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tv   BBC News  BBC News  March 16, 2019 4:00pm-4:31pm GMT

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hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: brenton tarrant, the main this is bbc news. suspect in the new zealand the headlines at apm. mosque shootings in which 49 people were killed, has appeared in court on a single murder charge. brenton tarrant, the main suspect in the new zealand mosque shootings in which 49 people new zealand police say they believe a lone gunman were killed, has appeared in court was involved in the attacks. on a single murder charge. prime ministerjacinda ar—dern has vowed, "our gun laws will change." prime ministerjacinda ardern has vowed, "our gun laws will change." new zealand police say they believe a lone gunman new zealand is united in its grief was involved in the attacks. prime ministerjacinda ardern has and we are united in our grief. vowed, "our gun laws will change." in other news, tory mp new zealand is united in its grief nick boles quits his local conservative association in the face and we are united in our grief. of efforts to deselect him as the candidate for the next election. more than a0 people are injured and in hospital, as tributes are made in commemoration to those who have died. now on bbc news, it's time for dateline london. in other news — tory mp nick boles quits his local conservative association in the face of efforts to deselect him as the candidate for the next election. a leaked eu document appears
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to confirm that the uk will have to hold elections for the european parliament in may, if brexit is extended beyond the beginning ofjuly. it's the decider in the six nations — who will win? wales are on top in their game against ireland, but both they and england are still in the running for the title. and coming up in half an hour, our dateline guests discuss the last week in parliament, with only a fortnight until brexit day. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. an australian man has appeared in court in new zealand charged with murder, after 49 people were killed in shootings at two mosques in the city of christchurch yesterday. 28—year—old brenton tarrant did not
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enter a plea and has been remanded in custody. the prime minister of new zealand, jacinda ardern, has visited survivors of the attacks in hospital. she promised that gun laws will change. our correspondent sharanjit leyl sent this report. we stand as one. from flower tributes to hand written notes, the messages are clear. new zealand may be struggling to comprehend the tragic events that took place in christchurch, but people are determined to come together to pay their respects. this group of young men among them. one of them knew someone inside one of the mosques. your friend was shot in the leg? yeah, yeah. he went there for prayer. so, i don't know... so you knew people in the mosque? yeah. i even tried to call him yesterday and he couldn't take my call.
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christchurch has seen tragedy like this before and is still rebuilding after a devastating earthquake eight years ago. that was mother nature at her worst. but this is a man—made one on a different scale. we had the earthquakes and the anxiety levels were at a high. and this triggered that same anxiety, people wanted to get home to see where their families were. their children, like caro said, at preschool. she had the children at preschool. like, people just wanted to get home. so it might take a wee while, but we will, yeah. memorials like this one have been springing up all over the city. people have been coming here to the botanical gardens in christchurch all day leaving their messages and flowers. there is a real sense of shock and horror at how something so awful could strike the heart of this community. new zealand's prime minister praised the efforts of police,
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and has called for a review of the countries gun laws after it was revealed that the suspect legally obtained his weapon. new zealand is united in its grief. and we are united in our grief. and so i convey that message of love and support on behalf of new zealand. an australian man has appeared in court. 28—year—old brenton tarrant wasn't on any security watchlist. he didn't enter a plea and is due to appear in court next april the 5th. while the world awaits his fate, the outpouring of grief here will continue. but this is a resilient city that has seen tragedies like this before. and then, as now, the rallying cry in many messages of support is a maori phase that means, stay strong. sharanjit leyl, bbc news, christchurch. ali adeeba was in the noor mosque praying
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with his father and his twin brother when the shooting began. this is ali with his father, adeeb sami. he was hit in the back while trying to protect his sons. he's now in hospital in a medically—induced coma. ali took the time to speak to my colleague a little while ago, because he said he wanted the world to know what had happened. you may find some of what he has to say upsetting. it was just a normal friday. i was at prayers. i usually take an hour and a half lunch to go to prayers, and listen to the speech. so it was just straight after, the imam starts talking, and the speech begins. a few minutes after you hear gunshots. at the start i thought it was fireworks. and then i see people running. he pulled out a semi—automatic and started shooting.
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my first thought was to run forward because he was coming from the back and i was looking for my dad. and so i ran and i stumbled across him and, honestly, i just don't remember after. i was going through the door and ended up in the right pile in the mosque. i missed the full first clip, i woke up in the second and all i hear is shooting. i'm sorry to say, but i couldn't do anything and i was trying to stay safe so i had to play dead. i was tensing all my muscles but with every shot my body had never shook that hard. that kept going on and then a few moments later it went quiet so i thought it was safe. i called 111 and then i hear him coming back so i hang up and he started shooting on the pile
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on top of me and i couldn't do anything except lay there. he went four more times and after that it was all gone. i can hear you are so shaken, and my heart goes out to you, tell me how your father is. my father is in icu, he just had his second surgery and he is in a coma. he actually took a bullet for me. and thankfully i'm 0k. i was one of the few that walked out without a bullet wound. one went past my face and burned my face, didn't even touch me but it burned so i could only feel for the people that got shot by it. i hope all the best for anyone that
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made it out into icu and hope they make a good recovery. and our best wishes goes out to all of them as well. we thank you for taking the time to speak to us at what is such a difficult time for you and your loved ones. we wish you all the very best, ali, thank you. the brothers of one of the christchurch victims have expressed their family's pain in the wake of the attacks. 50—year—old naeem rashid, and his 21—year—old son talha naeem, were among six pakistani citizens killed in the attack. our pakistan correspondent, secunder kermani, spoke to naeem rashid's brothers earlier. tell me, how long had your brother been living with his family in new zealand? he went to new zealand in 2010, so it's been nine years. so, he went to do his phd there,
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he couldn't finish his phd but he did start working there, so he was doing his job there. and he liked living in new zealand? he loved living in new zealand, he just loved it. i've never been there myself but i believed it was supposed to be one of the safest places... i suppose that no one in the family could ever imagine something like this would ever happen? no, no way. we couldn't imagine it, not at all. how did you find out? well, my brother rang me about nine o'clock in the morning. i was not watching the television, somebody rang him. then we rang... one of my younger brother's brother—in—law also lives there in christchurch, so we rang him and my sister—in—law.
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that's when we found out things were going bad. then, in the evening, we found out we'd lost them. and what was your reaction when you found out, if you can put it into words? there are no words, really. i can't really describe the feeling. we were just discussing... only a person who goes through this kind of thing can understand this thing. but i still... i feel really proud of my brother, really. i mean, the way he died, very few people... i mean, i wish i could die like him, really, dying like... he was a brave person, and i heard from people there, there were a few witnesses, and they said he saved a few lives there by trying to stop that guy. me and my wife and my children,
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we all miss him because of his fun—loving attitude. he was always after his nephews and nieces to improve themselves, he was taking interest in their family and in our family. he was a person who was very committed to anything which he wanted to do. he is being hailed as a hero by many people across the world for trying to take down the attacker. have you seen the video, what was your reaction, did you feel an element of pride as well? i saw the video and the first thing i wanted to see was the look in his eyes. i did not see one iota of fear in those eyes and that made me proud. what a brave man he was.
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i knew if i had any problem he would be standing with me, i had no doubt about that, but to do it for others, when he could have ran away. and what i have been told is there was some other people whom he asked tojoin him but did not and he did it alone. that speaks volumes about him. he is my hero, at least. well, meanwhile, an australian senator who blamed immigration for the mosque shooting in christchurch has attacked a teenager who threw an egg at him while he was being interviewed. fraser anning hit the 17—year—old before a short scuffle took place between the two. the teenager was then restrained and arrested,
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but has since been released. a petition calling for senator anning to be removed from office following his comments has attracted nearly a quarter of a million signatures. the conservative mp, nick boles, has resigned from his local party association. mr boles said he had faced calls for his deselection because of his stance on brexit — having spoken out against leaving the eu without a deal. mr boles said he intends to remain as mp for grantham and stamford. councillor matthew lee is a senior member of the grantham and stamford conservative association. he denied the members were all against mr boles. the view that nick seems to be portraying of our association is that we are all against him. that we are all hard brexiteers and it is just not true. the last meeting of our executive management committee many people, including me, spoke in nick's favour, and we are not all against him. there are some people that disagree with him but, in any family, in any group, there are always different views.
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you come together or you try to come together and you move on as a unit. we are just at a loss to understand why nick thinks we are all against him because that's just not true. i've speaking to the conservative mp, who told me about his shock and surprise at nick boles decision to resign from his local conservative association. i think it's incredibly sad, nick boles is a great intellect. he's given a lot of service to the conservative party, both politically and as a minister and in government. i've been working very closely with him on developing long term a proposal to leave the european union byjoining the european free trade area, common market 2.0, as we call it, and the conservative party must accommodate people as diverse as boles and boris. we have to be a broad church, otherwise we'll just end up as a narrow sect.
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that alternative you talk about, though, what's the problem for the association ultimately, wasn't it, because, at the end of the day, mr boles does represent a constituency that voted 61% to leave the european union. surely it needs an mp that reflects that viewpoint? i think nick did reflect the viewpoint of the public because he voted for the prime minister's deal on both times, which is about leaving the european union. he came into parliament to vote for article 50 in a wheelchair, when he was recovering from very serious cancer. i think he's given incredible service. the exit that we are talking about, common market 2.0, does actually deliver the referendum result and gets us out of all of the political side of the european union, the common fisheries policy, the farming policy, but at the same time safeguards jobs and businesses by keeping us in the european economic area and we would be members of the european free trade area, which we helped
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found many years ago. if that is the case, though, by then with the acting chairman of the local party association tell us that nick boles had upset many people in the area which strongly backed leave? well, i can't talk for what is going on in his local association, i am not there. i am mp for harlow, not lincolnshire. i suspect that may be some of them want to leave without a deal but as nick has pointed out, because the country isn't properly prepared for that, to leave without a deal would be a huge risk indeed, so we've got to find a way of delivering the referendum result that doesn't mean that we crash out and also doesn't mean that we have a second referendum, which would be political calamity because that would lead to huge mistrust in our political system. as you say, you share similar views with nick boles. i wonder how concerned you are that perhaps you might face deselection as well. well, funnily enough, i've had my annual general meeting this morning with my local
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harlow conservative association and they were all very sympathetic and they know exactly how i voted, i voted against a second referendum. i am very worried about a long delay for article 50. i would accept a short delay but i voted against a long delay to article 50 and i was readopted a few months ago, so i think, on the whole, most conservative members are very reasonable and i think it's a very sad day that nick feels that he can no longer stand as a conservative mp in his area. the headlines on bbc news: brenton tarrant, the main suspect in the new zealand mosque shootings in which 49 people were killed, has appeared in court on a single murder charge. new zealand police say they believe a lone gunman was involved in the attacks. prime ministerjacinda ardern has vowed: "our gun laws will change"
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tory mp nick boles quits his local conservative association in the face of efforts to deselect him as the candidate for the next election. a leaked eu document appears to confirm that the uk will have to take part in european parliament elections in may, if brexit is extended beyond the end ofjune. the memo has been circulated to eu ambassadors ahead of theresa may's visit to brussels on thursday, where she will ask eu leaders to delay brexit. the uk is presently due to leave the eu on march 29th. the department for transport may be forced to pay tens of millions of pounds to keep its emergency no—deal ferry contracts in place if brexit is delayed. one of the firms involved, brittany ferries, said it had already incurred large fuel
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and staffing costs, for which it would have to be compensated. a whitehall source said the contingency plans had to be in place for the original brexit date of march 29th. senior democrats in the us congress have accused donald trump of defying the constitution after he used a presidential veto for the first time since he came to offfice. mr trump vetoed a resolution from congress which was designed to block his declaration of a state of emergency on the border with mexico. he declared the national emergency last month, to try to secure billions of dollars for building a border wall. president trump said he had a duty to use his veto power to protect americans. congress's vote to deny the crisis on the southern border is a vote against reality. it is against reality. it is a tremendous national emergency, it is a tremendous crisis. last month, more than 76,000 illegal migrants arrived at our border. we are on track for one million
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illegal aliens to rush our borders. people hate the word invasion but that is what it is. it is an invasion of drugs and criminals and people. a man has died after being stabbed in south—west london. scotland yard said officers were called to reports of a fight in fulham in the early hours of this morning. a 29—year old man was pronounced dead at the scene. there have been no arrests. violence has broken out on the streets of paris as protesters clash with police. demonstrators are said to have thrown smoke bombs and other objects at officers. police then used water cannon to try to disperse crowds. at least 20 people have reportedly been arrested. it's the 18th straight weekend of demonstrations against president emmanuel macron which first started over a fuel tax rise and have now become about the cost of living. studies show the stress and pain experienced by very premature babies,
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can go on to cause mental and physical illness later in life. aberdeen maternity hospital is preparing to trial pioneering techniques that could reduce that trauma. our correspondent laura goodwin has been to take a look. twins willow and nimah were born atjust 26 weeks weighing a little over 2le each. for mum zoe the first few months of motherhood in the neonatal ward were bewildering and at times frightening. there has been times i've thought one or two of the girls wasn't coming home. the past couple of weeks is when i have started to feel like a mum because i can go and pick up my own baby. i didn't realise how important that is until you can't do it. now aberdeen neonatal unit are trialling a new approach they hope will minimise the trauma of painful but necessary medical procedures for babies and to show parents how they can help. you could be that other pair of hands and provide this
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kind of containment. friends of the neonatal unit raised £27,000 to bring mary coughlin, a neonatal expert from boston, to pass on the techniques that she has pioneered. two person care is basically one person is doing the procedure and the other person, their sole job is to make sure the baby is comfortable. the gold standard for the two—person approach is that other person, that comfort person, is the parent or a family member. there's lots of things that happen to these little people and their families that it's just an is thing, right? i mean, they are critically ill, they need the equipment, they need the procedures and stuff. but it's how we manage those experiences that can really reduce their short—term and long—term morbidity or complications as a result. it's the smaller things, the littlest things make
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the biggest difference. like a parent just talking to their baby whilst having a painful procedure done. we might not have thought about it, it could be as simple as that. so really the parents being here and comforting their baby has been a huge eye—opener for us. baby ella was born eight weeks early, her mum says empowering parents to help their babies is hugely important. obviously you feel a bit helpless if they are crying and she was in an incubator so there's not much comforting you can do. so anything you can do to help, you want to do it. willow, nimah and ella are all making good progress and will be heading home soon. aberdeen neonatal unit hope adopting these new techniques will position them as a centre of excellence for neonatal care and ensure many more little miracles are given every chance to thrive. laura goodwin, bbc news. all this week, the bbc has been taking a look at life in bradford. it's a city where reading and writing skills are below average, across every age range. sabbiyah pervez has been to see how the city is trying to improve its literacy levels.
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the gift of a book, arriving through the post every month from a charity aiming to improve literacy here in bradford. a little boy is testing out his brand—new car... each story these children read are building blocks their imagination and vocabulary. there is a shark in the park! their mum grew up in pakistan. her parents didn't read to her, but storytime is now a stable part of her life. when i started getting the books from imagination library, then to see how good the books are and somebodyjust giving me these really good gifts, so then i started reading regularly. in bradford, three in every ten five to seven—year—olds do not reach the expected meeting standards. this is below the national average.
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there are a number of issues linked to poverty and which sort of present themselves intergenerationally, so why would you blame the child in those circumstances to believe that reading, writing, doing well at school aren't going to make any difference to them because it didn't make a difference to their parents and grandparents? at this school, in a bid to boost literacy and aspirations, pupils are partnered up with mentors, who read to them via the internet. it's rewarding for me because i am helping a child learn how to read and it's seeing her improvement. at school, i enjoyed reading and helping a child read and developing their reading skills, it is very rewarding. for the past five months, ana maria and nasim have been reading together. this is the first time they're reading side—by—side. well done. there are still huge challenges with literacy in bradford, but the future of the students here has yet to be
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written, and with help, it can only be improved. sabbiyah pervez, bbc news. last night's big comic relief show has raised more than £63—million. highlights included a special reunion by the cast of four weddings and a funeral. more than £1.3 billion has now been raised by comic relief since it began in 1985. our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba reports. it is the night when some of entertainment‘s biggest stars come together and use comedy to raise money for comic relief. perhaps the most anticipated part of the evening was the short follow—up to four weddings and a funeral. it featured the original cast reuniting 25 years later. mamma mia also got the comic relief treatment. # can you hear the drums fernando? and there was an appearance from the star of tv‘s
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biggest drama for years, bodyguard. are we there yet, sweetie? there were celebrity performances in the studio and a musical number from the hit new west end version of only fools and horses. as well as appearances from comedy favourites like alan partridge. everyone coming together like david cameron's big society. before the night even began, huge amounts had already been raised. bbc‘s dan walker was one of a team of celebrities who climbed kilimanjaro for comic relief last month. not to mention the 24—hour danceathon. would you do it again? no. the money goes towards helping people here in the uk and abroad. since comic relief began over £1.25 billion has been raised.
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they are delighted that tonight added significantly to that total. roads have been closed and trains disrupted across parts of the north of england and wales following heavy rain. 31 flood warnings are now in place, and hundreds of homes have been without power. the river ribble in lancashire and the river irwell have burst their banks, and a number of roads across the north of england have been closed as a result. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. it has been one of those days when the weather has thrown us everything but the kitchen sink. snow to the north and heavy rain further south and showers with some hail and thunder and a few glimmers of sunshine, all thanks to one area of low pressure. risk of disruption continues for many through the evening, with the snow becoming increasingly confined to northern scotland and rain pushing eastwards further south. gusty winds are still across england and wales. in exposure could still reach 70 mph
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for the next few hours. it should start to ease moving further into the night. rain cleaning off to the continent and we are left with showers for northern scotland, northern ireland, north—west england, north wales and the north midlands. ice could be a problem anywhere across the northern half of the country in the morning. nowhere near as windy to the south tomorrow, a day of sunshine and showers, milider for scotland but chillier for england and wales.
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