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tv   BBC News  BBC News  October 1, 2017 3:00am-3:31am BST

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welcome to bbc news. the bbc has heard disturbing accounts of sexual violence and brutality against rohingya women and children who've fled the military crackdown in myanmar. the rohingya — a muslim ethnic minority — live in rakhine state in mainly buddhist myanmar — but more than half a million are now living in refugee camps on the southern tip of bangladesh. a warning, you may find some of the details in sanjoy majumder‘s report distressing. the memory is still fresh, the pain very raw. her village inside myanmar was attacked two weeks ago, allegedly by the burmese military and a mob of rakhine buddhists. translation: i came out with my children to try and escape. two rakhine men pinned my arms to my side. then, they started raping me. after one finished, another one took his place, and then a third. when they let her go, she picked up her children and began running. then this happened... they snatched my two—year—old boy from my arms and threw him inside a burning house.
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it took her three days to get here, a refugee camp in bangladesh, just inside the border. i cannot find my husband, my parents, my other children. doctors treating the rohingyas say they are seeing more such cases of sexual violence. i find this 22—year—old rohingya woman inside her tent, trying to put her baby to sleep. she says she was raped by a burmese soldier inside her home, while others kept watch. her husband, who is missing, was the village cleric. translation: how can i tell anyone about what happened to me? it is a matter of shame. it is better to die than tell anyone. deeply traumatized, she never leaves her tent.
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others bring her medicine. it is not easy to independently verify what is happening inside myanmar‘s rakhine state. access is strictly controlled, journalists are not allowed inside and the burmese military has denied all allegations of sexual assault. in fact, it's denied having anything to do with the violence all together. but it says it's willing to investigate individual cases that are put before it. but how do you do that, when all the victims are living here in bangladesh, and are simply just scared to go back? in bangladesh, the focus is very much on providing basic needs to the refugees. there is little time to heal those who have been abused. sanjoy majumder, bbc news, at the bangladesh—myanmar border. at least 29 football supporters in france have been injured after a security barrier collapsed during a game in the northern city of amiens. hugh schofield reports. 15 minutes into the match at amiens
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stadium, lille opened with a goal. lille fans erupted with joy, many pressing against the metal fence separating them from the pitch. unable to bear their weight, the fence collapsed, sending supporters tumbling over each other on to the ground. the match was stopped as emergency workers treated the injured on the pitch. this season, amiens are playing in france's first division for the first time. the stadium is undergoing renovation work. officials insisted there was no link between the work and the accident. the club's president blamed lille fans for charging the fence, which he said was in perfect condition. don't forget you can get more details and background information on all our stories by logging onto the website. stay with us here on bbc news, still to come: will the knives be
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out for theresa may as the conservatives meet for their annual party conference? we'll report from manchester. police in southern germany say they've detained a man they suspect of trying to extort millions of dollars from supermarkets by concealing poisoned food products on their shelves. he was arrested after tip—offs from the public following an appeal for information. officers say they've discovered material they intend to use as evidence at his flat. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. this all began when five jars of baby food containing a liquid used in antifreeze were found in a supermarket in southern germany. cctv footage was released showing a potential suspect it was alleged had e—mailed store owners demanding over millions of euros. now an arrest has been made. he has not been named, but police say he is 53 years old and has been described as eccentric and mentally disturbed. translation: we currently have no leads pointing in the direction of an accomplice.
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at the moment, we are talking about a single perpetrator who planned and carried out the crime alone. the public prosecutor has applied for an arrest warrant for blackmail, but a charge of attempted murder could also be considered. and authorities say the suspect admitted the accusations when he made his first appearance in court. he also said he had not put any poison products in other supermarkets. but german shoppers are still being warned to remain vigilant for signs of tampering when buying food. british prime minister theresa may's facing renewed pressure over the government's approach to brexit just ahead of her conservative pa rty‘s conference. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, used a newspaper interview to set out four areas on which he believed the uk government should not compromise in its negotiations with the european union. our political correspondent vicki young reports. is this a prime ministerial red box
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brimming with popular ideas? evening, prime minister, are you looking forward to conference? theresa may certainly hopes so. she arrived in manchester this evening, determined to put that disappointing election result behind her, and talk about more than brexit. is the foreign secretary stealing your limelight, prime minister? but keeping the lid on conservative splits over europe won't be easy. yet again, borisjohnson‘s been going public with his personal views on brexit. in an interview with the sun, he lays out four red lines. he says the transition period after march 2019 should not be a second longer than two years. the uk should not accept any new rulings from brussels during that time. no payments should be made for access to the single market, and there should be no shadowing of the eu after brexit, mimicking eu rules to ensure free trade. let us be creative, as well as practical... last week in florence,
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theresa may tried to move eu negotiations forward, with a speech suggesting compromises in some areas. mrjohnson doesn't contradict her, but does go further than agreed government policy. what i want from the brexit talks, and what borisjohnson wants from the brexit talks, indeed all of us around the cabinet table want, is the best possible deal for britain, that secures our future outside the european union, and keeps a close relationship with our current european partners. to be honest, to the point where... just one question... some conservatives don't go along with borisjohnson‘s assertion that brexit will be great. in heated referendum debates, the scottish conservative leader, ruth davidson, took him on. can you name me just one country in the world that has said it will give us a better deal if we come out of the eu? and today she told the times that overoptimism about britain's future
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outside the eu sells people short. so what do conservatives arriving in manchester make of boris johnson's latest intervention? i guess he's positioning himself as a sort of spokesperson for brexit, and making sure it goes through. i'm not quite sure that boris going down his own line, as he is, is necessarily the right way forward. i like people who are charismatic, and who can speak their minds, so boris is certainly one of those people. so what is your message to boris johnson? shh. shush. get behind the prime minister. theresa may's struggling to contain her party's differences over europe. some think she should be just as concerned about who's trying to move in on herjob. separatist leaders in spain's north—eastern region of catalonia insist they will go ahead with an independence referendum on sunday, despite the government calling it a violation of spain's constitution. spanish police have sealed off polling stations and raided a communications centre, where the votes are due to be counted. from barcelona here's tom burridge. it isn't common for people to fly
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spanish flags in barcelona. but tonight catalonia's devolved government was surrounded. wearing and wielding them, catalans who do not want tomorrow's disputed referendum. we don't want spain to, like, separate. we want to be spanish. we don't want them to take that away from us. the message is from all these people who have been silent against the referendum is to say that is enough. a small number carried emblems from spain's far right. one man tried to bring a pro—referendum poster down. for years it has been those who want independence who have taken to the streets in large numbers, but the night it is those who are against the referendum who are making sure their voice is also heard. music plays. earlier, a street party at the entrance of a school. parents and locals determined
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that it will be a polling station, come tomorrow. it's sad that it has not been able to organise it as a proper referendum, as scotland did, but i think it is going to be a demonstration of people wanting to have a say and to be heard. reports tonight that police have started closing some schools down to stop the vote. after activities all day, parents again planned to sleep at some schools to prevent that from happening. spanish national police have been moved to catalonia in large numbers. the message from madrid, that the spanish government is in charge. posters put up late tonight. but there has been nothing akin to an election campaign. a vote where controversy has eclipsed debate. a man's been arrested on suspicion
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of attempted murder after a three year old girl was dropped from a bridge into a river in bolton. greater manchester police say the thirty nine year old jumped into the water afterwards in an apparent suicide attempt. the little girl suffered a broken wrist. britain must be fully prepared to walk away from the eu without a brexit deal — that's according to the new ukip leader, henry bolton. mr bolton said any transitional period for leaving the eu must be brief and the two years proposed by the prime minister was extremely unwelcome. the former soldier and police officer was elected as ukip leader on friday — the party's fourth injust over a year. mexican prosecutors have opened an investigation into potential criminal responsibility over
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the collapse of a privately—owned school in mexico city, in which nineteen children and seven adults died. the tragedy has become a symbol of the devastation inflicted by the country's 7.1 magnitude quake nearly two weeks ago, which killed more than 300 people in the capital and surrounding states. andrew plant reports. flowers, teddy bears and balloons — tributes to the 19 children who died here alongside seven adults, after an earthquake caused this school to collapse. translation: it is a memorial to all the people who are suffering. as you can see, this is an area of grief which is not going away. it is a small tribute and a memorial to the people. it was the worst in a generation, killing at least 355 people in mexico city and the areas around. now what happened here is under investigation. engineers believe the school should never have fallen down and that illegal building work meant its steal supports gave way killing many of those inside. investigators are now looking at the building and the companies behind its construction. officials have already said they suspect it did not comply with regulations.
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translation: we will put together the files and make a detailed investigation as to what building permits were issued, who issued them, who reviewed the site, and who authorised it. it is indisputable that there could have been criminal negligence and that is why we are investigating. since the massive earthquake, that hit mexico in 1985, planning and building codes have been improved and rigidly enforced — quake—proofing buildings a national priority. translation: we are not going to hide anything. a terrible tragedy occurred here. i think we are all shocked and i think it is my obligation to investigate everything we can. the suspicion here is that the steal columns that supported the school were too weak to withstand a strong earthquake. now many here believe it was an accident that was waiting to happen. andrew plant, bbc news. an air france a—380 passengerjet
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has been forced to make an emergency landing after serious damage to one of its engines. the super—jumbo was travelling from paris to los angeles with more than five—hundred people on board, but was diverted to goose bay military airport in eastern canada. one passenger said he heard a loud boom and felt a sudden movement. it's unclear what caused the incident. ten days after puerto rico was devastated by hurricane maria, the situation in the american territory remains desperate. the entire island is still without power and there's a shortage of drinking water, food and fuel. there's also deepening political tension over relief efforts. while much—needed aid is now arriving, president trump has continued to angrily defend the us response on twitter. the governor of puerto rico gave this update. our priorities at this juncture keep being food delivery, delivery of gas, making sure that the hospitals are working, making sure we can get more hospitals online and that they get their diesel and theirfuel, establishing as best mechanism
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for robust communication, whether it be telecoms or otherwise, and the air traffic control so that we can get more assets here in puerto rico. the government is also working in conjunction and collaboration with fema. our housing department, the office of the first lady and the family department, are also doing efforts to distribute food and water in different areas in puerto rico, and we are co—ordinating all of the logistics with fema so that we can make sure they arrive at their destination. it'sjust on 3:16. this is bbc news. our top story. the united nations warns of an increase in sexual violence against rohingya refugees fleeing the military crackdown in myanmar.
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let's stay with that story. i spoke with tun kin, president of the burmese rohingya organisation in the uk. he is currently in chittagong in southern bangladesh, assessing the situation on the ground. i have seen many refugees taking shelter in the refugee camps and some are not getting proper shelter yet. many women, especially with babies, these women are facing serious, seriously they are facing, you know, a kind of disease and not getting proper shelter nor medical aid. we appreciate what the bangladesh government has been doing but it is hard to handle such a large population. when i visited their i had many women telling me about stories, they were ashamed to say and some women were told me they had been raped by government, by military, they had been raped three or four times by the military. these horrific things and told me and some elderly man told me they had seen their sons being slaughtered, their grandchildren thrown into fires, it is an unbelievable situation, unspeakable what i heard from them. when i visited their i had many
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women telling me about stories, they were ashamed to say and some women were told me they had been raped by government, by military, they had been raped three or four times by the military. these horrific things and told me and some elderly man told me they had seen their sons being slaughtered, their grandchildren thrown into fires, it is an unbelievable situation, unspeakable what i heard from them. truly horrific accounts. we know that there are children in these camps. some unaccompanied by any adult. are they being properly cared for? not really.
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not yet. as far as i know there are many agencies here trying to take care of them. we really need much more international help, international expertise to take care of these children. it is quite important. i think that the international community must support the bangladesh government to accommodate and give proper shelter because as i said earlier it is a heavy population there and the people must, they left from burma, so it is important. we need international support to bangladesh to accommodate them. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. thousands of people have marched through the irish capital, dublin, to demand changes to the country's strict abortion laws.
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the annual rally is the first major demonstration since the country's prime minister announced last week, that ireland would hold a referendum on the issue. protesters have clashed with police in the swedish city of gothenburg during a march organised by a neo—nazi group, the nordic resistance movement. at least 20 people are said to have been arrested. the unrest reportedly began when protesters tried to deviate from the planned route. thousands of counter—demonstrators have also gathered in the city. a military plane has crashed in the democratic republic of congo, killing everyone on board. aviation officials said about ten people died. the aircraft failed to take off properly from the main airport in the capital kinshasa and crashed in a suburb. it is unclear if any people on the ground were killed or injured. dialogue between north korea and
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america is being explored. columbia is getting ready for the start of a ceasefire between government forces and the national liberation army or eln. rebel fighters have been told to respect the ceasefire from sunday until mid—january. janey mitchell reports. many have known no other life. many of the eln guerillas has known no other life. after over 50 years of fighting the government, the commander of the marxist group has for the first time ordered his fighters to observe a ceasefire from 0500 gmt on sunday. translation: i order all troops far and wide throughout the nation's territory to cease all offensive activities and to fully comply with the bilateral ceasefire. the truce comes seven months after talks began in ecuador between then government and the rebel group's leadership.
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since then, hostagetaking by the eln has continued. and it's stepped up attacks on oil companies. this image reportedly showing pollution of a river in a northern province just days ago, after the eln blew up a major oil pipeline. such attacks should now stop. and after signing the ceasefire agreement, the president of columbia hailed the deal as the first step towards peace with the eln. translation: this is the first. the first bilateral ceasefire that the eln has signed in its entire history. it is agreeing with humanitarian object is to protect the civilian population, to defend their right to liberties. population, to defend their rights and liberties. it comes weeks after juan manuel santos locked away the final cache of weapons from the larger farc group
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following its peace deal in november. it relaunched as a political party in early september. part of the country remained plagued by violence as groups move in on former strongholds. but after five decades of conflict, peace with the country's left—wing rebels is within colombia's grasp. officials in bali have urged people who live outside the immediate danger zone of the mount agung volcano to return home. the governor of the indonesian island said the number of evacuees had become too high. more than 75,000 people have been moved from their homes, as the volcano is said to be entering a "critical phase." officials stress they can not predict when exactly it will erupt. austria's law banning of face veils such as burqas or niqabs has begun. only an estimated 150 austrian women wear the full face veil. the measures are seen as an attempt to counter the rise of the far—right, ahead of a general election next month. there are around 700,000 muslims in a country with a population
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of about eight million. bethany bell reports from austria's capital vienna. austria is banning the fullface veil in public places. headscarves are allowed but the tiny minority of muslim women who wear the burqa or niqab now face a fine. it is estimated only 150 women here actually wear one. the law doesn'tjust target muslim veils, it also restricts the use of medical masks and clown make—up. this shop sells clothes for conservative muslim women. they would not let us film inside, but on their website they do so ads for the niqab. it is very rare to see muslim women wearing full faced veils, here in austria. those who do so are believed to be young and converts.
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the coalition government of the social democrats and conservatives says the law is about standing up for women's rights. in a free society, we have to protect the values of the free society, and one of the values is the equal rights of man and woman and not ban the woman from the public. we cannot accept a woman as a second—class person. this election poster by the far—right freedom party says islamisation should be stopped. fears about muslims are wide spread, although there have not been major terrorist attacks here. carla amina baghajati, from the islamic community in austria, says she is not in favour of face veils but she does not like the new law. muslims feel that populism is taking over and they are very worried that they are made responsible for attacks. we need a feeling of us, in our society, and these laws do not help but are
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counter—productive. tourism officials are concerned too. they say those most likely to be affected by the ban are wealthy tourists from the gulf. arrests could be bad for business. bethany bell, bbc news, vienna. that is all the time we have. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm tom donkin. the weather now with darren bett. hello again. it's typical autumn fare over the next few days. the start of a new month, wind, sunshine and rain. these weather systems tracking rain in from the atlantic, deepening low pressure strengthening winds as well. quite a contrast in temperatures. clear skies in scotland, not far from freezing this morning. much milder weather with rain and drizzle further south, low cloud as well. rain on the way for the great scottish run after a chilly start. temperatures lifting
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but winds picking up as well. heavy rain across western scotland as the rain moves in and east across the country through the morning, some rain will drizzle at times in england and wales. a glimmer of sunshine, the best in the afternoon across northern ireland. improving across some other western areas later in the day. quite a muggy field across england and wales. a windy day across the uk. winds picking up in wembley for the nfl. drizzly rain at times. you can see the saints vs dolphins game on bbc two later on today. this rain finally clearing away in the evening across eastern parts of england. skies clearing away from showers in the north—west. seeing the weather changing. warmer, tropical, muggy air giving way to a north—westerly winds overnight and into monday. pulling in something a bit colder. this is the former hurricane maria, sliding through the english channel. a big impact on monday
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because of the low pressure to the north. winds even stronger by monday morning. 50 mph for rush—hour on monday. 60 mph quite possible across some western and northern parts of scotland. accompanied by a lot of showers as well, quite nasty weather for a while. further south, wind is not as strong. not much rain, a decent day for the south—east. chilly in the wind, temperatures a bit lower on monday. seeing rain clipping the far south—west of england in the afternoon. this is what is left of hurricane maria. rain running through much of england, through the channel, gone by monday. we still have north—westerly winds. by this stage, not as strong, thankfully. some sunshine around, probably not as many showers. quite a chill in the air, 13—14 fairly typical. high pressure on the scene in the week, but not likely to hang around. getting squeezed out by this low pressure, bringing wind and rain back to the north—west.
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this is bbc news. the headlines: the united nations is warning of an increase in sexual violence against rohingya refugees fleeing a military crackdown in myanmar. doctors in bangladesh say that many of the women and children who have crossed over the border from myanmar have been sexually assaulted and abused by soldiers. separatist leaders in the spanish region of catalonia insist that polls will open in the coming hours for an independence referendum banned by the central government. spanish police are working to block the vote but catalonia's vice president said ballot boxes would be available at polling stations. the situation in puerto rico is still dire after the devastation caused by two hurricanes. there's also deepening political tension over the us relief effort. in a series of tweets, president trump promised his support, but tried to blame local
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officials, democrats, and the media for the poor situation. british double agent kim philby spent three decades passing british and american secrets to the kgb until he was discovered as a soviet spy in 1963.
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