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tv   BBC News  BBC News  January 14, 2018 3:00am-3:31am GMT

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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is andrew plant. our top stories: the us investigates how people in hawaii were mistakenly warned of an imminent ballistic missile attack. after a wave of anti—austerity protests, tunisia's government announces a $70 million package to help the poor. a vow to weed out corruption and rescue the economy — hope in south africa as the head of the ruling party gives his first speech since being elected. after a fair pay outcry mark wahlberg donates his $1.5 million film fee to the time's up initiative. an official alert has provoked alarm in the us state of hawaii after, mistakenly warning of an imminent ballistic missile attack. the text message was sent to everyone on the island and interrupted tv
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and radio broadcasts. it told people to seek shelter, before adding: ‘this is not a drill‘. the state's governor has apologised for the error. he said an employee had pressed the wrong button. this report from richard galpin. it's just after eight o'clock in the morning local time and suddenly the broadcast of this basketball match is interrupted... ..with a chilling alert that a missile strike on hawaii was apparentlyjust minutes away. and the same message was also sent out to everyone‘s mobile phones. when we got the alarm we were actually terrified, we were on the 36th floor of our hotel and we didn't know what to do. i was just sleeping, my friend just woke me up. he says, hey, let's go, there's a bomb coming in hawaii. i didn't take it serious, but you know, i started running, we went to this other place, a concrete building.
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people were just running on the street. but it turns out it was all a mistake. the us—pacific command confirming in a tweet there was no missile threat. what happened today was totally unacceptable and many in our community were deeply affected by this and i'm sorry for that pain and confusion that anyone might have experienced. i'm too very angry and disappointed that this happened. we are doing everything that we can immediately to ensure that it never happens again. just last month, the hawaiian authorities decided to resume testing of the nuclear warning system for the first time since the cold war. these islands are the closest part of the united states to north korea. and over the past year, north korea has carried
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out a series of tests, proving it does now have nuclear weapons. so, no wonder people in hawaii were panicking today. richard galpin, bbc news. after almost a week of anti—austerity protests, tunisia is marking the anniversary of the revolution that sparked the arab spring in 2011. commemorating the overthrow of the old regime of president ben ali comes amidst social unrest over the past few days regarding tax rises and price hikes, some of which turned violent. from the capital tunis, mark lowen reports. there is a bittersweet mood as tunisians marked the seventh anniversary of their revolution, pride they brought in a democracy of a sort. but also frustration that the dreams in 2011 of a better life for all have faded. seven years on, from revolution until now, we think alongside with the tunisians themselves that politicians have done nothing. nine governments later,
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they had seen waves of social unrest, terror attacks, and a sharp drop in tourism. this week's protesting was sparked by austerity. around 800 people were arrested for protesting. the government has now announced a $70 million package of reforms to help poor families, hoping it will stave off more demonstrations. protest against the budget, they are bringing up the price is too much. we cannot afford anything. translation: firstly providing a minimum amountfor translation: firstly providing a minimum amount for tunisian families and then guaranteeing healthcare for tunisians with no exception and then
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helping to provide housing to all tunisian families. there is talk of raising the minimum wage and universal healthcare. the plans will reportedly be discussed in parliament within a week. seven years on, tunisia is held up as a success of the arab spring but that is compared to the failed state of libya, and the return to military rule in egypt. for many here, the overwhelming hope of 2011 feels like it has disappeared. mark lowen reporting there from the tunisian capital, tunis. there are reports of a chlorine gas attack on a rebel—held area on the outskirts of damascus besieged by syrian government forces. residents of eastern ghouta reported smelling gas shortly after coming under attack. the area has been under sustained attack, with air strikes and ground attacks reportedly killing at least 85 civilians in recent weeks. for more on this we spoke to bbc middle east analyst alan johnston a little earlier. our colleagues in syria are getting
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these reports from early this morning, reports from eastern ghouta that there was a strong smell of chlorine hanging in the air after one of the attacks. people immediately had itchy eyes and problems breathing — classic symptoms of a gas attack. something like 50 people were affected but health workers said later that only a handful needed brief hospital treatment. only minor respiratory problems. a chlorine gas attack would be absolutely terrifying but the fact is that chlorine is not as dangerous nor harmful as other forms of chemical weapons. we have heard of chlorine gas attacks a number of times down through the years of the syrian civil war but not so much in recent months. the syrian government always denies that it uses chemical weapons of any kind.
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a salmonella scandal at french dairy group lactalis has affected 83 countries, with 12 million boxes of powdered baby formula being recalled. so far french officials have reported 35 cases of infants getting salmonella from the powder, while one case has been reported in spain and another is being investigated in greece. lactalis says it will pay damages to families affected by the salmonella contamination. in south africa, the new leader of the ruling anc party has given his first speech since being elected last month. cyril ramaphosa gave a damning assessment of the ruling party, saying it's been beset by infighting and corruption. he called for a change of culture in the party, a thinly veiled attack on the man he replaced, the country's discredited president, jacob zuma. our africa editor, fergal keane, was at the rally. if you want to know how the wind has changed in south africa, then listen to this.
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jacob zuma... booing. ..and... booing continues. booed by his own party, jacob zuma is increasingly isolated. even supporters acknowledge his days as the country's president are numbered. the crowds have a different hero now — the new anc leader cyril ramaphosa — businessman, skilled negotiator, who's promised to end the capture of the state by a corrupt elite. we are going to confront corruption and state capture in all its forms. the investigation and prosecution of those who are responsible will be given top priority. we are resolute in our commitment to make this the year in which we build our movement and turn around the economy of south africa. not since the end of apartheid
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in 1994 have i seen such a hunger for change in south africa. we've heard a lot of promises from politicians. do you believe him? yeah, we have to believe him, he's our president, our new president. hopefully, they can fix everything is broken. that's a big, big hope. yeah, it's my hope, and the hope of all south africans. hope springs, in part, from desperation. the corruption of the zuma era dragged the economy intojunk status. not far from the stadium, this woman washes cars to earn cash. she's ten years out of school and unemployed. we have voted for anc but we don't see any changes. we want cyril ramaphosa, we wantjobs. if cyril ramaphosa can root out corruption and rescue this country's economy, he will be seen as a worthy inheritor of nelson mandela's legacy.
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but more than that, given the importance of south africa on this continent, he could emerge as one of the most important politicalfigures in the history of post—colonial africa. that is the prize. the challenges are immense. fergal keane, bbc news, east london. the actor mark wahlberg has agreed to donate his fee for re—shooting scenes in a film to the legal defence fund of the time's up initiative. he'd been paid one and a half million dollars for reshoots for the film, all the money in the world. that's because christopher plummer was brought in to replace kevin spacey who is facing allegations of sexual misconduct. the time's up movement was recently launched against inequality, sexual harassment and abuse in response to the harvey weinstein scandal. with more, here's the bbc‘s peter bowes in los angeles. all the money in the world tells the story of the kidnapping of paul getty.
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kevin spacey in the original filming of the movie played his grandfather, j paul getty, but when the news of the allegations of sexual harassment came out against kevin spacey, he was dropped pretty quickly from this film even though they had actually completed it. as you say, christopher plummer was brought into play his part. that also meant that michelle williams and mark wahlberg had to be brought back as well to refilm their scenes they'd previously done with spacey and now with christopher plummer. mark wahlberg it seems was paid $1.5 million to do that and michelle williams was paid nothing apart from a very tiny amount to cover her expenses. much has been made of that over the last week or so. people saying this highlights the pay disparity between actresses and actors in hollywood. mark wahlberg has now released a statement saying over the last few days, the reshoot fee for all the money in the world has become an important
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topic of conversation. he says, "i100% support the fight forfair pay and i'm donating my $1.5 million to the time's up legal defence fund in michelle williams' name. " what is next for the time's up fund? it's relatively new but what are they hoping to achieve? this is a fund to set up not only to help people in hollywood. the actresses behind it are insistent that this should benefit women from all walks of life and indeed men who are victims of sexual harassment. it is a legal fund to help people who might find themselves in a situation where they have legal costs arising from sexual harassment or sexual abuse. there is a practical purpose for this fund. it's also a campaigning organisation as well to try to get things to change.
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in hollywood, we saw at the golden globes, all the actresses dressed in black to highlight the issue of sexual harassment and this fund, the people behind it, want things to change. they want employers to take more notice of people who are complaining about sexual harassment and essentially to open a new chapter hollywood. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: you could call it a wobbly debut — but hundreds turn out to see france's baby panda finding his feet in public. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes.
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of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws, passed by the country's new multiracial government, and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard about her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is bbc news. our main headline: the us government announces a full investigation after a state worker accidentally issues an alert warning residents of hawaii
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of an incoming ballistic missile. let's get more on that now. lucja leonard has been taking part in an endurance running competition with her husband. she described the reaction from those taking part in the race. i was iwas up i was up at the second checkpoint. my i was up at the second checkpoint. my husband is running a 100 mile race in hawaii. it was about eight a.m.. suddenly everyone‘s phones me this with sound. i never heard it before. everyone is pulling their phones out looking at each other going have you got this as well? they are talking about some missile, what's happening? at first we thought it was a prank, part of the race, give us a scare, but it soon became apparent, air sirens started going off, you could feel the fear
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in the air. no one knew what was going on. we suddenly got word from other runners at the first checkpoint, they were being held at the checkpoint and directed to go into a bunker. there was no bunker near us into a bunker. there was no bunker near us at checkpoint two. so we we re near us at checkpoint two. so we were stood there waiting. it took about 20 minutes brosterfind out it was a false alarm. what did you do, did you seek cover, hit the ground? —— for us to find out. we huddled together and thought it would be the end. we are in editable place, doing some aguilar. it was scary. you start hearing stories about what was happening in waikiki beach. evacuating hotels and children being pushed into drainpipes to get them protected. some of the locals were saying they have been doing evacuation drills because of the drama with north korea and potential threats, that is why they have been doing the evacuation drills. everyone thought this was the real
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thing. what is the feeling now? are people angry it was a false alarm? is it people angry it was a false alarm? isita people angry it was a false alarm? is it a good thing that people now need to decide what to do if they getan need to decide what to do if they get an alert dereel? yes. i think it is probably a good wake—up call —— for real. we are visitors to the country. we were pretty much standing there stunned. we did not know what to do. we were relying on the locals to tell us. definitely a wake—up call. i think the general feeling now is that it will be a story we go back and say i may have run the 100, but did you run of the year we had the missile warning? is added excitement of the race. we are all pretty easy going with it. we think someone will lose theirjob over it. police in south africa have used rubber bullets to disperse gangs of protesters who were ransacking shops in johannesburg belonging to the swedish clothing company, h&m. the attacks were co—ordinated by a militant political group in retaliation for what it said were racist adverts run by the company. bill hayton reports.
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inside a shopping mall in johannesburg. a south african store paying the price for a marketing decision in london. h&m apologised. video footage showed freedom fighters knocking over mannequins and displays. police say items were stolen and they fired rubber bullets to drive out the demonstrators. there were several demonstrations on saturday from cape town to pretoria. in most places, they were peaceful. they were angry about the choice of h&m to have a black child with the slogan "coolest monkey in thejungle" on her t—shirt. one of the elected members of parliament called for the chain to be closed in south africa. there is no sign of that happening, but the troubles of the companies seem far from over.
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bill hayton, bbc news. here in the uk there are fears the construction company carillion, which has debts of £1.5 billion, could collapse. creditors have rejected a possible rescue plan. carillion employs about 20,000 people in the uk and is one of the government's main contractors. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. this is liverpool's newest hospital under construction. it will be the biggest single bed hospital in the uk, and it's being built by carillion. now there's concern that projects like these could be affected if the company collapses. from prisons to hospitals, to schools and rail, carillion is responsible for some of the uk's largest infrastructure and maintenance projects. so, should the government bail the debt—laden company out? i think what has to happen in this case — the contracts have to be kept going and supporting the supply chain and the tens of thousands of workers. that can be done by the government taking lots of this in—house, or re—tendering in other cases. the government can'tjust do
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a financial bailout. the shareholders and creditors — the big banks — have to take a hit. they can't just offload all the losses to the taxpayer. carillion is a major british company with hundreds of contracts running prisons, maintaining hospitals and mod facilities, with almost 20,000 employees here and tens of thousands more dependent on the company. but it has run up debts of £1.5 billion, including almost £1 billion to its banks, whose patience has run out. britain's biggest ever rail infrastructure project, high speed 2, starts major construction this year. and here at euston station, carillion is meant to build it. but given its mountain of debts there is a very real chance that the government might have to step in and give those contracts to other companies, or simply bail the company out — with all the moral hazards that comes with. the rmt union has called on the government to provide reassurances to thousands of workers who could be affected. also caught in the crossfire,
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are hundreds of smaller companies who carry out subcontracted work on behalf of carillion. potentially, it could be devastating. because many of them are owed millions by carillion. and if they don't get those monies, of course they are at risk as a business. the other thing is there will be thousands ofjobs, potentially, lost as a result. if carillion cannot be saved or restructured, the consultants ey have been put on notice to take over as administrators. it's a precautionary measure which the government and thousands of staff hope won't be needed. joe lynam, bbc news. the french president has thrown his support behind a push to protect the humble baguette by making it a unesco cultural treasure. emmanuel macron said the "baguette is the envy of the whole world" and agrees with master bakers that should follow in the footsteps of naples pizza in italy, which became unesco listed last year. it is a national symbol and a huge
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part of french life. now master bakers are pushing for baguettes to be officially recognised as a cultural treasure, and its traditional recipe and iconic shape, and world—famous name legally protected. translation: we speak of a french person with a baguette under his arm. why not? artisan bread makers are worried about mass produced copies flooding into supermarkets. frozen bread with imported ingredients but still bearing the name baguette all the same. translation: there are a lot of imitations but here, the baguettes are home—made. we wake up at two or three o'clock in the morning to make bread. the traditional banquette is already protected by french law. to meet the criteria, it must only be made from four ingredients — wheat flour, water, yeast, and salt. it cannot be frozen or contain added preservatives.
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translation: if we lose this tradition, in 50 years there will be no real bakery. we will not be able to do the bread properly, and the bread is a little of france. the bakers have been inspired by the success of naples pizza in italy, which became unesco protected last year. also making the list, spanish flamenco dancing, yoga, and belgian beer culture, just to name a few. they're all deemed so significant, they must be preserved forfuture generations. tiffany wertheimer, bbc news. it is all happening in france today. you have to see this. before we go, let me tell you about this story from france, and the latest addition to one of the country's premier zoos.
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the animal in question attracted a large crowd — no doubt because he is the first of his kind — as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. yuan meng has all the usual baby panda credentials, theory, cute, completely irresistible. but he is not any old baby panda. he is french. the first—ever panda born in france making his public debut. climbing, exploring, cuddling with mum, putting on a good show. translation: i am going to welcome the people who come, our visitors, ourfans, and i am going to introduce them to our adorable ball of fur who is especially cute right 110w. it isa it is a big moment. it is very moving. and they did come, hundreds of them. they queued up for this ball of fur and charm. it was born in august last year. his tiny sibling died moments after birth.
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for some, it was emotional. translation: is it touching? it is a joy. ajoy. it really makes us happy yes. it made me cry. translation: we absolutely wanted to be here to see this ball of fur. a little ball of happiness and peace. there is also symbolism behind the panda, so we were happy to be here. yuan meng and hir parents will return to china in the next few years. hopefully by then he has a better sense of balance. tim allman, bbc news. don't forget you can get more on all the stories we are covering and much more on the bbc news website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. we will see you soon. goodbye.
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hello. the recent run of cloudy days continue for many during saturday, although there were some notable exceptions to the rule. the north—east of scotland has fared quite nicely lately and that was been the way of again, although go too far north and you end up with shower activities. 0ut west, it really was one of those days — a frontal system stalled there with a lot of cloud and rain and the remnants of that are still there as we start the new day on sunday. far less in the way of rainfall across many areas, southern highlands of scotland, the cumbrian fells could see more than theirfair share for a time during the morning, and as the front weakens and the cloud against to break, there will be some sunny spells around, but you get the sense there is an awful lot of cloud still to be had across england and wales, the eastern side of scotland. temperatures perhaps a degree or two back on where we have been of late for many, save for the north—western quarter. the football shouldn't be interrupted by the weather at all, although it will get quite breezy
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as the afternoon goes on into the early evening in the vicinity of anfield. quite a match there, i'm sure. talking of winds, a lot of it as this frontal system comes in across scotland, northern ireland and even a little bit further south. we are expecting significant gusts of wind. they could cause some disruption to your travel plans. certainly come monday morning, we may well find some very wet weather and some windy weather across the south. the last of the mild air is swept away by that frontal system as the week ahead is very much about cold air, plenty of it, and some pretty strong winds as well. it is mild air and wet and windy fare to start off the day across the south—eastern quarter, so watch out for the commute there. then the combination works its way slowly but surely towards the near continent. following immediately on behind it could be some thunderstorms for a time. then you will notice a great raft of showers rattling in on a noticeable west to north—westerly wind, the temperatures beginning to fall away, initially across the northern and western parts of
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the british isles, but come tuesday, more widely across the british isles. it really will feel much colder. and the snow showers becoming ever more prevalent across many of these northern and western areas as those temperatures fall away. into wednesday, not a great deal of change, but what is this? late on wednesday into thursday that low pressure, some very windy weather in the south with some rain on its northern flank, though, it there could well be a significant spell of snow. next week, certainly colder, really quite windy at times as well, and there will be snow in the forecast. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us government is launching an investigation after an employee mistakenly issued an alert warning residents of hawaii of an incoming ballistic missile. it took over half an hour to be declared a false alarm — the situation on the islands was described as ‘full blown panic‘. after a wave of anti—austerity protests, tunisia's government has
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announced a $70 million package to help poorer families. as the country marks seven years since it sparked the arab spring uprisings — many tunisians feel they haven't gained enough social and economic benefits. the actor mark wahlberg's donated his $1.5 million fee for reshooting scenes in all the money in the world to the time's up initiative helping sexual harrassment victims. it follows an outcry after it emerged his co—star michelle williams earned nothing for the extra scenes. let's have a look at the front pages of the morning's newspapers:
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