Ive lived in this city for years, but hong kong still makes me fall in love with it time and again. And now, bbc world news america. Laura this is bbc world news america. Reporting from washington, im laura trevelyan. Fighting back tears, president obama announced he is taking executive action on gun control. U. S. Troops under attack in southern afghanistan. One american servicemember is killed in the fight to push back the taliban. Offering hopes that vision can be restored by the thousands. Laura welcome to our viewers on Public Television in america and around the globe. In an emotional speech that brought him to tears president obama announced he is taking executive action to tighten gun control in the u. S. He said he was using his president ial powers because congress failed to act. His critics say he is overstepping his authority and promise a challenge. Jon sopel has our coverage. Jon his nickname is no drama obama. Not today, not on the issue of gun control, as frustration over failure to act turned to route emotion as he talked about the Young Children that died in the New Town School shooting. President obama first graders. Neververy family who imagined their loved one would be taken from our lives by a every timegun i think about those kids it gets me mad. On theway, it happens streets of chicago every day. Jon the statistics are striking. In the u. K. There were 24 gun related deaths excluding suicides in 2014. In the u. S. There were three gun daycides on christmas alone. And america has five times the population, but that does not account for the discretion. No class of what then is being. Anned it is about tightening background checks, but that will run into opposition from those opposed to any moves on gun control. On the president ial campaign trail, republican hopefuls have wasted no time. Guys do not beat the bad by taking away our guns. We beat the bad guys by using our guns. Is unconstitutional, and i am confident the courts will reject his attempts to do that. Jon the more the president threatens to move on gun control, the more it leads to a spike in sales for gun dealers. December saw 38 more people trying to buy guns than a year ago. Jon sopel, bbc news, washington. Brief for more i spoke a time ago with democratic congressman mike thompson, who chairs the House Gun Violence Prevention Task force. You were at the white house when the president made this announcement. Is this expansion of background checks on those who buy guns going to be enough to stop the next mass shooting in america . Rep. Thompson i believe the president has done all he can under his executive authority. It is time for congress to do our work. There needs to be more work done. We should build on what the president has started. Will it stop the next tragedy . Nothing will stop the next tragedy. Excuse the pun, there is no Silver Bullet in this area. People who shouldnt have guns will always get them. There will always be tragedy, but this will help. If we can save some lives it is worth doing. Our first checks are line of defense against those who should not have guns, who everyone agrees should not have guns. Criminals, dangerously mentally ill, domestic abusers. Laura with the president is doing does not go as far as the recommendations of the task force that you chaired after the sandy hook killings. On example, there is no ban the sale of assault weapons. Are you disappointed . Rep. Thompson no. I am heartened. I think he has put wind in the sales for the effort to get gun violence prevention on the books. He can only do so much. If he tried to overstep his boundaries it would he challenged in the courts and stopped. He has done all he can do under his authority. It is time for congress to do our work. Katty republicans in congress say the president has abused his authority by sidestepping them. What do you say to that . Rep. Thompson i find it curious. His executive order clarifies existing law. How someone could say clarifying existing law Oversteps Authority is surprising. He wants to beef up the system doing background checks. Everyone says they are in support of that. How him the thing up that system can be overstepping his authority is equally mystifying. He wants to properly Fund Mental Health programs. How someone can think that is overstepping his boundaries is beyond me. Laura the president was emotional. You witnessed it in person when about the victims of mass shootings. How frustrated is the president are you spell or to get far with gun control . Rep. Thompson the president has had to do things beyond our imagination. He has gone to many of these families that have lost loved ones. He has been to sandy hook to talk to parents who lost their first grade children. Tosouth carolina to talk folks that lost their husbands, wives, children. It is a reoccurring theme. He was just and san bernardino. It has taken a toll. This is something he cares about. He was very emotional. He is the father of 2 beautiful, young girls. I dont know how you could dissipate in this without thinking about how your family of gunecome a victim violence. He is emotional, and rightfully so. Katty congressman mike thompson, thank you for joining us. Killed. Soldier has been and others have been injured in afghanistan near the town of of marginin the town of marjah inwn helmand province. The former u. S. Special representative to afghanistan and pakistan. This u. S. Soldier was killed today during an operation supporting afghan forces. What is your assessment of how the afghan troops are holding up against the renewed taliban assault . Payirst, we should condolences to the person who died and those wounded. We have to step back. The question you have is the right one. How are the Afghan Security forces doing . They fight. When we see the Taliban Attack a town they take it. Theysf fights back and recapture some of the territory. The challenge for us, our allies, and friends is are we prepared to continue to support the nsf . They need more training and equipment. Laura did they need more from the u. S. Special forces . Madethink president obama an important and courageous decision leaving the u. S. Forces for a longer time than he originally envisioned. Number and with nato, it is the right number. Are they doing the right thing . There is a tragic outcome today, but there is training and equipment for the nsf. Can you maintain the level of activity with that that you have . Laura are you suggesting they should be deployed to do Something Different . No. The combination of supporting the nsf, and focusing on training, equipping, and enabling is important. Laura at the end of last summer there were a piece talks with the taliban that collapsed. There is talk of talks reviving in islamabad. What do you think . Attackinge taliban afghans, americans, and allies makes these pieced talks hard to imagine how they would go forward. It is amazing that parties like china, afghanistan, the United States would hold out the hope for the taliban. The taller than has to show her nest and think about the kind of attacking they are doing. Laura you have been a special representative for pakistan and afghanistan. Do you see the two countries linked in seeing peace in afghanistan . Yes. That there could be a secure prosperous afghanistan inside a secure prosperous region. They need the pakistanis to put the right pressure on the taliban so they can he get to peace talks and be serious. Laura do see pressure being applied on the pakistani side . It seems over the past year that the appointments of forces, the efforts to the northwest, and the fact that these peas talks with the chinese, afghans, and United States takes place in islamabad is important. Laura what do you make of the United States having a foothold . Why are the taliban choosing now to press ahead with these attacks . Do they think we are . Are they trying to provide cover for the yes people . People . He is it is hard because they are so. Paque the government of afghanistan has to support their own. Laura thank you for joining us. Thether news from around world, Angela Merkel is alarmed by allegations 90 women were sexually assaulted during new years celebrations in cologne. They attack near the famous could you drill were carried out of arab groups of men or north african appearance. And Ethics Committee is proposing a nineyear ban on the secretarygeneral. Ofy are asking for a fine 100,000. Atterumber two of sepp bl then i breaking the rules at the fed. More have drowned off the Turkish Coast trying to reach ,he greek island of lesbos including several children. It is a key crossing point for migrants trying to reach the eu. Last month thousands have died trying to make similar crossings in the mediterranean. For go keen reports. Fergul keenen reports. Usually the drownings happen public eye. E this man swam and staggered to sure. The bitter cold, rescue, and comfort. More than 30 other people traveling with him were lost. Dinghy and rescue helicopters searching for survivors. Dead. Shoreline, the we came an hour ago, this man said. We heard the boat sank and hit the rocks. We think these people died trying to swim from the rocks. There were 2 separate wrecks. The survivors reaching a fishing village. Some that died were on a boat that just left shore. Another heavily crowded boat arrived, this time those persecuted by the islamic state. Smugglers boats taken to the key side of lesbos. You see women and babies, the doctor told me. I remember a shipwreck or 28 people died. I wish there were no more lost innocent souls. With the distance only six miles from turkey, the temptation to risk the crossing to europe is strong. The overwhelming majority who cross survive to find initial help. Then, keep moving. Most hoping to reach northern europe. It is five months since i first saw people landing on lesbos, and there is no sign this crossing. The rescuers no sign this crossing will stop. The rescuers cannot control the weather or the smugglers. Lesbos. , you are watching bbc world news america. Five booksellers from a shop in hong kong have disappeared after selling books critical of beijing. The latest on a possible whereabouts. You do not have to be a fan of cricket to appreciate the achievement of a 15yearold Indian School boy. He had already smashed a School Record that had stood since 1899. He is the first in history to complete 1000 runs in an organized match. Correspondent 15yearold Pranav Dhanawade did not intend to break records. He played what he called his natural game, attacking from the word go. Fours. S, 127 6. 5 hours later he had run up a total of more than 10 centuries. 1009 runs in a single innings. The son of an auto rickshaw driver shattered the previous that had 628 runs stood for 116 years. After playing and playing, 100 runs, 200, 300, 400. I want to be a cricket player, and i want to play for india. Correspondent in mumbai, cricket is competitive. It has produced legendary , like one widely recognized to be the best batsman of all time. Today, he tweeted his encouragement for the young Pranav Dhanawade, encouraging him to work hard and scale greater peaks. Or hops it is the rival team that needs to do the hard work. They were out with a paltry 31 runs. Bbc news, delhi. Laura five booksellers have gone missing in hong kong, one it is a british one is a british national. They specialize in books communistg chinas leader. They say that beijing has abducted him and for others, something beijing denies. Rupert wingfieldhayes reports. This street in hong kong is the center of a growing the street. Since october, five men who worked in this small bookshop and publisher have disappeared. The topics covered include political corruption, power struggles, and love affairs of chinas top leaders. Nothing like this can be published in mainland china. The owner became the latest to disappear. He is a friend of mr. Lis. He wrote some of the books here. I asked if he felt safe and hong kong. I dont feel safe, he says. Tomorrow, they could come for me. 2 mainland chinese men come into the shop. Their dress and behavior is not that of tourists. This is not only a book shop that publishes salacious books on chinese leadership. It is about the differences between hong kong and the rest of china. It is likely the owner of the bookshop was abducted outside and spirited into mainland china. That means potentially no one in hong kong is safe from the long arm of chinese security. When the union jack was lowered here are 18 years ago, china promised it would not impose its political or legal system on hong kong citizens. In beijing, hammond sought to remind his hosts of that commitment. Laws, breach of hong kong the question must be settled in hong kong are the hong kong judicial system. Rupert the response from china . Mind your own business. Hong kongs affairs is chinas internal business. No foreign country has the right to interfere. Rupert not so says the woman who ran the internal affairs. Hong kong is still a dazzling place. Since britain left it has continued to prosper. The freedoms that underpin this disparity are in peril. Rupert wingfieldhayes, bbc news , hong kong. Breach threatens a hong kong bookshop. In woman in wales got part of her vision back thanks to a bionic eye. Rhian lewis had been losing her eyesight until she got abiotic chip implanted got a bionic chip implanted in her eye. 5, rhianthe age of lewis has been gradually losing her site as the result of a rare condition. It is like someone is putting a dim switch off. It has been nearly eight years since ive had any idea of what my children look like, and i dont know how i have aged. Implant is aade bit to restore some of her vision. It is fitted over the retinas ells. Processing c it has 1600 light sensitive pixels. Light sends electronic signals to the optic nerve and the brain, which processes them. She has to learn to reinterpret the messages. Box allows her to adjust the contrast and frequency of the images. Can she tell the time . Three . It is. Oh, my god. It is nice to compare that to early tv pictures. Very grainy, black and white, just an outline. Compared to what we see that would be low level. To someone that is blind, that is a lifechanging event. She needs help getting around, but she says the implant is pure joy. Youre not completely helpless. You can see a wall. Im completely elated. There, the flashing is starting. 2012i met robin miller, one of the first patients to receive an early version of the implant, which lasted 18 months. It is hoped that rhians implant can stay for five years. Todayshat hope brings broadcast to a close. You can find more on our website. To reach me and the team go to twitter. Am lauratrevelyan thank you for watching, and tune in tomorrow. Make sense of International News at bbc. Com news. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newmans own Foundation Giving all profits from newmans own to charity and pursuing the common good, Kovler Foundation pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs, and hong kong tourism board. Want to know hong kongs most romantic spot . Ill show you. I love heading to repulse bay for an evening stroll. It is the perfect, stunning backdrop for making romantic moments utterly unforgettable. Ive lived in this city for years, but hong kong still makes me fall in love with it time and again. Bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff good evening, im judy woodruff. Gwen ifill is away. On the newshour tonight every time i think about those kids it gets me mad. And by the way, it happens on the streets of chicago everyday. Woodruff president obama makes an emotional appeal for background checks and outlines other actions to curb gun violence. Also ahead this tuesday, how New Hampshire is grappling with a heroin epidemic. We need to do something about it. If we dont, were not going to have to worry about building more beds to try and treat people, were going to have to Start Building more coffins. Woodruff and, photographer and macarthur grant winner, latoya ruby frazier, on why she