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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 11, 2018 7:00pm-7:30pm GMT

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this is bbc news. the headlines at 7pm. the international development secretary threatens to cut off state funding to oxfam over its handling of the prostitution scandal involving aid workers. if the moral leadership at the top of the organisation isn't there then we cannot have you as a partner. a russian passenger plane has crashed shortly after taking off from moscow, killing all 71 people on board. theresa may and some of her senior ministers are to give speeches in the coming week, setting out the future relationship the uk once with the eu after brexit. the leader of south africa's ruling anc party says the future of president jacob zuma will be finalised tomorrow. also in the next hour — great britain's andrew musgrave makes history at the winter olympics in pyeongchang. and coming up in sportsday, scotland fight back to earn a first win in this year's six nations with a hard —fought victory against france.
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that's at 7:30. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the government has warned it will cut funding to oxfam if it cannot fully explain its handling of reports of sexual misconduct by aid workers in haiti. the international development secretary, penny mordant, says the charity had failed in its moral leadership, and lied to her department. she'll meet oxfam representatives tomorrow. in response, they've announced new measures for the prevention and handling of sexual misconduct cases. angus crawford reports. first haiti, now chad, one of the poorest countries on earth. new allegations that oxfam workers paid local women for sex. the charity says it is shocked and dismayed but can't confirm the reports.
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the head of the mission at the time, roland van hauwermeiren, was the same man who five years later in haiti resigned after admitting using prostitutes. four others were sacked. as the scandal grows, the international development secretary, penny mordaunt, has sent a strong warning to all british charities receiving public money — they will lose the cash if they can't show a robust approach to safeguarding. i am very clear, it does not matter whether you have a whistle—blowing hotline, it does not matter if you have got good safeguarding practices in place, if the moral leadership at the top of the organisation is not there, we cannot have you as a partner. she said oxfam didn't give her department the full facts about what happened in haiti. it's about, was there any harm done? was there any involvement of the beneficiaries of aid involved? was there any impact on them?
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and they told us categorically no. and they also told us... that was a lie, wasn't it? they also told us... that was a lie, wasn't it? well, quite. at a meeting tomorrow, the charity will be given one last chance or be stripped of its taxpayer funding. bbc news asked oxfam for an interview. the request was refused. but in a statement, its trustees announced a series of reforms, to strengthen the vetting and recruitment of staff, set up an external whistle—blowing helpline, and bring in mandatory safeguarding training for new employees. there have been more revelations about other charities, too. reports that christian aid, save the children and the british red cross have all investigated staff over sexual misconduct allegations. andrew macleod is a visiting professor at kings college london and currently works for the charity hear their cries, which fights sexual exploitation. he was asked if that was an accurate figure. no, it's the tip of the iceberg. we estimate there are 60,000 victims of the un peacekeeping alone
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in the last ten years. to see that calculation, go to the website of hear their cries. i was an aid worker, i spent the ‘90s in yugoslavia and rwanda, the 2000s in pakistan and afghanistan, and i know the industry well. the problem is you have a lot of white men in positions of power, with a lot of wealth, going to underprivileged countries where the rule of law has broken down, and abuse takes place. we've got to understand, for the mums and dads, your viewers who want their taxpayer dollars or charitable donations to go to good, we have a duty to make sure that good is done. the majority of aid workers are good people, but like the catholic church, there is a small number of people who are doing the most heinous acts, and we only know that the charity is taking it seriously not if they report to the charity commission but to the police. these people are breaking sex
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tourism laws and need to go to jail. 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 our guests joining me tonight are parliamentaryjournalist, tony grew and the entertainment journalist, caroline frost. a russian airliner has crashed near moscow, killing all 71 people on board. the plane, operated by saratov airlines, was en route to the city of 0rsk in the ural mountains, when it came down near the village of argunovo, minutes after take off. sarah rainsford reports. the remains of flight 703 are scattered in the snow in fields just outside moscow. the fragments of a plane that plunged to the ground minutes after take—off. everyone on board has been killed. the aircraft was a an—148 operated by saratov airlines. it says the plane itself shown here was just eight years
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old and the pilot was experienced. the flight took off from moscow heading for 0rsk in southern russia and it disappeared from radars moments later. there was no emergency call from the crew. in 0rsk tonight, there is despair. relatives of the 71 passengers and crew have been gathering but they have been told there is no hope of any survivors. medics have been sent to help calm and comfort them. at the crash site outside moscow, the debris is spread over a wide area. it was mid—afternoon and people in nearby villages say they saw the plane fall from the sky. this man says it came down in pieces. others have described seeing a flash or an explosion first. police have now cordoned off the area as teams are sent in to search for bodies. 0ne flight recorder has been found but there are no clues yet as to what caused this disaster.
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the freezing conditions are just one of many factors that investigators are looking at as they continue their work here through the night. sarah rainsford, bbc news, in central russia. theresa may and some of her cabinet senior ministers are due to give a series of speeches over the next few weeks, which they say will give more details about their plan for brexit. it's after criticism the government has been too vague about the relationship it wants with the european union after leaving next year. with me now is our political correspondent, iain watson. first of all, who is this criticism coming from? all over the place, partly from brussels, who are saying, tell us what you want. famously, it was reported that german chancellor angela merkel took a light—hearted approach to this, suggesting the prime minister was asking her to make her an offer, then the eu chief negotiator, michel barnier, said on friday that he is
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expecting an update from britain what they want, but apparently there isa diary what they want, but apparently there is a diary clash, haven't quite got it, the meeting was cancelled. the government is saying that in effect it was his fault, he gate—crashed a meeting with officials. that is part of it. the opposition here say they should be a clearer vision as well and so many businesses, who have been lobbying, including the cbi. so a lot of pressure on the prime minister will stop even some backbenchers have been quite critical. effectively the criticism is that the camp has been kicked down the road but now it has to be stopped. she's going to open it, we will see the contents, and giving a speech on her big vision on the future relationship in the next three weeks, and then we get a range of other ministers filling in more detail. will it be like a road show of ministers? i suppose so, because they are calling it the road to brexit. i don't know if it is a straight flowing motorway or more like spaghetti junction, we'll wait and see, but two speeches already
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scheduled, borisjohnson and see, but two speeches already scheduled, boris johnson on valentine's day, and a speech that is meant to bring together remainders and levers, and the prime minister with a speech in munich next saturday, and she's always said she isn't linking a future trade deal with security, continue to cooperate on security, but behind—the—scenes people in whitehall think it is a strong card for britain to play, our soft power in these negotiations but then there will be a range of other speeches as well, including one on devolution after brexit, culminating in the big vision picture from the prime minister. what are they going to tell us? somethings will be reassurances, i think, tell us? somethings will be reassurances, ithink, to tell us? somethings will be reassurances, i think, to the audience outside and to europe. when david davis speaks, he'll be talking about european union as british standards, some reassurance that the deal we are seeking isn't seeking to undermine or undercut europe on
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safety sta nda rds, undermine or undercut europe on safety standards, workers' rights, for example of the devolution speech, that david livingstone will make, we are told there were some real substance there to try and assure the scottish and welsh government that power which comes back will not be hoarded in whitehall. the big picture stuff, about how far and quickly we diverged from european regulations, will be left until the prime minister's speech, and in not giving much detail to hisjust minister's speech, and in not giving much detail to his just about get fragile unity in her own party. how difficult to balance will this be, given the fact that, within her own party, theresa may is having to appeal to two different constituencies? she is. but i think, in essence, time is running out, because the eu will be formulating its own negotiating directors, as they call it, ahead of these trade talks. there is no guarantee they will be completed by october, but that's what we are trying to work towards, so within the next three
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weeks is time for the prime minister to fill in that detail, and she'll just have to live with some people perhaps not liking it very much, as happened with the florence speech last year, indicating at least paying some kind of brexit bill, perhaps not as much as they wanted, but that also attracted some criticism. she will have an away day with some key ministers at chequers in her country retreat, hopefully to smooth out some of these differences before speaking, but in the short term she has to try and get a transition dealfor the term she has to try and get a transition deal for the two years or so transition deal for the two years or so after brexit. a spanner was almost put in the works by the european commission, suggesting there be sanctions put on britain if they didn't continue to follow eu rules in that period but we are told now there is growing confident the commission may change that approach in the coming weeks, and brexit secretary david davis will be touring european capitals, essentially to try and get them to put pressure on the commission to make sure it's a good deal. you will be busy! thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a man from walsall has been
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charged with the murder of his eight—year—old daughter. mylee billingham was found with knife wounds at her father's house last month. william billingham has also been charged with making threats to kill. a five—year—old boy who died after falling into a fast—flowing river in county antrim has been named as kayden fleck. pictured on the right with his twin brotherjayden, his parents have thanked the emergency services and everyone who tried to save him. the uncle of an eleven—year—old girl has been charged with her murder. delroy forrester was arrested afterjasmine forrester was found seriously injured at a house in wolverhampton in the early hours of friday morning. the leader of south africa's ruling anc party, cyril ramaphosa, says the future of the country's president, jacob zuma, will be finalised tomorrow. speaking in cape town at an event marking the centenary of the birth of nelson mandela, mr ramaphosa made it clear that if the president didn't resign, he'd be asked to step down on monday.
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mr zuma's eight years in office have been marred by numerous corruption allegations. we are currently engaged, comrades, in discussions around the transition to a new administration and specifically to resolve the issues and the position of the president of the republic of south africa. cyril ramaphosa. how south africa correspondent has been explaining whether members of the anc are backing president zuma or the anc leader, cyril ramaphosa. they didn't get a warm welcome at the president's house, but it seems the president's house, but it seems the tide has turned. people be president thought were supporting him, members in the african national
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congress, are now singing a different tune, and everybody seems to be siding with cyril ramaphosa, wanting to bring an end to this. that is perhaps why tomorrow's meeting is happening, a show of force by cyril ramaphosa and his supporters that he is the man in charge of the anc, and effectively the next in line to run south africa, should they win the election. tough talking from mr ramaphosa, and a sense that they are done negotiating. you are watching bbc news. the headlines. as 0xfam admit they failed in moral leadership, the government is one uk charities that funding will be withdrawn if they fail to cooperate with the authorities in cases of sexual exploitation by staff. a russian passenger aircraft carrying more than 70 has crashed soon after taking off from moscow. 0fficials say there are no survivors. theresa may and some of her senior ministers are to give speeches in the coming week setting out the future relationship the uk wants with the
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eu after brexit. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has held talks with myanmar‘s leader, aung san suu kyi, over the rohingya refugee crisis. hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave myanmar, seeking shelter in neighbouring bangladesh, following a military crackdown, and violence from pro—government militias. mrjohnson has called for the safe return of all refugees to their homes, and a full investigation into the violence in rakhine state. reeta chakrabarti is travelling with the foreign secretary. her report does contain some flash photography. among the burnt out remains at a rohingya home, borisjohnson took in a chilling sight, the charred remains of a former life. he found the site himself although his visit to this region was heavily controlled by the myanmar authorities. can you work out where the house was? he travelled from village to village by helicopter, from the air you could see whole
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areas razed to the ground. it is where the myanmar military and buddhist mobs are accused of pogroms against the muslim rohingya. these pictures of burning villages in the area were filmed by the bbc last year. you genuinely have no idea who did it? some rohingya are still here and were brought out by the myanmar authorities to speak to borisjohnson. all denied any knowledge of who had destroyed their village. this habitation has clearly been burnt out and deserted. one of the rohingya villagers that i spoke to a little earlier told me in english, i hope you understand, we are in a very bad situation and unhappy. he didn't dare tell me who had burnt this village. 0ne government minister accompanying us told me it was what he called rohingya terrorists who turned on their own people and set fire to their homes. what do you think happened here? a terrorist attack against them. definitely that. earlier in the capital, a meeting with aung san suu kyi,
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who has attracted international condemnation for not speaking up for the rohingya. what came of their talks? i don't think it has come through to her, the whole extent, the horror of what has happened. it is absolutely devastating and i think what is needed now is some leadership. some calm, but some leadership, working with the un agencies to get these people back home. but this is what awaits any rohingya who do come back. a settlement with high fences and barbed wire. the myanmar government calls this a reception centre. to date, no one has returned to live here. reeta chakra barti, bbc news, myanmar. south korea's prime minister has indicated certain conditions must be met before the country's prime minister can meet north korean
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leader kimjon minister can meet north korean leader kim jon curran. minister can meet north korean leader kimjon curran. more minister can meet north korean leader kim jon curran. more talks we re leader kim jon curran. more talks were held on sunday with the delegation from pyongyang, and the south said they were frank and candid. kimjon curran —— kim yong an. 0ur correspondent is in seoul and has more. opinions are definitely divided in seoul and across south korea as to the way forward, in terms of how the government here should treat north korea. essentially, the debate goes, more engagement or keep trying to freeze them out? it's more complicated, and some people would say you could still have a dialogue while maintaining maximum pressure, in terms of sanctions, and i guess this is what the government of moon jae—in would say to the trump administration that they had essentially urged the south korean government not up its dialogue with the north, and yet moonjae—in came to power saying he would try and
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communicate with the north, so i guess he would say, i have a mandate to at least attempt some type of communication. you mentioned the sister of the north korean leader, and the fact that there has been so much attention on her here. part of it is just seeing her. we much attention on her here. part of it isjust seeing her. we know nothing about these leaders in north korea. i think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding, or some people in the general public, as to why you are giving this despotic regime so much coverage. well, because it is such big news here and i think a lot of people, it doesn't mean they like the north korean government or they are letting them off the book in terms of human rights abuses, or their nuclear weapons, but it's just that they would love to know... you mentioned before that she had said she expected the south to be more unusual. that's because people in north korea are, well, brainwashed
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into thinking that there are all sorts of evil is to be found in the south. you'd love to know what she really thinks about what's going on. that is why, wherever she goes, the cameras are following her facial expressions, trying to guess what is going on in her mind, because she will be going back and reporting to the brother, i saw this and that, and this is the kind of response we got absolutely, well, game changing communication between north and south korea at these winter 0lympics. nothing short of that. a helicopter has crashed in the grand canyon, killing three people. at least four others were hurt. it was thought to be carrying tourists. the cause of the crash isn't yet known. more than a third of child deaths and serious injuries caused by neglect in england are linked to parents who drink too much, according to a new parliamentary report.
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it also found that nearly all councils have cut their budgets for alcohol support services. 0ur health correspondent adina campbell has more. dad of sixjosh connelly knows first—hand about the damage alcohol can have on a family. his father was an alcoholic, and died when he was nine. i remember one particular incident, he smashed all the windows through, by the door, and he was waving a knife through one of the windows, and the police coming up and taking him away. at the same time i was trying to deal with it all, you're also trying to keep it secret, so it is about just suppressing it, and then you naturally get unhealthy coping mechanisms. the impact of parents abusing alcohol in england are outlined in a new parliamentary report. it found more than a third of child deaths and serious injuries through neglect were linked to parents drinking alcohol. while nearly two—thirds of all care applications involved misuse of alcohol or drugs. and children with alcohol dependent parents had feelings of stigma, shame and guilt.
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the report also used data from a freedom of information investigation, which found almost all councils in england are cutting back their budgets for this kind of care. the government says work is under way on a new children of alcoholics strategy, in addition to new higher duties to target cheap alcohol. josh has turned his life around, but he believes there are many children who will end up suffering in silence. adina campbell, bbc news. hundreds of fire deaths may be linked to the use of skin creams containing paraffin. a bbc investigation has found most of the creams — which are used to treat conditions like eczema and psoriasis — do not carry warnings, despite concerns over their safety. kirsten bicat has been telling us about her dad, brian, from bradford, who used skin creams for dry skin and a leg ulcer. he died last september after accidentally setting himself alight while smoking a cigarette. 22nd of september last year,
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i got the police call round at my house to tell me to get to the hospital where they have a burns unit, and my dad had just been airlifted, after an accident, and when i got there i found that he had more than 50% burns, he had third—degree burns and didn't stand a chance. the doctor told me he wouldn't survive, and prepare ourselves for the worst. we think he went onto the balcony for a cigarette, in his dressing gown and pyjamas, and somehow set himself on fire and then couldn't get it out quickly enough, to avoid the third—degree burns, which killed him 1a hours later. chris bell is a watch commander
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at west yorkshire fire and rescue service. he's been telling us that the build—up of paraffin on clothing can accumulate over a long period of time. vitally important for medical conditions but unfortunately they get into fabrics and clothing and dressings and it impregnates them, so you are left with a paraffin base in that fabric and it gets flammable. the medicines regulator, the mhra, says it is conducting a review of paraffin—based skin creams and is working closely with manufacturers and the fire service to further reduce the risks associated with products. energy companies should be allowed to see the personal data of some customers at risk of being in fuel poverty according to the government. the idea is part of a consultation looking at how best to protect people who could be struggling to pay their bills. our business correspondent
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joe lynam explains. we all hate getting our energy bills, but for some, it can push them into realfinancial difficulties, known as "fuel poverty." now the government wants to find a new way of automatically protecting up to 2 million energy users by letting suppliers know a lot more about them. it's launching a consultation into something called "data matching," which could allow local authorities to share personal information with energy suppliers. but only with their consent, and if users are getting state benefits and are in financial trouble. then they could automatically be placed on a cheaper safeguard tariff for their gas and electricity. 4 million people are already on that lower rate. the energy watchdog, 0fgem, says anyone placed on the new safeguard tariff could save £66 per year for each if this plan proceeds. that could be valuable as household energy bills are rising.
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joe lynam, bbc news. when you think of space exploration, rockets and probes come to mind — but a key role is also being played by people who simply lie down for a few days. a group of volunteers have been spending three days in bed, for tests at nottingham university. it's hoped their experience will shed light on how weightlessness affects the human body. hannah meredith reports. this is the nearest i'll be to being in space. it's life but not as we know it. these are two of ten volunteers spending three days in a bit that is tipped by minus six degrees. the head lower than the body to simulate the effects of zero gravity. pillownauts is the term used for healthy participants that undertake bed rest studies and they imitate being astronauts but lying in bed. 0n earth, our bodies are continually working against gravity but in space, weightlessness creates problems. they have muscle wasting and develop osteoporosis. they come back to earth prediabetic
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and that is because they are being so inactive in space, they are not contracting their muscles. the trial is running alongside a project by the european space agency. blood tests and muscle biopsies monitor how the body is coping but how are the pillownauts themselves getting on? you're slightly upside down so it's not like literally hanging upside down but there's a weird distribution of sensation in your body. after a while ijust got used to it and then you didn't really have any discomfort. itjust feels like you're lying in bed. i watched an entire netflix series yesterday. that got me through the day. today, i've more freedom with my arms so i'll be writing my thesis. mars and earth are neighbours but it is estimated it could still take nine months for us to get there. with scientists wanting humans on mars by the 2030s, they are working to make sure our bodies can withstand the journey. all the money's being funnelled into these long—term bed rest projects at the moment because we're rapidly trying to develop the best interventions we can to make sure
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if we get an astronaut to mars, that they can undertake their duties. after three days in bed, there will be three days' rehab to observe the return—to—earth effect. a small step in the world of space exploration but all part of the giant leap toward manned missions to mars. hannah meredith, bbc news, nottingham. all of the sport in a few minutes, including the latest from the winter 0lympics, but one thing you might have missed from pyeongchang is the first game played by the north and south korea combined ice hockey team. well they lost their opening match 8—0, but have a listen to this. singing and chanting. it was the north korean cheerleaders who stole the show in the arena. people had to change seat in the venue so that they could all
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sit together. this was the result. how is that for synchronisation? north korean style. let's look at the weather forecast. sunday was a better day than saturday for most of us, with more sunshine in the forecast. it will then turn quite frosty.
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