tv BBC News BBC News October 23, 2017 8:00pm-9:01pm BST
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this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm. prime minister theresa may insists progress was made at last week's eu summit, facing labour claims that her brexit approach is chaotic and damaging. by approaching these negotiations in a constructive way, in a spirit of friendship and cooperation, we can and will deliver the best possible outcome that works for all our people. meanwhile, the european commission president denies saying that mrs may had been despondent and begging for help last week. she was not tired, she was fighting, as is her duty, so everything for me was ok. so she didn't plead with you for help? no, no. the widow of an american soldier who died in action says president trump struggled to remember his name when he called to offer sympathy. an army sergeant accused of sabotaging his wife's parachute also coming up this hour, a united nations plea forfurther funds to aid the desperate situation of rohingya refugees who've fled myanmar. £260 million has
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been pledged so far. bangladesh says it has been placed in an untenable position, with nearly a million rohingyas having crossed the border. the world's coral reefs are being turned into "bleached deserts" — a warning today from sir david attenborough. if you've ever seen a coral reef and you think what that once was, that's enough to make you weep. in sport, organisers of the venice marathon apologise after motorcycle escorts take the race leaders the wrong way, costing them the race. good evening and welcome to bbc news. theresa may has told mps that brexit talks with eu leaders last week made important progress,
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and that she had a "degree of confidence" that negotiations on trade could begin in december. but a leaked account of her meeting last week with jean—claude juncker, the head of the european commission, has suggested that she begged for help, because she was politically weak and had no room for manoeuvre at home. mrjuncker has said the story which appeared in a german newspaper wasn't true. from westminster, here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar. remember this? smiles and kisses in brussels last week. theresa may, europe's top official, eu leaders, all keen to navigate brexit. how? to help mrs may get a deal to sell at home, notjust the story of a leader leaving europe's top table empty—handed. getting a deal done is an uphill climb but today, the man who runs things in brussels did his bit to help, even defending theresa may's dignity, and stamped on a german news reports that she pleaded with european
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leaders to help with brexit and see off her enemies at home. she was in good shape, she wasn't tired, she was fighting, as is her duty, and everything for me was ok. so she didn't plead with you for help? no, that isn't the style of the prime minister. no, not pleading, apparently, holding out for talks on trade and the future without writing a big cheque out front. statement, the prime minister. she told mps the breakthrough could come soon if there is goodwill on both sides. if we are going to take a step forward together it must be on the basis ofjoint effort and endeavour between the uk and the eu but i believe that by approaching these negotiations in a constructive way, in a spirit of friendship and cooperation, we can and will deliver the best possible outcome that works for all our people. the biggest battle the prime minister faces isn't so much with the 27 european states, the chancellor said deftly described as the enemy...
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it is her battle to bring together the warring factions of her own cabinet and party. and conservative differences were plain to see. will the prime minister agree to listen to british businesses, and would she even goes so far today as finally to rule out no deal? will she stick to her guns, follow through and have confidence that unfortunately the only people undermining her from this side are people that are threatening to go into the lobbies with the labour party? today, the foreign secretary insisted he was towing the line set by mrs may recently in florence, not setting down a harder line of his own. have you been helping brexit or helping to weaken theresa may? the entire cabinet is united around every syllable of the florence speech. it is an excellent text,
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an excellent basis on which to proceed, and we hope our european friends and partners agree. next time theresa may reports back here on a european summit, she clearly hopes and believes she will have a positive tale to tell. if she wants to ease the pressure, she will need one. for more on this i'm joined by our political correspondent chris mason. i guess it depends who you believe, theresa may saying she's got a degree of confidence trade talks could start in december or, if you believe that german paper, she is despondent. ultimately, i don't think we got very far today in terms of learning anything new about the government position or the supporters of the government or the opponents of the government, in terms of their brexit outlook. the views we heard articulated work down the tramlines we would expect so, on the tramlines we would expect so, on the one hand, the prime minister can point to the optimism, from her
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perspective, what emerged from that summit last week, that new information we learned, that the 27 remaining countries of the eu were going to talk among themselves about the whole business of discussion and negotiation to come on a transition period and on trade, but, as we also learned, that first deadline, that first hopeful moment where the uk might move on to the future relationship, the end of last week, was a deadline that came and went. it was quite striking this afternoon that she remained and articulated a confidence and optimism about it happening in december, clearing that hurdle of sufficient progress, that ill—defined hurdle that the european union has set down on both issues being discussed, the irish border, citizens rights and the financial settlement. politically, she will be aware that it was acceptable to many that this first deadline would be broken, not least because it was
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widely expected on both sides of the channel throughout the summer that it wouldn't happen in october. if it happens again in december, the hurdle not being cleared, i think that would start getting very difficult politically. we have had a message from leaders of business in the uk, saying they really want the transition term to be as similar as possible to current eu membership. notjust a similar, but they are really keen, in this draft letter that was heading for david davis, from the likes of the employers organisation the cbi and the federation of small businesses and the british chambers of commerce, that yes, they want any transition period to as closely as possible mirror the current relationship the uk as with the eu as a member state, but also crucially, from their perspective, but the whole detail of actually securing this transition period is nailed down within the next couple of months, because they make the argument that they are having to make decisions about
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investment and jobs, looking ahead toa investment and jobs, looking ahead to a period that is only 18 months down the track now, and by christmas, a few more months will have ticked by. they want to be certain that, come the point where we leave the eu, march 2019, there is going to be a transition period, because it is worth emphasising, for all of the talk of a transition period we have seen in the last few months, accommodating in the prime minister saying as much in terms of her desire for it in that speech in florence, it is still not yet signed off by the eu. so there is still the fear among some in the business community that it might not happen. thank you. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:a0pm this evening in the papers. our guestsjoining me tonight are henry mance, political correspondent at the financial times, and lucy fisher, senior political correspondent at the times. the widow of a american soldier killed during a military operation
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in niger has accused president trump of failing to remember his name when he phoned to offer condolences. mr trump has insisted he spoke sergeant la david johnson's name correctly without hesitation. but myeshia johnson told abc news the president's "stumbling" had "hurt her the most". it's the president, he said he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyway. it made me cry because i was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said that. he could not remember my husband's name. shortly after that interview had aired the president responded with this tweet: our washington correspondent laura bicker has been
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following the story. a bit ofa a bit of a war of words here, but it's a bit of a no—win situation, i suppose, for the president. this feud has been embroiled within the white house for the last week or so. last week, it seemed political. congresswoman frederica wilson, a democrat, she was in the car when the call was made to widowjohnson, and for her account first of all she came forward saying that it was inappropriate, donald trump described her as wacky and wrong. but now it seems very personal. the widow of a fallen soldier has been forced to go on national television to recount the conversation of big condolence call made by the president, and in it she said it made her even more upset, that she
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hasn't been able to find out what happened to her husband and she hasn't been able to see his body. sergeantjohnson was one of four us army soldiers killed in the niger valley border when on they were ambushed by islamic state. his flair went off and they were described as missing to start with and then declared dead. when it comes to this argument involving the widow, it goes to the very heart of what some critics have described about the white house for many months, but it has a credibility problem, that, when president trump speaks, he needs to be fact checked, and for months he has been speaking about fa ke months he has been speaking about fake news, but this time it is the widow of a fallen soldier who has come forward, and it's a no—win situation for the white house. in the broader scheme of things, how damaging do you think this is for president trump? i mean, in his core support, will this matter much? will
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they object to what appears to have been his behaviour in this phone call? i don't think his core support will like this one bit. he came to power with regards to regarding the military as —— describing the military as —— describing the military as, he would be great, he would be the best commander—in—chief, he has great respect for the military. he has been ordering players in the nfl to not kneel and to stand for the national anthem, and here we have a soldier who has been serving his country, shot and killed, and now he is basically an twitter, refuting the account of his widow. they are not going to like this one little bit. you can imagine that, within the white house, there will be some within the administration urging him to back down. thank you, laura. from today, drivers of older, more polluting vehicles, will have to pay an extra £10 to drive in central london. the charge applies to diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2006. london's mayor, sadiq khan,
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said the charge was needed to improve air quality, but opponents argue the scheme will disproportionately penalise the poorest drivers. our transport correspondent, richard westcott, reports. london has some of the most polluted streets in europe, swimming in nitrogen dioxide and tiny particles invisible unless you use a special camera. it's a hidden killer. pollution‘s linked to lung and heart disease with children the most vulnerable. what i'm in favour of is encouraging people to change their behaviour so they stop driving the most polluting vehicles and start moving to either public transport, walking or cycling, or cleaner cars or vans. from today, anybody crossing this line in an older vehicle will have to pay an extra £10 for the privilege, and it looks like it's already affecting people's behaviour. when they first talked about this scheme back in february, they said around 10,000 vehicles per day would have to pay.
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a few months later, they're nowjust talking about 6,500 vehicles, which suggests that people are changing their cars and vans. it will affect many vehicles registered before 2006. if you include the congestion charge, midweek drivers could actually pay more than £21 a day. critics say it'll put small businesses under pressure. like barry neil, who mends computers then couriers them around the city. more than 50% of our business is in via small career companies. t charge means they're going to put their prices up or, effectively, go out of business, which means that, therefore, we're going to have to use bigger companies, which raises our bottom line, which means we're going to pass that on to our clients. so we're going to be more expensive. others worry the new charge penalises drivers with less money. it's going to be very difficult for people with older vehicles that now have to get rid of them, buy a new one or stump up and pay for it.
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it's going to put a lot of poor people, 0k, people that can't afford it in the first place... what are they going to do? it's pretty difficult. it's notjust a london problem. many british towns and cities have broken eu pollution limits, prompting calls for more action. the government need to step up too and help people to switch to cleaner forms of transport, such as the scrappage scheme, such as changes to the tax system so it's cheaper to buy a cleaner vehicle. many city leaders are looking at cutting pollution with plans announced next year. in glasgow, there's talk of a similar low emission zone, but it's not clear if drivers there would pay. meanwhile, the london zone will be extended in a few years, with even tougher rules on who has to pay to come in. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may insists that progress has been made in brexit but labour says her approach is chaotic and damaging. meanwhile the european commission president denies saying that mrs may
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had been despondent and begging for help last week. drivers of some older and more polluting vehicles almost double to drive in central london , in new measures to tackle pollution. coming up in a moment, we'll be looking at why the latest health advice says more patients should be told to go home and rest, a course of antibiotics. sport now, and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre. good evening. everton are searching for a new manager after the sacking of ronald koeman earlier today afterjust 16 months in thejob. koeman leaves the club 18th in the table, afterjust two wins from nine premier league games. they were beaten 5—2 by arsenal yesterday and have also failed to win any of their thre europa league matches so far. it marks a rapid decline for koeman, after leading the club to a seventh—placed finish in his first season in charge.
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everton under 23 manager david u nsworth everton under 23 manager david unsworth will lead the side in their match on wednesday, but who will they turn to on a permanent basis? lots of people want to take this job, it's a bigjob lots of people want to take this job, it's a big job in the premier league, everton have amazing history and support. you are taking them from a low base, so in many ways you can't fail, because you are possibly just bringing them out of the relegation area. i think if you look around, the everton board and the new owner will be looking worldwide. i think they will be looking for the biggest name available in world football just now to try and biggest name available in world footballjust now to try and bring him in. the problem is getting the money to do it —— the problem is he's got the money to do it but has he's got the money to do it but has he got the group of players? that's a big question. former boss david moyes might be an
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unpopular choice, after less than successful spells with manchester united and sunderland. shoreditch has impressed during his time with burnley but he has also been linked with the vacantjob at leicester city. —— sean dyche. sam allardyce said he wasn't interested in coaching scotland, but could he been involved with a club? and ryan giggs, who missed out on thejob involved with a club? and ryan giggs, who missed out on the job at swa nsea, giggs, who missed out on the job at swansea, is currently available. chelsea ladies manager emma hayes has signed a new three—and—a—half—year contract. the announcement comes with her side having made a perfect start to the women's super league campaign as well as progressing past bayern munich into the last 16 of the uefa women's champions league. hayes had been tipped as a leading contender to get the permanent england job. scotland flankerjohn hardie's suspension from edinburgh and scotland duty is because of alleged cocaine use, bbc scotland understands. scottish rugby announced on friday that hardie would not be considered for selection pending an internal investigation. hardie will be omitted from scotland's squad for the autumn
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international tests, when it's announced on tuesday. it's understood hardie, 29, has not failed any drugs tests. simon zebo will effectively sacrifice his place at the 2019 rugby world cup by leaving munster and heading overseas at the end of the season. munster have confirmed that the ireland wing will leave the province next summer, with french club pau leading the chase for his signature. zebo has been capped 35 times by ireland since his 2012 debut, but the irfu policy of refusing to select overseas—based players means he will not be in head coach joe schmidt's plans next season. caroline wozniacki and simona halep have both won their opening round robin matches on day two at the end—of—season wta finals in singapore. world number one simona halep saw off caroline garcia in straight sets, while wozniacki beat elina svitolina 6—2, 6—0 in under an hour. gloucestershire's jack taylor has been suspended from bowling for a year after his action was found to be illegal
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for the second time within a 12—month period. the off—spinner, who has served two previous bans from bowling, was again reported for throwing this summer. his suspension runs until the 26th of september next year, after which, he'll be able to ask for a re—evaluation of his action. that's all the sport for now. an undercover fbi agent has given a rare broadcast interview, describing how he infiltrated a radical islamist group and helped prevent an al-qaeda plot to bomb the railway line between new york and toronto. the man's real identity has been disguised — he wore a prosthetic mask for the interview, as our security correspondent frank gardner reports. the longer it's on, the more it becomes part of me... this man, not his real name, not his realface, is an active undercover fbi agent. he has been given prosthetic make—up
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to hide his identity before giving his first tv interview about why he risked his life to expose terrorist plots. putting your arm around the bad guy and telling him you're his best friend. getting him to commit and tell you all his secrets and all the evil inside him. and locking him up that way was much more challenging and intriguing to me, and i found that was my niche. it was the 9/11 attacks in 2001 that prompted him to offer his services to the fbi. a us muslim with egyptian parents, his fluent arabic later became invaluable. using his cover name, he helped convict this man and his accomplice for plotting to bomb the toronto to new york railway four years ago.
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i put on his clothes, his watch, his shoes, i drive his car, his wallet is in my pocket, his phone is on me. and i drive to the beach and i sit at the beach and i talk to myself out loud, like a crazy person, reciting everything there is to know about this man, his company, his family, his legend, over and over. and with a special adhesive... he is adamant he's not giving away any secrets. but his interview and his book give an insight into a double life most of us could never imagine possible. frank gardner, bbc news. the international development secretary, priti patel, has said one of her ministers was right to suggest that britons who join so—called islamic state should be killed. yesterday, rory stewart said recruits to is should not be
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helped to come back home. today, ms patel said she supported him. the only way to deal with them is, as the secretary of state for defence has said, as rory stewart has said as well, are through the actions that we and others are taking through coalition forces, which is to clearly to kill them in the way in which, you know, the various strikes have been taking place. the financial conduct authority has said it may take "further action" over the way royal bank of scotland treated some small business customers. the watchdog published an interim report into the unit set up by the bank to help struggling companies, and said it is still investigating. it pointed to some failings at rbs, but said it hadn't engaged in systematic inappropriate treatment of customers. our economics correspondent, andrew verity, has the details. it was four years ago that rbs natwest was first accused of systematically mistreating thousands of business customers. it told customers its global restructuring group was a turnaround
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division there to help them get through hard times but critics said it wasn't interested in turning businesses around. their interest came second to the bank's interest of pulling in loans and getting profits. the bank furiously denied it. the report finds the bank was engaged in inappropriate treatment of its business customers including failure to handle conflicts of interest, failure to ensure fair treatment of customers, failure to support small businesses in a manner consistent with good practice. while some failures were systematic, it found rbs didn't set out to force businesses into its restructuring group and businesses transferred to the restructuring group already had signs of financial problems. every one of these cases the fca has reviewed said they were in difficulty and they were appropriately put into grg. the right cases went in. it is a very disturbing time for customers, i know that, and we should have been better at dealing with those customers. the financial conduct authority,
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who commissioned the report under pressure from government, has been pressed by mps to publish it in full, notjust a summary, but it has refused to. it has taken them a long time and they still won't give us the full report, which i think we ought to, as parliament, be able to see because, of course, some damning conclusions, nine separate areas where they have found major problems, and it is people's livelihoods, their businesses, the people they employ, who have suffered from this. after all, what we are talking about here is gross injustice possibly to a large number of businesses, often small businesses up and down the country. better late than never, but they deserved better. what is interesting about this summary of the report into mistreatment of business customers by rbs and natwest, which it owns, is not so much what is in the summary but what is left out. we have seen a copy of the full report which says management knew
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or should have known this was an intentional and coordinated strategy and that the mistreatment of business customers was a result of that. the report found, in dealing with small business customers going through a stressful situation, grg employees were dismissive and sometimes unduly aggressive. many customers are still waiting for justice. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this afternoon. police are continuing to question a man following an incident at a bowling alley in nuneaton yesterday in which two people were allegedly held hostage. armed officers stormed the building after the four hour siege. a british man accused of public indecency in dubai has had charges against him dropped, after the intervention of the emirate's ruler. 27—year—old jamie harron, from stirling, was sentenced to three months injail for allegedly touching
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a man's hip in a bar. he's now had his passport returned and is free to return to the uk. a labour mp has apologised for a series of derogatory online posts about celebrities he made before he was elected to parliament. jared o'mara, who became mp for sheffield hallam in june, said he was "deeply ashamed" of his comments. more patients should be told to go home and rest, rather than take a course of antibiotics, that's the advice of public health england. the chief medical officer says that up to a fifth of prescriptions are unnecessary, and overuse of antibiotics is making infections harder to treat. our health correspondent james gallagher reports. bacteria, like these e coli, are getting harder to treat as they evolve ways to resist antibiotics. these public health england laboratories are where the most serious infections come for analysis. this antibiotic would kill or treat an infection caused by this strain. if there is no zone at all, we would
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say the bacterium is resistant and this drug would not be an effective treatment. if we go back to 2005—07, we were seeing these bacteria in two to four cases per year. last year, we confirmed these resistant bacteria in over 2,000 cases. if antibiotics fail, then minor infections could become deadly, and surgery, chemotherapy and caesareans too risky to perform. drug—resista nt infections are a growing problem. 5,000 people were killed by such infections last year, if you take e coli in the bloodstream, now four in ten cases can't be treated with the most common antibiotics. # antibiotics, we're wonderful pills # but don't ever think we'll cure all of your ills # using too many antibiotics increases drug resistance, and this tv campaign is being launched to tell people they'll not be given a pill
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every time they are ill. the majority of us will get infections from time to time and will recover because of our own immunity. the fact is that if you take an antibiotic when you don't need it, you are more likely to have an infection that the antibiotics then don't work for over the coming months. antibiotics are vital in cases like sepsis, pneumonia and bacterial meningitis. but health officials said we all have a part to play in preventing the rise of resistance and that for many infections, rest, fluids and paracetamol will do thejob. james gallagher, bbc news. this is bbc news. coming up in the next few minutes: as the un urges governments to pledge more money to help those who've fled violence in myanmar, we ask matthew saltmarsh from the un refugee agency and adam lake from the international
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rescue committee what can be done for the hundreds of thousands of rohingya muslims seeking refuge in bangladesh. time for the weather with tomas schafernaker. the next few days will stay pretty cloudy across the uk, down at times as well, but the good news is it isn't too cold at all. in fact, quite warm across the south of the uk. the moisture and cloud has been streaming in and out of the south—west, so this is a mild direction. not much rain this evening and overnight, but i think tomorrow some of us evening and overnight, but i think tomorrow some of us will need our brollies as the next weather front moves into wales by the time we get to the early hours of tuesday. ahead of that, of clear, dry weather. 12 degrees in hull. central and northern parts are in for some rain tomorrow. there will be drizzle ant hill cloud across south—western areas and the hills of wales, and
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temperatures up to about 19 in london, 16 in glasgow. pretty good for the time of year. that damp weather continues into tomorrow evening. hello. this is bbc news with ben brown. the headlines: theresa may insists that progress has been made in brexit talks. she was updating mps after last week's summit in brussels. i believe that by approaching these negotiations in a constructive way, ina spirit negotiations in a constructive way, in a spirit of friendship and cooperation, we can and will deliver the best possible outcome that works for all our people, and that belief is shared by other european leaders. meanwhile the european commission president, jean—claude juncker, denies saying that mrs may had been despondent and begging for help last week. the widow of an american soldier who died in action says president trump struggled to remember her husband's name when he called to offer sympathy. drivers of some older and more
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polluting vehicles will now pay almost double to drive into central london, in new measures aimed at tackling air pollution. in a moment, we'll hear how an undercover bbc investigation found drugs and counterfeit goods are being openly traded on the uk website, craigslist. more now on the prime minister's report on the eu summit in brussels last week. theresa may told mps that the latest talks have made important progress and had given her a degree of certainty that she would be able to get a good trade deal. mr speaker, i mrspeaker, iam mr speaker, i am ambitious and positive about britain's future and these negotiations. if we are going to ta ke these negotiations. if we are going to take a step forward together, it must be on the basis ofjoint effort and endeavour between the uk and the eu, buti and endeavour between the uk and the eu, but i believe that by approaching these negotiations in a
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constructive way, in a spirit of friendship and cooperation, we can and will deliver the best possible outcome that works for all our people, and that the leaf was shared by other european leaders. we're going to leave —— that belief. we're going to leave —— that belief. we're going to leave the eu in march 20 19. delivering on the democratic will of the british people. of course, we're preparing for every eventuality to ensure we leave in a smooth and orderly way, but i am confident we will be able to can negotiate a new comedy and special partnership between a sovereign united kingdom and ourfriends in the eu. however, the leader of the oppositionjeremy corbyn criticised theresa may for her lack of clarity over the timing of a trade deal. the biggest battle the prime minister faces is not so much with the 27 member states the chancellor so the 27 member states the chancellor so deftly described as the enemy, it
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is to bring back the warring factions —— bring together the warring factions of her cabinet and party. and the prime minister is to weak to do anything about it. the outcome of crashing out with no deal, to become a deregulated tax haven, the dream of a powerful faction of her back and front benches, would be a nightmare for people'sjobs and benches, would be a nightmare for people's jobs and living circumstances. meanwhile, business leaders have called for a transitional brexit deal to be reached by the end of the year. in a letter to ministers the cbi, the confederation of british industry, along with four other major business groups, warned that without an urgent deal, jobs and investment would suffer. former cabinet minister iain duncan smith said businesses should stop worrying about the transitional period. the firms themselves recognise that if we don't get a free trade arrangement, then we will have to have another arrangement. there is no vacuum. have another arrangement. there is no vacuum. people talked about there
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being no free—trade arrangement, no deal rather than a deal. the fact is, it is a deal rather than a different deal. the eu have been resistant to talking about a free—trade arrangement which is locked in the wto as we lead. that would become a wee thing, the best soccer stars, providing it is a good one. the alternative is to leave under wto terms, which the rest of the world operates with the eu quite successfully, and that may or may not entail tariffs. the wto allows a derogation between parting countries like this, and they can arrange to have zero tariffs if they wish and access to services which don't have to be opened up to the rest of the world for ten years. it is feasible to leave under wto terms but still have a zero tariff regime agreed by both parties for a period while you both parties for a period while you both hopefully go on and negotiate a free—trade agreement. the key point
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is, business should stop worrying about the transition or the implementation period, because that can surely only be decided what to weak once you know what you're arrangement will be, and that hasn't been decided. notwithstanding the fa ct been decided. notwithstanding the fact that the british people want to do it. the united nations says governments must pledge more money to help hundreds of thousands of rohingya muslims who've fled violence in myanmar, and sought sanctuary in neighbouring bangladesh. there were around 300,000 refugees inside camps along the border before august. since then 600,000 more have arrived. the number of refugees could soon reach1 million — putting aid agencies, and the bangladeshi authorities, under immense strain. myanmar has been accused of "ethnic cleansing" — leading to fears the refugees could spend decades in limbo. from kutupalong camp in bangladesh, clive myrie reports. for rohingya muslims who have escaped myanmar, neighbouring bangladesh is a land of second chances. these refugees, part
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of a huge influx we saw cross the border, are queueing for their first food supplies. with their pink ration cards, they are now dependent on the kindness of strangers. it can be a long, tiring wait in the clammy, humid air. best to do what you can to make things a little bearable. these rohingyas are the latest in a long line of victims of a sectarian and religious conflict that stretches back many decades. this is a crisis that's been going on a long, long time. you guys must be feeding people who have probably sort of been through this, crossed the border, many years ago. that's true. we've been feeding for 25 years. you can see it in the camps. at the bottom of the camp, there's refugees from 25 years ago. you move upwards, ten years ago. one year ago, and now you can see who's arrived yesterday. these guys have arrived this week? it's incredible. for the refugees, this might be the land of second chances but it seemed one rohingya muslim's luck
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had run out. a few days ago we found abu in the arms of his big sister by the side of the road. limp and lifeless, acutely malnourished, we alerted unicef. after several days in the clinic, abu's back from the brink. you ok? he was terribly sick, with fever and diarrhoea. it was a close call. so, the doctors say he was malnourished, still is malnourished but he is taking in food, which means that, hopefully, in a few days, maybe a couple of weeks, he should be eating normally. and, fingers crossed, gaining weight. but will abu and his big sister ever see the land of their birth again? just how long is this period of exile for the hundreds of thousands here? the future of the refugees is being discussed at the highest
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levels between the bangladesh and myanmar governments. could the rohingyas one day return home and these camps close? well, no one's holding their breath. at the un general assembly, bangladeshi's prime minister made it clear where she thinks the blame for the crisis lies. this forcibly displaced people of myanmar are fleeing an ethnic cleansing in their own country, where they have been living for centuries. it's a charge myanmar strongly denies blaming rohingya insurgents for attacks on civilians. the funeral procession of rashida mohammed makes its way through the rohingya refugee camp. he was 75 and never saw muslim and buddhist reconciled in his homeland. the younger generation may one day see this happen but, for now, the many rohingya will live and die on foreign soil. i'm nowjoined in the studio
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by matthew saltmarsh from the un refugee agency. and alongside him is adam lake from the international rescue committee. thank you very much to both of you for coming in. adam, i know youjust got back from those camps just inside bangladesh — paint us a picture of what it is like. the thing that strikes you when you arrive is the scale of the problem. the camp that we just saw has massively expanded. i walked around the perimeter, and this new area of the perimeter, and this new area of the new camp is absolutely full of people. whereas in the central part of the camp, you are seeing some water and sanitation, in the newer parts, that is not happening. beyond food and water, the thing that struck me is the level of trauma.
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you see women holding babies, holding up three fingers, saying they have lost the other two. they are telling us stories of their children's throats being slit. many of them have been raped on their way to the camp, so we are seeing massive trauma, and we need some expertise to address that. unhcr has dealt with so many huge refugee crises over the years — how does this compare? in terms of scale, it is enormous, as you mention, getting close to 1 is enormous, as you mention, getting close toi million rohingya this place. in terms of the speed and volume, it is definitely right up there in terms of displacement and refugee crises. for those people who haven't been following the story, what are these people fleeing from? why are they so terrified of staying
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in myanmar? we have done an assessment, the second assessment of the camps, to determine the need. it shows that only 11% want to go back, which is remarkably low in these situations. when you are there, you can see why. the cases of rape and murder, they are notjust a few stories that you here but stories that you hear from stories that you here but stories that you hearfrom every stories that you here but stories that you hear from every single person you speak to. when you look over at the hills, you can see myanmar and the smoke is still coming out. these people haven't walked for many miles and these things happened just a few days ago. is it ethnic cleansing? that is what it has been described as. rape is being used as a weapon. men have been killed and villages have been burned, so there is nothing to go back to. what has happened to these people is a way of completely taking dignity away, and i think that is why, beyond food and water, support for women and girls, gender—based violence, this is really important. these are the scars that are being
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felt within the camps. matthew, what can the well do? there is an appeal for money — how much has been promised and how much is needed? pledges for £340 million were made in an appeal that had asked for £440 million. that is a significant amount of money. that appeal runs until february next year, but of course, that is only six months, and the problem will continue beyond that, so more funds will be needed. of course, that is generous. when we look at other appeals we have made in places like africa and parts of the middle east, there are much lower levels of commitment. a lot of cash, as you were saying — what will that be spent on? on humanitarian aid. as matthew mentioned, the needs are enormous, starting with shelter. so, bring in supplies so that the
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extension of the camp can become a reality, building roads, food and nutrition. there is a big health campaign underway. 700,000 people, the plan is to inoculate them against cholera. digging latrines and wells, making sure there is clean water. adam, from your experience there in the last few days, will this keep going? 1 million people already who have come into bangladesh — will there be more? will there be thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands more? even on the day i left, you see people coming in by the truckload. today's announcement is welcome news, but money only goes so far. we really need greater access. bangladesh has a fantastic ngo, charity background, and they are stretched to capacity. bangladeshis overwhelmed. and they are stretched to capacity. bangladeshis overwhelmedm and they are stretched to capacity. bangladeshis overwhelmed. it is. local charities —— bangladesh is
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overwhelmed. organisations like the international rescue committee are there to add support, because through training local people, we can make sure the supporters continued, because the problem is not going to go away. thank you so much for being with us. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may insists that progress has been made in brexit talks, but labour says her approach is chaotic and damaging. meanwhile, the european commission president denies saying that mrs may has been despondent and begging for help last week. drivers of some older and more polluting vehicles will now pay almost double to drive in central london, in new measures to tackle pollution. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states, this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. in a moment, we take a look at the findings of a major study
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on the risk to sea life from the oceans becoming more acidic due to carbon dioxide emissions. cocaine, counterfeit goods and stolen passports are being openly traded on a uk website, an undercover investigation by the bbc has revealed. the inside out programme found widespread evidence of illegal activity on the classified ads site craigslist. jonathan gibson has this report. in a cumbrian car park, i have arranged to buy some dodgy tobacco. he is advertising it on craigslist. i can also find class a drugs. in derby, i've arranged to buy cocaine. anybody can advertise here, and they do. adverts for drugs sit next to adverts for second—hand
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or stolen passports. ——sofas or stolen passports. what else is on this website? we filmed a woman offering to launder money. i met a man looking for postmen to intercept bank cards. and this guy keeps failing his driving test, so he's placed an ad to get someone to do it for him. the amount of organised crime sitting behind everything is frightening and it is critical that the police force the likes of craigslist to do something about it. craigslist refused to do an interview and would not give us a statement. but what do the people we filmed say themselves? why are you doing it? make money for my family. not everybody hangs around to speak.
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the thing is, we are trying to find out why you're peddling cocaine. why is that? well, he wasn't hanging about, was he? neither was the man selling stolen passports. i want to know why you're selling stolen passports. why are you doing it? the home office is investigating how websites like this are being used to facilitate crime. the spanish prime minister mariano rajoy has vowed to take direct control of catalonia, by removing the regional government. the spanish senate will begin debate on thursday, it is expected to give the central government authority to take over the region and call new elections. the catalan leader carles puigdemont has resisted internal pressure to formally declare independence, but he has refused to rule it out. the catalan leader carles puigdemont
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has resisted internal pressure to formally declare independence, but he has refused to rule it out. former foreign minister of spain ana palacio said the move by the spanish government was about bringing back the constitutional rule of law to catalonia. we have a constitution. we, i mean spain, isa we have a constitution. we, i mean spain, is a country where the rule of law prevails. this is not taking control, it is just bring back the constitutional rule and the of law to catalonia, because right now, what we have is still today the authorities are secessionist authorities. there is, in europe, there has been a broad consensus on understanding that the eu is a construction of law and by law. i understand that in this instant message culture of hours, the 140
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characters, just going into the constitution and the rule of law, but this is the basis of our democracies. all sea life around the world will be affected as the oceans become more acidic due to carbon dioxide emissions, according to a major study involving more than 250 scientists. the research, which lasted eight years, warns that infant sea creatures are especially vulnerable, as our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. here's the effect of carbon dioxide on sea water. these bubbles contain natural co2 from an underwater volcano in papua new guinea. few sea creatures can live here because the co2 has made nearby water more acidic. swim away from those vents, and what a difference. the sea's chemistry returns to normal. and wonderful reef life can thrive. but industrial society is churning out co2 on a massive scale, and the gas is being absorbed into sea water around the world,
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making it all more acidic. today's report warns of major impacts on sea life. this comprehensive study confirms what we've been observing globally, ocean acidification is a problem, acidity is increasing and that's notjust having an impact on the ecology, which we are seeing already, but it will have an impact on us as humans further down the line. take one fish we love to eat: cod. the research shows that baby cod are especially sensitive to more acidic water. it projects that if co2 levels rise unchecked, we should expect only a quarter as many cod in the seas. some species will thrive with the changes to come. the co2 will fertilise seaweed, for instance, but scientists have been researching the tiny creatures that build reefs, like at this coral nursery i dived to in the red sea. they say coral organisms cannot stand extra acidity and they warn that unless we cut co2 emissions
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radically, many reefs won't survive more than a few decades, and this will have consequences for people. modern life will be disrupted, and that will hit the fishing communities, who are living on the front line, who have emitted the least carbon emissions, but unfortunately because of the cruel irony of climate change, they would be hit first and worst. it's notjust poor people who will be affected by ocean acidification; scientists warn unless we radically cut co2 emissions the entire ocean food web will be disrupted, and that, in some way, will touch all of our lives. roger harrabin, bbc news. it's now 16 years since the ground—breaking blue planet programme appeared on our screens. now, blue planet is back for a second series, presented, of course, by sir david attenborough.
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for the last four years, the bbc‘s natural history film crews have been scouring the seas in search of a new cast of aquatic animals. our science editor, david shukman, has been speaking to sir david about his new series. hidden beneath the waves, right beneath my feet, there are creatures beyond our imagination. the legend has returned to the ocean, 16 years after the first series, david attenborough is guiding us through some spectacular wonders of the deep. what we are discovering almost always is the world is more intricate, wonderful and astonishing than we ever dreams. ——than we ever dreamed of. it reveals a world stranger than anyone realised. an underwater link of methane. giant fish that rise from the sea to attack birds. but the programmes also contain warnings about the oceans. they are becoming more polluted, more acidic, and warmer.
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the mother still needs to find aplace where her young can rest. rising temperatures mean the ice that provides a home is melting. any sceptics ten or 20 years ago about global warming and climate change, and there were lots, must be diminishing almost to vanishing point when you see the evidence. and he says the effects are felt throughout the oceans. what's the most striking impact? areas of bleached coral in the last programme, there are bits of coral reefs that are crumbling deserts. if you've ever seen a coral reef, and you think what that once was,
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that is enough to make you weep. what is it that means you are engaged at such an active pace at your age? it is wonderful, what more do you want from life than this panoply of beauty and intricacy and wonder? these areas that we don't know about. it is never—ending, a never—ending delight. the world of the underwater is just amazing. a british diver says he swam four and a half miles to safety off the western coast of australia while being ‘followed' by a shark.
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john craig is from sunderland and lives in australia — here he is on the trip and back on shore. he says he'd been spear—fishing underwater. when he surfaced he couldn't see his boat, but instead saw the looming and terrifying shape of a shark. it all happened, appropriately enough, in shark bay, north of perth. mr craig says it was a tiger shark about four metres in length. he told the bbc he swam for around three hours before making it to land, and that the shark followed him very closely for 15 minutes. the shark did not swim away, it kept pace behind me, every time i looked back i could see it right next to my friends. ——right next to my fins. it would disappear into
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the gloom, it would go down and come up the sides. i was panicking. i've been a diving instructor for ten years and i knew straightaway that my heart rate was up, i was panicking. so i had to calm down. time for a look at the weather. notan not an awful lot has changed in the last half an hour. it's looking pretty quiet on the weather front for most of us. we won't be short of cloud and mild weather streaming in from the south—west. there is a lot of cloud out there heading our way. some of it is rain bearing. there is a daisy chain of weather fronts moving into south—western areas. through the course of the night, progressively turning wet across cornwall, devon, somersetand wiltshire. some rain on the way for
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northern ireland in western scotland as well. first thing in the morning, it looks like this. very mild, 15-16dc. it looks like this. very mild, 15—16dc. these are values we get in the middle of the day, and this is first thing in the morning. some rain in the midlands, flirting with the north west, too. patchy rain moving through northern ireland, and quite a bit of rain across the western isles. not so much in the borders. this weather front is slightly through wales, the midlands. the south will miss the rain. here, drizzle at most, if you do get any. maybe even 18 celsius. a decent afternoon for belfast, glasgow and edinburgh, some sunshine. the same weather front, or the end of it, across southern areas as we go through wednesday. it is a way to the south, so here, it will
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be drizzly and murky, whereas the northern part of the uk will be in the sunshine. on thursday, that weather front wobbles north of it. if the clouds break and we get some sunshine, we could even get temperatures close to 20 celsius. there is a change towards the end of the week. high pressure builds, which will tend to squeeze weather front out. it will push south and disintegrate. ajet front out. it will push south and disintegrate. a jet stream away to the novel push colder air in our direction. the weekend won't necessarily be cold, but we won't have a keen— 20 celsius in the south any more. “— have a keen— 20 celsius in the south any more. —— away to the north will push. not a very exciting week, but decent enough. hello, i'm nuala mcgovern.
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this is outside source. the widow of a dead american soldier says president trump couldn't remember her husband's name when he phoned to offer condolences. donald trump disputes the account. he made me cry, because i was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it. he couldn't remember my husband's name. bangladesh tells the un it now hosts nearly1 million rohingya refugees, and says the wave of migrants from myanmar shows no signs of stopping. we have the extraordinary story of an fbi agent who infiltrated an al-qaeda—linked cell to prevent the bombing of a new york railway line. and a major warning from scientists that rising carbon dioxide levels are threatening all sea life around the world.
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