tv Newsday BBC News March 8, 2018 12:00am-12:30am GMT
12:00 am
welcome to newsday on the bbc. the headlines: fears of a trade war running high as the white house confirms that new import tariffs will be signed off today. kim jong—un has asked south korea to ta ke jong—un has asked south korea to take a personal message to donald trump this week. how will the president react? also in the programme, british police confirm a nerve agent was used in the attempted murder of a former russian spy attempted murder of a former russian spy in his daughter. and we have a story about how one of malaysia's top lawyers smashed away through the glass ceiling. good morning.
12:01 am
it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 7pm in washington where donald trump is stepping up pressure on china to reduce its trade imbalance with the united states by $1 billion. the white house says mr trump is ready to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. he will sign them off today. china has already raised concerns at the world trade organisation, along with 17 other wto members. our correspondent chris buckler is in washington. chris, we seem to be getting new lines every day on this story. now the white house is saying that mexico and canada may be exempt? yes. it seems very clear that donald trump wants to put into play these measures to try and protect american industry, despite the concerns of some of his own advisers inside the white house. but it looks like there will be some exemptions. that was
12:02 am
made clear today at a white house briefing, in which they specifically spoke about mexico and canada potentially being exempted from these 25% tariffs on steel being imported into america, and 10% on aluminium imported into the us. there could also be other countries. and the reason for all of these tariffs, the reason it has been put forward by donald trump, is in the interests of national security. basically to ensure that the country could protect itself by ensuring industries that are vital to that or defended, and also that applies to suppliers. so bizarrely that idea of national security is also being used for this idea that there could be sessions for the likes of mexico and canada. is there a chance that the resignation of his top economic adviser, gary cohn, has anything to do that, or as many have suspected, this has been a negotiating tool all along? i think that gary cohn is
12:03 am
certainly one of the big voices within the white house that has talked time and time again about his concern about protectionist policy. he did not always chime with the president, but he was one of those valued widely in the white house, and his words have struck a chord within many in the republican party. in fact, there is a letter to note that has come from 107 members of the republican party is at the house of representatives, and the language is pretty strong. it says " we write to express deep concern about the prospect of global broadcast on aluminium and steel imports, because ta riffs aluminium and steel imports, because tariffs make our business is less competitive, and he was consumers poorer. " it gives you the idea that many are concerned about the potential of a trade war. at the same time, donald trump made his way to the white house with all of these claims that he was going to put america first. and while some will
12:04 am
say that this could potentially be him trying to grandstand and put himself in a better negotiating position, the white house is saying that by the end of the week he intends to sign off on these measures. what the present and the white house of not mentioned is that the trade figures came out and the deficit, which the president is rather fixated on, deficit, which the president is ratherfixated on, actually hit deficit, which the president is rather fixated on, actually hit the highest level in nine years, after one year of the president being in office. if they could to help his move to impose his tariffs or not?” think what you will see is donald trump try to use that to justify these further tariffs. i do want to speakfor these further tariffs. i do want to speak for him, but these further tariffs. i do want to speakfor him, but i think he is determined to try and address the huge trade deficit that america has. but again, you need to listen to business leaders. it is worth reflecting that when we tell that steel, multiple amounts of the amount of steel is imported that is
12:05 am
exported for america. that is because they need steel imports. it is important to business, and ultimately, that is selling the business leaders feel that donald trump has to be reminded of, not least because they could pay the price for these tariffs. chris buckler in washington, thank you. we'll have more analysis on that a little later in the programme. now let's take a look at some of the day's other news. south korean envoys will bring a private message to the us president from north korean leader kimjong—un when they go to washington later this week. local media say the diplomats were given the message on monday when they met mr kim in rare talks in pyongyang. the former us ambassador to pyongyang, christopher hill, gave us his analysis. you know, frankly, it looks like deja vu all over again. but what is different is that kim jong—un has never said anything like this. he has never suggested his nuclear programme was on the bargaining table. so it is something new. citing up after —— out of respect,
12:06 am
the trump administration is to see as if there is something there. also making use today... —— news. the vatican has announced that an outspoken archbishop of el salvador who was shot dead in 1980 will be made a saint. 0scar romero denounced repression and social injustice in the country as it descended into civil war. the church will also make a saint of pope paul vi, who oversaw sweeping reforms of the church in the 1960s. an american porn star has filed a lawsuit against donald trump, seeking to void a non—disclosure agreement about an alleged affair between the two more than a decade ago. stormy daniels — whose real name is stephanie clifford — says the agreement is not valid because she says mr trump never signed it. tottenham have been knocked out of the champions league afterjuventus came from behind to move into the quarter—finals. the first leg in italy ended 2—2 and spurs were the first to go ahead at wembley. but two swiftjuventus goals meant they will be the team who move on to the quarter finals.
12:07 am
manchester city lost 2—1 to basel, their first loss at home for over a year, but because they won an earlier game against the swiss they have also qualified. a state media outlet in china has encouraged men and women to settle for someone who is "more or less 0k" when choosing who to marry. the appeal, which was made in a leading newspaper editorial, urged people to be less fussy when it comes to picking a spouse. it follows concerns about the low birth rate in the country. and some incredible pictures to share with you from a volcano in southern japan. a series of powerful eruptions has created a huge volcanic plume, which is now 3000 metres high. authorities are warning people not to approach the area. just look at it. british investigators have confirmed that a nerve agent was used against a former russian spy and his daughter in a southern england town.
12:08 am
sergei and yulia skripal were found unconscious on sunday and they remain critically ill, along with a police officer who was the first at the scene. police say the pair were targeted and the attack is being treated as attempted murder. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. sergei skripal is a man with a shadowy past. relatives said he feared it would catch up with him, that he would be targeted. but he was using his own name, living a normal life, popping into a corner shop last month for milk and bacon. tonight, he and his daughter are gravely ill and this evening the most senior counterterrorism officer revealed why. in summary, this is being treated as a major incident involved attempting murder by the administration of a nerve agent. as you know, these two people remain critically ill in hospital. sadly, in addition, a police officer who was one of the first to attend the scene and respond
12:09 am
to the incident is now also in a serious condition in hospital. it wasn'tjust police officers and ambulance teams who came could they have been affected? as your chief medical officer, my message to the public is that this event poses a low risk to the public on the evidence that we have. now the focus is on the nearly three hours between them arriving in this area and being taken ill. key locations remain cordoned off, including the zizzi restaurant, where they had lunch around 2pm. an eyewitness who saw them there, and wanted to remain anonymous, police have seized this cctv footage
12:10 am
from just before apm, a man with a blonde haired woman entering the shopping area. detectives will need to sort through a mass of eyewitness reports and cctv to establish the truth. the government was briefed on the inquiry today. we need to keep a cool head and make sure that we collect that we respond not to rumour but to all the evidence that they collect. and then, we will need to decide what action to take. but life in salisbury is now
12:11 am
dominated by the response to the suspected poisoning. when a woman was taken ill at an office this lunchtime, this was the emergency services' reaction. this evening, teams in protective suits and respirators were at a nearby ambulance station. someone has used a chemical weapon among the shoppers of this peaceful city. nobody is taking any chances. let's return now to our top story, the white house saying donald trump will give final approval before the end of the week for the imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. i spoke to deborah lehr from our washington studio. she's the ceo of basilinna and provides strategic advice on the chinese economy. the response has been very measured, and why not? initially when the trump administration had said that they were going to bring about tariffs, china was the target. and china actually is in a good position compared to where they thought they would be. instead of the united states and the european union uniting against china on the
12:12 am
overca pacity uniting against china on the overcapacity issue, you have a situation now where china is united with the european union, and canada, two of our biggest allies, in fighting against the administration, on tariffs. the chinese steel industry since the relatively into letter from the threat of us tariffs. they seem to sell steel to many other countries besides the us. is that an illusion? could it be seriously injured by tariffs? there are two important aspects to what the industry has done. 0ne are two important aspects to what the industry has done. one is clearly the economic impact. for china it is about 800 million dollars. they are not even in our top ten exporters the lack —— top—10 importers. but what the administration has done under the umbrella of a national security issue, they have also said our security issues that all countries need to take. all of this is being
12:13 am
done under the wto. this is the first action that china could seize their game. what could china do to hit back at united states if these ta riffs hit back at united states if these tariffs start to bite? if they start to bite, there are a range of different things that they have had under consideration. 0ne, they could raise tariffs on some of our main exports to china, including agricultural products. they can slow down the approval of licences and applications that a number of us firms have in front of the government, but also they could take steps, for example, they are looking to announce a major market opening package, and they could exclude us firms from that package. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: sri lanka has deployed more troops to the central district of kandy to end days of buddhist violence against muslims. also on the programme: how's this for a sport?
12:14 am
the trend started in canada, now the us is taking aim. first, the plates slipped gently off the restaurant tables, then suddenly the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched on to her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans have successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier and so my heart went bang, bang, bang! the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, and they should be protected, even in the right to test them out, so they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital.
12:15 am
this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you that it's going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko 0i, in singapore. i'm celia hatton, in london. our top stories: the eu says it has a long list of american imports that will be hit by tarrifs, if its steel and aluminium are targeted by the us. the white house says that's going to happen this week. uk police say a nerve agent poisoned a former russian spy and his daughter in what they're calling attempted murder. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world: let's start with the new york times where north korean leader
12:16 am
kim jong—un is shaking hands with the south's national security director. the story says this week's north—south diplomacy has left president trump on the sidelines. staying with that story in thejapan times where the diplomatic breakthrough is reportedly prompting "jitters in tokyo" about the us prioritising its homeland security over japan's, when discussing denuclearisation with north korea. and in the south china morning post, ‘trade entourage downsized after us 0bjections'. the paper says the us played hardball with china when it restricted a washington—bound delegation from a0 to just 10 officials. now celia, what stories are proving popular online? this is the story of an amazing escape from an avalanche captured on the helmet camera
12:17 am
worn by thomas kray, on the alpine slopes at tignes. watch the snow in front of him start crumbling as the avalanche begins and then the whole slope literally collapses on top of him. but thomas escaped in one piece — he was saved by activating an avalanche airbag, which allowed him to escape being buried. the us holocaust memorial museum has withdrawn its top award to myanmar leader aung san suu kyi because of her failure to stop military attacks on her country's minority rohingya muslims. aid agencies say the stream of rohingya crossing the border shows no sign of stopping. hundreds have arrived in bangladesh in the past few days. nearly 700,000 rohingya refugees are already there. the bbc‘s anbarasan ethirajan reports from the border town of teknaf. these are the new arrivals from
12:18 am
myanmar. these men and women and children took a risky sea journey overnight to reach the shores of bangladesh. these people say they did not have any livelihood and they also are lacking food in the villages. they feel intimidated by the presence of rakhine villages surrounding events. even today the level of violence has come down, people are still playing. here, 200 people are still playing. here, 200 people came over us night and we have been speaking to officials who say there has been a regular flow of 80-90 say there has been a regular flow of 80 — 90 people coming every day and this is adding to this huge population of people this country. nearly 700,000 people have escaped their country and
12:19 am
housed in various camps across these district. they are worried that they cannot estimate how many people there are, what they can bring in and with more new arrivals it adds to the pressure of aid agencies and the government. a grenade killed a man in sri lanka's central district of kandy on wednesday, after a fourth day of clashes between the majority buddhist community and muslims living in the area. more troops have been deployed to try to end the violence. there have been clashes since sunday when a buddhist man died in kandy after an altercation with a group of muslims. david campanale has more. sri lankan commander has patrolled the streets of kandy‘s outline districts. all police leave has been cancelled but been districts. all police leave has been cancell stop t been districts. all police leave has been cancell stop a?" , . . i:0n
12:20 am
police is teargas to wednesday police is teargas to disperse rioters in the city who had been attacking mosques and muslim owned businesses. the continued presence of mobs on the street is in defiance of security measures, including a curfew. these were imposed after a buddhist youth died on the weekend during an altercation with a group of muslims. government ministers have been to see the violence for themselves, including this shop which had been set alight. a spokesman said the authorities we re a spokesman said the authorities were trying to get the situation under control. the army has been deployed in the tens of thousands in the area but even one or two people can insight some incident. tension has been on the rise in buddhist majority sri lanka since 2012, set to be filled by hardline buddhists. they accuse muslims forcing people
12:21 am
to convert to islam and vandalising wood is archaeological sites but the muslim community denies this. the authorities have put curbs on internet access to an hate speech and misinformation aimed at inciting more violence. under the state of emergency, the authorities are able to arrest and detain suspects for long periods. and deploy forces when needed. a local curfew imposed in kandy is due to end at 4pm local time thursday afternoon. it is international woman's day and often we talk about the achievements often we talk about the achievements of celebrated public figures but what about the strong everyday woman who serves as a strong role model amongst us. we found an exemplar will be not only cut through the
12:22 am
glass ceiling in her profession but also in spies with her can—do attitude. the visibility of women in the legal profession in the senior partnership position, has grown. i am from a small town in malaysia. i was not in the best classes, i am not the typical nerd type student at school but with tenacity, with hardship, you want to come back and make your pa rents you want to come back and make your parents proud. whenever i get the chance i will run, sign up for half and full marathon. my other passion is singing stopped i do have a jazz quartet and i enjoy that very much. there is a new trend ——
12:23 am
12:24 am
throw like a crazy person and tried to have is some fun. it is becoming an alarmingly popular in the us coming from canada and there is even an axe throwing league. that is quite a medal. i won this by throwing large access at wood on a wall. what is it your top tip? i would go with the 2—handed stout, no wrist action. that is a common misconception. how does this make you feel? it makes me feel lack a man with big, hairy chest. clearly, my technique needs a little polish. so after half a dozen throws, and i promise i will not do anything bad with this, i am exhausted, the axe is getting blunt and i still have not hit the target but it is a great
12:25 am
fun andi not hit the target but it is a great fun and i am so glad i've had a bad day at work! and so the night wore on. come on! once you have mastered the basics, there is no limit to what you can do with an axe and then there is the golden moment when it all comes together yes! that sounds like a great idea! you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we will be taking a more in—depth look at those controversial tariffs the us wants to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. temperatures are on the up this
12:26 am
weekend as it turns milder we are not there yet and snow is still part of our forecast for the first part of thursday. this is a recent satellite picture. they are pushing it from the south—west bringing in some rain, sleet and snow as of thursday began. a messy looking picture but not everyone is seeing snow. in heavy outbursts, even in lower levels, you could see a bit of snow. this is how things look during the first few hours of the morning. further wintry showers coming into parts of wales. in parts of northern england and the midlands we could see some snow falling to relatively low levels. it is a good idea to check the situation before heading out, make sure you do not encounter too many problems. this latest weather system pushes its moisture
12:27 am
eastwards as we go into the afternoon. scotland and northern ireland, are mainly dry and frosty icy start to the day. sunny spells to come as it stays mainly dry. but northern isles, scotland, some showers around. the england and wales, one or two showers, wintry on hills but some good sunny spells. most hills but some good sunny spells. m ost pla ces hills but some good sunny spells. most places chilly during the day with temperatures in single figures. largely fine thursday night as we see frost settling in with a chance a few icy patches. a lot of fine weather to come during friday but that increasing the sudden england and southern wales. with rain coming in the afternoon and evening. if we look at that big picture at the weekend. the weather system going northwards. it could lead to snow in higher ground. but it is a leading
12:28 am
edge of warmer air and you can see that on the colours here. that gradually edges further northwards as we go through the weekend. the weekend in pictures heading up. not the whole story. it will be milder but there will be some rain at times and most of us will see some rain at some stage of the weekend, tha nkfully some stage of the weekend, thankfully not all the time but here is an idea of what we might expect at least the capital cities. some rain at times, not all the time but temperatures are creeping i'm celia hatton with bbc world news. our top story. fears of a trade war are running high as the white house confirms that new import tariffs are just days away. the white house says the american president is ready to move forward with his plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. mrtrump wants china to reduce its trade imbalance with the united states by $1 billion. diplomatic envoys from south korea are expected to bring a private message to the us president from north korea when they visit washington later this week.
12:29 am
the undisclosed communication was given to them by kim jong—un during rare talks between the north and south on monday. and the story in britain of what looks like a murder attempt on a former russian spy is trending on bbc.dom. british police say a nerve agent was used in a deliberate attempt to kill sergei skripal and his daughter. they were found collapsed on a bench in a public park on sunday. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news.
141 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
BBC News Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on