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tv   Newsday  BBC News  December 26, 2016 12:00am-12:31am GMT

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welcome to bbc news. i'm tom donkin. our top stories: the singer george michael has died. his publicist says he passed away peacefully at home. george michael rose to fame in the 1980s as a member of the duo wham! police say there were no suspicious circumstances. in other news: a major search operation off the black sea coast has pinpointed a russian military plane that crashed into the water with 92 people on board. israel orders ambassadors of un security council members to be reprimanded after they voted against its settlement building. and queen elizabeth misses her traditional christmas day service as she recovers from a heavy cold, but in a recorded speech she pays tribute to ordinary people doing extraordinary things. the death of the singer
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george michael has been announced. he was 53. he shot to fame in the 1980s as half of the band wham, and went on to have a hugely successful solo career. he's sold more than 80 million records worldwide. his publicist says he passed away peacefully at his home just outside london on sunday. andy moore looks back at his life. # well, i hadn't seen your face around town a while, so i greeted you, with a knowing smile... he burst onto the scene in the early 1980s when he formed wham with andrew ridgeley. the duo had number one singles around the world. they even conquered china, becoming the first western pop band to perform there. george michael loved fame but never became used to it. to be obviously a part of people's lives as an artist, that's what i dreamed of and that's what i'm still grateful for. but my god, i wish i could cope with the other stuff the way
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other people do. i wish i'd been born with that particular suit of armour, you know, because i wasn't. # you know not everybody has got a body like you. but i gotta think twice before i give my heart away... as his career waned, he hit the headlines for other reasons. he was stopped for a series of traffic offences leading to a spell in jail. he was cautioned and fined for drug possession and received treatment for addiction. # time can never mend the careless whispers... he suffered a life—threatening bout police said his death was unexplained but not suspicious. his family said he had died peacefully at home. they called him a beloved son, brother and friend. let's speak to our arts
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correspondent david sillito. good to see you, david. have we had much more information since this news broke? very little, the police say they were called to his property in oxfordshire, which isjust to say they were called to his property in oxfordshire, which is just to the west of london, and they said that an ambulance was called, police were called and they said that he was found at his home and he was dead at his scene. —— the scene. his death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. and of course there will be a postmortem examination to find the cause of death. but so far no more details about what's led to this. but of course, a huge reaction already, a globalfigure... a great
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star, for more than 30 years, making me feel very old today remembering him asa me feel very old today remembering him as a teenager when he first started with songs like wham rap and clu b started with songs like wham rap and club tropicana. 0ne started with songs like wham rap and club tropicana. one of his good friends and another extraordinary performer eltonjohn said i am in deep shock, i have loved a beloved —— lost a beloved friend, the kindest most generous soul and a beloved artist. my heart goes out to his family and fans. he is expressing what thousands are expressing what thousands are expressing at the moment. 100 million albums, a starfor more expressing at the moment. 100 million albums, a star for more than 30 years. he had his ups and downs but a real shock today. he wasn't just a pop icon, his music spanned soul, funk, rock, he did it all, didn't he? absolutely, when wham rap, the first song i remember seeing on top of the pops came out a few years ago, it was almost a
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novelty song and these teenagers you thought would be a flash in the pan but then another song came and another song came and another song came and you had careless whisper, a p0p came and you had careless whisper, a pop standard, and this was being written by... he wasjust pop standard, and this was being written by... he was just out of being a teenager. he was writing great songs when he was doing that. then he split from andrew ridgeley and he sustained it, five number one albums, 25 hit singles, faith, freedom. it is a great body of work bya freedom. it is a great body of work by a great songwriter. he was there asa by a great songwriter. he was there as a teen idol to start with and then he established himself as something more than that as the yea rs went something more than that as the years went by. when eltonjohn is writing about him today he is writing about him today he is writing about him today he is writing about someone who is there in the same league with him as one
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of britain's great song writers and one of the world's great song writers of pop songs. very sad. 0f course he has had his ups and is. allusions to ups and downs with drugs over the years. in 201“ remember seeing him when he came out of hospital and he looked very shaken. —— ups and downs. he had a near death experience and a track the to me at one point with pneumonia. there was another incident a couple of years ago where he had a car accident. —— a track your tummy. there have been certainly ups and downs in his life but very unexpected today. a great loss to pop music. david sillito, oui’ loss to pop music. david sillito, our arts correspondent there confirming and giving us more details on the death of george michael, who has died at the age of 53. more on that as we get it. paul lester is a freelance music
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journalist who's written for the guardian and sunday times newspapers. hejoins us from just outside london. good to see you, thank you for joining us. your initial reactions to the news of george michael's death. i am stunned and very sad. 0bviously he is a huge star. arguably the biggest british bar of the eighties. madonna, michael jackson and prince robert lee just about eclipsed him in the 1980s but in terms of british superstars there was him and phil collins —— print is probably. he was huge and as david sillitoe alluded to the was one of the few musicians to make the rare transition from teenybop idol to bona fides serious grown—up artist when he quit wham at the heart of theirfame in 1986. when he quit wham at the heart of their fame in 1986. he when he quit wham at the heart of theirfame in 1986. he could have gone on with one but he chose to
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make the leap and he did it very successfully, very ha rd make the leap and he did it very successfully, very hard to do. he had the rare fortune of cracking it in the us, didn't he? that's right. in the 1980s there were a couple of groups that are merged out of what is loosely described as the new romantic era. he made a successful bid to crack the states when really it is very unusual. unusual for british artists especially since the beatles and the 1960s heyday for british acts to crack the states. he was famously private but later in his career he used his celebrity for the causes he cared dearly about. he did. he was like prince, one of those artists that wanted to be taken more seriously and he did try to make moves into the political arena and he did support causes. he
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wasn't just about songwriting and singing, there was more to him than that. that's what he wanted to do latterly. 0f that. that's what he wanted to do latterly. of course what he had done by his mid— 20s was absolutely achieve everything you could possibly achieve as a songwriter and a musician, he was one of the biggest stars in britain, he made the move to become a global superstar, he played in china, he did everything he could so there was nothing left to do in the musical world so he looked outside of that to espouse causes that word dear to his heart. what was the song that stood out for yuan why was that?” like the early wham stuff. —— for you. there was faith, a 25 million selling album, massive at the time and that was the signal album for george michael as a grown—up artist but i like the early funny ones to
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paraphrase leanne wood allen, club tropicana and wham rap, and the melancholy songs you will find in the darker recesses of his albums. —— to paraphrase leanne wood allen. despite the shuttlecocks down the tennis shorts and the jokes, there was an element of sadness about george, he was a troubled person, he came out later in life and there we re came out later in life and there were brushes with the law, dabblings with drugs and he initially appeared as the almost clean cut north london soul boy done good. there was obviously much more to him than that and he was tormented and those are the songs i chose, the ones that signalled the deeper more troubled artist, the one that went home and listened to joy artist, the one that went home and listened tojoy division's closer, his all—time favourite album, a
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surprise to me because that is a dark 1980 album that points towards all manner of hidden torment within george michael, the supposedlyjolly purveyor of goodtime dance disco p0p- purveyor of goodtime dance disco pop. we don't have the details at this stage but do we know what his health was like? there was all sorts of gossip and little cattle and hearsay on facebook. we know that he had problems with his health. david sillitoe talked about the 2011 problems with his health and latterly... it is not for me to go into but suffice to say he did have issues. there were reports of dabblings with narcotics that had effects... they were covered on the news, an incident on the m1 near st albans a few years ago. i don't know. really i don't know. just to
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say i am stunned. despite the drug dabblings and the issues he had coming out in that very public way in the late 90s, unlike prince and unlike michaeljackson, george michael... he wasn't larger than life, he wasn't a boy george, he wasn't colourful and flamboyant in that way, he was just a normal chap that way, he was just a normal chap that happened to be very gifted at crafting these extremely polished, sophisticated, soulful pop songs. that's what he could do very well but he wasn't one of these alien... he wasn't david bowie, an extraterrestrials kind of character, he was just a kid from bushy. like elton, from up the road, it's weird these two huge british summer song writers came from five miles tween each other —— singer—songwriter is. he was a kid from bushy that made a
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tremendous career from creating songs based on his great he didn't have the otherworldly charisma of other superstars of the age and that was to his benefit. indeed, a rare talent. paul, thank you forjoining us. a day of national mourning is being held in russia for the 92 victims of a military plane crash. president vladamir putin has ordered an investigation into why it went down over the black sea on sunday. the transport minister says investigators aren't ruling out any possible reasons for the crash, that includes terrorism. among those on board were members of the famous red army choir. vigils have been held, this one at the 0stankino tv station, to remember the nine journalists who were killed in the crash.
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the authorities say the location of the wreckage has been pinpointed, and more than 100 divers were exploring the seabed. so far, 11 bodies have been recovered. steve rosenberg reports from moscow. this is one of the final images of the tupolev 154 jet. it was taken by a journalist before he boarded the plane. the flight would end in tragedy. the aircraft crashed into the black sea. the russians scrambled helicopters and ships, but the search became a recovery operation. there were no survivors. the plane had taken off from a military airfield near moscow. it flew south, stopping in sochi to refuel. the final destination was syria and russia's airbase near latakia, but minutes after leaving sochi it crashed. president putin offered his condolences to the families of the victims and promised them his full support. on board were more than 60 members of the russian army's famous song and dance ensemble once known as the red army choir. they'd been due to give a concert at the russian airbase in syria. translation: we all loved this
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ensemble, we value them. there are our brothers, friends, colleagues. may they rest in peace. also killed in the crash, the prominent humanitarian activist and medic. known to millions of russians as doctor lisa. most civilian airlines have stopped using the... tupolev 15a, once the workhorse of the russian aviation industry. in 2010 the tupolev carrying the polish president crashed in russia while trying to land. the following year a similar plane caught fire in siberia before takeoff. throughout the day muscovites brought flowers to the headquarters of the russian army choir. this disaster has left russia stunned and silent. the kremlin has promised a thorough investigation into this tragedy. it's also declared tomorrow a day
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of national mourning. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has summoned ten ambassadors from countries on the un security council. the reason — to explain a un resolution condemning israel for building jewish settlements in the occupied west bank and eastjerusalem. it's a highly unusual move because one of those summoned was the american ambassador. the us is normally israel's main backer at the un but this time the country chose not to use it's veto. at his weekly cabinet meeting mr neta nyahu who also serves as foreign minister criticised the us, but praised the incoming trump administration. 0ver decades american administration and is ready governments have disagreed about settlements but we agreed that the security council was not the place to resolve these
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issues. we knew that going they would make negotiations harder and drive peace further away and as i told john kerry on thursday, friends do not take friends to the security council. still to come, 20 more on our main story, george michael who has died at the age of 53. we saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach, and people started to run, and suddenly it was complete chaos. united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said the operation had been 90% successful, but it's failed in its principal objective, to capture general noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of the pan—am's maid of the seas,
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nose—down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news. i'm tom donkin. the latest headline: the singer george michael has died — his publicist says he passed away peacefully at home. more now on our top story — the death of the singer george michael. joining me via webcam from zurich in switzerland is the music journalist jonathan wingate. thank you forjoining us. your initial reaction? earlier today i
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was listening to last christmas, probably the best christmas songs of the last 30 years. we will not see his like again. he had a knack for touching people on a human level with his music. he was the quintessential pop star of the 80s but his music transcended all generational and demographic barriers. he took his audience with him. he started off in what looked like a very frivolous pop band, wham!, and his audience grew up with him. probably the most sophisticated p0p him. probably the most sophisticated pop music of the last few decades. if you think about the other great artist we lost this year, david bowie, prince, david cohen they were perceived as serious artist whereas
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george michael's music was deceptively complex and had an emotional resonance to it that you do not really suspect to find within the pop format. he had a unique way with melody and with words that managed to touch people in a way that i cannot think of any other pop star doing. it is easy to make arty music, intellectual, clever music, but to put that much emotional punch into what is seen as, you know, and entertainment format — pop music — it isa entertainment format — pop music — it is a very tricky thing to do and i cannot think of anyone else apart from michaeljaksch who did what george michael did. all the way from the early 80s until more recently, his last two had to huge critical
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acclaim and his last couple of albums were absolutely brilliant pieces of work. i cannot think of anyone else like him, actually. pieces of work. i cannot think of anyone else like him, actuallym was a different brand of pop music— weaving through at seoul and funk and crucially that sold records.” think the way he kind of... that mix of pop and soul and funk was absolutely unique. you cannot think of anyone else who managed to do thatis of anyone else who managed to do that is up if you think about the other artists are mentioned, george michael did it in a much more mainstream format and said he had teenage girls singing along to his songs but he also had grown men like me doing exactly the same thing. if you think about the cultural climate we are in, we are continually being told that people cared less and less
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about music but there was an emotional connection between the songs george michael wrote and the public and very few people can do that. people took his music to their hearts and he left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape in a way i cannot think other pop stars from the era are doing. he was a very serious man, a very serious artist who started out looking like a pop star who was desperate for attention but, of course, really what he wa nted but, of course, really what he wanted was privacy and he did not get that and his life was not his own in the end and i think his fame engulfed him and he ended up hermetically sealed off from the outside world because he really wa nted outside world because he really wanted to get some peace.- outside world because he really wanted to get some peace. q we have
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much information about his health recently? i have no idea. he has had his run—ins with the tabloids and police. he has got himself in all sorts of trouble but as far as i'm aware he has been sorting himself out and he looked to me as if he was getting back to what he did best of which was writing absolutely brilliant pop songs. thank you for joining us. talking about the death of george michael at 53. for the first time in nearly 30 years, queen elizabeth has missed the christmas day church service at sandringham. buckingham palace says she's still recovering from a heavy cold. in her pre—recorded christmas message, the queen said she often draws strength from meeting ordinary people, doing extraordinary things. 0ur royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. christmas day service at sandringham church, but this year without the queen. while other members of her family, including the duke of edinburgh,
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attended, the queen remained at sandringham house, continuing to recover from what buckingham palace has described as a heavy cold. ina in a statement it was understood she would attend. but there is no sense of undue concern. also absent from sandringham this year, the duke and duchess of cambridge and their children, george and charlotte. they attended church at bucklebury in berkshire, where they've spent christmas day with the duchess's family, the middletons. inspiration was the theme of this year's christmas broadcast by the queen, which was recorded at buckingham palace some days ago. she cited the achievements of olympic and paralympic athletes, and she said she also found inspiration from daily life. in the year where she marked her
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90th birthday she refers to the work of many charities that she has been associated with and talks about the work of unsung heroes she meets around the country. 0rdinary people doing extraordinary things, as she puts it. back at sandringham, the royal family left church to return to sandringham house bought christmas lunch and then to settle down to watch the queen ‘s broadcast. a reminder of our top story: the british singer, george michael, who shot to fame with wham! in the 1980s has died at the age of 53. he went on to have a hugely successful solo career, selling more than 100 million records worldwide. in a statement his publicist said that "it is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend george passed away peacefullyat home over the christmas period. have a very merry christmas and
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thank forjoining have a very merry christmas and thank for joining us. have a very merry christmas and thank forjoining us. see use on. let's see what's in store for boxing day. lots of sunshine on the way for england and wales but in the north of scotla nd england and wales but in the north of scotland are very windy. storm conor is passing to the north but those winds will be felt further towards the south across scotland. severe gales and we are feeling the effects in the pennines, with very strong winds and wintry showers across scotland. the cold front is all linked and wraps into storm conor. behind the cold front, colder airfrom the north conor. behind the cold front, colder air from the north atlantic so temperatures dropping rapidly, not far off freezing by the hours of boxing day. milder in the south.
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storm conor across the norwegian sea and severe gales blowing in the north, particularly shetland. an amber warning north, particularly shetland. an amberwarning in north, particularly shetland. an amber warning in force from the met 0ffice. down south, it is a com pletely 0ffice. down south, it is a completely different story with sunshine on the way here. on christmas day we had around 13— 1a degrees, we are down to six or seven so quite a bit colder but then you got the sunshine so not a bad day. the winds increasing when you get into scotland and blowing severe gale across the northern isles. for most of us it should be a nice day, boxing day, something like this. in europe, during the course of boxing day, not particularly cold. in paris around 12 degrees. not far off that in rome, with some sunshine. and moscow —1 so not exactly a deep
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freeze in europe. 0n moscow —1 so not exactly a deep freeze in europe. on tuesday, a touch of frost in the morning across a large chunk of the uk maybe not in the north with more of a breeze and thick clouds. temperatures closer to what they should be this time of year. the high—pressure should stick around for most of the week. that's willsmore frost and some fault as well so wednesday morning could be quite foggy in a few areas full of chilly. where that in mind that the fault could be persisted across parts of england and wales so rather than the wind being a problem, it could well be the thick fog. the latest headlines from bbc news. the singer george michael has died. his publicist said he passed away peacefully at home. he was 53. he rose to fame in the 1980s as a member of the duo wham! police said there were no suspicious circumstances. the russian authorities say the location where a military plane with 92 people on board
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crashed into the black sea has been pinpointed. the defence ministry said more than 100 divers were inspecting the seabed in an operation lasting through the night. in an unusual move, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has ordered ambassadors of the un security council members to be reprimanded. it follows their vote against israel's settlement building. the pope has used his christmas message to call for an end to the fighting in syria, saying far too much blood had been spilt. he delivered the message to thousands of people at the vatican. coming up next it's review 2016 — the year in science.
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