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I'm Stewart Macintosh withthe BBC News. Hello.
The President of the European Council says much work remains to be done toachieve a deal to keep Britain in the European Union. Speaking after the firstday of a summit in Brussels ended without an agreement, Donald Tusk said talkswould continue later on Friday. The British Prime Minister David Cameroon hassaid that with hard work and good will he can achieve a deal to try to stop hiscountry leaving the EU. Chris Morris reports from Brussels. “Diplomats fromseveral countries said divisions on the proposed deal for the UK were deeperthan expected. David Cameroon told his fellow leaders last night that this wasa chance to settle the UK's troubled relationship with the EU for a generation.Differences had been allowed to fester for too long. But he also faced effortsto water down several of the proposed changes. There are still disagreementsabout welfare benefits for migrant workers about some financial issues andabout the need for promising future treaty change.”
The EU leaders agreed that they would hold a meeting on the current migrationcrisis with Turkish officials in early March. The President of the EuropeanCommission Jean Claude Junker stressed the importance of a common Europeanapproach. “Before the meeting took place, there were people that doubted theapproach that stated that in order to resolve the problem of refugees. AEuropean approach was needed and we said unanimously that the approach must bea European one and that solo nation approaches were not recommended.”
China is making it easier for foreigners to work and live in the country.Guidelines issued by the government will expand the categories of foreignvisitors to the country who are eligible to apply for permanent residencygiving them equal rights with Chinese citizens. Restrictions will also berelaxed on foreign students seeking jobs.
More than 6,000 Mozambicans are seeking shelter in refugee camps in neighboringMalawi. They say they are fleeing a recent surge in violent clashes in thenorth of the country between Mozambique's government and opposition fighterssparked by a disputed election in 2014. The Mozambican authorities say therefugees are predominantly economic migrants forced from their homes by drought.
The Environmental Research Commission by the Australian Parliament has foundthat pollution has turned the ocean into what they called a plastic soup. FromSydney, Filmerser. “A parliamentary investigation has heard microbeads that areused in cosmetics and toothpaste are being ingested by fish and then in turn byconsumers of sea foods. Researchers have argued that the tiny beads absorbchemical toxins in the water. A recent study by Australia's official scienceagency found that almost 60% of all sea birds species they examined had plasticin their stomachs.” This is the world news from the BBC.
Facebook has publicly supported the stance taken by Apple in refusing to help USlaw enforcers unlock the mobile phone of one of the people involved in the SanBernadino shootings. Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife killed 14 people inthe attack in December. The FBI wants access to the data. But the phone isencrypted.
A gas company in California says it's finally sealed one of the biggest gasleaks in the history of the United States. Studies are now being carried out toestablish the long term health impacts exposure to the gas. James Cook reports.“The invisible foul smelling gas began spewing into the air in October causingsickness, nosebleeds and headaches in the nearby community of Porter Ranch.Nearly four months later after several failed attempts, the Southern CaliforniaGas Company says it has permanently sealed the well by pumping in heavy fluidsand cement. The leak is estimated to have accounted for a significantproportion of California's entire annual emissions of methane. The companyfaces lawsuits and criminal charges which it denies.”
A historical research project of the University of London that involved 27,000volunteers has reviewed that British soldiers serving in the First World Warspent far less time at the front than is often assumed. Rather than living inthe trenches permanently, the researchers have found most soldiers were awayfrom the front for about half of the time they were engaged in combat, only onone of every 5 days that they were abroad. The findings are based on entries inthousands of war diaries that were put online.
European scientists have shed fresh light on the established theory that peopleare more willing to hurt others when ordered to do so. The study by British andBelgian psychologists found that being coerced reduces the extent which thebrain registers the consequences of what we do diminishing our sense ofresponsibility.
And that's the BBC News.