tv BBC News BBC News July 5, 2017 3:00am-3:31am BST
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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: a threat to american security. the us secretary of state confirms the weapon fired by north korea is an intercontinental ballistic missile. the bbc speaks to a man in afghanistan who claims british special forces unlawfully killed members of his family. and at least 50 people have been killed as heavy rains pound central and southern china. and the return of the dreamers. we speak to some of those who came to the united states as children but are now back in mexico. hello. the us secretary of state has confirmed that the weapon fired by north korea on tuesday was an intercontinental ballistic missile. it means pyongyang may now be able
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to target any part of alaska. rex tillerson described it as an escalation of the threat posed by north korea. the north korean leader is said to have described the missile test as a gift to americans on independence day. the un security council will discuss the crisis on wednesday. this from our diplomatic correspondent james landale. this is the moment that north korea says it came a major power, the launch of a missile that it claims can reach across continents and deliver a nuclear weapon as far away as the united states. the news was announced on state television with barely constrained joy. the presenter showing the handwritten order given by the country's leader, kim jong—un. he personally supervised the launch of a missile that he believes will secure him in power, protect his people and dismay his
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opponents to the south. translation: if north korea ignores our military‘s warning and continues provocations, we clearly warn that kim jong—un‘s regime will face destruction. this is the missile that could carry the regime's nuclear weapon. described as a hwansong14, it was launched from an airfield here in the west of the country. it was sent up at a very deep angle and it rose, it is claimed, to about 1,700 miles, thought to be the highest any north korean missile has got to. it then landed 37 minutes later, more than 500 miles away, somewhere in the sea close to japan. the key point is that if this missile were fired at a shallower angle, it might now have the power to reach, potentially, more than 3,400 miles, the minimum defined range for an intercontinental ballistic missile. if so, that could mean reaching as far as alaska on the mainland of the united states.
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they're so keen on developing more advanced missile capabilities. because although obviously right now, the region is targetable, it is about ensuring that they have that level of respect internationally as well, to say, "look, we have this capability, stand up and listen to us." experts said it is still not clear if north korea has the technology needed to protect a warhead on re—entry and guide it to its target. but the possibility of north korean missiles reaching the us is a significant step forward that president trump said earlier this year just wouldn't happen. in a tweet, he again urged china to put pressure on north korea to end this nonsense once and for all. a message echoed by allies. the government will be escalating this at the 620 and the un in the course of the next few days. but the real pressure has got to come from china. but so far, china has been reluctant
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or unable to turn the screw on north korea. president xi of china was in russia today. both he and president putin called for a freeze on north korea's nuclear weapons programme, but also the suspension of us and south korean military exercises. but this supreme leader is enjoying his growing nuclear capability and shows little sign of listening to anyone. the balance of power is shifting in the region, and the outside world seems powerless to stop it. james landale, bbc news. and for more on china's reaction i spoke to the bbc‘s stephen mcdonnell in beijing. when you consider china's position in this, there are two questions really, what could it do and what realistically would it be prepared to do? what it could do, china could really hurt or even threaten the existence of the north korean
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economy if it wanted to. all of north korea's trade is coming through here and it has massive links to china. what is it realistically prepared to do? well, this is another question. because what does china fear more than a nuclear armed north korea? it's regime collapse in north korea. so china isn't going to see that government fall if it means a united korean peninsula with us troops on the border, and that's the equation really. somehow the international community has to convince china that that worst—case scenario is not going to happen so you are able to put more pressure on the north koreans and the americans have a few ways of doing it. in short, they've got a big list of chinese companies, including banks especially, that they can start applying secondary sanctions to. the other part of the chinese equation is analysts tell us north korea is keen to separate
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the us from south korea and get those troops and weapons away from its border. unfortunately, that's an aim that china and russia more or less share so china is going to be reluctant to apply pressure on north korea even if it could. absolutely. i mean, for the chinese and russians, what they are saying is, they are calling on the us to stop having these big, joint military exercises with south korea. the americans are saying they won't do that. so, you have really tricky situation here and with some increasingly deadly nuclear weapons being produced in north korea so it's going to be interesting to see what comes out of this 620 meeting and other discussions in the coming days and weeks. for more on the response to the missile test, as well as coverage of all our other main stories, head along
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to our website bbc.com/news. you can also download the bbc news app. bbc news has spoken to a man in afghanistan who claims british special forces unlawfully killed members of his family. the bbc understands the royal military police are investigating the alleged incident back in 2011. a british newspaper has alleged members of the sas have killed unarmed afghan civilians and falsified mission reports to cover up evidence. this report from our defence correspondent jonathan beale contains flashing images. this is the war that many will remember from afghanistan. british troops in helmand fighting an insurgency. but what we didn't see were the secret raids that often took place at night involving british special forces such as the sas. there are now allegations that in some of these raids innocent civilians were killed. the bbc has interviewed one man, who's asked not to be identified,
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who claims unarmed members of his family were victims of one of those raids. translation: we were held blind—folded in a room overnight. early in the morning, the soldiers came back and said i should not go out until they had left. when their helicopters had gone, we came out and found they had shot my father, two brothers and a cousin. the bbc‘s been told the raid did involve special forces and is now being investigated. others who served in afghanistan have questions about the conduct of the sas too. chris green was a reservist in helmand when he had to deal with the aftermath of another special forces raid in which locals allege civilians were killed in cold blood, one of a number of allegations first reported in the sunday times. it was my view that british forces and the ground holding troops that i worked with worked under very strict rules of engagement and it seemed to me that special forces did not. my own view of their accountability
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was i didn't see any, so when i sought information from them, this wall of secrecy was put in front of me. the ministry of defence says an investigation by the royal military police has so far found no evidence of criminal behaviour by british forces in afghanistan, with 90% of the allegations of abuse already dismissed. as to specific allegations against the sas, the mod has a long—held policy of never commenting on special forces. a former head of the army is urging caution. no witch—hunts, but no cover—ups. if there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should be investigated. but we should be very, very careful about throwing mud at our very special, special forces. allegations of widespread abuse by british troops in iraq have already been mostly discredited. that investigation is now closed. but there are still questions about their conduct in afghanistan
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and that might involve lifting the lid on the actions of britain's elite special forces. jonathan beale, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the european commission has released a new action plan to reduce numbers of migrants crossing the mediterranean. it's giving $90 million to stem the flow into italy. it comes as span‘s coastguard says around 50 migrants have drowned in the western mediterranean. rescuers managed to save three men from a half—sunk rubber dinghy. police claim to have broken up a prostitution ring which trafficked women from bulgaria to the beach resort of marbella on the spanish costa del sol. 3a suspected members of the gang were arrested, 13 women freed. officers say the women were forced to steal credit cards and other valuables from their clients. negotiations aimed at restoring power—sharing in northern ireland have been suspended after sinn fein and the democratic unionists again failed to reach an agreement. sinn fein has blamed the failure on theresa may's agreement with the dup to support her minority government at westminster.
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at least 50 people have been killed as heavy rains pound central and southern china. hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes, as water in more than 60 rivers rises above danger levels. andrew bryson reports. the waters began to rise on saturday. after days of rain, more than 60 rivers now at danger level. whole townships have been evacuated. too much water is under the world's powerstation, the three dam reduced to one third of its capacity. away from the rivers the rains caused other problems. nine people died in 1's landslide with rescue crews helping elsewhere. there were lucky rescues too, this man trapped helping others retrieve their cars from an underground parking lot in yangshuo county.
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he missed his own chance to get out when the floodwaters rose. his colleagues showing ingenuity as well as courage in their rescue. translation: i didn't think how dangerous it was to rescue him, i felt not so afraid. you see the floodwater was soaring. only two or three minutes after we saved him the water had overwhelmed the parking lot, so our rescue was launched right in time. in yongzhou city in hunan province, the floodwaters reached a record high of 89 metres. three quarters of the villages in one area were overcome. rescue teams have rushed in carrying drinking water and food to people stranded. the boats have been to check in on animals in the nearby nature reserve too. china's rainy season taking its toll on nature of every kind. andrew bryson, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: let there be light. why you can now see the ancient ruins of pompeii from a whole new perspective.
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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 of 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.
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and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: a threat to american security — the us secretary of state confirms the weapon fired by north korea is an intercontinental ballistic missile. he says it is an escalation of the security threat. security the bbc speaks to a man in afghanistan who claims british more now on that missile test — north korea's leader is said to have described it as a gift to americans on independence day. ankit panda is a senior editor at the diplomat magazine, which focuses on the asia—pacific region. does this feel like a game changer? it suggests to me that this was an
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unforeseen development to call it a game changer, yes it is an important milestone, but we have known about this ambition going back to 19 yea rs, this ambition going back to 19 years, when they first tested a missile. they are showing us that they had a serious ambition in pursuing long—range missiles. they are working at an accelerated pace and have been for 18 months. we have seen a and have been for 18 months. we have seen a remarkable pace that suggests not just seen a remarkable pace that suggests notjust an seen a remarkable pace that suggests not just an increase seen a remarkable pace that suggests notjust an increase in know—how, but also in ambition. how do you feel this news changes the situation, and how could this be the escalated? this significant development is that an intercontinental range systems means a missile that can fly further than 5300 kilometres. the demonstrated range of this missile, it could fly up range of this missile, it could fly up to 8000 colleges. the us state of alaska would be in range, meaning
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that north korea could threaten the us homeland, at least one of the 50 us homeland, at least one of the 50 us states. it gives north korea quite a bit of leveraged in future and changes the dynamics between the alliances of the united states and career, and the united states and japan. and there are 20 million people in south korea, how would you expect this to proceed from here? 0ne expect this to proceed from here? one of the threats for the alliance is that we could see the us administration, we could see president trump asking why the united states should leave alaska at risk to save soul, that could start chipping away at the alliance. that is part of what north korea would be thinking. it is about using this capability, not so much using it but having it, to give washington second thoughts about using its military forced to either decapitate kim
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jong—un orto forced to either decapitate kim jong—un or to change the regime altogether. it seems pretty clear that china either doesn't want to or cannot rein in pyongyang?” that china either doesn't want to or cannot rein in pyongyang? i think it's the latter. i think the chinese would prefer a non—nuclear north korea, but they simply don't have much of a capability. economically, they could do more, i think. 90% of their trade takes place with china, there are questions about their enforcement of sanctions and i think they could do more in that regard. it is pretty clear that north korea perceives an existential threat. how could this be addressed? is there any possibility that the us and south korea would suspend those military exercises? suspension of military exercises? suspension of military exercises? suspension of military exercises is one of north korea's demands. they say that they are not being given de facto status
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bya are not being given de facto status by a host of countries. there is a massive rift of trust. the place for these two countries to come together and have talks does not exist right now. it appears that north korea will continue to march ahead with its missile programme, producing missiles that can move to further ranges. they are likely not to be able to come to the table with any realistic offers. few immigration issues in america are as emotive as the fate of the dreamers — undocumented immigrants brought to the us as children. president 0bama gave them legal status in 2012, president trump has said they can stay for now — but that policy is facing legal challenges. will grant has been meeting dreamers in mexico, trying to make a fresh start in a country they barely know. these are some of the us' best and brightest.
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now they are mexico's. young, dedicated and bilingual, in the us they were known as dreamers. now, thousands have returned to mexico, either voluntarily or under duress. at this conference in mexico city, deportees held video chats with dreamers in 20 different cities from california to utah. i'm looking for a job and everything... many share similar stories of fear, separation, deportation and stigma. despite the supposed protection of the 0bama administration's deferred action policy, many of the young dreamers at this event returned to mexico when their parents were deported to avoid breaking up their families. now they find themselves in a country they barely know, and with which they have few connections. still, these days, they aren't looking backwards but ahead for opportunities in mexico. i have this motto. in mexico, there are also dreams. the thing is, you can't put an american dream in your dreams, because it's your dream.
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if you put america in, you're building the wall that trump wants to build. we will build the wall! despite president trump's tough rhetoric over mexico, deportation went down by 12% in his first 100 days, and he recently said dreamers should rest easy. still, activists say more needs to be done to inform immigrants in the us of their rights. we think that as long as they are here they don't have rights, and they do. we have to make them aware of that. now, a little problem or a little mistake can have very big consequences. someone who knows just how big those consequences can be is francisco. he was arrested for trespassing. he said he was just crossing a car park, and was deported after living in kentucky for 1h years. after battling mexico's tangled beaurocracy,
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he finally has an id card. iam 46. in the us, you can get a job at my age without a problem. here it is really difficult. another thing is some people in mexico say we're not racist, but people with my skin colour, we have less opportunities. connecting people like francisco with deportee support groups may take time. they simply don't know that help exists. deportations may have slowed slightly, but few expect the trump administration to let up, meaning more people may soon have to build their dreams in mexico instead. canada is to apologise and award millions of dollars in compensation to a former guantanamo detainee, who was captured in afghanistan at the age of 15 and pleaded guilty to killing an american soldier. canada's supreme court ruled in 2010 that omar khadr‘s rights as a prisoner had been violated. he's a canadian citizen. according to reports in the canadian press,
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he will receive at least $8 million for the treatment he was subjected to during his captivity. but prime ministerjustin trudeau remained fairly tight lipped on the compensation. there is a judicial process under way that has been under way for a number years way that has been under way for a number yea rs now. way that has been under way for a number years now. and we are anticipating that that judicial process is coming to its conclusion. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. an independent report published today, accuses britain's ally and biggest middle east trading partner, saudi arabia, of being the chief promoter of islamist extremism in britain. the henryjackson society think tank alleges that saudi individuals and foundations have been heavily involved in exporting illiberal ideologies. the saudi embassy has denied the claims. that on the day qatar's foreign minister is due to present the qatari response to a saudi—led list of demands, over accusations
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that qatar backs terrorism. qatar denies it. foreign ministers from egypt, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates and bahrain are gathering in cairo to discuss the claims. the founder of the california venture capitalists, 500 startups, has resigned in the face of sexual harassment claims by several women. announcing that in a tweet, dave mcclure said, "i'm a creep, i'm silicon valley has seen a series of harassment and sexism scandals in recent months. pompeii is one of italy's most popular tourist attractions — the roman city was buried in ash when a volcano erupted in 79ad. since it was opened to visitors — there have been limits on when you can visit. but now some of the restrictions are being eased, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. more than 3 million people came to pompeii last year. the ruins of an ancient roman city, frozen in time. but now, people will be given the
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chance to see it in a whole new light. literally. for the chance to see it in a whole new light. literally. forthe first time, the ruins will be open to the public at night. parts of the city will be eliminated, these buildings and columns lit up, an echo of what things might have been like on a summer's evening nearly 2000 years ago. it is thought more than 10,000 people lived in pompeii, a major port in the roman empire. the nearby volcano, mount vesuvius erupted, smothering the city in scalding hot ash. men, women and children were buried alive. their bodies, perfectly preserved and later on earth to. these are plaster cast models on some of those remains. small groups of around 60 people will be allowed to wander the streets, gaining a new insight into one of the most famous legends of
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the roman empire. now, take a look at this. it's the face of an ancient peruvian leader who died about seventeen 100 years ago. scientists used 3d technology to construct an approximation of what the woman, known as the lady of cao, would have looked like. they say she was a powerful leader who died at the age of 20, and her ovalface and high cheekbones are traits common to modern—day peruvians. now of course the fourth ofjuly celebrations in the us wouldn't be the same without the nathan's famous international hot dog eating contest on new york's famous coney island. reigning championjoey chestnut took the prize for the 10th time. he set a new world record by eating 72 dogs in ten minutes. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley.
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hi, there. the rain came pretty much non—stop across northern england and southern scotland yesterday. the wettest place in cumbria getting over a0 millimetres of rain. you can see how the rain band has been tracking away into the north sea. the rain was all courtesy of this weather front, that will still be with us today in northern england, where it will stay cloudy. to the south, low pressure in the bay of biscay. the winds will increasingly fall light, but will begin to back up and bring warm air from the near continent. notjust warm air, it will become hot and humid in southern england, where temperatures could hit 30. across the north of scotland a decent start to the day. most of the day will be dry, with plenty of sunshine. it's across southern scotland, northern ireland and northern england it will be a cloudy start and to the east of the pennines, that cloud will be thick enough for occasional spots of patchy, light rain and drizzle. it could be misty over the hills. further southwards, that's where we have lighter winds and increasingly broken cloud. so we should have some sunshine from the word go for many areas across southern wales and southern
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counties of england, most of the midlands and east anglia. temperatures come up quickly. for the rest of the day, the winds feel light in southern counties of england, allowing temperatures to surge. the cloud across northern england is with us for much of the day, breaking in northern ireland. it will try to brighten up in north—east england. the rain petering out. probably not a lot of sunshine. where cloudy, the temperatures staying into the teens, but look at these temperatures further south. 28 in london. there could be some areas in southern england that hit the 30 degree mark. as we go on through thursday, the only real change is this little low drifting up from biscay, and with that comes instability. we start to get thunderstorms breaking out across england and wales, and some of those could be torrential. they will be hit and miss in nature. many areas will dodge the downpours and stay dry. it will stay hot and humid and that hot and humid air will push further northwards. so 25 in the greater manchester area. again, we could see highs of 30 degrees further south. on friday, probably the weather becoming drier. again the warm air continues to waft further northwards. so temperatures in newcastle picking up to 21.
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into the teens for scotland and northern ireland. there'll be a rain band across the north—west, with the wind picking up as we head through the afternoon. the rain is tied in with the low pressure. through the weekend it will push a band of rain further southward and eastwards across much of the country, introducing cooler and fresher air. so by the time we get the sunday, the heat wave is over and temperatures back down to average in london. this is bbc news, the headlines: the us secretary of state has confirmed the weapon fired by north korea into the sea ofjapan a day ago was an intercontinental ballistic missile. in a written statement, rex tillerson said it represented an escalation of the security threat to the us posed by pyongyang. bbc news has spoken to a man in afghanistan who claims british special forces unlawfully killed members of his family. the bbc understands
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the royal military police are investigating the alleged incident back in 2011. a british newspaper alleges members of the sas have killed unarmed civilians. at least 50 people have been killed as heavy rains continue to pound central and southern china. hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes as water in more than 60 rivers rises above danger levels. authorities have sent tents, food and medicine to the affected areas. now on bbc news, the welsh capital is one of the uk's fastest growing cities, but cardiff boy jason mohammad asks if his city
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