads anyway. Looking ahead, the met office are saying the snow will ease up, but there are warning of icy conditions. That is the other thing to look out for. The advice across the board isjust thing to look out for. The advice across the board is just to take great care. 12 people have been killed in a fire at an Apartment Building in the bronx district of new york. The citys mayor, bill de blasio, called it the worst fire of its kind in the city in 25 years. The victims, including three children, died on various floors of the five storey building, as jon ironmonger reports. It is new yorks deadliest blaze for decades. Fire broke out on the first floor of a five storey Apartment Building and spread rapidly, sparking panic among residents in a busy corner of the bronx district. Fire crews arrived at the scene within three minutes, but it was too late for many of the residents. Those who managed to escape described the chaos as people rushed to flee the smoke. The fire truck wasnt even here yet when all the smoke and stuff was coming out at first. They werent even here yet. They started to get everybody out, but people were on the fire escape already trying to get down on their own. Thats how fast it was moving. At least 12 people were rescued from the building, as firefighters plucked residents from this fire escape. Outside in the bitter cold, locals huddled under blankets. Speaking after the fire had been brought under control, new york mayor bill de blasio called it an unspeakable tragedy. In the middle of the Holiday Season is a time when families are together. Tonight, here in the bronx, there are families that have been torn apart. This is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter of the century, based on the information we have now. This will rank as one of the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years. The Fire Department said it was too early to comment on the cause of the blaze, and the search of the building is continuing. The mayor has warned the death toll could rise further. John ironmonger, bbc news. Earlier i spoke tojohn schiumo from cbs news who gave us the latest on the situation from the bronx casualty figures remain the same. 12 people are confirmed to be dead. Another four are critically injured. Among those 12 dead, i can tell you more about their ages. There is a one year old, a two year old and a seven year old. As far as the investigation goes, it is still an active seem. Behind me, you can see far marshall is trying to figure out what sparked this blaze. You can see far marshals. We do know there was an open violation in the building. Apparently, the Smoke Detector and Carbon Monoxide detector and Carbon Monoxide detector on the first floor were defective and there was an open violation against the building, meaning the building had to fix it at some point. It is unclear when the blaze broke out, but the fire marshals are trying to figure out how this fire started and why it spread so fast. And what other people in the area are saying about the speed of the response, the way in which those who are now homeless are going to be looked after in very cold temperatures too . Yes. Regarding the response, the Fire Department were here within three minutes. So i have heard very few if any complaints about the response. This is a very densely populated area in the bronx, and the Fire Department is just up the block. As for those who are displaced, this is a typical 5 storey building here. It houses 25 apartments. Obviously, the building is not in habitable at this point, but there is a responsibility to make sure those dispersed have a home. There is a city bus nearby in case people need to stay warm inside. I can report to you that that bus is empty right now, which means people have found homes elsewhere. The red cross was here, helping that process unfold. New york city is a right to shelter city. As a result, people were taken to homeless shelters if they had no other place to go. Lets take a look at some of the other stories making the news this afternoon. Police say a woman found murdered in north london had been stabbed and beaten. The body of Iuliana Tudos who was 22 and from moscow was discovered on wednesday in finsbury park, near her home. Its thought she might have been attacked on christmas eve. A further 29 people in urgent need of medical assistance have now been transferred to damascus from a rebel held area near the syrian capital, in a deal with the government. The un says nearly 500 people are in urgent need of medical care in ghouta. 18 children and six women were among those taken out over the past few days. Two men have appeared in court via video link charged with terror offences relating to an alleged plot for an attack over christmas. Our correspondent dominic cascani is at westminster magistrates court. Explain what happened today in court . This case involves two men, one from chesterfield, who is a settled former kurdish refugee, now settled former kurdish refugee, now settled and the owner of the mermaid fish bar in the town, and another man who is 22 and from sheffield. They were both arrested on the 19th of december in a major operation from the counterterrorism policing north east union, one of the countrys largest terrace units. In that operation, people will remember that operation, people will remember that a street was evacuated as an Army Bomb Disposal is what was called in to investigate some of the materials found. Both men were charged last night with a single count, jointly, of preparing an act of terrorism. Today at westminster magistrates court, prosecutors told the senior districtjudge that in essence, these two men had allegedly been researching and planning to build a home made bomb that they had allegedly acquired some of the chemicals to make that bomb and other components, and also allegedly carried out a test explosion on an improvised explosive device which was recorded on a smartphone. During this mornings hearing, a solicitor for andi this mornings hearing, a solicitor forandi sami this mornings hearing, a solicitor for andi sami star, the fish and chip shop owner, make clear to the court that his client vehemently denied any association with terrorism or any plan to build a bomb. He told the court that not only would his client be pleading not guilty, but that he had a com pletely not guilty, but that he had a completely plausible explanation for what had been found. He said he had been making home made fireworks for a new years eve do and he could prove it because he had witnesses to his attempts to make these fireworks. He told the court they had not been very good, but that was what he had been up to. He denied any involvement in terrorism. Both men were remanded in custody, however, by the deputy senior districtjudge. They will next appear in court at the old bailey on the 19th of january. Appear in court at the old bailey on the 19th ofjanuary. Dominic, thanks very much. A huge fire at an office and restaurant complex in indias Financial Capital mumbai has killed at least 14 people and injured several others. Most of the victims are thought to be young women who were attending a birthday party. Sanjoy majumder reports. The fire broke out on a rooftop restau ra nt the fire broke out on a rooftop restaurant in a popular commercial district in the heart of mumbai. Within minutes, it spread, first to a bar next door and then through the entire building. Most of the victims we re entire building. Most of the victims were women attending a party at the bar. Those who escaped described the terrifying moments as they desperately tried to get out. There was a stampede and someone pushed me, one of the survivors tweeted. People were running over me even as the ceiling above me was collapsing in flames. Still dont know how i got out alive. The bbcs gujerati Service Editor was at the restaurant and has this eyewitness account. Suddenly, we heard somebody screaming that there is a fire, everybody please run that way. He was pointing towards the fire exit. Within seconds, before we could gather what went wrong, there was a stampede. In less than three minutes after the fire started, all of the area was engulfed in fire. Before anyone, including us, could reach the staircase, the first place to catch fire completely was the fire exit. The blaze was eventually put out early in the morning. The structure completely gutted. It was located in a congested neighbourhood that once housed the citys colonial era textile mills, and is now filled with bars, restaurants and offices. Some are still located in the old factories, others in high rise glass and steel towers. But many of them like proper Safety Systems and emergency exits. An investigation has now been ordered to determine what caused the fire. The ftse 100 has ended the ftse100 has ended the year at a record high. The main index of shares has just ended 2017 at 7687, up shares has just ended 2017 at 7687, up 7. 6 on last year. The Mining Sector saw the biggest games this year. Utilities like water and electricity were the weakest. Lets unpick the numbers and find out what it all means. Our Business Correspondentjoe klein it all means. Our Business Correspondent joe klein has it all means. Our Business Correspondentjoe klein has been looking at them. We know this because trading has finished for 2017. Nice half day for everyone in the city. As you say, this is an all time record high. There has never been a number as high as this. So it has been a very good year, up 7. 6 . There was a spike in the last half hour since we last spoke. You also spoke about the Mining Sector. Anglo american is one of the largest in the Mining Sector. They are based in south africa, but listed here in london. They earn a lot of their money, if not most of it, in dollars. So by bringing back dollars into a weaker currency, stirling, they are earning more. So their shares are up about 33 in the last year. Compared to glaxosmithkline, thatis year. Compared to glaxosmithkline, that is a giant pharmaceutical company, their shares were down 16 . It shows that not everybody is up, but because of the waiting of the mining stocks, if they go up, they bring the whole of the ftse100 up with it. And the ftse is listed in london, but that doesnt mean we are only talking about financial events in this country. That is right. I dont think the ftse100 is an accurate representation of the health of the british economy. It is the health of the Global Economy and the health of the Global Economy and the giant companies that are listed in london that are presented on the ftse100. We discussed about sterling falling and as a result, companies are bringing back more valuable currency and listing those profits here in london, so they have had a good year. A better representation might be the ftse 250, which is the smaller companies. They have also had good years, but not the same kind of all time record highs we are talking about for the ftse100. Also on that list is the dowjones. It will start trading in an hour in new york. It is at nearly 25,000, up 26 in the course of a year. For the worlds biggest index of shares, it is unprecedented to see such an incredible jump. A of shares, it is unprecedented to see such an incrediblejump. A lot of that was on the basis of the trump bump, as it was called. People thought trump would be good for business. He did introduce the tax cuts, and as a result, the company s have made more money and their shares have rocketed. A quick thought about to what extent this matters to people who dont have stocks and shares, who dont work in a big financial institution, like most people . It is a healthy warning. Most people will not own a huge portfolio of shares. The wealthiest among us may own a portfolio of shares, but we may be investing in the ftse without knowing it because our Pension Funds are saved every month. That goes into a big pot which just to give richard in various markets to earn as much money as we can. So subliminally, we dont think we have gained, but maybe when we retire at 65 or 67, we will appreciate it. 65, you will be lucky we will probably still be here at 80, looking at numbers. Our geriatric correspondent joins us now see you soon. The headlines on bbc news there are warnings of delays to road, rail and air travel and possible power cuts because of snow and ice. Glasgow airport has now reopened after snow caused it to suspend all flights. At least 12 people are dead, including three children, after a fire at an apartment block in new yorks bronx district. Apple apologises for deliberately slowing down ageing iphones. It says the move was intended to prolong the life of the phones. Sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. The melbourne rain frustrated england on the fourth day of the fourth ashes test, but their camp still harbour hopes of pushing for victory on the fifth and final day tomorrow. James anderson was dismissed by the first ball of the day, leaving Alastair Cook unbeaten on 244. Australia had lost two wickets for 103 when they were happy to go off for persistent rain in the afternoon session, still 61 runs behind and stil in trouble. Any time there is a bit of rain and you are on top in the game, it is frustrating. But we have an opportunity tomorrow to win. So thats the attitude we have to take into tomorrow. We showed in the first innings that we can take a number wickets quickly. 98 overs tomorrow is more than enough time, if we play well, to force a result. Ona on a wicket like this, the game moves a lot slower. As a batsman, you have to be prepared to that a long period of time to get your runs. There are a lot of fielders in front of you on a wicket like this. So you have to be prepared to bat for long periods of time. There was a controversial note to the end of play when australian media suggested James Anderson had used his thumb to tamper with the ball. The england camp angrily denied the claims, and have been told by the umpires that they arent looking into the matter. Trevor bayliss described the accusations as pommie bashing. Everton manager sam alla rdyce admitted today that his club are in desperate need of a new striker. His comments come in the midst of stories linking the club with a host of names, including the turkish forward chenk tosun of besiktas. Allardyce refused to be drawn on names at his press conference before tomorows match with bournemouth, but says his side arent as sharp as they need to be up front. We would be actively looking for a front man, because i need more goals than we have at the moment if we are to just than we have at the moment if we are tojust maintain our than we have at the moment if we are to just maintain our position. As we can all see, we have started to struggle to create chances and score goals in recent matches. So it is still one of the major problems. Novak djokovic says he is terribly disappointed to postpone his return to tennis on the advice of his medical team. The former world number one was due to make his comeback at an exhibition match in abu dhabi this afternoon, and he will be replaced at the event by none other than andy murray, who is also making his long awaited comeback from a hip injury. Djokovic hasnt played since pulling out of his wimbledon quarterfinal against Tomas Berdych with an elbow injury, and his participation in next months Australian Open is now in doubt. Murray will take on Spains Roberto Bautista agut in abu dhabi at 3pm uk time. Thats all the sport for now. You can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. Thats bbc. Co. Uk sport. And ill have more for you in the next hour. Definitely the bbc website im so sorry the head of the nhs in england, simon stevens, says hes considering the routine deployment of mobile alcohol recovery units, nicknamed drunk tanks, to reduce hospital admissions. Up to 70 of visits to a e departments on friday and saturday nights are linked to excess drinking. Adina campbell reports. Binge drinking at its worst a big headache for police and a burden for the nhs. Its estimated up to 15 of attendances at Emergency Departments in the uk are alcohol related. At this time of year, that number is significantly more, with as many as 70 of attendances at a e because of drinking. The uks first mobile drunk tank was introduced in bristol three years ago, and there have been others in manchester, cardiff and newcastle. A supervised area in a city centre, it offers those who have had too much to drink a chance to be checked over by medical staff and sleep off the alcohol, keeping them away from a e or a police cell and now nhs england says it is considering routine use of the facility. We think that these facilities do have the potential to take the pressure off a e departments. Thats why they have been opened in some areas of the country. But were interested in looking at them further and seeing the results over this winter before making a decision about rolling them out more widely. Its obviously important to reduce pressure in a e. If there are patients that we can manage elsewhere, that we find alternative services for those individuals, and this is one potential possibility. Nhs england says it is monitoring new Year Celebrations to see whether the scheme should be extended to other areas, and it will make a decision early next year. Adina campbell, bbc news. Apple has apologised to its customers after it admitted slowing down older iphones, it says in order to protect their batteries. The company said it would never intentionally shorten the life of any apple product, and said it would offer replacement batteries at a discounted price. The Technology Specialist Charlie Brown says the company has given in to anger from its customers. It was an interesting ground swell of angerfrom it was an interesting ground swell of anger from customers that grew so large that apple had to respond. I dont believe they have to apologise for what they did, but more the way they did it. Not telling your customer these days what you are doing in the background is a real no no, especially when youre making a product that so many of us rely on day today, day, hourto a product that so many of us rely on day today, day, hour to hour. What we saw was, every time apple did an update of this software where these changes to peoples operating structure would occur, there would bea structure would occur, there would be a massive spike on google of people searching slow iphone. But then told us that, hang on a second, something is going on here. It didnt take too long for these programmers to debunk what was going on. So the apology is obviously well received. The 30 for replacing your battery, i think will be fantastic because iphone customers will be able to extend the life of their battery and i think you will see other manufacturers respond in kind shortly as well. Researchers in scotland have saved the leg of a dog using a new technique to grow bones in the laboratory. The dog, named, eva, would have had her entire leg amputated, were it not for a novel method of creating bone. The treatment on eva is a world first. The team from Glasgow University are planning to try it on human patients. Pallab ghosh has this exclusive report. Theres no holding her back, but last year evas leg was broken in a road accident. Her vet tried everything, but nothing worked. Her entire leg was going to be amputated. She had not been able to get out for ten months, other than to the toilet. But to fiona kirklands delight, her dog was saved by an experimental bone growing technique. It is absolutely fantastic, were so pleased to have our dog back and fit and healthy. The vet showed me the problem. The blood supply to the edge of the bones had failed, so it was not able to heal the break. The scientists coated the dead areas with artificial bone and afterjust six weeks, it was completely mended. The artificial bone mix was made at Glasgow University. It consists of sterilised chips that are coated with bone cells and the chemicals that make them grow, like a fertiliser. We want to look at treating more dogs and cats who have had broken bones and other areas we can help these veterinary patients, things likejoint fusion where theyve had a tendon injury sojoints can be held together to walk properly. Researchers are so amazed at the success they have had in treating eva that they want to try out the technique on people. They plan to be the first researchers in the world to grow bone in the lab and put it into a patient in three years time. These are the people that could be most helped. It is 20 years since Princess Diana brought the issue of landmines to the worlds attention. The issue of landmine victims to the worlds attention. Their limbs usually have to be amputated. Landmine campaigners are funding the new research so it can be used to grow some bone back and attach an artificial leg. If they are able to have a prosthetic limb, it would make all the difference to their life, being able to provide for the family instead of having to be a burden on the family. It has a happy outcome for eva and her owners. Thousands of people could soon benefit from a technology that has put a spring back in her step. Fantastic story. Lets pause and catch up with the weather prospects. Stav da na os catch up with the weather prospects. Stav da naos has catch up with the weather prospects. Stav danaos has the latest. A lot of sunshine around for england and wales in particular,