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tv   BBC News  BBC News  November 8, 2017 3:00am-3:31am GMT

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nations. for diplomatic ties —— nations. for those nations who ignore this, he says, the weight of all this is on you. he described north korea as a country ruled as a cult, a twisted regime, present state, cruel dictatorship. our correspondent, robin brant, joins us from seoul. what i use thinking about this? look, no fire and fury, no rocket man, no repetition of the threat to the united nations to destroy north korea. much more measured and tone it down. substantive in his mesh —— message as well. this speech was aimed atfour message as well. this speech was aimed at four groups. aimed at the international community, china, russia, everyone in the united nations and reminding them of the type of country north korea is. he described it as one point as a hell, a prison state. the people living
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there are tortured and murdered. much detail of the plight of the people. the second audience, this is crucial, is china, the next stop on his tour. he goes to beijing soon. he repeated what he said yesterday, about our trade with north korea and other countries should stop entirely. he made the point in the speech that he doesn't think there should be any form of support from north korea and it is mostly china that chooses to support north korea at the moment. latest round of un sanctions, there was pressure to stop oil imports, china didn't want that and they've been restricted by some 70%. so digs at china. there was also a direct message to kim jong—un, the leader of north korea. he made it clear and said, i address this message to kim jong—un. he made it clear and said, i address this message to kimjong—un. he he made it clear and said, i address this message to kim jong—un. he said the country created by your grandfather is a hell and the weapons programme you are creating is putting you in more danger
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instead of guaranteeing your security. he talked about a way out, a path to peace. he said, you must stop the weapons programme, the nuclear is and that must be verifiable. so the tone was different, there were no off—the—cuff comments, apart from a few mentions about golf and a few mentions about his victory in the election year ago, which is exactly today, but it was far more measured, bertone was different, and he delivered those message to the three groups —— the tone was. the international community, to china, to north korea and the direct message to kim jong—un himself. to north korea and the direct message to kim jong-un himself. you know the region very well. how do you think china is likely to respond to this? china has no interest whatsoever in seeing the north korean regime collapse, does it? whatsoever in seeing the north korean regime collapse, does mm doesn't. but china also doesn't want a nuclearised, destabilising little
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brother, so to speak, on it is the border. china finds itself... xi jinping finds himself in a situation where a country which has such a close historical associations with is now very unstable and hugely problematic. remember, early on in his administration, president trump set high expectations of what he thought china could do, what he thought china could do, what he thought they could deliver. he is a very transactional politician after all. he didn't deliver on what he wanted. we have had this un sanctions, restrictions on trade and coal and other precious metals, seafood, restrictions on oil, but it's not what the us and others want. part of the reason for that is that china, as you say, considers the quick expedited implosion of north korea as a disaster, and humanitarian disaster for the north korean people, but also a disaster
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that could see tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people fighting over the border for a hundreds of thousands, of people fighting over the borderfor a short period of time. it also fears are quickly reunified korean peninsula with the prospect of american troops marching further north and sitting on the border with china at some point. so for me what is most interesting in this speech, when it comes to china, is it is quite clear that donald trump is delivering on public are very key message to china, but also to russia, which shares a tiny border with north korea. it also has trade with north korea. it also has trade with north korea. this message to china and russia and he will meet president putin as well later on this trip. those two nations and leaders are crucial if there is to be any kind of future peace deal and de—escalate session. thank you very much. -- deescalisation. if you've just joined deescalisation. if you'vejustjoined us, let's deescalisation. if you've justjoined us, let's give
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you portion of mr trump's speech to the national assembly. history is filled with discarded regimes that have foolishly tested america's resolved. anyone who doubts the strength of determination of the united states should look to our past and you will doubt it no more. we will not permit america or our allies to be blackmailed or attacked. we will not allow american cities to be threatened with destruction. we will not be intimidated and we will not let the worst atrocities in history be repeated here on this ground for —— ground we fought and died so hard to secure. applause that is why i come here to the heart
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ofa that is why i come here to the heart of a free and flourishing career, —— korea, with a message from the peaceloving nations of the world, the time for excuses is over. now is the time for excuses is over. now is the time for strength. if you want peace, you must stand strong at all times. the world... applause the world can't tolerate the members ofa the world can't tolerate the members of a world regime that threatens with nuclear devastation. all responsible nations mustjoin forces to isolate the brutal regime of north korea, to deny it and any form... any form of it. you can't support, you can't supply, you can't accept. we call on every nation, including china and russia, to fully
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implement un security council resolutions, downgrade diplomatic relations with the regime and sever all ties of trade and technology. it is our responsibility and our duty to co nfro nt is our responsibility and our duty to confront this danger together, because the longer we wait the greater the danger grows and the fewer the options become. and to those nations that choose to ignore this threat, or worse still enable it, the weight of this crisis is on your conscience. i have also come here to this peninsular to deliver a message directly to the leader of the north korean dictatorship. the weapons you are acquiring are not make you safer,
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they are putting a regime in grave danger. every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face. north korea is not the paradise or grandfather envisioned. it isa paradise or grandfather envisioned. it is a hell that no person deserves. yet, despite every crime you have committed against god and man, you are ready to offer, and we will do that, we will offer a path toa will do that, we will offer a path to a much betterfuture. it begins with an end to the aggression of your regime. a stop to your development of a listed missiles and complete, verifiable and total denuclearisation. that was president trump in seoul,
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addressing the national assembly. he will now leave to spend three days in china. he was addressing china directly and he will be speaking in detail to xijinping, he describes as his good friend. china is north korea's neighbour and a crucial player in the dynamics. more from there to come. police reports are showing the gunman who killed 26 church—goers in texas on sunday had escaped mental health clinic in 2012. the fbi now has devin kelley's cellphone but has so far been unable to access it. authorities are looking at how he got a ccess authorities are looking at how he got access to the guns used in the assault. sutherland springs is united in suffering. in this tiny community of barely 400 people, the grief is universal. you know, it's not like a car wreck or a natural disaster,
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it's an evil attack which is so much harder to assimilate and accept, so much harder. you have lost friends? yep, dear, wonderful friend that were just going about their everyday life, going to church, doing what smalltown america does. among those at last night's vigil, the hero who shot and chased the gunman as he left the church. to this team falls the task of applying reason to chaos, of asking how and why. this church, in sutherland springs, is now symptomatic of a plague, an epidemic unique to the united states of america. no other advanced country has so many guns or so many mass shootings. so how will this nation respond? in south korea, the president chose scorn... i wonder if you would consider extreme vetting for people trying to buy a gun?
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you know, you're bringing up a situation that probably shouldn't be discussed too much right now — we could let a little time go by. but it's0k, if you feel that's an appropriate question, even though we're in the heart of south korea. if we did what you are suggesting, there would've been no difference three days ago and you might not have had that very brave person... if he didn't have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead. and so, in the presence of grief, and the absence of action, only one question remains — where next? james cook, bbc news, sutherland springs, in texas. delhi is often hit by smog, but the indian capital is currently experiencing a particulary bad blanket of thick, grey smog.
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the intense smog is being blamed, in part, on the burning of stubble by farmers across the north of india, as well as emissions from coal—fired power plants. a public health emergency has been declared amid the dangerously high levels of pollution. all of delhi is currently covered by a thick blanket of smog. as you can see, visibility is so poor, you can barely see the government buildings right behind me. and, if it looks bad, let me tell you it feels much worse. when you breathe in, there is a burning sensation in your throat. your chest starts constricting. and that is the reason the indian medical association is asking for schools to be shut down. even delhi's annual half—marathon, due to take place later this month, had to be called off because of the danger this poses to the runners. now, what you can't see with your naked eye are fine pollutants, known as pm2.5 particulate matter. in some parts of the city their levels are more than 20 times the prescribed safe level. 0ne doctor says that breathing
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delhi's air at the moment is equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes. stay with us on bbc news. much more to come. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested, and an extremistjewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear — the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign. they are being held somewhere inside the compound, and student leaders have threatened that, should the americans attempt rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager one is now the most distant man—made object
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anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to keep on going. tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of ourarms, or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. good to have you with us. one main the headlines this hour: —— headline. donald trump's to address south korea's national assembly in a speech that's expected to focus on his policy on north korea. the prince and the paradise papers. prince charles is accused of a conflict of interest — with offshore investments in bermuda that stood to gain from his campaigning.
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now the bbc‘s david grossman has been one of the international team ofjournalists examining the paradise papers, and has been looking specifically at the management of angola's sovereign wealth fund. it is designed help develop the country and provide a future income when the country's oil reserves run out. it appears though that the level of management fees charged and the choice of investments is making one individual, close to the angolan regime a great deal of money. music. angola manages a curious double. its capital, luanda, is officially the most expensive city in the world to visit. but the country is one of the poorest. one reason for this is corruption. investigating the financial interests of angola's rulers is usually an impossible task. although the border‘s onlyjust over there where those signs are, a couple of hundred yards from here, it's not an easy place forjournalists to go, particularly when the subject of our investigation is the son of the president and somebody very close to him. fortunately, though, we've got a huge pile of leaked data — sensitive financial information that throws a window open into that closed world. althouthose eduardo dos santos stood down as president after 38
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years in the summer, it was to his chosen successor. many believe the move was more about preserving power, not handing it over. in angola, power comes from money, and money comes from oil. and while he was in office, president dos while he was in office, president d os sa ntos while he was in office, president dos santos ruthlessly controlled that well. —— wealth. his daughter, isabel, known as africa's richest woman, with an estimated wealth of $3.5 billion, was, at the stroke of her father's pen, made head of the state oil company, sonangol. his son, jose filomeno dos santos, known as zenu, was appointed to another position — again, by the president. $5 billion of oil money was placed in a sovereign wealth fund, the fundo soberano de angola, or fsdea. and zenu was put in charge. the process was not transparent according to normal standards anywhere in the world. but it — what
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was transfer and for the people of angola was that the only criteria when he was selected, it was because he was the son of the president. he had no special training, no experience, and no special qualifications. the fund appointed a company called quantum global to manage its money. it is majority—owned byjean—claude bastos, a swiss—angolan businessman who is a close friend and at that time was a business partner of zenu. we see only one asset management firm in charge of the vast majority of the fund's assets. that's unusual. and it's unusual for a number of reasons. and the principal one is that funds want to hedge the risk. you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket. you want to spread your eggs over a number of baskets. in general, the angolan fund, and i think this is true of a lot of the funds that sort of score poorly on transparency and accountability indicators, one of the things that they have in common is the lack of rules around who the managers are,
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how the managers are chosen, and what assets the fund can invest in and what it can't invest in. we asked fsdea how quantum global was selected as the main investment manager. nobody wanted to be interviewed for this programme, but in a statement, they said: mr bastos also told us: mr bastos first applied to manage the money from jersey. but the authorities there thought he was too close to the president's son to be independent. we have also seen the internal report into this application, which also noted: mr bastos turned to another island
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to manage the fund's investments. where it once farmed sugar, mauritius now farms money. it's an offshore tax haven. and it's here that mr bastos left three of the $5 billion to invest in seven funds he created. using the services of the law firm appleby, based in this building in port louis, mr bastos set up quantum global investment management. appleby, as you may have seen in the news, suffered a huge data leak of highly sensitive information, revealed this week. the leak was obtained by the german newspaper suddeutsche zeitung, who shared it with the international
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consortium of investigative journalists. the bbc has been researching it, along with the guardian newspaper. for the last nine months, we've been putting together information from the leak with publicly available sources, and talking to insiders. as a result, we have managed to piece together much of what's going on inside the management of the sovereign wealth funds money. the first thing to look at is the management fees quantum global was paid for managing the seven mauritius—based funds. between 2% and 2.5% of the $3 billion every year. injust 20 months, the company was paid $92 million. over this time, most of that money was not invested, but sat in bank accounts. at the end of 2015, qgiam had invested just $407 million of the $7 billion. at the end of 2016, that figure had
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gone up to $433 million. in other words, during 2016, an additional $26 million was invested by the seven funds. over this period, quantum global was paid around $70 million in fees. so, what we see in that case... is that unheard—of? no. the question i'd be asking is, is the angolan fund getting its value for money? if you are making... if you're paying those types of management fees, you must be getting extraordinary service for that. and if i were the angolan fund managers, i would be asking, are we getting an extraordinary service or not? both mr bastos and the funds say the management fees are reasonable. what happened to them, though, may, according to industry insiders, be an indication that they were set too high. because of the leak, we can see that $41 million of the $92 million of management fees was paid out as dividends. in other words, it was profit. it went to a company called qg investments limited in the british virgin islands.
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this is owned by white nite limited, also in the british virgin islands. which is owned by green trees incorporated, in the seychelles. and this company is owned by mr bastos. of the rest, $34 million was paid to another company, quantum global alternative investments. part of the quantum global group of which mr bastos is the majority owner. so, the documents that i saw reveal a complex financial structure. but they reveal a complex financial structure which doesn't, on the face of it, seem illegal, but highly opaque, that allows somebody who wants to hide gains that they are making, perhaps inappropriately, shall we say, rather than illicitly, hide those gains and hide who owns what company and who is receiving what payments. the videos on mr bastos's personal youtube channel portray a dynamic entrepreneur with many financial interests. go out as you are a dreamer and follow your dreams. be courageous, and do not give up. so, what did mr bastos invest the sovereign wealth
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fund's money in? during the 20 months covered by the leak, we can see evidence that he made six investments in hotels and infrastructure. but three of the investments were in projects in which mr bastos has a personal stake. for example, there is a $157 million hotel complex in angola's capital, luanda. it is to be built on land owned by mr bastos, and by a company owned by mr bastos. we have spoken to an insider with knowledge of the deal, who told us that quantum global appointed independent analysts to go over the deal. they concluded it wasn't a good one for the angolan people's money. the projected returns were too low, and the costs too high. and yet, the investment was approved. so, the difference between private equity and venture capitalism... mr bastos clearly knows
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a lot about making money. but what's not clear is why a man who was prosecuted in switzerland, a man with a web of complex financial interests, was given the opportunity to make what appears, from this leak at least, to be so much money from the angolan people's fund? this isn't bags of cash being carried into bank accounts in switzerland. this is fees being charged here, earnings being made there, to benefit, it would appear, one particular individual. why is he in this favoured position? what connections does he have? where does the money go onward from him and from his companies? at this stage, certainly from documents i've seen, we don't know. but there will clearly be some other connection thatjustifies him being in the position that he is in. mr bastos, though, insisted that the hotel investment was viable. he denied there was any
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conflict of interest, saying: the fsdea told us: meanwhile, in luanda, where a man skims a flooded crater for the mosquito larvae which causes yellow fever, malaria and zika, it's not hard to see where the money could be spent. this hospital in cazenga is overwhelmed by patients. much more on that and all the news
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on the bbc website. thank you for watching. choose there was a gloomy day across many parts of the uk. some rain around, too, but this guy started to clear across northern britain and just in time for a glimpse of the northern lights, the rural borealis, across scotland and parts of northern england too. the weather front that brought the gloom weather on tuesday is still with us for the early hours of wednesday morning across east anglia and the south—east. here, wednesday will start grey and drizzly places. elsewhere, we have a ridge of high pressure, which means clearer and mist and fog in places. and a touch
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of frost in the countryside. he could get down to minus four degrees, but not in the extreme south—east, where it is about four degrees. cloudy and drizzly from norwich to london, possibly portsmouth as well. the central swathe of the uk, a beautiful start of the day. in the north—west, the next weather front is coming in bringing wind and rain. goodbye. now on bbc news, panorama. tonight on panorama: more revelations from the leak that's —— the offshore secret of the rich and powerful out in the open. did you have tens of millions in an offshore trust that you secretly controlled? yes offshore trust that you secretly controlled ? yes or offshore trust that you secretly controlled? yes or no? a huge leak
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of documents reveal the stories they wa nted of documents reveal the stories they wanted to keep hidden. some major political explosions. the senior trump official who does business with the russians. under the current system, it's easy to get dirty. don't go there, man. don't go there. questions at the heart of the national game. are you being crazy? have you seen a psychiatrist. and we discover even the queen has offshore secrets. we expect higher standards of the queen than investing in tax havens overseas. it is an island
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paradise. sunshine and fun. welcome to bermuda, a beautiful island in the atlantic, but it's a lot more than a few pretty beaches. this place attracts williams of dollars from all across the globe, from the super rich and big business. these places are selling secrets to facilities handling dirty money and a big part of the game is hiding it. but now that secrecy has been breached. appleby is a legal firm that sells offshore
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