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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 10, 2018 8:00pm-8:31pm GMT

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this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm. the haitian ambassador tells the bbc his government wants oxfam to explain how it dealt with allegations of aid workers paying for sex. the worst part is when they say if those crimes where reported to the haitian authorities no action would have been taken — it's really an insult. israel asserts that it will defend itself against attack, after one of its f16 jets crashes after coming under syrian anti—aircraft fire. the us is deeply concerned. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is in bangladesh, where he's been meeting rohingya refugees, who've escaped violence in neighbouring myanmar. also in the next hour, britain's bid for an olympic title at the 2018 winter olympics. commentator: this is great skating
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from elise christie, she's safely through to the quarterfinals. triple world champion short—track speed skater, elise christie, sets an olympic record in her opening heat in the 500 metre event. england hang on to beat wales at twickenham in a close—fought match in the six nations rugby. and at 8.30pm rebecca jones meets booker prize—winning irish author roddy doyle in talking books. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the ambassador to haiti has told the bbc he believes oxfam tried to cover up bbc he believes oxfam tried to cover up details of the use of prostitutes by some of its aid workers in the
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aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. 0xfam's chief executive said the charity could have been more open about its investigation, but insisted there was no cover—up. downing street says the government is reviewing its relationship with the charity. angus crawford has the details. it was an earthquake that devastated haiti, killing more than 200,000 people, affecting millions more. aid agencies from around the world stepped into the chaos. 0xfam, with more than 70 years' experience, had hundreds of staff in the field. but an investigation by the times found that in 2011, four staff members were sacked and three others resigned over allegations of misconduct, including paying local the n60 says it launched an investigation and kept the charity commission fully informed, something the commission now disputes.
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0xfam's leadership denies there's been a cover—up. 0xfam was actually proactive in going to the british public, the department for international development, and the charity commission, to explain that there had been serious misconduct and we'd taken action. more than £30 million of taxpayers' money is given to oxfam by the government every year. today, downing street called the allegations truly shocking and demanded a full and urgent investigation. today, fresh claims, some of the disgraced staff gotjobs at other aid agencies because 0xfam failed to warn them about the misconduct. it is clear it's a cover—up case. the fact that those folks were allowed to leave the country without any punishment, without even informing the haitian authorities about that. it was a cover—up. haiti wants 0xfam to hand over all relevant documents, so justice can be served there.
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the behaviour of a few has stained the charity's past reputation and now threatens its work in the future. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10.30 and 11.30pm this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are anne ashworth, associate editor of the times and bonnie greer, playwright and writer for the new european. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has said tonight that his country will defend itself against any attack or attempt to violate its sovereignty. his statement comes amid increased tensions between israel and its neighbours, syria and iran. the israeli military says it's attacked targets in syria, including air defence systems
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and sites linked to iran. earlier an israeli f—16 fighter jet crashed after being shot down by syria. 0ur middle east correspondent, tom bateman reports from jerusalem. what was left on israeli soil of one of the country's most advanced fighter jets. the plane crashed after the two pilots ejected, said israel, amid syrian anti—aircraft fire. 0ne pilot was left severely injured. israel has said that it scrambled the planes in response to this... a drone sent allegedly by iranian forces in syria into israeli airspace. it was destroyed. israel then hit the site that it said the drone had come from, before further strikes against what it called iranian targets in syria. syrian state tv called it a glorious morning and claimed the country shot
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down the israeli plane. israel is wary of the threat across its northern border, with the syrian regime backed by iran and its proxies, like these hezbollah fighters, back in control of much territory. syria's conflict has drawn in her neighbours, there have been dozens of israeli air strikes in syria in recent years. in december, israel hit what it said was a newly—built iranian military site. as recently as this week, a suspected chemical weapons factory was targeted. iran has accused israel of lies, claiming it has only military advisers in syria. there are likely to be more hastily—called meetings, here at the israeli prime minister's office, about how to deal with what he sees as the growing threat from iran. israel has said that it does not want an escalation in syria, but in a highly volatile atmosphere, where any of the players
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is capable of miscalculation, there remains open the distinct possibility of precisely that. tom bateman, bbc news, jerusalem. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is in bangladesh, where he's been meeting rohingya refugees, who've escaped violence in neighbouring myanmar. nearly 700,000 people have been forced to leave their homes, after a military crackdown began six months ago. reeta chakrabarti is travelling with the foreign secretary. cries of "welcome" to a guest from a people who have been kicked out of their home. we're going to try and get you back home, guys. borisjohnson came to see and hear himself from the victims of this huge man—made disaster. he heard story after story of arson, rape and murder. committed, say the rohingya victims, by the military and buddhist mobs in myanmar.
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i'm very sorry. what do you think of what you've heard so far? well, it's overwhelming and obviously these people have seen some pretty horrifying things and you're very conscious when talking to them, the young people, you don't want to trigger terrible memories for them. it was very clear with the case of the guy who'd only narrowly escaped and who'd almost lost his daughter, who'd been beaten, and had to ransom his daughter back. he kept breaking down in tears. the people that borisjohnson is meeting here are all in limbo. bangladesh doesn't want them here permanently but they can't go back to myanmar without guarantees of safety. so what can britain do to help? it's about finding a political solution, finding an answer in myanmar, from burma, creating the conditions for a safe, dignified return for these people. that's what they want.
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they do want to go back but they don't feel safe. that's the message the foreign secretary is taking to myanmar, where he landed tonight. he admits a safe return for the rohingya presently looks unrealistic. it's a very tough diplomatic battle he has to fight. the north korean leader kimjong—un has invited the south korean president to visit him at the earliest date possible. the historic invitation was given by kim jong—un‘s sister, who's visiting the south for the winter olympics. if it happens, it would be the first summit in more than a decade between korean leaders. laura bicker reports. this is no ordinary messenger. kim yo—jong is the sister of the north korean leader kimjong—un. she's the first of her family to set foot on south korean soil, and this is the moment president moon had hoped
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and campaigned for. he is careful to greet each delegate, aware of the significance of this meeting. as the two sides take their seats, the cameras note a blue folder on the desk. we now know it contained an historic invitation. translation: special envoy kim yo—jong presented a personal letter from kim jong—un to president moon, which contained chairman kim's desire to improve inter—korean relations. kim jong—un‘s younger sister is not used to the spotlight. she's usually behind the scenes as master of her brother's image. but, as a pr queen, she is the perfect charmer for the north's charm offensive. it's quite typical of north korea to actually do this kind of thing. they're stealing a little bit of the limelight from south korea, as the whole world's press descend on it, and they're also trying to control the message between the two. it's very, very hard
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for south korea, even though they've been talking about pressure, sanctions, to basically refuse these kind of advances from north korea. the us vice president has looked increasingly isolated on this visit, refusing to even greet the north koreans while pushing for tougher sanctions on the regime. these winter games have provided south korea with a diplomatic breakthrough they never thought possible. but it also presents a serious challengers. does president moon accept this invitation and, if so, under what kind of preconditions? and he's also discovering that in befriending his neighbour to the north, he risks alienating a key us ally. laura bicker, bbc news, pyeongchang. president trump has blocked the release of a classified democratic party memo over the fbi's russia probe. the memo rebutted claims there was anti—trump bias in the fbi's investigation of russian meddling in the us presidential election. the white house said the memo couldn't be released because it
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contained classified material. our washington correspondent david willisjoins us. this isjust one our washington correspondent david willis joins us. this is just one of two memos, very confusing. talk us through it please. a little bit confusing. you may see smoke coming out of my ears as i continue! last week, basically the republicans came up week, basically the republicans came up with a memo detailing what they said were surveillance abuses on the pa rt said were surveillance abuses on the part of the fbi involving a former trump campaign aide called carter page. that was back in 2016. the fbi and the justice page. that was back in 2016. the fbi and thejustice department recommended to president trump who ultimately have to sign off on these releases that he not release this republican memo, but he decided to do so anyway. fast forward to
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yesterday and the democrat rebuttal if you like, a longer memo reporting the claims made in the republican memo about the same subject went to president trump, and he decided this time to adopt the advice of the justice department and the fbi and not publish the democratic memo. now president trump is a republican, the democrats are up in arms. they claim there is a double standard, they say this all proves the president has something to hide. donald trump tweeted this morning basically saying that this democratic e—mail was so saying that this democratic e—mail was so long and complicated, had so much classified information in it that the democrats knew it would have to be heavily redacted which was setting the white house up for claims of lack of transparency. why ami claims of lack of transparency. why am i telling you this? why do we care? because there are those who claim this is part of an attempt by
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the republicans and the white house by default to muddy the waters, to discredit the investigation going on by the special counsel robert mueller into allegations of collusion between the trump campaign and russia, to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. after that republican memo was published, donald trump took to twitter and said he was vindicated as far as he was concerned. that's not quite the case. the special counsel's investigation is continuing and is said to be nearing its conclusion. it's as clear as mud! if you're sure! however, is it likely we will ever see more of this democratic memo? will it ever see the light of day? is possible and donald trump has advised the democrats to basically go back, redacted the
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things that are classified and then resubmit it to him in the belief that maybe he will put it out as he did the republican memo. alternatively, the house can vote as an entity to overrule the president's decision and force the release of this democratic memo. but the house of course is republican controlled. they are very unlikely to vote in favour of the release of a democratic memo. david willis, thank you. the father of an 11—year—old schoolgirl who was stabbed in wolverhampton, says he's "utterly devastated" by her death. jasmine forrester‘s father simeon said she "was a shining star and a huge part of us". detectives are questioning a 51—year—old relative, on suspicion of murder. gerry adams‘ 34—year tenure as leader of sinn fein has come to an end, as mary lou mcdonald formally took over as party president.
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in her first speech as leader, mcdonald told delegates in dublin it was time for the party to embrace fresh thinking and bold ideas. she also said she wanted to secure and win a referendum on irish unity. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn says that returning britain's energy system to public ownership is the best way of going green. speaking at a conference outlining labour's alternative models of ownership, mr corbyn said labour needs to take a radical approach to battling climate change. in 1945 we elected a labour government to take control of the country that was ravaged by six yea rs of country that was ravaged by six years of war. clement attlee's labour government knew that the only way to rebuild our economy was through a decisive return to
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collective action. necessary action to help avert the climate catastrophe requires us to be at least as radical as that government was, if not more. tackling global warming won't be achieved by warm words. the headlines on bbc news. the haitian ambassador tells the bbc his government wants oxfam to explain how it dealt with allegations of aid workers paying for sex. israel asserts that it will defend itself against attack, after one of its f16 jets crashes after coming under syrian anti—aircraft fire. the us is deeply concerned. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is in bangladesh, where he's been meeting rohingya refugees, who've escaped violence in neighbouring myanmar. sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. eddiejames
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eddie james said he eddiejames said he was pleased to see his side take what he called a good old fashioned and wrestle —— arm wrestle. england have made it two wins out of two in the six nations after beating wales by 12—6 at twickenham today. two tries from jonny may helping england to victory. our sports correspondent joe wilson reports. if you come to tour can you want a good few. wales arrived wearing tracksuits and headphones to block out the background noise. rhys patchell had his bottle questioned by england. we'll get the camera is ready. two minutes played, highball, rhys patchell didn't make it. the loose ball in the hands of owen farrell who knew exactly where he was kicking it, right in the part of jonny may who did the rest. his second try soon followed but watch joe launchbury. with two welsh players on top of him he still got the ball to his team—mates. how
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could wales respond ? the ball to his team—mates. how could wales respond? pat shall put through a clever kick and confusion followed. the tv officialjudging if the welsh hand with a bandaged arm touched the ball down with control. no, he said. wales needed a try and this is how close they came. the line was there and so was sam underhill to grab his man. this kind of commitment wins this kind of match. 12—6 to england it finished. we were prepared for this game, we knew it would be an arm wrestle. we had a game plan, we executed it. you saw a lot of kicking in the game and i think saw a lot of kicking in the game and ithinka saw a lot of kicking in the game and i think a lot of credit has got to go to the guys who finished the game. the scramble and the defensive pressure not to let up in that final closing stages was, you know, credit
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to the squad effort there. really, really proud of the guys. a happy changing room right now. things are a lot more straightforward for ireland today as they cruised to victory against france in ireland. jacob stockdale scoring two tries — the second one here — as ireland ran in eight tries to secure a bonus point victory. they're also two wins from two. in the women's six nations england enjoyed a comfortable 52—0 victory over wales while scotland are currently taking on france in scotstoun, and the scots trailing 12—3 early in the second half. sergio aguero scored four second—half goals as manchester city thrashed leicester 5—1 at the etihad. the game was level at 1—1 at half time afterjamie vardy cancelled out raheem sterling's early strike. but then it became the aguero show with the argentine giving city the lead just after the break. he scored another shortly after and then fully capitalised on a kasper schmeichel mistake for his hat—trick. aguero saved the best till last
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though, this incredible strike making it 5—1, a result that sees city extend their lead at the top to 16 points. earlier a harry kane header was enough to give tottenham a 1—0 victory over north london rivals arsenal at wembley. the win moves tottenham up to third, seven points clear of arsenal. day two of the winter olympics has given us some stunning action with the first of team gb‘s apperley sunshade. they included short track speed skater leads christie who on a stellar show to reach the quarterfinals of the women's 500 metres. she is britain's biggest medal hope. lee's christie was soon showing precisely why. she led her 500 metres heat from start to finish, setting a new olympic
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record. it was some statement of intent and after her disqualification at the last games, what a relief. i was so nervous. i thought maybe i'm not going to do this because i'm so nervous but actually it was fine. i was excited and i'm just glad actually it was fine. i was excited and i'mjust glad i actually it was fine. i was excited and i'm just glad i got to race in front of everyone again. british hopes in the snowboarding came crashing down. jamie nicholls and then team—mate billy morgan both tumbling out of the slopestyle event. the women's cross—country skiing produced the first gold medallist of the games, victory for sweden's charlotte kalla. the first gold medalfor the sweden's charlotte kalla. the first gold medal for the hosts sweden's charlotte kalla. the first gold medalfor the hosts brought the loudest cheer. south korea celebrated its own olympic champion. but for team celebrated its own olympic champion. butforteam gb, celebrated its own olympic champion. but for team gb, this was an opening day of decidedly mixed fortunes. disappointment on the snow but elise christie's hopes of gold are off to the perfect start. lots more still
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to come from south korea. that's all the sport for now. we'll have more for you on bbc news throughout the evening. we've got a development coming from south korea fire the reuters news agency. the us vice president mike pence is on the return leg home back to the united states and on the plane he's been quoted as saying "there is no daylight between the united states, the republic of korea andjapan on united states, the republic of korea and japan on the need to continue to isolate north korea economically and diplomatically until they abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile i'll programme". this follows his visit and also the visit of kim jong in‘s sister and the invitation to
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south korea's president to visit north korea at their earliest convenience. mike pence is saying they are in complete agreement. they are isolating north korea over its nuclear weapons programme, saying this on his flight back to the united states. let's get more now on our main story. the department for international development is reviewing its work with oxfam, following claims the charity covered up the use of prostitutes by some of its aids workers in earthquake—hit haiti. oxfam insists it publicised the action it took against the workers, some of whom were fired. earlier my colleague rachel schofield spoke to the haitian ambassador to the uk.
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he said his government was outraged that the oxfam staff had been allowed to leave the country without the matter being reported to the police. first of all let me express the shock of my government after seeing those allegations throughout the investigation by the times. it is really shocking. it is shameful, and it is unacceptable. and the worst pa rt it is unacceptable. and the worst part of it is the fact that when they said even though the crimes would have been reported to the high haitian authorities, no action would have been taken, it is really an insult. they said the reason they didn't take it to the haitian authorities is because they didn't believe anything that happens. that is really an insult. these gentlemen left the country and now they would
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have been allowed to work for other ngos, you don't know how many other kids are being victimised by this gentleman. therefore it is appalling, i think it is something we should condemn and the haitian government is now about to summon and give and share those reports and to explore those legal steps that have to be taken against those people. clearly mistakes have been made and oxfam have said they didn't handle it as they should have done, what needs to happen to make this right? i think mistake stake is a wea k word right? i think mistake stake is a weak word to use. the fact you have accepted the cover—up of crimes committed by someone and not a single employee. this is really shameful. i am single employee. this is really shameful. iam really
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single employee. this is really shameful. i am really pleased that the fact that her majesty'sgovernment has stepped in and requesting oxfam to share those files and to see what are the measures to be taken. from our part of the haitian government as ijust mentioned to you, my government is going to call and summon the oxfam representative to share those files. it is not acceptable. even in war zones, those actions are reprehensible. a double—decker bus has overturned in hong kong, killing 19 people, and injuring 62, on the tai po road in the new territories. police have arrested the driver and charged him with causing death by dangerous driving. sophia tran—thomson has this report. it does contain images some viewers may find distressing. the 12—metre long double—decker crashed in the new territories of hong kong.
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it was taking spectators and workers home from the sha tin racecourse after the last race of the day. the bus appears to have slid and flipped onto its side and hit a lamppost which cut through it. the driver has been arrested on cou nts the driver has been arrested on counts of causing death and grievous bodily harm. the driver lost his temper when he started driving. some people were complaining and he drove the bus like he was driving a plane. when he turned, the bus crashed. the bus like he was driving a plane. when he turned, the bus crashedm was very chaotic. he drove so fast, the bus toppled immediately when making a turn so all the people fell down and piled up. some passengers managed to climb out of the wreckage on their own, others had to be cut free by the fire brigade. police have so far been unable to confirm how many people were on the bus. ten people are in a critical condition while a further 20 are in a serious condition. breaking news from county antrim,
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this coming from the police service of northern ireland. a five—year—old boy has died in hospital. he was pulled and has died in hospital. major retailers in the uk are being urged to protect shoppers from an itunes gift card scam, which is conning victims out of thousands of pounds. hm revenue and customs says elderly and vulnerable people are being targeted, as our business correspondent, joe lynam explains. they acquire the contact details, usually for elderly people, call them up and say that, you have a huge tax bill outstanding, and that if they don't pay it immediately, they will contact the police, the fraudsters would say, or seize their personal assets.
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and so they say, you can pay straightaway, if you go down to your retailer and by these itunes vouchers with your own money to your retailer and buy these itunes vouchers with your own money and then call out the 16 digit number on the back then call out the 16 digit number on the back of these cards over the phone to us. how does it work? well, that number can buy a lot of stuff on the itunes system, you could buy a lot of stuff on the itunes system, you could buy an iphone or whatever as well as songs. it has a cash value. so, the criminal could swap that number to someone else, who would give them cash. and this is why hmrc are acting now, urging a lot of retailers to do something about this, to watch out for elderly people coming in, demanding a lot of money worth of itunes vouchers, and this is what angela mcdonald was telling us earlier today.

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