tv BBC News BBC News March 27, 2018 3:00am-3:31am BST
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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: australia becomes the latest country to join the biggest mass expulsion of russian diplomats since the cold war. 2a nations respond to the nerve agent attack in britain. we will not tolerate this type of reckless undermining of international law, this reckless assault on the sovereignty of nations. a security guard is among five people arrested over a deadly fire in a shopping centre in siberia. investigators say the alarm was switched off and fire exits blocked. no smiles for the cameras as european union leaders say turkey is failing to address a long list of concerns over its conduct. and, in deep water — a new report backed by the un says we need to look after the earth's resources before it's too late. hello.
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australia has become the latest country to throw out russian diplomats — part of the biggest mass expulsion since the end of the cold war. in total 2a countries, including the united states and 16 european nations, have united in response to the nerve agent attack in salisbury. the us is to expel 60 russian diplomats. most are based in washington, but a dozen will leave from the un in new york. 16 member states of the european union, including france and germany, are taking similar action. it is an unprecedented move, a response to the poisoning of former russian agent sergei skripal and his daughter. last week, 23 russian diplomats were expelled from the uk. the russian government says the expulsions are a mistake and it will respond in the coming days. our diplomatic correspondent, james robbins, has the latest. sometimes, size really does matter,
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and this diplomatic action against russia by western democracies is unprecedented in its scale. on their own, the american expulsions are remarkable, 60 russians being ordered out by the white house — a new record in the post—cold war world. france, germany, and poland each kicking four russians out, top the list of european government action. more than half all eu states are expelling, backing britain with action, notjust words. nato ally canada is also clearing out some russians, as is one of president putin's largest victims, ukraine. and the list may get longer. the prime minister could hardly have hoped for more. she told the commons it was the largest collective expulsion of russian intelligence officers in history. i have found great solidarity from ourfriends and partners in the eu, north america, nato and beyond, over the past three weeks, as we have confronted the aftermath of the salisbury
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incident. together, we have sent a message that we will not tolerate russia's continued attempts to flout international law and undermine our values. three weeks after the salisbury attack, as the investigation goes on, and warnings to those who were in the area at the time remain in place, the diplomatic heat on president putin is being turned up again. in brussels, the president of the european council, donald tusk, said today's eu action could even be extended quite quickly. additional measures, including further expulsions within the common eu framework, are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks. today's action has its roots in years of alleged russian misbehaviour. from president putin's annexation of crimea, judged illegal by most of the outside world, through armed intervention in eastern ukraine to destabilise the country, to accusations of kremlin fingerprints on a catalogue of cyber
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attacks against the west, combined with abuse of social media and plots to undermine elections and democracy in europe and the united states. russia's immediate reaction? translation: what the united states of america are doing today is destroying what little remains in terms of russian—american relations. i'd like to add that the entire responsibility for the consequences of that destruction lies on america. tonight, i asked the foreign secretary why so many countries had been willing to act together. the reason why you've seen this outpouring of revulsion at what russia has done is because so many other countries in the last ten years have now experienced provocations of one kind or another. they've had destruction of the elections, cyber warfare,
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all kinds of russian aggression and malign behaviour. are you braced for whatever retaliation russia chooses? they might go, mightn‘t they, to cyber warfare. well, let's be very clear. it's notjust we who are obviously bracing — we have every possible protection and precaution that we've taken — but it's our friends and partners knowing that they probably will face now some kind of retaliation from russia, and that, for me, is all the more impressive, that they've chosen to do it nonetheless. moscow is sticking with denial. russian retaliation is inevitable. the crisis triggered by attempted murder in salisbury continues to grow at a startling pace. james robbins, bbc news. more for you on the latest developments in australia in a moment, first the assessment from our correspondents in moscow, brussels, and washington. not since the cold war, not since russia was the soviet union have so many diplomats been expelled in one go.
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this is tough, aggressive action by the united states, and frankly is at the total upper end of expectations of what the british embassy in washington had been anticipating. it's in line with what we've heard from the white house over the past two or three weeks in terms of their written statements. in written statements, they've been foursquare behind theresa may, they signed a joint letter with the french, the germans and the british, and there has been fierce condemnation in the statement released today. eu countries wanting to respond to the salisbury attacks, and that's the majority of them, including big powers france and germany, today took matters into their own hands, expelling russian diplomats themselves. even countries like hungary, with, traditionally, much closer ties to moscow, have also taken part in this co—ordinated response with talk of possible further measures to come. this after an unprecedented step by the eu when it brought home its ambassador to russia. now, this is all out of solidarity with the uk, but there are wider concerns
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about russia as well following on from its action in syria and ukraine, and, of course, salisbury isn't that much closer to home. russia and the west tonight are at loggerheads. now, was moscow surprised by the strength of the co—ordinated action taken against it? undoubtedly. does this send a strong signal to the kremlin, as theresa may has suggested? yes, i think it does. but the problem facing the west right now in this escalating diplomatic war with russia is that the man who works out of the office behind me, vladimir putin, he doesn't react positively to pressure, and so in any confrontation with the west, he will be determined to emerge the winner. our correspondents in moscow, brussels and washington there. and just in the past hour, australia's prime minister has been explaining, in strong terms, why his country is the latest to take action. the brazen attack, the criminal
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attack in the united kingdom, in salisbury, on the fourth of march, was an attack on all of us. it was an attack on the sovereignty of every nation that respect the rule of law and that is why it we are taking this action today, with another 23 nations around the world. we are defined this recklessness, this lawlessness of russia and expressing, in solidarity, with the united kingdom and other nations that share those values, that we will not tolerate this type of reckless undermining of international law, this reckless assault on the sovereignty of nations. prime minister turnbull though. more on this now from our correspondent hywel griffith in sydney. particularly strong words from the prime minister and his foreign minister early. absolutely. australia is not the first to take action, but it wants to make a very,
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very clear whose side it is on. it wa nts to very clear whose side it is on. it wants to show solidarity with theresa may and all those other countries. the language malcolm turnbull was using that, accusing russia of recklessness and lawlessness, he listed a list of alleged crimes by russia, meddling in brexit, trying to undermine the presidential elections in france, in catalonia, in the us. a big list of crimes by malcolm turnbull, accusing russia of being guilty of them. earlier on, when the expulsions were made, he said the attack on salisbury was part of a pattern by russia that was threatening, that was a threat to global security. russia's foreign ministry has talked about asymmetrical response. what retaliation is australia expecting and what impact could it have?” guess it is expecting two in, two out. that is the symmetrical
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retaliation would be two stranding diplomats to be sent home from russia within the next week. however, it would also be careful for other potential repercussions. there is not a huge amount of trade between russia and australia, but australia is very conscious of things like cyber security, and it has accused russia of trying things like cyber attacks in different parts of the world before. so they will look at that area as well is the straightforward diplomatic retaliation. thank you very much for that. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the myanmar government official in charge of resettling refugees has told the bbc all of them can return — if they have evidence to prove they once lived there. around 600,000 people, from the mainly muslim rohingya minority, have fled rakhine state since last august. most are now in huge camps in bangladesh. linda brown, who was at the centre of a landmark legal case that ended racial segregation in american schools, has died at the age of 76. the case, brown versus the board of education, was brought by her father when linda was refused a place at an all—white
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school in kansas. she was nine years old at the time. the federal trade commission in the us is investigating facebook‘s privacy policies in response to the revelations that the political consulting company, cambridge analytica, was given access to users' personal data. a statement from facebook welcomed the opportunity to answer regulators' questions. it was subject to an ftc inquiry in 2011. the former president of brazil, luiz inacio lula da silva, has lost his latest appeal against a corruption conviction which could see him jailed for 12 years and terminate his hopes of running for office again. the supreme court will decide next month whether he can remain free while he appeals to higher courts. at least 60 people — including many children — have died in a fire at a busy shopping centre in russia. emergency services in siberia are struggling to recover bodies from inside the complex, in the industrial city of kemerovo.
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a security guard is among five people who've been arrested. investigators say fire exits were blocked and the alarm system had been turned off. sarah rainsford reports. it was a children's play area on a busy sunday afternoon. and then this. a security camera caught the moment fire tore through, and then smoke. there was no emergency alarm here. 0n the floors below, confused crowds made for the exits. the woman filming describes how she was up in the cinema when the fire broke out. "there was panic," she says. "children screaming. it's a nightmare." rescuers battled the blaze for hours, but this fire was fierce and vast. and now, officials say, emergency exits inside were locked, trapping dozens. some fled to the roof, others jumped for their lives
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through the choking smoke. there were today queues to donate blood for the injured from locals who just wanted to help. this girl says her friends were at the mall and their children are still missing. people have been scouring lists at hospitals all day, looking for relatives. dimitri can't find his five—year—old daughter or his son. "igor should be ten in april," he says. translation: when my wife called, she said, "dima, help us, we're suffocating" and i could hear the children cry. most of the victims here were children. so as this city mourns, it also has many angry questions. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. sergei goryashko from the bbc russian service is in kemerovo. he gave me more details on the arrests. as we have heard it yesterday, there
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we re as we have heard it yesterday, there were five people arrested in this case. one of them is the security guard of the shopping centre who, presumably, turned off the fire alarm when the fire started. he is detained by an investigative committee in russia, in kemerovo. the city is in mourning today. it is the first day of mourning. people, as we have heard earlier, will gather today in the place near the city administration to hold a rally against local authorities, who, they think, haven't done enough to save all the people in this terrible tragedy. bbc russian service correspondence sergei goryashko there updating us from luiz inacio lula da silva. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: rich, influential, and black.
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a new book sheds light on the lives of early african—american millionaires. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. i'm so proud of you both. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. chanting streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji.
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woman: wow! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the united states, canada, and countries across europe order the largest concerted expulsion of russian diplomats since the end of the cold war. australia has recentlyjoined. investigators trying to find out what caused a deadly fire in a shopping centre in siberia say the alarm system was switched off and fire exits blocked. leaders of the european union are saying they've received no concrete answers from turkey to a long list of concerns raised at a meeting in bulgaria, including exactly what turkey is doing in syria. they have already accused turkey of undermining the rule of law since the failed coup of 2016. president erdogan has said relations won't improve until the eu stops being overly critical. this report from our correspondent, mark lowen. expectations for progress
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today were low. relations between the eu in turkey are so frayed that the aim was to simply to talk again. solutions or compromises? my answer is no. the president of the european council, donald tusk, confirmed that the summit achieved no solutions or compromises on the sticking points. from the eu, oncerns over turkey's democratic backsliding, mass arrests and its military offensive in syria. from turkey, frustration at a perceived lack of solidarity from europe in the face of its terror threats and what president erdogan called the eu's excessive criticism. mr erdogan reiterated turkey's desire forfull eu membership, warning it would be a big mistake to leave the country out of enlargement. translation: i would like to highlight that the eu is a strategic partner for turkey and it would be a mistake to isolate turkey from the process of partnership because turkey is a partner of strategic importance to the eu. jean—claude juncker, the president
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of the european commission, talked only of turkey being the eu's strategic partner. no side expects major steps forward in the accession process. and yet mrjuncker rejected calls to halt turkey's membership talks, calling that simple and superficial. fundamentally, the two sides need each other in trade, security and migration, where the deal between them has dramatically reduced the migrant flow to europe. for the eu, turkey remains the often unwieldy neighbour that simply can't be ignored. mark lowen, bbc news, istanbul. media reports are suggesting
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a senior officialfrom north korea, perhaps even the leader, kim jung—un, is visiting china. these pictures from earlier this morning local time, show heavy security around the state guest house in beijing, where some high level foreign visitors stay when they visit the city. there's been no official response to the reports, and they've not been covered by chinese or north korean state media. but if a visit is under way, it would be a significant diplomatic development. a new study, backed by the un, is warning that up to 700 million people could be forced from their homes by 2050 as food demands outstrip supply. the report into land degradation says farming, mining, pollution and urban expansion is already affecting 40% of the global population and that food and water security will be seriously threatened in the coming decades. andrew plant reports. deforestation, the ever—increasing
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size of the world's towns and cities and mining and water pollution. for thousands of years humans have been changing the land around them. now scientists say the destruction of nature is rapidly eroding the planet's capacity to provide food and water and a study backed by the un says many millions could be affected. the main cause we find of land degradation worldwide is the imbalance between what we are demanding of the land and what it can supply. we've converted large amounts of our forest. amounts of our grasslands. we've lost 87% of our wetlands, 50% since 1900, so we have really changed our land surface in the last several 100 years. in the same month that the last male northern white rhino died, the study shows that biodiversity is suffering a sharp decline. exploitable fisheries
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in the asia—pacific, for example, falling to zero by the middle of this century. 130 million hectares of brazilian rainforests lost since 1990. more than 500 experts say the time to act has already passed and that a global plan is needed to stop what they call the unsustainable and irresponsible use of land. if not, they say, up to 700 million people could be displaced by 2050 as the land around them fails to provide the food and water they need. andrew plant, bbc news. arizona's governor has suspended uber‘s permission to test self—driving cars on state roads after a pedestrian died last week. the 49—year—old woman was walking her bike across the road. governor doug ducey sent a letter to uber‘s chief executive saying he found the police video "disturbing and alarming." now, when you think of black
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millionaires, oprah winfrey or beyonce may come to mind, but those superstars are hardly the first to reach the top 1%. in fact, between 1830 and the 1920s, a small group of tenacious entrepreneurs reached the highest levels of financial success. their experiences are now chronicled in a new book looking at a little known chapter of american history. they lived in incredible mansions and travelled the world and had serva nts and travelled the world and had servants and fine china. there were also closeted. the book is called black fortunes, it is about the first lack million as. we ask for equal rights but do not think about the funding. —— millionaires. it begins with a woman called mary pleasant. she was a millionaire
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after the in san francisco to be she wa nted after the in san francisco to be she wanted to help others. —— san francisco. she gave money to a man called john brown who was an activist. john brown himself for is hanged. —— was. who was born in the mississippi delta. the escape slavery during the civil war when his father's steamship was commandeered by the confederacy. when he was in memphis, he set out to become a businessman. by the turn of the century, he owed as much robert key in memphis as anybody, white or black. —— property. one of the groups he gave money to was a group trying to get out of tennessee to get to a place called black wall
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street in tulsa, built around the turn of the century. it became known as one of the most prosperous black neighbourhoods. it was destroyed by rioters who came in and razed it to the ground. that was just the type of risk that african americans who had wealth faced during the period. this woman started her own company called the cj hair company. she became the most famous lack rich person in the country. not concealing her wealth was a really powerful aspiration for african americans. it is a missing part of history where you can go back and really see that there was always a black wealth class. it was also the donor class for black activists, and
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provided the means for people to fight for equality. we will just we willjust bring you this news. the 101 year—old, oscar—winning actress, dame olivia de havilland, has lost her lawsuit against the entertainment company 21st century fox. she had claimed that a television series called feud about hollywood screen legends bette davis and joan crawford had damaged her reputation and breached her right to privacy. however, an appeals court in california has thrown out the case and ordered dame olivia to pay the company's costs. and before we go, take a look at this. a sleepy neighbourhood in california which had an unexpected visitor in the early hours of monday morning. this mountain lion was discovered roaming around, officials warned people to stay inside until they could subdue the animal. mountain lions usually hunt deer, though this one probably took a wrong turn. the animal was tranquillised and ta ken away. there is much more for you anytime
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on the bbc news website. thank you so much for watching. hello there. the weather is looking fairly mixed as we head through the remainder of this week. during monday, there was some blue sky and some sunshine around for many of us. in fact, this picture comes from one of our weather wwatchers in saltburn—by—the—sea in north yorkshire. it was a beautiful end to the day on monday, but skies have been clouding over overnight. and through the day on tuesday, we start with quite a lot of cloud, some rain around which should clear toward the east and then things will turn brighter from the west later on in the day. so that's all down to the fact that we have this frontal system moving its way from west to east across the country through the day on tuesday. low pressure in charge. but we will see some clearer conditions following behind this cold front as we work through the afternoon. also, a dip in the temperatures behind that front too. so tuesday morning, we've got a lot of cloud. you can see the outbreaks of rain in the east. some snow on the mountains of scotland as well. most of that rain clears off and then we see brighter skies with some sunny spells too.
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we'll keep the rain and a little bit of hill snow at times across parts of scotland. and temperatures range between around about 5—14 degrees. now, later on, on tuesday then, we'll keep the outbreaks of rain and hill snow for a time across scotland. further south across the country, clearer skies, but then we see more cloud building in from the south, with some outbreaks of rain later on into the early hours of wednesday morning. so temperatures for most of us, frost—free to start the day on wednesday. but during the day, we'll start to see some slightly colder conditions. so on wednesday, the winds turn to more of a north—westerly direction, importing that slightly cooler air mass through the middle of the week. so here is how wednesday's shaping up. we've got that rain in the south. could be a little bit off sleetiness over the higher ground as well. still a few wintry flurries for the mountains of scotland. whilst that rain clears towards the south—east, still a few showers, but most places looking dry. but temperatures certainly colder by the time we get to wednesday. by the afternoon, around about 6 or 7 degrees so probably the coolest day of the week. looking ahead towards thursday then, low pressure still sitting towards the north—west of the uk and another frontal system starts
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to move in from the south—west so after a largely dry start to the day on thursday, there'll be some showers pushing into wales, south—west england too, making their way further north and east, mainly for england and wales. for scotland and northern ireland, it's looking a drier day, particularly through the morning. could be an isolated shower during the afternoon and temperatures on the cool side, still around about 9 or 10 degrees for most places during thursday. now what about the outlook towards easter? it starts off on that fairly cool theme, i think, but things will gradually turn milder. there'll be a little bit of rain at times, but also some sunshine to be enjoyed too. bye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: australia is the latest country to join the biggest mass expulsion of russian diplomats since the cold war. the united states, canada, and countries across europe are responding to the nerve agent attack in britain. russia's foreign ministry has called it "unfriendly and provocative", and promised to retaliate. at least 60 people, including many children, have died in a fire at a shopping centre in siberia.
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a security guard is among five people who've been arrested. investigators say fire exits were locked and the alarm system had been turned off. a new study, backed by the un, is warning that up to 700 million people could be forced from their homes by 2050, as food demands outstrip supply. the report into land degradation says farming, mining, pollution, and urban expansion are already affecting 40% of the global population. the american porn star who claims she had sex with donald trump has
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