i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: judgement day for a serial abuser. dr larry nassar gets up to 175 years in prison after heart rending testimony from team usa gymnasts. we were ultimately strong enough to take you down. not one by one but by an army of survivors. i will carry your words with me for the rest of my days. a veteran us diplomat quits his role advising myanmar on the rohingya crisis — saying aung san suu kyi lacks moral leadership. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme. south korea showcases security — with a smile — as it gears up for the pyeongchang winter olympics # i'm still standing, after all this time.# and — still standing — but goodbye yellow brick road. eltonjohn says he'll quit

touring to spend more time with his children. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. it's 9am here in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in michigan where the former doctor for the usa gymnastics team, larry nassar, has been sentenced to 175 years in jail for sexually molesting teenage athletes. thejudge said nassar remained a danger to young women and did not deserve to walk free again. his sentence follows a week of harrowing testimony from close to 160 women.

rajini vaidya nathan reports. 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, told me there had 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 women 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 them 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 heard from the women was not just a call forjustice ,to have that harsh sentence we saw the judge impose, but also to have accountability for all of those around him who they say enabled him. it is that accountability that still has question marks over it. we heard a few days ago about 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—medallists was that no—one has really taken responsibility for their role in this. for example, they think that usa gymnastics, the medallist who spoke to the court saying that the sport's governing body needs to be completely restructured. and the newspaper investigation

which began the ball rolling on this investigation, found that several reports of sexual abuse 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 he's willing to be interviewed by robert mueller under oath. mr mueller is 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 fire his national security adviser michael flynn and fbi directorjames comey. the aid agency save the children has suspended its programmes

across afghanistan after an islamist attack on its offices injalalabad. gunmen stormed their way into its compound, after detonating a suicide car—bomb. three members of staff and one soldier were killed. the charity says it remains "fully committed to helping the most deprived children of afghanistan". the german chancellor, angela merkel, has spoken out against protectionism, a day after the us imposed steep tariffs on some asian manufacturers. her comments came in switzerland on the eve of president trump's visit to the world economic forum in davos. let's hear a little of what chancellor merkel had to say. translation: we believe isolationism will get us nowhere. we believe we have to co—operate and that protectionism is not the right answer. and we believe that if we share the view that things are not being done fairly and the mechanisms aren't reciprocal, then we should look for multilateral solutions and not unilateral ones. 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 correspondentjonathan 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 state 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. the 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 he 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 spends most of her time blaming international media and international organisations like the united nations for the problems in rakhine state, 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 of this crisis in rakhine state. possibly the other four members feel they must carry on. 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 on the programme, a three year long goodbye — elton john announces retirement plans to spend time with his children.

the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift off. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a school teacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, the heart of cairo was in the heart of the demonstrators. they we re the heart of the demonstrators. they were using the word revolution. the earthquake singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours pass. the new government is family in control of the entirely republic of uganda. moscow got its first taste of western fast food as mcdonald's opened its biggest restaurant. but the hundreds of muscovites queued up

in the square will not find a cheap with the average bitmap costing half a day 's wages for the average russian. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: america's disgraced olympic gymnastics team doctor, larry nassar, has been jailed for 175 years for molesting young gymnasts. a veteran us diplomat has quit his role advising myanmar on the rohingya crisis, accusing aung san suu kyi of lacking moral leadership. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post reports that beijing has been told to expel north korean nationals who could help pyongyang fund its nuclear programme. the article describes talks with an us official as blunt and candid and says hong kong has been urged to close loopholes that allow pyongyang to breach international sanctions.

the japan times reveals that prime minister shinzo abe will attend south korea's winter olympics. the news puts an end to weeks of speculation that he may refuse in protest against seoul's decision to revisit the 2015 deal when women were forced to work injapanese military brothels, during world war two. and the china daily features snowflake boy on its front page. the famous image of the eight—year—old with his head covered in icicles went viral this month, attracting international attention to children living in rural poverty. the paper says the boy was invited to beijing for a tour of china's top police academy. his dream is to become a police officer one day. 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 bbc‘s mishal husain about his plans for early elections and the economy. let's talk about zimbabwe's relations with other countries. now, president trump is on his way to davos, i wonder what you thought when you heard about his reported comments about some african countries being s***holes?. yes, i have my foreign minister here, he informed me about that but he has also told me that he has since denied. nonetheless, we are a block, also the continental block. that is the eu. i have informed the minister of foreign affairs that the eu made

a statement representing us all. also sadiq made a statement representing us all. would it affect how you interact with president trump in the future? look, this is why i say, those against us in the past, zimbabwe is now open. 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 a question of international relations. if president trump came here today while i am around, i would be able to talk to him and make requests from him and say, "mr president, zimbabwe is open for business, i know americans like growth, come and bring growth. build american earrings, build hotels. we will give incentives for you to do all of those things." we are open. zimbabwe's

zimba bwe's president. zimbabwe's president. let's bring you some breaking news that's just come to us and this is to do with the winter olympics because north korea's ice hockey players have just arrived in south korea ahead of the games next month. they are there to ta ke games next month. they are there to take part injoint practice games next month. they are there to take part in joint practice sessions for the first time as part of a unified team at the games, which start on february the night. the agreement to fill the women's team was agreed recently during talks. they will also march together under a unified peninsular flag they will also march together under a unified peninsularflag at the opening ceremony. our correspondent, laura bicker, is in seoul. laura? this has proved a controversial decision in south korea to put these two hockey teams together. certainly there's a feeling among many of the people here that they are jeopardising south korea's chances

at these dams. meanwhile, the other breaking news is that north korea hasissued breaking news is that north korea has issued within their state media a statement saying that north korea is calling for unification with south korea, reiterating kim jong—un‘s new year message, and it says on the state media statement they will smash any country that tries to get between north and south korea. meanwhile preparations for the olympics are well under way. yesterday we tried to show you a little bit of what was going on, but we we re little bit of what was going on, but we were interrupted by a helicopter. here are some of the police preparations ahead of the opening ceremony. this team is tasked with keeping world leaders and athletes safe at events being held just 15 miles from the north korean border. in this scenario, terrorists have taken over a venue.

the taken over a venue. the main threat to the pyeongchang games was at one point thought to be from south korea's neighbour. but as talks between the two sides progress, the threat level has lowered. translation: we have formed an all—out readiness posture to respond to all kinds of threats, but now the north korean athletes are participating i expect the threats to go down. we are mobilising 13,000 police officers around we are mobilising13,000 police officers around the country. as for the equipments, we are mobilising our armoured vehicles and other state—of—the—art technologies, such as the drone detection equipment, thermo imagery equipment and helicopters. we are also summoning our special operations unit operatives from all around the country is in order to respond to terrorist incidents or any potential incidents. and it wasn't just a

incidents. and it wasn'tjust a case of incidents. and it wasn't just a case of showing off their guns, it seems the police honour guard have some very different moves to the usual antiterrorism tactics. a moment of levity as the opening ceremony gets ever closer. the venues are ready and waiting, but last—minute changes to the schedule are under way as plans for north korean athletes and performers to ta ke north korean athletes and performers to take part are finalised. there's growing criticism here in south korea of the south korean government's approach to these talks with the north. there's a feeling that pyongyang has deployed its playbook and will use the olympics asa playbook and will use the olympics as a propaganda tool to further their own goals. but the message from the south korean government is urging restraint. they're saying that the benefits of cooperation huawei at the moment any potential risks —— outweigh. but there are

reports in the newspapers in south korea this morning that president moon's approval ratings have dropped ever so slightly since these talks began. it's a very difficult time for the south korean government as they try to find a way to get pyongyang to the negotiating table and hope that these talks continue after the olympics. a fascinating times. laura, thank you very much. and no helicopters, we heard you loud and clear! laura, thank you. 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's 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 say 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. hopefully he will make one of those

stops here in asia. you've been watching newsday. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. an update on the philippines, this is the view of mount mayon, which has been spouting lover and ash over the past few days. this is a short time ago and we understand tens of thousands more have fled the erupting volcano. everyone is looking closely to see what will happen next. more than 70,000 residents are crammed into schools and other buildings in a safe zone. that figure has almost doubled over the past three days because the volcano has begun to show signs of activity. we'll keep you updated. stay with us and we'll see you again soon. hello there.

after the downpours and gales of wednesday, the weather prospects for thursday look a little bit quieter. this curl of cloud here, 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, in fact, some heavy showers coming thick and fast into northern ireland through the first part of the morning. also some showers pushing in across the west country into devon and cornwall, some of these could be on the heavy side. seven degrees there in plymouth. there will be some sunny breaks between those showers and that mixture of sunshine and showers extends across wales and into the west midlands. a cooler, fresher start to the day, four degrees in birmingham. you will notice a lot of showers across northern ireland at this stage, could be some hail and thunder and perhaps some wintryness over high ground. certainly the chance for wintry weather over higher ground in scotland. temperatures in aberdeen, three degrees, four there in edinburgh. some sunny spells. showers in north—west england, across north—east and east anglia and the south—east, a dry start

to the day with spells of sunshine, cooler and fresher than it was on wednesday morning. through the day will bring this cluster of showers eastwards across just about all parts of the country. some of them could be heavy, could be thundery with hail mixed in. some wintryness over the high grounds in the north pennines, the southern uplands, but there will be spells of sunshine too and temperatures of around 5—10 degrees. a fairly chilly feel i suppose, but it won't be as windy as it was on wednesday. now, during thursday night into friday, the showers will take time to fade away, but in western areas particularly they will ease as the winds ease as well. it could turn cold enough for a touch of frost, because this little bump in the isobars, this little ridge of high pressure will be toppling in during friday morning. after a frosty start for some, we're looking at a decent day. spells of sunshine, bit of patchy cloud and thickening cloud into the west later on, but i suspect it will stay dry until sundown.

those temperatures of around 4—9 degrees. those temperatures will start to climb into the weekend, starting to bring in a more south—westerly wind and mainly dry in eastern areas on sunday, a fizzling weather front from the west, but temperatures climbing all the while because we will group bringing mild air from the south—west, on sunday it will be a pretty mild feeling day. generally large areas of cloud, some sunshine towards the south—east, some outbreaks of heavy rain into northern scotland, a windy day and a mild one too, 9—13 degrees. i'm babita sharma with bbc news. 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 video 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 for now. stay with bbc news. and our top story here in the uk: downing street says the prime minister is appalled by allegations