tv BBC News BBC News February 4, 2017 12:00pm-12:30pm GMT
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this is bbc news. the headlines at 12: a usjudge issues a temporary block on president trump's ban on travellers from seven countries. judge robart‘s decision, effective immediately, effective now, puts a halt to president trump's and constitutional and unlawful executive order. unconstitutional and unlawful executive order. i signed an executive order to help keep terrorists out of our country. police investigate claims security workers were paid by convicts also in the next hour: planning to bridge the north—south divide. labour commits to to delivering a crossrail for the north among a programme of infrastuctu re investments. police investigate claims security workers were paid by convicts to deliberately loosely fit electronic ankle tags. french investigators are trying to establish if a man who tried to attack the louvre yesterday was acting alone. and in half an hour, here on bbc news, click takes a look at the latest developments in "artificial intelligence" as scientists continue to strive for a machine to match human intelligence.
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good morning and welcome to bbc news. a federaljudge in the us has temporarily blocked — nationwide — president trump's controversial migration order. judgejames robart in seattle said there'd been no terror attacks in the us by people from the seven countries named in the ban — and the order had to be based on fact, not fiction. those seven countries include syria, yemen and libya. the white house immediately said it would appeal, but customs officials told us airlines overnight they can resume boarding banned travellers while the legal challenge continues. our correspondent greg dawson has the latest. on america's east coast, there was another day of prayer
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and protest at new york's kennedy airport, as people i"! 8 gsattls $2571.78ng 7' w 777"? ' " to obey the ruling. judge robart‘s decision, effective immediately, effective now, puts a halt to president trump's unconstitutional and unlawful executive order. i want to repeat that. it puts a stop to it immediately. but the white house says it will fight this court ruling, and quickly seek to reinstate the order. in a statement, donald trump's press secretary said: us customs and border protection has
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told airlines they can now board those passengers previously affected by the ban. just hours before the court ruling, the president was once again defending his policy in his weekly address to the nation. i signed an executive order to help keep terrorists out of our country. the executive order establishes a process to develop new vetting and mechanisms to ensure those coming to america love and support our people, that they have good intentions. donald trump was quick to dismiss the protests sparked by his immigration ban, dismissing the ruling of the federal judge will be a bigger challenge. joining me now from central london
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is as at ali. —— azad ali. first, your reaction to the ruling? yes, we welcome it. thousands of people here agree that it is an illegal executive order, so we welcome this. it is, of course, temporary ruling, isn't it? it is temporarily, and i think when due process plays out, it will be permanently stop. we must realise, this is nothing but an islamophobic policy, purely based on someone's religion, and there are so many inconsistencies. even in that trial itself, that hearing, thejudge asked trump's lawyer for some rationale, some facts, not fiction, and she said, do you know what? we don't have too provide any. that epitomises what trump is doing here. pure hatred, pure islamophobia.
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you are somebody who is a member of liberty, the civil rights group, and you also present a muslim community show. what sort of reaction you getting here to what is going on in the states? the reaction so far has been fantastic. as you saw earlier in the week, thousands of people across this country stood up to what our true british i use, and a lot of people are disappointed in how our prime minister has handled this. —— true british values. that she and the foreign secretary had not been more robust. as you know, more than 1.5 million people have signed a petition saying no state visit for trump. citing the community, the people of the uk have shown were british values mean. and yet, you will be aware that in the real world, britain needs a relationship with the united states, and that is something, although you criticise theresa may, that she has got
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something for most in her mind? absolutely, and we should have relationships with everyone, and we have a special relationship with the usa, and that means they are our friends, and to our friends, usa, and that means they are our friends, and to ourfriends, we should be able to speak the truth and say, what you're doing here is not actually right. if you want to deal with the issue of terrorism and terrorists, this is how to do it. if we can't say that to our friends, who can we say it to? and keep your time, azad ali. —— thank you for your time. the shadow chancellor — john mcdonnell — has been giving a speech in liverpool this morning proposing more infrastructure spending to close the north south divide. it includes support for an hs3 rail project — that would connect liverpool, manchester, leeds, sheffield and hull. he has also been speaking about labour's proposal on tax. tax cuts for the super—rich and corporations will come to 70 billion. 70 billion by 2020 in tax cuts, given away to the rich and
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corporations. it will reach 120 billion if philip hammond puts in place his plans for a tax haven britain, reducing us to the levels of corporation tax and island of 12.5%. so what we will do the next labour government, we will say, is vested interest who rigged the system for their own game. no more sweetheart deals between hmrc and giant corporations. no more tax loopholes and secret hideaways for the super—rich. tax dodgers under a labour government, and i give you this commitment, there will be no place to hide for any of them. 0ur correspondent charlotte leeming is in liverpool for us. let's go back to that issue of the north— south divide. what exactly is he proposing? well, what he is saying is, he has touched on there with the tax issue, what is good for people in london and the south—east is not necessarily good for people in north. he has said that if they get
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into power, part of very canonic strategy would be more transport investment here in the north, so this is crossrail scheme in the north which would connect liverpool, manchester and leeds, and eventually whole and newcastle. he gives an example of why he wants this in the north, saying, crossrail in the south has cost a £14 billion price tag. that is all very good for the south and south—east, but that is six times what is being spent in the north—eastern four times what is being spent in yorkshire. so he says decisions need to be made in london that though just benefit people in the south, they need to benefit people up in the regions and the north as well. how, then, does he propose to narrow the gap between the north and south? how does he make that a reality? yes, true, rita. we're all wondering how this would work if he got into power. what he said today was that the labour party in power would bring in laws requiring ministers to order capital spending in the eu
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regions and have two reportedly discovers he's to parliament. so, if you like, putting in place mechanisms to stop this gap in funding. this strategy would focus on the north and make sure people in power were thinking about the north and adjust the south and south—east. for people in power to consider what is good across the regions as well, starting here in liverpool and going across the rest of the region. there are hundreds of people packed in there listening to what he had to say, and later on, jeremy corbyn, the labour leader, will be talking around three p. m. , the labour leader, will be talking around three p.m., and we will let you know what he has to say as well. many thanks, charlotte. three past and present workers with the company that puts electronic tags on offenders have been arrested by police investigating the misuse of the devices. the sun newspaper claims the investigation relates to allegations that some staff in london were paid by offenders to deliberately fit the tags too loosely so they could be removed. earlier i spoke to our correspondent richard slee, who told me more. the sun newspaper alleges that some staff working for capita,
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which is contracted to run the government's telegraphic tagging the government's electronic tagging service, were paid up to £400 each to help at least 32 offenders beat the imposed curfews. this means the tags were fitted much too loosely on their ankles. it means the tags could be taken off by the offenders, left near the base unit, so as far as the company operating these units was concerned, these people were at home, abiding by their curfews. in fact, they could have been anywhere else. the metropolitan police says 1a people, including 13 current and former workers, have been arrested in connection with a series of offences regarding the monitoring of offences. the monitoring of offenders. it also says a 46—year—old former employee was arrested in romford, essex, on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course ofjustice
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and theft of tagging equipment. a 45—year—old man from barking and a 57—year—old woman from romford, both current employees, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to prevent on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course ofjustice. the met police also says 11 further people were arrested injanuary. they are thought to be offenders who benefited by removing their tags. what are the tagging company saying about what has happened? we have a response from ems, which says we have a zero tolerance policy against any of our employees who worked to undermine the robustness of the electronic monitoring service. it also says the small number of employees being investigated regarding this isolated issue, it says, were swiftly taken up it says, were swiftly taken off duties and are cooperating closely with the metropolitan police service. capita, of course, won this £400 million contract for electronically tagging criminals in 2014 after the security firms gas
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and serco lost this contract because they were overcharging. the ministry of defence says it is investigating the claims, and according to police, all 14 suspects have been bailed and will appear in court in april. a man who tried to attack a soldier at the louvre museum early on friday was an egyptian who came to paris on a tourist visa from dubai, according to the french authorities. the suspect was critically injured after he was shot by french soldiers as he began his assault. a short while ago i asked our correspondent in paris, jonny dymond, what more we know about the suspect. we understand he is 29 years old. he came into paris on january 26, as you mention, on a one—month tourist visa that was issued in dubai. he was relatively well travelled, with stamps for turkey in his passport as well. police raided his apartment on friday, and found phone cards and his passport, various items of clothing. as far as the investigation is concerned, i think the key thing for the authorities is to try and find out whether or not he was a so—called ‘lone wolf',
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whether he was operating alone and had brought up this plan by himself, or whether he was part of a cell or group that was operating in paris, in france, which, of course, may be planning further attacks. as to that, we don't really know very much at the moment. my understanding is, there is a series of investigations ongoing. as you mentioned, he is in a critical condition. he took a bullet wound to the stomach as part of the attack, and is under heavy guard in a paris hospital right now. and what is the feeling in france at the moment about how this incident went? because, of course, there have been many more armed police on the streets, given the whole spate of terror attacks that france suffered. yes, it was. i think to be entirely straight
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with you, this is a supreme patrolling transport hubs, being outside major public buildings, outside major tourist venues. but this kind of attack was exactly what they were there for. this man was carrying two 40 centimetre long machetes. if he had managed to get into the crowded shops underneath the louvre, as was presumably his intention, it could have been absolute carnage. he was stopped because there were military personnel there who were prepared to take the action that they took. so i think it is a vindication of the military being out on the streets. at the same time, it is a shock that it happened right in the middle of paris, a blow that it happened outside such a great cultural treasure as the louvre, a blow to the tourist industry, which is already suffering. the tourist industry is hugely
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important here in france. and i think it is a blow to the morale of french people, who had some respite from the terrible attack they suffered in 2015 and 2016. the headlines on bbc news: a federaljudge in the us has temporarily blocked president trump's controversial ban on travellers from seven mainly—muslim states entering the country. three people have been arrested by police investigating the alleged labour commits to bring a crossrail for the north emits a programme of infrastructure investments. the ministry ofjustice says it is urgently investigating claims employees other tagging company were paid by offenders to fit electronic tags to loosely so they could be removed. anti—government protests have been continuing in the romanian capital bucharest. hundreds of thousands of romanians
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have been taking to the streets to accuse their government of backtracking on the fight against corruption. an emergency decree would spare from jail anyone convicted of corruption involving less tha n convicted of corruption involving less than £39,000. this morning in bucharest, protesters brought along their children for a special lesson in democracy. steve rosenberg reports now from the remaining giaféi-issfiksiégiééfléyé?zwig; w. w. 7. .. n, u~:='7:='= if; egzzafzzggg " 7, f — ,, —— f taking to the streets, across the country, to condemn what they see as an attempt by their government to backtrack on the fight against corruption. now the government building is over there, and these protestors want to overturn an emergency government decree that was issued on tuesday, which would mean that public officials who have abused their office for financial gain will not be prosecuted, to the crowds here, that is simply an attempt to get
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officials off the hook, out the courts and out ofjail. now as you can see, a lot of children are here this morning, and that's because these protestors are giving a giant lesson in democracy. for what they believe in. everybody comes here because they have high hopes for a better future for everybody, including for our kids. we have plenty of relatives and friends of ours who have left the country because of not being able to have a decent living here, so this hurts us terribly, and i would not like to be in the position to leave my country as well, or to think my kids
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it claims that the government decree, and also a planned prisoner amnesty, are simply a way of are reducing overcrowding in romania's jails. but the crowds here don't believe that, and they are determined to continue their protests. an alliance of us—backed syrian forces says it has begun a new phase of its campaign against the islamic state—held city of raqqa in northern syria. the syrian democratic forces say the international coalition forces are providing air cover in their attempt to surround the city. there's been violence in northern kenya between the police and traditional herdsmen who are illegally driving cattle onto private land. a tourist lodge has been burned down and a bbc team was shot at while trying to film. the herders say there's nowhere else to feed their animals, because of drought.
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one of the affected tourist areas is laikipia. 0ur africa correspondent alastair leithead reports. in the grasslands below mount kenya, farmers are fighting a daily battle to keep control of their land. wildlife is being killed, and tourist lodges hit as herds of cattle are being illegally driven onto private land by traditional herdsman in their tens of thousands. this is a game ranch, buffaloes and elephants usually drink here, but traditional pokot and samburu herdsman are driving their cattle through, destroying the land. translation: it's because of drought, and this is the only place there's pasture, the only place we can bring our cows. but farmers say it's less about drought and more about politics — land in exchange for votes. this is a tourist lodge, set alight by herdsmen, angry after clashes with security forces left one man dead.
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the owners were forced to flee, and then the looting began. the reality is that there are too many people and too much livestock, and it's a global thing, it's not just kenya. people have been misused and told to go and destroy property, destroy the wildlife, try to destroy the livelihood of the place so they can take over. it's not about white ranches, it's about the whole community here. there's a landscape of different peoples here who are suffering. 0vergrazing destroys a carefully managed environment, but also has other costs. elephants are shot — either because they threaten cattle or amid the lawlessness, for their ivory. we can't fight fire with fire. this is a very, very volatile situation, and whatever we do, we have to tread incredibly carefully. there's certain people in the government who also have livestock here, and also two tribes who have had a history of warfare
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between each other. the police don't have the manpower to stop the invasions. this stand—off did little to move on the herdsman, and approaching them is dangerous. we came under fire. gunfire. we just stumbled across some of the illegal cattle herders who are on this land, and as we got close to them, shots rang out. one of them wentjust over the car. until the rule of law and land rights are restored, the herdsmen will continue their march, and the violence and damage will spread. talking about a cancer diagnosis can be extremely difficult, not only for sufferers, but forfriends be extremely difficult, not only for sufferers, but for friends and family, macmillan cancer research shows. almost half of people who have a friend who's been diagnosed with cancer say they find it difficult to support them, with two—thirds admitting it's
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because they don't know what to say. macmillan urges those lacking support to engage with its online community. a children's hospital has become the first in the uk to have a hybrid operating theatre — allowing doctors to scan patients and perform operations on them in one room for the first time. it's at alder hey hospital in liverpool, where andy gill went to meet one of its first patients. felicity has a congenital condition that can cause tumours on her nerves. she had to have one in her neck removed as a baby. but that left her spine weak. she wears a brace all the time. if she didn't have the brace, what could happen? she would be at risk for becoming paralysed, so it's really important that that kind of keeps the spine stable right now, and she wears it all the time, every day. and the new operating theatre will help because felicity‘s so young. whereas this surgy wouldn't be as complex in an adult, whereas this surgery wouldn't be as complex in an adult,
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felicity's bones are so small and just millimetres thick. today, felicity's having a halo frame fitted to keep her neck stable. she's the first neurosurgery patient in alder hey's new hybrid operating theatre, where modern medical imaging and surgery can be carried out together. surgeons perforing complex operations like this need as much information as possible. where exactly is a tumour? where exactly should screws go into bone? having in the scanner in the theatre gives them that information, having the scanner in the theatre gives them that information, making operations like this much safer for children like felicity. the first part of the operation to fit the frame is challenging because felicity's skull is so fragile. but now comes the really clever part. a scanner allows the surgeon to see precisely where felicity's
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neck is now positioned. before the hybrid theatre se'd have been moved to another room to be scanned. now adjustments are made on the spot. it enables us to check what we're doing it as we're doing it, on the table with ct quality imaging. one of the benefits of this is to reduce the return to theatre rate or to make the procedure check at the time of the operation, so if there is a problem with what you've done, you can remedy it immediately rather than having to come back to theatre on another day. felicity will wear the halo for months, and faces more surgery in future, but doctors say the new theatre will help them push the boundaries of where how they can help of how they can help children like her. now, they may be 250 miles above earth, but astronauts on board the international space station have their eyes firmly on the football pitch ahead of the super bowl this sunday. they've donned their favourite
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footballjerseys in a video released by nasa ahead of the 51st super bowl. they congratulated their teams before taking a moment to toss around a football. black sabbath — the band seen by many as the founding fathers of heavy metal — will play their final gig tonight in the city where it all began, birmingham. # is he alive or dead? # has he thoughts within his head? the group was formed nearly 50 years ago and went on to sell more than 70 million records worldwide. three of the original four not for the faint—hearted! time for a look at the weather. not for the faint—hearted, british weather! especially in places. i am trying to walk and i read today,
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being cheery enough for those of you with sunshine, but for some, the far south—east and northern parts of scotland, increasingly to the west of wales and south—east of england, it will not be as cheery as this through the course of today. in fa ct, through the course of today. in fact, further east, fairly dank over in norfolk. that may well clear away. 0nly in norfolk. that may well clear away. only a flotation in the south eastern corner. showers become more prevalent in the west. hills and fairly strong winds across northern scotla nd fairly strong winds across northern scotland in between, if you have not been mentioned so far, you are doing well and are likely to stay that way for the afternoon. showers become ever more prevalent, sweeping north and east across england and where. it will be quite a cold night, skies clearing away from those showers, so there may be an issue with ice, mist and fog on sunday if you are moving in the early part of the day. 20 of showers to the western side. a bit of cloud and rain getting into the far east. 0therwise, dry but cool this is bbc news.
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the headlines at half 12 column in a federaljudge in seattle has ordered that president trump's ban on travel from seven predominantly muslim countries should be lifted immediately across the us. judge robart‘s decision, effective immediately, effective now, puts a halt to president trump's unconstitutional and unlawful executive order. i signed an executive order to help keep terrorists out of our country. basically to order establishes new processors and new vetting to ensure that those coming to america love and support our people. labour has pledged to close the public funding gap between the south and the north of england — saying it wants major rail improvements in northern england. the ministry ofjustice says it's "urgently" investigating claims that security workers were paid by offenders to deliberately fit electronic ankle tags too loosely so they could be removed. and in now. fora
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and in now. for a full round—up, here is here. good afternoon. there is a huge game in the premier league today as leaders chelsea host third placed arsenal injust a leaders chelsea host third placed arsenal in just a few minutes. victory for chelsea would put them 12 points clear at the top. antonio conde has named a full strength side, making just one change, as pedro comes in for willian. arsene wenger makes three changes. theo walcott comes into the starting line—up in place of 0livier giroud. alex 0xlade—chamberlain replaces the injured aaron ramsey in the heart of midfield. and is building ahead of the start of this year's six nations championship. the question is, can anyone stop the winning streak of eddiejones' england? winning streak of eddiejones' england ? they winning streak of eddiejones' england? they host france at twickenham later, where we find our sports correspond. andy, so much to look forward to, but i think there
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might bea look forward to, but i think there might be a shot at murrayfield later on, when scotland host ireland. what do you think? it will be very interesting. just a few hours to go until the six nations gets underway at murrayfield. as you say, scotland against ireland. ireland are widely seen, along with england, as the favourites for this year's six nations championship, but they do have some problems. they are without their fly half have some problems. they are without theirfly halfjohnny have some problems. they are without their fly halfjohnny sexton, who have some problems. they are without theirfly halfjohnny sexton, who is injured. that is a real blow for them. scotland had been making very encouraging progress in recent times, winning four out of their last five matches, so perhaps we might see an upset there, but both coaches can't wait to get things underway. it is an exciting start. ireland at home. they recently beat the all blacks. so these are notjust one—off games these guys are winning. they are consistently a very good team. we have the chance to measure ourselves against them, and then go to a different opposition the week after. but this
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one, ican opposition the week after. but this one, i can feel a nervousness within the group. they know it is a big game, and they are ready to roll their sleeves up and have a go. i think you have quiet confidence all the time, because you know how ha rd all the time, because you know how hard the players have
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