tv Our World BBC News November 18, 2018 9:30pm-10:01pm GMT
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this is bbc world news, the headlines: president trump said he's been fully briefed on an audio recording of the murder ofjournalist jamal khashoggi but refused to listen to it himself because what's on it is terrible, very violent and vicious. the british prime minister theresa may has told her critics that getting rid of her as leader would not make delivering brexit any easier. she has defended last week's draft agreement for leaving the eu. at a ceremony in germany to commemorate those who died in two world wars, president macron has made an impassioned appeal for a stronger europe. he said too many powers sought to thwart europe by attacking liberal democracies. deep differences between the united states and china have marred a summit of leaders from pacific nations. for the first time since the apec meetings began 25 years ago, leaders failed to agree on a final declaration. at ten o'clock mishal husain will be here with a full
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round—up of the day's news. first is time for our world. this is a story about justice and honour. qandeel baloch was a girl who rose from nowhere and became pakistan's social media superstar. her highly provocative videos shocked many in pakistan, but brought her fame. two years ago, qandeel was murdered. her own brother said he had done it because she brought shame on the family. at the time of the murder, qandeel‘s parents wanted justice for their daughter. amid an international outcry, the pakistani government quickly passed a law
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against honour killings. my name is hani taha, i have reported on this story from it's very beginning. two years on from her murder, are we any closer to justice for qandeel? in the city of multan, in the punjab region of pakistan, the trial of qandeel baloch‘s murder is entering its third year. qandeel‘s elderly father and his lawyer have been coming to the court since the trial began in 2016. it is a complicated case, with seven people charged
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with taking part in her murder. today there is a bail hearing for one of the defendants. qandeel‘s cousin is accused of strangling her, along with her brother waseem. qandeel‘s father and his lawyer are bitterly opposed to the bail. you can clearly see two years he has aged so much and he has practically lost his eyesight, he is pretty much blind now and i really wonder if he has gone blind with grief. he still cries the same way that he did when i first met him two years ago. they have travelled several hours to come here,
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which is very difficult, they don't have that kind of money or resources to do this. he has been doing it for two yea rs consistently. to understand why this case is so important, you need to see where it all began. in 2016, just after her murder, i travelled to the village in rural punjab where qandeel was born. in this part of the world, women stay at home and are rarely seen. this is the house where she grew up. mohammed azeem, her father was a farmer and her mother, a housewife. qandeel had six brothers and two sisters. qandeel spent her childhood in his room.
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it wasn't long after this photo was taken that in keeping with local tradition, qandeel was married. but her marriage only lasted a year. after her divorce in 2007, qandeel settled in multan, a city a couple of hours drive from her village. it was also around this time that qandeel started making videos for social media. for pakistan, her videos were provocative and daring. but her dream was to make it into the mainstream. like so many other girls trying to break into the scene, the reality was anything but glamorous.
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to earn money, qandeel was probably working as an escort. as qandeel‘s ambition grew, she left multan for karachi, entering the heart of pakistan's entertainment industry. qandeel‘s appearance on pakistan's idol thrust her into the limelight. even though she didn't win, she was an instant hit. she became a regular on national tv, promoting her brand. it was on one chat show that she met mufti qawi, a well—known celebrity cleric, who was also from multan.
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the two flirted on camera. mufti qawi suggested they meet she was in karachi. a few weeks later, during the holy it was during this meeting that she took a number of selfies. in one, she was wearing the mufti's hat. this picture in particular caused a media storm. the selfies spread like wildfire. soon she and the mufti were everywhere. the day after the selfies with the mufti qawi were released,
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was suspended from his job with pakistan's religious council. during the selfie video with mufti qawi, qandeel mentioned for the first time that she was from multan. armed with this information, the local multani press swung into action. a few days later, details of qandeel‘s personal life started appearing everywhere. her real name was fouzia azeem, her passport, her families details the fact that she had a child from a previous marriage, was made public. as these details surfaced, she became increasingly worried about her safety. two weeks before she died, she asked
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the authorities for protection, but her request was ignored. the allegation is, that two weeks later, qandeel‘s brother wasseem drove with two accomplices to the house qandeel was renting from her parents. after the meal, he mixed sleeping pills in with milk, which the whole family drank. he waited for the pills to kick in and when his parents went off to bed, was seen fetching his accoomplices waseem was arrested later that night and immediately confessed
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and together they entered qandeel‘s room and killed her. waseem was arrested later that night and immediately confessed to killing his sister. he said that qandeel‘s involvement with the mufti was the final straw. at the time of the murder, multan police's investigating officer was a woman, attiya jafri. although no longer in charge of the case, she maintains a keen interest in it. gradually, a fuller picture began to emerge.
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her brother claimed he had been told to murder qandeel by his oldest brother, who lived in saudi arabia. but it was the role played by the mufti which most concerned the police when they questioned him. two years ago, i had gone to talk to the mufti myself. he had been keen to declare his innocence, but made a chilling threat. but justice caught up with the mufti. because he had been uncooperative with the police cooperation with the police investigations
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he was denied a bail extension and fled, but was quickly rearrested. we tried to speak to him for this programme, but his associates demanded $10,000 for an interview with him. today, he remains on trial, accused of involvement in qandeel‘s murder. since we interviewed the mufti in 2016, he has conceded that he knew the man said to have driven qandeel‘s relatives to and from the scene. it's his cousin, abdul basit. qandeel‘s story has been brought into almost every home in pakistan.
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there is a 28—part tv series based on her life. but her legacy may be greater than this. in response to her murder, the government passed new law against honour killings even if family forgives the killers, the state will still try them for murder. but the slow pace of the trial is worrying for those who want qandeel‘s law, as it's known, to be applied and to set a legal precedent. this woman works for a human rights organisation based in lahore. they've been supporting qandeel‘s parents, and are keen ensure that this landmark case is quickly concluded. today, they will push for a higher court to speed things up. we want to basically set a precedent.
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if a father wanted to get his son punished, because what he did, so why not to support him? in the beginning they were very passionate and energetic, and then they knew that the justice will get done very quickly. but nothing like that and slowly and gradually, and urges and their passion gradually turned into frustration. and same is case with us. we are very frustrated with why the case is delayed so much. like why two years? this is notjust one story. just imagine what happens with the ordinary cases every day. you know? like, thousands and thousands of cases are pending, people take adjournments, and, you know, like, there is nojustice, you know? for years and years people are just, like, they arejust like, go to the courts, and nothing happens. they are considered by the reports that qandeel‘s parents are changing their mind about the case. they're worried that if the parents withdraw their testimony, the case
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could be dismissed entirely. two years ago, the parents wanted their son to be executed. but now, once the team have left, they make a rather shocking statement to me. as well as saying that waseem is innocent, they now no longer agree with the new federal law against honour crimes. it seems that in rural pakistan, despite the new law, the centuries—old tradition of honour killing is still seen as legitimate. this lawyer is
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representing the family. he comes from the same area as qandeel‘s parents, and claims to be representing them, not for money, but out of local loyalty. he is making the case that waseem, a jobless 23—year—old drug addict, was coerced into carrying out the murder by his cousin, haq nawaz. so despite what was said two years ago, the family now say that waseem was an innocent party in the murder of his sister. i wanted to ask this police woman whether it was possible that waseem was innocent, and whether this crime really was an honour killing. the trial of qandeel‘s alleged murderers drags on. waseem is injail planning his innocence. waseem is injail
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proclaiming his innocence. haq nawaz is applying to the high court from jail. but the mufti, his cousin, and three other member of the family and three other members of the family accused of aiding and abetting remain free for now. it seems that qandeel is as controversial in death she was in life. it is easy to understand a mother's love and the pull of local custom,
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but for many in pakistan, it is more important that qandeel‘s law is applied and there is finally justice for qandeel. it is worth just reminding ourselves how close to winter we are because the weather of late has not been telling that story. in fact last week we hit 18 degrees in the highlands of scotland. but in the week ahead there is a bit of a reality check. six is the typical midweek temperature and it will feel colder in a strong easterly wind as well. the colder are lurking to our east and there is a stronger easterly wind which will bring that oui’ easterly wind which will bring that our way easterly wind which will bring that ourway in easterly wind which will bring that our way in the next couple of days. with more cloud around as well. some showers from eastern scotland go into eastern england on monday. most
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of the sunny spells will be in the west. northern scotland faring well for sunshine. but temperatures are coming down a few degrees. that win gets stronger through monday night into tuesday, so the easterly bringing ina into tuesday, so the easterly bringing in a good deal of cloud. still bringing in some showers further westwards on tuesday. a wintry flavour to the higher ground as well. it could be gusting up to 50 miles an hour in some spots in the east. wind chill becomes more of a factor. it will feel closer to freezing, that is very different to what we have been used to. as we go into wednesday we have low pressure to the south and that is where there will be areas of thicker cloud and longer spells of wet weather moved their way northwards on wednesday. sleet and snow on the high ground,
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but for most of us it will be a cold day, enhanced by a brisk east, south easterly wind on wednesday and temperature still rooted into single figures. the wind is changing direction, on thursday it becomes more of a south easterly and as a result it will become less cold. it is still a brisk wind on thursday, so is still a brisk wind on thursday, so there is still a wind chill factor. it will push out rain from many northern parts of the uk, but in the south—west there could be a few outbreaks of rain and showers. temperatures come up by a degree or so. temperatures come up by a degree or so. the wind is less pronounced on friday. elsewhere, variable cloud, sunny spells and feeling less cold. to look at the picture for this week, we are taking a bit of a step in to winter as temperatures come down. it will feel much colder
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midweek because of the strength of the easterly wind, and there will be wet weather with no pressure taking overfor a time. some wet weather with no pressure taking over for a time. some sleet and snow on the higher ground. going into next weekend low—pressure still to the south—west. trying to feed its way northwards, but coming up against a block from the area of high pressured to the north. low pressure is also trying to feed in milderairaround pressure is also trying to feed in milder air around it, but pressure is also trying to feed in milderairaround it, but the pressure is also trying to feed in milder air around it, but the high pressure in the north is feeding in cold air. there is a bit of a battle taking place and the cold air could hang on to the northern half of the uk. if you want to return to the mild air, it could be quite a week.
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