tv BBC News BBC News June 18, 2018 4:00am-4:31am BST
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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: "i hate to see children separated from their families" — america's first lady speaks out about a controversial practice at the us border. the right—winger ivan duque is elected colombia's president in a landmark election. a day of surprises at the world cup, with title—holders germany beaten in their first round match by mexico. addicted to video games? the world health organisation recognises "gaming disorder" as a medical condition. the first lady of the united states, melania trump, has added her voice to the growing controversy over president trump's "zero—tolerance"
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immigration policy. she called for an end to the practice of separating parents and children who have entered the country illegally from mexico. in a statement her spokesperson said mrs trump believes in a country that governs with heart. our washington correspondent, chris buckler has this report. the boarder is a gateway into the united states. and some families believe in new life. but when they cross over from mexico into america, they are now being split apart as a matter of routine. every adult without papers is being detained and prosecuted. put in prison while their children are taken away to detention centres, like this one in a converted supermarket in texas. they are being cared for here, but separating parents
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and their children is causing obvious distress. translation: it was hard. the hardest day for me. i felt like i was losing my son. that is what i thought — i was going to lose my son. among the families are people trying to escape poverty and violence. in the past, many would be freed while they waited for a court to hear their case. but president trump has got rid of what was known as "catch and release" and replaced it with a zero tolerance policy. that means everybody is now being held in custody and prosecuted, to try to tackle the rising numbers of undocumented families attempting to enter into america. when you prosecute, detain, and return people to their country, that trend changes. and that is the intent of zero tolerance — to make sure it doesn't go unabated and become another crisis. all: shame on ice! there are a growing number of protests at how families are being treated. president trump insists he is in favour of immigration
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reform, but he says new laws need to be tough and the white house wants money for that long—talked—about war with mexico. i certainly don't want anybody to use these children as leverage. i saw a headline that they were being screened as such and i object to that. but there also appears to be unease in the white house — a spokesperson for melania trump says she hates to see children separated from their families, and importantly her statement goes onto that america needs to be noticed country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart. mrs trump called for democrats and republicans to work together on immigration reform. but her husband's political opponents, who have been visiting facilities at the border, say the president is to take responsibility. when you have a mother tell you directly that she is in fear that she will never seen her child again, and the united nations human rights commission indicates the trump administration is violating human rights, then you know that what we are saying
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today is president trump, cease and desist. voices against the current policy appear to be growing louder, as america's border with mexico divides the country again. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. so was president trump told in advance about his wife's intervention? a question i put to steve herman, the white house bureau chief of voice of america news. i doubt that there was a little doubt that the west wing was aware of what the east wing was doing, especially on a sunday. especially how this developed is when reporters made enquiries to the office of the first lady and they were then delivered this response. this was notjust something that the first lady tweeted out, or that they just unilaterally issued a statement. and the way they're spinning this is that they are just responding to a reporter's inquiry about it, but look, everyone else is weighing in on this issue, so it would be difficult for the first lady and her office to stay silent.
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but they play it both ways. because if you look at the language of that statement for the president's most vociferous detractors, they say that the first lady is reinforcing this lie that the democrats have initiated, that it's a political thing because the president can snap his fingers and reverse this immediately. others will point to this statement that there should be heart in this immigration approach and see that there are some cracks between the president and the first lady. but i — i think what we also need to point out on this is that the president himself on friday said — quote — "i hate the children being taken away," but he, of course, is blaming this all on democrats, and that they need to work with republicans to change the law. what are the chances
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of sigfica nt reform 7 what can you say about democrats and republicans coming together across the aisle, as the first lady said in a statement? i think there is tremendous pressure, especially on some of the republicans who are looking at these pictures every day. those who are going to be facing close elections in november worry that if this stays in the headlines, this could damage them. so i think there is — on the republican side, and we have had a few republican senators say that this is terrible and the president can change it, and something needs to be done. the president will be meeting with some lawmakers on monday in the white house. and we can expect perhaps,
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within a few days, that there could be some legislative movement on this. to push the criticism of the policy. to push the criticism of the policy. to the washington post, condemning the separation of children from their parents is cruel and immoral. she says the us government should not be in the business of warehousing children in converted supermarkets. colombia has a new president—elect. conservative ivan duque — who campaigned to change the 2016 peace agreement with farc rebels — beat his leftist rival, gustavo petro, who's a former guerilla. mr duque also wants to introduce tougher punishments for war crimes committed by the rebels. earlier i spoke to the bbc‘s katy watson in bogota and i pointed out that the polling showed it would be close, but in the end that wasn't the case. indeed, ivan duque got about 54% and gustavo petro about 42%. very early on, we could see that duque was clearly the winner. the results came through
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within about an hour, which seems record here, the fact that it happened so quickly. so ivan duque is another win for the right in this politically conservative country. i think they were very keen on making sure they could win over the colombians, because this has been a deeply polarising election. on the one hand, you had right—wing mr duque. and he was also — he was backed by the former president, alvaro uribe, who is still the most popular politician in colombia. there were chants of uribe, there were also chants of duque, and people were concerned of what will that mean for the next four years — will duque be in charge, or will the uribe? he was very anti—peace deal and duque will make changes to that. it will be interesting to see exactly how far he can go on making the changes he promised.
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that is the big question. i'm looking at what the reports have been saying, and he wants to rewrite parts of it. does that make people worry about the future, about a return to the dark days of conflict with farc rebels? certainly there is a big part of the colombian society that is nervous, especially those who voted for petro. uribe said he would keep the deal intact. for people who voted for duque, it's seen as a good thing, because the deal was seen as controversial. farc rebels were able to run for office before they have paid for their crimes. known as transitionaljustice, it was a big part of the peace deal, allowing them to run for political office. mr duque wants to change that. he wants to give more priority for the victims, and that really resonates with people in colombia, who feel that peace deal wasn't a peace deal for columbia. i don't think anybody wants to go back to the past, but it's how they move forward, how they maintain that peace deal with as little controversy as possible, to make sure that the fragile peace here in colombia is maintained. more than 600 migrants rescued from the mediterranean and turned away by italy and malta are spending their first night on european soil, after being allowed to dock in the spanish port of valencia on sunday.
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spain's new socialist government has promised to offer them free healthcare and says it will investigate each asylum case. damian grammaticas has this report from valencia. from the aquarius, the first sight this morning of spain, its week—long odyssey 1,000 miles across the mediterranean at an end. finally in valencia was a port prepared to welcome the ship. it was a moment ofjoy for those on board. they had been rescued from the seas off libya, but because of them, italy and malta had turned the aquarius away. only spain stepped in, saying countries should provide those in distress a safe haven. by taking in this boat, spain's new socialist government wants to show that a new type of migration policy for europe is possible, one where you can both control your borders and respect human rights. italy did provide two coastguard vessels to help the aquarius transport the 630 people to spain. but it was valencia's mayor
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who offered the ship sanctuary, and so defused a crisis for europe. joan ribo describes the rejection by italy and malta of those rescued at sea as inhumane. translation: they don't respect human rights. they are decisions that don't respect international agreements about which ports to use after a rescue, and these are decisions which, if we allow them to happen, would turn the mediterranean sea into a mass grave. the people who spain took in today, seeking refuge or opportunity in europe, are from more than two dozen countries. among their number, 80 women and 100 children, some making the risky journey with families, but many unaccompanied. spain will now give them all free medical care and a 45—day permit
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to stay while they lodge asylum claims. but italy says it will continue to prevent all private rescue boats from using its ports. at the world cup in russia, germany was beaten one mil. brazil also had a disappointing start, they were held to a one all draw by switzerland. germany arrived in russia is one of the favourites of. they have beaten mexico in all their previous encounters. but they were given an almighty shock. germany were rattled, uncharacteristic mistakes were being made. but, for all their ascendancy, mexico couldn't take advantage, and just when it looked like their efforts would go unrewarded, another rapid break. the ball landed at the feet of hirving lozano, who smashed
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the ball past manuel neuer in the german goal. toni kroos hit the post for germany, but that's as close as they came. germany looked for that equaliser, and a precious opening just wouldn't come. a famous victory for mexico, as they held on. as for germany, you would be foolish to write them off. they have sweden up next. they will need to wake up. but for these fans here, they will not be sleeping much in moscow tonight. translation: it was a great match, a spectacular goal by lozano. happy mexico! we want more. yes, sir. mexico played really, really good, with a lot of heart, with a lot of balls, as we say in mexico. so i think we'll be champions, all over the world! come on! yes! mexico! translation: that team is playing together as a group, mexico as a team, and we can beat anyone we play. we just beat the champions. that is one team in green doing very well. stay with us on bbc news.
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still to come: going to the movies — a new experience in saudi arabia. there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for a0 years forcibly classified each citizen according to race. germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement
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and i think we might be able to persuade the wife, it would be a good idea, if i could, to get her to go up there for a little while. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the first lady of the united states, melania trump, has called for republicans and democrats to work together to change policy on illegal immigration so that families are no longer separated. the conservative candidate ivan duque has won colombia's presidential election, having campaigned to overhaul the 2016 peace agreement with farc rebels. let's get more analysis on that story. juan diego castro is an analyst with the peace and reconciliation foundation in bogota. i asked him what's now likely to be happening to the peace process. well, what happens now is that we have to defend the peace accords. candidate duque has won, with 54% of the vote. but this is a historic day in colombian democracy,
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because actually, for the first time, we can say that we have finally transcended into the 21st century politically. and what do i mean by that? it's that, for the first time, we actually have a candidate from the left who was actually close to winning the election, with 42% of the votes, 8 million votes represented by that 42%, versus the 10 million votes that candidate duque had today. so finally the left is able to become the official opposition in the country, and this was, before the peace accords, something that we could not even imagine. because for 50 years we had the farc and many other guerrilla groups becoming like an excuse, sort of like an excuse, to not ever be able to elect the left as a viable option to run the country. so finally, the opposition in the left is the official opposition. and candidate petro, in his speech, has claimed that his first goals as the official opposition
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are to combat corruption, to make sure that the peace accords are safe, and that the country, the state, actually, because these are accords that were signed by the state, notjust by one government, that the state actually fulfils its promises to peace in colombia. and one more note that i want to make. these will be the most peaceful elections in colombian history, and these will all benefit from that peace accord. so those are all the positives, but don't forget that that peace accord, which you are citing now, wasn't very popular with the colombian public. in fact, they rejected it the first time it was put to a vote. and one of the things that mr duque has talked about is making guerrillas and people who have committed crimes in the last 50 years of conflict, making sure that they are punished for those crimes. that is something which it appears that, as you said, 10 million people
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have voted for now. no, that's right. but you see... in the last four years, actually since the peace negotiations started, we've had an opposition sabotaging the peace negotiations. and this opposition was led by former president alvaro uribe. and one of the main reasons he was so against the peace accords is because the peace accords were going to set into place a special peace tribunal which would actually invite all actors, all actors from this conflict, notjust the guerrillas, notjust the military, but also people in the private sector who financed paramilitary groups, as well as politicians who aligned themselves with paramilitary groups, to comment and tell the truth. so this is something that alvaro uribe and his party, centro democratico, have been against since the beginning. sun isjust
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sun is just coming sun isjust coming in, two people have been reported to be killed after a strong earthquake hit the city of osaka injapan. the magnitude six earthquake struck during the morning rush hour bringing tramlines to a halt. there are widespread reports of damage to buildings and water pipes but japan's stringent earthquake regulations appear to have resented any major logging collapses. —— prevented any major building colla pses. gaming has become one of the most popular pastimes — but it seems it may not be good for everyone. for the first time, the world health organization has acknowledged a medical condition which it is calling gaming disorder. it's creating guidelines for diagnosing people who have developed problems, including addiction, based around electronic games. our media editor amol rajan reports. you could be fighting dragons, or you could be taking out a terrorist force.
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anything you want to do — save a princess or become a blue hedgehog running at the speed of sound. it's crazy. starwars and gaming, and they put them into the one thing, and it's absolutely amazing how you can be any character. you can be a stormtrooper, you can be a rebel, and you can be absolutely anything, and do whatever you want, and you can change your character. from angry birds and candy crush to the latest craze, fortnite, industry figures suggest over 37 million britons have played an electronic game in the past six months. whether on pcs, consoles or mobiles, digital technology has made games widely accessible and generally cheap. and, for some, it is notjust a form of entertainment, but a lucrative career. by building a vast following on social media platforms, some gamers can make millions of pounds annually. on sites such as twitch, hundreds of gamers live—stream their experience, often while talking live to their followers. i got some ideas in my head, i got some ideas.
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it is a digital universe largely beyond the view of many parents. there's professional players out there now... under the pseudonym tommyt999, ross thompson is building a brand, and following. how do people make money these days out of gaming? the basics are just kind of like the ad revenue that you receive from your videos or your content. and then you've got the likes of sponsorships, donations, from kind of like the community. and then there's also opportunities to have deals with brands. but, for some, gaming can become a distraction and an addiction. australian neil robertson became snooker world champion in 2010, but away from the green cloth, he immersed himself in gaming. thing is, you don't realise it's 12 or 11! hours. you know, itjust goes, like boom, the blink of an eye. i was heavily addicted, i have no doubt about that. ijust — i denied it for many, many years, saying that i really need it when i travel away, it's so important, whereas i wasn't sort of really confronting the real issue itself. now, the world health organization
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has created a new classification. gaming disorder, for digital or video gaming, now officially has three characteristics — impaired control in gaming, prioritising gaming over other interests and daily activities, and an escalation in gaming despite the negative consequences. to be diagnosed, such behaviour needs to be of sufficient severity for at least a year. the royal college of psychiatrists says, while there is no epidemic of gaming disorder, for a small number gaming can be a problem, when online friendships become stronger and more real to them than real—life ones. that's a crucial moment, when the gamer begins to, in a way, overvalue the online activity. and i would say that, soon after, families begin to notice an absence and an emotional disconnect with the rest of the activities that once were so enjoyable. the gaming industry takes a different view.
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jo twist, the ceo of the games trade body, said... new technology means millions of gamers are today immersing themselves in virtual worlds. most do so without causing harm to themselves or others, but for a growing number, gaming is an addiction like any other. amol rajan, bbc news. going to the cinema's a pretty standard weekend entertainment in most places. but in saudi arabia, it's very new. it's just two months since a 35—year ban on cinemas was lifted in the kingdom — one of a number of changes to society there. but how much do changes like this impact on daily life there? lebo diseko has been finding out they might be pricey in some places, but cinema snacks are a new kind
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of treat in saudi arabia. it's a social event. the experience itself is not the movie only. it's the experience of popcorn, and snacks, and sitting in the imax theatre. after a ban lasting more than three decades, these customers seem pretty sure what they want to see. action movies and horror movies, i like. also horror and action. not romantic? no. for me, romantic. no, i'm not interested in it. the first film to be screened after the lifting of the ban was black panther, complete with a gala event for government officials and vips. there are two cinemas in the capital, riyadh, with plans to open more in the coming months. it is one of a number of modernising reforms by crown prince mohammed bin salman.
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before the film starts, the audience watches a message on his changes. another, allowing women to drive, comes into force in less than a week, and a woman was recently given a driving licence for the first time. but there are still limits on what women can do. this footage shows campaigners out and the ban in protest. —— flouting the ban. now there are been accusations of a crackdown on women's rights activists, with a number detained recent weeks. and women still need permission from a male guardian to travel, work or access healthcare. and so the message seems conflicted, or to put it another way, you can have more fun, but don't criticise the system. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @nkem|fejika well, after a fairly cloudy weekend,
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some of us will be waking up to some decent sunshine first thing on monday morning, but not absolutely everywhere. and as far as the weather goes for the week ahead, well, it looks like summer is going to return to southern and central part of the uk. certainly warming up by tuesday and wednesday. the north, however, unsettled with some rain. now, this is what's happening right now. there's still a lot of cloud there in the atlantic, and it is pushing in the direction of the uk. so during the course of this morning and this afternoon, the clouds in some areas will actually increase after that bright and sunny start. so this is what it looks like through the early hours. we still have cloud in south—eastern and southern areas. mist and murk as well. by the time we get to 6:00pm, largely clear skies in many western and northern areas. and then, through the morning, we will see a atlantic winds once again dragging the cloud,
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and some of this cloud will be thick enough to produce a little bit of light rain and drizzle. the north—west of scotland, additionally, very windy. around the coast of the highland, winds up to gale—force. and temperatures on monday getting up to 25 degrees in the south—east, still fairly fresh in the north. this warm weather, it looks like it will be warming up in the southern half of the uk. you can see the warm air coming in from the south, but it never really reaches scotland or northern ireland. it takes almost a turn and ends up in europe. humid and warm winds from the south—west. with that also comes quite a bit of cloud, maybe some spots of rain. but the weather front here that separates the cooler air in the north and that in the south will be drifting across northern ireland and eventually into scotland. and that spells rain for places like glasgow a little bit later in the day. wednesday, the weather front is expected to sink a little bit further south across the country. that means that the area of warmth across the south of the uk will also be pushed a little bit towards the south. so here's the weather front. behind it, we've got fresh air in place in scotland, northern ireland and northern england. cloudy conditions with a few spots of rain. and then the extreme south—east here retains the heat on wednesday. the weather front be pushing
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the heat further south. look how very hot it is across the near continent. so temperatures on wednesday probably getting to around 26, perhaps 27 celsius. in newcastle, only around about 16 degrees, so quite a bit fresher, contrasting across the uk. by thursday, high pressure establishes across the uk. this means dry weather, but it will turn a tad cooler for us. goodbye. all this is bbc news. all the headlines: the us first lady, melania trump, has called for republicans and democrats to work together to change the country's immigration policy. she made the comments amid controversy over president trump's zero—tolerance approach towards illegal immigrants. laura bush had described this as immoral. the conservative candidate ivan duque has won colombia's presidential election, having campaigned to overhaul the 2016 peace agreement with farc rebels.
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mr duque wants to introduce tougher punishments for war crimes committed by the farc. electoral officials said he polled more than 54% of the vote. at the football world cup in russia, the defending champions, germany, have made a disastrous start to their bid to retain the title. they were beaten 1—0 by mexico. another of the favourites to win the tournament, brazil, have also had a disappointing start, with a 1—0 draw against switzerland.
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