this is the briefing. i'm david eades. our top story: mounting calls for the board of usa gymnastics to quit over the sexual abuse of young athletes by former team doctor, larry nassar. a veteran us diplomat quits his role advising myanmar on the rohingya crisis — saying aung san suu kyi lacks moral leadership. flood alerts in paris — and across france — as water levels keep rising. and coming up in the business briefing: greenback sliding. the dollar slumps to a 3—year low on trade tensions and comments by the us treasury secretary welcoming a weaker currency. i'm sally bundock in davos in switzerland. us president trump will arrive here by helicopter in a few hours time with his america first message. a warm welcome to the programme —

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. tell us what you think — just use the hashtag #bbbthebriefing. we are looking at the question of when is a charitable gift acceptable and when is it ‘manipulative, devious, despicable‘ — the words of the judge who has sentenced larry nassar to up to 175 years in jail for sexually abusing young female athletes. more than 150 women filed personal statements against the former team doctor for the us olympic gymnastics team, who had already been sentenced to 60 years for possessing child pornography. judge rosemarie aquilina said

he would die injail. our correspondent, rajini vaidynathan, has been following the court hearing in michigan. 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. he spent 20 years at michigan state university and the president has now offered her resignation as well as the entire board of asking —— asking for the entire board of us gymnastics to stand down as well. the veteran american diplomat, bill richardson, has resigned from an international panel set up in myanmar to advise on the tensions, killings, and expulsions in rakhine state. mr richardson criticised what he called a government whitewash over the plight of rohingya muslims, and had strong words for the country's leader, aung san suu kyi. 0ur correspondentjonathan head joins me from myanmar. strong words lacking moral

leadership is probably as tough as it could get for aung san suu kyi. if that were the only thing he said. it was a long statement and he has given interviews as well. he was a very old friend who used to visit arran sorry when she was under house arrest here in the early 1990s, and one of the most experienced diplomats involved in an placated problems like north korea in the past. for him to come out and issue a wave of condemnation for the way in which aung san suu kyi has handled crisis, the best way to describe it is blistering. he describes her as having an arrogance of power and allowing her to be surrounded by a psychopath with inherent vice. he described the moment when he tried to raise the detention of two journalists saying she was so angry she would have hit him if he were closed to her. you

would expect that he is now on her list of enemies. an extraordinary slowdown could he was probably the best—known of five internationally advises that brought in to give the attempt she is now undertaking, to give it some international credibility. but richardson has walked out now, as soon as the work of this board has started. it is huge personal damage to the reputation of aung san suu kyi and has undermined significantly the reputation of what she is trying to do to fix these problems in rakhine state. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. ajudge in california has barred david and louise turpin, the father and mother accused of abuse, imprisonment and torture, from any contact with their 13 children. the siblings were rescued when a 17—year—old girl managed to escape from the family home in perris. the parents deny the charges. if convicted they face life in prison. a court in brazil has unanimously

rejected an appeal by the former president who was convicted last year of corruption and money laundering. threejudges year of corruption and money laundering. three judges said year of corruption and money laundering. threejudges said he had broken the law by exit in an apartment from a construction company and they increased his original jail sentence from 9.5 years to 12 years. more women than men are being admitted to one of the top universities in the uk. 0xford of the top universities in the uk. oxford university has made more offers to female school leavers in its 800 year history. it follows a diverse the drive by the university. —— diversity drive. president trump is on his way to the world economic forum in davos where he will — amongst other things — talk to the british prime minister theresa may and they'll be discussing north korea, syria, the fight against is and the iran nuclear deal.

plenty to talk about. sally is there and will be listening. i guess eve ryo ne and will be listening. i guess everyone is just anxious. and will be listening. i guess everyone isjust anxious. they and will be listening. i guess everyone is just anxious. they may need to wait a little bit to hear what donald trump has to say that this will be the moment of the week, won't it? absolutely. it has been hearing up for his arrival and he is due to arrive in cigarette at about nine a.m. and then reach here by helicopter —— arrived in zurich. he has bilateral meetings including one with theresa may as well as others lined up. dinner this evening and tomorrow he will deliver his much anticipated speech. in the run—up to his arrival, the team have been doing their bit in terms of laying the ground work. you mentioned the fa ct the ground work. you mentioned the fact that the us dollar has

significantly fallen in value to a three—year low off the back of the treasury secretary who broke away from traditional us policy which is for supporting a strong currency. in a meeting yesterday he spoke about the benefits of a week dollar in terms of trade. what was really interesting was what he had to say about donald trump's america first policy. like to read out what he said because they were talking about the possibility of new measures in terms of trade tariffs. they did say in the meeting. he said that it is about an america first agenda but america first does mean working with the rest of the world. that is their message. america first, working with the rest of the world on america's terms. i would the rest of the world on america's terms. iwould imagine the rest of the world on america's terms. i would imagine that they will be the message for donald trump as well when he has his bilateral meetings today.

plenty of snow obviously and a bass. and a lot of water in paris. —— plenty of snow in davos. paris is on flood alert — the seine has already overflowed its banks in some areas, and the river is so swollen that boats can't get under several bridges. some metro lines and stations have been closed, along with tourist attractions including notre dame cathedral. it's the wettest january in france for at least 100 years and the seine is expected to rise further — peaking on saturday. sarah corker reports. for well over a century, the zouave statue has been used to measure the height of the river seine. when his feet are under water, that means emergency flood measures in paris and after days of heavy rain, water levels are rising dramatically. we wanted to come and see what it looks like and it looks like it's up to his waist now, so it's amazing to see the flooding. i think it's dangerous for the people who live on the boat. i think it is dangerous for them, not for us. some roads, metro lines and stations have been closed and cruises cancelled, there's no way boats can pass under these bridges.

it's predicted the seine could reach 6.2 metres by saturday, that's five times the normal level. translation: we're almost at the point of a natural catastrophe, which reminds us of the flood in 1910. i hope that doesn't happen. at the famous louvre museum, home of the mona lisa, they're not taking any chances, one of the wings has been shut to protect the artworks. with no power, some boats have been abandoned. those who have stayed check mooring ropes hourly so they don't break as the water rises. in fact, large swathes of the country are on flood alert. this is what happens after france's wettest january for more than 100 years. the town of ornans, east of paris has been inundated. back in the capital and more rain is forecast, but the authorities say they are well prepared to protect the city from rising floodwaters. sarah corker, bbc news.

stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: korea's unified olympic team takes shape. ice hockey players cross from north to south to play alongside their neighbours. the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift—off. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo was in the hands of the demonstrators. they were using the word revolution. the earthquake singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours pass. the new government is firmly

in control of the entire republic of uganda. moscow got its first taste of western fast food as mcdonald's opened their biggest restaurant in pushkin square but the hundreds of muscovites queued up today will not find it cheap with a big mac costing half a day's wages for the average russian. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: a veteran us diplomat has quit his role advising myanmar on the rohingya crisis, saying aung san suu kyi lacks moral leadership. the board of usa gymnastics are facing mounting calls to quit over the sexual abuse of young athletes by former team doctor, larry nassar. let's get more on that. our correspondent rajini vaidyanathan spoke to kyle stephens,

one of larry nassar‘s victims, about what happened to her and what it was like seeing him in court. he never scared me, he was in this big prestigious doctor, he was never like that to me. at home he was kind of lame is the best way to put it. so going in there, i already felt, like, powerful over him so seeing him and him not even able to look at me for most of my statement was more empowering. how angry do you feel about the fact that not only did he sexually abuse you but he sexually abused you when you were so vulnerable? childrenjust don't understand, you know? they don't understand what's going on and he doesn't understand that not only are you taking advantage of them in that moment but you have put in front of them this path for the rest of their lives where they have

to figure out the hip place in all of that and justify to themselves that they shouldn't be ashamed, justify to themselves that they didn't participate in the abuse, and justify to themselves because of all those things i feel worthless but i am worthy. so a predator takes advantage of someone when they're vulnerable, but then that continues, that's a gift that keeps on giving. i don't know if he understands that all predators understand that. you're one of the women that took him to the criminal court and succeeded, he pleaded guilty, not many women who are sexually abused get to see their abuser in court and convicted. how much of an achievement do you feel that is? achievement is probably the wrong

word but how do you feel about that because there's so many women out there that never get to this stage? i don't think it's sunk in yet with him but then when i kind of compare it with abusers i know who still on the street and stuff i start to feel a bit, like, really, no girl is going to be abused afterjanuary the first, 2018, you know? and no other girl is going to have to stand up there and give her testimony about that. so i don't think it's sunk in yet but i'm getting there. braeval woman there. you can be a pa rt braeval woman there. you can be a part of the briefing, great allman street in london is giving back proceedings by funds that has been given back either presidents club which has disbanded due to

allegations of inappropriate behaviour taking place at charity dinners. a good move or do you think it should hang onto that money, take it should hang onto that money, take it in good faith, put it to good effect? let us know your thoughts. you can use our hash tag. i have a good one here, a remark from 64 highest. keep the money for the children, to punish them for the actions of unscrupulous adults. let us actions of unscrupulous adults. let us know your views on that. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. first to brazil, where a mass vaccination programme begins across 54 cities amid a deadly outbreak of yellow fever. in luxembourg, the european court ofjustice is to rule on whether asylum seekers can be made to take psychological tests to determine their sexual orientation. and in washington dc, this year's time on the "doomsday clock"

is revealed by the us bulletin of the atomic scientists. the clock represents how close the world is to destruction caused by human—caused scientific or technological threats. it currently stands at two and a half minutes to midnight. ladies semi—final stay at the usher lian opened and the first person to reach the final is caroline wozniacki, the number two seed winning in straight sets. she had a wobble at the end but she has got there. her opponent will be either simona halep or angelique kerber.. of course much of the story from later could resolve around the brit, kyle edmund, the details on his preparations for a maiden grand slam semi final are in today's news from the bbc sport centre. hello there, coming up in your thursday sport briefing, kyle edmond looks to make history in the australian open, real madrid are not

out and who says goalkeepers can't score? we will show you one who knows how to. tennis fans would not have been expecting any british representation in the semifinals of the men's singles at the usher lian opened, and if murray pulled out through injury before the tournament but they wouldn't have thought of kyle edmond. he is ranked 49th in the world but has been mightily impressive surfer, seeing off grigor dimitrov in the quarter—finals to book a place against marion cilacap in the last four. i don't think about the next match, i think about my current match. i go in there about thinking about my game and not taking anything for granted to. haddien taking anything for granted to. haddi en marche! iran is due to say

goodbye to barcelona fans on the pitch ahead of their game on thursday night. —— javier mascherano. he is due to play in china after seven season at barcelona. they need to overcome a 1-0 barcelona. they need to overcome a 1—0 deficit and philip coutinho is due to make his debut. play is under way on the first leg of the dubai classic. players no doubt wowed by the views, spain ‘s raphael caballo w011 the views, spain ‘s raphael caballo won the tournament in 2012 and is among a group of players that tee off at 8:10 a.m.. is a very technical course, you to drive a good off the tee. obviously being smart as well, the greens have gotten smaller but they asked firm and fast and you need to be on top of your game. there is no real area that you can be slacking to try to win. play good and hold some parts.

—— putts. granite jack's second goal has put arsenal through to the league cup final. a failed to yield a goal in the first leg and they will now battle it out for the first major domestic trophy on the 25th of february. —— granit xhaka. real madrid have been knocked out of the copper delray, they won the first leg 1—0 but lost out at this second encounter, which will put pressure on is zidane, there are head coach. they were sent through on the away goal rule. the second test in johannesburg is under way it surely, india were dismissed on the first a.

south africa will resume on six — one with an already unassailable 2—0 lead in the series. how about this for a goal? as spanish goalkeeper has become famous across social media, not for saving a goal but for scoring one to. one carlos, who plays in spain's second tier beat his fellow keeper from inside plays in spain's second tier beat his fellow keeperfrom inside his own half, sailing over the goalkeeper, they won the game and have a goal of the season contender as well. you can get all the latest sports news on oui’ as well. you can get all the latest sports news on our website. from me, thatis sports news on our website. from me, that is your thursday sport briefing. but we have a bit more for you. north korea's ice hockey players have arrived in south korea ahead of next month's winter olympics. they're taking part in joint practice sessions for the first time as part of a unified team at the games. laura bicker reports from seoul. the north korean hockey

players will inspect the venues in gangneung. this is just an advanced party, this isjust an inspection, but the decision to merge the two teams has proved to be controversial here in south korea. there's a feeling here they may be jeopardising their own medal chances to engage with the north, however, they will go ahead and they'll play their first friendly match against sweden in just over a week's time. this is part of a continuing flurry of talks between the north and the south, just as the north team is coming south, there's suddenly a southern team coming back from the north after inspecting ski resorts, they'll hold joint ski training and north korea with the two teams. also it's been announced there will be a joint arts concert on the february the eighth and the 11th between north and south and further dates and venues

are due to be announced as the schedule is finalised. now, i have to say, when you speak to people here, there are different reactions to what's going on. some fear that this is simply a propaganda exercise by the north, but there has been a message in state media from north korea this morning calling for reunification with the south, saying they're committed to it. it's a reiteration of kim jong—un‘s new year message. meanwhile, there are others here in the south who say it's time for calm, it's time for peace. and the benefits of cooperation right now outweigh the risks. there is a sense of we will believe it when we see it at the olympics. stay with me on bbc news, i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments. 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, in fact, some heavy showers coming thick and fast into northern ireland through the first part of the morning. some part of the morning. wintry and over high ground, certainly some wintry and over high ground, certainly a chance in scotland in aberdeen and glasgow will start the day at three and four agrees. there will be some sunny breaks between those showers, and that mixture of sunshine and showers extends across wales and into the west midlands. temperatures are around five or six degrees. a largely dry start to the day. some clouds, some heaviness and

wintry weather over the high ground of the normal pennines —— north pennines. not too many showers towards the south—east, temperatures at 5— towards the south—east, temperatures at 5- 10 towards the south—east, temperatures at 5— 10 degrees. showers will continue for a time on thursday night into friday. slowly drifting away eastwards. as they clear away we could see a touch of frost as the wind back for white in western areas in central glasgow two —1. that is because by that stage we will be bringing this rich of high pressure which should give most of us a decent day on friday. still breezy close to the east coast, showers fading as it goes on and then a nice afternoon with spells of sunshine, thickening cloud into northern ireland. cooler than it has been. during saturday we will bring this weather system in from the west and some outbreaks of rain, tending to fizzle as it slides eastwards.

noticed as temperatures beginning to creep upwards again and that is the theme for the weekend. we bring increasingly mild air from the south—west so by sunday, temperatures will be up in double digits just temperatures will be up in double digitsjust about temperatures will be up in double digits just about everywhere. it will be a windy day, largely dry and cloudy with out wrecks of heavy rain affecting northern scotland. —— outbreaks. this is business briefing. i'm david eades. greenback sliding. the dollar slumps to a 3— year low on trade tensions and comments by the us treasury secretary welcoming a weaker currency. and from the world economic forum in davos were in a few hours time the 3000 delegates he will welcome the us president as he arrives with his america first message. and on the markets, asian shares remain close to a record high following a bit of a mixed

session on wall street. but the dollar still under huge pressure.