longer, eltonjohn announces a final world tour before exiting the stage. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. glad you could join us. it's newsday. glad you could join us. eighta.m. here in it's newsday. glad you could join us. eight a.m. here in singapore, midnight in london and seven p.m. us. eight a.m. here in singapore, midnight in london and seven pm. in michigan where a former doctor for the usa gymnastics team, larry nassar has been sentenced to 175 yea rs nassar has been sentenced to 175 years injailfor sale at nassar has been sentenced to 175 years in jail for sale at a meet sexually molesting teenage athletes. thejudge said that sexually molesting teenage athletes. the judge said that larry remained a danger to young women and did not deserve to work free again. this sentence followed a week of harrowing testimony from over 100 women. the tables have turned, larry. we are here, we have our voices and we are not going anywhere. the amount of physical, mental and emotional trauma this man has forced upon me is immeasurable. over the last seven days, their voices and their stories have become hard to ignore. 156 women say they were sexually abused by this man, larry nassar. i am giving you 175 years, which has 2100 months. i have just signed your death warrant. during the hearing, thejudge invited other women who had been abused to come forward. the response was unprecedented, what started as ten convictions turned into an outpouring of testimony. today she did not hold back when delivering her verdict. your decision to assault was precise, calculated, manipulative, devious, despicable. i wouldn't send my dogs to you, sir. you do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again. today he had this response for his victims. an acceptable apology to all of you is impossible to write and convey. i will carry your words with me for the rest of my days. described as a monster and as satan in court, the former usa gymnastics team doctor treated hundreds of women over decades. from decorated 0lympians and state—level gymnasts to the children of family friends. sent to him for medical treatment instead of taking away their pain, he stole their innocence. you know, i think we saw yet another example of larry being a master manipulator, that is something society needs to understand better, this is how predators operate. he didn't think he did anything wrong, his words are empty. they are empty they are empty. you would think by now he could take ownership, and he just hasn't. i think we have started a tidal wave of people speaking up, because they feel supported, they feel validated. and that is notjust for nassar victims, but every victim of sexual assault and sexual abuse. there are mixed emotions as this hearing comes to a close. many here still wonder how larry nassar was able to abuse young and vulnerable women for so long and not to be held to account, but those same women demonstrated sheer strength in this courtroom. the judge described them as warriors with superwoman steel. the focus of the sentencing has been on those who survived larry nassar‘s abuse. perhaps the biggest victory isn't seeing the man who molested them behind bars, but knowing that together they found the collective strength to confront him. 0ur correspondent in new york, nada tawfik, says there have been heartrending survivor statements. it has been an extraordinary and unprecedented sentencing hearing. at the start of this, the judge said that 88 women would speak out. in the end we had nearly 160 feet domes decide to speak, each saying they had gained strength from the other women who had decided, in the face of world attention, to come out and give their names and confront larry nassar. as powerful and as horrific as each statement was, there were many similarities. they spoke about how larry nassar had groomed them, used this wholesome personality, offered the candy and olympic trinkets to gain their trust and said that he would heal their pain. under the guise of medical treatment, instead, he assaulted them. what we hope from the women was not just a them. what we hope from the women was notjust a call forjustice to have that harsh sentence we saw the judge imposed but also don't have accountability for all of those around him who they say enabled him to dig it is that accountability that still have question marks over it. we heard a few days ago about the resignations of some people at the resignations of some people at the top of team usa gymnastics. yet, there seems to be a big question mark about how this wide investigation is going to continue and how he was able to get away with it for so long. absolutely. i think what we heard from a number of the women including gold—medallist was that no—one has really taken responsibility for their role in this. for example, they think that usa gymnastics, the medallist cla u d ette usa gymnastics, the medallist claudette morton to the court saying that the spore's governing body needs to be completely restructured eight restructured. and newspaper investigation which began the ball rolling on this investigation, found that several reports of sexual abuse to officials at usa gymnastics went com pletely to officials at usa gymnastics went completely uninvestigated. so we heard after the sentencing that the us olympic committee will be putting together a third—party independent investigative team to look at how abuse of this scale was able to go on for so long. also this hour — us president donald trump has said that he is willing to be interviewed by robert mueller under oath. he's the special counsel investigating potential russian meddling in the 2016 us election. the president's comments came after a report in the washington post said mr mueller‘s questioning would focus on mr trump's decisions to oust national security adviser michael flynn and fbi directorjames comey. the air agency save the children has suspended its programmes across afghanistan suspended its programmes across afg ha nista n after suspended its programmes across afghanistan after an islamist attack on its office. a suicide car bomb was detonated outside, three members of staff and one soldier were killed. the charity says it remains fully committed to helping the most deprived children in the country. the international committee of the red cross, who have also came under attack in afghanistan, gave this reaction. we feel the same way as oui’ reaction. we feel the same way as our colleagues from save the children. what has been happening and we are also stand in solidarity with them and can express our outrage and how much we are sorry that this happened. we would like to extend condolences to the families of our colleagues who have u nfortu nately lost of our colleagues who have unfortunately lost their life today. angela merkel has spoken out against protectionism a day after the us imposed steep tariffs on asian manufacturers that it is came on the eve of the visit of president trump to the world economic forum. let's see what chancellor merkel had to say. translation: we believe isolationism will get a nowhere. we believe we have to co—operate and that protectionism is not the right and the. and if we believe that we share the view that things are not being done fairly and the mechanisms are not reciprocal, then we should look for multilateral solutions and not unilateral once. brazil's ex—president luiz inacio lula de silva, has lost an appeal to overturn his conviction for corruption and money laundering. threejudges have also extended his sentence from nine to 12 years injail. the court's unanimous decision reduces mr lula's options of appealing again, and with it his chances of running for office in october. paris is on flood alert after the seine overflowed its banks in some areas. the river is so swollen that boats can't get under the bridges. some metro lines and stations have been closed along with tourist attractions including notre dame cathedral. the seine is set to rise even further with the peak expected on saturday. the veteran american diplomat, bill richardson, has resigned from an international panel set up in myanmar to advise on communal tension in rakhine state. he said that rather than addressing the roots of the rohingya crisis, the group was like a cheerleading squad for burmese government policy. our corresponentjonathan head told me more from yangon. this is a really damning statement by one of only five international members of this advisory committee which was set up by aung san suu kyi to show the rest of the world that she is serious about addressing the problems in rakhine stayed and is willing to carry out implementing the recommendations of the commission that was published last year to overhaul the situation. bill richardson was probably the most prominent member of the commission. it had barely started its work. rest of the members have been taken on a quick trip to rakhine to see the situation for themselves. he backed out and resigned, saying it does not believe he was listened to. he has described it as a whitewash, little more than a photo opportunity. he said that aung san suu kyi is when most of her time blaming international media and international media and international organisations like the united nations for the problems in rakhine stayed, rather than listening seriously to the changes that are needed and giving citizenship to rohingyas and reforming the way the security forces operate. he said he felt he was not being listened to and the advisory commission does not have any sort of serious mandate. he was quite scathing about the international chairman, the former thai foreign minister, who he said did not appear to be doing anything more than parroting the government line. what is the current status of the advisory board? do some of them feel the same sentiment as mist richardson? we have not heard from any of the other four international members. i think there was a brief statement by the south african former defence minister who seems committed to carrying on. bill richardson did say that although he feels he can not work with this group, he said there are dedicated officials who do want to get a grip officials who do want to get a grip of this crisis in rakhine state. possibly the other four members feel they must carry on. given the language he has used and particularly about aung san suu kyi, he said she was not listening to him and he feels she is not given good advice at all. he gave a picture of someone advice at all. he gave a picture of someone he felt was cut off. i think that will damage the credibility of this and international part of the commission. they will carry on their work on the government will push on both the warnings that he highlights here is the focus that aung san suu kyi is putting on development. she has many myanmar business involved in rebuilding bike he said none of the groundwork has been laid to bring back the refugees or to prepare for reconciliation with the local rakhine population to get them to live there. he believes this is the wrong way around, you cannot have redevelopment and reconstruction if you will never get back that large was fulham population. —— muslim population. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... emmerson mnangagwa says he's committed to free and fair elections in zimbabwe. he's been speaking to the bbc in his first television interview since taking power. also ahead on the programme... a three—year long goodbye. elton john announces this retirement plans and intends to spend time with this family. the people of saigon have just heard that, at last, there is to be a ceasefire. the reaction of american servicemen was predictable. i'm going home. demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him the butcher of lyon. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. but the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot, a tide of humanity that is believed by officials to have broken all records. glad you are staying with us. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. thanks forjoining us. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: america's disgraced olympic gymnastics team doctor, larry nassar is jailed for 175 years for molesting young gymnasts. a veteran us diplomat resigns from a panel on the rohingya crisis, and accuses myanmar‘s aung san suu kyi of lacking moral leadership. shark charities say they have seen a huge boost to donations since it emerged that the us president allegedly has a hatred for the marine animal. trump's dislike for sharks was revealed last week in an interview with an adult film actress who claims to have had an affairwith him. more on that story at bbc.com. the south china morning post is reporting that expulsion of national ‘s is said, reporting that expulsion of national ‘sis said, and has been reporting that expulsion of national ‘s is said, and has been described as blunt and candid and says hong kong has been urged to close loopholes that allow pyongyang to reach international sanctions. to the japan times, the lead story that the japan times, the lead story that the prime minister will attend the winter olympics. it goes on to say that the news puts an end to weeks of speculation that he may protest against the decision to revisit the 2015 deal when women were forced to work in japanese 2015 deal when women were forced to work injapanese military brothels during the second world war. the china daily, we want to focus on the picture of snowflake, an image of the eight—year—old with his head covered in icicles. it went viral this month, attracting international attention to children living in rural poverty. the paper says that boy was invited to beijing to the top police academy and that a p pa re ntly top police academy and that apparently that is his dream, to become a police officer one—day. a grumpy cat is doing the rounds on line — the cat's permanent scowl has won more than $700,00 in a copyright lawsuit after its owners sued a us coffee company. the company had secured the rights to use the cat's image to sell its "grumppuccino" iced drink, but overstepped the mark by selling other grumpy products without permission. lawyers for the cat said "grumpy cat feels vindicated." grumpy at cute. —— at cute. —— but cute. zimbabwe's president emmerson mnangagwa says he's committed to free, fair and transparent elections in the country and that he will respect the will of the people. he was speaking at the world economic forum in davos, where he became the first zimbabwean leader to attend. and in his first tv interview since his inauguration, mr mnangagwa told the bbcs mishal husain about his plans for early elections and the economy. let's talk about zimbabwe's relations with other countries. president trump is on his way to davos, i wonder what you thought when you hurt about his reported comments about south african countries. he informed me about that but he has also told me that he has since denied. nonetheless, we will put ina since denied. nonetheless, we will put in a block, also a continental lock. i have informed the minister of affairs at the eu made a statement representing us all. would it affect how you interact with him in the future? look, this is why i say, those against us in the past, zimbabwe is now open the. to me there should not be anybody we cannot talk to. i believe that people of zimbabwe have no case against the american people, nor do the people of america had any case against the people of zimbabwe. this is international relations. if president trump came here today while i am around, i would be able to talk to him and make requests on him and say," mr president, zimbabwe is open for business, come and bring growth. build hotels. we will give incentives for you to do all of those things. we are open. now for an evolutionary mystery: why, when big cats are among the fastest land animals, do they often fail to catch their prey? they revealed that there's much more to the "evolutionary arms race" between predator and prey than speed. alan wilson of the royal veterinary college at university of london explains. we watch wildlife documentaries. what we have done here is actually shown the factors that determine whether it a hunt is successful or not. a lot of our work is in northern botswana. we fitted very special colours which are sophisticated electronics to capture every stride so we could then measure what each animal is doing at each stage of the hunt. we at also think about cheetahs and a lions as being all about speed, when we look at the final stage of the hunt it is about manoeuvring. the predator is trying to capture the prey, it will be slowing down, or trying to evade that final capture. what we see is a co— evolution of creditor and pray. one gets faster, the other gets back to faster and that dynamic is critical to the ecosystem. they are tuned to each other‘s athleticism. it is just amazing, seeing these animals in the wild, in their natural setting and when you see a hunt, they are amazingly graceful, it is one. it —— wonderful. sir eltonjohn has announced that he's to stop touring to spend more time with his family, but only after one last, extended encore. the legendary musician will hit the road for a series of 300 concerts over the next three years. he made the announcement in new york. the bbc‘s nick bryant has more. eltonjohn used a virtual reality show of previous performances to announce that he doesn't want to do the real thing any more. after almost 50 years of performing around the world, he has finally decided where his future lies. and it is away from departure lounges, immigration halls and 180 flights a year. # i'd buy a house where we both could live. he wants to spend more time with his family. i've never had that before, i've never had children. it's changed my life, ijust love them so much and ijust love being with them and i don't like leaving them behind and wherever i go they say "please daddy, don't go." i facetime them now, i said ijust announced my last tour, they said "good, you will be here." i will be here. this ultimate piano man still loves performing and will continue to release records, but he is 70 years old and has clocked up more than 4000 concerts in 75 countries. enough. i just don't want to travel any more. i have been travelling since i was 17 in the back of a van up and down the m1. although i travel in the most fantastic way, it is exhausting and i don't enjoy it. it is a long goodbye. it's a long goodbye. three years, 300 shows but i am really, really looking forward to it and they will be happy shows, i won't regret it and ijust want to give my fans the best farewell possible. no chance of a change of mind? no. so in three years time it really will be goodbye yellow brick road. but the former pub pianist set who gave the world rocket man has promised he will go out with a bang. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. please come to asia. visit singapore and the philippines, we are waiting for you. with that, we end asia business report. stay with us. we'll ask if philippine plans to spend billions of dollars on infrastructure projects and tax reforms is helping boost the economy? i doubt that eltonjohn will possibly refuse that request. we will find out what he says about that. we will get back to you on that. and before we go, camels and botox. that's exactly what breeders in saudi arabia have been using to plump up their camel's features in this year's camel beauty contest. judges rate everything from the size of the animals' lips, to their cheeks and even their knees. but botox was not the way to go and the breeders and have been disqualified. that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. we will be back with the headlines. see you soon. hello there. after the downpours and gales of wednesday, the weather prospects for those they look a little bit quieter. disco of cloutier, that was storm georgina now pushing off to the north—east. what we now have feeding in is this speckled cloud, some showers pushing in from the atlantic, some heavy of the morning. part of the morning. also some showers pushing into a west country into devon and cornwall, some of these could be on the heavy side. there will be some sunny breaks at windows showers and that mixture of sunshine and showers extends across wales and into the west nedlands, cool wales and into the west nedlands, cool, fresh start to the day. for degrees in birmingham. your notice order showers across northern ireland at this stage, perhaps someone dream is over high ground, certainly the chance for wintry weather over high ground in scotland. temperatures in aberdeen, three degrees, four in edinburgh. showers in north—west england, across north—west and east anglia and the south—east, a dry start to the day with spells of sunshine, cool and fresher than it was on wednesday. through the day will bring this cluster of showers eastwards a cross bring this cluster of showers eastwards across all parts of the country. some of those could be heavy, thundery with hail mixed in the. some wintry nest mixed over the high brown is, but there will be spells of sunshine too and temperatures around 5— 10 degrees. a fairly chilly feel but it won't be as windy as that was on wednesday. thursday night, the showers will ta ke thursday night, the showers will take time to fade away but in western areas they will ease as the wind to make ease as well. it could turn cold enough for a touch of frost, these isobars, this reach of high pressure will be toppling in by friday morning. after a frosty start for some we are looking at a decent day. spells of sunshine, patchy cloud and thickening cloud into the west later on but i suspect it will stay dry until sundowner. those temperatures of around 4— nine degrees. bridges will start to climb into the weekend, bringing in a more south—westerly wind and mainly dry areas on sunday, a weather front from the west but bridges climbing all the while because we will group ringing mild airfrom the south—west, on sunday it will be a pretty mild feeling day. generally large areas of cloud, some sunshine towards the south—east with outbreaks of heavy rain into northern scotland, a windy day and a mild one too, 9— 30 degrees. bash at 13 degrees. —— 13 degrees. our top story. the former doctor for the us gymnastics team has sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting young female athletes. larry nassar was jailed after a week of harrowing testimony from nearly 160 women — including olympic gold medal winners. a veteran us diplomat, bill richardson, has resigned from a panel set up in myanmar to advise on communal tension, and denounced the country's leader aung san suu kyi. and this story is trending on bbc.com — the owners of grumpy cat have won more than $700,000 in a copyright lawsuit. a us coffee company was found to be in breach of an agreement that used the cat's image on products other than their grumpuccino iced drink. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.