tv BBC News BBC News June 29, 2017 5:00am-5:31am BST
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this is bbc news. our top stories: one of the world's most senior roman catholic cardinals, george pell, has been charged with multiple sexual offences. hong kong police arrest democracy activists, hours before president xi arrives to celebrate twenty years of chinese rule. they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. the germans build their own trees to counter urban pollution. and i'm jamie robertson. reaching for the sky. will rupert murdoch's takeover plans for the pay tv giant be cleared for lift—off, or grounded? plus: ringgit rebellion. they saw off the speculators and the imf, but 20 years on from the asian financial crisis, did malaysia's risky strategy really pay off? hello and welcome to bbc news.
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one of the most senior figures in the vatican, cardinal george pell, has been charged with multiple counts of historical sexual offences. cardinal pell is the highest—ranking member of the catholic church in australia, and is based at the vatican, where he holds the office of treasurer. he is considered to rank third in the hierarchy of the global church. catholic officials in australia say he strenuously denies all allegations of abuse, and will return home from rome to clear his name. it is important to note that none of the allegations that have been made against cardinal pell have obviously been tested in any court yet. cardinal pell, like any other defendants, has a right to due
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process , defendants, has a right to due process, and so therefore it is important that the process is allowed to run its natural course. preserving the integrity of that process is essential to all of us, and so for victoria police it is important that it is allowed to go through unhindered and allowed to see naturaljustice is afforded to all the parties involved, including cardinal pell and the complainants in this matter. for more on this we can speak to the bbc‘s phil mercer in sydney. i know it is the middle of the night from a roman perspective that this has come out but they put out a statement very quickly to deny these allegations. this is part of a longer running picture for cardinal pell. well, the police in the australian state of victoria said about a year ago that they were investigating allegations in the city of ballarat concerning cardinal pell. detectives from australia flew to rome to interview him in october of last year. we understand that the
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cardinaldid of last year. we understand that the cardinal did that voluntarily, and as you say, in the last few hours he has, via an office here in sydney, released a statement saying that he again strenuously denied any allegations of wrongdoing, and said that he would return to australia as soon as possible to vigorously defend these charges. and the cardinal is required to appear before a magistrate in the city of melbourne in just under three weeks' time, and as you say, this is a story that affects not only the catholic church here in australia, this has ramifications far beyond these shores. he really is right at these shores. he really is right at the very highest echelons of the vatican. well, these allegations do bring the issue of sexual abuse right to the door of the vatican. for the last four years or so cardinal pell has been third in command in the vatican. he is in charge of the vatican's finances, he
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isa charge of the vatican's finances, he is a key financial adviser to probe francis. and formally, cardinal pell was the archbishop of sydney and melbourne —— pope francis. a very powerfulfigure in the melbourne —— pope francis. a very powerful figure in the catholic church and just to repeat a statement that an office in sydney released in the last few hours, he says he will return to australia as soon as says he will return to australia as soon as possible to try and clear his name. thank you very much indeed. hong kong is braced for the arrival of the chinese president, xijinping. his plane came injust a short while ago, and he arrived really on two counts, 20 years of chinese rule in hong kong, and this is the point at which carrie lam will be inaugurated as the new chief executive of hong kong as well. as you can see that, a number of dignitaries gathered, waiting for xijinping to
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number of dignitaries gathered, waiting for xi jinping to arrive. juliana liu is in hong kong. obviously a significant moment, but on many levels and the security around this trip tells its own story, doesn't it? absolutely. we are expecting the president to be coming down from his plane any moment now. after he touched down in hong kong the police boats behind me started making several runs around our position. security is at unprecedented levels. news reports there are already 10,000 police officers on duty to ensure his safety. of course that essentially means that local citizens, ordinary citizens, will be very unlikely to get anywhere near to the president and first lady. he is expected to be making an important speech right after he arrives on the tarmac. all eyes and all ears will be on what he
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says. will he talk about restarting political change in hong kong, will he addressed the youth led independence movement? everyone is very interested to hear what tone he sat for the rest of the trip —— toned —— tone he sets. sat for the rest of the trip —— toned -- tone he sets. carrie lam is expected to talk about the distribution of wealth, etc, not about political reform. absolutely, she was clearly the favourite of the chinese administration during the last election. she won with 777 votes, she is on the tarmac, waiting to greet him. the current chief executive, cy leung, is also there, as well is the former chief executive. they are all there ready to greet him. what he is unlikely to
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see other protest. and we have had, starting from monday, every day smaller scale gorilla type protests against the president, against his visit —— guerrilla. the last process took place in the compound behind me, 26 pro—democracy demonstrators have been arrested. they are still being held by police and still in detention. we understand that lawyers have gone in to give them legal advice and we are expecting more protests to come. smaller scale ones, and of course the large one on saturday, in the afternoon, after the new chief executive is sworn in. how long do we expect the president to be here for? well, he is expected to be here for? well, he is expected to be here for? well, he is expected to be leaving shortly after the new chief executive, carrie lam, is sworn in. we are expecting him to make a speech on that occasion as well. and again, a lot of attention
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on his choice of words, the issues that he chooses to address, essentially every time he speaks. what is interesting as we are expecting him to leave before the annual pro—democracy rally on one july which tens of thousands of people will be taking to the streets. he will be leaving before that protest starts, but obviously he is aware of them. he must beware of the smaller scale protests which have started this week as well. of the smaller scale protests which have started this week as wellm there any prospect, i saw mentioned that he may meet a group pro—democracy campaigners, that it would be a gesture, but obviously it would be a gesture, but obviously it would be a gesture, but obviously it would be very much an opportunity to be seen to be talking to the right people in a way, at the right time? well, what we understand is that the hong kong government has invited a number of moderate pro—democracy lawmakers to share a banquet or a meal with the chinese president, and
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what some of those lawmakers have said is that they intend to give a petition to him. they do intend to engage him on issues of restarting political reform, political reform in hong kong in general. they have said they intend to take that message to the chinese president. that said, not all pro—democracy lawmakers have been invited. certainly some of the younger pro—democracy lawmakers who were swept to power last set timbre, they are not going to be attending this meal. -- september. we are waiting for his flight, which landed some few minutes ago. it is a historic moment, not least because it is his first visit, as the door opens, his first visit, as the door opens, his first visit, as the door opens, his first visit as president. how often can one expect the chinese president to turn up in hong kong? well, the
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last chinese president to turn up in hong kong was on this occasion five yea rs hong kong was on this occasion five years ago, and he spent a similar number of days in hong kong, also leaving before the first ofjuly protest started. so very similar protocol in terms of the two presidents. but i think what has been really stepped up this time is the security. there is a lot more security now than there was for the previous president. i think some of that speaks to how divisive a figure the chinese president ears. there are people in hong kong, of course, who do support him and his administration. and china, and beijing. but there are lots of people who are very concerned about the future of hong kong. they see him asa the future of hong kong. they see him as a strong man who has really been behind a crackdown on civil society in mainland china. they believe that, to a lesser extent that has been happening in hong kong
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as well. so they are very, very wary of him, and honestly, even people i know who do not aggressively up close the chinese president are saying that this anniversary is really nothing to celebrate. they are concerned about the increasing mainland — isation of china. so even people who don't actively oppose him are not celebrating this handover anniversary. it is 20 years, of course, which in itself is a significant milestone but this is for a 50 year tenure of agreement on one country, two systems, of this degree of autonomy and independence that hong kong is meant to be able to maintain. i presume that the fear is, as the president arrives, that another 30 years is an awful long way, and the idea that they are going to get that far is feared by
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many. that's right. let me just remind you that i believe the president and the first lady are walking down the red carpet from plane onto the tarmac. they will be greeted at the current and former chief executives of hong kong, at any moment now. we expect him to be giving his speech. a lot of attention on his choice of words, because he is china's most powerful leader since deng xiaoping. and absolutely, as you say, a lot of questions about what happens after 2047. that is when, in theory, this one country, two systems framework will expire. some of the protesters
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arrested last night in that area behind me, they support so—called self—determination, which means allowing the people of hong kong to have a say in their future. they are not ruling anything out, not even giving people the choice to say we wa nt giving people the choice to say we want out of china, and we want to become our own country. this is obviously something the chinese government is very worried about. they are worried about contagion, about possibly these ideas spreading to other parts of china. they have been working really hard to tamp down, to crack down, on these people. so it will be very interesting to see if this is something the chinese president addresses directly, either in the speech that we are expecting in a few minutes or perhaps in any number of the public appearances that he is expected to make before he leaves on saturday. well, the president has
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been submerged by the waving flags that, in an otherwise perfect arrival for that, in an otherwise perfect arrivalfor him, that, in an otherwise perfect arrival for him, and that, in an otherwise perfect arrivalfor him, and welcome reception, as the band plays, and the flags wave, and we wait for him to deliver that speech. we will keep an eye on that for you, but president xijinping is in hong kong now. jamie robertson is here with all the business news. you are focusing on mr murdoch and sky. | you are focusing on mr murdoch and sky. i will you are focusing on mr murdoch and sky. i will give you a taste of what we will be dealing with in a few minutes but was time. we start with a big day for this man, media tycoon rupert murdoch. he may be 86 years old, but his empire—building ambition seems to be undiminished. today he finds out whether the uk government will let him take over pay tv giant sky, or whether to order a full investigation. so what is at stake? mr murdoch's 21st century fox already owns 39% of sky. the price tag for full control — $15 billion. sky is one of europe's biggest broadcasters, with 22 million customers. the deal has already been cleared
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by countries across the region, but some claim it would give mr murdoch too much control of media here in the uk. it is not the first time he has tried to take over sky. his company news corporation abandoned a bid in 2011, following the phone—hacking scandal involving its newspapers. this year a new scandal, sexual harassment allegations at fox news in the us, has led to calls for the latest deal to be blocked by the uk regulator, ofcom. more details on that in just a few moments. as we have been reporting all week, it has been 20 years since the financial crisis that swept through east asia and wreaked havoc on economies around the globe. today we are in malaysia, which took a massive gamble and brought in capital controls, rejecting help from the imf and alienating the international financial community. in the short term this helped lessen the economic damage, but what about the long—term? christine hah presses the man
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who made that decision, former prime minister mahathir mohamad, on whether he did the right thing. all that in about ten minutes' time. you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. will still to bring you here on bbc news including... he still brings in big crowds. his farewell tour, floor usain bolt. he wins but was not happy with his time. we will have more on that. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong, with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been
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produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is a bbc news. these are our latest headlines. one of the world's
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most senior roman catholic cardinals, george pell, has been charged in australia with multiple cou nts charged in australia with multiple counts of historic sexual offences. president xijinping has counts of historic sexual offences. president xi jinping has arrived in hong kong to begin celebrations marking 20 years since the return of chinese rule to the territory. air pollution is a huge problem in cities around the world, and it affects the health of millions. but a german company has developed a piece of nature—inspired technology, which it thinks could help. it makes so—called ‘city trees', which it's been rolling out from london to hong kong. dougal shaw reports from hamburg, germany. in common with many other european cities, hamburg in germany likes to dress up the urban concrete jungle with a little greenery. what about greenery could be supercharged cleaner air pollution? that is the idea of an it expert turned gardener and entrepreneur. this man's
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start—up has designed what he calls city trees. urban structures that fightair city trees. urban structures that fight air pollution are harnessing the power of moss. normally found in forest, moss is able to grow without soil. this makes it naturally adapted to take what it needs from the air. the mosque and store the pollution particles and then use them as nutrients and grow with the pollution. moss is particularly good at filtering out what scientist called particular matter. microscopic particles pollution in the air. in cities comes from car exhausts, thai fiction and factories. some are known to penetrate the lungs and to cancer. the city trees also a live digital data point for mapping global pollution. but all of this comes at a price. a normal tree costs around $900 over a decade. the cost of a city trees $28,000. but the inventors say when it comes to cleaning ofair inventors say when it comes to cleaning of air pollution, a city
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trees equivalent to 275 normal trees and their cost is usually picked up by corporate sponsors. but not eve ryo ne by corporate sponsors. but not everyone is convinced that this is the best way to tackle urban air pollution. it is really hard to get pollution. it is really hard to get pollution out of the air once it is already in there. it is like paying to ta ke already in there. it is like paying to take the milk out of your cup of tea. would we be better off spending the money on actually cleaning up the money on actually cleaning up the exhausts of the vehicles that are travelling around us? but a thriller that in nine years and 25 city trees and counselling, this data that can convince people that this is a smart way to clean up city air ina this is a smart way to clean up city air in a meaningful way. work is now under way to create a city in china which aims to fight air pollution. liuzhou forest city will be completely covered in greenery — in total 40,000 trees and almost one million plants, from more than 100 different species. once finished, the city will be able to house 30,000 people. time to pick up on some of the other
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stories making news around the world. italy has threatened to shut its ports to migrants trying to reach the country by sea. the warning comes as the italian representative to the eu said that the scale of immigration from north africa has simply become unsustainable. an estimated 10,000 people are believed to have attempted the journey in just the last four days. the so—called islamic state group is faster preaching defeat in mosul. that is the view of the british defence secretary. the iraqi city is where i as first launched its campaign of violence in 2014. mr valances and militants are facing what they called endgame there and also in their syrian stronghold. plants through europe wide wi—fi service on planes are a step closer after the
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successful launch of the key satellite. it is hoped that airline passengers will soon be able to connect to the internet either through the satellite or a problem every system of cell towers on the ground. sport and for much of last season the manchester city keeper claudio brava was ridiculed for his performances. but he's a hero in his native chile now after starring in a penalty shoot out against european champions portugal. it means his country are now through to the final of the confederations cup as colm harrison reports. the first of the confederations cup semifinals puts the champions of europe against the champions of south america. it was portugal who made the brightest start. cristiano renato set up silver after only seven minutes but this would not be the last time that bravo kept them at bay. rinaldo had a chance to settle the match inside 90 minutes but went wide with his head after
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85. in extra time, the better chances fell to chile. two players both hitting the woodwork in quick succession. after a goal is to ours, however, it all came down to spot kicks with bravo the unlikely hero, saving the first three portuguese penalties. when the mask or penalty was missed, the european champions we re was missed, the european champions were out and bravo, much maligned at manchester city, has ensured that gillette, winners of back—to—back coper americana titles and mouse through to their third major title in as many years. if you didn't know by now, i will tell you, usain bolt is retiring from athletics later this year and fans of the sprinter will only see him compete for about another 80 seconds or so hardly surprising then that fans packed out the ostrava stadium in the czech republic. they also got what they wanted — a victory for the eight time olympic champion. and they also saw him compete for slightly longer than usual —
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he took more than ten seconds to win and admitted to being less than happy with his time it was not that good a race.|j it was not that good a race. i was slow. i have some work to do but as long as i stay fit that is the key point. i was thinking about trying to execute and when i was announced, the crowd showed their loved which i appreciate. there were mixed feelings afterwards because i know was not a perfect race but i got it done. the fans came through for me. south africa's wayde van niekerk was in great form setting a "world best" time of 30.81 seconds for the rarely run 300m. it broke the record set by michaeljohnson back in 2000. tennis and novak djokovic is through to the second round of the eastbourne international — the final event
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before the start of wimbledon. djokovic, who's the top seed at the event, has slipped to world number four, and this is the first time he's played a pre—wimbledon event for seven years. he cruised into the quarter—finals with a straight sets win over the canadian qualifier vasek pospisil. he now plays donald young of the usa. there was a win, too, for the women's top seed — angelique kerber — but she was made to work hard for her victory against kristyna pliskova. the world number one had to come from a set down to win. she took the deciding set 7—5 — to seal her place in the third round where she'll face lara arruabarrena from spain. you can keep in touch with us of course on twitter. thursday will be a particularly
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disappointing day with dampness in the air for the western side of wales and down into the south—west of england. it starts in a mild note. but while we have the big picture you get the sense that there is an awful lot of wet and windy weather to be had across the northern half of the british isles. out west it is still wet but perhaps notjust as windy as in the north—eastern quarter of england, south—east of scotland. cloud feeding well down on the atmosphere was still fog around, a somewhat dry prospects of the south midlands, east anglia and the south—east. we get into the north of england and the north of wales well... it is light and patchy rain here but as soon as we enter the irish sea on the eastern side of ireland, some of the rain is quite heavy, dry, perhaps bright at this
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stage for the western and northern isles in the north—west of the mainland. asa isles in the north—west of the mainland. as a techie wanted the morning, through lunchtime and on into the early part of the afternoon, that rangers keeps on coming. aided and a better by the strong north north—easterly wind. come the end of the day we may well have seen up to 80 millimetres of rain falling have seen up to 80 millimetres of rainfalling in have seen up to 80 millimetres of rain falling in the north—east of england. away from there, temperature is not that. underneath all the cloud, wind and well, 12, 13, 14 on the thermometer and may not feel that way. here we are in the evening and the rain keeps on coming. pushed a little further north into scotland by this stage. change the day and the only thing i can say is that perhaps the rain is not as intense. that is the one small crumb of comfort. again, underneath this cloud there is rain across western parts. down in the south—east, 22, 23 with sunshine that may just send south—east, 22, 23 with sunshine that mayjust send us an sure sharp showers. could be a wet start on
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saturday thanks to the credit presence of the weather fronts but once that goes with look to the atla ntic to once that goes with look to the atlantic to see the supply of for the weekend. the front is the way it is not too bad until we push on another weather front into the north—west of scotland, perhaps led on to northern ireland as well. a bit of brightness, till night, 22 degrees, not bad at all. on sunday we do it all again. get rid of one weather front and the weekend becomes a mixture of dry right conditions and a wee bit warmer as well. this is bbc world news. the headlines: police in australia have charged one of the catholic church's most seniorfigures, cardinal george pell, with historic sex offences. he strongly denies the allegations, and says he will return from rome to clear his name. the chinese president, xijinping, has arrived in hong kong for celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the territory's return to china from british rule. it is his first visit there since becoming the country's leader. the united states is introducing
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