tv BBC News BBC News January 8, 2017 2:00am-2:31am GMT
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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: donald trump has given more reaction about the report released on friday which accused of vladimir putin ordering the hacking of us political parties during the election. on twitter, mr trump said having a good relationship with russia is a good thing, not a relationship with russia is a good thing, nota bad relationship with russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. relationship with russia is a good thing, nota bad thing. only relationship with russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. only stupid people awful is would think that it is bad. he continued, we have enough problems around the world without yet another one. when i am president, russia will respect us for more than they do now. and he continued, both countries will perhaps work together to solve some of the many great and pressing goblins and issues of the world. —— problems. our correspondent in washington, barbara plett—usher, has been assessing mr trump's response to that intelligence briefing. well, mr trump has been doing
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most of the news—making, as you were seeing there with his tweet on russia. he has renewed his call for a closer cooperation and warmer relations with russia. i think it's a signal that he doesn't want to change his approach to russia, even though the intelligence report accused them of meddling in the election. he did have mr trump, after the briefing, appearing to concede that russia may have been involved in some way, but he did not say anything about the conclusion of the report, that vladimir putin was trying to help him win the election. he very much insisted that any hacking or any outside influence had not had any impact on the outcome of the vote. and i think what you're seeing, the underlying factor to mr trump's response to the intelligence briefing is one that's been there all along, which is he simply cannot accept that the russians tried to help him win, because he somehow feels that this would delegitimise his victory. you see that also in his tweets where he attacked the democrats and says they're driving this because they're sore losers, or he says that they are at fault for the computers being hacked because they had poor defences.
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he has gone on with that kind of response, although he did soften his tone towards intelligence agencies, and as i said, he did appear to concede that there had been some kind of cyber interference from the russians. us authorities have formally charged an iraq war veteran over the mass shooting at a florida on friday. the fbi is facing questions over its handling of the case after it admitted that esteban santiago visited its office in alaska last year, and that his erratic behaviour led to a referralfor a mental health assessment. gary o'donoghue reports from fort lauderdale. a mother, grandmother, a great—grandmother, and a wife, olga woltering was born in britain, but had lived in the united states for decades. today, her church in georgia described her death as a tragedy, and paid tribute to a joyful, loving person. also among the dead,
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57—year—old michael oehme, who was on his way, with his wife, for a caribbean cruise. three others died in yesterday's carnage, as the gunman used a semi—automatic weapon in the baggage hall, scattering terrified passengers, people running for their lives. once he had finished shooting, reports say he threw aside his weapon and lay spread—eagled on the ground, waiting to be arrested. this is the man police have named as the gunman. he is esteban santiago, a 26—year—old former member of the military. his family say he had been receiving psychological help after his discharge last august. his aunt has said he was never the same after returning from serving in iraq in 2011. as things started to return to normal at the airport,
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it has emerged that santiago had been in touch with the fbi as recently as november last year. one anonymous source has said he told agents that the government was ordering him to watch videos from the islamic state group. the agents themselves noted the erratic behaviour, that concerned them and motivated them to call the local authorities to have him taken into custody, and evaluated at a medical facility for his mental health. questions are also being raised about the ease with which santiago was able to transport and use his weapon, in a supposedly secure place like an airport. it is legal to put a gun in checked baggage in the us, as long as it is locked in a case and unloaded. but you can carry ammunition in the same case. santiago will appear on monday in court, on federal charges. but, while his motivations will continue to be probed,
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there are also serious questions about how a man who had already appeared on the authorities‘ radar could seemingly go on to commit such a heinous crime. gary o'donoghue, bbc news, fort lauderdale, florida. the israeli ambassador in london has apologised after an official at the embassy was secretly filmed saying he wanted to, as he put it, "take down" some british mps — including the foreign office minister, alan duncan. the senior political officer, shai masot, said sir alan was "causing a lot of problems". he went on to describe the british foreign secretary, borisjohnson, as an idiot. the israeli ambassador said the comments did not reflect the views of his embassy or the israeli government. tributes are being paid to the former president and prime minister of portugal, mario soares,
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who has died at the age of 92. as a left—wing lawyer, mr soares was jailed under the military—backed regime, before becoming the country's first democratically—elected prime minister. three days of national mourning will start on monday. stay with us here on bbc news because it still to come their sour, we look at what is behind the rising number of hot and destructive mega— fires in the united states. at least a0 people have been killed by a massive bomb in a fuel tanker in syria. no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, although so—called islamic state is suspected. the blast ripped through a central market in the town of azaz, which lies on the border with turkey. from neighbouring lebanon, alex forsyth sent this report. fear, panic and chaos, the aftermath of this morning's explosion. many were killed, others wounded, by the attack outside a courthouse in a busy commercial district in the centre of the city. translation: a car bomb
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went off in the city centre, near civilians. there are no fighters here. all of them are civilians. as rescue workers searched for both survivors and bodies, no—one had claimed responsibility for this attack. but this city is no stranger to such scenes. azaz is a stronghold of turkish—backed syrian rebels involved in a major operation to clear so—called islamic state from northern syria, close to the turkish border. in recent days, turkish forces and rebels have continued to target is, which isn't included in the fragile ceasefire covering much of syria. azaz has become home to people who have fled fighting elsewhere. today's attack shows, despite the ceasefire largely holding, people in syria are continuing to die. alex forsyth, bbc news, beirut. the nhs in england has rejected
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claims that there's a ‘humanitarian crisis‘ in its hospitals. the comments from the british red cross come as figures show a&e departments have had to shut their doors to patients more than 140 times in december, because of a lack of beds. this afternoon the labour leader jeremy corbyn called upon the government to take urgent action but nhs england says plans are in place to cope and that talk of any humanitarian crisis is overblown. there are flashing images in smitha mundasad‘s report. winter pressures in accident & emergency — some patients waiting a long time to be seen, beds closed because of the winter vomiting bug. this picture isn‘t new. but the british red cross says the strain on england‘s hospitals is so great it amounts to a humanitarian crisis. in recent years, red cross volunteers have been helping patients at home after spells in hospital. but the charity says that cuts to social care means patients do not
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have the right support at home. so they end up back in a&e. and the system cannot cope. well, the definition of a humanitarian crisis is something that affects a large number of people, their health and well—being, for a prolonged period of time. and the fact is, if you just look at the numbers, more than half a million people who used to receive social care no longer do. the charity‘s volunteers says they have seen patients being discharged from hospital without clothing. others being sent home with no food in their fridge and some have no—one to look after them once they have left the ward. figures from nhs england show that overflowing a&e departments had to close their doors to new patients more than 140 times over the last month. compare that to the same month in 2015 and it is up more than 60%. nhs england denies the situation is at such an extreme breaking point. a humanitarian crisis?
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no, i think that‘s an overstatement at this stage. clearly, demand is very high and it‘s higher than it has ever been, but we have the most comprehensive plans in place that we ever had, but it is very difficult at the moment. eyebrows may have been raised by the red cross choosing to use words more often used to describe a war—torn country, but last year‘s figures show there were some 350,000 more visits to a&es like this one between december and february 2016 and that‘s a pattern that front line staff are worried is set to get worse. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, is calling on the prime minister to give an urgent statement on monday about what the government is going to do. this is a wake—up call to properly fund our nhs and social care so that those who are in a desperate situation that need care outside of hospital are able to get that care. local authorities don‘t have the money to do it. the department of health says it has added in extra money for health
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and social care and put contingency plans in place earlier than usual. its statistics show that beds are not as full as they were this time last year. but nhs england‘s chiefs say staff are facing levels of pressure that have not been seen before. smitha mundasad, bbc news. two people have been arrested after a smoke bomb was let off during a protest outside harrods department store in central london. the protest, which blocked roads in the knightsbridge area was organised by the union that represents hospitality workers in the store — as part of a row over tips. sarah harris has this report. chanting, a smoke bomb and arrests — not what is expected on saturday in the heart of knightsbridge. this demonstration was in support of harrods restaurant staff, who it is claimed are not allowed to keep most of their tips. just the day before yesterday,
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they did admit they had been taking 50%. they didn‘t give any explanation why they were taking 50%. that 50% figure is refuted by staff, and we have had access to internal records of harrods, and it is clearly more than 50%. many london restaurant staff are allowed to keep their tips. some managers say that does notjust bolster their relatively low wages. if it is a good establishment, if they make good tips, people are likely to be loyal and remain in the business for a long time. and if that happens, the business benefits from the loyalty of the staff, and of those customers who are actually coming in and making the business a success. but there is anger over harrods and other businesses using a so—called tronque system of dividing up the service charge diners pay.
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in a statement, harrods said they employ a50 staff in 16 different restaurants, and they are all earning above the living wage. but they say they are looking into the way they distribute the service charge, to see if it can be improved. millions of commuters in london will face disruption from later night and most of monday after talks to avert a strike on the london underground broke down. members of the rmt union will walk out for 2h hours from 6pm in a dispute overjobs and the closure of some ticket offices. another union — the tssa said london underground offered it a ‘new‘ deal during talks at the conciliation service acas which it will put to its members. a powerful blizzard sweeping parts of the us has been causing havoc in the country‘s south as temperatures plummeted and record amounts of snow fell in several states. arctic conditions paralysed caused concerns for safety in cities where sub—freezing conditions are rare. while the damage caused by the downfall has been minimal, it has caused severe disruptions
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as kathryn armstrong reports. for some, the snow is a welcome arrival and they took it in their stride. but for thousands of people in america but deep south, winter storm helena has been little cause for celebration. a —— after 800 metres of snow was recorded cutting power to dent the tens of thousands of homes. traffic incidents were recorded and highways were closed. a state of emergency was declared in states such as georgia and north carolina, regions are accustomed to this amount of snow to fall. there have been disruptions to flight and more than 400 were cancelled in ata la nta more than 400 were cancelled in atalanta alone. freezing conditions meant that people stayed inside.
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jono we can stay inside. we have would buy the fireplace and ready to go would buy the fireplace and ready to 9° -- would buy the fireplace and ready to go —— we can stay inside. the storm was expected to work its way north—east before working off the coast at 4am local time. catherine armstrong, bbc news. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the us president—elect, donald trump, has posted a series of tweets condemning those who oppose good relations with russia as ‘stupid‘. the suspect in the fort lauderdale florida airport shooting has been formally charged after five people were killed on friday. a week of heavy rains and floods has left at least 12 people dead and thousands of villages submerged in southern thailand. according to the country‘s interior ministry, 700,000 people have been affected. forecasters are warning that the unseasonal downpours will continue for at least another two days. as david campanale now reports, the deluge has also disrupted beach holidays in several destinations popular with tourists — the islands of ko samui and ko phangan.
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heavy rains are hammering thailand‘s flood—ravaged south, taking the death toll higher and leaving thousands of villages partially submerged. in some parts, the water has risen to the rooftops. the rain is turning roads into rivers, making them impassable. it‘s also inundated farmland and damaged more than 1500 schools. the downpour is expected to persist for another 48 hours, with thailand‘s meteorologists warning of possible flash floods. its severity is testing the capacity of locals to cope. translation: now we lack food and drinking water, but the water level is almost stable. many flights and train and bus services have been delayed or suspended, and power lines toppled in the region. boats are being used to evacuate flood victims, while military bases
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have been mobilised to help in the process. for many, the downpours and flooding could not have come at a worse time. tourism plays a vital role in the thai economy, and this is usually peak holiday season, with weather normally both cool and relatively dry. social media showed some tourists making light of the floods, using inflatable rings to float down waterlogged streets. but others may choose to cancel or cut short their visits, taking away a desperately needed source of income for many ordinary thais. david campanale, bbc news. wildfires in north america are getting bigger, more frequent and more destructive, according to official statistics from the us government. scientists say a warming climate combined with a century of fire suppression by the people who settled in the west has produced the perfect conditions for so—called "mega fires," fuelled by thicker and drierforests.
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our north america correspondent james cook reports from the colorado rockies. welcome to the furnace. across large swathes of north america, this is the new terrifying normal. in the united states last year, there were more than 60,000 wildfires, and the trend is towards bigger and more destructive blazes. huge fires are transforming the landscape of the united states. here in the foothills of the rockies, a blaze burned through here 20 years ago, and still it looks like this. no longer dense forest, but essentially prairie. the buffalo creek blaze was one of several so—called mega fires here in colorado which destroyed homes, polluted water supplies, and left locals lucky enough to escape fearful for the future. it is terrifying. it‘s devastating, the destruction, it‘s traumatic. it brings into focus very quickly that there‘s something wrong here. so what is wrong?
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scientists say rising temperatures and years of drought are partly to blame, and so too is a century of firefighting by the settlers of the west, who interrupted the natural rhythm of regular fires so they could preserve life, property and precious timber. the result — thicker forest, more fuel to burn, and often devastation. we are caught in this vicious circle. forests need fire — fire is as natural to a forest as sunshine and rain. no—one ever lost theirjob for fighting a fire. as a fire manager or a policy maker, the far more difficult decision is to allow a fire to burn, to manage a fire for its resource benefit. but sometimes you think that needs to happen? 0h, absolutely. the lead agency for wildfires, the us forest service, is caught in a trap — it can‘t find enough money for its programmes to thin out woodland and prevent fire because more than half its budget is being spent on firefighting. its boss says that has got to change.
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it‘s essential that we find a different way to be able to fund fire suppression in this country, and simply to be able to recognise that 1—2% of these fires that start every year need to be considered a natural disaster, not unlike floods are, like hurricanes are, like windstorms are. for a time, some people thought they had tamed the wild west — nature is proving them wrong. james cook, bbc news, in the colorado rockies. the president of ivory coast says he has reached a deal to end a mutiny in the army. the defence minister, who had been held by rebellious soldiers, has been released. catrina renton reports. it started on friday, when soldiers blocked the roads, taking over the second—largest city, bouake. and the unrest spread to other cities. un troops queued up, waiting to try and calm the situation down. the reason — the soldiers want improvements in their living
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conditions and pay. the defence minister met soldiers in bouake, and it looked like a deal had been reached. these were not negotiations. we came here to talk with our men, get their concerns, and to give a true account about talks to the president of the republic. and then the president went on national television, saying he would take into account what they wanted. but he did chastise them. translation: i would like to repeat that this way of making demands is not appropriate. indeed, it tarnishes the image of our country, after all of our efforts in development and diplomatic transition. having marked my agreement, i call on all our soldiers to go back to their barracks. and some appeared happy to do this. translation: all the blockades will be lifted. we will go back to our barracks, and the cars can move freely again. although the meeting
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with the defence minister seemed amicable, later he was trapped in the house by some soldiers demanding to know when they will be paid, and how much. he has now been released. the situation appears to be getting back to normal, but some say this has brought back memories of the ivory coast‘s ten—year civil war, which ended in 2011. the question now is whether all the soldiers will accept the offer, and if the deal will hold. playing videogames prolonged period of time is supposed to be unhealthy. but one man disagrees. he has developed a virtual reality apt to simulate flight. everybody wants to fly. it is the
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dream of mankind and we tried to do something that makes exercising easy. it motivates you to get your butt of the so far. who is this for? it isa butt of the so far. who is this for? it is a little too bid to have at home. it is for professional use. usedin home. it is for professional use. used in gyms, hotels, entertainment areas. we do have some private customers, of course, that is what it is for. and you possibly have a lot of money to spend? you costs $8,000 to purchase the kit? lot of money to spend? you costs $8,000 to purchase the kinm lot of money to spend? you costs $8,000 to purchase the kit? it is a high—quality probe product that has to be able to fitted two very different sizes, ages and people. you say you are selling it to gyms.
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what sort of fitness benefits does it have? it works on your core muscles and your shoulders. it is good for small muscles that keep your vertebrae straight stop people who sit down a lot, they should do ita who sit down a lot, they should do it a lot. how much time would you need to spend on this for the same effect is doing situps or weights? between ten and 15 minutes should do thejob. between ten and 15 minutes should do the job. and if you have this in a gym, is on the heads going to get sweaty? that is why we recommend more than one headset. there are colours that can be individualised so colours that can be individualised so you do not have to use the same visor that other people used. orthodox christians around the world celebrated christmas on saturday — saturday — they mark the day according to a different calendar. let‘s leave you with a look at some of the celebrations. bells toll chanting choir sings
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especially over hills and around some of the coasts. the odd patch possible just about anywhere, even where we have seen clear skies through the night and sunshine in the morning. eastern parts of scotland and north—east england, here a bit on the chilly side. for most, a mild enough start to sunday. another grey day, though, and especially misty and murky and damp in the morning. for many, the shade of grey will lighten up into the afternoon, the exception being parts of western scotland. here it turns that little bit wetter. eastern scotland could see the odd splash of rain too. one or two in the north—east seeing a bit of sunshine through the day. northern ireland, the dampest spell around lunchtime. things drying out a touch through the afternoon. skies brightening up a touch. it will be very misty and murky over the hills of northern england. east of the pennines, like we saw on saturday, one or two brighter breaks and a bit of sunshine. maybe some sunshine to the north—east of wales too. but for the vast majority of england and wales, another cloudy, fairly mild day. not desperately exciting weatherwise. hopefully action on the pitch for the fa cup third round will be much more exciting than the sky cover overhead.
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you will have to be wary of mist and fog forming if you are journeying home later in the evening. mist and fog into monday morning across england and wales. lifting for scotland and northern ireland because a breeze is picking up. into monday, heavy bursts of rain. generally, another mild night to take us into monday itself. that weather front across scotland and northern ireland, with its windy weather, will gradually spread southwards through monday. a wet start here, turning brighter but showery, and also colder. those brighter, showery conditions into northern england and northern wales later on. the heaviest rain doesn‘t really reach east anglia or the south—east until later in the day. ten degrees, but temperatures drop further north, only four or five. another spell of strong to gale—force winds and cold winds will work through. a brief cold spell monday into tuesday. it turns milder midweek with atlantic winds, lots of cloud and occasional rain. notice the blues to the end of the week. we start to push them across france into northern italy. arctic air will be with us, and with it, we will see the chance of something wintry. next week, windier overall compared
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to what we have seen. it does turn colder, and that chance of something wintry. the greatest chance comes from thursday. let‘s hop forward to thursday. in the south, likely to be some rain and maybe sleet and snow over higher ground later on. frequent wintry showers elsewhere, and a slight dusting in places. we will pinpoint the details as we get closer to the day. bye for now. the latest headlines from bbc news. i‘m gavin grey. the us president—elect donald trump has posted a series of tweets condemning those who oppose good relations with russia as ‘stupid‘ or ‘fools‘. he says the country will respect the us more once he takes office. on friday, a us intelligence report said president putin had helped mr trump win the election. us prosecutors have charged the main suspect in the florida airport shooting. he could receive the death penalty if convicted. he‘s also told investigators that the attack was planned. the fbi is also facing questions after it emerged he was known to authorities.
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the ivory coast president says he‘s reached an agreement with mutineering soldiers over pay and conditions. but it‘s not clear if all the soldiers will accept the new settlement. the mutiny began on friday and spread to the captial, where soldiers took over the army headquarters. millions of commuters in london will face disruption from 6pm
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