Skip to main content

tv   Newsday  BBC News  August 2, 2018 1:00am-1:31am BST

1:00 am
i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: gunshots soldiers open fire in zimbabwe as opposition supporters claim monday's elections were rigged. it has changed dramatically the atmosphere in the last 2a hours — really volatile now. we've had tear gas fired, shots fired. i think we've got to go. a gesture of goodwill. 55 sets of war remains from north korea are transported to the united states. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: donald trump calls for the investigation into russian election interference to end, but his lawyer says it's just an opinion. and singing their hearts out. a new trend sweeping australia, the local pub, beer and a song. live from our studios
1:01 am
in singapore and london. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 8am here in singapore, 1am in london and 2am in the morning in zimbabwe, where violence has erupted in the capital, harare. the ruling zanu pf party won the parliamentary vote following monday's general election but the opposition mdc party are claiming the vote has been rigged. the police are on the streets using water cannon and live ammunition rounds, and three people are reported to have been killed. our africa editor, fergal keane, reports from harare. from early, there was something different in the air. reports emerged on state media that a presidential winner would be declared by the afternoon, and at opposition headquarters,
1:02 am
supporters were gathering in anticipation. it's about an hour to go before the declaration of the result. we've got police water cannon now stationed right outside opposition headquarters, and compared to the celebratory mood yesterday, it really does feel more tense here. in the absence of an official result, the crowds believe the claims of their leader, however premature. chanting: chamisa! chamisa! chamisa is the winner! chamisa has got victory in his hands. but over at the results centre, hopes of an announcement faded, as the declaration of parliamentary results dragged on. and it appeared that not all the legal representatives of the 23 presidential candidates had turned up. for now, this is all we have for you. we will start announcing the results for the presidential as soon as that legal process has been taken care of. the delay convinces the opposition that there is a fix,
1:03 am
and as the day wore on, foreign observers appealed for a swift declaration. the results of the presidential election were counted first in the polling stations. and therefore i have still to learn why it will be published last. but, just outside, the riot police had blocked the gates against hundreds of protesting opposition supporters. they burned posters of the president and ruling party. we heard shots and tear gas, and then the afternoon descended into chaos. at the other end of the city, police came under attack. a ruling—party office was targeted. gunshots gunfire echoed around the city. there was injury and death. a bbc colleague struggled to help this man as his life ebbed away.
1:04 am
shouting close by, a policeman pointed his gun towards the camera. there are soldiers just beyond this group of running people. it has changed dramatically, the atmosphere, in the last 2a hours — really volatile now. we've had tear gas fired, shots fired. i think we've got to go. we saw a bayonet—wielding soldier strike at a protester. opposition supporters tried to blockade a large swathe of the city centre. at the headquarters of zanu—pf, party officials watched the angry crowd's approach. and tonight, the president and party leader blamed the opposition. we hold the opposition mdc alliance, and its whole leadership, responsible for this disturbancy of national peace,
1:05 am
which was meant to disrupt the electoral process. armoured vehicles on the streets — scenes more reminiscent of a warzone than a nation in the middle of a democratic election, or a city where thousands cheered the armyjust eight months ago. today, we saw the deployment of military tanks and firing of live ammunition on civilians, for no apparent reason. civilians are allowed to demand the respect of their rights in a lawful manner. any disorder may be dealt with by the police, who are best trained for public order. in a few hours this afternoon, the great hope that there was for this country was battered. it will take a real will for calm on all sides for it to be restored. feargal keane, bbc news, harare. our other top story:
1:06 am
president trump has made his most forceful intervention yet in the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election, calling on his attorney general, jeff sessions, to end it right now. mr trump described the special counsel, robert mueller, and his team as a disgrace to the usa. jon sopel has more from washington. we've known for some time that donald trump is absolutely exasperated by the mueller investigation into whether there was collusion between the trump campaign and moscow, and we've heard him vent his fury on many occasions before. he's always stopped short of saying the investigation ought to be ended. today that changed. "this is a terrible situation," he said on twitter, and "attorney generaljeff sessions should stop this rigged witchunt right now before it continues to stain our country." now, the timing of this is interesting. it's the first full day of the trial
1:07 am
of his former campaign manager, paul manafort, who is charged with not revealing fully his links with pro—moscow ukrainian businessmen. so that's part one, but the other part of it is that we've also learned that the president received a letter in the past 2a hours from the robert mueller investigation. now, there's speculation that one of the things they've raised is that they'd like to talk to the president about whether there was obstruction of justice. maybe that is what tipped the president into, kind of, letting vent his feelings on twitter today. but there are those who point out that by virtue of tweeting what he said, that the attorney general ought to fire the person leading the investigation, that is obstruction of justice in itself. that has been put to donald trump's lawyer, who points out that in the tweet, he says, "no, no, no. the attorney general should do this, not that he must do this." other people say, though, when the president tells you you should do something,
1:08 am
that pretty much does act as an order. also this hour: the us is considering 25% tariffs on $200 billion of chinese goods. that's much higher than the 10% president trump previously indicated might be imposed. the move would cause even more tensions between the world's two biggest economies. two more prominent human rights activists are reported to have been arrested in saudi arabia. the gulf centre for human rights says that samar badawi and nassima al—sadah were detained by the security forces two days ago. both are known for their championing of women's rights in the country. south korea has recorded its highest—ever temperature of 40.3 degrees celsius, its hottest weather since the country began logging temperatures in 1907. seoul, the capital, also recorded its top temperature of 39 degrees. according to state authorities, more than 28 people have died as a result of a sweltering heatwave. japan too is in the grip of suffocating heat as the capital tokyo hit 35 degrees celsius on wednesday. soaring temperatures across the country have already hospitalised tens of thousands
1:09 am
of people, with 96 dying from heatstroke in tokyo alone last month. facebook and instagram have announced new features to limit how much time people can spend on their apps. users will now be able to check how much time they've spent scrolling, set a reminder for when they've reach their allotted time, and mute notifications. the announcement follows concerns that excessive social media use can have a negative impact on mental health. the remains of american soldiers missing in action during the korean war are being flown back to the united states. north korea handed over 55 cases and us officials say initial tests show the remains are likely to be american. a little earlier, jeremy austin a dna expert from adelaide university, told me more
1:10 am
about the complex job of identifying the remains. the history of these repatriationss of remains from north korea would suggest that even though the koreans have returned 55 boxes of remains, those boxes may contain actually more than 55 individuals. so the very first process would be to actually sort through all the remains and try to work out exactly how many individuals are contained within those 55 boxes. historically, there may actually, based on the previous repatriations, there may be up to 100 individuals within those boxes, and some people's remains may be scattered across different boxes, so that's the first process. the second process would be to use things like dental records and some features of the skeletons to try and either bring different parts of one human body together, or to actually put them into groups that will allow them to be identified further. and the american
1:11 am
military, in the last ten years or so, has relied on dna testing to, first of all assemble bodies, assemble all these little different parts of bones, and then use that for identification. the dna set will come in as the last step for identification. all right, that all sounds incredibly complex indeed, jeremy. as you say, there may well be more remains in those 55 cases, and how do you even begin to tell the different nationalities apart. tell us a little bit about how technology has evolved in the last decade to perhaps help speed the process along. you know, obviously these families have waited a long time to see the remains of their family members. certainly in the dna testing side of the identification process, in the last ten years, our ability to get dna from these very degraded and fragmented human rights has increased dramatically and the amount of dna information we can collect from these remains has also increased. it's not a fast process, it's not like the csi—style tv shows
1:12 am
we see where people get identified in hours or days, this is a process that is a very long and complicated process. the dna results have to be validated, then they have to be compared with the living family members, and that's a very complex process. even with these advanced dna technologies, it could still take months or years or some of these men to be identified. dna expertjeremy austin speaking to me earlier. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: cocaine production is surging again in colombia. wejoin a police raid on a drugs lab. also on the programme: i get knocked down, but i get up again, you ain't never going to keep me down... a beer and a song. choir practice australian style down at the pub. the question was whether we want
1:13 am
to save our people, and japanese as well, and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at 2am. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigor, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the
1:14 am
anglican community. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: there have been calls for calm in zimbabwe, after soldiers opened fire on opposition supporters alleging fraud in monday's elections. president trump has called for an end to the investigation into russian election interference, but his lawyer says it was just an opinion, not an order. and a story from our website: a change of look for the pop star rihanna is prompting social media fans to ask if the superstar is setting a new trend. 0n the cover of vogue magazine, her eyebrows seem to have been removed and replaced by ultra—thin pencilled arches. there is more on that debate in the entertainment section online at bbc.com/news.
1:15 am
let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the straits times is looking ahead to the meeting of asean ministers in singapore this week. they say south korea's foreign minister is expected to encourage her regional counterparts to hold noth korea to account in its promise to denuclearise. the financial times leads with this emotive picture of the violence in zimbabwe, and on google‘s relaunch in china. the paper says it is a move that would mean bowing to the government censorship that prompted the compa ny‘s withdrawal from the country eight years ago. and the philippine daily inquirer is reporting on the global heatwave. it says a global study has concluded that if current trends continue
1:16 am
we will see an increase of a70% in deaths related to heatwaves by 2080. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? one of australia's biggest supermarkets, coles, has reversed a decision to stop giving customers free plastic bags. it follows pressure from some irritated shoppers, although other consumers say the ban was good for the environment and should have remained. cocaine production in colombia is higher than ever, with much of it heading to the us and europe. over 900 tonnes of cocaine was produced in colombia last year, despite a peace accord that has ended a long—running insurgency by rebels known as the farc. it is prompting fears that the country is losing the war on drugs. the bbc‘s security correspondent frank gardner has this special
1:17 am
report. colombia, post—peace deal, and the war on drugs continues. a surprise raid by counter—narcotics police on an illegal coca crop. i went with them. from remote areas like these, cocaine production is now at an all—time high. over 900 tons last year, much of it heading to europe, including the uk. the troops destroy the jungle labs wherever they can. colombia seized over 400 tons last year, but it is not winning the war against the traffickers. well, we've just landed by helicopter a short distance away, right in the middle of a coca field. and this here is the laboratory, a fully operational jungle laboratory. you can smell it in the air.
1:18 am
they are going to now destroy it, but they are very worried about a counterattack from the people who are operating this. they think they are going to come and try and hit them. colombia's 52—year—long insurgency by farc rebels may be over, but the government is struggling to reassert control in many parts. 0ften, where former rebels have disarmed, the cocaine industry is fuelling criminality and pulling in the ruthless mexican cartels. narco—trafficking, illegal mining, contra band, extortion. so our fight against especially narco—trafficking, which is the source for those groups, is really our main effort. as long as there is coca and cocaine, those groups will have support, to continue their fight against democracy and to continue theirfight against the civilian population. offshore in the caribbean, just off cartagena, the coastguard
1:19 am
told me the traffickers pay locals from this island to approach the big container ships, then sling the drugs on board. they use informers inside the port to get the information about the location of the containers and the destination of it. down on the pacific coast, tumaco is the epicentre of the cocaine trade. poverty—stricken and underinvested, its people suffer most. mothers told me their biggest fear is their sons growing up to join the violent drug gangs. at sunday mass, we find father arnulfo mina. he believes the government's recent boost in security presence here won't last. translation: military action is only temporary. it stops and then the murders return. as soon as the military drop their guard a little, the people start to fight again. it's a temporary solution.
1:20 am
we need social investment here. night—time in tumaco is dangerous. the murder rate here has shot up since the farc rebels disarmed, as rival drug gangs compete for turf. on patrol with the police, i could see the heavily reinforced security presence — a uniform every 100 metres. but that won't be enough to stifle the cocaine trade, nor the massive demand from britain, the us and elsewhere. colombia's war on drugs is very far from over. frank gardner, bbc news, colombia. it sounds like something from a blockbuster heist movie — precious jewels, scenic waterside location, a speedboat, and some daring thieves. well, a theft near the swedish capital, stockholm, had all those elements, when some of the country's royal jewels were stolen in broad daylight. two crowns and an orb belonging to a 17th century king and queen were taken by two men, who then escaped on a speedboat. maddy savage has more from stockholm.
1:21 am
they are so valuable, experts say you cannot put a price on them. these are the crown jewels that were taken, once worn by swedish royalty, and kept in pristine condition for centuries. but police are investigating after the national treasures managed to get swiped in the middle of the day, taken from an apparently locked cabinet inside this cathedral in the rural town of stregness. the thieves made a dramatic getaway. one of my friends, he saw two people running, a man from this direction and a man from that direction. i saw the boat was there, a white little boat with an outboard motor on the back. the two men hurriedlyjumped on board, and sped off over that direction in that way. i knew immediately they were burglars, because of the way they were behaving. officers have spent hours scouring
1:22 am
the area for the thieves. this lake is one of sweden's largest, around 120 kilometres from east to west. but, so far, neither police boats, helicopters or scouring the banks have had any clues. as the search continues, authorities say they still have no suspects. as one police officer put it, it is currently 1—0 to the robbers. selling these treasures would prove tricky after so much global media interest. please have asked for help from interpol, in case the robbers have fled the country, but right now their whereabouts seems to be anyone‘s guess. when some friends in australia wondered how they could get more people together to have a sing—song, they came up with a very australian answer — hold choir practice in the pub. now the concept has become a social media hit, and attendances have boomed. we have been to brisbane, in queensland, to find out more. # we'll be singing,
1:23 am
when we're winning... pub choir is a community singing group where strangers meet at the pub. # i get knocked down, but i get up again... they learn a song in three—part harmony in 90 minutes. we put it up online, and we never do it again. people say that they love singing, but they were told at some point in their life that they weren't very good at it, and so they've just stopped doing it in public, and just do it in the car or at home or whatever. we had 70 people at the first event, which i thought was an amazing. but now we get 800 people buying a ticket. it sells out in minutes. # my happiness...
1:24 am
i think that the pub that makes all the difference. i mean, i take choir rehearsals outside of pubs all the time, and 800 people do not come to those rehearsals! it's not about getting rip—roaringly drunk, it's just about being comfortable. putting it in the pub makes it familiar, makes it friendly. as the beers keep coming, everyone gets a little bit louder, a bit more confident. it's just a good community vibe, i sing in the shower, i don't sing anywhere else because i don't want anyone to hear me. but there's wine involved. everybody leaves a rock star, put it like that. you realise when you get home that you're not that good after all. there are so many good songs that i love. ladies, you are going to do what the guys are singing... but, when you have 800 people who haven't auditioned and have no music in front of them, and are learning by ear, it has to be very repetitive and doable. it's got to have a small vocal range.
1:25 am
# through the streets of your town... bohemian rhapsody is the most requested song that we have, by a country mile. it's not happening and it would be awful. i've never seen anyone do it well. singing feels really good, and everybody likes to do it. i'm really excited that pub choir is showing people that it's not a traumatic thing to sing, and you don't have to be perfect. iam i am still not singing, even though that makes me feel like breaking into song. what about you? no, i am not going to do that. not at all, but i know you are not going to break into song, but if you could choose a song to sing, which one would it be? i am really looking forward to that new movie, you know, mamma mia, here i go again... we got you singing! hello there.
1:26 am
temperatures over the last two days have been topping out at around 20 celsius, but for some over the next two days, we'll have values into the mid—30s. increasingly warm and humid through the day ahead. some sunshine, but also a fair amount of cloud in places, because as you can see from the earlier satellite picture, we've got this pipeline of cloud just ploughing its way across british isles, and western areas in particular, where you're exposed to that moist south—westerly flow, seeing a lot of cloud to start off thursday. some rather misty, murky conditions for some coasts and hills. a bit drizzly in places, the odd shower here and there. but, for north—east scotland and certainly for a good part of england and the south—east of wales, we start the day with some sunshine, and these areas will keep sunshine through the day. and, in some other spots, the cloud will tend to break up. the most favoured spots for sunny skies, though, in shelter to the north—east, of higher ground, so the north—east of scotland doing quite nicely for sunshine. 2a degrees there in aberdeen,
1:27 am
but with some extra cloud in glasgow more like 21, and we could well see some heavy rain just drifting across northern ireland. some extra cloud into coastal parts of england and wales, certainly in the west. but further east, more in the way of sunshine, and those temperatures in london up to 29, maybe somewhere in the south—east getting up to 30 degrees. now, as we go through thursday night, still quite a humid feel. still a lot of cloud, as well, ploughing its way in from the south—west. some outbreaks of showery rain starting to develop across parts of northern england, southern scotland, as the night wears on, and temperatures not dropping far at all, 15—18 degrees in many places. so starting friday on a muggy note for most places, but we have this cold frontjust trying to drift its way southwards. not a lot of progress, though, and along the front, a little bit of rain. but what the front mainly does is it divides northern areas, where there'll be some relatively cool air, from southern areas, where we'll be tapping into this increasingly hot air from the near continent. so quite a split in temperatures emerging as we go through friday.
1:28 am
here's our frontal system only very slowly moving southwards. rain particularly across northern england, much of it light and patchy, the odd heavy burst. to the north, across scotland and northern ireland, a mixture of sunshine and showers, and temperatures in the low 20s. down towards the south—east, lots of sunshine, and temperatures up to 32 or 33 degrees. and we keep that split in fortunes as we go through the weekend. low 20s likely in northern and western areas, with a fair amount of cloud. bit of rain at times, but not all the time. further south and east holding onto lots of sunshine. 30 degrees on saturday, maybe a little cooler on sunday, but not by much. i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: soldiers in zimbabwe have shot at opposition supporters protesting about irregularities in monday's elections. three people were killed in the capital, harare after it was announced the governing zanu—pf had won a two—thirds majority in parliament. the result of the separate presidential election is yet
1:29 am
to be announced. president trump has urged his attorney—general to end the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election. and this story is trending on bbc.com. one of australia's biggest supermarkets, coles, has reversed a decision to stop giving customers free plastic bags. it follows pressure from some irritated shoppers. other consumers say the ban was good for the environment. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk:
1:30 am

74 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on