a very 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 in hawaii, 75 years after the japanese attack on pearl harbor. dozens of ships are still searching for the remains of the russian military plane that crashed into the black sea with 92 people on board. vera rubin, the pioneering astronomer whose work led to the discovery of dark matter, has died aged 88. and time's running out for the cheetah. scientists say urgent action is needed to save the world's fastest land animal from extinction. hello.

japan's prime minister 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'd 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. well, a little earlier, i spoke to patricia steinhoff, who is professor and chair of sociology and former director of the centre forjapanese studies at the university of hawaii. i began by asking her what she made of japanese prime minister shinzo abe's visit to hawaii. well, i think it is a very nice opening for prime minister abe to be here in honolulu. and i'm hoping that all of these things will be widely covered injapan and will have an impact there. you will be meeting shinzo abe, i think, a little later,

won't you, as part of the formalities? do you suspect there's some politics being played here? well, there is always politics being played. but i think that this is a return visit. president 0bama went to hiroshima, and this is the return, bringing prime minister abe to pearl harbor. that symbolism of the two places in the united states‘ imagination, pearl harbor and hiroshima, are inextricably linked. they were the beginning and the answer to the war. in japanese society, there is a very strong memory of hiroshima and their victimisation, but they do not link it to pearl harbor at all. that is not part of their imagination of how the war began and how the united states got into it.

so i think this visit by abe will help to make that linkage for people in japan, and will help them see a more balanced view of the way, in the post—war period, the two countries have become so close as allies. how does all this feel for people in hawaii? people here are happy to see good relations with japan. we have a substantial japanese—american population in hawaii, including the descendants of people who lived through pearl harbor, and some of the actual people who were there 75 years ago are still around, so that part of it is very clear. during the war, hawaii was basically under military rule and ourjapanese population was not shipped off to the mainland and put in camps, but it was kept on hawaii. only a very few people were put in camps during the war.

so that is a very lively memory still around, but there is also 75 years, or 70 years at least, of very positive relationships between hawaii and japan. we have many, many tourists coming from japan, a continuous stream of immigration, and the relations are good and people want to make them better and better. russia has observed a day of mourning for the deaths of 92 people on sunday in the military plane that crashed into the black sea. a0 ships and more than 3,000 people are searching the crash site. one of their main targets is the aircraft's black box flight recorder, likely to contain information about what caused the crash. 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.

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. colombian 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. turkey has appealed for air support from the us—led coalition in syria to help drive fighters of the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, out of al—bab, a key town in the north—east.

caroline davies reports. one of islamic state's strongholds, targeted from above. this video from is‘s newsagency says it shows the buildings and cars destroyed by turkish airstrikes, while on the ground turkish—backed rebels fill their cartridge belts ready for another assault. this is the siege on the syrian town of al—bab. since launching a major incursion into syria almost four months ago, turkish forces have cleared a wide area on the border of both is and kurdish miltants. since then they have been focused on al—bab, about 20 kilometres from the turkish border. turkey says it has killed more than 220 fighters so far, but it has come at a cost. last week, it suffered substantial losses around al—bab. wounded soldiers were rushed here, to a turkish hospitaljust over the border. 14 were killed, mourned

on the street by their families. now turkey has asked for support from the us—led coalition. translation: we would like to emphasise that the international coalition must carry out its duties regarding aerial support. it is unacceptable that certain circles who always criticise turkey in its fight against daesh are not giving necessary support to the operations. there is no sign as yet that the coalition, who are bombing is nearby, has directly joined the turkish operation. syrian activists say that the turkish airstrikes have also killed more than 80 civilians in al—bab. the turkish government have said that they are sensitive to preventing the casualties. despite losing a lot of ground, is is still able to put up a fight. this new appeal for help could be a sign of how tough the battle for al—bab has become. caroline davies, bbc news. a typhoon has hit the philippines,

forcing tens of thousands to seek refuge in emergency shelters. typhoon nock—ten, with gusts of more than 160 kilometres — at least 100 miles an hour — has killed several people and damaged homes. it's also caused flooding in coastal communities and disrupted air and sea travel. i spoke just now to the chairman of the philippines red cross, richard gordon, for an update from the control centre in manila. we have managed to free a lot of people stranded on the piers. we have given hot meals. we managed to help people evacuate into the evacuation centres. we have about 87,000 people in evacuation centres. now it's going down as the typhoon moves further and further away. we are now getting the data. the data is beginning to come in. how many houses in one town right on the pacific ocean, we don't know. nine out of ten homes have been

destroyed, we suspect. we are verifying all of that. we have people on the ground doing rapid assessment. by this afternoon, we should have a good figure on how many more people we need to help in this area. it has affected 30 provinces. it hit a swathe of 400 miles, or 400 kilometres, so we have our hands full. mercifully, we have volunteers in practically every village in the country, and we are trying to get that information because they are wanting to get out of being hunkered down because of the typhoon. typhoons have hit the philippines many times. were people able to be warned in time and get out as far as you know? the number of casualties show we were able to warn them in time. right now we have three confirmed dead, two who refused to leave, and they left too late,

so they drowned. already at a difficult time. 0ne got hit by a fallen tree. so far they are the deaths we have recorded. we have 800,000 in evacuation centres, so that should give you a good idea. in the area on the coastal side, we have standing room only in the evacuation centres. transportation and getting aid to people is going to be difficult? definitely. a lot of the posts are littered all over the highways. there were some floods last night, and power is yet to be restored. some are predicting one week before we can restore power, but we should be able to provide support to clear the debris, the trees, the electrical posts, and we should be able to retain cellular phone service. as we go on every day, we will get better. i know we have been hit many times, but there's no expertise here, we can just save lives,

and we are doing that well, but the damage still needs to be overcome. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the tributes from fans and fellow artists alike for george michael following his death at the age of 53. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got underway with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow 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. this is bbc news. i'm mike embley. the latest headlines: japan's prime minister is on an historic visit to hawaii where's he's paid his respect at a us military cemetery. it's 75 years since the bombing of pearl harbor which drew america into the second world war. dozens of ships are continuing the search for remains of a russian military plane that crashed into the black sea on sunday with 92 people on board. the astronomer vera rubin, one of the pioneering scientists who discovered compelling evidence of dark matter, has died. she was 88. she did ground breaking work — much of it part—time, while she raised four children.

she won numerous awards and honours, although never a nobel prize. she found that stars at the edges of galaxies moved faster than expected and that another force, something like dark matter, might be the reason. that was the evidence needed that some extra gravity is needed which we now call "dark matter". some kind of matter, some kind of gravity, new particle not yet discovered, that produces this gravitational force that makes the stars go faster than they would otherwise go. i know she looked at more than 200 galaxies, i think, in some detail. apart from being a pioneer, she was a champion of women in science and in a very practical way, waan‘t she? she was very practical, very upfront about it. she never shied away from saying what she thought. for example, when she applied to graduate school, she applied

to princeton — my own university here — that was in the late 40s. and she got a reply back from the dean of admission saying "well, we don't accept women so there's no point in sending you 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 received an honorary degree from princeton university and itjust shows how long we have all come since then. and she... forgive me, she would ring up conferences and complain if there were no women on the bill? yes. was she inspiring to women, would you say, directly? she was enormously inspiring to women. she kept pushing women, encouraging them, inspiring them, telling them they can do whatever

they desire to do and not let any obstacles stand in their way. many women have responded enormously warmly to her. she had many, many friends among women, and men, and many have responded today by e—mails and phone calls and letters. the world's fastest land animal, the cheetah, looks to be heading rapidly for extinction. a study by the national academy of sciences in the us says cheetahs are increasingly in conflict with human beings, as they roam far beyond protected areas. there are only around 7,000 now in the wild across africa and in a small area of iran. here's matt mcgrath. all across its traditional habitat, the sleek spotted cheetah is speeding towards extinction. in zimbabwe, the population has fallen from about 1,200 to just 170

animals in 16 years. asiatic cheetahs have been almost wiped out, with around 50 left in iran. the common problem for the surviving animals who are mainly in southern africa is they range far outside the boundaries of protected parks in search of prey. as a result, they coming more and more into conflict with farmers, who see them as an enemy. cheetah numbers have also suffered from the illegal trade in live cubs, which are in demand as fashion accessories, mailny in the gulf states. matt mcgrath, bbc news the music world has been paying tribute to the singer, songwriter and activist, george michael, who died on christmas day of heart failure. he was 53. he sold more than 100 million albums in a career spanning nearly four decades. 0ur arts editor will gompertz looks back at his life. wearing a bikerjacket and a white tee, george michael takes his first steps into the limelight as one

half of the pop duo, wham. back then, he had big hair and a perma—tan — it was his idea of early ‘80s glam. the reality was a little different. so they stuck us in this hotel that couldn't have been more than 80p to a quid a night. audience laugh and i was sleeping the night before my first top of the pops i had polystyrene sheets and it was a childsize bed! audience laugh so i was like this... i was sat with my feet over the end, thinking, "this isn't how it's supposed to be!" # club tropicana drinks are free fun and sunshine ...# he continued to live the dream with feel—good pa rty—pleasing chart hits. # ..all that's missing is the sea # but don't worry, you can suntan #. then came a change of tone and direction... # i'm never gonna dance again. # guilty feet have got no rhythm,

though it's easy to pretend...# ..leading to a career as a soulful solo artist. # ..without devotion # well, it takes a strong man baby...# his first album, faith, sold over 25 million copies, garnered awards galore, and sealed his reputation as a major international artist. # i gotta have faith, faith, faith...# it was, "oh my god, i'm a massive star," right? it was like, "oh my god, i'm a massive star. and i think i may be a poof, what am i gonna do?!" cheering and applause this is not going to end well, you know! i'd just like to say... that was the turning point for me. that was the point at which i had to negotiate some new relationship with celebrity that wasn't going to destroy me, you know? on stage, that wasn't a problem.

his talents were widely admired. but his private life was a different matter. homophobia was just flying! they were loving it! to be able to say that this man who had hidden from them for the best part of six years, by then, or seven years, the idea that he had been this tragic, old—fashioned, stereotypical cottager, they just loved it! # take me to the places that i love best...# the whole experience led to this song, with its ironic, cheeky video. there were other problems with drugs, addiction and a spell injail after crashing his car into a shop in london. but his sense of humour remained. what you get up to in your spare time is up to you, alright. then why can't i come

to comic relief? because you're a joke, george! it's embarrassing. i can't walk into comic relief with you. comic relief's about helping people like you! he collaborated with many other singers, including elton john. .. # ‘cause losing everything is like the sun going down on me...# ..who wrote: madonna also bade him farewell. his old wham! partner, andrew ridgely, wrote: tonight his former partner, kenny goss, gave a statement saying: # all you do is love and love is all you do # i should know by now the way ifoughtforyou...# that george michael was one of britain‘s biggest pop stars

is without question. the 100 million—plus albums he sold, the continual presence of his music on our radios, and the sold—out arena tours stand as a testament to his talent. # i know you think you‘re safe, mister...# he was a generous man who made several private donations to individuals he didn‘t know but cared about nevertheless. he made life—affirming music that touched, and will continue to touch, millions of fans the world over. much emerging now about how generous george was. both publicly and in secret. that is it for now. thank you for watching. 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. pretty 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. i‘m mike embley. japan‘s prime minister has paid his respects at an american military ceremony as his historic visit to hawaii gets under way. it‘s 75 years since japan‘s bombing of pearl harbor, which killed 21100 soldiers and marines, and drew the us into world war two. 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. you‘re up—to—date on bbc news. coming up next, it‘s hardtalk.