welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: 20 countries back the strict enforcement of sanctions against north korea in the latest bid to curb it's nuclear ambitions. is steve bannon set to testify to a grand jury? reports suggest the special counsel investigating links between the trump campaign and russia is now turning its sights on the president's former chief strategist. confronted over 100 cases of sexual abuse, usa gymnastics‘ former doctor awaits sentencing as more and more victims speak out. little girls don't stay little girls for over. they turn into strong women who return to destroy your world. —— forever. and a californian couple is charged with torturing their 13 children. they were held captive, close to starvation, some chained to their beds. hello.

foreign ministers from 20 countries have been meeting in canada to try to exert concerted pressure on north korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. the group is made up solely of countries which were involved in the korean war more than half a century ago, but two key international players, north korea's neighbours russia and china, are not there. at a news conference, rex tillerson said the us is open to talks with north korea but only if it stops its threatening behaviour. the united states has always been open to clear messages with north korea, and we have sent north korea clear messages that we are ready for serious negotiations. north korea knows that channels are open and they know where to find us. but a sustained cessation of north korea's threatening behaviour is necessary... is a necessary indicator of whether the regime is ready to pursue a peaceful diplomatic resolution to the security threat that it has created.

our nations must remain united on sustaining pressure until north korea takes concrete steps toward and ultimately reaches denuclearisation. i spoke to drjohn park, director of the korea working group at the harvard kennedy school, right after that press conference, and asked him what he made of it. it is encouraging to hear this co—ordinated messaging from a multilateral group of countries. however we have to look at the facts. the north korean nuclear weapons programme is advanced. if the co—ordinated sanctions, the reduction in evasion techniques on those sanctions are implemented, we are looking at a time line behind the north korean pace of development. in 2017 north korea had advancements on a weekly and monthly basis. and for all of the words and the taxpayer money in bringing the foreign ministers together

you have to wonder what the point is if china and russia are not there. in fact it might even have angered china which is surely counter—productive. the chinese are very concerned. right now they feel that the way to go in terms of a diplomatic approach is a freeze for freeze, north korea will freeze nuclear weapons development activity and in return the us will freeze new military exercises. rex tillerson shut down the proposal and has gone down this path which the bush administration gameplan had, which is called cvid, complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation. are you optimistic about the winter olympics? any talks at this stage of the games in terms of the crisis is welcome however it is important to manage expectations. it looks like, given the narrow focus on the successful winter olympics, north and south korea are limiting in terms of the scope of these discussions as something that looks very much tactical and in the scheme of things it looks like a pause

rather than some kind of diplomatic offering. under direct threat from president trump it looked as if pyongyang was trying to scale down the rhetoric. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the trump administration has suspended more than half of its funding to the un agency supporting palestinians. the us has informed the unrwa that it will deliver $60 million of this year's first instalment, but withhold the rest. the unwra provides healthcare, education and social services to millions of palestinians. serious reservations have been expressed about a plan agreed by myanmar and neighbouring bangladesh to repatriate hundreds

of thousands of rohingya refugees starting next week. the un said any return to myanmar must be voluntary, and the safety of those going back had to be ensured. pope francis has been to visit a women's jail in santiago on the second day of his visit to chile. the women inside the sanjoaquin prison are mostly mothers who are on drugs trafficking charges. the trip has been overshadowed by multiple accusations of child sexual abuse against nearly eighty members of the chilean clergy. earlier, pope francis said he feels "pain and shame" over the scandal. the us navy has said the former commanding officers of two of its destroyers which were involved in deadly collisions in the pacific will face criminal charges. 17 sailors were killed in the crashes. in the first collision injune, the uss fitzgerald collided with a cargo vessel off the coast of japan, with the loss of seven lives. ten more were killed when the uss john mccain hit an oil tanker east of singapore in august. a us navy investigation found that both incidents had been caused by preventable errors. it's being reported that steve bannon, president trump's former chief strategist, has been summoned to testify before a grandjury. the new york times says it's the first time a subpoena has been issued a to seek information

from a member of mr trump's inner circle over alleged collusion with russia during the 2016 election. 0ur correspondent in washington, david willis, has more details. up to now of course, mike, those who have given evidence to robert mueller‘s special counsel investigation have done so voluntarily and there were dozens of them in the final months of last year. steve bannon, though, by all accounts does not intend to give evidence voluntarily because maybe he knows so much about what went on in the transition and in the early months of the trump administration so the special counsel has subpoenaed him to give evidence to the grand jury that is looking into this whole affair of russian meddling in the outcome of the 2016 election. there is a suggestion here that this might be all part of robert mueller‘s team seeking to get some leverage here with steve bannon. they desperately need his testimony. they need his evidence because of the amount that he knows.

and in subpoenaing him and forcing him to give evidence to the grand jury it may open the door perhaps to a more congenial sitdown chat with the special counsel's team, which steve bannon would be able to have his lawyer present. victims of sexual abuse by the former usa gymnastics team doctor, larry nasser, have been giving emotional statements at his sentence hearing in the state of michigan. several days have been set aside by the court so that up to 125 women can speak. nasser is already serving a 60—year jail sentence for possessing child pornography. you broke and shattered a lot of girls. you manipulated us because you are a doctor. you are not a healer. she said you could not see

what was going on, mum. she said "he hurt me." in 2009, she took her own life because she could not deal with the pain any more. i will educate my children about monsters like you, and pray to god they will never experience pain like this. there will be a day where i look into my soul and i will still see the scars of this nightmare, but i will no longer feel the deepest of their pain. perhaps you have figured by now, that little girls do not stay little girls forever. they return as grown women who come to destroy your world. rachael denhollander was a victim of dr larry nasser. she is attending the sentencing

hearing and will be the last person to read her victim impact statement on friday. shejoins us from kalamazoo michigan. you were an athlete, a victim, and a fighter, and now you are a lawyer. we have spoken to you and about the legalities of this. you are the first to bring charges and the last to give a victim impact statement. what do you want him in the world to know? at this point, the main message that needs to be conveyed is this is what sexual assault looks like. this is what it looks like when a man is allowed to prey on little children and young women for decades. there are names and faces and souls left devastated. i hope when our culture sees this pain, they will begin taking reports of assault seriously and hold enablers of this seriously. what gymnasts do

is amazing to us. it is incredible to think that someone who can treat you for injury is an abuser. that is why it is important to have adult around you who you can trust. —— adults. we trusted not only larry nasser, but the professionals around us, to keep us safe. we trusted his colleagues, we trusted msu and usag to be vetting the doctor they sent us to be vetting the doctor they sent us to, that he followed protocol and was legitimate. all i can think is that when i was sitting on his

table, there is no way he could do this if he was approved to take care of us. children need adults they can trust. you come off the bar and walk into the treatment room, you must be ina into the treatment room, you must be in a state of dread. i really was. not all victims were, because they did not realise what had happened to them at the time. you see varying emotions. you will see victims who did not realise they were assaulted and only realised later that the you see some devastated because they felt something was wrong. you see all of those emotions. but that is why it is imperative to have adults you can trust, because for those of us you can trust, because for those of us who did feel something was wrong, we had no one to turn to. the little girls who cried out, their voices we re girls who cried out, their voices were silenced, and the results were devastating. on that point, you and so devastating. on that point, you and so many devastating. on that point, you and so many were devastating. on that point, you and so many were manipulated by larry

nasser but also mocked and disbelieved by officials who should have done something about it. and while you were being disbelieved, so many more children were going into his hands. that is exact what happened. to be honest, that was the most painful and sobering part of the day. 0ut most painful and sobering part of the day. out of the 29 women who testified today, at least 26 of them we re testified today, at least 26 of them were sexually assaulted after gymnasts raised the first concerns, after one told him he is fingering me likea after one told him he is fingering me like a boyfriend. she said that in 1997. a piece of paper was wasting her face saying in 1997. a piece of paper was wasting herface saying i could report this and there will be consequences for you. —— waved in her. four women raised concerns to different areas, and all of them we re different areas, and all of them were silenced. in 2004 there was a

victim, carl stevens, who spoke so eloquently, she spoke to a psychiatrist in 2004 who did not follow mandatory reporting laws, and brought in larry to explain it away. you see it over and over and over again, this mockery and silencing victims. in 2014 i had an entire file of evidence and three medical professionals to vouch for me, an assistant prosecuting attorney willing to vouch for me, i had national and international medical journal articles demonstrating what larry nasser was doing was not a legitimate technique of medical records from medical professionals, i had witnesses, i had a mother who had seen his sexual arousal and was ready to testify to that, and with all of that evidence i brought, the

response of msu and larry's boss and the dean of the college was to mock me. he sent an e—mail to larry nasser straightaway and said good luck, i am on your side. the last that it was the cherry on his cake. even after all of these women came forward , even after all of these women came forward, the three of us, and that report, the response from msu officials was to mock us, and since then, have even said we are ambulance chasing, doing this for money. just a few months after i came forward, i was called an ambulance chaser looking for payday. it is victim blaming at its absolute finest, and results have been devastating to all of us. you are clearly expecting to see other people in the dock as a result of

all this, and you will be the last to say how you feel. thank you. thank you. police in california have praised the courage of a 17—year—old girl who escaped from a home where she and 12 siblings were allegedly being held captive by their parents. david and louise turpin, whose children range in age from two to 29, are due to appear in court later this week, charged with torture and child endangerment. the children were found in squalid conditions, some chained to their beds. james cook reports from outside the home in perris. in public, they looked like a big happy family, devoutly christian. renewing their wedding vows in las vegas, david and louise turpin played the part of proud parents. but in private, say police, the turpins had a dark secret. before dawn on sunday, a 17—year—old girl escaped from this house through a window. she had taken a deactivated mobile phone and managed to use it to call the police. inside, officers found her 12 brothers and sisters, dirty and malnourished.

three were shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks. the home dark and foul smelling. i wish i could come to you today with information that would explain why this happened. but we do need to acknowledge the courage of the young girl who escaped from that residence to bring attention so they could get the help they so needed. neighbours say the turpins were originally from west virginia. the father was an engineer on a good salary but had twice declared bankruptcy, and neighbours admit there were signs that something was amiss. i never saw a scooter, i never saw a bike. i saw the infant maybe three times. maybe. i never saw the infant again. how did they live when you saw them? they were always pale, like, abnormally pale. the children do look pale in pictures posted on facebook. here they're visiting disneyland.

police say the siblings were so small they were shocked to discover that seven were actually adults. the eldest, 29. they're now being treated in hospital. they've gone through a very traumatic ordeal. i can tell you that they're very friendly. they're very cooperative. and i believe that they're hopeful that life will get better for them after this event. this quiet californian suburb is now under intense scrutiny. the authorities say they had no prior contact with the family, but neighbours are searching their souls, wondering if they could have saved the siblings sooner. as for david and louise turpin, they are now under arrest, charged with torture and child endangerment. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: crisis in cape town. the worst drought in a century means water is running out fast. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait

has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws, passed by the country's new multiracial government, and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: 20 countries led by canada and the united states have called for the strict enforcement of sanctions against north korea. us media is reporting that president trump's former chief strategist, steve bannon, has been ordered to testify before a grandjury. hong kong democracy activist joshua wong has beenjailed for three months for obstructing the clearance of a protest camp during the 0ccupy protests in 2014. this is the second time he's been jailed for his part in the protests. speaking to the bbc before the trial he said prison was a price he was willing to pay for democracy. no one would like to serve a sentence inside prison but compared to the price paid by activists in

mainland china, i think the price i need to pay is just a small piece of cake. in 2017, i would describe hong kong as a semi—do crop —— democracy city turning into a semi— authoritarian city and in 2018, i would describe it as the start of a new crackdown. danny vincentjoins danny vincent joins from danny vincentjoins from hong kong. where this has lead forjoshua wong and the protest movement? forjoshua wong, he will be spending three months in prison. the most significant point in that development means that he will be barred for standing for any type of election in hong kong to the next five years. many activists feel the government perhaps influenced by beijing, your accusation of systematically using the law to attempt to politically persecute, to criminalise the opposition, so even

this month, there are around 50 project —— pro— democratic leaders and activists. they would argue that many of the charges are convoluted and quite vague, charges such as inciting others to incite people to go to the street and cause public nuisance. it's a difficult time for the pro—democracy movement. but many of the activists pledged to fight on. danny, thank you very much. president trump has been advised to eat a lower fat diet and take more exercise, following a medical last friday. but the white house doctor, ronnyjackson, said the president was generally in excellent health and had performed well in cognitive tests. can you explain to me how a guy who eats mcdonald's and all those diet cokes and never exercises is in as good a shape as you say he is in? it's called genetics. i don't know. some people just have great genes. i told the president if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years he might live to be 200 years.

i don't know. cape town could become the first major city in the world to run out of water as earlier as april. south african officials have warned that the city's worst drought in living memory could force them to shut the taps off and impose emergency water rationing. a maximum of 25 litres of water would be provided per person per day. experts predict that there is just over 90 days worth of water left in the city. sarah corker reports. there may be water all around cape town, but little of it is drinkable. the south african city is suffering its worst drought in more than a century. after three years of very low rainfall, western cape dams are now less than a third full. and the authorities are warning of day zero, the day the taps run dry, it could come as soon as the 22nd of april. if that happens there will be emergency water rationing.

i do hope that the government is doing something to prevent day zero because it would be a national crisis. honestly it would be horrific when day zero comes. it's going to be very scary but i think it's a reality unfortunately. a reality that would make cape town famous for being the world's first major city to run out of water. its 4 million residents already face strict limits on the amount of water they can use. there are bands on washing cars and filling up pools. people are urged to shower for no longer than two minutes and to flush toilets as little as possible. businesses are doing their bit to save water, but there's been some criticism of the government's approach. why are we looking at day zero? are there no other alternatives other than to close up my hotel and switch off all the taps?

there are alternatives and there are countries in this world that have proven there are ways to deal with drought and with desert regions. one has to just look at the middle east and see what israel did to the desert there in respect to desalinisation. south africa is building desalinisation plants and drilling more boreholes, but officials said if dam levels fall below 13.5%, the water supply to cape town will be turned off. people here have been warned, every drop counts. sarah corker, bbc news. the australian actress jessica falkholt has died from injuries she suffered in a car crash three weeks ago. the actress played hope morrison in the popular tv series home and away. the accident in new south wales on the 26th of december had also claimed the lives of her parents, sister and the driver of a second car. the central philippine province

of albay has declared a state of calamity as the mount mayon volcano spews lava. it's now reached the limits of a no—go zone and spread ash on nearby villages. the most active volcano in the philippines has been erupting since saturday. back in 1814 it buried a town and killed 1,200 people. thousands have been evacuated this time. but as people have been fleeing their homes, tourists have been descending on the area to watch this spectacular lava display. a reminder of our top story. a meeting of 20 foreign ministers look at ways to curb north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes has agreed to ensure that un sanctions are strictly enforced. much more on the website. thank you for watching. frequent shows net snow showers

across parts of england and northern ireland with significant accumulations. it is proper that the met office to issue warnings to the combination of snow and ice so a double whammy to greet us first thing on wednesday morning. very strong winds overnight also giving rise to perhaps a bit of coastal flooding across the south—west with high tides there. blizzard conditions across many more northern hills. make the dry skills. everywhere starts cold and windy on wednesday. wintry showers in places but increasing bouts of sunshine through the course of the day is the start a tour across the north of the country, plenty of snow showers from

the word go across scotland and northern ireland in the far north of england. blizzards as well with icy stretches. treacherous conditions on some of the roads. further south, fewer showers around. the running through the cheshire gap in the south—west of england but it will be blustery wherever you are despite the fact that many will be waking up to blue skies and sunshine. very windy through the second part of the morning. in the afternoon, the wind is isa morning. in the afternoon, the wind is is a little bit and the showers to as well but more confined towards scotla nd to as well but more confined towards scotland and northern ireland. england and wales, a good deal of sunshine around. it shouldn't feel too bad in the sunshine. to the west, wednesday night, this will be a deepening area of low pressure. it will bring us a spell of wet and windy weather as well a severe gales and rain spreading across england and rain spreading across england and wales. it could be quite heavy.

the whole thing moves out very quickly during thursday morning. it an improving picture through the day with more on the way of sunshine. further showers in northern and western areas. temperatures 3— nine degrees. this area of low pressure moving through could cause some problems. heavy rain, gale force winds. keep tuned to local radio. this is bbc news.

the headlines: 20 countries led by canada and the united states have called for the strict enforcement of sanctions against north korea. it's the latest bid to curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. two key players, china and russia, aren't involved in the meeting. us media is reporting that donald trump's former chief strategist steve bannon has been ordered to testify before a grand jury, as part of an investigation into alleged russian interference in the presidential election. it's said he was subpoenaed by former fbi director robert mueller, who is leading the inquiry. international gymnasts have been confronting the former usa team doctor, larry nassar, in court, and describing how he sexually abused them when they were children. nassar was jailed last month for 60 years for possessing images of child abuse. he's awaiting sentencing after admitting sexual assault. now on bbc news: panorama.

donald trump's first year in office has been one of the most controversial in american history. this american carnage stops right here right now. we're going to have a strict ban and have extreme vetting. donald trump has bombed the hell out of isis. he declared terrorists losers. rocket man. why have you been retweeting anti—muslim videos. don't be rude. president trump firing fbi directorjames comey. you are a fake news. nobody knew that health care could be so complicated. employment is up the stock market is soaring. president trump referred to africa as a shithole. in a series of tweets the president said he is very smart and a genius. if he doesn't call himself a genius, no one else will.