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tv   BBC News  BBC News  August 24, 2018 2:00am-2:31am BST

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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: a year after thousands of rohingya refugees were forced from their homes in myanmar. we have a special report on the risks for the children now growing up in overcrowded camps in bangladesh. a typically brash claim from the us president, but why is he suddenly using that word impeachment? i don't know how you can impeach and somebody who's done a greatjob. alderley what, if i ever got impeached, i think the market would crash. -- i tell you what. australia's prime minister malcolm turnbull may have just hours left in hisjob. he's expected to hear shortly that he doesn't have the support he needs to go on. the authorities in hawaii warn of a testing few days despite the downgrading of hurricane lane. this is not just this is notjust going to be over in the next 2a hours, this system is going to be with us for the next
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four or five days. hello to you. it's a full year this week since the violent military operation in myanmar that sent half a million young rohingya refugees fleeing across the border to bangladesh, running from their homes to escape a brutal campaign by myanmar‘s army. and still they are suffering, in cramped and rudimentary camps. united nations officials talk of the risk of a lost generation. many of those most at risk are girls, some have already become victims of sexual exploitation. our correspondent nick beake reports from cox's bazar in bangladesh. she never thought life would look like this. a year ago, sanjida was enjoying school in myanmar. today, she lives in a tiny shack in bangladesh, in the world's biggest refugee camp. this 15—year—old orphan is now married and pregnant.
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her husband is 66. he's rarely home. with no family and no money, sanjida says no younger man would marry her. translation: when i was young, i never thought i'd marry an old man. now, i've had to marry one. i'm worried that now i'm carrying a baby, and i'm worried that this old man will die and how then will i raise my child? this was claimed to be the moment last august the burmese army and buddhist mobs unleashed fire on the rohingya muslims — a co—ordinated campaign of torture, rape and murder, say human rights groups, that forced hundreds of thousands to flee. genocide is what many believe these young survivors witnessed. a year on, their makeshift shelters that were thrown together now have a depressing permanence.
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they may be fed by aid agencies, but they're not safe. there are nearly a million rohingya refugees still trapped in the camps here in bangladesh. half of them are children and there's little sign of them being able to return home to myanmar any time soon, and so this sprawling city of despair is where a whole generation is being forced to grow up. all around there is danger — the weather, disease, and exploitation. "day and night my tears flow," this lady tells us. she says she could only watch as the burmese army murdered her husband. her 13—year—old daughter then disappeared from the camp, thought to be abducted by traffickers. translation: what happened to my daughter? nobody knows. only allah can say. i don't think i'll ever see her again. it's been one year.
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my daughter would have come back to me. the crimes inflicted on the rohingya last year are still destroying countless young lives. we meet a 15—year—old who goes by the name rosina. she was forced into sex work after arriving in bangladesh and says it's now the only way to survive. translation: i want nothing else but to go back to myanmar. i want to get my country back. i've left lots of relatives there. i hate it here. i loved life in myanmar. i want to go back and get married there and have a nice family. if i keep doing this, my life will be destroyed. aung san suu kyi's myanmar claims it wants to bring these children back. plenty doubt that. so the fear is they'll be forgotten and the dangers they face ignored, that the world simply accepts this precarious circle of life. nick beake, bbc news, on the myanmar—bangladesh border. the us attorney generaljeff
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sessions has hit back at his boss, donald trump, in response to the president's latest sharp criticism of him. he's long been under fire from the white house for excluding himself from any oversight of the russia investigation, which mr trump would like to see ended. the president has now suggested jeff sessions never took control of the department ofjustice. all this in the wake of tuesday's guilty plea from the president's former lawyer, michael cohen, who gave evidence on oath that he broke election campaign finance laws, on mr trump's orders. that's led to more talk about the possibility of impeachment, something president trump himself raised, and then rejected, in a tv interview on wednesday. i don't know how you can impeached somebody who's done a greatjob. —— impeach. i tell you what, if i ever got impeached, i think the market would crash,
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i think everybody would be very poor because, without this thinking, you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe in reverse. let's get more from our correspondent david willis, who's in washington for us. david, the very fact of the president is uttering the word impeachment is significant, isn't it? he's clearly thinking about it, it's clearly being discussed in the white house behind you. it's extraordinary that the president addresses the i word in an interview at the white house. yes, you're absolutely right, that has startled absolutely right, that has startled a lot of people here but i have to say, he's probably doing so fairly happy in the notion that it's not a reality imminently at least, because to impeach a president would require a democratic majority in both houses of congress. that's not the case at the moment. and there's a feeling i think amongst democrats as well as republicans that selling the message
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in the forthcoming mid—term elections of possible impeachment of the president isn't the sort of message that's going to go down very well with those in middle america. people who are more concerned about the healthcare costs that they're phasing, student loans and that sort of thing. there's a feeling that mentioning impeachment out there is likely to be a counter—productive... could backfire on the democrats for the simple reason as well that it could harness the republican base and get more republican voters out to the polls in the midterms. so the president mentioning it could be a way of just president mentioning it could be a way ofjust pulling his core voters tighter in behind him. what do you make of the latest spat with the man he appointed, jeff sessions? it's extraordinary, isn't it? these are two men who were soulmates on the campaign trail, then fell out overjeff sessions' decision to recuse himself from the robert mueller, special counsel, enquiry. since then donald trump has more or
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less ta ke n since then donald trump has more or less ta ken every since then donald trump has more or less taken every opportunity he's had to denounce jeff less taken every opportunity he's had to denouncejeff sessions, calling him an idiot, beleaguered, wea k calling him an idiot, beleaguered, weak and various things like that. but in this latest interview with fox news, mrtrump but in this latest interview with fox news, mr trump goes further than that. he basically says he appointed jeff sessions out of sympathy because he was loyal to him, and he says he wouldn't have appointed him if he knew he was going to recuse himself from the mueller investigation and he added that mr sessions, as he put it, had never taken control of the justice department. that was an insult to farfor department. that was an insult to far for the normally mild—mannered jeff sessions, who hit back saying i took control of the department of justice the day i was sworn in, and while i'm attorney general the actions of the department ofjustice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. it's clearly an untenable relationship between these two men, the president and his senior law officer. and just a question of really how it all pans out now and how long jeff sessions can last. jeff sessions dahl miguel diaz—canel
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mike —— and david, thank you very much. let's get some of the day's other news. the charity worker nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe has been released temporarily from prison in tehran. she's being allowed to spend three days with relatives near the city. she is british—iranian and her case has attracted international attention. she was given five years in jail for plotting against iran's clerical establishment, a charge she denies. italy's deputy prime minister has threatened to stop italian contributions to the european union next year unless other member states take in around 150 migrants currently held on a ship in sicily. luigi di maio says he expects a european commission meeting on friday to come up with a solution. police in argentina have begun searching the home in buenos aires of cristina fernandez de kirchner as part of a major corruption investigation. a request from a high profile anti—corruption judge was approved by the senate. the former president denies any wrongdoing. australian politics is, to put it mildly, having a difficult week. parliament has been suspended, several cabinet ministers have
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resigned, and the prime minister, malcolm turnbull, may be in the final few hours of his job. he'll hold a meeting shortly to find out if he has enough support to continue. if he doesn't, he says he'll quit politics all together. he's already survived one leadership vote this week. here's how some of the public in canberra feel about the turmoil. no one knows what's going on. if theyjust did theirjob. they're paid to do so they should get in there and just govern the country, not stuff around and sought their own stuff out. the reason why a lot of us voted for the liberal party this time is because of malcolm, because of his moderate views, you know, he actually has great ideas about the climate change and different things we want in this country. well, it's just another debacle, really, isn't it? i do not think the liberal party will be in government for much longer. i think there is a very good chance that they will lose the next election, irrespective of who the leader is. i'm a bit worried we might go down the path of the states, closing the border down
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and that type of thing. i think we've come a long way and i think we're actually going to take a few steps backwards. voices from the streets of canberra there. our correspondent hywel griffith is in the capital, canberra. there are several memes circulating saying classically robust australian terms that australian politicians should get on with the job and. what is happening and what is likely to happen —— the job. is happening and what is likely to happen -- the job. one thing is certain, no one really absolutely knows what's going to unfold in the next few hours. we still expect, it's around 11:10am here, at high noon, dramatically, some people expect a second leadership contest without malcolm turnbull in it. that said, that only gives them about 49 minutes to call that meeting if they're to be on schedule. i guess they could delay a little. some sources suggest there are enough mps in the liberal party who won the second leadership
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contest. malcolm turnbull already indicating he won't take part if so. therefore we will, by the of today, maybe have a new prime minister. many people saying one way or another malcolm turnbull is toast. but there are so many subplots in this, it's become very complicated, one of them with questions over peter dutton, his main rival‘s eligibility to be in this place, whether he was in breach of the constitution. on that question, he's been more less clear by the legal advice published this morning, saying he's probably ok to be in parliament, his business interests aren't in conflict with his political ones. malcolm turnbull has been manoeuvring to get his anointed successor in place, what's happening with that? yeah, so give malcolm turnbull, as expected, stands aside, it's a three horse race. peter dutton, who i mentioned there, his main rival is scott morrison, the treasurer. he's also from the right wing of the party, not a moderate like malcolm turnbull, but maybe something more
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than acceptable face and maybe something more of a successor that malcolm turnbull would want rather than the man who is basically ousted him from government. there's a third name in all of this, julie bishop, she's been the deputy liberal leader for a long time. she's going to the polls probably the most popular of the three with the australian public but tragically no one in there is really thinking about the australian public at the moment, it's more a fight for the soul of the liberal party. who governs that party inside government or, after an election, outside government? will they want the right wing of the party to be in control or a more moderate vision? it could be these six prime minister in the best part of a decade for australia. hywel, thank you —— six. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: guilty, the gang who posed as rich businessmen hired a privatejet and a rolls royce to smuggle more than $50 million of cocaine into britain. —— rolls royce. he's the first african american
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to win the presidential nomination of a major party and he accepts exactly 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared i have a dream. as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky. an orange glowing disk that is brighter than anything save the moon — our neighbouring planet, mars. there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it will take months and billions of dollars to repair what katrina achieved in just hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clock maker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again.
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very glad to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines this hour: the un warns that more than half a million rohingya refugee children risk becoming a lost generation — facing disease, abuse and a lack of education. president trump comes out fighting following the conviction of his former lawyer michael cohen warning his rivals not to try and impeach him. any time now, hurricane lane is expected to hit the main island of oahu, in hawaii. emergency shelters have opened, in response to nationwide mobile phone alerts. schools, government offices and business are closed and people have been boarding up their homes and stocking up on supplies. joining me now from hawaii is bbc journalist lesley day, who is currently on holiday there. how is it looking? the storm has
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been downgraded, hasn't it? how is it looking? the storm has been downgraded, hasn't mm how is it looking? the storm has been downgraded, hasn't it? it has slightly, yes, joining me on waikiki beach at an amazing resort. if i stepped slightly at short you will probably see for many people it remains still an amazing resort, no concerns about hurricane lane on the way, they are taking a dip. we have had surfers here since 5am this morning trying to make the most of the great waves behind me. but those great waves are going to change in the next few hours. hurricane lane, category 4 hurricane, so not the most serious. category five would be the most serious, but very close to that. it has wind speeds. it has just hit the big island to the south of me about 100 miles south, it has wind speeds of about 150 miles an hour. with that are going to come potential threat to life. there is going to be the danger of buildings being damaged at speeds of wins such as those, and also debris. staff at this resort have been clearing absolutely everything they can from
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their speech. you won't be able to see it, but at my feet is a three to four inch sandbag they have been building all morning to try and hopefully keep the waves from coming. because of course with high winds on an island you are looking ata winds on an island you are looking at a storm surge, you're looking at bigger ways than those you can see beside me, potentially up to 20 feet, which of course could bring flooding to these beach areas. there is also the threat of very heavy rain. big island hasjust registered i9 rain. big island hasjust registered 19 inches of rain in the last few hours, that's more than half a metre. now, a dump such as that is probably going to mean the risk of flash flooding and the difficulty thenis flash flooding and the difficulty then is landslides in mountainous areas to the north and mudslides causing chaos to the transport s. everyone is on absolutely full alert. residents have been stocking up alert. residents have been stocking up on supplies. tourists here, it is
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hit and miss whether people really understand the significance. some people have been going to the shop and buying a bit of milk or a bit of water. some people have been buying beer and crisps. some people are going to stay up all night and try to facebook cappy —— live it. authorities are taking this very seriously. we have firefighters coming in from california. the us navy yesterday took the ships further out to sea so that in the event of the aftermath, if their fleet is needed, it is at least safe to come into the harbour here. leslie, thank you very much indeed for giving us that picture. take care. all the best to everyone there. the british government has released a raft of information on what it thinks will happen if the uk leaves the european union next year without a deal. the documents set out how people might prepare for no deal, in sectors including farming, finance and medicines. here's brexit secretary dominic raab. naturally, we've got to consider the
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alternative possibility that the eu doesn't match pragmatism and that we don't reach a deal. let me be clear about this, it is not what we not and it is not what we expect, but we must be ready. we have a duty as a responsible government to plan for every eventuality. there are still potential pitfalls ahead and rebel conservatives might join forces with the opposition labour party to vote down the government's current brexit proposals. that raises the possibility of a second referendum. on that here's labour's shadow brexit secretary keir starmer. we are not calling for it, but in the event that article 50 is voted down, we think will options should be on the table, all options should be on the table, all options should be on the table, all options should be on the table, i have said that consistently, john macdonald said that, that is the labour party position. our correspondent gavin lee gave the reaction from brussels. here in brussels the eu institutions have had a few hours to reflect on this, the no deal guide for
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preparative from the british government to all of those organisations and businesses worried about the effects of a no—deal brexit. now i think the mantra it is fairto brexit. now i think the mantra it is fair to say is pretty much the same right now, which is this — that they are planning, preparing for a no deal, but they are hoping for the best possible outcome, which is that on the divorce agreement, what they call the withdrawal agreement, they agree to it by october, maybe november, so britain has a transition period of 19 months from march 2019 until the end of 2020 to make it easier for when march 2019 until the end of 2020 to make it easierfor when britain eventually leaves the eu. the other thing to bear in mind here as well is there is a lot of information in this. you've got documents relating to the priority issues, medicine for example, and health, you've got the british brexit secretary dominic raab today making it clear that as he sees it he doesn't believe there should be any reason why testing with medicines should be done once
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in the eu and once in the uk. the eu says, no, if it becomes a further country there will be no testing and trusting of the british system, so that may be problematic. gavin lee coming to a stop in brussels. as venezuelans flee to neighbouring countries from an unfolding economic crisis back home, the united nations has called on countries in the region to keep their borders open. at least a million people are thought to have crossed the border into colombia in the past 16 months alone — 800,000 have been granted temporary residence. venezuela's government introduced a new currencyjust days ago, but it's failed to curb massive inflation, and triggered a new surge in venezuelans leaving. venezuela's government introduced a new currencyjust days ago, but it's failed to curb massive inflation, and triggered a new surge in venezuelans leaving. colombia's new president ivan duque has been speaking exclusively to stephen sackur on the bbc‘s hardtalk. what is happening in venezuela is the consequence of a dictatorship that has derailed independent powers, that has derailed free
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press, that has abused its population and has destroyed the economy. so there are thousands of people trying to find hope somewhere else, and the first choice is columbia. we have now more than 800,000 venezuelan columbia. we have now more than 800 , 000 venezuelan citizens columbia. we have now more than 800,000 venezuelan citizens in colombia. and we have to give them support. but now we need a strong reaction from all latin american countries among the oas, so we can have a temporary protection status, so that we can all support that population. i come back to the question, right now, with those 800,000, some people are saying 1 million already, and it could go much higher, right now, would you accept that colombia is struggling to cope? i think colombia has a major, major... situation with what's happening. but i think we
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have to be very articulate in terms of policy and in terms of solidarity. president ivan duque on hardtalk with stephen sackur. four men have been convicted of smuggling cocaine into britain worth more than £40 million, $51 million. 15 suitcases of the drug were found on a private jet returning from columbia injanuary. it was one of the biggest drug seizures everfor the uk's border force. tom symonds reports. it was like a scene from a crime drama, a sleek private jet hired for £138,000, paid in cash, arriving at farnborough airport. 15 heavy suitcases unloaded, the gang whisked off in their hired cars, but they didn't get far. customs officers pulled them overfor a search, one of the gang clock showing. inside the case... a serious amount of cocaine. we've been asked not to show the face of the customs officer but he has a big smile. presumably they don't get many days like that? well, this is one of the largest seizures
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in our region's history, but it is a day that we want to celebrate and show that this sort of activity, people that are seeking to smuggle illicit goods into the country, our officers are there to identify them and take action. 15 suitcases, half a ton of cocaine, worth £41 million on the street. this was the smugglers' second flight to bogota. they had a corrupt official working in a ground handling company there. the national crime agency worked back through cctv, tracking their movements. here they're setting the combination locks on their suitcases. these earlier baggage scans are thought to show the millions both times, they arrived back at farnborough, possibly chosen because it's small. two years ago, the border force customs operation at this airport was criticised by the independent inspector. he said that staff were carrying out too few baggage checks, they were concentrating instead on immigration.
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the national crime agency says that small airports like this are vulnerable to smuggling. you're never really going to win with that utopia scenario, having all those airports or strips for landing aircraft manned by resource. that's not going to happen. so, it's around being cleverer around systems, around bringing people and experts together that can look at information and work out who they're going to stop. the border force now says it's doing more checks at farnborough. the four men posed as rich businessmen, heading to bogota for a concert by the singer bruno mars. they've been jailed for between 20—211 years. tom symonds, bbc news. something to declare indeed. you can get more on that and all of the news any time on the bbc news website. thank you for watching. well, some noticeable changes
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to the weather to end the week. it's going to feel a lot cooler and fresher right across the board with sunshine and showers. in fact, it's going to feel pretty autumnal for some areas, particularly across the north and west. plenty of heavy showers around. this pretty cold air mass moving down from the north—west will be right across the country as we start friday morning. it really will be quite noticeable. feeding in plenty of showers into the north and the west of the country, but further south and east, with lengthy clear skies, it should stay generally dry here to start friday. much coolerfor all, including the south—east. temperatures here starting off between nine and 12 degrees. so for friday itself, not looking too bad. we're start off with sunshine in southern and eastern areas, albeit rather chilly. lots of showers from the word go in the north and west, and these will become more widespread into the afternoon, especially in central and southern parts of the country, some will be heavy with hail and thunder mixed in as well. the wind arrows show a blustery day, any showers will be quite blustery when they arrive and because of the strength of the wind coming down
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from the north—west, it's going to feel pretty chilly, with temperatures ranging from 1a to 18 or 19 in the south—east. one or two spots could just make 20 degrees. for friday evening, those showers begin to ease down. a few still going across northern and western areas, but lengthy clear skies across northern, central and eastern areas mean it's going to be a really chilly one for all, especially scotland and north—east england and in sheltered spots, we could see temperatures down to near freezing. now, as we head on into saturday, it looks like this ridge of high pressure will nudge in from the west and what that will do is it will push the area of low pressure away and ease the shower development down. looking like saturday should be a drier day for most of us. there will be more in the way of sunshine and showers. still a few going in northern
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and western areas and a few good travel through the cheshire gap into the midlands, but temperature—wise, similar to friday's, 1a to maybe 20 degrees, but with more sunshine around, it could feel a little bit more pleasant. on sunday, big changes again, the next area of low pressure moves in from the atlantic, it looks like it's going to arrive quite early. a really chilly and maybe a bright start in eastern areas before this area of low pressure brings wet and windy weather to most areas, spreading eastwards as the day wears on. some of this rain could be heavy, particularly across western hills. the skies will brighten in northern ireland later in the day and because of the cloud, wind and rain it could feel pretty chilly with temperatures in the mid—to—high teens cesius at best. for most of us, it's going to be a bank holiday on monday, and it's looking a little better with more in the way of sunshine and feeling a bit warmer in the south. this is bbc news. the headlines:
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the australian prime minister malcolm turnbull is clinging onto hisjob. he's expected to face his second leadership challenge in four days later and has already said that if a vote is called, he will step down. using the word in public for the first time, president trump has claimed that any attempt by his opponents to impeach him would colla pse opponents to impeach him would collapse the market and damage the country. he has been responding to the conviction of his former personal lawyer who gave evidence that he broke a campaign finance laws and that election on the orders of mrtrump. hurricane lane has been downgraded as it reaches land in hawaii. the authorities there though have warned residents and visitors that heavy rain is likely to cause disruption for several days now on bbc news it's hardtalk. stephen sackur is in bogota for an exclusive interview
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with colombia's new president, ivan duque.

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