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tv   Newsday  BBC News  August 15, 2018 12:00am-12:30am BST

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this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: devastating scenes as a motorway bridge collapses in genoa, italy. at least 26 people have been killed. the rescue is behind me there are still trying to lift up several large slabs of concrete under which they believe several more vehicles may be trapped —— rescuers. a man is arrested outside the uk parliament after a car swerves into pedestrians and crashes into barriers. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: the catholic church in pennsylvania is accused of covering up the sexual abuse of children by hundreds of priests over 70 years. and a fishy tale from china — the humble trout has now been elevated into the salmon family. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. glad you could join us.
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it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london, and 1am in genoa, where italian rescue teams are continuing to search for survivors following the collapse of a road bridge. at least 26 people are known to have died when the bridge came down, with cars and trucks falling almost 100 metres. the country's transport minister called it an ‘immense tragedy‘. james reynolds has the latest. "oh god, oh god," a man shouts. he captures the moment a motorway disintegrates in bad weather. a vast section of the road falls to the ground. a rescue helicopter reveals
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the scale of the disaster. the four—lane highway collapsed a0 metres onto the valley floor. the span of this viaduct collapse is enormous. it includes a riverbed, railway tracks and then buildings. standing here, the gap must be well over 200 metres. and anybody driving in this section at around noon would simply have crashed all the way to the ground. genoa's emergency workers began an immediate search for survivors. they found several injured trapped in the rubble below. translation: we are continuing with the rescue operations because we think there are other people alive under the rubble. we have extracted people from the rubble and now we are focusing on assisting the people. and later on we will understand
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what caused the collapse of the bridge. prime minister, why did the bridge collapse? i put this question to italy's prime minister conte. at the moment it is not possible. we don't know the cause. you don't know the cause? the italian government has promised to go after anyone responsible for the collapse. translation: as an italian citizen, i will do everything to get the names and surnames of the past and present managers, because it is unacceptable to die like that in italy. this viaduct was built more than half a century ago, designed as a speedy coastal route towards the italian and french riviera. it was refurbished two years ago. this morning, the authorities report that a maintenance team was working at the base of the viaduct. that team's activities will now be examined. this evening, as some of the dead were removed from the scene,
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questions remain about how a bridge in one of the most prosperous regions of italy came down. a piece of the city skyline, and more than two dozen of its people, have gone. and james has an update on those reports of people crying out for help from underneath the rubble. those reports have been widely spread in the italian media. we've seen the police bring in sniffer dogs to help with the search. the police have told us that the rescuers behind me there are still trying to lift up several large slabs of concrete under which they think several more vehicles may be trapped. they have also begun the process of identifying victims. they already have 19 people they know the identities of. there will be more as well. dozens of workers continue here. they will keep going until they are sure that no one else
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can be rescued. and then, of course, comes the reckoning. people in this neighbourhood, people in genoa, said they always worried about the safety of the bridge that used to span these roads. they worried about whether it would be able to withstand an earthquake. in the end, it didn't come down in a quake. the government will have to explain to the people and the residents why the structure which used to stand here came down in a summer storm. our other top story this hour: after five days of fighting, a major taliban assault on the eastern afghan city of ghazni finally appears to be over. an interior ministry spokesman said taliban fighters had been pushed back from the city and life was returning to normal. hundreds of militants, afghan soldiers and civilians have been killed. here's our correspondent shoaib sharifi in kabul. security forces say they have cleared the in—out ghazni city from
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the taliban. and this somehow broken the taliban. and this somehow broken the blockade in the city, has created an escape route from one direction forfamilies created an escape route from one direction for families stranded to leave the city and also for the aid convoys to reach 270,000 people that have had no water or electricity and emergency medical supplies in the past five days. also this hour — donald trump's election campaign has begun legal action against the former white house aide and reality tv star 0marosa manigault—newman for allegedly breaching her contract. ms newman has published a book that is highly critical of the president. on tuesday mr trump hit back calling her a ‘dog'. the united states is warning more economic pressures may be in store for turkey if it refuses to release a jailed american pastor. washington doubled some trade tariffs last week, leading to a huge drop in the lira. earlier, president erdogan said his country will boycott us electronic products. at least 2a people have been killed in a bus accident in the ecuadorean capital, quito.
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the accident comes just two days after 12 football fans were killed in a bus crash as they returned from an away game. the tongan prime minister has challenged other pacific island leaders to participate in a year—long weight loss challenge to set an example to their national communities. akilisi pohiva told a local newspaper he would propose the competition when the leaders meet next month. ten of the islands top the table in global obesity rankings. more now on our top story. a huge rescue operation is taking place in the italian city of genoa after a section of a motorway viaduct collapsed, killing at least 26 people. earlier i spoke to maria chiara grandis, a journalist with italian tv station rai. she has been near the site of the disaster all day. the rescuers are still working here.
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the rescuers are still working here. the bridge that collapsed at almost 12 o'clock this morning. there are people around to see what is going on, even if the area has been closed for many reasons, but to permit rescu e rs for many reasons, but to permit rescuers to operate and for the safety of people. in fact, a lot of them are out of their houses. we are talking about more than 400 people who are in schools to be safe and away from here. there is an investigation to understand what happened. a lot of people told us
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about it. they saw the bridge had problems. they showed us some photos. we hear from problems. they showed us some photos. we hearfrom this morning. we have seen people rescued from under the bridge. the rescuers are still working. we are talking about more than 30. a lot of people are in hospital. maria, is there a further danger of more parts of the bridge collapsing? not in reality. but they wa nt to collapsing? not in reality. but they want to prevent any kind of risk, like explosion of gas in houses. at the moment, only that part of the bridge collapsed this morning. anti—terrorism police continue to question a man suspected of deliberately crashing a car
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into security barriers outside the houses of parliament in london. three people were injured when the vehicle swerved into cyclists and pedestrians during the morning rush hour. sources have told bbc news that the suspect was known to police — but not the security services. 0ur uk editor mark easton, arrived within minutes of the incident, and sent us this report. filmed on a cyclist‘s helmet cam, was this silver car weapon being readied for the second terror attack on our parliament in under 18 months? a bbc rooftop camera records what happened atjust after 7:35am. the ford fiesta pulled sharply of parliament square on the wrong side of the road, through a group of cyclists waiting at the lights, accelerates down millbank towards two police officers protecting the palace of westminster. they leap out of the way before the car smashes into a security bollard. barry williams, a bbc picture editor, was walking to work when he saw the car suddenly career out of the morning traffic.
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he hit the cyclist and then swerved over towards where the safety barrier is. he accelerated and hit it at quite a high—speed. what was your impression? was it deliberate? i was not sure whether he meant to hit the cyclist, then he accelerated hard towards the barrier. the car hit the security bollards, it briefly lifted off the ground. i have seen him crash into the bollard at high speed. he is driving at least 50 miles an hour. he was not panicked or anything. armed response teams arrived and were there within minutes. i saw half a dozen police range rovers and motorcycles driving at speed up this road away from the incident. it appears that was part
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of a planned response to exactly this kind of emergency. this was the scene just a few minutes after the car crashed. the cyclists waiting at the lights, scattered at the side of the road. there was an ambulance in attendance almost immediately. three were hurt, two men and a woman, but no injuries are life—threatening. the driver of the fiesta, who was alone in the vehicle, was arrested at the scene by armed officers who were already nearby. scotland yard assistant commissioner neil basu says the driver is refusing to co—operate with police. counterterrorism officers have raided a house in nottingham and two addresses in birmingham are being searched. given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method, and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident and the investigation is being led by officers from the counterterrorism command.
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parliament is currently in recess, westminster occupied by more foreign tourists than domestic politicians. the prime minister on holiday in switzerland said her thoughts were with the injured, and thanked the emergency services for their courageous response. i'd also like to thank the people of london. this is not the first time we have seen an incident of this type on the streets of london. i would like to thank them for their resolve, resilience and determination to make sure that those who seek to exploit these incidents won't be allowed to divide us. less than one and a half half years since the westminster bridge attack, once again the area around parliament was in lockdown today. the message to the public — stay calm, but remain vigilant. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: russia shows the international media how it's restored peace
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and calm in syria. also on the programme: when is a trout not a trout? in china it's been reclassified as a salmon. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse
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of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later, when the sun set over the bay of bengal. you're watching newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: a major rescue operation under way in the italian city of genoa, where people are still trapped under the rubble of a collapsed motorway bridge. at least 26 are known to have died. london anti—terrorism police are questioning a man suspected of having deliberately crashed into security barriers outside parliament. let's take a look at some front
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pages from around the world. the japan times reports on google tracking users even when they have turned off their location history. the report says that up to two billion android and apple devices which use google for maps or searching could be affected. the straits times has a feature on the bridge collapse disaster in genoa, italy. the paper says that at least 35 people were killed when a section of the motorway bridge collapsed during a rainstorm. and finally to the new york times, which reports on the problems facing turkish president recep tayiip erdogan. the article says mr erdogan‘s popularity may be waning as turkey experiences its worst economic crisis since 2001. an official report by the us state
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of pennsylvania accuses the roman catholic church of covering up the sexual abuse of children by hundreds of priests over a period of 70 years. the report, the result of a two—year grand jury investigation, reveals that more than a thousand children were groomed, molested and raped by 301 priests and that their activities were systematically covered up by senior figures in the church. a short time ago i got the latest from our correspondent neda tawkiq who is covering this story for us from new york. ajury in this report a jury in this report details how the pennsylvania state attorney generaljosh shapiro put it, weaponised the catholic faith and usedit weaponised the catholic faith and used it as a tool of abuse of. they said the young men and women were at times given sedatives, alcohol, pornography to groom them for the
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abuse of. they were told the abuse was a wholly. they also really urged by priest is not to report this abuse at all. this was interesting because this case, we were able to speak to dozens of witnesses and review more than half a million internal church documents, including confessions by priest. they say that in one case, a family of five young women were sexually abused by a priest, onejust at 18 months old. really gruesome details in this report. has there been any reaction from the vatican to this? well, we have had reaction from several of the dioceses in pennsylvania that are implicated in this report. this report really detailed how church officials in pennsylvania and the vatican covered up for decades, this
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abuse and really a loud priests who had accusations against them to continue interacting with young children in the church. in the statement, several of the dioceses said they are pollard i is to the victims and they would take steps to prevent abuse in the future. but we really haven't seen much more in terms of accountability coming out and that is why the grand jury wants to change the statute of limitations in the state, which is preventing the state from bringing charges on many of these cases, which are too old. 0nly many of these cases, which are too old. only two of the priests located in this report have actually been charged. russia says its time for syrian refugees to return to their homes after seven years of war which means syria must be rebuilt. on a visit to turkey russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov said he was surprised at what he described as western opposition to refugees going back to syria. 0ur correspondent steve rosenberg has been embedded in southern syria with with the russian military, who back president assad. seven years of war
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began in this town. dera'a is the cradle of the syrian revolution. the first place to rise up against the rule of president assad. last month, government troops regained control of the whole area. it's a hugely symbolic victory for the syrian president. what began here as a pro—democracy protest became a civil war that has left more than half a million people dead and forced more than 12 million syrians from their homes. it is a war which president assad now seems certain to win. but he couldn't have done that without the russian military. and our guides for this trip are the russian military. theiraim in bringing
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foreignjournalists here, to convince us that moscow has brought stability to syria. we're taken into the hills. russian military police show me israeli observation posts in the distance. we're in the demilitarised zone between syria and the israeli occupied golan heights. un peacekeepers pulled out when syria's civil war spilt over here. but the rebels have gone. russia has set up patrols, it says to maintain order. the russian flag flying over our military police cars is a guarantee of peace and quiet on this land. we are taken to syria's border with lebanon, just in time to see bus—loads of syrian refugees returning home. proof, moscow says, that peace is coming to syria. "there's no war now," she says. "the situation is better." but there are many syrian refugees in lebanon who are not rushing back.
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some fear reprisals. 0thers simply have nowhere to go. mohammed left syria four years ago when his house was destroyed. "it's still not safe or secure there," mohammed says. "i have no house and i fearfor my children." the syrian government rejects the suggestion that citizens who return are putting themselves in danger. there will be no reprisals. there will be cooperation. a safe and dignified return of all syrians. as we continue our tour, we are taken to see happy, smiling syrians, grateful to russia. of course, and yet in syria russia does seem to understand that winning hearts and minds isjust
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as important as winning the war. steve rosenberg, bbc news, syria. there is plenty more on the website about syria and background into the refugee crisis and all of the problems that have been blighting the region. please visit the bbc website for more. if you think there's something fishy about the salmon you're eating, that could be because it's not salmon. new rules introduced in china mean rainbow trout can now be labelled and sold domestically as salmon. beijing correspondent stephen mcdonell explains why. this is a salmon. and this is a rainbow trout. except that in china now, this trout is now also a salmon. confused? now, this trout is now also a salmon. confused ? well, now, this trout is now also a
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salmon. confused? well, you are not the only one. it seems that trout has been passed off as salmon here for so many years that some officials decided what the hell, let's just legalise it. a officials decided what the hell, let'sjust legalise it. a fisheries organisation underneath the ministry for agriculture has decided that the reason that trout can be sold as salmon is because both species, under the same broad category. perhaps not surprisingly, chinese fish eaters have been ridiculing this change on social media. why do we just call crayfish lobsters, said one person. 0thers we just call crayfish lobsters, said one person. others were taking it more seriously, saying there is a much better chance of apparent —— having parasites in trout then there is in salmon, well real salmon at least. 0fficials is in salmon, well real salmon at least. officials say this is not the case. then there are those say they will never buy salmon here again. they say they are worried about
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being lied to. and after all, how would they know if they are buying salmon all salmony trout? 0fficials are trying to reassure people, saying this is not a compulsory read designation. —— read designation. that if you go to your favourite restau ra nt, that if you go to your favourite restaurant, that it doesn't have too likely about your favourite fish. if they want to, they can. —— like to you about their favourite fish. —— lie to you about their favourite fish. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. the turkish lira recovers on the markets, but tensions remain between the us and turkey. and before we go, a reminder of our top story. a motorway bridge collapsed, leaving 26 people dead in genoa, italy. cars and trucks plummeted some 45 metres onto rail tracks, buildings and a river below. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. see you soon. hello there. the weather pattern for
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the rest of this week and into the weekend looks at the similar day on day and that is with more cloud rain, strong wind across the north and the west of the uk and the further south and east you are, the better chance of staying dry and bright with sunshine and feeling warmer. that process will begin through wednesday with an area of low pressure to the north—west of the country, a couple of weather fronts moving into northern and western areas, further south and east it should stay largely dry. variable cloud but also the sunshine breaking through at times. creasy, not quite as windy it as it will be across the north. thicker cloud with outbreaks of rain, blustery across the north and the west of scotland, eastern scotland for a time across the south, scotland into northern ireland in between the two weather fronts we could see a little bit of practice. is first weather front will bring rain to north—west england, parts of wales and into the south—west of england. 24, 25 degrees across the south—east. as we
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had through wednesday night, that weather front will merge together and bring rain further south—east to parts of northern england, the midlands, wales and south—west england. ahead of it, another dry and muggy night, to the north—west of it, clear spells and blustery showers of. some heavy and feeling cooler and fresher. into thursday, that weather front continues to sink its way south eastwards, it also opens the floodgates into cooler, fresher air across the country during thursday and lasting into friday. it will be noticeable in the south—east. at weather front will ta ke south—east. at weather front will take its time to clear the south—east. a grey, wet, blustery day across the south. further north and west it will be quite windy with sunshine and showers, some of them merging through longer spells of rain across the west of scotland and they range from 10— 20 degrees, feeling much pressure right across the board. 0n feeling much pressure right across the board. on friday we do it all again. another area of low pressure
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across the atlantic to effect the northern half of the country, keeping things more settled across the south and south—east. is go into the south and south—east. is go into the 80 windy day across northern ireland, scotland and perhaps north wales. more cloud, outbreaks of rain, persistent across the north—west of scotland. further east you are, quieter, some sunny spells and feeling just a touch warmer than it did on thursday. 22 or 23 degrees the big saturday looks fairly quiet but it is only more wind and rain, the best of the brightness and warmth in the south—east. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story: a road bridge has collapsed in the italian city of genoa. at least 26 people have died. italy's transport minister said it was "an immense tragedy". cars and lorries crashed 100 metres to the ground. a major rescue operation is under way. a man has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism after a car crashed outside the houses of parliament in london. the vehicle hit cyclists — then crashed into a barrier. and this story is trending on bbc.com.
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the international cricket star, ben stokes, has been cleared of charges of affray after a fight outside a nightclub. he's now back in the england squad for the next test match against india. that's all. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news — hardtalk.
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