Transcripts For BBCNEWS Beyond 100 Days 20180103

Yea rs the first polar bear cub for 25 years in the uk is born in scotland although it has not yet been seen. Get in touch with us using the hashtag beyond one hundred days hello and welcome im katty kay in new york and Christian Fraser is in london. Americas commander in chief has no reason for insecurity. He controls the Worlds Largest nuclear arsenal, he directs the worlds most advanced military machine. And yet donald trump feels it necessary to publicly compare the size of his Nuclear Button with that of north korea. Mr trump is correct that pyongyang is the biggest Global Security threat. Kimjung un is reckless and unpredictable. But the decision to taunt such a leader, on twitter, has brought wide scale condemnation. And it comes on the very day that south korea has re established a link with the north for the first time in two years. Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports from seoul. On monday, kim jong un welcomed in the new year with a more conventional display of fireworks than the sort hes been firing off throughout 2017. But anyone who was hoping his new year message would carry an offer of peace and goodwill was quickly disappointed. The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, he said, and the Nuclear Button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat. That was all the excuse President Donald Trump needed, and as we have now come to expect, his response came in a twitter tirade. So 2018 has begun pretty much as 2017 ended, with the president of the United States and the dictator of north korea hurling threats at each other, while the rest of the world looks on mostly in dismay. But here in seoul, 2018 has begun at least with a glimmer of hope, because as of this afternoon, north and south korea are talking to each other again by telephone. Out of the blue, pyongyang suddenly reconnected the hotline between the two koreas that kim jong un had personally ordered cut off two years ago. In his new year address, kim also said he was prepared to send a team to take part in the Winter Olympics which begin here in south korea in a little over a month. The Us State Department accused north korea of attempting to drive a wedge between the us and its south korean ally. And it could be right. But for the 20 Million People of seoul who live within firing range of north koreas artillery, any sign that pyongyang is willing to talk is a new year gift they will welcome. Rupert Wingfield Hayes, bbc news, in seoul. For more lets speak to vali nasr former state Department Official and dean of thejohns Hopkins School of international studies. Thank you for coming in. I have to ask you first about the tweet on the size of the Nuclear Button. Is there any good that can come to the United States from taunting kim jong un like this . No and notjust the president taunting him, weve seen king john and was able to taunt the president. And everyone around the world will be watching how easy it is to get under the skin of the us president. Kimjong un. And get him to react in ways that will be disruptive to us Foreign Policy and could change the direction of things on the ground. I think if kimjong unis on the ground. I think if kimjong un is listening he will not be necessarily furious or intimidated by people like what the president said, that he elevated him to his own level so the entire world news todayis own level so the entire world news today is focused on these two World Leaders essentially being treated within the same sentence as equals. So it is a victory for kim jong un. Meanwhile of course we see these signs off at least an opening up of Communication Channels between north and south korea. Where do you think that leeds. I think that will not go far but it will lessen tensions, at least the fear that so hard that they could be bombarded by artillery shells from north korea, that will be less now. And i think they will explore ways to create some kind of stability in very tense circumstances. I think theyre watching on the one hand a positive move from north korea and negative moves from washington and that will create a certain degree of turbulence in the and south korean relations and also between the us andjapan. Relations and also between the us and japan. I need to ask about tweet regarding pakistan and also palestine, the idea of cutting off money. Maybe other president s have been complacent and iran and the palestinians have been getting away with too much but perhaps also when these countries look at the way that things are shaping up in washington they think we do not need to stick with the United States any more. Maybe were better off with china or russia and they may be become more radical. Well pakistan already has been building a powerful strategic relationship with china so this is pakistan that now has much more support outside of the United States compared to the 0bama period. But it is one thing to browbeat World Leaders in private and threaten them but another thing to try to humiliate them in public. And leaders especially in the middle east or pakistan have a public and cannot be seen to be humiliated by the president of the United States and basically then to accommodate whatever hes asking for. So do anything they will feel compelled to be more intransigent and begin and try to react to what the president has said. And all he might end up achieving is to create a cycle of rhetoric where he says one thing, they have to react publicly and then he will react to their reaction. This is not the way to actually get things done. I think President Trump is forgotten at least in the case of pakistan that as uncooperative as pakistan that as uncooperative as pakistan may be, it could be even more uncooperative and that would hurt the United States and effort in afghanistan. Good to have you with us. The president hasntjust been tweeting about north korea hes also voiced strong support for protestors in iran. A short while ago i spoke to republican congressman and former cia officer, will hurd. In the past day the president and his ambassador to the United Nations have both made it clear that they strongly support the protesters in iran. If there is a change of american policy towards iran as a result of these protests, what would it be. Well as you not think that there is a change in their approach to iran, i think most people believe the way to prevent iran becoming a Nuclear Power is that you have to see a different government and the only way to have that in iran is if the iranian people will did so. I think that is why these protests are so think that is why these protests are so important and that is why every gives important for all of us in the rest of the world to amplify the message of the iranian protesters rather than magnifying the message of what president rohani was the supreme of what president rohani was the Supreme Leader are talking about. The president , his tone is noticeably different from those of european leaders. Would you given the stronger business dies of europe to iran, what you expected european leaders to step up more forcibly in sabre in favour of the protesters 7 sabre in favour of the protesters . I would hope to see my friends in europe be more vocal in support of the iranian people and i hope they do not make the same mistake that was made in 2009 by the then us president in not showing support for the movement in the way that we should have. And some will say that any outside force or outside government saying anything positive in support of the protest is going to cause the iranian government to say ec, these are outside influences. But they are going to say that regardless and it is important for us to make sure the iranian people know the rest of the world is behind them 100 . The iranian people need to know the rest of the world supports protesting as a right, written into the iranian constitution and that any crackdown by the government on people protesting for better economic situations, that is a human rights violation. We are already seeing more than two dozen deaths and this is something that should not happen. I wondered if i could ask you, giving you sit on the House Intelligence Committee, about this new book from Michael Wolff, fire and fury inside the trump white house. Many reports today about some of the quotes especially from steve bannon, former special adviser to the president. And referring to the meeting between donald trumpjunior and Jared Kushner in trump tower in 2016 with the russians. Even if you thought this was not treasonous or unpatriotic or bad he says, and i happen to think its all about, you should have called the fbi immediately. Does your committee think that the meeting was treasonous . Well im a former cia officer and i was undercover, i was the guy in the back alleys at four oclock in the morning collecting intelligence and having that background i would not have taken any meeting with any officials from the russian government. That should not have happened. But what we are doing now is the number of committees that are investigating the russian activity in our elections is making sure everyone knows what was said, when it was said, how it was sad. And this is something that the House Intelligence Committee i sit on, were going to explore this area as robustly as needs to be and follow up robustly as needs to be and follow up every lead. Briefly, ijust want to ask about the tweet about north korea and comparing the size of his Nuclear Button with that of kim jong un. What do you make of that as a republican . I think it was unnecessary and i think what we should be talking about is the fact that the North Koreans are willing to participate in the olympics in south korea, that the south koreans are reaching out to have direct talks with north korea for the first time in two years. And the Us Government is in talks with north korea as long as we are talking, we are not shooting. Thank you very much. Well much being weighed being made in washington about that new book. Some choice quotes from former special adviser steve bannon about the relationship with russia. It did not take the white house long to respond. Quite an extra ordinary statement. Here it goes. Steve bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost hisjob, he lost his mind. Steve doesnt represent my base hes only in it for himself. Steve pretends to be at war with the media, which he calls the opposition party, yet he spent his time at the white house leaking false information to the media to make himself seem far more important than he was. It is the only thing he does well. Steve was rarely in a one on one meeting with me and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue, whom he helped write phony books. Lets bring in our north america editorjon sopel whos in washington. I think the president has just press the button on his former special adviser. We should wait for the fallout and it is a bigger button and more powerful than steve bannon has got. That is for sure. I think there was a sense of core blimey but an extraordinary statement that we have had from the president about steve bannon. I guess there is some strategy in it as well because if the statement had not been made we would be concentrating on the question you just put to the congressman about whether the meeting that took place in trump tower was unpatriotic, whether it was treasonous. Instead were going to focus on this extraordinary broadside that the president has fired against his former chief of strategy, his former Campaign Director in which she said he lost hisjob, he lost his mind and all those other extraordinary quotes you just read out. Just to bring up some of the other comments from steve bannon, talks about why it is so dangerous for the president , hes talking about the money. Do we have that . Let us just show you. Again from inside this book and it is all about money laundering. He is going after people that are right next to the president and his family. His soninlaw and his son. And that is why it is so toxic. Any time that i tweet or you tweet about trump and the Russian Investigation you will get a volley of criticism from Trump Supporters saying there is no evidence of collusion, it is all a lot of nonsense. Now we have someone all a lot of nonsense. Now we have someone from the very heart of the campaign, the very heart of the white house saying look at this, this is what is going to go after, this is what is going to go after, this is what it was clearly going on. And has given i would imagine that mueller is thinking, that is exactly what im investigating. Much harder now to deny this is all a load of stuff and nonsense. And to put this in the broader political contest, we are making a big deal of the statement because steve bannon is not just steve the statement because steve bannon is notjust steve bannon and donald trump is not just is notjust steve bannon and donald trump is notjust donald trump, they represent warring factions within the Republican Party and you could say the future of the conservative movement in the United States. And this war has nowjust exploded very publicly. What happens to steve bannon now . I think we will see the republican establishment, the white house, doing their absolute best to destroy him and you know that is the statement the white house has issued. I would expect Sarah Sanders to identify, intensify the attack in the briefing in the next hour. And some in the white house will be dancing a happy dance today, they wa nted dancing a happy dance today, they wanted to purge the white house of influence, purge the president of the influence of steve bannon. And asa the influence of steve bannon. And as a result of him giving this interview for that book i think that pa rt interview for that book i think that part of it has been successful. But im reminded of a quote about the former head of the fbij edgar hoover, better to have someone outside the tent looking in rather than inside the tent looking out. I do not think that is the exact phrase. Words to that effect. Good to have you with us as ever. Thank you very much. It is only the 3rd of january, extraordinary twitter fest from the president and now this. And i think it points to some of the wa rfa re i think it points to some of the warfare that was there in the early days within the white house. Warfare that was there in the early days within the white housem warfare that was there in the early days within the white house. It is interesting, a few hours ago just before the revelations about the book i spoke to someone on the Security Side who said that they wa nted Security Side who said that they wanted to know why the president had sent 16 tweet yesterday. Fairly in century tweets, we touched on just some of them but there are more as well. Why was he sending both tweeds and in the past when the president has sent a group of tweets that seemed stressed, it was because something was going on in the white house. You have to wonder whether this book by Michael Wolff is what provoked the twitter storm yesterday because what steve bannon says, the president really does not going to like and also those committees of course well look at as well. These links to russia are what hangs over this presidency and steve bannon has just exploded all of that and made it public and the president can fire him id better have someone i think he used the word looking in than looking out. Well that is a piece in the New York Times today from the people who commissioned that explosive dossier which the fbi have been looking into and theyre saying and this goes back to the point we we re and this goes back to the point we were making to congressman will hurd, that the Republican Committee on the hill, in their words they are going after the rabbit instead of the bears. Focusing on peripheral issues and nothing to do with the russian issue when they should be focusing on that meeting steve bannon refers to, the meeting in trump tower and the money. Are they following the money, subpoenaing some of the financial records. I think this puts more pressure on some of those committees. Lets look at some of the other news. The problem of Plastic Waste and the impact it is having on our planet and our ecosystems is a subject the bbc has been exploring this week. According to a recent study 95 of plastic pollution in the worlds oceans comes from just 10 rivers. One of them is the ganges in india. 0ur correspondent, Sanjoy Majumder reports from the banks of the holy city of varanasi. This looks like a drain carrying sewage. But it is actually a tributary of the ganges. The waste along its banks choking and contaminating one of the worlds greatest rivers. Every day wrappers, bottles, cups and other Plastic Waste is deposited here. Slowly sliding into the water and then eventually flowing into the ganges. For centuries some of indias greatest cities have been built along its banks. Varanasi the oldest one of them. Its only when you come to the ancient city of varanasi that you realise how this mighty river that is so central to the hindu faith, that sustains the lives and beliefs of nearly half a billion people, is as polluted as it is. The ganges is more than a river to indians, it is sacred to hindus who pray and worship along its banks and cremate their dead in it. From the time it flows out of the icy heights of the himalayas until it gets here, its Crystal Clear waters give way to a fetid, muddy flow. Contaminated by the millions who live along its banks. Five generations of this family have lived along the ganges in varanasie. Living witnesses to its gradual degradation. Translation there is an old saying here that the ganges belongs to everyone. You are free to do what you want, throw what you want, cremate dead bodies, bathe, wash, and you will achieve salvation. But we are being irresponsible. We do not have the right to pollute the ganges this way. Three years ago the Indian Government pledged more than £2 billion to clean up the ganges. But much of the money remains unspent and the focus in any case is on treating sewage and industrial effluents. So the only people trying to prevent Plastic Waste being dumped into the river are these scrap pickers. Translation every day we pick up about ten to 20 kilos of plastic. We have to sift through the rubbish and segregate the plastic. It is estimated that every year 1. 2 billion pounds of Plastic Waste is dumped into the ganges. Much of it carried into the bay of bengal where the river eventually empties out. A holiday maker, fed up with delays has taken matters into his own hands in spain. The rya nair passenger, whose flight was an hour late taking off from london, then made to wait thirty minutes before disembarking in malaga, reportedly announced, im going via the wing, before opening the emergency exit and sitting on the wing. He was later arrested by airport security. The us remains in the grip of some extremely cold weather which is causing problems even in some southern states. Blizzard conditions across upstate new york caused a multi vehicle pile up which killed one person, and injured several others. While icy conditions also led to dangerously slippery roads in hurst county in texas. It is so cold in america right now that penguins in one zoo have had to go inside. But in the uk a polar bear has given birth for the first time in 25 years. And the parents both doing very well. But the cup itself has not yet been seen. Staff at the highland wildlife park in scotla nd at the highland wildlife park in scotland say they first heard his cries in early december but the cup is not expected to emerge until march. Up in the snowy hills of highlands, listen carefully. A sound which has not been heard in the uk for 25 years the cries of a new born polar bear cub emerged from this den the week before christmas. And they have been heard every day since. This is dad arctos, he is in a separate enclosure. He can feed and play. For now, mum victoria must not be disturbed, but the park is very excited. We discovered the cub when my colleague nicky went up there on one of my days off and she rang me very excitedly to tell me that she could hear a cub in the den. It is a very distinctive, very loud noise that the cubs make. So she was incredibly excited and then the next day i heard the noise for myself. Arktos and victoria mated last year. This footage shows a Polar Bear Club born in the netherlands. They have a high mortality rate in the first few weeks, due to their underdeveloped immune system and the mothers need for privacy means any disturbance risks cubs being killed or abanoned. Some conservationists do not believe polar bears should be bred in captivity. What we are doing here is replicating as much as we can possibly the Natural Habitats and i think you have seen for yourself today the conditions that our polar bears are in the space that they have and the enjoyment and the freedom of movement that they have here. Male polar bears have no involvement with their offspring. Arktos will never actually meet his cub and the rest of us will have to wait until the end of march or beginning of april when all being well victoria will emerge from her den with her baby or baby even babies. This is beyond 100 days from the bbc. Coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news shes married to the most powerful man in the world, but what does the world make of Melania Trump after almost 12 months in the white house . And getting a feel for it weve an exclusive report on the bionic hand with a sense of touch. Thats still to come. Storm eleanor is now far away but in its wake it is still very windy. We have more wind and rain on the way but nothing the scale of what we had last night. My two miles an hour in Northern Ireland, 76 in sheffield. This is where the storm is at the moment, across southern scandinavia, and parts of germany as well. Then the next area of low pressure comes in but this will not be anywhere near as bad as what we have just had. So through the course of tonight, the rain sweeps into south Western Areas of the uk. That could be quite heavy across cornwall and devon. And also the wind approaching gale force is so rough conditions around some coastal areas. Then by the end of the night the rain in Northern Ireland and parts of yorkshire, moving into east anglia by the rush hour. By the time we get to eight oclock in the morning, some sunshine getting into cornwall and devon, southern and western parts of wales. A pretty damn picture across lincolnshire, yorkshire, Northern Ireland and south west scotland. But for inverness and aberdeen quite cold with temperatures barely above freezing. So the weather front then most of the north and turned brighter but quite windy across many western and southern areas. Quite breezy inland as well. The other side of the weather front in northern scotland, only around 56 degrees. Low pressure still in charge of the weather towards the end of the week, another low moving across on friday which could bring some windy weather and possibly Gale Force Wind across western and southern areas. Hard to predict exactly what we will get precisely on friday. But a mixture of sunshine and showers. By the weekend then a com plete and showers. By the weekend then a complete change in the weather, the aircoming infrom complete change in the weather, the air coming in from the arctic and noticeably cold with a biting wind. Some sunshine this weekend and some wintry showers but it is that cold north easterly wind that will be the story. This is beyond 100 days, with me, katty kay, in new york Christian Frasers in london. President trump accuses his former chief strategist steve bannon of losing his mind after he reportedly accused mr trumps son and son in law of treasonous behaviour. Earlier, President Trump boasted that his Nuclear Button is much bigger and more powerful than north Korean Leader kim jong uns. Coming up in the next half hour. It may sound like Science Fiction but thanks to medical advances a bionic hand is now reality. The country thats made it illegal for men to be paid more than women for doing the same job. Let us know your thoughts by using the hashtag beyond100days. Bionic limbs were until recently things of fantasy brought to life by hollywood screenwriters. Now, they exist in reality, allowing people wearing them to actually feel what they are touching. For the first time a bionic hand is being taken out of the lab and tested in the real world. Our medical correspondent fergus walsh has been to rome to meet the woman whos been using it and see what a difference it makes to her life. Heres his exclusive report. A bionic hand with a sense of touch. And here is the proof. Blindfolded, almarina mascarello knows whether what shes holding is soft or hard. She gets it right every time. Over lunch she told me that nearly 25 years after losing her hand in a factory accident, it is almost like it is back again. Translation the feeling is spontaneous, as if it were your real hand. You are finally able to do things that before or difficult. Like getting dressed, putting on shoes. All mundane but important things. You feel complete. The worlds first feeling bionic hand, given to this danish man, never left the lab. The technology was just too bulky. Now, nearly four years on, it is portable. Allowing almarina to go back to her hobby of car mechanics. All the electronics are in her rucksack. Heres how it works. Sensors in the fingertips are linked to a computer. This converts the signals into a language the brain will understand. The information is relayed to it via tiny electrodes implanted in nerves in almarinas upper arm. This represents a significant advance in neuro prosthetics, the interface between machine and the human body. The next patient wont need to have a rucksack to carry these electronics, because theyre going to be miniaturised and implanted under the skin. And the team here are hoping to do the same with a bionic leg which will have pressure sensors in the foot. Engineers, computer scientists and surgeons from several countries are involved in this eu funded research. A truly humanlike bionic hand is still decades away. But the team here think it will happen. We feel we are going more and more in the direction of Science Fiction like movies like star wars. With luke skywalker, after the amputation of the hand. So fully controlled, fully natural, fully sensorised prosthesis very similar, identical to the human hand. Since we filmed with almarina, she has had to give back her bionic hand because it is still in the research stage. But she says when it is commercialised in a few years, she wants the feeling bionic hand back for good. Fergus walsh, bbc news, rome. Isnt that incredible . I hope she is somewhere near the front of the queue, so somewhere near the front of the queue, so she gets her hand back. It must be horrendous to have the chance to feel and then have it taken away again. Imaginea imagine a country where it is illegal to pay men more than women and companies could be fined for doing so. Iceland is already doing just that. With the new year came new laws in one of the worlds most equal nations. Iceland already has laws saying that men and women should be paid equally. But they still have a pay gap. It takes it a step further, with punishment for companies that dont comply. We can now speak to a representative from the icelandic womens rights association. Why is iceland so advanced in this field . Well, i think we are very lucky that we have good neighbours. We are part of the nordic countries, and nordic countries have always been very advanced in womens rights. In fact, we borrow our best ideas from the rest of the world. But iceland is a very small state. We are only 340,000. It is very easy to take big ideas and make them reality and iceland. Here is the thing, in the bbc were having a debate at the moment equal pay. It is in gender in some difficult discussions. It is bringing about some understandable anger within the workforce. Not everybody is honest about what they are earning. It seems to me, from the debate we have had in this company, that the only way to really get around it is to put on Public Record what everybody is earning . Yes, absolutely. We need transparency. While the first steps to guarantee equal pay to have waged transparency. We have had waged transparency. We have had waged transparency for years and it was not enough. As a society, we have decided that we already have some ernie regulations that regulate workplaces. Workplaces already have had to fulfil regulations on safety. We need to produce products that are qualified as safe. We decided gender equality as important as well, so we should regulate our workplaces to make sure that men and women are being paid equally. In the end, it benefits all of us, notjust women. That is an interesting question. How do you keep men on board . One of the issues we have had in the bbc is that when there is a pay discrepancy, the corporation has to save money, and Many Companies in iceland have to save money, so isnt there a risk that Companies Might turn around and say, well, if we are going to pay women equal to men, we have to take that money away from men and give them a pay cut, and then you alienate men, that never helps corporate profit should never bea helps corporate profit should never be a reason for inequality. We have this standard in effect for 2012. What is happening now is that a new law has come into place, making the equal pay standard mandatory for companies. What experience has shown us companies. What experience has shown us that nobody is getting a pay cut, people are not being fired from the workplace. In fact, people are not being fired from the workplace. Infact, people people are not being fired from the workplace. In fact, people are getting raises across the board. It increases prosperity in society. Of course, it benefits society as a whole and benefits businesses, because people have more money to spend. Really good to talk to you. Thanks for coming on the programme. Come back and tell us how it works out and if you get full honesty in the corporations. One of the things i see with that is that people pay more to keep hold of their talent. If they have to put on Public Record what they pay people, they might lose some of their stars . Interesting what youre saying, iceland already have these laws on the books saying that you need to pay men and women equally, but they still have a pay gap. They are now introducing a stick to go along with the carrot. If you are a private company and you want to attract top talent, how can the government say, right, you cant pay the top talent more because they are a man . It gets into a very complicated issue of what talent is worth and who is going to arbitrate, is this a gender discrimination issue or a talent issue . It will be interesting to see, it is a very small country, so maybe it is different from big countries, so it will be interesting to see how they enforce the regulation and if companies have to pay fines. Hot topic, get in touch. The International Trade secretary for the uk is in china laying the groundwork for post brexit trade, but says its too soon to seek membership of the tpp trade pact. As britain looks to re invent itself after leaving the eu, china is one of the countries it hopes to sign a free trade pact with, but until brexit officially happens, it cant legally negotiate independent trade agreements. Storm eleanor is causing disruption across ireland, the uk and parts of northern france and germany. Wind gusts of up to 160 kilometres per hour have battered the region, in Northern Ireland 10,000 homes have lost power, and some roads have been blocked by falling trees. There are also reports of damage to some ports and harbours on the uks atlantic coastline. A chef has received Death Threats after boasting online that shed spiked a dish for a Vegan Customer at her restaurant. Laura goodman has since apologised and offered to resign, and the restaurant has denied that meat was included in the food. Officials here in the uk are now investigating as Giles Latcham reports. Police at carlinis in albrighton in shropshire responding to Death Threats made online against Laura Goodman, co owner and head chef. In the early hours of sunday she posted in a closed Facebook Group that she had just, spiked a vegan. And that a pious and judgmental vegan id spent all day cooking for has just gone to bed still believing shes a vegan. There has been a storm online. Herfiance and Business Partner is doing his best to quell it. We have got the possibility of demonstrations outside the restaurants, weve had Death Threats. You know, all i can say is to those people who are active vegans and vegetarians, is listen to our side of the story. Nothing happened here. Nobody had anything with meat in it. They say the spiked comments relate to one of the vegan diners ordering a pizza with cheese on it. Which laura duly prepared. But the comments online include, your behaviour as a chef towards vegans is sickening. Disgusting behaviour on the part of your chef. Possibly illegal. What if that vegan was allergic to animal products . This is fraud. I spoke briefly to Laura Goodman and she looked pale and exhausted. She said she was deeply sorry for the comments she posted, deeply distressed by the response to them. Too distressed, she said, to appear on camera. A committed vegan from telford says its a question of trust. Your initial thought is, oh my goodness, am i ever going to be able to trust a restaurant again . But also it makes you worry for other people who might have gone there who might have had an allergy or whatever. And you know, may well then sufferfrom some kind of symptom as a result of, you know, not being given what they thought they were having. Food standards officials have begun an investigation. A new dish at carlinis, humble pie. French president Emmanuel Macron says he will overhaul french media legislation this year to fight the fake news spread on social media. During his new year speech at the elysee palace, macron said the legislation would concern social media platforms, especially during election periods, and deeply change the role of frances media watchdog. Translation as you know, powerful promotion of fake news on social media only costs a few thousand and can be carried out in complete anonymity. During electoral period, platforms would be required to be transparent about sponsored content so transparent about sponsored content so the identity of the advertisers and those that control them become public. The amount of content on such sites will also be limited. He is doing much better in the polls now after a wobbly start. I think a lot of it is down to what he has been doing on the international stage. Today he was talking about a renaissance for france. He was evokingjfk, renaissance for france. He was evoking jfk, ask yourselves every morning, french people, what you can do for the country. A lot of reforms he has put through, particularly on labour and tax, they went through with only mild opposition, mild resistance, given the union power in france. He is turning to pensions this year. It will be interesting to see if he can get that through. He has been lucky, a little bit like donald trump, with the turnaround in the global economy. They are saying growth in france will be up near 2 this year and unemployment, which was so this year and unemployment, which was so high during Francois Hollandes time, it is coming down to 9. 4 . Things are turning in his favour and his polls are doing pretty well at the moment. Favour and his polls are doing pretty well at the momentlj favour and his polls are doing pretty well at the moment. I bet he gets a lot of support for this measure to control the internet giants. This side of the atlantic, it is something that they are talking about, and we would not be surprised to see regulations on advertising and social media. This is beyond 100 days. Still to come the results of Extensive Research at one of the Worlds Largest brain banks what it tells us about post Traumatic Stress and depression. Last year was a record year for music consumption in britain. Figures from the bpi, which represents the music industry, suggest the amount of music streamed, downloaded, or bought in the uk rose at its fastest rate for nearly 20 years. Home grown artists such as ed sheeran and little mix accounted for 8 out of 10 of 2017s bestselling albums. Despite a lot of talk about the vinyl revival, thats still a pretty small contributor and overall physical sales were down more than 3 percent. Nina warhurst has been looking at the sales trends. I have no time. 2018 is set to be big for francis lung. Give it back. Releasing his first album on manchesters buzzing music scene. Because of the internet, he doesnt need the backing of a big label to be heard. Ive got the power to put it online immediately and everybody that is waiting for it can hear it. Whereas before, i would have to wait for someone to give me permission, wait for somebody to tell me that it is good enough for other people to hear. Last year we streamed more music than ever, 68 billion songs. The equivalent of more than a thousand each. Father christmas brought it, and that is elbow. Perhaps more surprising is how the tables have turned with vinyl records. As some who had flirted with digital returned to their first love. Just the beauty of having the record in your hand, i think. And looking after it, making sure it doesnt get scratched. So you like physically holding it . Physically holding it, looking at the artwork on the covers, maybe reading the song lyrics as you are listening. Vinyl sales were up an astonishing 26 on the year before with 4 million records sold. And the shape of the British Music industry was helped by one ed sheeran. For the 13th year in a row, the number one artist was home grown. Youre watching beyond 100 days. Unlocking the mysteries of the human brain has long been an area of Scientific Research but advances are slow. At one facility in baltimore, in maryland they are looking at the underlying factors behind post Traumatic Stress and depression. With over 2,200 brains donated the Lieber Institute is one of the largest brain banks in the world. And their research is delivering results. The bbcs jane obrien has the story. Ken gilstein remembers the happy times, before his wife of 40 years succumbed to mental illness. This is a picture of our first dance together as husband and wife. He is still trying to make sense of the personality changes that led to paulas suicidejust a few months ago. He hopes donating her brain to research will help scientists find the answers. There is so much that needs to be known about people who have that psychiatric illnesses and what is going on with the brain, that research is the only way. And im hoping that hopefully if they can find some information, that we can prevent Something Like this happening, that people dont have to go through not only what we went through but we are currently going through. This is where paulas brain is being studied. The Worlds Largest brain bank dedicated to finding biological causes for Mental Illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression and post Traumatic Stress disorder. I think we are understanding these are illnesses that have a physical, chemical, molecular structural basis. And i think we take it away from being either a lack of character, a defect in will, and understand that this is a defect in function of the brain. It all starts with the brain itself. Almost all come from people who have died unexpectedly, many are victims of the opioid epidemic. Scientists look for signs of disease and other abnormalities and compare them to the Persons Mental Health history. And theyre starting to isolate genes that put some people at a higher risk. The man who started this vast collection of brains hopes the research will lead to better treatments based on the genetic causes of mental illness. The genes for behaviour disorders are not genes that guarantee you a disorder. Hot theyre not what we call fate genes. They are risk genes. It is like genes for heart attack or stroke, there is no gene that causes a heart attack. Finding new treatments is becoming increasingly urgent. More veterans die from suicide than in combat. But ptsd affects far more civilians, one of four of us will suffer some form of mental disorder in our lifetimes. Kens family could not be spared the tragedy of mental illness, but he helps others might benefit from paulas death. This is a great picture. One of the things that we tried to do at her funeral was really to celebrate her life. One of the things im celebrating about her life is that shes doing something now for science and other people in the future. I feel in my case, i feel very positive about that. Jane obrien, bbc news, maryland. Donald trump is ubiquitous, loud and opinionated. His wife melania is the opposite. She rarely speaks in public and is seen far more than shes heard. She always looks immaculate but hasnt yet thrown herself into any particular causes. She is a very different first lady from her recent predecessors. Melania trump has spent her first year communicating support for her husband with her mostly silent presence. Some are now asking whats she going to do with her hugely influential platform, and does it really matter . Its a topic Krissah Thompson has written about in the Washington Post and shejoins us now. The idea of a first lady is a particularly american concept, the idea of a first lady using a position to try to do something for the public good is relatively new. Is blarney trump breaking a recent mild . Is blarney trump breaking a recent mild . Melania trump. Is blarney trump breaking a recent mild . Melania trump. She has talked about looking to the past as her influence. For the last three first ladies, we have first ladies with graduate degrees, who had careers before coming to the white house. They tended to channel the energy into causes, using the platform for activism, policy. And we havent really seen anything like that from Melania Trump at this point. There is often criticism that we comment on how women luck and not how men luck, but it is striking the fa ct how men luck, but it is striking the fact that Melania Trump, a former model, is very conscious of her appearance. She never appears with a hair out of place. How does that affect her position as first lady . Every first lady knows that the public and the media is going to Pay Attention to what they do. They walk around and there is a spotlight following them. The question is always what do they do with it . At this point, when we see mrs trump at an event, there is very seldom formal remarks, she is not often behind a podium talking about a cause or connecting the event to a larger idea or issue, which we have often seen other first ladies do. The question is, how will she use the spotlight that she has been granted with this role, or if she even plans to use it at all beyond the pictures and images we have been seeing. Looking from over here, she reminds me a little bit of the former first lady of france, carla brunei. Similar model background, was always treated in france like an outsider, french was not her first language. Maybe it is not easy if english is not yourfirst line which . You could be right. You dont have her staff saying that. But public speaking, the level of platform that she now has as first lady, it is not something that she has been accustomed to in her formal life. The idea that it would take an adjustment period is, quite friendly, to be expected. But we did also see, which was jarring for some people in the states, her decision not to move to the white house right away. Her husband has been in office for a year, and she has only been in washington for about six months. That could also be part of the reason why it seems like the advocacy part of the role is coming advocacy part of the role is coming a little bit more slowly. Advocacy part of the role is coming a little bit more slowlylj advocacy part of the role is coming a little bit more slowly. I think she is right, it is quite an american thing. I was thinking, you know, we are going to have to get used the fact that it might not be first lady, we could have been talking about a first husband. In we dont talk about Angela Merkels husband, we dont talk about theresa mays husband. Why should we focus so mays husband. Why should we focus so much on the women . It has been an american tradition that, in many ways, has sort of adopted to a womens role in society, the first lady was the president s wife. Initially, people looked to margaret washington to fulfil that role for the public. People have been pushing for a long time for the idea of the first lady here to evolve and, maybe by not engaging with the role in the way that some have come to expect, Melania Trump could be breaking the mould. Good to have you with us. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I have quite enjoyed being the first man on this programme. You have left me speechless. What do you make of Melania Trump . She is not as well dressed as you are. You make of Melania Trump . She is not as welldressed as you are. Goes without saying, not a hair out of place. No bits of breakfast on her tie. Dont tell them that, i changed that before i came in onlyjust, just because the cameraman noticed. That would not happen with mrs trump. I think she is right, she is breaking the role, she is a different kind of first lady, she is doing it the way she wants. We will be back the same time tomorrow. Catty is staying in new york, where it is very cold. Well, storm eleanor is far away now, but in its wake it is still very windy. We have more wind and rain on the way, but nothing of the scale of what we saw last night. Look at that, 90 mph. Sheffield, 76, even west london itself, 73 mph. This is where eleanor is at the moment, across southern scandinavia, denmark, affecting parts of germany as well. It is affecting the low countries. A gap in the weather and the next area of low pressure on the weather front comes in. The next area of low pressure on the weatherfront comes in. This the next area of low pressure on the weather front comes in. This will not be anywhere near as bad as what we have just had. Not be anywhere near as bad as what we havejust had. Through not be anywhere near as bad as what we have just had. Through the course of tonight, rain is weeping into south Western Areas of the uk. It could be very heavy rain across cornwall, devon and also the wind will be touching gale force. The tide is pretty high. Rough conditions around some of the coastal areas. Nothing too windy inland. By the end of the night, the rain will be in Northern Ireland, parts of yorkshire, moving into east by the rush hour. By the time we get toa 8am by the rush hour. By the time we get to a 8am in the morning, a pretty damp picture across lincolnshire, yorkshire, still Northern Ireland and south western scotland. A different story for inverness and aberdeen, quite cold and frosty, temperatures barely above freezing. Through the course of thursday, the weather front moves towards the north. It turns brighter. It tends quite windy across many western and southern areas, quite breezy inland as well. A bright and breezy day. Relatively balmy. The other side of the weather front in northern scotland, around five or 6 degrees. Low pressure is still very much in charge of the weather towards the end of the week. Another low moving across on friday which could bring some windy weather, possibly Gale Force Wind across some western and southern areas. A real mixture of a day. It will be hard to predict exactly what we will get on friday. A mixture of sunshine and showers. By a mixture of sunshine and showers. By the time we get to the weekend, a change in the weather. The air sta rts change in the weather. The air starts coming from the arctic. What you will notice is the cold, cold biting wind. There will be some sunshine this weekend, wintry showers across northern areas. It is the cold, biting, north easterly wind that will be the story this weekend. Goodbye. This is bbc news. Im clive myrie. The headlines at 8pm. President trump has accused his former chief strategist steve bannon of losing his mind, after he reportedly accused mr trumps son and son in law of treasonous and unpatriotic behaviour. Earlier, President Trump boasted that his Nuclear Button is much bigger and more powerful than north Korean Leader kim jong uns. That was through a statement on twitter. The Health Secretary apologises after nhs england postpones tens of thousands of non urgent treatments until february after a surge in admissions. I want to apologise for the fact that we have had, regrettably, to postpone a number of observations. We are trying to do it differently this year. Storm eleanor batters the uk, with gusts of up to 100 miles an hour causing widespread disruption and leaving thousands