tv BBC News at Ten BBC News August 20, 2024 10:00pm-10:31pm BST
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at ten, six people are still unaccounted for, after the sinking of a luxury british yacht off the coast of sicily. new cctv images appear to show the vessel in the middle of a violent storm before the tragedy. one body has been recovered, believed to be that of recaldo thomas, who was the yacht�*s chef. friends say he was a well loved and kind human being. in sicily a second day of searching for the _ in sicily a second day of searching for the missing has proved fruitless because _ for the missing has proved fruitless because rescues have struggled to -et because rescues have struggled to get inside — because rescues have struggled to get inside the wreckage. also tonight — more jail time for those arrested after this summer's violent disorder across england. they include an 18 month sentence for a former army driver. health officials in africa say mpox is "not the new covid" but appeal for strong international action to stop its spread. and the world war two bomb detonated in county down. a controlled explosion sees
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the local community evacuated. and the local community evacuated. stayed with us her news and stayed with us here on the abc news for continuing coverage and analysis from our team of correspondence around the world. ——. -- bbc. good evening. in italy, the search will resume at first light for six people still unaccounted for, after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of sicily on monday morning. the missing include the british tech entrepreneur, mike lynch, and the chairman of the investment bank, morgan stanley international,
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jonathan bloomer. the body of the yacht�*s chef, recaldo thomas, is believed to have been recovered, 15 other people were rescued. the yacht was anchored outside the harbour at porticello, a small fishing village, east of palermo, in the middle of a violent storm. now it lies 50 metres underwater, with divers spending the day trying to get inside the cabins. mark lowen has the very latest from porticello. the moments before the tragedy. cctv released tonight shows the storm lashing the sicilian coast, where the bayesian was moored in the early hours of monday. as the deluge deepens, clouds hide the yacht from view. some time later, it was no more. for a second day, the rescuers returned, plunging into the depths to reach the horrors below. divers seeking what has been swallowed up by the sea. the wreckage lying 150ft underwater, and trapped inside, probably, the bodies of the missing. given how deep it is, each dive can only last ten minutes before the team must resurface. translation: the biggest difficulty
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is caettin translation: the biggest difficulty is getting into _ translation: the biggest difficulty is getting into the _ translation: the biggest difficulty is getting into the ship _ translation: the biggest difficulty is getting into the ship because - is getting into the ship because once inside, following the path, you can begin searching room by room. and this is what they're trying to access — the bayesian�*s cabins. an old video shows what was a gleaming superyacht, now a sunken coffin. the world's tallest aluminium mast snapped from the tornado—like waterspout, which engulfed the boat within minutes. today, more of the 15 survivors left hospital, including the parents of one—year—old sophie emsley, rescued at sea, shielded from the public glare. the body of the chef recaldo thomas was found yesterday. six are still missing — the british tech tycoon mike lynch and his 18—year—old daughter hannah, his lawyer chris morvillo and wife neda, and the head of morgan stanley international, jonathan bloomer, and his wife judy. all celebrating mr lynch's recent
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acquittal on us fraud charges. well, still, you can seejust how choppy the water is from the winds that continue to buffet the sicilian coast. a weather alert had reportedly been issued before the capsizing due to the searing heat and violent storms, and the investigation will now partly focus on what could have been done on board the yacht, such as closing hatches to mitigate that risk. it's even taken those who know these waters well by surprise. giovanni aleccia has owned his boat club here for 28 years on the other side of the bay, and he's stunned. translation: the waterspout passed here, too, and threw _ cushions into the air. but nobody could imagine what would happen to the yacht. i've never seen anything like it. the water has warmed so much that this weather tragedy became possible. it worries me, of course — this is no longer the sicily of 20 years ago. and so the search goes on. but any hope of survival in a mediterranean miracle has all but gone.
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the rescuers have been returning to the port tonight. the italian coastguard says eight divers were involved in the operation today, how would by a remote—controlled vehicle that can operate on the sea bed for “p that can operate on the sea bed for up to two hours. —— help to buy. but while the mast of the bayesian was smashed by the waterspout, the rest of the ship is largely intact, making access to the rescue teams under water very difficult, they have got inside the lounge of the vessel but they are now trying to get further into the cabin is where they feel they will find the bodies, probably, the six missing people who were sleeping, likely, when the disaster hit.— were sleeping, likely, when the disaster hit. . ., ., , divers are still trying to enter the wreckage of the submerged yacht, but with the boat still largely
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intact on the seabed it's hard to get inside. but what do we know about those who are still missing? mike lynch, the british tech entrepreneur, is among those still unaccounted for. the theory is he may be trapped in his cabin. his 18—year—old daughter hannah is also missing. when you turn on the television and see the pictures, how horrible it all was, and when they are people you know, it really does come home, how dreadful it must be for them as a family. he was so approachable. you might think that with all that money that he would be difficult to talk to but in fact he was a very easy person to talk to and chat. also missing is his lawyer, chris morvillo, and wife, neda. along with the head of morgan stanley international, jonathan bloomer and his wife, judy. again, divers believe the yacht sank before they could escape their cabin. we are just terribly sad for the family.
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we are coping the best we can and we are alljust supporting each other. he was my elder by half an hour so it means a lot when you lose a twin brother. one body has been recovered, that of the chef aboard the bayesian, recaldo thomas, one of the ten crew members on board. he had nothing but love for everyone. he would give you the shirt off of his back if he could. you're going to be missed so much, buddy. but, you know, we'll see you on the other end and i speak for everyone, we love you, we love you so much. the search resumes at first light but the coastguard says hopes have all but disappeared of finding anyone alive. there was appalling weather off the sicilian coast before the sinking of the bayesian. witnesses described seeing a waterspout or a tornado over the water. but how common are they, and could the design of the yacht
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have contributed to the sinking? here's pallab ghosh. it was plain sailing for the bayesian in this promotional video made 15 years ago. its italian makers showing off its sleek design and luxurious interiors, all of which are now under the sea. the bayesian is one of the largest sailing yachts ever built, 56m long, and it has the second tallest sailing mast ever built at 72m. its sails would have been down overnight, but some experts have said that because the mast was so tall, it might have caught the high winds just like a sail, and they speculate that this might have helped tip the vessel over. they also wonder whether the yacht�*s keel, which is a flat blade sticking into the water for balance, was retracted and so affected its stability. reports from the survivor was that the sinking happened in a matter of minutes.
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we now have reports from the divers that the vessel is pretty much intact, so that very much hints at extreme winds on a rather large sized rig causing the vessel to keel over and then most likely start taking on water, which would then lead to a very fast sinking. but aren't these superyachts built to withstand being able to tilt over as much as 90 degrees, and then bob back up? with very strong winds, the vessel can go further than 90 degrees, at which point you would obviously be taking on very large amounts of water through a number of the openings that you have on the vessel. the key factors were the ferocity of the winds and, possibly, a waterspout like this one, that struck the vessel. they're like tornadoes, but occur at sea, gathering mist and moisture. they have narrow columns just a few tens of metres — twisting, powerful and life threatening. 18 waterspouts were reported off the coast of italy
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on august 19th alone. experts say that the higher than average sea temperatures might have made them especially powerful. the big question is, is the waterspout in its own right enough? given you had a thunderstorm, given you had a very tall mast pushing up into those thunderstorm clouds, and we don't know the details, and it's not until the vessel's been investigated, hopefully recovered, that we'll learn the true story of what went on. but it is possible that this intensive tornado, this waterspout, did capsize the vessel. investigators hope to know soon what sent the bayesian down so suddenly and if there are lessons to learn to prevent such accidents from happening in the future. pallab ghosh, bbc news. as the friends and family of those still missing come to terms with what's happened, mike lynch's co—defendant in his fraud trial in america, stephen chamberlain, has died after being hit by a car.
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he'd been out running in cambrigeshire when it happened. both men had been accused of fraud over the sale of the software firm autonomy, to hewlett packard, back in 2011, and both men were cleared. mr chamberlain�*s family say he'll be deeply missed. courts across england are still dealing with the aftermath of the summer's violent disorder that shattered so many communites. the crown prosecution service says 494 people have now been charged with offences. among those jailed today were a former army driver with a spotless military record. here's daniel sandford. after repeatedly charging at police lines and trying to rugby tackle one officer, liam gray was eventually wrestled into the bushes outside the holiday inn express near rotherham. he was part of a mob that attacked the hotel housing asylum seekers. today, he was jailed for three years at sheffield crown court. the judge said he'd brought shame on the town where he lived.
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he was one of four men sent to prison today for their parts in the rotherham riot — the others were alfie conway, david chadwick and lee crisp. shouting as riot police tried to take back the streets during the civil disorder in hartlepool, former army driver, joel bishop, emerged from the crowd and hurled stones and a large wooden plank at them. he was later identified because his green shirt had his name printed on the back of it. his mother and partner wept as he was jailed for 18 months. as a result of the widespread disorder, more than 140 people have now been sent to prison for between seven weeks and six years — including bradley mccarthy, who spent hours goading anti—racism protesters and police officers in bristol, as well as craig timbrell who threw concrete blocks, bricks and bottles at police trying to protect a hotel being used to house asylum seekers.
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i'll be getting a picture about the backgrounds and who these people are involved in the disturbances? —— are we. involved in the disturbances? -- are we. , ., . ., ., we. there is not much of a pattern, one of the — we. there is not much of a pattern, one of the interesting _ we. there is not much of a pattern, one of the interesting things, - we. there is not much of a pattern, one of the interesting things, and l one of the interesting things, and around 15 of those charged under the age of 18 but are similar are over the of 50, the oldest was more than 69 years of age. most of those involved were men but there were quite a few women. we have seen some people travelling quite far to take part in violent disorder but lots of people just popping around the corner, there was a couple in hartlepool who had been to the bingo, who decided to take a leading role in the rioting there, and although some british asians have been jailed for taking part in violent counter protests, the majority of people who have been charged are white and they had obviously found out about the protests through social media networks before the protests turned
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violent. when they get to court we discover many people have criminal records, they had previous convictions of things like violence, drugs, theft, but a lot of people are appearing in court for the first time, and the army driverjoel bishop, a good example of that, he joined the army at 18 and had an exemplary military record, and then in a moment of madness he is seized by the mob mentality and now he will be branded a racist for the rest of his life and he's 18 months in prison to think about it. thanks for “oininu prison to think about it. thanks for joining us- — king charles has been meeting survivors of last month's stabbing attack in southport, which helped trigger the distru bances. he's also spent time with front line emergency staff and other members of the community affected both by the stabbing and the disorder that followed. danny savage has more. cheering and applause. there was a warm welcome for the king in southport today.
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his first stop was to look at the messages and tributes left outside the town hall since the awful events here last month. he then signed a book of condolence after a meeting with some of those injured in the attack. among them wasjohn hayes, who was stabbed when he tried to intervene. what was it like to meet the king? fabulous. it was lovely to meet him. ifound him quite engaging, quite easy to talk to. i think most people said the same. it was lovely. does it mean something when he comes here to hear first hand himself about what happened, rather than second or third hand? absolutely. i mean, i think he only arrived in balmoral yesterday so for him to come all the way to southport today to see people is fabulous. so, very kind of him. and i'm sure everybody that met him will have got a lift from that. hundreds of people turned out to see the monarch on a visit which was only made public at 10am. i don't think for a moment people actually expected it, as i say, especially with him being on holiday, so we're absolutely thrilled that he's taken the time out to do it.
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he just said, "are you southport people? and we said "yes." and he said he's very sorry for what has happened. the king then went on to meet emergency service workers who responded to the attack and the unrest afterwards. the flowers and tributes outside southport town hall here are so well organised. every night, volunteers collect all the soft toys to protect them from the weather and then put them out again during the daytime. there is a real pride in what they are doing here after the awful, devastating events, and people are deeply grateful that the king came here today. the king didn't meet the families of the three girls who died in the attack. they are having a private audience with him in london tomorrow. danny savage, bbc news, southport. in america, president biden has
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given an emotional farewell speech to members of the democractic party, at their national convention in chicago. he told delegates they were in a battle for the "very soul of america" in the coming presidential election. he also praised his vice—president, kamala harris, who hopes to succeed him in the white house. her big speech comes on thursday. sarah smith has more from chicago. music: frredom by beyonce a surprise appearance from the party's new leader electrified this convention, as kamala harris paid tribute to her boss, the man who handed her the opportunity to run for president. joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation and for all you will continue to do — we are forever grateful to you. cheering. thank you. president biden received an enthusiastic welcome. for almost five full minutes as the crowd delivered heartfelt applause, he looked almost moved to tears... ..in one of the more emotional moments in his very long political career.
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thank you, thank you, thank you. of course, he was meant to be the headliner, not the opening act, and he is a proud man who believed he had earned the right to run for re—election — now explaining that he stood aside for the good of the nation. it's been the honour of my lifetime to serve as your president. i love the job, but i love my country more. cheering. in 2024, we need you to vote. and, above all, we need you to beat donald trump! cheering. applauded by the very people who pushed him out of the wayjust one month ago. isn't this something — everybody shouting about how much they lovejoe biden, now that he's stepping aside, celebrating and congratulating him now that he's handing over to a younger candidate. let me ask you, are you ready to elect kamala harris and ted walz? kamala harris�*s big moment comes on thursday,
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when she accepts her party's nomination and gives her speech. have you heard her laugh? that is the laugh of a crazy person! she has already wrong—footed donald trump, who doesn't seem to know how to campaign against her. i'm a better lookingl person than kamala. why insult her intelligence? well, i have to do... well, i don't think she's a very bright person. i i do feel that. i mean, i think that's right. i think i am a very bright person and a lot of people say that. - i don't think she's i a very bright person. while barack obama calls her "smart as hell." president obama will fight for working families. they have been friends and allies ever since she was one of the earliest supporters of his presidential bid back in 2007. thank you! former president obama was quick to endorse kamala harris and tonight he will encourage the country to support her, as he delivers the prime—time speech. together on stage last night, we could see ms harris say, "i love you so much, joe", as he passed the torch to the next
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generation and, he hopes, to the next american president. this convention is already bursting with excitement about kamala harris but behind the scenes, senior party figures are starting to warn against too much euphoria because they know although kamal harris is performing better in opinion polls against donald trump thanjoe biden had been, this race is still extremely close and at this stage, complacency can be the enemy of victory. 0k, can be the enemy of victory. ok, sarah, thank you. sarah smith, are north america editor. and newsnight will have more on this over on bbc 2 shortly with adam fleming. hi, there. we will talk about the democrats lining up to support kamala harris in the us but in the uk, we look at the coalition assembling to oppose changes to the winter fuel payment for pensioners. that is newsnight on
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bbc two, bbc news and iplayer. thank ou, adam. the israeli army says the bodies of six hostages being held by hamas have been recovered from southern gaza. they include a british—israeli, nadav popplewell. meanwhile, the us secretary of state, anthony blinken, is in egypt as part of efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage release deal. lucy williamson reports from jerusalem. deep inside the tunnels of khan younis, israeli forces found the bodies of israeli hostages and brought them home. six bodies recovered. their names confirmed by the unit's commanding officer. nadav popplewel. yagev buchshtab. avraham munder. yoram metzger. chaim peri. among them, british israeli nadav popplewell, who hamas said was killed by israeli airstrikes in may. a man who loved board games and science fiction, kidnapped from kibbutz nirim on the 7th of october with his mother hanna,
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freed in a hostage deal last november. neighbour adele watched nadav grow up. at least his family and loved ones will be able to have some closure. there will be a tombstone, his mother will have some place to go, to mourn, to visit, and it is a comfort at least to know that his body is back in the land of israel. the remains of five other captives were also brought home last night. chaim peri, yagev buchshtab, yoram metzger and alex dancyg. and avraham munder, kidnapped from kibbutz nir oz. for his family, the first confirmation that he was dead. we have counted 18 cases of the government of israel torpedoing the initiative to get the hostages back. we're caught between a rock and a hard place, you know. hamas and the israeli government both contributing their part
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to the death of my uncle. the us secretary of state is in the middle east to kick start a new ceasefire plan. israel has agreed to back it. today, he was asking egypt for its support. in khan younis, today, six bodies were laid out for burial. killed in a strike on an internet connection point. one of them, taufiq al—khalidi, a student preparing for his engineering exams. another day when lives ended and the war carried on. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. official figures show there were more than 1,400 new cases of mpox across several african nations in the past week. but despite concerns about a new variant of the virus triggering a global alert, the world health organisation says mpox is "not the new covid."
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here, public health officials here say the uk is prepared for any cases that may emerge. here's dominic hughes. the mpox virus starts with flu—like symptoms but leads to a painful rash and blisters and it can prove fatal. the number of cases, mainly in the central african state of congo, has doubled in a year. in its latest update, the african centre for disease control says this outbreak is clearly growing, and health experts are calling for those countries in the most seriously affected regions of africa to be supported. mpox is not the new covid. but the risk to the general population is low. we know what to do and we need this time the political commitment to go for elimination — otherwise you will always see neglect and then panic again. so let's have a political commitment to go the last mile. vaccines and clear public health advice helped bring a global outbreak of mpox
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in 2022 under control. the picture today is more complicated, with at least three different variants currently circulating. but uk officials say they're ready — should a case be identified here. clinicians are alert. we've got diagnostic tests and we have a system that's well exercised in this. so i think we're well prepared to detect the first cases that come to this country. the african centre for disease control says, at the moment, access to enough vaccine doses remains a problem but it insists there is a clear plan to have 10 million available by the end of next year. dominic hughes, bbc news. scotland remains by far the country with the highest number of deaths in europe due to drug misuse. new figures show a sharp rise in 2023, up 12%, with the number of deaths almost four times higher than 20 years ago. here's james cook. i'm an addict. and do you mind me asking you what drugs you've
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used over the years? heroin and cocaine. last year, we metjade on the streets of glasgow. my ex—partner died with drugs. my dad died — he was an addict. my sister's passed away. a lot of my friends have passed away. and, jade, do you mind me asking you why, why you do it? i do it to block my past, my trauma from my past out. six months later, jade was found dead in a flat not far from here of a suspected overdose. she was 34—years—old. jade's family did not want to appear on camera, but they did give us permission to rebroadcast her interview, saying they wanted to highlight the work that was being done to help people with drug—related issues. work is under way to improve addiction services. this site will soon become the uk's first official consumption room — where drug users can inject their own heroin and cocaine under medical supervision. for all my colleagues, these aren't
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just numbers, these are people. the doctor in charge here says there are many reasons why scotland has europe's highest level of drug deaths, including inadequate provision of treatment programmes. in other parts of europe, maybe 70—80% of people who are experiencing problem drug use are engaged and retained in treatment. in scotland, that's fallen to 40, and perhaps even less than 40% at times. so that protective safety net hasn't been at the level that we would want. so is the scottish government doing and spending enough? there is no escaping the fact that the drug death figures are profoundly worse here than elsewhere in the uk, and indeed in other parts of europe. and i take responsibility for that and i understand the scottish government's role in ensuring that improves. are you ashamed? we can... are you ashamed about it?
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well, of course. we want to see the picture improving and that's why we're making the investments that we are. this recovery cafe in dundee provides one answer. it is packed and popular, but reaching women has been a challenge. women will often use substances as a coping mechanism because of the trauma they've experienced, and this is complex trauma that men probably will not have experienced. women are much more likely to experience domestic abuse, rape, sexual abuse, even abuse in childhood. there is now targeted help for some female drug users in scotland, but even such compassion could not save jade or thousands like her. james cook, bbc news, glasgow. residents in county down in northern ireland have begun returning home tonight, after bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion on a german world war two device discovered last week.
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sara girvin has that story. explosion this is the moment a world war ii bomb was detonated in a county down housing estate. after being evacuated on sunday, finally, residents have been allowed home. i was just worried — what am i going to come home too? will there be a house standing? it was all an unknown, so as i've come back, there's no damage, it's absolutely amazing. so glad to be home now and just get settled again, go and pick up my cat so i can bring him back as well! some minor damage to properties has been reported. joan's new home is about 50 metres from the blast site but was unscathed. ijust can't believe it's still standing, i want to cry. all i'll say, it'sjust a sense of relief, i'm just so relieved. explosion whoa! police have confirmed the device was an airdropped sc—500 german bomb from world war ii. they said the device, which was more than 1,000 lb and around 83 years old,
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still posed a significant risk to public safety. soldiers had been building a sand filled structure around the bomb, preparing for a controlled explosion, and now, this is all that's left. as 400 evacuated homeowners return, there's relief that days of disruption caused by this historic bomb are finally at an end. sara girvin, bbc news, in newtownards. time for a look at the weather. here's ben.
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