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tv   BBC News  BBC News  June 24, 2018 1:00am-1:31am BST

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this is bbc news. i'm andrew plant. our top stories: a milestone for saudi women, who've hit the roads after the controversial ban on driving is finally lifted. a blast rocks an election rally held by zimbabwe's president mnangagwa. he's unhurt but says it was an attempt to kill him. tens of thousands of people march through london to demand a vote on the final deal before britain leaves the eu. a dramatic last—minute goal by reigning champions germany to keep their world cup dreams alive. hello and welcome to bbc news. in the last few hours, women in saudi arabia have finally been taking to the roads after the authorities lifted the world's only ban on women driving. it's part of a programme
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of modernisation under crown prince mohamed bin salman. but leading women's rights activists, who challenged the ban, will be marking the day behind bars. bill hayton reports. just after midnight in riyadh, a piece of history is about to be made. a perfectly normal act in every other country in the world, but until now, not in saudi arabia. ujdeen al—ateek takes the wheel of the family car and drives into the street. all i can think about it, i can still do my own stuff. i do not have to ask about anyone to take me around. it is very important for us to drive. ok, maybe, a lot of us do not need to drive. but for me, i used to drive, i used to do my own stuff, i'm not used to being driven around. enjoying the freedom of the city, this change has been a long time coming. some activists have been demanding the right to drive for decades.
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back in 2013, this woman took the wheel in defiance of the law. some were punished for doing the same thing. change is under way in saudi arabia. cinemas have been allowed to open, along with the same music concerts and the first fashion week. it's all part of a modernisation drive led by the crown prince, mahmoud bin salman. but while some restrictions are easing, saudi women are still not free to travel, marry, divorce, or even leave prison without the permission of a male relative. and those who demand too much change are still being punished. only last month, more than a dozen prominent activists were arrested for demanding greater rights. bill hayton, bbc news. the bbc‘s hanan razek is injeddah. she's been telling me how people have been reacting there. yeah, there is a great deal of excitement. just moments ago, there was a convoy of women
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driving, celebrating this moment. they are being escorted by saudi traffic police, celebrating driving finally after a ban in place for over 60 years now. earlier on, at the very beginning of it in the first few moments, we took a ride with one of the saudi women driving her car here for the first time. she was telling me that it feels like it is an historic moment at this end. she said she felt so excited. she really didn't believe that this would happen in this country and she is so happy now. however, there's also a question about the rights saudi women are still looking for. when you talk to women here injeddah, they told us they hope this is the beginning of real change in saudi women's lives. some of them spoke to us specifically about the guardianship system.
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until this moment, saudi women cannot travel, get married, or study without permission from the male guardian, and that can be the father, the son, the husband, any male relative. and they hope that one day they will see this changing as well. manal al—sharif is a saudi arabian women's rights activist and author of daring to drive: a saudi woman's awakening. shejoins me from sydney. you have been campaigning for this for a long time so presumably a triumphant day? an historic day for me. tell us more about how that will be received in saudi arabia. finally winning now will have freedom in their lives, that is it! saudi arabia will never be the same.” their lives, that is it! saudi arabia will never be the same. i can see it is making you emotional, how long has it been for you on this particular journey to get to this point today? i drove in 2011 and i
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was remanded and after that i made ita was remanded and after that i made it a mission for me to not stop until every woman can drive. there are women who campaign to end the ban on women driving in saudi arabia and today they are in jail. other women's rights activists like me have been harassed and shutdown and from leaving the country. it has overshadowed and it has made me have mixed feelings about it. i'm still happy and hopeful and i know women finally when they are driving their cars, they would feel fully independent and the male guardianship system will be obsolete, even if it still stands as a law, would be absolute, because
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women would not exercise it. there are many things women can't do in saudi arabia, going out without a letter of permission from a male guardian for example, is this really a step forward and other things will follow or is this a cosmetic gesture 7 follow or is this a cosmetic gesture? i think the women can decide they are free and don't need male guardianship. that will make them more obsolete. even if it stands today it will be obsolete. the woman will not ask for permission to make decisions in her life any more. that's how we will really change and overturn the law. if you go to milesforfreedom.net it is asking all women around the world to go to that link, fag herself and record any miles on her pedometer, she logs that and we are calling the king and the crown prince to and the
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male guardianship in my country, which is literally in slaving women. is that realistic, is it on the horizon or years away? -- enslaving. when women know the power and who they are, before the world told us who we should be, that is the day we are unstoppable and that is what i am seeing today. small steps but today a significant one in the lives of all saudi women you think? yes, yesterday was history, today is historic. manal al-sharif, nice to talk to you, thanks very much for talking to us. zimbabwe's president, emmerson mnangagwa, says a blast at an election rally was an assassination attempt against him. the explosion happened shortly after he left the stage in bulawayo, zimba bwe's second city. at least two senior government officials were injured. our africa correspondent, will ross, reports. the rally in the bulawayo's white city stadium had just ended and it looked as though as a successful day
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of campaigning was coming to an end when suddenly president emmerson mnangagwa had a close escape. several people were knocked to the ground by the blast and senior government officials, including a vice president, were seriously injured. as emergency workers rushed people to hospital, the politicians were ushered to safety. hours later, president mnangagwa was out in the city's hospitals comforting those caught up in the blast. he appeared unflustered by events and brushed off what he considered to have been an attempt on his life. these are my normal enemies. and the attempts are normal. this is not the first attempt on my life. it doesn't intimidate me. it's normal. it exploded a few inches away from me. but it is not my time. this is a critical time for zimbabwe, the first election since robert mugabe was ousted. so far, the campaigns have been largely free from the intimidation and violence that have marred previous polls.
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but an explosion so close to the man seen as favourite to win next month is a worrying sign. will ross, bbc news. president trump has called america's immigration laws "a laughing stock" in a speech to republican supporters in las vegas. it follows intense controversy over his policy of separating illegal immigrants from their children, at the mexican border. our north america correspondent, chris buckler, reports. after a week of mixed messages from the white house, there continues to be protests, by people determined to show that they really do care about migrant families. president trump has been under pressure amid the outcry over children being separated from their parents. but although it briefly looked like he was having to soften his immigration policy, his language is hardening again.
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he told republicans in las vegas that america would be overrun if the country showed any weakness. our immigration laws are a laughing stock all over the world. we're the only people... people walk in, they put a foot in, "please, would you like to register?" other countries, they say "get the hell out of here!" the us navy is working up plans to build detention centres similar to this. tent cities capable of holding 25,000 migrants. and it's looking at further sites that could hold tens of thousands more. many of those travelling to the us are claiming asylum. among them, families trying to escape poverty and violence in central america. but often they are deported. including this group who were sent back to guatemala. translation: i have eight children and i need to care for their well—being to move them forward. my goal was to give them an education so they don't suffer like us.
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but it's these images of children being held in cages that will remain in many voters' minds as america's borders continue to divide. chris buckler, bbc news, in washington. two years after the brexit referendum, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of london, demanding what they call a people's vote on the final terms of britain's departure from the eu. it came as senior government ministers insisted they will walk away from negotiations with brussels rather than do a bad deal. our political correspondent, ben wright, reports. this was a mobilisation on a big scale by people who had come to the capital from across the country, many of them hoping brexit can be stopped. two years on from the referendum to leave the eu, the march organisers said more than 100,000
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people turned up to demand another vote on the final brexit deal. sam is a gardenerfrom somerset. ian runs a business in surrey. i can tell you right now, running two businesses, that this is the last thing i want to be doing on a saturday. but i am having to do it because i see it's the only democratic opportunity i have to make my voice heard. the criticism would be from leave supporters, "look, we've done this. you're trying to rerun the whole argument again." well, i can take that point, but it is an entirely different context this time. it's not whether we leave or stay, it's what the deal is. first—time protesters joined veteran marchers fired up by recent warnings from businesses like airbus and now siemens about the potential economic costs of brexit. nobody voted to the damage the country in this way. and the people that lose are our children who lose the right, the freedom, that we've enjoyed all of our lives. and there isn't enough of a reason to do this. but some people in the path of the march had a very different view. it's pathetic! why?
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it's anti—democratic. we know what we voted for, we voted to leave! today's march included very few politicians and absences were noticed. where isjeremy corbyn? labour's leadership and the government are both opposed to the idea of a new public vote on the terms of the brexit deal. the labour membership and labour voters are changing their mind and so i've always been clear the leadership has to catch up with the people. leave supporters will look at this and think "you're just trying to un—pick the referendum." well, you know what is happening? this is what i'm picking up. a lot of people who voted leave are like a lot of people who voted remain, really worried now about how this is all playing out as brexit reality dawns. the tens of thousands of people marching past theresa may's front door today are adamant that brexit is not inevitable and can be stopped. but government insists that brexit must and will happen. next week, theresa may will be back in brussels for the next round of negotiations.
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ministers insist talks are on track, but they're prepared to walk away. the prime minister has always said that nothing is agreed until everything's agreed, and that no deal would be better than a bad deal. and i think it's essential, as we enter the next phase of the negotiations, that the european union understands that and believes it. in another part of westminster, there was a smaller demonstration in support of brexit. clashing protests that prove again how divisive the decision to leave the eu remains. ben wright, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: new zealand's prime ministerjacinda ardern introduces her new bundle ofjoy to the waiting media outside the hospital. members of the neo—nazi resistance movement stormed the world trade center armed with pistols and shotguns. we believe that, according to international law, that we have a rightful claim on certain parts of this country as ourland.
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i take pride in the words "ich bin ein berliner". chapman, prison—pale and slightly chubby, said not a single word in open court. it was left to his lawyer to explain his decision to plead guilty to murdering john lennon. he believes that on 8june, god told him to plead guilty, and that was the end of it. the medical research council have now advised the government that the great increase in lung cancer is due mainly to smoking tobacco. it was closing time for checkpoint charlie, which for 29 years has stood on the border as a mark of allied determination to defend the city. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: saudi women celebrate by taking to the streets
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behind the wheel as the controversial driving ban is lifted. zimbabwe in shock after its president survives a bomb attack at an election rally. let's get more now on donald trump's promise to continue his tough stance against migrants, saying the current us immigration laws are a "laughing stock." joining me now live from washington is heather cronk, co—director of showing up for racialjustice. you have been to the border. have you seen what has happened firsthand? yes. i was at the border in tijuana. we were travelling to the us border. what kind of things does your organisation do? you help settle people with families? part of
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showing up for racialjustice is to organise white people in fighting this. one of the things we fixated on was to offer homes to people going through detention, people detained by the us government. we wa nt detained by the us government. we want them to have a chance to be released from detention if they have a sponsor released from detention if they have a sponsor in the us. we have gone out to our network and the broader community across the us and ask people of conscience across the us who disagree with the way the trump administration is moving around immigration to open their homes. —— asked. hundreds of people have agreed to do that. we have seen the pictures in the past two days, headlines of children being separated from families. tell us about the reality you have seen. is it still going on? it is going on
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right now. what i saw at the border we re right now. what i saw at the border were hundreds of people, men, women, and children, who had journeyed, many of them, up to 3000 miles from their homes. they escaped political and personal violence to present themselves for asylum at the us border which is a completely legal process. what i saw was border patrol and immigrations and customs refused entry to them, forcing them to camp outside the us border. many of them were very young children. their parents were trying to keep them safe in the elements in the burning hot weather, in the rain, with very little to eat, relying on the hospitality of people in the us to help nurture them through that process. what we are seeing on the
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border now it is an increase in the escalation of ice, being more aggressive. there are many more people coming into these detention centres and camps being set up, whether it is an old walmart building, and old military bases will also be used soon as internment camps for the children and families. a very interesting insight. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. lovely to talk to you. thank you. turkey's president recep erdogan has called on voters to return him to office with sweeping new powers on the final day of campaigning in the country's elections. but he's facing a tough challenge from a newly united opposition. mark lowen reports from istanbul. turkey's opposition has finally found its voice. for 15 years, it's been fractured, unable to challenge president erdogan.
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but then came muharrem ince, a fiery centre—left man of the people who draws enormous crowds and is giving the turkey's president the battle of his political life. "turkey needs not a tired president but one with fresh blood," he told his last rally in istanbul. they believe the opposition can win a majority in parliament and force mr erdogan to a second—round run—off in the presidential election. this is taksim, the most iconic square in turkey. mr erdogan is here. he's there. he's everywhere. there's not a single opposition poster in sight. that unlevel playing field doesn't worry the erdogan side, also out today. conservative pious turks revere him as their saviour in once secular—dominated turkey. he repeated his slogan, "one nation, one flag, one homeland, one state," and invited them to give his rivals an ottoman slap tomorrow. mr erdogan might still prove his doubters wrong, but for the first time in 15 years, it seems possible that the erdogan magic is running out.
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mark lowen, bbc news, istanbul. football now. and germany's world cup chances looked to be in the balance as they played sweden in group f on saturday. at half time they were losing i—0 and were in danger of being knocked out, but a dramatic fightback helped them to a 2—1 win. elsewhere, there were victories for mexico and belgium. the bbc‘s tim allman watched all the action. you know what they say, when it comes to football, never bet against the germans. cheering. this was the reaction in berlin as the national side did what they almost always do — get the result they need. "just amazing, we turned the corner at the very last—minute,"
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said this fan, "it was hard to believe but it worked out." "just incredible, wicket," said this supporter, "we kept hoping till the end. we can handle it. germany will win the title again." now, that had seemed a little unlikely earlier in the evening. ola toivonen lobbying the goalkeeper and giving sweden a first half lead. but germany are world champions for a reason and, a few minutes after the break, they made it 1—1. marco reus doing the honours. their cause was not helped though whenjerome boateng was sent off fora second yellow card. but with practically the last kick of the match, toni kroos scored a dramatic winner. germany's world cup prospects suddenly seem a lot brighter.
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elsewhere in group f, carlos vela's penalty gave mexico the lead against south korea. javier hernandez‘s 50th international goal made it 2—0 midway through the second half. this screemerfrom son heung—min was only a consolation. mexico very much in pole position. it is a similar story for belgium who ran riot against tunisia. two goals from eden hazard, and two more from joint top scorer romelu lukaku, helping them to a 5—2 win. maybe you should not bet against the belgium either. tim allman, bbc news. football's world governing body has opened an investigation into granit xhaka and xherdan shaqiri's goal celebrations during switzerland's world cup victory over serbia. they appeared to make an eagle gesture as they celebrated in a symbol of the two—headed eagle on the albanian flag. both players are ethnic
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albanians from kosovo where a serbian crackdown on the albanian population only ended with nato military intervention in 1999. and to keep up to date with what's going on in the world cup, go to the bbc sport website for team news, interviews, results, and fixtures, go to bbc.com/worldcup. new zealand's prime ministerjacinda ardern presented her newborn baby girl, called niamh, to the cameras. mrs ardern, who's said to be regaining her strength with macaroni and cheese, and her partner, clark gayford, have been swamped with congratulatory messages from around the globe, including a private email from queen elizabeth. twitter wags have dubbed the baby "prime miniature." i think probably, like everyone, we went through that struggle for a matter of months. we kept a short list of names. we wanted to wait until the baby arrived to really see which one felt like it worked, but we chose neve because we just liked it.
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and when we met her we thought she looked like she suited the name. and it means — in various homes — it means bright and radiant and snow which seemed like a good combination for matariki and for solstice. te aroha though is.... that was something we settled on quite early. te aroha was our way of reflecting the amount of love that this baby has been shown before she even arrived. and all of the names that we were gifted along the way, i thought, how do i reflect the generosity, particularly from all of the iwi who gifted us names, and te aroha seemed to me to be a way we could show that love and generosity. that is how things look. goodbye for
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now. hello. i think saturday gave many areas of the british isles a taste of what is to come over the coming days. i will show you what i mean injust a second. but the day came to a glorious — and notjust on the river exe, but quite widely — away from the northern parts of scotland. high pressure is very dominant at the moment forcing the jet stream well to the north of the british isles. here, the darkening of the hues an indication of the rise in temperatures that we are expected to see in the first half of the forthcoming week. a coolish sort of start to sunday though with the clear skies overnight so again the temperatures will have dribbled away into single figures in a number of locations. but with the sun soon up in the day, i think those temperatures will soon recover and there will be a lot of fine and settled weather to be had. the frontal system still not
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a million miles away from the far north of scotland. the shetland islands keeping a lot of cloud for a good part of the day. a much improved situation though across the mainland of scotland. not too much in the way of breeze right across the piece. you will feel every bit of those temperatures. a fraction up on where we were through saturday, for a good part of england and wales, maybe northern ireland too. and certainly recovering across the heart of scotland, given that there will be a lot more sunshine and a little bit less in the way of cloud than was the case on saturday. here we are moving into the wee small hours of monday. the frontal system trying to work its way in to the far north—west of scotland. elsewhwere, the night—time minimum you'll notice just beginning to come up a tough —12,13,14 — quite widely across the southern half of britain, as opposed to those widespread single figures of but a few nights ago. so here we are to start the new week. and high pressure really very much the dominant feature. although you'll notice this band of cloud — and i don't think it'll be
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much more than that — it is still there as a plague across the northern and western isles of scotland, maybe the far north of the mainland too. elsewhere, by this stage, we are beginning to see those temperatures really ramp up across all parts of the british isles, save perhaps for the very far north. here, on into tuesday, the high pressure is right over the top of the british isles and by this stage the cloud will be very much more broken across northern and north—western parts of scotland and at this stage we could well be looking at around about 28, 29 degrees or so. many locations well on into the 20s and it is at this stage, we think somewhere between wednesday, probably, thursday, that somebody somewhere is going to get up to around about 30 degrees or so. it may even be a touch higher than that before turning cooler later in the week. this is bbc news, the headlines: women in saudi arabia celebrate as the country finally lifts its controversial driving ban. but saudi women are still not free to travel, marry, divorce or even leave prison
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without the permission of a male relative. zimbabwe is in shock after its president, emmerson mnangagwa, escapes unhurt from an explosion, which he's described as an assassination attempt. mr mnangagwa hinted that political opponents within the ruling party might be responsible for the attack. in the world cup, the defending champions, germany, have beaten sweden in a dramatic game, in which they came from behind to win in the final seconds of added time. and, meet new zealand's first baby. prime ministerjacinda ardern has introduced her new daughter to reporters outside the hospital in auckland where she gave birth. the little girl has been named neeve. now, the countdown is on for england in the world cup. at lunchtime on sunday they play panama in the second of their group
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