>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation. newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good. kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and aruba tourism authority. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the

island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. nonstop flights are available from most major airports. more information for your vacation planning is available at aruba.com. >> and now, "bbc world news." jane: this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, i am jane o'brien. how much to the white house know and when? michael flynn's departure as national security advisor raises more questions than answers . the half-brother of north korea's leader murdered at a malaysian airport. and all aboard for a train ride not seen for half a century good century. how a regular steam service has returned to the u.k. bringing , bringing back memories of yesteryear.

jane: welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. the big question tonight is how much president donald trump knew about his top security adviser's dealings with moscow and when. democratic lawmakers are demanding answers after michael flynn resigned less than a month into the job amid allegations that he misled the public and lied to white house officials. north america editor jon sopel starts our coverage. jon: they were oh so close, politically inseparable. after three weeks as national security advisor, michael flynn has gone in a stunning fall from grace after a day of chaos and confusion at the white house. the camera-loving president suddenly becoming camera shy when asked about his future. >> you don't feel confident in him? jon: today the president's

spokesman came out all guns blazing. the former close friend had lost the president's trust. >> we got to a point not based on a legal issue but a trust issue were the level of trust between the president and general flynn had eroded to the point where he felt like he had to make a change. the president was very concerned that general flynn had misled the vice president and others. the evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation and a series of other questionable instances is what led the president to ask for general flynn's resignation. jon: the republican leadership, always uncomfortable about the unorthodox general, were relieved to see him go. rep. ryan: you cannot have a national security adviser misleading the vice president and others, so i think the president was right to ask for his resignation. i believe it was the right thing to do. jon: this goes back to actions taken over the christmas period by former president barack obama to impose sanctions against russia for interference in the u.s. election.

on the 29th of december, michael flynn spoke to the russian ambassador in the first of a series of calls. on the 15th of january, vice president mike pence denies that sanctions were discussed. vice president pence: what i can confirm is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the united states took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions. jon: but in late january, the former acting attorney general warned the white house it might have been misled by general flynn's account. no action was taken. on the ninth of february, "the washington post" revealed that flynn did discussed sanctions, and it was then that pressure grew. democrats are not going to let the matter go. >> the resignation of michael flynn was brought about not by discovering the fall said, --

the falsehood, but by the fact that the falsehood became public. that ought to be deeply disturbing to everyone. >> general like flynn, retired, united states army. jon: michael flynn was a spear during the election, making hillary clinton's honesty a point of attack. >> we do not need a united states president that believes she is above the law. that's right, lock her up. now it is michael flynn who on a question of trust has been found wanting and finds himself alone. , washington.c news spoke with adam kinzinger. and aa republican o veteran of the iraq war.

katty: how serious are you taking this from a national security point of view? >> it is serious, and the question of what conversations did he have are important to answer but but i think the president and general flynn did the right thing by saying you have become a distraction, time to move on, and that is where we are at. having a discussion with the administration of a country you are going to be working with is not itself and proper. -- itself and proper. er.improp where there was impropriety is that you have an administration currently with barack obama that will impose sanctions and let's talk about what that will look like under the next administration. when he lied to vice president pence about it and vice president pence went on sunday shows and defended him it became a distraction.

katty:: congressman you served 2 , terms in the iraq war could you take national security issues seriously and i imagine you take the relationship with russia seriously as well. will you and fellow republicans push for an investigation into what happened with michael flynn and more generally into the trump team's relationship with moscow? rep. kinzinger: well, the intelligent committee is investigating the idea of what did moscow do in the campaign . to the extent there is relationship with the administration, we need to know this. but there are a lot of people saying we need to call for a massive investigation right now. the reality is what he did was wrong, questionably or arguably illegal based on this logan act, which has never been enforced, and then he resigned and it is done. the question from here, the broader issue from what is the administrative doing about nato and russia? what we have seen under the administration has actually been very solid. you will see mike pence in a germany challenging nato allies to meet the 2% commitment to gdp . nikki haley in the u.n. said we

will not release sanctions until you get out of crimea. investigating every infraction that ever happened is a bridge too far right now. katty: the president also said that america is no more guilty than president putin when it comes to murder. it is not true what sean spicer said in the white house, that the u.s. has been tough on russia. there was that one nikki haley incident. rep. kinzinger: i think the administration is being tough. i was critical of the comment of somehow moral equality between the united states and russia. totally untrue. we will be critical when those comments come out. i think they are very damaging. but on the broader scale of reassuring nato, reassuring the troops in europe and calling for , liberation of crimea and a return to the ukrainian people, this is been very much a departure from the last administration.

to the extent there is involvement, we will find out, we need to. but you say we need to launch major investigations anytime somebody resigns for something will paralyze this administration from going out and restoring the west's role in the world. jane: that was adam kinzinger talking to katty kay earlier about the u.s. side of things. but have they been saying in russia? i spoke with steve rosenberg in moscow. this is a situation that is roiling the white house. does moscow care about the scandal? steve: i think it does. the reaction was interesting. expressionsn with of anger, fear he, and disappointment. some prominent russian politicians took to social media to express their feelings about this, talk about michael flynn being a victim of anti-russian paranoia.

they talked about russophobia, too. then things calmed down a little bit. the kremlin declined to comment on the resignation saying it was , an internal matter for america and the trump administration. i watched russian state television's main newscast this evening. they didn't mention the story at all. it is quite interesting. i think that is partly because it is quite embarrassing, the whole thing, for the kremlin. also, i think russia feels it does not need to make a lot out of this because at the end of the day, moscow is in counting -- is not counting on michael flynn to turn around u.s.-russian relations. it is counting on donald trump. it will be the trump-putin chemistry, or lack of it, that will be the decisive factor here. jane: steve rosenberg in moscow, thank you for joining us. let's look at other news. the chairman of japanese electronics giant toshiba has

resigned following the news the company suffered a big net loss this year. shigenori shiga is the most senior toshiba executive to go since it emerged that the company suffered massive losses in the united states. a man has been found guilty of murdering a six-year-old boy who disappeared in new york in 1979 in what became one of the most haunting missing child cases in the u.s. the former convenience store worker was convicted in a retrial of kidnapping and killing etan patz. the jury deliberated for 90 days. the boy disappeared on his way to his school bus stop. authorities in malaysia are investigating the death of kim jong nam. at the kuala lumpur airport waiting for a flight 20 may have been poisoned. he left north korea after being passed over for the leadership role. our correspondent sent this report.

nam,t: this is kim jong whose body is thought to be lying in a malaysian mall. officials say he died after being sprayed in the face with something at the kuala lumpur airport. south korea claimed north korean agents assassinated kim on the orders of kim jong un. north korea's young dictator has been tightening his grip on power, ruthlessly purging potential opponents. last year i saw for myself how strange north korea can be. i was detained and expelled for insulting the kim leadership. much more telling was what he did to his own uncle, seen here on the left. he was hauled away from a party meeting, accused of treachery, and executed. has he now also eliminated his brother?

kim jong nam was once his father's favorite, being groomed to take over as north korea's supreme leader. his downfall began in tokyo he was caught sneaking into japan on a fake passport. these pictures of his humiliating deportation from japan are said to have deeply angered his father, north korea's late dictator kim jong-il. his place at his father's side was taken instead by his younger brother kim jong-un. kim jong-nam then went into exile in macau. in interviews, he repeatedly said he had no interest in power. so why kill him? >> kim jong-nam, although he had been quiet and lying low for a while, not low enough, it seems, had gone off message badly before. he said some stuff about not believing in hereditary succession. maybe in this kind of system, think medieval europe, any

possible claimant to the kingship could potentially be a threat. reporter: in the 21st century, fratricide is normally confined to history books. yet again, north korea is showing it is not a normal country. bbc news, tokyo. jane: you are watching bbc "world news america." in's to come, the you tricky role in the central african republic. why it may not be keeping the peace so much as preventing more bloodshed. does drill you failing to close the gap in life expectancy between indigenous and nonindigenous people. report found targets covering health, education, and employment have stagnated, well some are going backward. ull said there had not been

enough to improve the lives of indigenous australians. for over 200 years since europeans settled in australia, the difference of quality of life between indigenous and nonindigenous people has been vast. in 2007 the australian government launched a campaign to close the gap between aboriginals and other generation.within a malcolm turnbull says it has not been efficient. >> we must travel this road together with open hearts and a determination to ensure that our first australians, and all australians, will be able to be their best and realize their dreams. reporter: almost a decade since the close the gap campaign was launched, aboriginal all strongly still amongst the nations most disadvantaged.

six of the seven key targets aimed at reducing disadvantage is failing. aboriginal people still die younger, have higher infant mortality, lower education, lower employment then other groups. completing aboriginal graduation rates by 2020 is the only target on track. it is clear with such slow progress the task of closing the gap will not be simple. bbc news. jane: the united nations is willing to use further force against militias in the central african republic to prevent the country from sliding into anarchy. rival christian and muslim

militias began fighting three years ago. one fragile u.n. redline is .round the town of bambari from there, fergal keane reports. fergal: in the countryside, the u.n. has fired the first shots to ward off an assault on bambari. the town is divided between rival militias. muslims in the center of town, christians on the outer banks. civilians protected by soldiers of the united nations. 23 years after i watched the u.n. fail to stop a genocide in rwanda, i have come to bambari whether blue helmets are trying to prevent tragedy. every burned building speaks of lives erased and a country massacre in 2013. civilians slaughtered.

displacedf thousands into camps. amid fears of renewed violence, there is no hope of going home. "leave here? i don't think so," this man tells us. here, we are protected by the united nations. civilians are facing renewed terror from warlords. these are christians, but it is not as simple as just a battle of religions. numerous warlords fight for power and wealth. this woman's husband was murdered, leaving her to care for five children. -- matalin lost her husband and three of her five children. >> they were killing people. they killed 2 on a motorcycle. they were going from killing to killing. it created a panic. some people lost their children

as they were running. fergal: one name kept cropping up here, a muslim warlord they blame for the most recent attacks. what about ali darassa? >> his name creates fear and terror. even now, when he sent his men, all the people ran away. findl: it wasn't hard to ali darassa. lived his bodyguards directly opposite the unhq. guns are supposed to be dan -- supposed to be banned here, but try telling that to these men. the u.n. is unwilling to provoke conflict over this. the fighters are muslims from the ethnic minority that ali darassa claims to protect.

you portray yourself as a protector of the people, but there is another view of you, and that is that you are a ruthless killer. >> all is clear. everything that happens is reported by people. if i was a ruthless killer, people could not live peacefully near me. the u.n. escorted us back across town to meet his enemy. the leader of a christian militia also accused of atrocities. meet the general and his deputy. the fighters hid their guns when we were there, but the general was blunt about his own role. are you a warlord? >> yes. i have thousands of men ready to protect the population.

fergal: the self-styled protectors thrive because the central government is weak. there are too few peacekeepers, and troops are of mixed quality. it is a familiar story of peacekeeping in the modern age. but tensions around bambari are so dangerous the u.n. mission's -- the u.n. mission's top officials are flying in. a veteran british diplomat is now trying to ensure this country does not slide into chaos again. the warlords are summoned. first, ali darassa. then, guitan. he waits in a room next door for his enemy to leave. in his prefabricated office, the international community struggles to make peace. diane tells them the u.n. is willing to fight. >> i'm giving clear messages

that we are going to do everything to prevent a battle in bambari. that we are reinforcing our positions, that the u.n. is impartial. we're not taking sides with one group or the other. and that we expect them to respect the civilian population. fergal: in the protected zone, the old life of the villagers shows signs of revival. a father studies, planning for a future beyond all of this. but the calm depends on the u.n. continuing to enforce its red lines. over the years, i've seen the failings of u.n. missions, sometimes catastrophically -- for example, in rwanda. and yet, standing on the bridge bambari of between the christian and muslim districts, it is clear to me that without the united nations presence there

here.d be slaughter jane: a startling glimpse into the rivalries in the central .epublic for many, it was a romantic era of travel. the sights and sounds of the steam train. today, steam powered returned to england for the first time in nearly half a century. danny savage takes us on a trip. carlisle the settle to line, the sights and sounds of yesteryear returned. in?hich coach are you danny: this was the first time

tabled steam train in england for nearly half of a century. standard fares and discounts applied. you would normally pay a hefty premium for a steam trip. not this week. >> it is great. it is cheaper than a bunch of roses. danny: what did you make of the valentine's present? >> a really good one. thank you. danny: on the footplate, the crew was working hard. tons of coal was shoveled as the train went between skipton and appleby. it is not only the trip on the steam train. it is a ride through the countryside and crossing the ribblehead viaduct. >> travel from essex, norfolk, the romance of it. valentine's day, the settle -carlisle railway, how much better could it get? danny: could we see more steam trains after to day's response?

>> we could do it once or twice a year. may leave the start of something special on britain's railways, 49 years after mainline steam officially ended. now, one of washington's most famous residents is leaving next week. we thought it was important to have one last face-to-face meeting. panda. the the three-year-old is heading to china to enter the breeding program. the zoo is sending her off with ownce cake party and her 24-hour panda cam. i did a facebook live inside the panda enclosure. you can find it online. if you would like to see bao

bao in the flesh you have a few more days to get to the zoo. that brings today's show to a close. you can find more on our website. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and aruba tourism authority. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the

island with warm sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. nonstop flights are available from most major airports. more information for your vacation planning is available at aruba.com. >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: >> the issue, plain and simple, came down to a matter of trust. >> woodruff: turnover at the white house. we have the latest on the resignation of president trump's national security advisor. then, ahead of prime minister netanyahu's visit to the white house, a look at possible changes in middle east policy under the trump administration. plus, a story of hope: how one kansas school is helping homeless students overcome the challenges they face outside the classroom. >> if i'm jumping from place to place, i'm not as focused on my schoolwork. i got to think about what i'm eating for the night. i got to think about how bills are gonna get paid. i got to think about all this extra stuff. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs