tv World News Today BBC News September 22, 2018 9:00pm-9:31pm BST
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this is bbc world news today. i'm lewes vaughan—jones, our top stories. the woman who accuses supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault has agreed to testify against him. christine blasey ford will appear before the senatejudiciary committee next week to answer questions about the alleged attack. gunmen attack a military parade in iran, killing at least 29 people. president rouhani promises a "crushing response". a man is rescued from the ferry that capsized in tanzania two days ago, with the loss of over 200 lives. he reportedly survived in an air pocket. america's biggest cable network comcast submits the winning bid for british broadcaster sky, ending a dramatic two—year battle with 21st century fox. hello, and welcome to world news today.
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we start with breaking news, and reports in us media say the woman who accuses us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault will testify against him at a confirmation hearing next week. allegations from a university professor, christine blasey ford, emerged in the us media last week. she gave details of an incident which she says happened at a party in 1982. we can go live now to our correspondent chris buckler in washington. details of this onlyjust emerging —— emerging in the last couple of hours. what more details do have there? this potentially sets up two remarkable hearings for next week here in washington. one in which brett kava naugh will here in washington. one in which brett kavanaugh will deny these allegations he sexually assaulted
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christine blasey ford. 36 years ago when they were both teenagers at a party that was taking place at that time, he says he wants to give evidence to clear his name following these allegations surfacing in the media. and now according to christine blasey ford's lawyer, she is also prepared to go forward and to give what she describes in a letter which has been sent to the committee as first—hand details of brett kava naugh's sexual committee as first—hand details of brett kavanaugh's sexual misconduct. in this letter that has been sent by her lawyer, they are very critical of the process that has taken place up of the process that has taken place up to the point of having potentially this testimony. they say there have been leaks and bullying, and they're also concerned about the terms and conditions. essentially the way this hearing will be conducted, they say that they wanted certain guarantees. now we have already got an indication of what those are likely to be. they want brack met too to give his testimony first, christine blasey ford does not wantjudge kavanaugh in the room
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whenever she is in the room, and she only wants to be questioned by senators. this leads to a problem for republicans, because they only have a meal senators sitting on the judiciary committee, and they have proposed getting a female lawyer into question christine blasey ford on what is a sensitive issue and potentially a very difficult testimony. but she says she will only be questioned by senators, and although it is clear that she now says she wants to give evidence, it is also clear from this letter that they want to continue negotiations about what the terms and conditions will of that will be. if this goes ahead, what difference do you think it will make? donald trump last nightjust said it will make? donald trump last night just said that it will make? donald trump last nightjust said that he firmly believes that brett kavanaugh will believes that brett kavanaugh will be confirmed? it has to be said that there is a republican majority inside the senate. there is a republican majority on this committee, and ultimately they are likely to back resident trout‘s choice. but it makes it more
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difficult, and you could argue that the nature of this testimony, what is said here, could have an impact on brett kavanaugh himself —— trump's choice. there is growing frustration and the white house as what is delay after delay it that the weight it has been regarded. they say if you look carefully at the letter, they don't say specifically that christine blasey ford will definitely give evidence, they say she is prepared to give evidence depending that they can agree on the terms. but they also say that she is hopeful that they can agree to terms, which suggests there has been progress. it gives you an idea at that next week there will be a very sensitive and potentially difficult set of hearings that could be noticed by the white house, but also have a real impact on donald trump. thank you very much for that, chris. iran's supreme leader has ordered security forces to find the "criminals" responsible for an attack on a military parade that left at least 29 people dead. the incident took place in the south—west of the country,
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in the city of avahz, near the iraqi border, when gunmen opened fire near a stage set up for the parade. alanjohnston has the story, a warning though, you might find some of the pictures in his report distressing. fear and chaos amid the gunfire. moments ago, these soldiers would have been in the parade, marching proudly. now, suddenly, they are under attack. they are desperate for cover, scrambling to survive. bullets whistle overhead, and there are dead and injured all around. then, in the thick of the danger, terrified civilians run for their lives. the gunman had attacked where officials would have been
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watching the parade. anyone in this place filled with troops and spectators was at risk. inevitably, there were women and children among the dead and wounded. but the security forces fought back, and four militants were killed. local ethnic arab separatists say they carried out the attack but the islamic state group has also claimed responsibility. on the streets, there was anger. translation: in the middle of the parade, we realised there was a group wearing fake military clothing. they attacked our children from behind us and then fired on women and children. they fired completely blindly, meaning they weren't taking targets, just firing. meanwhile, iran's foreign minister said the gunmen had been armed by a foreign regime and its us backers, an apparent reference
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to either israel or saudi arabia, but he produced no evidence of this. another parade, in the capital tehran, passed off peacefully, watched by president hassan rouhani. he has promised what he called a "crushing response" to the attack in hawaz. alanjohnston, alan johnston, bbc news. earlier i spoke to the iranian—american author and academic, azadeh moaveni, and she told me a bit more about who might be responsible for this attack. there is a separate group, the ethnic background of that region, a separatist group that took responsibility immediately, they started calling media organisations and saying that it was them. so it's pretty evident, the government, the foreign minister has blamed a hostile foreign enemies, the implication is that the government in tehran believes that this is related to tensions with saudi arabia.
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i believe the impact that this will have is encouraging iranians to view this terror attack in the context of rising tensions with the united states, and see that as the natural knock—on affect. yeah, i'm wondering what your take on that is, because as far as we know, there isn't any evidence so far. but this was a line pushed out by the government very quickly? well, there's been no shortage of sympathy, very vocal sympathy by saudi arabia or other regional states about marginalization, grievances of iran's arab minority in the south. saudi figures online were saying that this was some kind of blowback for the repression that they face. although certainly there is a long history there, and iran has lots of ethnic and religious minorities, they are all populated around border regions. and there is a long history to foreign states and their regions
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using these internal fractures to pressure iran. saddam hussain, at the outset, he invaded iraq at the beginning of the iran—iraq war, he called the arabs of this region to join with him. they fought on the iranian side, it has a long history. just give us an idea, we shouldn't lose site of the fact that this was a horrific attack, the pictures are really upsetting and difficult to watch. how unusual is it to have an attack like this in iran? it's highly unusual. they are very few and far in between. there was an isis attack in tehran last year that killed almost more people than this, but approaching. so it is very shocking to iranians, and it will help the government reinforce its narrative that we have to fight these transnational sunni jihadists abroad because otherwise, the fight will come to us. finally on that, i want to ask, what do you think the response will be not? unfortunately, in all likelihood, there'll be a crackdown those areas. khuzestan is a very strategic area to iran, it's home to two ports, it's a very oil—rich region.
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it is of great strategic importance, so i think there'll be securitization of that area. and unfortunately, ethnic iranian arabs who have legitimate grievances against the government will be caught up in that. us cable giant comcast has outbid 21st century fox for control of british broadcaster sky, in a dramatic bidding battle. the auction, run by the uk's takeover regulator went to the maximum three rounds. the deal values sky atjust over $39 billion. sky is one of europe's most profitable tv companies, with 23 million subscribers and premier league football rights. joe mayes is a bloomberg reporter and joins me from central london. thank you very much, joe, you have been following this. they paid a lot of money for sky here, why have they
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done this? the final bid has come in at £17.28, a 17% increase. for comcast, sky is a very important strategic aspect, helping to diversify their side in the us where they are seeing pressures because consumers are paying less and less for the expensive cable packages, preferring to watch netflix. sky is a nice diversification plate for comcast, and they get all the benefits you are talking about like premier league soccer. a good move for comcast. what will this mean for sky customers? will they see their bills go up not? maybe so, comcast clearly pa id a bills go up not? maybe so, comcast clearly paid a lot of money to get sky. they're trying to justify this big price tag that page, they might also be worrying about how sky employees will keep theirjobs. the
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contest a re employees will keep theirjobs. the contest are a big and wealthy us company. they could go either way. finally, just briefly, what does this mean for fox or the micro fox? they lost this time. they have lost but they also won. if you remember that fox has a 39% stake in sky, and that fox has a 39% stake in sky, and that value has gone up enormously because of the comcast bid. they could use it cash in and sell the sta ke to could use it cash in and sell the stake to comcast. rupert murdoch has been trying to buy sky for almost a decade, and he has not succeeded. comcast came out on top, so it is bittersweet for them. thank you for your insight, joe. an engineer on the ferry that capsized on lake victoria in tanzania has been rescued, two days after the tragedy. divers looking for survivors heard a knocking sound and discovered the man, who had shut himself in a small cabin. so far, rescue teams have pulled more than 200 bodies from the waters. aboubakar famau has this report. anxiously waiting from the shore,
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relatives unable to hold back their tears. divers and rescue teams braving the waters of lake victoria to attempt to bring more bodies to shore. the ferry capsized two days ago. officials say it was filled four times to its maximum capacity, and it tipped when passengers moved from one side to the other. divers resumed their search for survivors today after hearing knocking from inside the vessel, rescuing an engineer. he is said to have survived in an air pocket inside the ferry, and is in serious condition. after three days of exhausting work, the rescue operation is still ongoing. while some families wait for news, others have started a difficult process of collecting their relatives and
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preparing them for burial. angelina's daughter died on board the boat. translation: she was waiting for employment. i educated her with difficulty. i was relying on her to come and help me financially in my old age. but these are god's plans. the government is already making plans for the bodies that have not been cleaned or identified. digging graves just metres from the site of the accident, ahead of a burial tomorrow. translation: we believe that there are people who will not be able to be identified by their relatives, so we decided as the government to set aside an area where we can have a mass burial for the bodies that would be damaged. tanzania's president has ordered the arrest of all those
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who managed the ferry, and has declared four days of national mourning. an official investigation into what happened will take place once the rescue effort to find any survivors has ended. aboubakar famau, bbc news, in tanzania. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come. "singer extraordinary," now "ambassador extraordinary". rihanna takes on a new role promoting barbados. benjohnson is ben johnson is flying benjohnson is flying home to canada in disgrace. we should be clean going into the game. i'm just happy that justice is served. going into the game. i'm just happy thatjustice is served. it is a
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simple fact that this morning, these people were in their homes. tonight, those homes have been burned down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions along here have been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. it's no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world, so the british government has no option but to continue this action. and even after any adversejudgement continue this action. and even after any adverse judgement in australia. the concorde across the atlantic, faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines. the woman who has accused us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault
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when they were teenagers has agreed to testify against him next week. and gunmen attack a military parade in iran, killing at least 29 people. president rouhani promises a "crushing respons". the british foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has urged eu leaders to "step back from the abyss" of a no—deal brexit and engage with theresa may's plan. he was speaking a day after she said the talks were at a standstill. the president of the european council, donald tusk, has defended the eu's approach, saying she knew well in advance about european objections. our political correspondent matt cole reports. international law, international commerce, and the media, what have we got to fear? at a rally today, the former brexit secretary david davis telling theresa may she's got it wrong and should seek a new way of leaving the eu. that we should only accept
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a clean and clear brexit. not some fudge, not some weak compromise. i have to tell you, i'm afraid that a weak compromise is exactly what i think chequers is. so, if leaders in europe have rejected her plans and she's being buffeted by backbenchers, who can theresa may rely on for support? step forward the foreign secretary, insisting she's right to demand concessions from brussels. if the eu's view is that just byjust saying no to every proposal made by the united kingdom we will eventually capitulate and end up either with the norway option or, indeed, staying in the eu, if that is their view, then they've profoundly misjudged the british people. this social media post from donald tusk, the eu council president, has helped stir the bad blood, mocking mrs may for what he says is trying to cherry—pick the best bits out of the single market. mr tusk played host at the salzburg summit, where the so—called chequers
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plan was dismissed. but he's rejecting suggestions that the ideas were knocked back without explanation. in a statement, he said... trying to get beyond the growing acrimony, he continued, "while understanding the logic of the negotiations, i remain convinced that a compromise, good for all, is still possible." so, what next for eu negotiations? who's going to blink first? theresa may says eu leaders have to come up with new counter proposals for future trading relations. but there's little sign of that. however, the prime minister says her officials are working on new proposals for northern ireland's border with the republic. if those plans can find a way to keep goods flowing freely after brexit, then perhaps they might be able to give some momentum back to the wider talks, too. in dublin today, ireland's foreign minister suggested a solution was doable. everybody has accepted, including the british prime minister,
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that unique solutions are required in order to put a backstop in place to ensure the border infrastructure between northern ireland and ireland cannot re—emerge. so, we need to get on now and negotiate that in a way that's acceptable to both sides. i believe it is possible to do that with an intensification of negotiations. but getting brussels to agree on britain's divorce is only half the battle. theresa may needs the support of her own mps to get the deal through parliament, and a tricky conservative conference in just over a week might reveal just how hard it will be to unite the party behind her. matt cole, bbc news, westminster. holly hamilton has all the sport. liverpool are top of the premier league after making it six wins out of six, the latest a 3—0 victory at home to southampton. burnley‘s first win of the season, 4—0 against bournemouth, moved them off the bottom of the table.
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manchester city are second after thrashing cardiff 5—0. jamie vardy scored leicester's third as they came from a goal down to beat huddersfield 3—1. manchester united could only draw at home to wolves, and tottenham moved above united into fifth place, with that 2—1win at brighton. we're moving ever closer to the big fight at wembley, where anthonyjoshua is defending his world heavyweight titles against russia's alexander povetkin. when you look at stats, everything seems to be in the champion‘s favour. povetkin is 11 years older and considerably smaller than joshua but he's only lost once in 35 fights. everything aboutjoshua is bigger and everything about povetkin is smaller and it's been that way for 15 years, which makes him an expert at fighting big guys. because every time little alexander povetkin gets in the ring, takes off his robe, he is a bit chubby, and he turns round and in the opposite corner is some man mountain. he is used to fighting big guys.
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he has a fantastic formula for beating big guys. joshua and his trainer rob mccracken, i can tell you, they are very nervous and are wary of tonight's fight. one additional factor tonight could be the weather. the forecast is awful and although the ring itself will be protected by a canopy, the crowd may be in for a drenching and the fighters will have to bear the conditions in mind, as our reporter ade adeyoin told us earlier. i think it will be a challenge for both men. not only will they be fighting each other, but they will be battling the elements, as well. it is raining and the forecast is for rain until early evening. it is quite cold, as well, so they will have to really thoroughly warm up in a dressing room and stay warm before the fight, especially the one who goes first. the danger is that you get cold in the ring, you get caught cold earlier in the fight. so
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they're hoping that will not happen, they'll have to change their footwear, as well, because with the normal footwear, it would footwear, as well, because with the normalfootwear, it would be footwear, as well, because with the normal footwear, it would be too slippery in the wings. will be difficult for both men. we are talking about the weather in what is a fascinating matchup between the two men. andy murray is going to cut his season short. he's outside the world's top 300 now and he'll play two tournaments in china over the next fortnight before taking three months off to prepare for next season. i decided, along with my team, that i need a long period of training and reconditioning to get myself in the best shape possible for the beginning of the 2019 season and getting myself back competing for the biggest tournaments again. tiger woods has made an incredible start to his third round at the tour championship in atlanta. he birdied six of his first seven holes to move to 13—under—par, five shots clear of his overnight co—leaderjustin rose. rory mcilroy is a further two shots back. that's all the sport for now.
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pop star rihanna has been given an expanded role in her home country of barbados, aimed at promoting the island caribbean nation. already a cultural ambassador, the singer's new title is "ambassador extraordinary", looking at investment, education, and tourism in barbados. i asked cheynejones, a journalist in rihanna's hometown of st michael about this elaborate new title. as you said, it's a fancy title, "ambassador extraordinary". in fact, all that means is that she now has the specific responsibility for promoting education, tourism, and investment for barbados. that's really what it is, she has direct influence over those things, and i guess you'll be working with the government over education, tourism, and investing in barbados, trying to get similar foreign exchange into the country. and the prime minister is saying that she already
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a track record in things like the world of business? yes, the prime minister's saying that rihanna, she's looking at all her business acumen, and she says the fact that it's a significant creative acumen and shrewdness in business, as well as her charitable contributions has led her to this decision to give her the title. but you know as well as i do that there'll be people watching saying that this is just a big publicity stunt. maybe some people overseas, but i don't think that's the feeling on the ground here in barbados. we love rihanna, rihanna loves barbados. we recognise the immense talent she has and immense influence she has globally, and itjust makes sense. i don't think it's a publicity stunt. that's it for me, this has been bbc world news today. good evening,
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saturday brought us a day of mixed fortu nes saturday brought us a day of mixed fortunes in terms of weather. cloud and outbreaks of rain across the southern half of the uk, this was the picture in east sussex earlier on in the day. but we have lots more sunshine, further north, this picture was taken by one of our weather watchers. clear blue skies there. cloud on the image it has been streaming in across the southern half of the country. we are set to see more background to the second half of the weekend with outbreaks of rain in the cell. passing through the course of tonight, you can see that first batch of rain clears the southeast coast. the next area of rain works from the southwest tonight. further north under clear skies it will be colder, there'll be a few showers, particularly northwest scotland, but there could be a touch of frost. you conceivably —— green and blue colours indicating condition sunday morning. temperatures will not be far off freezing in parts of
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scotla nd far off freezing in parts of scotland and northern england and northern ireland. looking at sunday, a high pressure is sitting out towards the northwest, but here is that weather front set to bring some clouded outbreaks of rain across southern areas. initially some heavy rain in parts of south wales and the southwest of england, that rain pushing further east through the day. so for a time we will see some fairly heavy spells of rain across southeast england, with gusty winds as strong as 50 mph. further north and west, it will be a different story. clear skies and sunshine, you can see a scattering of showers from north wales, north england and scotland. some of the showers could be heavy later on, but the winds are coming from the north or northwest, so coming from the north or northwest, so quite a chilly feel to the weather on sunday with that breeze. temperatures at best between 11—15d. so we have lost the wet weather during the course of sunday evening, and things start to quiet down as the new working week starts. 1—2
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showers around sunday night and into monday, but higher pressure starts to build in through monday. to start your new working week, high pressure moves in, it will be quite a sweat oi’ moves in, it will be quite a sweat or wendy as we have seen through the course of the weekend. the next five days, a little bit of rain and fairly breezy. warmer, brighter and dryer through a cell. goodbye for 110w. this is bbc world news. the headlines: a woman who has accused us supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault in the 1980s has agreed to testify before the senate judiciary committee. christine blasey ford will appear next week, but details haven't been finalised. iran's supreme leader has blamed us allies for an attack on a military parade which killed at least 29 people. ayatollah khamenei said "puppets" of america were trying to "create insecurity" in iran. america's biggest cable network comcast submits the winning bid for british broadcaster sky,
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ending a dramatic two—year battle with 21st century fox. sky's independent directors are now expected to recommend the bid to shareholders. and divers searching for survivors in the wreck of a ferry which capsized in tanzania on thursday have pulled out a man alive. more than 200 others died when the vessel sank in lake victoria.
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