a warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: bugle sounds japan's prime minister pays his respects at an american military ceremony on an historic visit to hawaii. 75 years afterjapan‘s bombing of pearl harbor drew the us into world war ii. dozens of ships are still searching for remains of a russian military plane that crashed into the black sea on sunday with 92 people on board. time's running out fast for the cheetah: scientists say urgent action is needed to save the world's fastest land animal from the brink of extinction. and pioneering astronomer vera rubin has died at the age of 88. her work led to the discovery of dark matter. we'll be talking to her friend and former colleague. hello.

the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, is making a historic visit to hawaii, 75 years after the japanese attack on pearl harbor that brought the united states into the second world war. first, shinzo abe paid tribute to the american dead at the national memorial cemetery of the pacific. before he left tokyo, he said he wanted to send a message that japan would never repeat the atrocities of past wars. laura bicker reports. archive: december 7th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy. the japanese attacks came in waves during a deadly two hours. bombs ripped through us battleships, crippling the pacific fleet and killing over 2000 americans. survivors recalled that the once bustling port burned for hours. i had a fire hose in one hand, trying to put out the fires, and with the other i

went around memorising these nametags so i could write to their parents and tell them what happened to their sons. after 75 years, a sitting japanese prime minister will attend a service to pray for those lives lost. shinzo abe arrived in hawaii to reaffirm a solemn promise never to repeat the horrors of that war. he will also hold a final meeting with the outgoing us president. the two leaders have developed strong ties over the last eight years. barack 0bama was the first sitting president to visit hiroshima, a powerful symbol of reconciliation. we force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. we listen to a silent cry. shinzo abe spoke of an alliance of hope, as the first japanese prime minister to address the us congress. i offer my eternal condolences. this bond of friendship

is hugely important to japan. tokyo feels under threat from a strengthening china and a north korea which is developing nuclear weapons. cheers. kanpai. some fear for the future of the relationship under a new president. archive: those who lost their lives at pearl harbor would never be forgotten. but these few days will be about remembrance and laying to rest the final ghosts of a world war which brought out the worst in humanity. laura bicker, bbc news, washington. russia has observed a day of mourning for the death of 92 people on sunday, in the military plane that crashed into the black sea. forty ships and more than 3000 people are searching the crash site. one of the main targets is the aircraft's black box flight recorder, which is likely to contain information about the cause. steve rosenberg reports from moscow. across russia, they prayed for the dead —

for the 92 victims of yesterday's plane crash. there was a special service today in every orthodox church in russia. this is a day of national mourning. as a sign of respect, russian flags were flown at half—mast. this is thought to be the last picture ever taken of the tupolev154. a few hours later, it crashed into the black sea. the search operation continued today, not for survivors — there were none — but for bodies. and for the plane's black box flight recorders. translation: divers have already lifted two parts of the aeroplane's control mechanism. the serial numbers allowed us to determine that these parts belonged to the missing plane. russia's transport minister said that technical failure or pilot error may have caused the crash.

terrorism is thought less likely. killed in the crash, more than 60 members of the russian army's song and dance troupe. they'd been on their way to syria for a new year's concert. outside the musicians‘ headquarters in moscow, there is now a shrine, which grows bigger by the hour. as well as bringing flowers and icons and candles here, people have been leaving messages. this one says, "you were killed on take—off. farewell, friends. you won't be returning. we couldn't save you." natalia's son used to work in the ensemble, but left. "we mourn with everyone else," she says. "there is pain deep in my soul." officially, there is one day of national mourning, but for many russians, the sense of loss from this disaster will last much longer.

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. a typhoon has hit the philippines, forcing tens of thousands to seek refuge in emergency shelters. typhoon nock—ten, with gusts of more than 160kmph — at leats 100mph — has killed several people and damaged homes. it's also caused flooding in coastal communities and disrupted air and sea travel. joy maluyo is from the world vision charity, in the philippines. typhoon nock—ten has caused significant damage in luzon, especially in the bicol region. as of today, the national disaster risk reduction and management council has reported that about 25,000 families have been affected by the typhoon, and a lot of houses made of light materials have been reduced to the ground. as early as two days before the landfall, a lot of people have

already been evacuated. provincial governments have declared a state of imminent danger, so that's why there have been mandatory evacuations. so it's good that people have learned a lot, especially during typhoon haiyan in 2013. so we can say that even the national government has been prepared and has been more proactive in providing alerts to the communities. as of now, the department of social welfare and development is giving out relief items to the affected communities. for world vision, a few hours from now, our assessment team will be heading to bicol region to check on the extent of damage caused by the typhoon, and if needed world vision is ready to assist initially 4,000 families with emergency relief items. turkey has appealed for air support

from the us—led coalition in syria to help in the battle to drive islamic state fighters out of al bab, a key town in the north—east of the country. caroline davies reports. a stronghold targeted from above. this video from isvs agencies shows buildings and cars destroyed. 0n the ground cartridge belts a field ready for another assault. this is the siege of the syrian town of al—bab. turkish forces have cleared a wide area. since then they have been focused on al—bab, 20 kilometres from the border. more than 220 fighters have been killed but it has

come at a cost. substantial losses we re come at a cost. substantial losses were felt last week. wounded soldiers were rushed here to turkish hospital just over the soldiers were rushed here to turkish hospitaljust over the border. 14 we re hospitaljust over the border. 14 were killed, mourned on the street by theirfamilies. were killed, mourned on the street by their families. now turkish has asked for support from the us led coalition. translation back they must carry out duties regarding aerial support. it is unacceptable that certain circles who always criticised turkey in its fight against di ash are not giving support to the operation. there is a sign as yet that the coalition has joined the operation. turkish airstrikes have also killed four than 80 civilians in al—bab. the turkish government say they are sensitive to preventing the casualties. despite losing a lot of ground, is it still able to put up a

fight. the new appealfor ground, is it still able to put up a fight. the new appeal for help would be assigned of how tough the battle has become. the world's fastest land animal, the cheetah, is said to be rapidly heading for extinction. a study by the national academy of sciences in the us says cheetahs are coming increasingly into conflict with human beings as they roam far beyond protected areas. 0nly around 7000 cheetahs now remain in the wild across africa and in a small area of iran. the cheater is speeding towards extinction. in zimbabwe, it has fallen to 1200 to 700. the ref 50 left in iran. the common problem, isn't that they ranged far outside the boundaries of the tape that parks in search of prey. they coming more into conflict with farmers who see them as an enemy. numbers are

also suffered from the illegal trade in live calves which is —— are in demand as fashion accessories. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: joy for the french seafarer who's set a new record for sailing around the world single—handed without stopping. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. in holland, we're going to use money we picked up in belgium today, and then france and again the same money, it's got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his 0xfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good. just good?

no, fantastic. that's better. 0ne main headline: japan's prime minister is on a historic visit to hawaii to pay his respect to the military cemetery. it is 75 years since the bombing of pearl harbor drew america into the second world war. dozens of ships are still searching for the remains of a russian plane that crashed into the black sea with 92 people on board. the astronomer vera rubin has died. she found that

stars in galaxies move faster than expected and something like dark matter might be the reason. it was a groundbreaking work and has won numerous awards they never a nobel prize. respect a professor of astrophysics. you knew her well and worked with her, tell us more about her? she changed the whole idea of dark matter? yes, i worked with vera, she was a good friend and colleague of mine for many years. what she has done was really remarkable. in the 1970s that she and some colleagues measured the speed of how fast stars moved around the galaxy and as a function of going further and further out from the centre of galaxies and we expect

that as you go further away from the centre of the galaxy, the speed of the stars would slow down because there is not much more gravity. there are no more stars that but what they found was quite amazing that the speed did not go down but it remained the same — typically 100 kilometres per second, like in our milky way galaxy. the fact that the speed remains at the same means that there was more gravity there, mourmans, then is given by the available stars and that was the evidence is needed that some extra gravity is needed which we now call dark matter, some kind of matter, some kind of gravity, a new particle not yet discovered, that produces this gravitational force that makes the stars go faster than they would

otherwise go. she looked at more than 200 galaxies in some detail. apart from being a pioneer she was a champion of women in science and in a very practical way? she was very practical, very upfront about it. she never shied away from saying what she bought. for example, when she applied to graduate school, at priston, my university here, that was in the late 40s and she got a reply back from the dean of admission saying, well, we did not accept women serve or is admission saying, well, we did not accept women serve or is no admission saying, well, we did not accept women serve or is no point in sending an an application for graduate school. she replied back to them saying it was not appropriate, not fair to women but, of course, she applied elsewhere. it is interesting to note, a few years ago

she receive an honorary degree from princeton and itjust shows how long we have all come since then. forgive me, she would ring up conferences and complain if there were no women in the bill. we share in sparring to women? she was enormously inspiring to women. she kept pushing women encouraging them, inspiring them, telling them they can do whatever they decide to do and not let any of several stand in their way and many women have responded enormously warmly to her. she had many, many friends among women and men and many have responded to by e—mails and phone calls and letters. thank you so much. thank you. in other news: the us president—elect donald trump has described

the united nations as sad. on twitter mr trump said the organisation had great potential, but suggested it was a place for nothing but talk. last week he was involved in an effort to postpone a security council vote condemning israeli settlements in the west bank. columbian authorities investigating the plane crash last month, which killed 71 people, have concluded the aircraft ran out of fuel. the plane, carrying brazil's chapecoense football club, crashed near the city of medellin. there were only six survivors. on a leaked tape, the pilot is heard warning of a total electric failure and lack of fuel. he never made a formal distress call and did not survive. the south korean woman at the heart of a corruption scandal which has engulfed the presidency of park geun—hye has finally been questioned by members of parliament inside the detention centre where she is being held. choi soon—sil was interviewed behind closed doors after the authorities refused to allow a televised hearing. a french seafarer has set a new record for sailing around the world single—handed without stopping. in his fifth attempt,

it just took 49 days for thomas coville to beat the previous record, also set by a frenchman, francis joyon. daniela relph has the story. he looked as though he couldn't quite believe he had done it. the arrival in the port of brest in north—west france, the moment thomas coville truly knew the weeks of long, lonely, gruelling days were over. 0n the quayside, hundreds out to welcome him back. 49 days after he left on his round the world trip. family, friends and others who'd made this journey possible. addressing the crowd, he said he had felt an intense and deepjoy. he told them he had tried, he had dared, he had never given up and today it had worked out. it was thomas coville's fifth attempt at breaking the record. alone in his boat, he had rarely slept for more than three hours at a time. his solo route around the world had taken him from brest,

past the cape of good hope and cape horn. he travelled around 52,000 kilometres and had been lucky with unusually good weather. thomas coville had devoted the past ten years of his life to breaking this record. but he didn'tjust break it, he smashed it, taking eight days off the previous one set in 2008. he said he now had just one desire, to sleep and to let his mind rest. daniela relph, bbc news. back now to our top story. the 75th anniversary of the bombing of pearl harbor and a visit to hawaii by japan's prime of pearl harbor and a visit to hawaii byjapan's prime minister. i've been talking to the director of the japan studies programme ofjohns hopkins university, professor kent calder, who told me about his family connection with the attack on pearl harbor. my harbor. father's uncle was the commander of my father's uncle was the commander of the west virginia. prime minister

abe will be visiting exactly the ship that was right behind the ship that my uncle commanded and he sadly was killed that day by a bomb frack went on the west virginia. was killed that day by a bomb frack went on the west virginialj was killed that day by a bomb frack went on the west virginia. i guess in the wake of all this we should all welcome reconciliation, that the us andjapan all welcome reconciliation, that the us and japan have managed to strike up us and japan have managed to strike upa us and japan have managed to strike up a strong alliance, president 0bama managed to visit hiroshima for a significant ceremony there. is it your concern that this current episode is being used in someway for political gain? i think the event should be respected in its own right, even if 75 years have passed. of course, well over 2000 people we re of course, well over 2000 people were killed. the original attack was unprovoked. there may have been embargoes earlier and a historical

spiralling down to war but it was an unprovoked attack. well over 2000 people died. i think that's sad reality and the fact that we of course went on to four years of war thereafter just as of course course went on to four years of war thereafterjust as of course later we had hiroshima and so many other events, but the pearl harbor itself should be recognised and some reconciliation based on an understanding of what happened that day, i do believe very much in reconciliation. deon i did stays and japan have developed a remarkably strong relationship in the post—war yea rs. strong relationship in the post—war years. —— the united states. but i don't think this event should be used for political purposes

tactically. just briefly, it is possible that relations might be quite different with the next american president? well, i think it's a fortunate thing that prime minister abe has first the meeting a couple of weeks ago with trump and now this meeting with president 0bama and then another one probably next month. certainly out of the campaign and out of the economic troubles that many people in the united states have had in recent yea rs united states have had in recent years there has been a fair degree of distrust and suspicion that's arisen. neither president elect trump or hillary clinton, for example, supported the transatlantic... the tra ns—pacific partnership concept. so this comes

ata partnership concept. so this comes at a critical moment, trying to construct something that holds the two countries together in the face ofa two countries together in the face of a bitter political campaign. the music world has been paying tribute to the british singer, george michael, who died on christmas day of heart failure. he was 53. the singer sold more than 100 million albums in a career spanning nearly four decades. his partner, fadi fawaz, says he will never stop missing him. george michael collaborated with many artists throughout his career. one of them was motown legend aretha franklin, with whom he sang i knew you were waiting for me in 1986. my colleague ben brown has been speaking to simon climie, who wrote the song, and now lives in california. in america it was very much rock radio or black radio or this kind of radio. and with that one song george not

only broke his pop career in america but he crossed over to the r&b and i think even won a grammy as well for that, for r&b radio or something. when you met him — after he recorded that song, you met him — what was his raction when he met you? well, it changed, it was about a year after he recorded it that it was released so within that year i met him at a club in london, said, "hey, george, i wrote a song for you. i think you did it with aretha." and he kind of couldn't believe it. he say, "i thought you were from atlanta or something like that." i said, "no, live in chiswick." and he went, "oh, my god, if i had known that i would never have recorded it!" he said, "but truthfully, it was a fantastic song so thank you." and, you know, one of the highest spots of his career at that point was to sing with aretha and who wouldn't feel that any time ina life? but they are two voices which you might think of as ostensibly quite different but they combined wonderfully

in that song? it is a magical thing. there's a kind of...i remember hearing it on the radio and when he sings # somehow i made it through the heartache, # yes i did # i escaped, # i find my way out of the darkness. ..# and he's in that area, it is great. and then they come together, # when the river was deep, i didn't falter " when the mountain was high, i still believed. ..# and the mixture of those two voices was an ultimate crossover which is much more a gospelly thing and the flavour of that and the mixture of those voices — maybe the ultimate crossover r&b duet. i was overwhelmed at the time, i coyuldn't believe it. it was like the third song i ever had recorded so i was so grateful to george and aretha. i was very sad yesterday to hear this news because you always believe that's it for now. thank you so much for watching. hello there.

after the fairly windy spell of weather that many saw over the festive period, things are turning colder and much quieter too. here's the scene in highland scotland on monday, some snow over higher ground. some sunshine to see out boxing day too across the isle of wight. high pressure is dominating the weather for everyone as we head through the day on tuesday. the isobars fairly widely spaced for the most part, much less windy than in recent days. frost and fog patches around especially in parts of england and wales, further north, more cloud and breeze around. looking around the country at 9am, across the bulk of england and wales, a fine start to the day. a bit chilly, the coldest night we have seen in a little while, some frost around and a few mist and fog patches. further north across northern england and northern ireland, more cloud and again a chilly start to the day, some isolated showers in the far north—west of scotland, perhaps some rain for a time towards the northern isles but that should clear then looking dry

across—the—board on tuesday. a really decent day for heading out into the countryside for a walk, lots of sunshine on offer, some patchy cloud here and there and in a few places the mist and fog will be slow to clear. so colder than we've seen recently, highs between 6—8. tuesday evening looks a bit chilly but clear and dry. the main problem will be mist and fog building once again. as we head into the middle part of the week, high pressure stays with us across the country and with those light winds and relatively clear skies, i think we will wake up to scenes like this. locally some dense patches of fog around, especially on wednesday onwards, through the rest of the week it will cause some disruption. if you have travel plans by air or road it could be a foggy picture by the time we get to wednesday, particularly across england and wales. less fog in scotland and northern ireland, more breeze and cloud around here.

plenty of sunshine on offer by the afternoon. temperatures between 3—9. where the fog lingers in a few pockets it will be pretty cold and grey for much of the day on wednesday. where the fog clears, some glorious spells of sunshine. into the latter part of the week, a weather front to the far north—west of scotland, a bit breezy here and perhaps rain later on on thursday but it is high pressure dominating really. looking ahead to thursday and friday, things are mainly dry, there will be variable amounts of cloud but watch out for the potential for some mist and dense fog around too. bye for now. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. japan's prime minister has paid his respects at an american military ceremony as his historic visit to hawaii gets underway. it's 75 years since japan's bombing of pearl harbor, which killed 2,400 soldiers and marines and drew the us into world war ii. dozens of ships are still searching for what remains of the russian military plane that crashed into the black sea on sunday with 92 people on board.

investigators are looking for the black box flight recorder. there are unconfirmed reports that fragments of the tail section suggest the pilot tried to land on water. the world's fastest land animal, the cheetah, is said to be heading, rapidly, for extinction. the national academy of sciences in the us says cheetahs are increasingly in conflict with humans, as they roam far beyond protected areas. there are only around 7,000 left in the wild. now on bbc news victoria derbyshire takes a look back at the exclusive interviews and films which have featured on her programme in 2016.