The latest radio news & feature packages from FSN Bureaus worldwide.
President Trump has accused US intelligence agencies of being "naive" and suggested that some of his top officials need to "go back to school".
The President's intervention followed a day of testimony on Capitol Hill in which the Director of National Intelligence and the head of the CIA openly disagreed with the President's viewpoints on Iran, Syria, and the threat posed by illegal immigration from Latin America.
Our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports.
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It can't be easy willingly agreeing to serve in President Donald Trump's inner circle….particularly when you know that on a whole variety of international issues….he's talking rubbish.
So, if you're one of the President's top intelligence officials…many of whom have spent a life-time steeped in foreign and defense policy…..it must be especially galling to wake up to a Presidential tweet coming from a man with no background in global affairs who accuses you of being "passive and naive" and even of being "wrong".
That's the fate that has befallen the Director of the CIA Gina Haspel and five other top officials who had the temerity yesterday to tell the truth in Congressional testimony.
In Director Haspel's case she was talking about Iran.
AXX HASPEL
In compliance with the nuclear deal that the US is no longer party to because according to President Trump they were not in compliance.
And then there's North Korea.
President Trump says Pyongyang and its weapons of mass destruction no longer poses a nuclear threat to the world and is disarming.
His Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats disagrees.
AXX COATS
He disagreed too on the President's contention that in Syria the forces of Islamic State have "been defeated and defeated badly".
According to the President's own Director of National Intelligence, that's not really true.
AXX COATS2
Rubbing salt into the wound….the leader of President Trump's Republican Party in the Senate, Mitch McConnell.
He took to the floor of the Senate to propose legislation that would actually block his own President from withdrawing US troops from Syria and Afghanistan as Donald Trump has proposed.
AXX MCCONNELL
The Republican pushback against President Trump is taking many forms.
The "Worldwide Threat Assessment" presented by his intelligence chiefs yesterday doesn't mention illegal immigration across America's southern border until page 41 of 42 page document….hardly an endorsement of the President's view that it's the top security crisis.
Then there are the restive Republicans in the countryside.
A new ABC News poll shows 32 per cent of them - one in three - do not want Donald Trump to be the Republican Party's Presidential candidate in 2020….boosting the likelihood that he'll face a challenge for the Party's nomination.
And then there's the weather.
It is perishingly cold in much of the United States, with Chicago scoring lower temperatures than Antarctica.
President Trump used the news to launch a new attack on the concept of global warming.
And then his own weather department - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - took to Twitter to disagree with him,
"Winter storms", its scientists wrote, "don't prove that global warming isn't happening".
SOC
Millions start their day with one everyday. It's super buttery, super crunchy yet light as air at the same time. We're talking about what may be the most iconic pastry in the word—the croissant. And Wednesday, February 30th is International Croissant Day. Our Europe Correspondent Kevin Ozebek goes to one of the best bakeries in Brussels to learn why this pastry is so special.
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INTRO:
A British group which represents thousands of medical professionals is calling for obesity to be recognized as a disease by the government and health sector.
The Royal College of Physicians says this reclassification would allow the creation of policies to improve treatment and help prevent people developing obesity in the first place.
However these calls are being resisted by the government amid concern that recognizing obesity as a disease removes responsibility from an individual for their weight. From London, Catherine Drew reports.
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In the UK official figures show over sixty per cent of adults are either overweight or obese. This is a cause for alarm according to the Royal College of Physicians or RCP. The college which represents tens of thousands of doctors and medical professionals is calling for the condition to be reclassified as a disease.
Professor Donal O'Donoghue is Registrar of the Royal College of Physicians.
INSERT:
"It's a disease that's driven by inequalities, by genetics and by social factors so there's a range of things that's happening to drive obesity and once people's weight has increased to the level that they are obese, the clock resets, the system resets and it becomes very difficult for them to reduce that weight."
SCRIPT:
The RCP says a change of approach could end the stigma of obesity, which often prevents people from seeking help. The move has been welcomed by some obesity campaigners like Sarah Le Brocq, who is herself living with obesity. She says she has lost weight in the past, but has not been able to maintain that weight loss despite proper diet and exercise. She is the director of HOOP UK, a national obesity charity with 16 thousand members.
INSERT:
"When we look at obesity, stigma is one of the biggest problems, in the fact that again, going back to what people think, is that everyone…it's a choice, that someone has chosen to live this life and it's about personal responsibility and it's about eating less and moving more and I think if we can start showing that it's not that simple, obesity is complex and there's science and data to support that hopefully that will start changing people's perceptions of the battle that someone living with obesity has to go through on a daily basis.
SCRIPT:
However Britain's Department for Health is resisting calls for obesity to be reclassified as a disease, saying it could be counter productive and send out the wrong message.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said he's concerned that if obese people are told they have a disease, it might rob them of their power and incentive to change behaviors and make healthier choices. Such as eating healthily and taking regular exercise like these runners in a London park where views were mixed on the issue of whether obesity should be classified as a disease. .
VOX:
"Whether you call it a disease or not, I think the government should do everything they can to support the communities and everyone that is alive and trying to rid of the obesity they're living with."
"I don't think it's a disease or an illness and I think it's up to people to be responsible for their own health."
" I'm not sure about calling it a disease, it should be made gently.. to be made aware of it."
SCRIPT:
The Royal College of Physicians says while individuals have a duty to make healthy choices, it fears rates of obesity will not be reduced unless the government and broader health sector recognize it as a disease, paving the way for new policies, research and services to be offered to those affected.
I'm Catherine Drew, SOC, London.
Intro
The British Prime Minster has suffered an embarrassing defeat of her Brexit deal, which provoked the country's leader of the opposition to table a motion of no confidence against her government.
Prime Minister Theresa May lost a crucial vote on Brexit by 230, the worst defeat encountered by a British government in modern history.
UK Correspondent Natalie Powell reports.
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SCRIPT
[ UPSOT]
"The eyes to the right 202, the nos to the left 432"
This was the moment the British Prime Minster's Brexit proposal was overwhelmingly voted down by Parliament.
It's a catastrophic defeat. Although not entirely unexpected, as it followed five days worth of debate over the draft Brexit bill, which heard MPs spell out many of their concerns.
Speaking after the vote, the Prime Minister, Theresa May, urged British MPs to clarify their position. She also reaffirmed her commitment to delivering on the Brexit referendum result.
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER
"Nothing about how or even if it intents to honour the decision the British people took in a referendum parliament decided to hold, and people particularly EU citizens who have made their home here and UK citizens living in the EU deserve clarity on these questions as soon as possible."
The Prime Minister also called for opposition parties to confirm whether the government still had the confidence of the House of Commons.
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER
"First we need to confirm whether the government still enjoys the confidence of this house, I believe that it does but given the scale and importance of tonights vote it's right that others have the chance to test that if they wish to do so."
And that call was taken up by leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn
JEREMY CORBYN, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY LEADER
"The most important facing us is that the government has lost the confidence of the parliament and the country, I have therefore tabled a vote of no confidence in this government and I'm pleased this motion will be debated tomorrow so this house can give its verdict on the sheer incompetence in the government and pass the motion of no confidence in the government"
And so, the British Prime Minster has given herself less than 24 hours to fight for her job.
The DUP party, who prop up her Conservative party Government, have said they will side with the Prime Minster - which should in theory mean she wins and continues in office.
But if she loses her government would fall, and that would trigger a 14 day period in which a new government can be formed and in turn could lead to a general election.
If she does remain in office however, then she will need to establish a Plan B, which could be anything from going full steam ahead with No Deal Brexit plans - in other words crashing out of the EU without a deal. To approaching her opposition to find out what type of deal they would go for, something she has alluded to.
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER
"Every day that passes without this issue being resolved means more uncertainty more bitterness and more ranker. The government has heard what the house has said tonight. But I ask members on all sides of the house to listen to the British people who want this issue settled and work with the government to do just that"
It's a politically uncertain time in Britain, and time is of the essence.
The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on the 29th March
And this defeat combined with the vote of no confidence are major setbacks for the government, as the clock ticks down to Brexit.
SOC
FSN Spotlight is a daily, self-contained 90-second module that takes a deeper dive on a news story of international interest.
Today Part 4 of a 5-part series on Brexit.
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FSN Spotlight is a daily, self-contained 90-second module that takes a deeper dive on a news story of international interest.
Today Part Three of a 5-part series on Brexit.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: We've started posting a daily edition of "FSN Spotlight" for stations to use at anytime of their choosing.
FSN Spotlight is a daily, self-contained 90-second module that takes a deeper dive on a news story of international interest.
Today Part Two of a 5-part series on Brexit.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: Starting today, we'll be posting a daily edition of "FSN Spotlight" for stations to use at anytime of their choosing.
FSN Spotlight is a daily, self-contained 90-second module that takes a deeper dive on a news story of international interest.
Today Part One of a 5-part series on Brexit.
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