tv BBC News BBC News March 12, 2017 2:00pm-2:31pm GMT
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this is bbc news. the headlines at two. the brexit secretary urges mps to back the bill for exiting the eu, to pave the way for the triggering of article 50. what we can't have is the... either house of parliament reversing the decision of the british people. senior mps warned the government it must have a plan for brexit negotiations ending without a deal. it's notjust for the government to prepare itself for no deal. individuals and businesses need to understand what the consequences are. dutch riot police clash with protesters outside the turkish consulate in rotterdam, amid a deepening diplomatic row. at least 15 people have been killed in a landslide at a vast rubbish dump in ethiopia. also in the next hour, joni sledge dies at the age of 60. one of four sisters who made up
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the ‘70s disco group sister sledge, she passed away at her home in arizona yesterday. and n half an hour, the week in parliament casts an eye over recent events in westminster. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the brexit secretary david davis has called on mps to reject lords amendments to the brexit bill and to give theresa may a "free hand" in negotiations with the european union.
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speaking this morning he said that it would not be acceptable for parliament to try to reverse the will of the british people. labour says it will fight for the amendments in the commons tomorrow. our political correspondent susana mendonca reports. the latest instalment in the battle to trigger brexit takes centre stage here tomorrow and the government's warning mps, including potential rebels on its own side, not to stand on its way. what we can't have is the... either house of parliament reversing the decision of the british people. they haven't got a veto on it. i don't think anyone is talking about that. well, well, what does it mean otherwise? you know, people talk about a meaningful vote. what does it mean otherwise? this is how the timetable has unfolded. last week, the house of lords passed the second of two amendments to the government's article 50 bill. tomorrow, the bill goes back to the commons where mps could reject the amendments and pass the bill back to the lords. if the upper house backs down, the bill will proceed to royal assent, allowing theresa may to trigger article 50. if the lords doesn't back down, it could go back to the commons
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in a process known as ping—pong. and labour insists it will fight for the amendments to stand. what we say to the prime minister, and i wrote to her on friday and said, "reflect on what the house of lords has said. by majorities of nearly 100, they have sent back two really important issues, this issue of the eu nationals and the issue of the vote. reflect on that. don'tjust have this obsession with getting article 50 triggered this week". the prime minister has been doing the legwork with her eu partners ahead of triggering brexit, but some are worried that there isn't enough planning going on for the prospect of no deal at the end of it all. if there is going to be no deal, that is going to have serious implications for businesses and individuals and the government needs to make sure we have planned for it. but the brexit secretary says he has got a plan. the simple truth is, we have been planning for the contingency, all the various outcomes, all the possible outcomes, of the negotiation.
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including a proper plan for no deal? oh, yes, oh, yes. whatever that plan may be, the government has to get permission from this place first before it can get those negotiations going. susanna mendonca, bbc news. with me is our political correspondent susana mendonca. we have heard some strong words on brexit again today from the tory grandees lord heseltine as well. yes, the former deputy prime minister is in the house of lords and people might remember last week he got sacked from his government advisory role because he rebelled and supported one of the amendments in the house of lords. he has said there are a huge number of tory mps who feel appalled and betrayed by theresa may's handling of the whole brexit issue thus far. he points to the by—election last year involving zac goldsmith, who was a conservative mp, losing his seat to the lib dems. he says there are a lot of tory mps who are more
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concerned about that issue and the fa ct concerned about that issue and the fact it was about europe, the reason they lost that it was because of europe. that is a big issue for them than for example the by—election in copland which the tories won against labour. what michael heseltine has also said is that the conservatives are not just also said is that the conservatives are notjust performing fleas with theresa may as the ringmaster, that they have strong concerns about what is happening with brexit and strong concerns about whether or not we would be in a better place if we are not closely connected to the european union and that he wants the prime minister to listen to those concerns. looking ahead to this week, a lot of speculation in the papers that this could be the week when brexit is finally triggered, article 50 and so on. is that the way you see it? in terms of, if you watched that package, laying out the importance of what happens tomorrow in both houses, if the commons and the lords passed the bill as the government want it to be passed without the amendments, potentially
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that leaves the way open for theresa may being able to trigger brexit on either tuesday or wednesday but it is not clear whether she will do that. something that we had david davis they earlier when he was speaking to andrew marr, he was talking about the political considerations and a couple of things are coming up, certainly in the european diary, there is the treaty of rome celebrations. would theresa may want to be responsible for putting a dampener on those celebrations? that is about the inception of the european union, the treaty that later led to the european union coming into place. could they maybe think about putting it off until after that? that is a possibility but we know it will happen before the end of march and only a couple of weeks to go. exactly, it is getting closer and closer and focusing minds because it has to be by theresa may's own timetable by the end of march. yes, thatis timetable by the end of march. yes, that is the timetable she set for herself. labour have talked about how she should not be so wedded to the timetable and certainly in terms
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of the amendments they are supporting tomorrow, they want her to look at that and not be so focused. keir starmer was talking about the government being obsessed with having a clean bill, and sticking to the timetable. they don't want the government to be assessed with that. they want them to consider the amendments which would give rights to eu citizens living here to be able to remain in the uk and also the right of parliament to be able to vote on the bill when it does come back. the government's point of view is that, as you heard from david davis, he does not want the prime minister's hands to be tied. he wants her to be able to go into the eu negotiations with a free hand, really, to set out what she wants from the negotiations. we will see what the coming days bring. thank you for joining us. carolyn fairbairn is director general of the cbi, she told the bbc general of the cbi, she told the bbc that a possible no deal scenario what lead to significant chaos
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in terms of regulation and tarrifs coming in quickly. it all relies on a good deal at the end of the day which means a comprehensive free trade deal which allows barrier free trade with the european union. what they are very clear about is that no deal is a recipe for chaos and the strong message we get from businesses is that it can't even be plan b, it must be planned z. the other thing they really want is for the negotiations to get off in a very collaborative way, in a way which sta rts collaborative way, in a way which starts showing progress so they can continue with their business, planning for a positive outcome. it is very important for good relationship with our european partners, and i been very encouraged, spent a lot of times in paris recently with politicians and officials and the sense of shared interest in a new free trade outcome is very strong. we need to go into these negotiations with a sense of mutual understanding, of the strong mutual understanding, of the strong mutual interest and we think there
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are some early winds along the way that are very important. 0ne are some early winds along the way that are very important. one of those, if i can does mention it, we think it is very important that there is a very early guarantee of there is a very early guarantee of the rights of residency for european citizens in this country. we think that if the uk government gave that very early on, that would be a strong signal that that is the kind of way we want the negotiations to continue. there is a very strong moral and business case and a strong negotiating case for making that one of the early winds of the negotiations. the director-general of the cbi, there. dutch riot police have broken up a rally in rotterdam in support of the turkish president, as the diplomatic row between the two countries has escalated. the turkish family affairs minister, who'd tried to join the protesters, has been escorted by police to the german border and expelled. tettey‘s president has warned the dutch government it will pay the price. from rotterdam, anna holligan sent this report. the netherlands, a traditionally tolerant nation, erupted overnight.
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riot police struggled to disperse hundreds of angry turkish expats, outraged by the netherlands‘ refusal to allow their politicians to attend a rally in support of president erdogan. this was a demonstration of the support he commands abroad. he is depending on the backing of one million—plus turkish citizens who live in europe to expand his powers back home in next month's referendum. but his family minister didn't get the chance to address them. amateur footage shows her arguing with police, before being escorted back to the border. she returned to istanbul, defiant. translation: in holland, holland as a country that speaks of freedom and democracy, we were faced with very hard
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and rough treatment. it's very ugly of europeans who talk about women's rights to tell us how we should treat women in turkey. all this after president erdogan branded the dutch nazi remnants and fascists, after they refused to allow his foreign minister to campaign on dutch territory. the timing is especially sensitive for both countries. translation: we are in the wrong situation with turkey at the moment. we have asked the minister not to come because of the tensions we expected in rotterdam. in a few days, the dutch will vote for a new government. the campaign has been dominated by the anti—immigration freedom party and geert wilders. he blames the prime ministerfor allowing immigrants in and is set to make significant gains. the protests outside this consulate building have fired up the debate about the presence of dutch residents still connected to their foreign roots. approximately one in seven people here in rotterdam are of an immigrant background.
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those images are likely to be at the front of people's minds as they enter the voting booths on wednesday. anna holligan, bbc news, in rotterdam. our correspondent mark lowen is in istanbul. what is the reaction there to this extraordinaire row? the dutch president has come out in typically bullish form and said the netherlands will pay the price of what he called it shameless treatment... —— the turkish president. the turkish foreign minister followed suit about the expulsion of the family affairs minister, saying holland is the capital of fascism, not democracy now. bearing in mind the turkish government uses this kind of situation for domestic purposes, it isa situation for domestic purposes, it is a way of whipping up the nationalist support base both here in turkey and among the turkish diaspora, for electoral reasons. the turkish president facing, as you
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have heard, a referendum... in five weeks' time. he needs the support of his core nationalist voters but also the far right and this kind of thing plays well with them. of course, in the process, turkey is now plunged into an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with the netherlands, and with other european countries as well. let me ask you about other european countries because the danish prime minister, we are hearing, as proposed postponing a planned visit by the turkish prime minister this month because of the i’ow minister this month because of the row between turkey and the netherlands. this would follow the pattern of other european countries as well. it started with germany blocking various turkish ministers from coming and rallying the turkish diaspora. we have had the netherlands and austria as well, switzerland and now it appears denmark also weighing in and saying they don't want the turkish prime minister coming at the moment. it is of course, on one hand,
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internationally embarrassing for turkey to have the door slammed in theirface turkey to have the door slammed in their face but turkey to have the door slammed in theirface but on turkey to have the door slammed in their face but on the other, it provides president urdu and with border, as i say, for his support base. —— president urdu one. he knows how this works, he is a canny political operator and he knows what the domestic support base wants and the domestic support base wants and the other side of the country is horrified at what is happening and seesit horrified at what is happening and sees it clearly as reiterating the fa ct sees it clearly as reiterating the fact that turkey is drifting ever further from europe. but fact that turkey is drifting ever furtherfrom europe. but if president urdu gang can get the 51% needed for this referendum, then thatis needed for this referendum, then that is all he cares about at the moment. thank you forjoining us. political parties in britain have been warned to protect themselves against potential cyber attacks, following allegations that russian hackers tried to influence last year's us presidential election. the national cyber security centre, which is part of the gchq spying agency, says it has written to the leaders of political parties offering to help strengthen their network security. last year us intelligence agencies concluded that russia hacked and leaked democratic party emails
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as part of an effort to tilt the presidential election in donald trump's favour. russia denies the claim. at least 15 people have been killed in a landslide at a vast rubbish dump on the outskirts of ethiopia's capital addis ababa. dozens of makeshift homes have been buried under the debris and a number of people are still missing. mechanical diggers are sifting through thick layers of mud and rubbish to locate any survivors. many of the casualties are among the hundreds of people who attempt to make a living by scavenging at the landfill site. the headlines on bbc news. the brexit secretary urges mps to back the bill for exiting the eu and pave the way for the triggering of article 50. dutch riot police clash
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with protesters outside the turkish consulate in rotterdam amid a deepening diplomatic row. at least 15 people have died in a landslide ata 15 people have died in a landslide at a vast rubbish dump in ethiopia. south korea's ousted president park geun—hye has left the country's presidential palace amid growing calls for her arrest. a short time ago, she arrived at her private home in seoul. she was removed from office on friday after being linked to a corruption scandal. thousands turned out for rallies in seoul yesterday, a day after three people died in protests. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent stephen evans in seoul. he began by giving more detail on park's return to her private home. her supporters were there, cheering her like she was the conquering hero come home. people were wondering about her demeanour after her time in the blue house — was she down, up, defiant?
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her demeanour was very defiant, a smile on her face as she waved out of the car window, then she got out and shook hands with political allies. a statement was issued saying, "the truth will come out. it will take some time but it will come out". if people were wondering how she will play this one, will there be regret, will she be really down, she seemed upbeat and defiant. another line from the statement says she denies any wrongdoing. what happens now? she will likely be charged with corruption and may well find herself in jail. —— she may face a trial and she may well find herself in jail pending the trial. the head of samsung is injail pending his trial. the prosecutor already
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says that he thinks she is complicit in the corruption and there are lots of allegations of corruption but the main one is that it is alleged that samsung gave $38 million to park's best friend and park then did favours for samsung. she denies that. the prosecutor says he thinks she is complicit so you assume there will be a charge. an awful lot will depend now on the 30 people who were also charged. a lot of them are people around her, subordinates. if they say, "what can you do if the boss tells you to do something? you have to because she is the president," and samsung and the companies accused might also say, "of course we gave money, the president asked us to, we didn't think it was corrupt, it was the president". if they all turn on her, she is in deep trouble. the creator of the world wide web, tim berners—lee, has expressed
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concern about fake news, data privacy and the misuse of political advertising online. in a message marking the anniversary of the internet‘s creation, sir tim warned against the loss of control of personal data and governments' scrutiny of their citizens online. dr bernie hogan is from the oxford internet institute. we asked him if he agreed with sir tim. this is really strong words and it's a really important series of issues that are happening. i mean, with respect to the first one, this is partially in reaction to a lot of concerns about data sharing within government organisations undermining personal data protection acts, and that there's a lot that is being done that we don't really know what is happening and so there's little transparency and little accountability as a consequence. beyond freedom of information access requests are more sensible policies about unnecessary sharing of data. right now, through the european union, there
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are new guidelines on this coming through, about encouraging only taking as much data as is needed, and you know, only using it in the ways it is being specified. the metropolitan police have been given more money to continue their investigation into the disappearance of madeleine mccann in portugal ten years ago. operation grange, which was launched in 2011, will get an extra £85,000. scotland yard has refused to comment on newspaper reports that they have identified an individual they want to question. the government is being urged to create a central database for taxi drivers in england and wales. an investigation by bbc radio 5live has found that some drivers who've had their licence revoked are continuing to work after getting a licence from another council, as danni hewson reports. for 25 years, steve mcnamara was the one behind the wheel of the taxi.
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for him, the safety of passengers has always been paramount, which is why he is supporting renewed calls for a national database of drivers. the most urgent thing that needs to be resolved is cross—border hiring, because at the moment, a licensing authority can set whatever standard they want, and somebodyjust goes elsewhere. if we prohibit cross—border hiring, limit cross—border hiring, that goes some way to resolving the problem. the second thing that needs to be done is we need a good standard of licensing that must apply to all authorities, a standard that everyone has to comply with. and obviously, if certain authorities want a higher standard, that's great. currently, individual councils are responsible, but across local authorities, the requirements that need to be met before a licence is handed out can be vastly different, and some drivers refused a licence in one area may be approved in another. though all drivers undergo a criminal—records check, it doesn't reveal if the driver has ever had a licence refused or revoked for behaviour that hasn't ended up in court. in the wake of the rotherham child sex abuse scandal,
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when it emerged hundreds of children had been sexually exploited by men including taxi drivers, there were calls for tighter controls. in scotland, they already have a national database. the association for police and crime commissioners has written again to the transport secretary, asking him to intervene. danni hewson, bbc news. the iraqi military has made further advances against so—called islamic state in the city of mosul. refugees fleeing the fighting are streaming into new camps which have been opened around the city. 200,000 people are now housed in a total of 21 facilities. our co—respondent rami ruhayem has been talking to families in chamakor near irbil, the un's latest camp which opened last week, but which is already filling up fast. yet another stream of refugees from mosul and surrounding villages arriving at the chamakor camp on the outskirts
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of the city of erbil. this is a new camp for the internally displaced, opened just a few days ago, as authorities simply ran out of space to take in more people. and it looks like it's filling up quite quickly. the latest arrivals have come from a village north—west of mosul, where iraqi forces have been advancing over the last few days. they describe a harrowing journey from their homes to the camp. translation: we called officers in the iraqi army, and they told us to leave at night and that they would secure the road for us. we walked towards the mountain, and is fighters followed us on motorbikes. finally, the army spotted them and fired at them, and they fled. translation: we ran away and walked the entire night with our men and children. and when we arrived, we were received by the army, and they helped us out. to my brother and mother in syria and all the rest of my family,
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don't worry about us, thank god, we have all arrived safe and sound. the new camp can take in about 12,000 people. authorities here say it is receiving more than 200 every day and estimate it will reach full capacity within a few more days. rami ruhayem, bbc news, northern iraq. it promises to be an historic season for young women in motorsport. here in the uk, esme hawkee isjust a year removed from her debut mike bushell went to see the 18 year—old in action. another day at the office for trainee accountant esmee hawkey, on her way to work in the city of london. but there is another side to this 18—year—old, another world, in which she uses those accountancy skills to keep her alive. it is hard to believe
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she is still only 18, and now she is putting those angles and sums to good use at all the major motor racing circuits around the uk, and some in europe as well, as she blazes a trail for young women in the gt cup championship. at least this season she doesn't have to worry about her a—levels as well. you are always working out where you need to be for the corner, how fast you are going into a corner to make the corner. the guys don't like it, to say the least. they don't like a girl coming past them. but yes, i think once you show who is boss, you just become a competitor, at the end of the day. as she goes for the gta title in endurance racing, no—one could believe she was runner—up a year
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after making her debut only a decade after first go—karting on her ninth birthday. the fastest female i have seen in a long time, esmee hawkey wins in fine style. that karting experience, age nine, had transformed her life. i was doing ballet and tap dancing and things like that. i love the speed and the adrenaline. esmee passed the test first time last year, and i got a taste of her extreme, on—the—edge handling skills. speeds of over 150 mph, while being thrown around by the g—forces. i don't really get scared. i think the adrenaline builds up so much, you just get on with it. believe it or not, esmee is a smooth, careful driver. not drive too aggressively, and ruin the tyres, make sure they last until the end of the race. it gets really hot, and you need to be able to cope with the steering, because it gets quite tiring on yourarms, and things like that. esmee, my stomach, my head, my senses are all over the place,
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and that was five laps! you do that for 50 minutes. yep, 50 minutes. i have eight—year—olds, nine—year—olds, same age as me, coming up and speaking to me and saying it is great, what you do, and i would love to get into this. and i say to them, well, i started in karting. you can, too. to bring you an update on the death toll from that landfill landslide in addis ababa, just on the outskirts of the city, in fact, in ethiopia, we are hearing the death tour has risen to 35 at the moment. —— death toll. people buried under a landslide, some of them who had been scavenging on that huge rubbish tip on the outskirts of addis ababa. we are hearing the death toll has risen to 35 at the moment and rescue work
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is continuing as relatives wait for news of their loved ones. tributes have been paid to the singerjoni sledge, of the group sister sledge, who's died in at her home in phoenix, arizona. she was 60. the band of four sisters, achieved fame in 1979 with their signature tune we are family. other hits included disco classic the greatest dancer. a statement from the family said joni sledge had loved, and embraced, life. we are going to go across the newsroom now and get a weather forecast from tomasz schafernaker. thank you, haloti ngata. the weather is not too bad. —— hello to you. most of the rain is not too heavy. i
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think today, let's call it a few spots of rain, i know for some of us it's a bit more but generally speaking, not so bad out there. quite a few breaks in the cloud as well so some sunshine as well, nice enoughin well so some sunshine as well, nice enough in northern ireland although we have some passing showers, so a quick splash and dash shower there. temperatures in the middle of the afternoon, it is very warm at the moment, this is the temperature in aberdeen and around the coast but some areas up aberdeen and around the coast but some areas up to 15 or 16 right now. tonight, the temperatures will plummet. the last couple of nights, they have been around ten, those kind of values. more like five tonight in the cities and in rural spots, close to freezing so nippy on the way. tomorrow, a cold, crisp start with a bit of frost and then it really is a fine day for most with sunshine for birmingham, hull, glasgow and belfast, reaching a0 degrees, a bit of rain for our friends in the of scotland. —— in the north west of scotland. hello. this is bbc news.
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