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tv   Dateline London  BBC News  August 11, 2018 11:30am-12:01pm BST

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on events in the arab world; portuguese journalist and academic eunice goes; henry chu, international editor with the us magazine, variety; polly toynbee, columnist with the guardian newspaper. now, the ‘special relationship‘ is one of those phrases used so often by british ministers in governments of left and right that it must have its own short cut on press officers keyboards. so it was on wednesday when the us state department announced fresh sanctions against russia for the nerve agent attack in the english cathedral town of salisbury five months ago. the uk government duly lauded this as evidence of the strength of the special relationship. only it wasn't. it was actually the consequence of a law passed by congress when george bush senior was president more than a quarter of a century ago. no wonder moscow, currently being courted by president trump, complained about mixed signals. economic weapons are being wielded with increasing frequency by the trump administration — sanctions on iran at the start of the week and tariffs on turkey at the end. polly, there is an unanswerable
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logic is what happened on wednesday. it is the law and that is what they had to do. but it does carry risks, doesn't it? and most everything about the foreign policy coming out of the united states at the moment carries colossal risks. none of it makes very much sense. you are getting into cut lightens. it isn't clear that donald trump himself agrees with these sanctions at all. he has said nothing at all about bradley putin. nothing about russia. absolute silence. you have nothing. silence from the president. here you have russia implicated in interfering with elections in the west but particularly helping jon get elected —— trump get elected. the president is silent on the subject. i find it
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the president is silent on the subject. ifind it very the president is silent on the subject. i find it very alarming indeed. nobody knows what trump's relationship with britain really is. he had that long meeting. i hope they get someone to come forward to tell us what happened. we have no idea what the secret agreement is between the two men. certainly america's constitutional congress has no idea either what the relationship is between their president and the russian president. this is scary. henry, the sanctions, these particular ones have only been enacted against north korea and syria previously. presumably the economic fallout with those two countries is no big deal as there wasn't much of a relationship anyway but it is the different magnitude with russia. of course. this is another round of sanctions on russia. they are being on them for a few years because of the annexation of ukraine. the sanctions actually
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should go in force after 60 days of determination that russia used a nerve agents and chemical weapons. the us agreed with britain's session that russia was involved. but trump did nothing. what will be even tougher will be that if russia does not modify its behaviour or show that it not modify its behaviour or show thatitis not modify its behaviour or show that it is no longer using chemical weapons are even stronger sections —— sanctions come into force of three months down the line and we will see what happens then. the story of the end of the week about the deteriorating —— deteriorating relationship between the united states and turkey and the trump administration. this one, president trump was proud not to be tweeting about, to impose tariffs on turkey. it absolutely nailed the turkish
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lira over the last few days. what is happening to the economy?” lira over the last few days. what is happening to the economy? i believe this is economic war against erdogan and against turkey to be honest. it is definitely counter—productive. you cannot have a sanction against grant, a sanction against turkey which is a member of nato since 1952. actually, it is a full member of nato. it gives a lot of good services to the west and united states in particular. you also have a sanction against syria. sanctions everywhere. this will be extremely counter—productive. it will unify the whole world against the united states. you have russia, china, iran, turkey, now even the pakistani president is saying that he won't
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unify against these sanctions. this is the question. why did turkey play a major role in syria? under the order of the united states. they have also participated in the war in libya. now we are rewarding turkey by imposing sanctions? for what? this is about sending a message. this is about sending a message. this is a mid—term election period in the united states. about three months away from it. exactly. this is about donald trump showing he is delivering on his promises, following america first foreign policy, defending american economic interest and american jobs although very few are actually at risk from us sanctions. it is politically irresponsible. it is about electoral politics. i was struck by talking to
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journalists a few days ago saying they had done research and found that the trump administration has used sanctions more than any other administration. not only that but the treasury secretary says he spent half of his time on sanctions. the treasury secretary says he spent half of his time on sanctionslj half of his time on sanctions.” think it has increasingly, notjust with the trump administration, it was true with obama as well. sanctions become the off—the—shelf thing they reach for when are some things they do not like. look at all the international countries saying they are going to pause their economic actions in iran because they're worried about being punished by the united states. when the western world came together with sanctions to try and pressure iran into sanctions over its nuclear programme, it works. in south africa again it was a and united front except britain and america of sanctions. russia is actually the
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subject of sanctions throughout the west. but in turkey it seems like a personalfight west. but in turkey it seems like a personal fight that trump is begin with erdogan. and also this particular american pastor who is in prison. of course. americans are not sending back to turkey and enemy of erdogan that he wants. someone he involves being in a coup. what we're seeing with america first turned out to be america alone. america is throwing hand grenades around the world to all international organisations, to all previous alliances, nato, explosive his nato meeting. his attitudes towards europe are quite extraordinarily hostile. it is america with no friends which is a very peculiar way of being first. except saudi arabia and israel. so essentially really nasty regimes, the leaders of really
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terrible regimes are the signs of... i would not include israel. you're talking more about saudi arabia and the philippines. exactly. these are the philippines. exactly. these are the friends that he has made.” believe what britain gained from the special relationship with the united states is a war in rock, a war in syria. —— a war in the iraq. now they are creating a rift with europe. iran could close... we are heading towards another war. what is interesting is that europe has said to pay no attention to the iran sanctions, and there is trump cheating that anyone who trades with iran will do no trade with the us.
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—— trump tweeting. that is a real cause of tension. as you have said, we have seen the iran sanctions. lifting the sanctions was a real success. what matters most in the world is stopping nuclear programmes. what kind of messages does it centre anyone else who wants nuclear weapons? once you sign a document you have two respect your signature. if you are going to block us signature. if you are going to block us from exporting any aid, we will actually react. it will create more problems. what will happen to that world rate for example? what you are beginning to see for the first time isa beginning to see for the first time is a distinct european foreign policy and that is a healthy thing.
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europe has been weak before on foreign policy and it has been forced now on having to identify itself. i hope, as a bastion of liberal world decent values and upholding un charters and human rights, and america are increasingly on the other side of that line. looking like letter boxes or bank robbers. a journalistic flourish from a newspaper columnist about muslim women who wear the hijab, the veil that covers all of the face except the eyes. the author was borisjohnson, who was until a month ago the uk's foreign minister. his article was in defence of the freedom to dress in the hijab, or indeed the burqa, which completely conceals the wearer. he said that he was here to defend women and defend their white to dress as they like. he was opposed to the band that some other european countries, most recently denmark, have imposed. yet it has come out looking like he is their enemy. yes. it isa looking like he is their enemy. yes. it is a very funny way of defending
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people, you start by insulting them and then you say you are free to do your silly and whatever you want to do. borisjohnson your silly and whatever you want to do. boris johnson is your silly and whatever you want to do. borisjohnson is trying to essentially launch his bid for the leadership of the conservative party by targeting what he sees as a potential basis of support in the conservative party, people who are up conservative party, people who are up in arms against multiculturalism and other religions and who will feel that british, western and christian values are in danger by mass immigration. it is very dangerous what is trying to do. it is utterly irresponsible. is an elected politician. he has to be far more cautious in the way that he speaks. words have meaning and people understood exactly what he was trying to do. he tried to a bit to liberal, "i think we have the
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rights to use it but i think it is outrageous." he was speaking to two audiences and he knew exactly what he was doing in the most irresponsible way. it is not a prize includes this has been his modus operandi since he started professional life. he is talking about a minuscule proportion of this population. it is not even a wide ranging policy. it is a population that has found itself under threat in this country by those who don't like muslims and to fear them. if borisjohnson had said something equally insulting about ultraorthodoxjewish men equally insulting about ultraorthodox jewish men and the clothes that they where i think people would be up and are in arms about this. but about muslim women. . . about this. but about muslim women... , it put a point that was made in the letter by an axe that is known globally as —— and actor globally known, rowan atkinson. he said you only have to apologise for a bad jokes and the one about a
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letterbox he thought was a good joke. his point was we have to be able to laugh about religion and thatis able to laugh about religion and that is one of our basic values. he is not a stand—up comedian. that is one of our basic values. he is not a stand—up comedianfi that is one of our basic values. he is not a stand-up comedian. it is a racistjoke. how is not a stand-up comedian. it is a racist joke. how many is not a stand-up comedian. it is a racistjoke. how many was muslim women in this country wearing their hijab? 300 out of 4 million perhaps. why is he using this language? he was supposed to be the head of the british this primacy or he was until a few weeks ago. he is supposed to be diplomatic and no the culture of other people and the culture of the arab world. why is he provoking these kind of things? is he going to be another donald trump for example? is this the right way to be? it is awful to be honest. i will tell you, sean, in islam there is no reference to the hijab, in the middle east the
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same debate is taking place. but using this language to insult certain people who choose to wear and the curb is not —— the hijab is not... the problem is the language he used which is really provoking. it all depends on who is doing the speaking. you have a debate between different groups of muslims, that fine. but if you have the british foreign secretary into just a few weeks ago going out of his way to make fun of a very vulnerable group, people already tend to get spat at and abused in the streets, then that is really offensive and dangerous and of course he is playing donald trump politics. not even a dog whistle, it is a foghorn. anyone who does not like muslims, vote for me. that is pretty disgusting but that
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isa trap that is pretty disgusting but that is a trap for liberals. i'm not a humanist. i am the vice president of the british humanist association. i very strongly dislike the sectarian religions that cut themselves off from everybody else. the very act of wearing a niqab all making your wife wearing a niqab all making your wife wear one. wearing a niqab all making your wife wearone. i wearing a niqab all making your wife wear one. i think you are saying that you are totally separate. i feel the same about those jewish orthodox people who were extraordinary clothes. they cut themselves off from a way that makes it impossible for their children to integrate or anyone to integrate saying that our religion sets us apart from anyone else. i think liberals have an extinct if dislike of all of that. we tread a careful line. if we just say you can never be rude about religions, of course you can. of course you can criticise religions and of course you can criticise their illogicality and irrationality but you have to be very careful when attacking people
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who are already very vulnerable in a society or a minority. a lot of these women say we are strong and empowered and we are choosing this asa empowered and we are choosing this as a defiant gesture but a lot of them, we know, probably don't speak english, are very vulnerable have no way of defending themselves at all and you're picking on the very weakest. so this is a trap for liberals and we have to be careful not fall onto either side. but neither would you think of legislating against. of course not. there has to be a dialogue. when we live in diverse societies we live in different groups we have very different groups we have very different conceptions of what good life is. the big weight to be able to manage and live in peace —— the best way to be able to manage and live in peace is to have dialogue and understand each other. what i'm wearing causes this sentiment, maybe let me explain to you while wearing
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this, maybe i need to rethink my own practices because i want to be understood in this particular way. but this is not happening, this kind of respectful discussion that is about understanding. this is not happening. i think you can make jokes as well but not politicians doing it for political malice. comedians who are careful can do jokes about religions because they are very funny. of course we should be able to laugh at them but that is different to making vulnerable people even more likely to be targeted. he visited the middle east and several muslim countries and he knows this subject... what amazes me is why he doesn't apologise. why doesn't he have that courage and say, yes, i made a mistake. because he didn't do it by mistake. he did it on purpose and i bet he will not apologise. but i will apologise
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because i talked about the niqab when i meant the hijab. now, how could they? the cry that goes up from admirers of cinema as an art form when they recall how the academy of motion picture arts and sciences — the people who award the oscars — didn't choose citizen kane as the outstanding motion picture 01:1941. the award went instead to how green was my valley. look it up! nowadays, though, the problem seems to be the reverse — awards like best picture or best actor going to films many of us haven't seen. the solution, announced this week — a new oscar, for outstanding achievement in popular film. henry, you are the international editor of variety magazine, your publication is all there is to know about the oscars. the truth is this is not about the movies, it is about television audiences. we have discovered that the american network abc which as the oscars have been really concerned about the diving ratings of those who watch it and so they have leaned on the academy to try and come up with a way to solve that. the academy's idea is that if we somehow having a category where
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the stars of the avengers or guardians of the galaxy will be nominated and strut on the red carpet then we will be able to drive apart ratings. another thing is what you said, there has been a disconnect in recent years between what movies are popular at the box office and which are the ones that they nominate. however, there should be no reason to have a separate category that has thrown everybody into confusion, which is the popular film. is it the one that has made the most money or the one that cost the most money or the one that cost the most money or the one that cost the most to make what is the criteria? the academy has to come up with that. they have really gone through this once when they expanded the best picture which has allowed ten nominations because a film didn't get in. it was the batman film, dark knight. they've expanded once already. it is very strange when you think that hollywood is essentially an industry that makes popularfilms. it is not art
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essentially an industry that makes popular films. it is not art house films. these are not niche films, they are popular films from mass audiences. the idea that the films that when the oscars are not popular films is ludicrous. i remember we discussed this issue about two years ago when there was a huge uproar saying that it is racist that blacks have been completely secluded. now, the oscars are going down by 40%. why shouldn't popular films be at the top of the oscars? the people should decide. in football, for example, there are supporter was, there are players awards, there are critics and expert awards. so why do the people have to go to films chosen by the oscars? very depressing and difficult to understand. i think there were very good films that deserved the oscar
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but there are some people that say this is a reaction of the academy over the success of black panther which of course had a black american cast. there is fear that perhaps that won't get nominated even though it has done over $1 billion at the box office. there needs to be another category where we can make sure that black panther will be recognised. that is condescending to black panther. it almost puts a kids table oscar. one last thing i would like to say is you look at some of the top ten grossing films over the decade and you adjust for inflation, nine of those top ten films including gone with the wind, et and jaws were all nominated for oscars. this is something a bit more recent where it seems the oscars are dominated by small outhouse films. let's remember last year dunkirk was
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on there and so was get out. what's in your opinion should have got on there? a lot of people thought last year won the woman should have got on there. terrible reviews. not in the us! there has also been the move in the hollywood industry in the past in the hollywood industry in the pa st two in the hollywood industry in the past two decades making films catering for teenagers or segments of the populations which are very cookie cutter approaches to the film industry. perhaps those films...” like barry's suggestion that we should all get to vote. why can't we votes? there are already awards like that, the people's choice awards and that, the people's choice awards and that kind of thing. that exists. but john films whether they are for young people science—fiction, there has been an outcry of some of these films being excluded. and shape of
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water from last year. another point about social media and youtube. they are doing extremely well to marginalise those people from hollywood. saying that there are different ways of entertainment. either you listen to us and the new trends or you will be actually going to the drain. that is a message that social media and youtube and other forms of communication are trying to tell those people. nevertheless, eve ryo ne tell those people. nevertheless, everyone has been predicting for yea rs everyone has been predicting for years the decline of hollywood that the great things are over but that is one thing that really still continues to dominate. do you enjoy a good old blockbusterfilm? continues to dominate. do you enjoy a good old blockbuster film? of course. absolutely. it goes all over the world and it is america's greatest ambassador. forget politics and wars, hollywood is it. polly, you are in the media, who will sit
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in front of a chair —— on a chair in front of the television watching three hours of the oscars. in terms of the power of hollywood's, the moving of the dates to the beginning of february has called ripples all over the world. the berlin film festival which is in the middle of february is worried about how that will affect them. the baftas which are always one or two weeks are saying they are going to move there is now. so does have a ripple effects. thank you very much, that was terrific. that's it for dateline london for this week — we're back next week at the same time. goodbye. it has been a sunny but chilly start
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of the day. they will be some rain across western areas later on. but nothing on the scale of the rain that we had yesterday which across eastern england brought 49 millimetres in east sussex. that is over three quarters of a months worth of rain. in contrast of that we have had skies like these for many of us this morning. plenty of sunshine. as we go on through the rest of the day, we will see crowd coming in from the south west. we've already seen the cloud arrived from parts of wales and south—west england. that cloud will continue to thicken up. outbreaks of rain here turning heavier and thicker as we head into the morning —— as we head into the afternoon. by the time ago to four this afternoon. the rain will get heavy in places. some of
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that bad weather will arrive over england's, it and eventually over merseyside. scotland with a largely dry day. and the eastern area of england and scotland is where the best afternoon sunshine will be with highs of 23 degrees in harlem —— hull. and a good part of scotland will keep some slightly clearer weather. it will turn chilly in rural areas. otherwise it is a mild night with temperatures at 13 degrees. summer fog patches night with temperatures at 13 degrees. summerfog patches over the hills as well. as far as the weekend goes, sunday is the worst of the two days if you liked a put it that way. another will weather front will have pulses of energy running along it and that will bring bursts of heavy rain. the wettest weather across south—west england and wales. the front itself will be very slow to push its way eastwards. perhaps even slower than we are showing here on
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the charts. it will be followed by another band of rain that will work into wales and south west england. in eastern areas it will be cool with onshore winds. looking at the weather picture into next week it is u nsettled weather picture into next week it is unsettled in the north—west. no return of the heat wave although temperatures will lift across parts of the south early in the week. that is your latest weather. this is bbc news i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 12.00: security alert at seattle airport after an airline employee steals an empty plane and crashes on a nearby island. chemical giant monsanto is ordered to pay nearly $300 million in damages to an american man who said its weedkiller made him terminally ill with cancer. i am glad to be here to help with this situation after i learned about roundup and glyphusate and everything. i am glad to be here to be able to help, but the cause is way bigger than me. a man appears in court
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in charged with starting the california wild —fires. a warning the army could be deployed in new south wales to help australia's farmers deal with the worst drought in living memory. and mission to the sun on hold.
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