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tv   BBC News  BBC News  July 1, 2017 5:00am-5:31am BST

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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: hong kong's newly appointed chief executive carrie lam has been sworn in by china's president xi jinping on the 20th anniversary of the city's handover from the uk to china. "the era of patience is over." president trump and his south korean counterpart call for a tough and united response to the security threat posed by north korea. the battle for mosul — iraq says it will recapture the city from so—called islamic state in a few days, but the fighting remains fierce. and argentinian football star lionel messi marries his childhood sweetheart in a lavish ceremony in his home town. the chinese president xijinping has said his government will not
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tolerate any challenge to its sovereignty in hong kong. speaking at a ceremony to swear in a new local government on the 20th anniversary of the return of the former british colony to chinese rule, president xi said the handover had ended a humiliating chapter in his country's history. to mark the anniversary, the chinese flag was raised in a ceremony in the city's golden bauhinia square. the newly elected hong kong chief executive, carrie lam, is the first woman to hold the territory's top post. our correspondentjuliana liu is in hong kong. she told me more about the incoming chief executive. she will be the first woman chief executive of hong kong and the fourth person to hold this position
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since 1997. now, her background is asa since 1997. now, her background is as a career civil servant. she started out essentially serving in the colonial civil service, working her way the colonial civil service, working herway up, the colonial civil service, working her way up, but service, she was previously very popular career civil servant but five years ago when she started serving the current outgoing chief executive as his deputy, her reputation has become much more divisive. she is now a very polarising figure. she is now seen very much as a beijing loyalist and that reputation will make it very difficult to do as she has promised, to heal divisions in society. she has promised to tackle the challenge, it is difficult to see how she will do that given the perception. andrew fung is the director and ceo of the hong kong policy research institute. he explained some of the problems facing the new cabinet. i think the next five years are very crucial for the future of hong kong. the presidency came at a very
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important moment and he gave very positive messages. he is appealing to the political and business leaders to unite and support carrie lam and to enforce her social harmony. social harmony, he put it in a very important position that the whole society of hong kong — he's appealing to the people to have faith in themselves and to... ..and to find a solution, problem—solving attitude, to find a solution to the many problems of hong kong instead of acting emotionally to the problems. i think he is passing some important messages that social harmony is very important. that undoubtedly is also the major task of carrie lam, that he had to ensure that the society is less divisive and more harmonious. "the time for strategic
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patience is over" — that was the message donald trump had for north korea as he stood side—by—side with the new south korean president. mr trump called for a determined response to the nuclear threat posed by kim jong—un but he also took aim at seoul over trade, and sharing the cost of defence. the bbc‘s state department correspondent barbara plett usher reports. this was the visit of a strong and historic ally at a time of uncertainty, with a recently elected leader and an unpredictable one. it was the first foreign visit for president moon. the interest back home spurring an eager scramble for the best shot. easy, fellas. hey, fellas, easy. perhaps a bit over—eager. fellas, easy. the two men took each other‘s measure on the crucial topic of north korea. mr moon wants to engage the regime, mr trump wants to isolate it. but they emerged from their discussions calling
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for a determined response. the us president pressing for tighter sanctions to force north korea to end its nuclear weapons program. our goal is peace, stability and prosperity for the region but the united states will defend itself, always will defend itself, always. and we will always defend our allies. as part of that commitment, we are working together to ensure fair burden sharing in support of the united states‘ military presence in south korea. mr trump took aim at defence spending and unfair trade practices — he was very blunt about that — but for the south korean president, security in a dangerous neighbourhood was the main issue. translation: president trump and i agreed that only strong security can bring about genuine peace. we concurred to strengthen our overwhelming deterrence. mr moon threw in a line about dialogue with north korea but he did not emphasise it.
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both men are relatively new in office and they agree that they are facing a growing and significant threat from north korea. so, despite their differences in approach, they chose to use this first meeting to show a united front. president trump hasn't ruled out talks with north korea but given what's happened to otto warmbier, that prospect has become even more distant. his death after captivity has hardened attitudes here. the two presidents agree that china is key, like south korea. —— the two presidents agree that china is key. like south korea, it advocates engagement. but the us wants it to put the squeeze on north korea by cracking down on sanction—busters. washington did so itself this week, penalising a chinese bank. the threat may be in south korea's backyard but it is the us protector who is setting the course for dealing with it. barbara plett—usher, bbc news, washington. the iraqi army says it will announce the recapture of mosul from so—called islamic state within the next few days.
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but for the moment, fighting remains fierce, and the situation for civilians still trapped in the old city deteriorates further. our correspondent has travelled to mosul and spoken to families who've fled the fighting, after being used as human shields. after nine months of fighting, there is now celebrations. the iraqi flag raised over what is left of the historic al—nuri mosque where the leader of the so—called islamic state once declared himself the ruler of all muslims. the security forces are close to pushing out the militants but the fighting is not over yet. the battle for old mosul continues. just 500m away from us in this direction, the areas that the militants occupy is getting smaller and as this happens, rescuing trapped civilians becomes extremely challenging. this is one group that
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managed to find safety. these children were held as human shields by is. most of them were living in an orphanage but the militants moved them closer to where the fighting was taking place. they are tired and hungry. transported here as is occupied their villages. the iraqi forces are now moving them out of the old city. the children are now being looked after by aid workers in a camp outside mosul. they will be safe but like so many here, the future remains uncertain. the leader of the local authority in west london where at least 80
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people died in a huge fire in a tower block earlier this month has announced his resignation. nick paget—brown said he had to accept his share of responsibility for the perceived failings of kensington and chelsea council in its handling of the grenfell tower disaster. earlier, it emerged that the cladding used during a recent renovation was changed to a cheaper, less fire—resistant version. here's our home affairs correspondent tom symonds. were you pressured by number ten to resign? the pressure simply got too great. he was the leader criticised for failing to cope with a crisis in his backyard. his council quickly lost the confidence of grenfell‘s victims. chanting: we wantjustice! we want justice! two weeks ago, his council offices were invaded. and last night, he couldn't even hold a council meeting after deciding that it wasn't possible to speak freely because journalists
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were in the room. in particular, my decision to accept legal advice, that i should not compromise the public inquiry by having an open discussion in public yesterday, has itself become a political story. and it cannot be right that this should have become the focus of attention when so many are dead or still unaccounted for. and this was the reaction to his resignation. it's good news, because people — there needs to be big changes made in the council, and this is at least a start. mr paget—brown claims no council could have coped with this. he thanks the community for its response, the emergency services, other london boroughs, but not the government. his deputy and his housing chief have also gone. investigations by the bbc and times newspaper into the decisions made when the council refurbished grenfell tower added to the pressure. the big change was the addition of aluminium cladding panels, to improve the look of the building.
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documents passed to the bbc reveal that zinc panels were originally proposed for grenfell. in 2012, the architects‘ designs show this clearly. residents were told it would be zinc. but there was pressure from the council on contractors to reduce costs. by 2015, they had been given amendments to the original tender, and told to fit aluminium cladding instead of zinc. it is cheaper — the saving more than £293,000. so, did the change make a difference to fire safety? well, this panel is similar to the ones that were eventually used. it is an aluminium sandwich with a plastic filling, which is not fire—resistant. the original zinc panels were marketed as capable of being able to resist fire. both panels have the same safety rating under european tests. but one expert has told us there are circumstances where the cheaper material would have burned faster.
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however, even the fact that there was pressure to cut costs has infuriated those affected by the fire. those affected, and the wider community, are utterly sick of this lack of value ascribed to human beings, who pay their council tax, who pay these people's wages. meanwhile, cladding from 149 tower blocks has now failed government tests. the whole process has been criticised as pointless because only the cladding is being tested, not, for example, installation, which also burns. —— for example, insulation, which also burns. pointless 7 no, says the testing body. very critical at the beginning to do these screening tests, just to see whether there is a risk or not. whether buildings have this flammable cladding or not, well, many do. so now the question is, what do we do about it, and are there other risks that might happen as a consequence, or are there other things we need to consider?
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resignations, a crisis in social housing, a police investigation, a public inquiry, unimaginable loss of life — grenfell tower casts a long shadow. tom symonds, bbc news. in new york, a gunman who opened fire at the city's bronx lebanon hospital has killed himself and one other person. the shooter, a former employee at the hospital, also wounded six others — five of them seriously. police say he hid an assault rifle under a lab coat. the mayor of new york called the incident a tragedy of the sort seen around the country but this time, it occurred in a hospital. i wanna say at the outset thank god this was not an act of terrorism. it is an isolated incident. it appears to be workplace related—matter. that makes it no less tragic or no less horrible.
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one doctor is dead, and there are several doctors who are fighting for their lives right now. amongst those who are wounded. as you know, the shooter killed himself, but not before having done horrible damage. our hearts go out to the family of the doctor who passed away, and we're, in both our hearts and prayers, standing in solidarity with the families of all those who are wounded and all those who are fighting for their lives right now. stay with us on bbc news. still to come — as hundreds of thousands of people prepare to gather in the canadian capital to mark the country's 150th anniversary, we'll be finding out why not everyone is celebrating. lemma
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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 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 3h years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is bbc news.
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the latest headlines. hong kong's newly appointed chief executive carrie lam has been sworn in by china's president xi jinping, she is the first woman to hold hong kong's top post. and the chinese and hong kong flags have been raised in a ceremony to commemorate 20 years of chinese rule in the former british territory. hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather in the canadian capital ottawa on saturday to celebrate the country's150th anniversary. it's a nation that thrives on diversity and which welcomes tens of thousands of refugees every year — but not everyone is celebrating the country's milestone, as our chief correspondent gavin hewitt reports. the start of a long weekend party. canada has begun celebrating its 150th birthday.
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oh, yeah! cheering. millions of people expected to salute a young country, that unashamedly roots its identity in multiculturalism. canada to me means home, obviously, but it means diversity. we're very accepting of everyone here. diversity, different views, different minds, different sex, everything. why do all these celebrations matter? canada finds itself in the spotlight, astride one of the great faultlines of the moment. its prime minister, justin trudeau, has become a standard bearer for liberalism, in stark contrast to his neighbour to the south, donald trump. there you go, very warm. justin trudeau made a point of going to the airport with warm clothing, to welcome syrian refugees. a school gate in toronto. gaghader and hamzeg mourad pick up their children. not so long ago, they were
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fleeing homs, in syria. gaghader is at college, and hamzeg is already a taxi driver. canada wants them to feel canadian as soon as possible. somebody asked me, you like canada? i tell him canada is the best. canada's the best for me. my neighbours, street, anyone ask us where we're from. "0h, welcome, welcome!" and they help — what do you need, if we want help. but canada cannot escape the scars of its past. these are the lands of the iroquois, building their traditional longhouses. some indigenous groups, native canadians, are boycotting the birthday celebrations. for many, the past 150 years have seen land taken and promises broken. we were here — we look back further than 150 years, because we've been here
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for thousands of years. and, you know, you're saying canadians are celebrating. well, not everybody who lives in this country is celebrating 150 years of canada. the first nations people aren't. and then there is the british connection. today, prince charles was in the small town of wellington, beside lake ontario. one day, if things remain as they are, he will be canadian head of state. many in the crowd here want to retain their british ties. but elsewhere, some are less sure. at this anniversary, canadians are celebrating their history, but these are uncertain times. they seem on a different path to their friend and neighbour to the south, the united states. it may yet prompt canada to be more assertive in promoting its own identity. gavin hewitt, bbc news, canada. as we've just heard not everyone will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of canada.
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indigenous writer and community organiser erica violet lee from saskatchewan told me more. so canada is propagating this myth that it is only 150 years old. and while that may be true for canada as a colony, our nation, those indigenous nations, have been here for much, much longer. and the 150 years, that marker is a marker meant to erase and further subjugate indigenous peoples on our own lands. so what should canada be doing, then? should they not be celebrating the 150—year mark, or celebrate in a different way? i think that most canadians think about canada day as a time to be patriotic, as a time to go and watch fireworks. but the indigenous people that i know, my family and friends, are doing things like occupying a teepee on parliament hill grounds, currently. a bunch of indigenous students have set up a tepee, and they were actually faced with police brutalityjust for trying to put up a teepee, one of our homes, on our own lands. so what we're doing is trying to say
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indigenous people are still here, we haven't been eradicated, we haven't been exterminated, we're still here, despite everything, and that justin trudeau's myths of being welcoming and multicultural are a lie. well, as you describe, there are ongoing tensions there, and justin trudeau has said that he recognises that canada has failed indigenous peoples. what needs to happen, in terms of policy, to redress those past wrongs? there is a sort of idea of consultation that needs to take place, and that is what the government uses to stall. they say we need to consult more, we need to ask. but indigenous nations have made it clear all along, and continuously, that what we want is consent. consent, consultation, and more than consultation, actual respect, and recognition of united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. we want to live being able
quote
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to drink our water and eat the fish from our rivers. we don't want pipelines cutting through our traditional hunting grounds. we want to be able to breathe the air and drink the water. these are things that everyone deserves, that are indigenous rights. our children are still being taken away. there is no reconciliation here. he's widely regarded as one of the world's best footballers. sport stars and celebrities descended on the argentine city of rosario for the wedding of its most famous son, the barcelona player, lionel messi. he married his childhood sweetheart antonela roccuzzo at a luxury hotel. hundreds of police were deployed ahead of the event. a warning, sarah corker‘s report does contain flash photography from the start. it has been described as the wedding of the century by argentinian media.
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lionel messi, the local boy who became a global superstar, returned to his hometown of rosario to marry his childhood sweetheart. he first met antonella roccuzzo when they were both children, and they stepped out as mr and mrs messi after a luxury ceremony at this five—star hotel. the guest list read like a who's who of famous footballers, team—mates past and present on the red carpet. earlier in the day, guests flew into the port city on private planes. barcelona team—mate gerard pique and his wife, colombian pop star shakira, posed for pictures, and among the 260 guests were the barcelona squad, including luis suarez, sergio aguero, and chelsea's cesc fabregas. not on the list, another footballing legend, diego maradona. locals tried to get a glimpse of the a—listers.
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many here have a soft spot for the town's most famous son. translation: messi, apart from being a genius soccer player, he is a great example of humility. translation: i find it amazing he is having a wedding in his hometown, despite having achieved fame, despite having achieved everything. inside the five—star complex, guests were treated to sushi and traditional argentinian fare — empanada pasties and beef stew. and he has plenty of time to recover from the party. his next game is not until august. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm at bbc reged ahmad. there is much more on our top
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stories on the website. you can go there for all of our top video and top stories as well. we have much more coming up top stories as well. we have much more coming up on top stories as well. we have much more coming up on bbc world news and i will be back with the headlines shortly. well, saturday doesn't look bad at all across most of the uk. we're certainly in for some sunshine and some warm weather. there is a little bit of rainfall on the way in the north—west, but it shouldn't be too heavy. now, in the short term, actually a fair bit of cloud out there, and also some light, light rain. damp weather just across east anglia and the south—east to end the night. in many northern and north—western areas it's actually a lot clearer, so this is where we're going to have fresher weather very early in the morning. in fact, in parts of northern ireland, maybe even in ruralareas, a touch of grass frost. and most of the temperatures in towns and cities will be from ten to say 1a degrees there in london.
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now, let's have a look at the weather across northern areas first of all. so this is first thing in the morning across scotland. looking absolutely fine, the sun should be out. notice that the clouds are increasing in the western isles, and we've got some light rain heading to stornoway. that will push into scotland and northern ireland a little bit later on. but dry in belfast at 9:00am in the morning. now, notice that, maybe apart from western fringes of wales, here in cornwall, there is actually a fair bit cloud around across england and mostly thin cloud wales. but it will be mostly thin cloud, and through the morning, into the afternoon, those clouds will be breaking up, and we really are in for a decent day. and see the sunshine there developing as that shade melts away. but at the same time we've also got a weather front getting into scotland and northern ireland, so around the middle of the afternoon i think there will be spots of rain in belfast, possibly glasgow too. so here, coolest around 15—17 degrees, but where the sun comes out for any lengthy period of time there across england it should get up to around 20 degrees, maybe even 2a in london.
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how are we doing compared to the rest of europe? well, temperatures similar across the heart of europe, but incredibly hot across the south—east of europe. in athens, for example, 43 degrees there for some of our holidaymakers. so that is europe. back to the uk, so this is saturday night. now, that damp weather in the north—west that i talked about will be moving southwards during the course of the early hours of sunday. so that means that, early on sunday morning, there could be some damp weather across east anglia, the south—east, but it should clear out of the way, and then basically we're left over with a very decent sunday once again, with some sunny spells. a little bit fresher, low 20s in london, around 16 in glasgow, but there's also some showers in the forecast there for northern scotland. and then, sunday into monday, weatherfronts are moving in, so there is a little bit of rain in the forecast for early in the week. but it's the weekend, so let's look at the weekend summary, then. it's not looking bad at all. a lot of dry weather, there will be some sunny spells, and it's going to feel pleasantly warm. this is bbc news. the headlines: hong kong's newly appointed chief
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executive carrie lam has been sworn in by china's president xi jinping. she is the first woman to hold hong kong's top post. and the chinese and hong kong flags have been raised in a ceremony to commemorate 20 years of chinese rule in the former british colony. president trump says years of strategic patience with north korea have failed and are now over. with south korea's president moonjae—in at the white house, he said the menace of north korea should be met with a determined response. the iraqi army says it will announce the total re—capture of mosul from the so—called islamic state group within the next few days. but fighting remains fierce, and the situation for civilians still trapped in the old city is deteriorating further in the searing summer heat. in other news: this morning, around 60 migrants are feared drowned after their boat sank off the coast of libya.
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