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tv   BBC News  BBC News  August 18, 2019 2:00am-2:31am BST

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welcome to bbc news, i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: warnings of shortages of fuel, food and medicine if britain leaves the eu without a deal. a leaked government report sets out the aftershocks of a no—deal brexit. a suicide bomber targets a wedding reception in kabul. officials say a number of people have been killed and injured. hundreds of far—right supporters hold a rally in the us city of portland, as police try to keep them away from anti—fascist protestors.
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hello and welcome to bbc news. britain will face shortages of fuel, food and medicine if it leaves the european union without a transition deal, jamming ports and requiring a hard border in ireland. that is according to official government documents leaked to the sunday times newspaper. more now from our political correspondent nick eardley. this is a document called operation yellowhammer. it is the civil service looking at potentially what could happen if the uk leaves the european union in a few weeks without a deal. and at its heart are some pretty stark warnings, of long delays at the ports, at eurotunnel, of the potential for certain fresh foods running out or becoming scarce, at least not all foods
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running out, but potentially some fresh food running scarce. and, over all, a picture of some significant hardships in the uk on 31 october. now, these leaked documents also talk about the northern ireland border. that's a very contentious subject when it involves brexit. what does it have to say about that? it warns that the uk government plan, which is not to have any new checks unless completely necessary between the republic and the north of ireland, that that plan is unsustainable. it doesn't go into detail about what that will mean, but some will conclude that yes, that will lead to a hard border. the uk has always been adamant it is not going to put up border infrastructure between the republic and the north. likewise, the republic of ireland has said it won't do the same. but there is a suggestion that the plan the uk has to avoid
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that for various economic and security reasons just isn't viable. now, do we have a government response on these leaks? we do. the government says officially that it doesn't comment on leaks, but number ten have pointed out that this isn't what they expect to happen. this isn't the assumption of borisjohnson and his team. what it is is scenario planning, looking at various things that could happen, and the uk government is putting a lot of effort and money now into preparing for no—deal. they say they don't expect it to happen, but it is all part of the planning. even these leaks and a lot of the concerns about no—deal brexit, how will this be viewed by those who think that no—deal brexit will be ok and those who do not want that? there are those who have always said that warnings like this are scaremongering. this is a government document. this is something drawn up by civil servants,
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leaked to the sunday times, and many people will say it is the worst—case scenario. this is situation planning. brexit supporters don't believe it. they don't think that no—deal would be as calamitous as some people have made out. borisjohnson is one of those optimistic in what no—deal could look like. he is off to europe in the next few days to speak to angela merkel and emmanuel macron. he is still out there looking for a new deal, but he is convinced britain can manage no—deal and is trying to get the country ready. we will hear more about these leaked documents in the coming hours. and you can get more background on brexit on the bbc news website. there is full analysis, a jargon guide, and also this article on whether uk parlimentarians can stop a no—deal brexit. dozens of people are feared to have been killed after a bomb exploded at a wedding in afghanistan. eyewitnesses say a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a packed reception hall in the capital, kabul. at least 20 people have been taken to hospital. no—one has admitted carrying out the attack, the latest in a recent series across the country.
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our correspondent shoaib sharifi is following developments in kabul. the incident happened right at the climax of the party, right after dinner, at around 10:1i0pm local time. although only 20 wounded have so far been confirmed by one hospital, but footage that we have received, a video from inside, shows many people looking for their missing loved ones. one video shows one young boy saying he has got five brothers missing, and one man says his 14—year—old boy was killed in the incident. inside, the decorated seats of the wedding party shows stained with blood, and it's feared — eyewitnesses say that there may be more injuries, as it's dark and the incident happened west
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of kabul, and the main emergency hospitals are in north of kabul, so later, more figures will emerge. hundreds of far—right supporters have been holding a rally in the us city of portland in oregon. anti—fascist demonstrators held a counter—protest. although much of the city centre was brought to a standstill, no significant clashes have been reported. let's hear from two protesters — one from each side — speaking a little earlier. we came in. we just did a march, peacefully. we went in, planted our flag, came back out. and they're chasing us right now. it kind of shows you who's the thug, and who isn't. everyone hypes up as these bad guys, but we came in and trolled the hell out of everyone. but we had a good time, said a prayer, sang the national anthem, and then rolled out. it's not free speech, it is hate speech. and the people of this city are not going to take it. we will make sure that they know that they are going to get this response. but it will not be violent. we are going to march them out
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of this city until they stop coming back, because we are not going to stand for it. portland—based journalist alex zielinski has more on who attended the protests. in this particular protest there are a lot of protesters from across the country specifically to join in the far right protests which were organised by a national group called the proud boys. the man who organised it is actually based in florida. he's not very familiar with portland or portland politics. meanwhile, the left—leaning groups and the groups, the majority of them are from portland, and live in portland, and have been coming up to these protests to oppose our local alt—right and far—right groups for some time. riot police have cleared roads in hong kong after a standoff with pro—democracy protesters, as the political crisis in the city continues for an 11th week. earlier, thousands of teachers took to the streets in a peaceful show of solidarity. from hong kong, john sudworth reports.
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hong kong's summer rains have done nothing to dampen the fury. most of it directed at the police, now seen as agents of a hostile state by people who say they are fighting for this city's freedom. just a short drive away, china has stationed paramilitary police in the border city of shenzhen, designed, it seems, as a very visible and ominous warning. are you worried that china will send troops into hong kong? no, because if they do it, they have to pay for it. so we are not afraid for anything. on the other side of this deeply divided city, pro—beijing groups were rallying. they reject the claim that china is eroding hong kong's special status. and they support the police, who by nightfall were once again
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facing off against the pro—democracy protesters, and sweeping them from the streets. well, what began as a provocation by a small group of hard—core protesters has turned into this — a massive show of force by dozens of riot police, clearing a busy shopping street. it is a clear illustration of the intractable nature of hong kong's political crisis, and of the breakdown of trust on all levels. chanting. bystanders, drawn in by the scenes, also hurled abuse at the police. a once confident, outward—looking city trapped in a cycle of recrimination and bitterness. john sudworth, bbc news, hong kong. let's look at some other stories in brief. a massive fire has swept through one of dhaka's biggest slums, leaving more than 50,000 people homeless. officials in the bangladeshi capital say at least 15,000 shanty homes
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were destroyed in the blaze. the fire service says many had polythene roofs which helped the fire to spread. nearly 30 teenagers have been allowed to disembark on the italian island of lampedusa after more than two weeks at sea aboard the spanish rescue ship open arms. more than 100 migrants are still on the vessel. the italian interior minister, matteo salvini, said he would not back down in his refusal to let them into italy. a rally organised by the russian communist party has been held in moscow, calling for free and fair elections to the city's parliament next month. meanwhile, opposition activists held small one—man protests, in a move designed to circumvent restrictions by the authorities. a freak rainstorm in istanbul has left one man dead, traffic stranded, and roads and businesses underwater. the deluge also affected the historic grand bazaar, and temporarily halted ferry services between the european and asian parts of the city.
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john mcmanus reports. a massive rainstorm, and then the deluge. istanbul struggled to cope with saturday's downpour, as rainwater inundated streets and shops. the city's drains overwhelmed by the amount of water, which brought traffic to a standstill. businesses in this underpass were defenceless against the torrent. damage amounting to thousands of turkish lira done in the space of a few minutes. now, these workers must begin to assess the financial cost. traders in the ancient grand bazaar did not escape the water either. the only course of action — sweep it away. even structures adapted to water were vulnerable, like this sinking boat, transformed into a hazard
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by the floods. and, amidst the disruption, tragedy. the authorities say this homeless man was killed by the floodwaters. the rains have now stopped. now, the clean—up begins. john mcmanus, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @regedahmadbbc. you are watching bbc news. british detectives investigating the murder of a young police officer have been given an extra 36 hours to question ten suspects. 28—year—old pc andrew harper died of multiple injuries after he was dragged along by a vehicle while investigating a burglary. mr harper's family said they have been left devastated by his death. daniela relph reports. colleagues, friends and the local community all came today to pay tribute where police constable andrew harper lost his life. almost exactly a month ago to the day, pc harper was getting married.
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now, instead of heading off on honeymoon next week, his wife has to face life without him. a postmortem showed the police officer died from multiple injuries. detectives have also revealed they are still trying to establish why a call to investigate a burglary ended so tragically. the cause of death is consistent with our current belief that andrew was caught between the vehicle and the surface of a road, and then dragged for some distance. however, the circumstances as to how andrew came to be out of his vehicle and caught under the suspect vehicle are as yet unknown. the hunt for evidence has continued throughout the day. there have been extended road closures, widening the search area. but the police focus has been on the four houses corner caravan and mobile home site, run by the local authority in west berkshire and used
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by the travelling community. access to the area has been restricted as the team leading the murder inquiry take charge. the police have now also confirmed that within an hour of the incident on thursday night, they came to this caravan and mobile home site, and it was here that all ten people who are currently in custody were arrested. detectives now have until around midnight tomorrow to question the ten people being held. they are all male, aged between 13 and 30 years old. the death of pc harper has highlighted the dangers officers face in their everyday work. the police loss was today shared by other emergency services. a lot of people say we have sort of a dangerous job, but most of our opinions are that ourjob is nowhere near as dangerous or difficult as the police or ambulance service. the thames valley force has described this as a complex investigation, both
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a professional and personal challenge, as they try to solve the murder of a much—loved officer who was one of their own. daniela relph, bbc news, sulhamstead in berkshire. a 17—year—old has been charged with the murder of a lawyer who was stabbed with a screwdriver in newcastle on wednesday evening. peter duncan, who was 52, died after being attacked outside a shopping mall in the city centre. northumbria police say the teenager, who can't be named for legal reasons, will appear in court on monday. hundreds of mostly female protesters have taken to the streets of mexico city to demand justice for two teenage girls they say were raped by police. a 17—year—old girl accused four policemen of raping her in their patrol car, and a 16—year—old said a policeman raped her in a museum. during the protest a city police station was daubed in paint, glass doors were broken, and a fire started. the city's mayor said the cases needed to be investigated but condemned the protests. david agren is a journalist based in mexico city. he told us about the rally and who might have been behind the violence.
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these protest than to get going just spontaneously, they get going on social media and they tend to be very last minute. especially the women's one, they often don't have a lot of advance planning. part of that has to do with how these stories have unfolded. there tends to be multiple accusations and the responses on the authorities really let a lot of people unsatisfied. in the sense that, even though there has been a change of administration in mexico city, a female mare, a female prosecutor, the cases still aren't being treated with the seriousness that they should be. what is the larger picture of sex sexual assault in mexico city, is it unusualfor sexual assault in mexico city, is it unusual for police to be accused of assaulting girls? no, not at all. trust in police is very low in mexico. it's a mom the lowest —— it
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is one of the lowest. and there is often a saying in mexico that police jobs are given to people who can't get any other job. jobs are given to people who can't get any otherjob. so the training is also just get any otherjob. so the training is alsojust dismal. get any otherjob. so the training is also just dismal. what tends to happen is please just is also just dismal. what tends to happen is pleasejust aren't is also just dismal. what tends to happen is please just aren't the best —— the police, aren't the most responsive. and it isn't an unheard—of that the sexual assault committed by police occur. what tends to happen is that there are cases of sexual assaults that just are not treated properly, not investigated at all and that tends to bea investigated at all and that tends to be a question of culture, also the police just ten do not take this seriously. —— don't always take this seriously. —— don't always take this seriously. a lot of politicians here
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don't see it as some sort of crisis. these cases just go unsolved and i think that is what is really driving the protest this time. david agren there. this is bbc news. the headlines: a leaked government report has warned of shortages of fuel, food and medicines if britain leaves the eu without a deal on october 31st. a suicide bomber has targetted a wedding reception in kabul. officials say a number of people have been killed and injured. celebrations are continuing in sudan after military and civilian leaders signed a power sharing deal. it paves the way for a transitional government and, eventually, elections. it also marks the end of what has at times been a bloody process since the ousting of president omar al—bashir. zeinab badawi reports from khartoum. there can be no doubt that it is a historic day in sudan. there was a mood of optimism and hope amidst the celebrations.
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the ceremony, attended by visiting dignitaries, has taken months of closely fought negotiations between the military and leaders of the protest alliance. can you guarantee... the man who signed the agreement on behalf of the military told me that they're genuine about handing power to civilians. translation: we'll stick to every single letter we've agreed on. even without this agreement, we have to work in this direction because it's in the country's interest, it's not our interest. therefore, we'll carry out the agreement, we'll stick to it and support it. but there's still suspicion and mistrust of the military. today's deal comes after around 100 demonstrators were killed in khartoum injune when security supporters tried to disperse this sit—in.
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the violence has been blamed on the rapid support forces led by general hemeti, who has been described as "the most powerful man in sudan". he denies any involvement. on the streets today, some of the mistrust seemed to give way to hope. translation: we hope sudan can move forward so we can be proud of our country and forget about the guns and move towards peace. translation: protesters demanded civilian rule because they wanted a better life. today is a historic day for sudan and hopefully this deal will meet the demands that the revolution was based on. the military and civilians make for uneasy bedfellows, but for now it seems the sudanese people are giving the military the benefit of the doubt and are working with them together to create a new sudan. zeinab badawi, bbc news, khartoum.
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a rare marine dugong has died, one of the few hundred left in the region. it died from complications after swallowing plastic. she was just a baby when she was rescued, orphaned and stranded on a beach in the south of thailand. her rescue is named her mariam, lady of the sea. incredible images of the red dugong, a species of sea cow, went viral after she was seen nuzzling into marine biologists. he was nursed back to health before being released back to health before being released back into the sea. —— she was. but last week she was found sick and exhausted and couldn't be saved. vets conducted an autopsy finding she had died due to an infection after ingesting a great deal of plastic, with pieces as large as 20 centimetres long found inside her stomach. the vets who looked after
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her say they are devastated by the loss of the dugong who had been dubbed the nation's sweetheart. many have taken to social media to mourn the loss. thailand's department of coastal resources saying sleep well, little angel. the seaweed and seagrass research unit saying you we re seagrass research unit saying you were a conservation superstar. it's heartbreaking to see you die by the people's neglect towards the environment. we are all guilty as each throne plastic bag, straw, and bottle is killing an animal somewhere. her bottle is killing an animal somewhere . her rescue bottle is killing an animal somewhere. her rescue was echoing that coal urging people to take responsibility for their waste and hoping mariam's death won't be in vain. kate harley, bbc news. surfing will make its olympic debut in tokyo next year, but you don't need a surfboard to start riding the waves. the uk bodysurfing championships are approaching, so we sent mike bushell to have a go.
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surf's up off the cornish coast. but as we swooped down, you might notice something is missing. where are the surfboards? for once, it's time to leave those on the shore and rely solely on body power. it's the original form of surfing, the one that was around long before we had the luxury of boards. it is just you and the waves. and, 0k, it is just you and the waves. and, ok, flippers to give me a little bit of extra power. but that is it. the art of body surfing. pete connolly is one of the originals. he's been body surfing since he was 11. he's now 7a. you are in touch with nature. it's just wonderful to be in the ocean with nature. to me, it is much better than being on a board, it is just you and the waves.
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it's a thrilling experience, and a word of warning, it's a drug. and the most important thing is to get the most important thing is to get the timing right, that's really crucial. it's developed with hand boards which are used in certain competitions to give you extra speed, power and, street cred. and also these colourful hats to make it more visual as a spectator sport. so you can see me disappearing under the waves. now, the hand glove gives you the control to get started, and although i didn't get all the way to the beach, i did begin to feel liberated, albeit at times i may have looked like a teletubbie
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in a washing machine. i like the freedom. that you can swim out, you don't have a board, it's just you and the sea. it's amazing. i find with a board, itjust gets in the way. it's fun to just duck under the waves. it's just a closer connection to the water that you've got. it's a different experience and i know i sound lazy, but it is a bit easier to run down to the beach and have a pair of fins and one of these. although, i do love surfing, it'sjust different. it's just, yeah, just a different connection. and with the uk championship taking place in the next month, dozens of athletes will be attempting to surf their way to various trophies, some with the hand gloves, others with nothing but their own steam. it's great that we can do the way we like. it's a bit more extreme that way. you can do better manoeuvres that way. offshore winds help. ah, so there obviously wasn't enough offshore wind for me. let's just sit back and enjoy the ride knowing why the uk's best. mike bushell, bbc news.
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lovely, something to try. let's check on the latest weather prospects now with chris fawkes. hello there. yes, some so as to the north—west of the uk and today we've got more of the same. if anything the showers get even more widespread. that's thanks to an area of low pressure sending the showers in across northern ireland and scotland. this wavy weather front is going to bring cloudy skies and the threat of a bit of rain over the next few hours, grabbing into the southern parts of england and working into parts of the south—eastern media east anglia as well. so there could be a bit of rainfora time well. so there could be a bit of rain for a time here but certainly some wet weather for scotland and northern ireland, so is becoming more spread over the next few hours as well, into western parts of wales is of note is going to be a busy start to sunday, not particularly cold, temperatures around 12— a0 celsius for many of us. as for the rest of sunday, early morning rain clears away really quickly across south—east england and east anglia motels getting into hours in the
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south—west pushed the rain across wales and across england as well. so nowhere's immune from seeing downpours, it's just that the heaviest showers willow is the across scotland, northern ireland, northern parts of england north of wales, that is whether showers are really going to be quite widespread. of them probably with a rumble or two of thunder. 16 in edinburgh, a cooler kind of day, still around 22 in southern england. now to sunday night and into monday, showers continue to affect north—western areas, but the area of low pressure in charges going to continue to slowly push its way eastwards and that means as we ate into monday itself, the low will be working towards norway. occlusion is coming down and increasingly north—westerly winds. after refinance only start on the day, the showers get going on
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monday, scotland and northern ireland have showers merging to give some lengthier spells of rain. temperature is disappointing, 1a for stornoway and lerwick, getting cooler with 17 in belfast. but, that is the coolest of the weather, in the week ahead temperatures start to recover. the wind started to turn into a more south—westerly direction on tuesday, still some cloud and rain around, you'll notice, but many areas up rain around, you'll notice, but many areas up to 21. julia finn lerwick, 12 degrees on tuesday. —— just 12. 20 in edinburgh, similar temperatures in belfast, we could reach 26 in london next weekend.
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this is bbc news. the headlines: britain will face shortages of fuel, food and medicine if it leaves
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the european union without a transition deal, jamming ports and requiring a hard border in ireland. that is according to official government documents leaked to the sunday times newspaper. there has been an explosion at a wedding reception in the afghan capital, kabul. dozens of people are reported to have been killed. eyewitnesses say the blast was caused by a suicide bomber inside the packed hall. no—one has admitted carrying out the attack. hundreds of far—right supporters, some of them wearing body armour and helmets, have held a rally in the western us city of portland, while anti—fascist protestors demonstrated against them. a line of police separated the two sides and no significant clashes have been reported. now on bbc news: dateline london.

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