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tv   BBC News  BBC News  March 15, 2018 2:00am-2:31am GMT

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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories — the usjoins britain in blaming russia for last week's nerve agent attack. at the united nations, its ambassador demands action. the credibility of this council will not survive if we fail to hold russia accountable. moscow, again, denies any involvement in the attack. translation: we demand that material proof be provided over the allegedly found russian trace in this high—resonance event. a month after the floida school shooting, students across the us walk out of their classrooms to demand tighter gun controls. and ten plastic particles per litre — growing concerns over many brands of bottled water. hello.
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the white house has backed britain's decision to expel russian diplomats in retaliation for the nerve agent attack on sergei skipral and his daughter. the us said it was a "just response" and america stood in solidarity with its closest ally. 23 staff at the russian embassy in london have been given a week to leave the uk. but the kremlin continues to deny any involvement in the attempted murder. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. it was right to offer russia the opportunity to provide an explanation. but their response has demonstrated complete disdain for the gravity of these events. the midnight deadline came and went, leaving a morning with no new answers. theresa may went prepared to prime minister's questions,
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ready to announce the biggest diplomatic action against russia since the cold war. they have treated the use of a military grade nerve agent in europe with sarcasm, contempt and defiance. so, mr speaker, there is no alternative conclusion, other than the russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of mr skripal and his daughter. this represents an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom. so the uk will retaliate. the united kingdom will now expel 23 russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers. they have just one week to leave. this was notjust an act of attempted murder in salisbury, norjust an act against uk. it is an affront to the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons, and it is an affront to the rules—based system, on which we and our international partners depend.
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so, 23 diplomats suspected of being spies have seven days to leave, all high—level contact between the uk and russia is also being suspended, and no minister or member of the royal family will go to the world cup. and some russian state assets could be frozen with possible new laws to crack down on hostile states. anger displayed in westminster that this is happening on british streets. in dorset today, the lorry that removed the skripals‘ car, seized. in salisbury, the bench where father and daughter were found, still sealed off. while the prime minister makes her opening moves in a diplomatic tangle that could last. at the united nations — america, germany, france, canada and australia all offered support to britain. france is saying it wants to see firm proof of russian involvement before deciding on any course of action.
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here's the uk's deputy ambassador to the un, jonathan allen. a weapon so horrific that it is banned from use in war was used in a peaceful sit in my country. this was a reckless act, carried out by people who disregard the sanctity of human life, who are indifferent to whether innocence are caught up in the attacks. they either did not ca re the attacks. they either did not care that the weapon used would be traced back to them or mistakenly believed that they could cover their traces. russian officials and media channels have repeatedly threatened those that consider traitors, even after the attack. that prompted a lengthy reply from the russian ambassador. here's part of it. translation: we were given an ultimatum and required, requested in 24—hour or is to admit that we committed a crime. in other words, confess. we do not speak the
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language of ultimatums, we do not use that language would anyone, and we will not allow to be spoken to in that language either. we demand that material proof be provided over the allegedly found russian trace in this high resonance event. moscow has accused the uk of a flagrant attempt to mislead the international community, denouncing the diplomativ expulsions as "unacceptable, unjustified and short—sighted." our correspondent, steve rosenberg, has the view from the russian capital. in russia, at least the weather is showing signs of a thaw. after the long winter, moscow is melting. but in uk russian relations, you can feel the chill. britain's expulsion of russian diplomats has sparked anger with theresa may. prime minister may is destroying international law
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and is destroying international relationship. of course, it's the end of her career. it's the end. it's a show. that was a political show. and this is not — it's not serious, it's not for the serious politician. and this was the show on russian tv while mrs may was announcing sanctions. commenting live, andrei lugavoy, the man britain believes poisoned former russian agent alexander litvinenko in 2006. moscow refuses to extradite him. as for kremlin—funded english language channel rt, theresa may has left it up to uk regulator ofcom to decide whether it can keep its uk licence. what do you think the chances are of rt being censored in the uk? i hope rt‘s not censored in the uk, because i really would not
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like british media, including you, you are a very nice man, a gentleman, to be expelled from russia, which is exactly what i believe will happen if rt is censored in the uk. the british government wanted to send a strong message today to moscow. but that message has been dismissed here as nothing more than a provocation, and it plays into the narrative which the kremlin has been creating for some time, that the west is against russia. the man who styles himself as the defender of russia came to crimea today, the territory vladimir putin annexed from ukraine. with an election in russia in four days‘ time, uk sanctions may help the kremlin leader rally support. tonight, moscow is showing no signs of buckling under british pressure. russia is promising retaliation soon. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. and there's plenty more analysis
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on our website of the uk's decision to expel 23 russian diplomats and russia's dismissals of the allegations. you'll also find an explanation of what novichok nerve agents are. that's all at bbc.com/news. stu d e nts students have walked out of classrooms to call for tighter gun control. they staged a protest to represent the 17 people who were killed in a florida school shooting exactly a month ago. all chant: hey-hey, ho-ho, the nra has got to go! the last time we saw children pouring out of school, it was with their hands up in terror after the florida shooting. today, they came out across america, but this time with fists clenched, demanding change on gun control. what do we want?! all chant: gun control! when do we want it?! all chant: now! in washington at 10am on a bracing cold morning, with their backs turned on the white house,
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these students fell silent for 17 minutes, a minute for each of the people who died at the marjory stoneman douglas school in florida last month. cheering and applause there's no doubting the extraordinary success these young people have had in changing the whole terms of debate on the subject of gun control in america. their problem is that the man who lives on the other side of that fence seems to have got cold feet. all chant: hey-hey, ho-ho, the nra has got to go! when donald trump met youngsters from the florida school at the white house, he seemed to offer his support for tougher gun control measures, like raising to 2! the age at which you can buy a rifle. and he later chided lawmakers for being frightened of the national rifle association. some of you people are petrified of the nra. you can't be petrified. but he's now backed off those proposals and so the young people are intensifying their campaign. we want them to pass common—sense gun laws.
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common—sense gun reform. we want to ban assault rifles. background checks, everything. we don't want to be scared in school. it should be our safest institution. we're tired of being scared. we want actual change. we want it to happen with this protest. all: this is what democracy looks like! this is a curtain raiser to a mass demonstration in washington in ten days‘ time. they're a long way from getting what they want, but the power of youth protest has got them further than anyone could've imagined. and they're not in any mood to surrender. all chant: never again! jon sopel, bbc news, washington. well, we can now speak to sabrina mahmoodi, a high school senior who helped organise the walkout at bentonville high school, arkansas. first of all, you are a high school senior. you are not worried about getting attention, because that is what the teachers threatened? the school board voted with the block
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out, it giving detentions to stu d e nts out, it giving detentions to students participate in the walkout as needs to curb the appeal for the demonstration... we can't hear you. we will come back to you if we can. once we have the sound fixed, we will come back and talk to you. stay with us on bbc news. still to come — inspired by science and stephen hawking. a curious generation pays tribute. today we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, fainting, headaches and the dimming of vision, all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the podium
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in the middle of the cabinet here. it was an international trophy and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a chance for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc news. the latest headlines — the us says it agrees with britain, that russia was behind the nerve agent attack that poisoned a former spy and his daughter on uk soil. russia has dismissed the allegation. thousands of students across the us
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have walked out of their classrooms to demand tighter gun controls. let's get more on our top story now — the united nations security council has been told that the chemical weapon used in salisbury was so horrific that it's banned in war. thank you forjoining us. the question i keep asking of on about this story is, how much impact will this story is, how much impact will this have, the expulsion of these diplomats? i would ask what can they do? how much of will it have?” think it's going to have limited impact. a persona non grata declaration of diplomats is largely symbolic and doesn't have many long—term consequences to russia.
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this is something we debated in the united states after we expelled 35 russian diplomats who we thought we re russian diplomats who we thought were spies from the embassy here. the lasting consequences were small. what can countries like the uk and france and parts of europe that have been the sites of russia, what can they do to have an impact, which russia will feel? the most concrete thing is increased sanctions. you have to understand, so far, the sanctions that have been proposed, limited equity restrictions on financial institutions. we have gone after u pstrea m financial institutions. we have gone after upstream energy production and defence firms but we haven't applied the sanctions have as we have in the case of iran in north korea, full blocking sanctions. the sanctions that prevent a financial institution oi’ that prevent a financial institution or bank from doing any business at all. if we did that to two or three
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of the top ten russian banks, it would have an immediate impact. one of the things russia can do straightaway is restrict gas flow to countries in eastern europe. winter is not quite gone yet. if you poke the better, that they will fight back. in terms of gas flows, it a two way st. russia depends on gas revenue from western europe. ukraine has been able to reroute deliveries through other western european countries. gas, more and more. europe depends on piped gas from russia but more and more, that threat is empty. the last question, why is it whenever these kind of things happen, the uk or the us suddenly finds these russian spies. it's always is it they never knew about them but they did know about them so why expel them now? that is
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a good point. the uk has known about these 23 individuals. the united states knew about the 35. we should have taken action earlier. in our case, we prevented the russians from using diplomatic facilities due to espionage so there are some overdue steps which need to finally happen. we can go back to sabrina mahmoody who helped organise the walkout in arkansas. aren't you worried about getting detention because your teachers were not supportive of it? i wouldn't necessarily go so far as to say the teachers didn't support this as it was a school board decision, however i am hundreds of
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other students will take that detention gladly because not only is oui’ detention gladly because not only is ourtime important... it detention gladly because not only is our time important... it is time that we can use... we can call senators and move forward. more action. i'm going to persist with this line because you have some interesting stuff to say, even though it is a bit sketchy. are you representative of the state of arkansas because i've been doing some research and looking at gun control laws in arkansas and people in arkansas like their guns. i don't think they would be pleased to see the kinds of gun restriction measures that people like you are promoting so you are not representative of your state, i year? ... arkansas representative of your state, i year? arkansas and the president of the high school... but what we...
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i'm afraid we got to leave it because i just can't i'm afraid we got to leave it because ijust can't hear you. and i know you were saying something interesting but i can't hear what you are saying. we will persist with that line. researchers in the united states say they've found particles of plastic in some of the most popular brands of bottled water. in the largest study of its kind, more 200 bottles were put through a screening process. it should be pointed out though, that food safety experts say the levels of plastic found, does not make the water unsafe to drink. but they're calling for more research — as david shukman reports. bottles of water are feature of everyday life around the world. new tests commissioned byjournalists at orb media have discovered something unexpected, tiny particles of plastic in the water. at this laboratory in new york state, tests were carried out on over 250 bottles. a special kind of dye was added that's known to stick to pieces of plastic. under certain wavelengths of light they sparkle like stars
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in the night sky. on an average per litre there were ten large particles, each larger than the width of a typical human hair and confirmed as being plastic. smaller particles were also found. on average, 314 per litre. they weren't confirmed but were probably plastic. at the moment there are no rules covering these microplastics or any agreed way of checking for them. it's an indication that we should be concerned. it's not catastrophic, these numbers we're seeing, but it is concerning. especially if you look at them, if you're drinking only bottled water and do this every day over a year, you know, you are literally talking thousands of pieces of plastic that you are ingesting just from the water you were drinking.
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we contacted all the companies involved. nestle told us that today they have not found microplastic compounds beyond the trace level in their product. danone, which owns evian, said of the study that the methodology is unclear. and that there were no rules on microplastics. coca—cola, that makes dasani, said the micro plastics seem to be everywhere and may be found at minute levels, even in highly treated products. this is the first time that bottled water has been tested for plastic on this scale. 11 different brands bought in 19 countries. and in almost every case, researchers have found plastic. what does this mean for our health? the food standards agency says it is unlikely the microplastics could cause harm. but the world health organization now wants to review the evidence and scientists say more research is needed. as we become more aware of the prevalence of microplastics, and the potential harm that they might cause,
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i think we need to start thinking now about how we can reduce those imputs so we're not stoking up a huge problem for the future. the advice, where water supplies are dirty, is that bottled water is far safer. but this study does raise questions about where plastic can end up, and whether the tiniest pieces can affect our health. david shukman, bbc news, in new york state. her working space in york to see more. now this is where decisions are
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hatched in what is happening. this isa hatched in what is happening. this is a co— working space. the transitions into more of a social club. the thing that we heard from a lot of our friends who had experience of co— working spaces is that they didn't have the amenities that they didn't have the amenities that they didn't have the amenities that they needed as women so there we re that they needed as women so there were pumps for beer but not for breastmilk. i'm a full—time entrepreneur and in my early stages of the company, i was working out of coffee shops. men would often come up coffee shops. men would often come up to me and try to hit on me, interrupt my work, even though i would have my head down, clearly trying to work. i would deal with rampant harassment. working in a female only co— working environment is like coming to a safe haven. there has been the women's march,
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time is up, broad conversations around harassment and safe workplaces. price, it's really reaffirmed the need for women only spaces. scientists have been celebrating the work of professor stephen hawking, the world—renowned physicist who has died at the age of 76. he had an ability to bridge the divide between academia and popular culture. our correspondent, jon kay, reflects on his enduring appeal for new generations. stephen hawking would have loved this — 20,000 young british scientists experimenting together. do it again! don't touch it. he told young people to be curious and today, as they studied trajectories and force, many were thinking of their scientific superhero. how would you describe him? genius, pioneer, brilliant, inspirational, motivationally engaging, phenomenal. i've read a brief history of time, i thought it was very interesting. did you read all of it?
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i did actually read all of it. and it got me into black holes and i went on to a series of lectures about them. so, yeah, it fuelled a lot for me. on display at the big bang fair, inventions from the scientists of tomorrow. these a—level physicists, from north wales, regard professor hawking as a modern—day genius. he's the intellectual follower of einstein and newton. these amazing, amazing figures that we read about in physics books, he was getting to that level. he was incredible. his legacy will live on. for ever. see the astronaut there, look at him. inside an inflatable black hole, teenagers studied hawking's space and time theories, while taking selfies. it's a lot in one lifetime for anyone. i think he's encouraged science as a field as well. i think more people are more invested in science nowadays because of him. it would navigate you to the nearest exit. at 15, byron has invented an app
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which could help people escape a tower block fire using virtual reality. he admires hawking's personal courage. he was only one man who did such great things and i was really inspired by that, because usually you see people follow the same paths and try and do the same things. but stephen hawking was really unique in the sense that he wanted to do things differently and he wanted to contribute things in a different sense. i was really inspired by that. perhaps the next stephen hawking was in this room today. jon kay, bbc news, birmingham. the us has degrees of britain that russia was behind a nerve agent attack on its soil. moscow's ambassador to the un denied russian involvement in the attack. you can get in touch with me and most of the tea m get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @nkem|fejika.
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11! degrees yesterday in london. 40mm of rain in northern ireland. those were the contrasts we had. together with the rain in the west, we also had some quite strong winds as well. now, the rain is going to be moving, it starts as rain over the next few days but then it turns colder. we get an easterly wind just in time for the weekend. that's when it really feels cold. we may get some snow showers, mainly for england and wales. this is where we are, though, at the moment. this weather front here is moving its way a bit further north and east across the uk. stronger winds ahead of that weather front, lighter winds developing further south, and we should get some sunshine as well. still some rain, though, for northern ireland on thursday morning and that moves sunshine to the south and we get some sharp showers.
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possibly thundery. 12 or 13 degrees. north of that band of rain it is quite a bit colder, but the cold day is yet to arrive. we'll see that rain turn to sleet and snow over the higher ground overnight in scotland. still some rain for the north—east of england and we could still see some sharp bands of showers pushing up across england and wales towards northern ireland. that wet weather in scotland increasingly wintry over the high ground. some heavy, perhaps thundery showers in a band moving across northern england, running into the back of that wet weather and bringing more rain to northern ireland. heavy showers again developing to the south where we'll get sunshine. contrasting temperatures again north and south across the uk. over the weekend, we all get into the same boat. high pressure blocking things off across scandinavia and around it we pick up an easterly wind. there will be a significant windchill as well, especially across england and wales, where we'll have the strongest of the wind. perhaps not too many snow showers, actually, on saturday. there could be some on friday night,
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but most places will be dry on saturday. you will notice, however, remember 12 or 13, perhaps, across the south on friday. four or five at best, and further north one or two celsius. that area of high pressure still around the northern part of the uk on saturday. stronger winds to the south. we could get as spell of snow overnight and especially near channel, the southernmost counties of england. that pulls through and then we'll probably find a few more snow showers, again more likely across england and wales. most of scotland and northern ireland will be dry and it is not quite as windy here but it's still going to be cold on sunday, colder than it should be. this is bbc news. the headlines — the us says it agrees with britain that russia was behind the nerve agent attack that poisoned a former spy and his daughter on uk soil. moscow's ambassador to the un denied russian involvement in the attack. earlier, britain announced the expulsion of 23 russian diplomats. tens of thousands of students have walked out of classrooms
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across the united states to call for tighter gun controls. they staged a i7—minute protest to represent the 17 people who were killed in the florida school shooting exactly a month ago. researchers in the united states say they have found particles of plastic in some of the most popular brands of bottled water. in the largest study of its kind, more than 200 bottles were screened. an average of ten plastic particles per litre were discovered, each larger than the width of a human hair. now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament.
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