tv Outside Source BBC News February 28, 2018 9:00pm-10:00pm GMT
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hello, i'm kasia madera, this is outside source. the children of parkland return to school, two weeks to the day after a gunman walked in and killed their friends, while donald trump pins the gun debate on mental illness. i'll tell you this, you'd have to have very strong provisions for the mentally ill. a lot of people are saying i shouldn't be saying that. i tell you what, i don't want mentally ill people to be having guns. the battle over brexit, london and brussels at odds over the irish border as one former prime ministers has britain should reconsider its current path. nobody can truly know what the will of the people may then be, so let parliament decide, or put theissue be, so let parliament decide, or put the issue back to the people. and the latest on the beast from the used, as cold weather is taking its toll on europe. get in touch with us —— beast from the east. welcome to outside source.
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gun control in the us has been back on the agenda since a mass shooting in florida two weeks ago. president donald trump is currently speaking to a diverse mix of senators and representatives, urging them to come up with comprehensive legislation to prevent school shootings. let's cross over live to washington — have a let's cross over live to washington — listen to this gm this , be have. 7 ,,. 7” w n 7 can this . be have. 7; f f” 7— ~ 7 can do this . be have. 7; f s. 7— ~ 7 can do universal. , be have. 7 w 7” w n 7 can do universal background . 7 w 7” w n 7 we can do universal background checks and ban bump stock 's, and get rid of the dieke amendment, and do it now and show my american people, that we are actually ready to act, they will feel better, and
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you get to act, they will feel better, and you to at r—:——7 to act, they will feel better, and you to at to if?” to act, they will feel better, and i want m—gwgthartfiyfilr very figgg thank gs— i all is; i all get - very - ‘ you all we ‘you all if of we “s‘fiu one?“ "i s h will an n a we didn't pass — r— r—r— ,
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we didn't pass anything, 7—7 — , we g pass anything, let= $55; 355 99311133; égsif‘gi [£1 some good - we want to alone some good stuff. we want to pass something great, and to me, something great has to be where you stuff it from happening and i think there is only one way. but, again, if you feel not to have that, you understand, i want a counter, i want a very strong counterpunch, because if you have a strong counterpunch, you're not going in and you dawn probiem . . down probiem aw; ’ j‘fis zones, 2? —£,.—77 7 7 7; zones, no i a. if' to them, death to but if you four fzss s .ss_s_ s .s_ s gg'gj tissues it is hard i afan. i. a fan. let's consider it you, i am a far}; letiseensidesit a separate bill. but, again, we for a separate bill. but, again, we also want things that can be approved. you have to look at the
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age of 21 for certain types of weapons, i mean, certain people aren't going to like that but you will have to look at that very seriously. and i think we will have a vote, i think we will have a very successful vote, and i will sign it, andi successful vote, and i will sign it, and i will call whoever you want me to ifi and i will call whoever you want me to if i like what you are doing, and i think to if i like what you are doing, and ithinki to if i like what you are doing, and i think i like what you are doing already, but you can add to it. you have to be very powerful on background checks, don't be shy. very strong on mentally ill. you have to be very, very strong on that, and don't worry about bump stock 's, we are getting rid of it can be don't have to complicate the bill by adding another two paragraphs. we are getting rid of it. i will do that myself, because i am able to, fortunately we are able to do that without going through congress. so if the full review could work together and come up with some beautiful foundation, add could work together and come up with some beautifulfoundation, add and subtract to it, put it for a vote, let's get it done. that is what we have to do. mr president, what do we do about weapons of war easily
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accessible on our street? what you will have to do is discuss it with everybody, no, it is a very complex solution, you have weapons on the street, these are black—market weapons. you know the problem, diane, is these aren't where you walk into a store and buy it, this is where someone hands you a gun and... you go into a store, and you can buy a ar—15, you can buy all these weapons. this is what you're going to have two discuss, joe and pat. you will sit down with diane and everybody else, and you will come up with something. i really believe it has to be very strong. i would rather have you come down on the strong side, instead of the weak side. the weak side would be much easier, i would side. the weak side would be much easier, iwould rather side. the weak side would be much easier, i would rather have you come up easier, i would rather have you come up with a strong, strong bill, and really strong on background checks. with that, i just will end really strong on background checks. with that, ijust will end it, but i just want to thank everybody. i really believe we are on the road to something terrific. thank you all very much, thank you. studio: so
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thatis very much, thank you. studio: so that is the end of the meeting, donald trump meeting various types of politicians, and here talking about gun control, putting the onus on the politicians to come up with some suggestions. that was the end of the meeting but nick wyatt in washington has been monitoring this farce. what was your reading of what was said? i think -- of this for us. he was talking about a big con brands of bill that would be beautiful, actually it doesn't mesh with quite what is on the table at the moment. donald trump saying they have to be very strong on background checks, yes, there is a bill before the senate that would do just that, but it is quite small reforms. in the meeting, although he did not omit to it, was possibly raising the age that you have to be to 21 to buy the semiautomatic rifles. an interesting intervention from dianne
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feinstein, the senior democrat from california, and he said you need to talk to her and maybe we can get her ideas incorporated as well. what she is calling for is a ban on semiautomatic weapons, and that is very unlikely that the republican party would agree to that. but donald trump was happy for raising the age, in favour of getting background checks, but the biggest idea he had in this meeting, and isn't worth stressing this, this pet project he has had ever since the parkland shootings, to put more guns in schools, in the hands of school staff, who could provide firepower, as he put it, if eight gunmen walked into a school and started shooting. how —— if a gunman walked into a school and started shooting. how was that received? there was a bid of a pushback from the democrats. the meeting was interesting, most of the
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democrats in their work pretty deferential. they saw this as a chance to try and get from donald trumpa chance to try and get from donald trump a few public promises without his aides or the nra saying, hang on a minute, you can't do that, you are going to far. sometimes donald trump doesn't have a great command of all the sort of granular detail of this sort of stuff, and doesn't quite fully understand, you sometimes think, what precisely he is emitting himself too. for instance, the democratic senator from west virginia try to get him to commit to close what are called the gun show loopholes in the background checks, and he came very close to doing it but he just stopped short. so it was a very interesting meeting, but one of the headlines to come from it, i think, is that his favourite project is to arm more teachers. but i think one thing that was really into during about that meeting was what donald trump were saying about the nra. he says you are petrified of the nra, you are fearful of them, more fearful of them than i am, and i think that is absolutely true. and
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publicly chiselling away at the power of the nra as donald trump was doing there was something very rare for a republican president to do in public. i think the nra would have been watching that, very nervous about what he would commit to, and also nervous about the sort of public challenge he put two senators and house members in that room at the white house, to push back against the nra. it is very rare the nra hears that from a republican president. good overview to some that up for us. thank you. it is particularly pertinent, this meeting, because we had a feud of elements, earlier today a major gun retailer said they would stop selling that type of rival that was used by a teenage gunman to kill 17 people at the school in florida we have been talking about. it was my called dick's cass sporting goes, it
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has about 300 stores across the us, and it says they will no longer sell that assault rifle or the firearms of any kind to anyone under the age of any kind to anyone under the age of 21. of course this comes as stu d e nts of 21. of course this comes as students in parkland, florida, returned to the school for the first time since that shooting in february 14, time since that shooting in february 1a, a very poignant day to them. one of the survivors has shared her feelings with us. iam i am scared it will happen again. i will have that feeling for the first week or two. i think eventually it will be normal again but not the same normal it was before. they will probably be a new type of normal. though 17 people will not be there. they will be weird. welcome back. thank you. it is not going to be the same, but it will be ok.
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let's talk to our correspondence in parkland in florida. this has been a particularly poignant day for the stu d e nts particularly poignant day for the students returning back to school. yes, absolutely. the walkway to the school behind me, there are still a makeshift memorial there with posters from schools across the country really honouring the 1a students and three staff members who we re students and three staff members who were killed. earlier, this walkway was lined with members of the community, police officers, staff, stu d e nts community, police officers, staff, students from surrounding schools, giving the students high fives, hiding them, religious greeting them and saying welcome back to show them support. a lot of the students had mixed reactions going in, mixed feelings. they wanted to reconnect with teachers on one hand, but they didn't want to have to face the memories from that traumatic day. and we had from that student, i spoke with lyle dawson when she came
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out, and she said in school they focused on playing board games and having fun and trying to forget about that day. but she said it was also a very loving environment, and so also a very loving environment, and so she felt like it did make her heel so she felt like it did make her heel, because as she said, life goes on and this was just a necessary step for them on their path to healing. this return to school comes as florida's lawmakers are also preparing a package of gun—control bills. they will consider raising the legal age of buying rifles from 18 to 21 and giving police more control to seize weapons from mentally ill people. something we heard donald trump speaking about. that is in response to a movement that has been led by students and those survivors of the parkland shooting. students have been releasing a series of videos, like this one. what if instead of thoughts and prayers you had policy and change? our thoughts and
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prayers, our thoughts and prayers. what if civilians could not access assault weapons? might trigger finger is getting tired. what if we voted our lawmakers who accepted donation money from the nra out of office? they have so many rifles and so office? they have so many rifles and so many office? they have so many rifles and so many gui'is, office? they have so many rifles and so many guns, sometimes office? they have so many rifles and so many gui'is, sometimes even office? they have so many rifles and so many guns, sometimes even i get a little concerned. what if politicians actually listened to the concerns of my generation? we call bs. that video released by some of the survivors... neda, we've spoken about us gun laws many times after these types of events. is this different? are we seeing a change? well, look, ithink well, look, i think this is the first time we've had survivors of a mass shooting beavis vogel. you have politicians in the past have said let us not politicise this issue,
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but here you have students wanting to challenge politicians, to challenge the nra and speak about this. one student, dimitri foulquier, wears a red ribbon everyday now, and he says he does that showed able persevere, they will continue to push this issue. they were in the state capital in florida, specifically saying they are againstarming florida, specifically saying they are against arming teachers, but they want the age range raised there to 21, and a ban on assault rifles. they are really demanding politicians to act and they are trying to turn this into a voter lead issue. in the past, we really haven't seen people decide their vote based on a politician's stance on gun control, and that is what the stu d e nts on gun control, and that is what the students here are trying to change. their next major push is actually a march for our lives, they are calling it, on washington, to make this a national campaign and maintain this momentum. thank you very much is always. we will have
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much more reaction on what donald trump is saying. stay with us here on outside source. lots more still to come on the programme. three men have been arrested this evening in connection with an explosion in leicester. five people including three members of the same family, other litre have died when a flat and shop were destroyed on sunday. police are yet to formally identify them. emergency services said before search will take days. now we have this use, brief press release from leicestershire police saying that three people are arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. they say they were arrested between five and six this evening. one man comes from east anglia, the second is from the north—west and the third is from the east midlands. they say they would be giving any more details about the men at this stage, but they go on to stress once more that there remains
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no evidence that the explosion was in any way terrorist related. police don't say what actually caused the blast, so we still don't know. this is outside source, live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is that the children of parkland have returned to school, two weeks to the day after a gunman killed 17 people at the school, and donald trump has been meeting lawmakers to try to push new legislation to combat school shootings. from around the bbc newsroom live, thousands of fans have been paying their last respects to the bollywood star in india for stop crowds lined the streets as a specially decorated truck carrying her body was taken to a cemetery in mumbai. the 54—year—old was cremated with state honours. she died in them
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by at the wigan. bbc arabic reports that a south african born construction worker who fell to his death in qatar was using potentially lethal equivalent —— at the weekend. they coroner's in quest into zachary cox's death is hearing how he plummeted a0 kilometres at doha's khalifa international stadium. work practices were described as inherently unsafe. this is something a lot of people are watching online. as the heavy snow started to fall across scotland, these deer were spotted walking down a street. alan taylor filmed them from his spotted walking down a street. alan taylorfilmed them from his home in the morning. we have been reporting about the gun—control, america's uncontrolled discussion, of course this effect the business news as well. the most prominent gun retailer, dick's sporting goods, so they will permanently stop selling assault
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style rifles, that is the type of weapon used in the mass shooting at the school in florida two weeks ago. let's cross over tojoe miller who joins us from new york. how is the business community? of course the nra is conscious of this, how is the business community looking at this event? i think it is a landmark moment from the business community. what we have seen after previous shootings, previous tragedies, is that after the backlash is against politicians. and there have been attem pts politicians. and there have been atte m pts to politicians. and there have been attempts to turn the eye of campaigners against corporations but they have generally fizzled out. this time seems to be different. we are now two weeks, from the event, and momentum against corporations that have involvement with the nra just keeps on going. so we saw companies that give certain perks to nra members, like hertz car rental, ending their association with the nra, and now we have a big gun
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retailer saying they would no longer stock assault rifles. one very important thing about this retailer, dick's, is that it sold a gun to nikolas cruz in florida, not the gun used in the shooting but a gun nonetheless, so it feels personally involved in this story, and its ceo came out today and said they could no longer consciously do this and they will be starting to sell us all rifles in its stores, and raising the age limit howard 21. 10 konta -- to 21. you mentioned this backlash against the nra, how corporations moving this forward, then? corporations have an economic calculation to make here and there are two elements to it. number one is generally the gun industry is suffering under donald trump. it is something called the tramps slump, and basically what happens is when you have a president who is in favour of gun rights or perceived to be, fewer people go out
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and buy guns because they are less worried about the guns being taken away. so the gun industry as a whole is to colliding. and then you have this rising movement for gun—control, that doesn't want to have anything to do with companies that are seen as having links to the gun industry. so if you are a big company, like dick's for example, that sells in 700 stores across the us, you have a calculation to make, who is more reported than the small number of americans that own guns, 01’ number of americans that own guns, or the rest of your consumers who may take exception to the fact that you have connections to this industry? and market forces, put simply, are beginning to play into these decisions and some companies are saying that tens of millions of gun owners competitive hundred million consumers, we will stick with the 200 million consumers. million consumers, we will stick with the 200 million consumersm konta thank you for putting that into context for us. uk business news now. our changing shopping habits behnd the collapse of two major british high street chains —
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toys r us and the electrical chain, maplin. this is what natalie berg says for toys " r" this is what natalie berg says for toys "r" us‘s demise. this is what natalie berg says for toys 'r" us's demise. they are too reliant on these large, out—of—town stores, but a lot of their problems are self—inflicted. they overlook the importance of online, where about a0% of toy sales take place, and perhaps more importantly they have neglected their stores. shopping for toys should be fun, it should be interactive, it should be a really exciting experience, but i think a lot of shoppers left toys "r" us feeling quite underwhelmed. it is known as china's netflix iqiyi is one of china's biggest streaming services and is to list on the us stock market in a share sale could raise more than $1.5 billion dollars. it is owned by the chinese technology giant baidu, and has 15
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million —— has 50 million subscribers. it recently signed a deal with netflix. while revenues have grown in recent years, it has never posted a profit since it launched eight years ago. but investors believe there is huge potential in a country where more and more media is being consumed online. the competition is big too with alibaba online. the competition is big too with aliba ba and online. the competition is big too with alibaba and 10 cents vying for a share of what they believe is a multi—billion dollar market. a share of what they believe is a multi-billion dollar market. from business to weather. much of europe has been blanketed in snow as cold weather spreads as far south as the mediterranean coast. these pictures are from the uk, where the cold spell has been nicknamed "the beast from the east". dozens of roads were closed and trains and flights cancelled. hundreds of schools suspended classes too, with some businesses telling workers to stay at home. scotla nd
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scotland has been most seriously affected in the uk, and bbc weather's carol kirkwood has been saying the met office has just issued a red, a top—level severe weather warning for central scotland, which is valid until ten o'clock tomorrow morning. at the tail end of winter, the highest alert for snow. driving treacherous, the disruption widespread. heading out in these conditions, not advised. this, the first time scotland has had a red weather warning of this kind, enforced for a large swathe of the country's most heavily populated areas, frequent showers, drifting snow and the extremely low temperatures means there's fear some rural communities could become cut off. marjorie? is it ok to come in?
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how are you doing? in the village of bishopton on the outskirts of glasgow, the local minister has been looking in on the elderly and vulnerable. in this kind of whether it is good for everyone to counter the neighbours isn't it? it is indeed, and even the smallest gesture, just checking in on eve ryo ne gesture, just checking in on everyone is important. we wouldn't be advocating people going out in this kind of weather, stay warm, stay safe and let someone come to you for stop the weather is brutal, there are freezing temperatures across pretty much the whole of scotland, and when the wind blows, it feels much colder than that. the school here in bishopton shut for the day for stop across scotland, more than a50,000 children have been missing lessons. i was meant to be working but he is off school, so he came with me. take your child to
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work day, but for weather—related reasons? yes. i wouldn't normally be off but the school was closed, so my boss told me to stay at home, work from home if i could, but we ended up from home if i could, but we ended up sledging. in perthshire, these deer coming down from the hills in search of shelter or food, one measure, perhaps, ofjust how extreme this weather has been. measure, perhaps, ofjust how extreme this weather has beenm measure, perhaps, ofjust how extreme this weather has been. it is pretty unusual for us here extreme this weather has been. it is pretty unusualfor us here in scotland, we have some severe weather, while it is not unprecedented, it would have to be unusual. at least one skier took to the streets, not the slopes, to get about, and with condition so difficult, tonight there are warnings drivers could be stuck on some roads for several hours, with even the gritters struggling to get through. yes, brutal weather, and the weather tea m yes, brutal weather, and the weather team says there is biting cold and it is expected to continue. stay with us on outside source. hello, this week has got ever
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colder, ever snowy, and it is parts of scotla nd colder, ever snowy, and it is parts of scotland bearing the brunt as the heaviest snow going through the night and into the morning. met office warnings, you can see the red area that covers much of the central belt, the highest level of warning, the snow piling up, very dangerous situation for anyone still travelling, though the advice is not to. then you have this amber area through the rest of the north east england and scotland, where further show —— snow showers will add to the accumulations we already have. elsewhere, scattered snow showers around, a further few centimetres in places, but as we take a closer look at the snow running into scotland and north east england, and we put some totals on it. some spots will get even more than this by the time it is all said and done. that very dangerous situation continues into the south across the uk will get increasing cloud, perhaps numerically temperatures not as low
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as they were overnight, but bitterly cold overnight, and other severe frost and it feels colder in the wind. we start to see outbreaks is now rather than just snow showers reaching in across parts of southern england initially during thursday, and then into parts of wales as well. the wind picks up this as well, so the wind chill becomes even more of a factor. look at that in cardiff, feeling like —11 at times. things could get quite dangerous as we run on through thursday evening and night into south—west england and night into south—west england and wales. you can see a swirl of wind pushing moisture northwards. this is storm emma. the snow turning heavier, drifting in the wind as well across south—west england into wales with a met office amber warning on through thursday evening and night, so the situation could well go downhill quite quickly here, and quite icy too, sunspots going into friday, the further south you
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are, somewhat less cold air moves in but that brings a risk of freezing rain. on through friday, an area of snow affecting parts of england and wales, so quite widely we will be seeing a few centimetres in places with an impact on travel of course, and we still have snow showers running into eastern scotland. it is still bitterly cold, and colder in the wind. hello, i'm kasia madera. this is outside source, and these are the main stories here in the bbc newsroom. the children of parkland have returned to school, two weeks to the day after a gunman walked in and killed their friends. donald trump has been meeting lawmakers to try to push new legislation to combat school shootings. i'll tell you this, you have to have very strong provisions for the mentally ill. a lot of people say i shouldn't be saying that but i don't wa nt shouldn't be saying that but i don't want mentally ill people having guns. the battle over brexit, london and brussels at odds over the irish border,
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as one former prime minister says britain should reconsider its current path. nobody can truly know what the will of the people may then be. so, let parliament decide or put the issue back to the people. everyday we featured bbc journalists working in 30 languages. your questions always welcome. welcome to outside source. a leaked united nations report says north korea has been shipping supplies to syria that could be used to make chemical weapons. the report, which has been seen by the bbc, found some a0 previously unreported shipments were made between 2012 and 2017.
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materials included acid—resista nt tiles, valves and pipes. north korean missile experts were also seen at syrian weapon—making centres. we've had some american reaction already to the report. robert wood is the us representative on issues of disarmament at the un. you know, i'm not going to comment on the actual un report because it's confidential. clearly there is a history of a relationship between north korea and syria with regard to missile activity, chemical weapons components. let me just leave missile activity, chemical weapons components. let mejust leave it there at this point but we are concerned about that history between those two countries. our washington correspondent, barbara plett usher, joins us. shipments are meant to have taken place over past five years. what more detail do we get in this report? details of recent transactions which
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appeared to be aimed at building a chemical weapons factory. the report cites the interception of shipments of acid resistance tiles, which happened in january, 2017. of acid resistance tiles, which happened injanuary, 2017. things that can be used to build a chemical weapons factory. it also cited that there have been sightings of various places in syria of north korean missile technicians at facilities that were known to have chemical weapons and missiles before. the report isn't definitive proof that there is an ongoing collaboration between them but it's the most detailed information so far of what exists, which is something experts have long suspected was the case and they have long suspected that syria did not give up all of its chemical
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weapons in 2013, especially given the recent attacks. what is the significance of this given the two countries involved ? significance of this given the two countries involved? well, this is a long—standing relationship according to experts. the north koreans have been supplying training and support for chemical weapons programmes since the 1990s. but given the stringent sanctions on north korea, arms sales have become more important as a source of income so they are able to get around the sanctions to fuel their own programmes and this is the sale of conventional and nonconventional weapons to syria and other countries as well. the un report cites ballistic missile technology to myanmar and other countries are mentioned as well. the secretary of state rex tillerson has talked about proliferation, he was asked why the us can't accept north korea as a nuclear armed state and then work to contain it like it did with the
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soviet union but he said it is selling this stuff and can't be trusted. i want to ask you about this man, the south korean born american special envoy for north korea, who has been a strong advocate for engagement with fillon yang. —— with yong yang. he is planning to retire this week. what impact does it have on the situation between the countries? it is a significant setback, he has contacts and my one has more experience than him and there is no other point man waiting to replace him. it is a critical time because north korea says it will talk to washington, south korea wants the dialogue and he would like to take part in it but he would like to take part in it but he says he's leaving for personal reasons. reports suggest he feels he
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doesn't have the support of the administration to advanced diplomacy and there have been differences between the white house and state department on the value of conducting diplomacy with north korea. the white house is more hardline. thank you forjoining us. we've had a dramatic day of developments in the ongoing debate on brexit. these two have clashed on a solution to the irish border issue. michel barnier released a draft eu legalframework for the uk's departure. in no uncertain terms, theresa may rejected it. it's on this document, on the european commission website. all 120 pages. the most controversial part is about the island of ireland. here's the issue it's trying to solve. northern ireland is part of the uk and will leave the eu after brexit. the republic of ireland will stay within the eu. currently there is no physical border between the two countries.
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the eu says common regulations on both sides of the border would allow the status quo to continue, if no other solution can be found. here's its chief brexit negotiatior michel barnier. our approach is focused on those areas where it is needed to avoid border checks. the border should continue as today. as i've said before, already today northern ireland has rules in place which are different from the rest of the uk. the british government has said such a solution isn't acceptable. michel barnier‘s proposal means that the irish sea would effectively become a border and theresa may isn't happy about that idea. the draft legal text the commission
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has published, if admitted, would undermine the uk, market and threatens the constitutional integrity of the uk by creating a customs and regulatory border the irish sea. no uk prime minister could ever agree to it and i'll be making that absolutely clear. former british prime ministerjohn major also made a dramatic intervention in the brexit debate. those of us who warned of the risks that brexit would bring to the still fragile peace process were told at the time that we didn't understand irish politics. it now seems we
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understood it better than our critics. we need their policy urgently critics. we need their policy urge ntly to critics. we need their policy urgently to protect the good friday agreement and we need one without delay. and it is our british responsibility to find one. we created the problem, not the european union. we need to offer a solution and not simply oppose what other people suggest. brexit supporters have hit back, calling the intervention cheap comments and propaganda and it hasn't been welcomed by the government. let's have an update from laura kuenssberg. in some quarters there was frustration at the intervention by john major, just when theresa may is striving to hold together an uneasy truce in the tory party. but from his point of view he chooses his interventions and words carefully and rarely and clearly for those
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inside the tory party and around the country who don't think this battle is over, it may well give some comfort. you've got a lot more detail on this and full coverage on president tran's discussion with democrats and republicans about gun control on our website —— president trump. russia's olympic suspension has been fully lifted by the international olympic committee. it means russia will be able to fully compete in future olympic games. russia was banned from february's games by the ioc over state—sponsored doping. despite that, 168 athletes who proved they were clean ahead of the competition, did compete as neutral athletes under the banner, olympic athletes from russia. two of them failed drug tests. here's what the president of the russian olympic committee said about their athletes.
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translation: the letter we received today says the international olympic committee can confirm that all the remaining samples from the olympic athletes in russia were negative, that all of the tests our athletes took gave a negative result. here's the medal table from the 201a winter games in sochi, where russia topped the standings. but their athletes dropped to 13th place in pyeongchang. here's olga ivshina from bbc russia, on how their performance is seen in russia. if we look and the stats, russia's performance is worse compared to the sochi olympics of 201a but actually in russia, especially the media, it is portrayed as a huge success against the odds, that's how most russians see it. most of the russian
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sports media were not participating in the korea games because some of them... some are not allowed to participate and others were not invited by the ioc. basically this was a team of young and the most inexperienced sportspeople who managed to win a few unexpected medals. and a gold medalfor the hockey team was the most important event i guess for most russians watching these olympics and all those sports men were today greeted personally by the russian president buddy miku ten, which tells you how open sport is nowadays in russia and that the main message they are trying to spread, that —— the russian president vladimir putin. despite all that, russian sports men
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managed to succeed, that's the message they spread. many experts doubt it but that's what russia wa nts to doubt it but that's what russia wants to show. yemen has been devastated by a civil war the un describes as the world's worst man—made humanitarian disaster. it's been almost three years since the saudi—led coalition launched its first air strikes against the houthi rebels, sparking an all—out armed conflict. with the first in a series of special reports, here's the bbc‘s chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. high above the arabian peninsular, just off the coast of yemen. saudi arabia and its allies have ruled these skies since the war began. and they control the seas below. these shipping lanes are a vital gateway for the world's energy supplies.
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and a smuggling route for illicit goods. among them, the saudis say, weapons that iran supplies to yemen's houthi fighters. we land on board a saudi warship. inspecting vessels bound for the port. most of yemen's imports flow through there but it is in houthi hands. saudis are on the look out for suspicious vessels. we meet the captain, whose mission is a crucial front line in this war. operational rules are to treat all vessels as suspicious? yes. a naval blockade has been lifted for now. it had obstructed vital medicine, food and fuel from reaching yemenis in desperate need. but this war grinds on. and on the ground, it is yemen's army who are battling houthi fighters.
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advancing slowly on hostile terrain. mountain by mountain. seizing strategic heights of the approach to the capital. only about ten miles from here, this area is in their sights but still out of reach. the general knows that a tough battle lies ahead. he tells me his men know how to fight on this harsh mountain terrain. it'll take time and he says it will not stop the advance. the capital, sanaa, is the prize in this war. the houthis want to keep it and the ousted government wants it back. to take the fight into the heart of this historic, densely populated city, it would be a bloody urban battle. all roads in this war
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lead to this capital. yemeni forces and their allies have an ambitious plan. surround sanaa and force the houthis to surrender. but their enemy is well entrenched. supported by iran, the houthis are well trained and well supplied. their ballistic missiles have reached the heart of the saudi kingdom. and fear is part of their arsenal also. hundreds of journalists and political opponents have been detained arbitrarily. many have fled. in a government—controlled area, we meet 27—year—old abbas. his crime? posting comments on social media. he tells us, "they hung me up, tortured me until i fell unconscious." when he woke up he couldn't move. imagine, he says, in a second you cannot walk. "what can i be now?" but yemenis live with other fears. this is the impact of the saudi air
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strike in a neighbourhood close to the defence ministry. the saudi—led coalition has been pounding enemy positions. armed with the most sophisticated weaponry from allies like britain, the us and france. the saudis insist civilians are not a target. but they are being hit. this family, like many others, lost their home in a coalition bombing. they have taken refuge here. "we are begging for help," cries this woman. "yesterday my three children did not eat." "i am ill, always ill." "neither dead nor alive." it is hard to escape from this war. it has pushed these families from place to place. at this temporary settlement they are digging in. trying to make a new home from the little they now have. the arab world's poorest nation now a battle ground for regional powers in a middle east which grows
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ever more combustible. saudi arabia and iran know they are playing with fire. new data from africa shows that not a single country on the continent is set to end childhood malnutrition by 2030. that target and date was set by the un as a sustainable development goal and is published here on their website. but these are just two of a series of new detailed maps studying child growth and education that conclude that's just not happening. orange and red show where children are moderately or severely underweight. our science correspondent victoria gill explains. this is the most detailed study of
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child health and education across africa ever carried out. it's a huge international study, by africa ever carried out. it's a huge internatior and udy, by africa ever carried out. it's a huge internatior and the, by africa ever carried out. it's a huge internatior and the, of )y africa ever carried out. it's a huge internatior a ths‘g‘ss ” ” ’ony' w glsfifi rates, glfifi rates, whether s children are retaining healthy weights, which is a good measure of malnutrition, and education. buys evening in to the —— by zooming into the communities they can see where things are going well and where targets a re things are going well and where targets are not being met and where progress isn't good. the idea is to map out how africa how individual communities in africa are on their journey towards meeting the sustainable development goals of the united nations. the bigger picture story is that no single nation is on track to meet the goal of ending hunger by 2030, that's the bad news but the good news is that there has
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been a huge amount of progress especially in southern areas, saha and africa, towards meeting those targets, children getting nutrition ina way targets, children getting nutrition in a way that they weren't before. also these maps are just so very detailed, they are incredibly powerful. scientists say that this data is a call to action really for policymakers and that by seeing on the seat maps where things are going wrong and where they are going right, then they can learn lessons, target resources and funding and do a much more efficientjob of driving african communities towards those goals. incredible detail. let's turn now to slovakia and the murder of an investigative journalist. this is 27—year—old jan kuciak. and his girlfriend martina kusnirova. they were found with a single gunshot wound to the head here in velka maca, a village around 65 kilometres east of
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the capital bratislava. there's been speculation over why kuciak‘s was killed. yesterday the prime minister offered a reward for more information. translation: ladies and gentlemen, there are 1 million euros lying in front of me. this amount is for a person who takes courage and comes to the police or otherwise tells the police that he or she knows something about this crime. i will be meeting with editors—in—chiefs of the most important slovak media companies to discuss the fact that the protection of the freedom of speech and the safety of journalists is our common priority and that it is extremely important to my government. it isa it is a huge reward but people are focusing on jan it is a huge reward but people are focusing onjan kuciak‘s last final, unfinished article, published overnight by his former employer,
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actuality. s k, and the headline is about the italian mafia extending into politics in slovakia. other outlets have published the article ina show outlets have published the article in a show of solidarity like this one with a damning headline, you can kill a journalist but you can't kill his story. what was jan kuciak alleging? here's a bit about his article, he says italians with ties to the mafia have found a second home in slovakia. they have received subsidies and eu funds, but especially building relationships with influential people in politics, evenin with influential people in politics, even in the government. jan kuciak‘s collea g u es even in the government. jan kuciak‘s colleagues are urging the government to look —— the police to look at his article and the links between it and his death. earlier i spoke to the editor in
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chief of the slovakian daily newspaper, the sne and i asked her why her paper published the article. we ran this story and it was really a strong... and we repeated the questions for the government, which remain unanswered so far. it implicated people close to the government, having links to the mafia. they resigned today. also the culture minister resigned today, saying that the murder of a journalist was something too much to absorb politically and he offered his resignation. it truly shows that
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the original line... the prime minister's first response is that he doesn't see any reason for calling for political responsibility but now it's changing. this story seems to bea game it's changing. this story seems to be a game changer. the government must their lives that these murders and out —— sent out a shock to society because this is the first murder of a journalist in this country so we are asking the question, are we becoming a mafia state ? question, are we becoming a mafia state? are we getting too close —— closer to countries like russia, turkey and elsewhere where it is normal to killjournalists. turkey and elsewhere where it is normalto killjournalists. slovakia isa normalto killjournalists. slovakia is a member of the eu, and nato, there is a lot of surprise about what's happening. are you concerned about the safety of journalists what's happening. are you concerned about the safety ofjournalists in your country? it depends on how the course of the investigation is going
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and whether this government will actually investigate this crime. if wheeler and the region, slovakia is still enjoying pretty wide freedom of the press compared to hungary, or poland where the ruling elite com pletely poland where the ruling elite completely suffocate the critical media. in slovakia, journalists can write freely but what happened shocked the journalists and scared a lot of my colleagues because they started asking questions, like whether they are really safe if they continue working on this or that story. before monday they didn't have to think about this question. a little bit of breaking news from washington. we are getting news that hope hicks, one of donald trump's longest irving h, has resigned from herjob as a white house
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communications director —— longest serving aides. according to the new york times, miss hicks says she's accomplished what she can do in her job in the white house. that is breaking news and how we end outside source. it has been called the beast from the east and in some ways it arrived with only a whimper, where's my snow, some people said but now it has found its voice. in the central belt of scotland there has been a red warning, the highest alert. severe travel disruption continuing into thursday. we seen this before, snow showers coming in on a bitterly cold flow from the east but look at the flow in the atmosphere to the south of the uk, anticlockwise around an area of low pressure. it
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has been called storm and it's about to move the moisture north into the cold air meaning that for some of us into friday not just cold air meaning that for some of us into friday notjust snow cold air meaning that for some of us into friday not just snow showers but the longer spell of more persistent snow is on the way. it is a messy situation wherever you are on thursday morning but especially in those parts of scotland, seeing the heaviest and most frequent snow showers as the snow piles up. north—east england too and then southern england, into wales, cloudy skies and outbreaks of snow on another bitterly cold day. the wind picking up in the south, the wind—chill in cardiff will be minus 11. the first day of march, remarkable doesn't cover it. the snow gets going late on thursday night and parts of south west innard and wales where there is an amber warning to be prepared. notjust warnings of heavy snow but drifting
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and potential blizzards in the strong wind and perhaps slightly less cold air from the south, some at risk of freezing rain as well. some icy conditions on friday morning. snow showers peppering eastern scotland. a broad area of snow from south—east england into northern ireland for a time on friday, varying intensity but a good few centimetres in places. but feeding north, into friday night and saturday morning, weakening as it does so. again from the south on saturday, reaching into the cold air, producing some snow into sunday. it gets less cold, the further south you are, especially the channel islands. we got low pressure to the south—west of us. smaller disturbances at times, taking the moisture north across the uk. there is a battle to see how
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long the cold air last and when the mild airtakes long the cold air last and when the mild air takes over. circulation around the low pressure, still in the blue even than the wind is coming from the south. what's going on? we've enough cold air from the south—east, going around the area of low pressure and it comes back into the uk. becoming less cold but we're never tapping into the mild atlantic airfrom thatis that is why it is cold enough next week to bring the risk of further snow. we know it is unsettled, wet and windy, we know there is a battle for when and how long it will take to get the mild air into the uk. as long as the battle takes place next week there is a risk of further snow, mainly across the north of the uk but maybe not only here. the beast from the east is in and it is in no hurry to go home. as they bed down for the night. snow on this scale, whilst not unprecedented, is unusual. we'd have to go back a number of years to see an event like this. thousands of schools were closed
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today across the uk, allowing children to take to their sledges. and it's forecast to be just as bad tomorrow, with weather warnings for more snow and very low temperatures in almost every part of the uk. also tonight. a warning on brexit, former prime minister sirjohn major urges theresa may to put country before party and not rule out a second referendum.
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