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tv   BBC News  BBC News  August 18, 2019 4:00pm-4:31pm BST

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take care, up in many spots as well. take care, goodbye. this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa barak. the headlines: the man in charge of planning for a "no—deal" brexit, michael gove, says leaked documents showing shortages of goods and medicine are out of date. 100,000 people hold demonstrations in hong kong for the 11th week running. kent police continue the search for six—year—old lucas dobson, who's missing after he fell into the river stour. the muslim convert known asjihadijack, who travelled to syria to join so—called islamic state, has been stripped of his british citizenship. and a glacier in iceland goes from this to this. the country holds a ceremony to mourn the first one to be lost because of climate change. and england
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take an early wicket in their hunt for victory in the second ashes test. and in half an hour bbc newsbeat follows three mps to canada — the only g7 country to fully legalise cannabis — on a fact—finding mission to decide whether britain should do the same. the cabinet office minister, michael gove, has said "very significant" steps have been taken in the past three weeks to prepare for a no—deal brexit. he was responding to leaked government documents that warn of food and medicine shortages if the uk leaves
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without an agreement. mr gove, the minister in charge for preparations for a "no—deal" brexit, said the government plans, known as ‘0peration yellowhammer‘, were for "a worst—case scenario, and the government has taken very significant steps in the last three weeks to accelerate brexit planning". 0ur political correspondent mark lobel reports. borisjohnson has been getting his message out on law and order, the nhs and no deal preparations. this week he will enter the international stage meeting europe's top two power brokers, but without a deal in sight. he wants them to know parliament won't stop brexit and this weekend again warned mps from doing that. writing, "the so—called efforts to prevent no deal are in fact making no deal more likely." but today's sunday times leak of classified documents showing their contingency plans for a no deal make for painful reading.
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a risk the country should not be taken, according to a former head of the civil service who now advises labour and has called for a second brexit referendum. part of serving the government of the day is to give them honest advice of the risks. in my personal view, these risks are completely insane for this country to be taking. in the cabinet office document written in the past month it shows plans to avoid a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland are unlikely to prove sustainable. and it predicts freight disruption at ports caused by customs checks that could impact the supply of fresh food and some medicines. 0ne brexiteer this morning was keen to play down its significance. i think there's a lot of scaremongering around and a lot of people are playing into project fear and all the rest of it. we've got to prepare for no deal, in fact, the previous prime minister created dexeu and said the mandate of it last year, last summer was to prepare for no deal. to avoid a no—deal brexit labour pledge a vote of no confidence
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when mps return in a fortnight which could usher in a jeremy corbyn led unity government. he is absolutely doing the right thing to avert this no—deal brexit that we have said in our manifesto, that we have said time and time again in the house of commons, and other political parties have committed to. the only way to do that is to get behind jeremy corbyn. that such bitter political divisions exist will make borisjohnson‘s task in europe only more difficult. and mark has been giving tell me more about the significance of michael gove‘s reaction to the leaked government document. he was making that point saying we do not normally comment on leaks, but on this and he wanted to set the record straight. he said it was the worst—case scenario, he did not deny the details of what was in the document. he also said that since they had been in power, the new administration the last three weeks, has picked a billion extra into no
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deal preparations. the picture we're getting from number ten, telling the bbc that this is really a handover note from the previous government to the new government. but it still begs a lot of questions. for example, the province of the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland not be by money. it's not a financial problem, as such. not was handed over three weeks ago, so it is still waiting for many people if this is the worst—case scenario. for many people if this is the worst-case scenario. there is more pressure being put on borisjohnson, 100 mp5 pressure being put on borisjohnson, 100 mps in this latter looking for a recall of parliament. that is right, many mpc this is a national emergency and a knock on a crisis, the jaggery from things each in that document. they would like parliament sitting as soon as possible every day until the 31st of october. 0ne of the cheap people behind this, the labourmp, of the cheap people behind this, the labour mp, spoke to the news channel earlier. parliament is at the centre of our democracy and has been for thousands of years, that is the
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crucible of farage as safe should be there and be able to hold the government to account, be able to parcels and question ministers. the moment does mackay think most people, whatever the reason backs, will find that an external situation. it is not tenable and potentially not given some of the extraordinary comments.” potentially not given some of the extraordinary comments. i do not think that is likely to happen, but they will be setting in a couple of weeks' time that i think the point there is that borisjohnson will face a lot of opposition from the labour party. they want to a vote of no confidence in their calls for legislation to be part that they can get a three. all of which suggest that the eu, he is meeting this week, mightjust. that the eu, he is meeting this week, might just. a that the eu, he is meeting this week, mightjust. a bit and wait until all of that is passed before they re—engage in negotiations. that is something the prime minister must change their mind about, but with comments like that, it is unlikely to. more than a 100,000 people have taken part in the latest rally in hong kong, against what the protestors see
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as attempts by china to undermine the city's autonomy. this is the scene live in hong kong at the moment. the protests began 11 weeks ago and have at times been violent, but today's gathering has been peaceful. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonell has been following the protests in hong kong today. there was a big push on to make this weekend a much more peaceful one in terms of rallies. a large part of the city, at least on the island, has been caught up in this enormous demonstration despite the heavy, driving rain, hundreds and thousands of people have turned out. here, this is people coming back into victoria park. when i say back in, potentially for the first time coming to victoria park. if we swing around here, you can see this is the direction of the park. we have had the situation where the park has been full once and then people left the park, and it's filled up yet again.
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so, this is the second shift. i guess you can put it that way. it does give you an idea of the number of people who will turn out here if a protest is going to be peaceful. it was given permission, this is a legally approved rally that the authorities said it is ok. they didn't give permission for a march, butjust by virtue of the sheer numbers, people have had to pour out of the park and into the streets around it because it couldn't take that many people. as i say, for many blocks back from the park, several kilometres between here and central, the streets have been full and the park has also been full. and it is a vote of confidence, i guess you could say, in the more peaceful way in terms of the pro—democracy movement. the more radical elements, they can turn out a few thousand, maybe 10,000 at best,
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but this has been a really huge gathering here today in favour of democracy and yesterday we had a pro—beijing rally, which seemed pretty big. maybe there was 100,000 people there at best. it is hard to say how many were here today, it feels to me about ten times the size though, given the huge disruption to the city with so many people. underground train stations have had to close because they were just jammed with people trying to reach the rally point. roads have also been blocked. people have had to go off walking, using the road to leave because public transport had to shut down. they have tried to get some momentum going in terms of their call for democracy, in terms of their call for an independent public enquiry into the police force and if anyone
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thought the steam was coming out of this, well, this just shows it hasn't. i think there is a long way to go yet before this crisis is over and perhaps this is just the way things will be from now on in hong kong. the islamic state group has claimed responsibility for the bomb attack at a wedding in afghanistan on saturday. 63 people were killed — and nearly 200 others were injured in the suicide bombing in the capital, kabul. the taliban has condemned the attack — but afghanistan's president ghani, said on sunday, that the taliban could not absolve themselves of blame — as they provide a platform for terrorists. this is the aftermath inside the wedding hall. it had been packed with people celebrating a marriage in a minority shi'ite neighbourhood in the west of the city. eyewitnesses said the bomber detonated his device in the men's reception area. translation: i was in the kitchen, and was coming to the hall
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when i heard the huge sound. my ears couldn't hear anything, and there were lots of injured people. everybody was running away. several of our waiters were killed or injured. most of the victims were men or boys. the injured taken to hospitals across the city. there were so many, they were crowded into corridors. people rushing to the hospital trying to find missing relatives. translation: i was in the wedding party when the blast occurred. it was very powerful, and the situation was terrible. i saw many children and people hurt. these wedding halls have become big business in kabul as the afghan economy slowly picks up and families spend more on celebrations. but they are seen as soft targets. last november, at least a0 people were killed at a wedding in kabul. the attack came as the taliban and the united states are trying to negotiate an agreement on the withdrawal of us forces
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from afghanistan in exchange for a taliban commitment on security and peace talks with the us—backed government. richard forrest, bbc news. the search has resumed for a missing six—year—old boy — after he fell into the river stour, near the town of sandwich, yesterday. lucas dobson was fishing with family members when he slipped into the water. specialist diving teams and emergency services are being supported by a large group of public volunteers in the search. our correspondent simon jones is in sandwich. lucas fell into the water just after one o'clock yesterday afternoon. so, he has now been missing for more than 24—hour. this is how we understand the sequence of events, he was just upstream there and at one point he was going to step from the jetty into a fishing boat. he was with family members, but he fell between the gap between the jetty and the fishing boat. he disappeared into the water. four adultsjumped in after him,
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including his father. but they could find no trace of him. so, they, of course, alerted the emergency services and that has prompted a huge response was we had police, fire service and coastguard and the lifeboat or involved in this. plus, volunteers and we have seen boats coming up and down the river looking for clues. people searching through the undergrowth here, which is quite thick, just trying to find any trace of lucas. his family, for them, it has been a desperately burning time and we have been speaking to his aunt about how —— a desperately worrying time. i think the not knowing is the hardest bit. you do not know, i am personally not trying to think about it. i am not accepting it yet. because we cannot find him, i tell myself that he got out and he is lost, he is looking for us. he is wandering around, wondering where we are.
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that is what i'm telling myself. because to think that my little nephew is still in the river isjust too much to think about. huge uncertainty for the family. they said they have taken comfort from the fact that hundreds of people from the local community have come out. they have been walking the river bank looking for any traces of the six—year—old. so far, nothing has been found, but people have been telling me that they just want to do something. they are also anxious, they are working in pairs and try to find any sort of clues. but the reality is time is going on and hope must be fading. superintendent amanda tillotson, at kent police, has been descibing the search operation. this is a massive operation and firstly i would like to say that my thoughts go out to the family of lucas.
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this is an awful and tragic incident, but obviously we will work hard to find a quick resolution and find him as quickly as we can. this is a massive operation with various different agencies, both emergency services and volunteers. they are all working extremely hard to find lucas. the headlines on bbc news... the man in charge of planning for a no—deal brexit, michael gove, says leaked documents showing shortages of goods and a hard border with ireland are out of date and are worst case scenarios. 100,000 people are gathering in hong kong for more pro—democracy protests for the eleventh week running. the search continues for six—year—old lucas dobson, who's missing after he fell into the river stour in kent. sport and a full round up,
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from the bbc sport centre. the chase is on in the ashes. final day of the second ashes test is set for an excellent afternoon after england declared on 258—5 in their second innings. that was a lead of 266 for england. ben stokes top scored on 115 not out. austrralia have 48 overs to make their target of 267. archer has got to work already the important wicket for just five runs. he has also taken another wicket meaning australia are on 24—2. their target is 267. the australia batsman steve smith is not involved in today's action. he was ruled out after diagnosed with concussion. smith was hit on the neck by a ball delivered by england'sjofra archer yesterday and was forced to retire
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hurt but passed concussion tests and returned to bat. tests this morning though showed "some deterioration", according to cricket australia. i would obviously love to be out there trying to keep performing and try and help australia when another test match, but the right decision has been made and i will obviously be monitored by closely over the next the days, with a pretty quick turnaround in between test matches. iam turnaround in between test matches. i am hopeful that i can make a recovery and to be ok for that. sheffield united have won their first home game in many years. they remain unbeaten after they drew with bournemouth last week. today's second game to chelsea take on leicester city in frank lampard's first home game as manager. that kicks off in ten minutes' time.
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john swift grabbed the third goal on the counterattack. 3—0 to reading in that game. the quarter final line up for the scottish league cup will be completed today with the final two games being played this afternoon. ranger's are leading 1—nil at league one side, east fife. jermiane defoe on the score sheet for the premiership team. dannyjohnson gave dundee the lead over aberdeen just before half time in the day's other game. impressive line up at atheltics's birmingham grand prix with 10 reigning olympic champions involved. dean asher smith was beaten. asher smith did get the better of the two—time ellerby champion and the brett mother running above the 100
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and 200 metres at next month's brown championships in doha. in the man's 100 metres the former world champion just pipped great britain's runner ina time just pipped great britain's runner in a time of 10.07 seconds. he was the only british man to make it to the only british man to make it to the final, which will host next weekend's british championships. england's women have won their opening game at the eurohockey championships in antwerp. they beat ireland 2—1, giselle ansley‘s drag flick giving them their second goal. england's next match is tomorrow against germany, who thrashed belarus 13—nil. today's super league games are mainly focused on the bottle of the table. huddersfield are in tenth place, on the same place...
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both of those games are at the start of the second half now. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. nearly £70,000 has been raised to support the family and widow of a police officer who was killed while investigating a report of a burglary in berkshire on thursday. pc andrew harper, was 28 and newly married. the police are questioning 10 men and boys on suspicion of murder. daniela relph reports. three days after the death of pc andrew harper the chauffer evidence goes on. at the place he died, tributes continued to be left. some from those who knew and loved him and others from those just moved by his death. head of the legal team game today footballers and collea g u es game today footballers and colleagues of pc harper stood in silence in tribute to the fallen police officer. this time last month
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pc harbour was getting married. he and his wife were due to go on the honeyman speak. in churches across the thames valley prayers were said to the police officer and his family. at the church closest to his parishioners have left messages on a per book. as you would expect, probably around every church in the country, there are prayers left for andrew harper and his family, the hall police community, those working ona hall police community, those working on a case. it must be terrible for them. they are naturally held in prayer and i am sure we are just one church at many around the country where that would betray. the focus of the police investigation is centred on a local caravan site. run by the local authority induced by the travelling community. ten people we re the travelling community. ten people were arrested here at police remain on site. access to the area is
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restricted. the police federation has set up a place for donations in recognition of pc harbour‘s sacrifice. now way beyond its original target, the harbour family will decide how the money is spent. the thames valley force of this is a compact murder enquiry. there is to establish high—quality a burglary led to the death of one of its own officers. —— a complex murder enquiry. michael gove, the cabinet minister in charge of planning for a no—deal brexit, has dismissed fears over the leak of a civil service document warning of shortages of food and medicine in the event of britain leaving the bloc without an agreement. this is what he had to say. for shortages, field shortages, and workable plans for the irish border, this is a pretty bleak picture. workable plans for the irish border, this is a pretty bleak picturelj think it is important to be like in
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contacts think it is important to be like in co nta cts of think it is important to be like in contacts of the document that has appeared today. operation yellowhammer is the name the government has given it is planning for the absolute worst—case. it is also important to recognise that this is an all document, but since it was published and circulated, the government have taken significant additional steps changer we are prepared to leave the eu deal or no deal. how much could have changed since borisjohnson took over four weeks ago? i think it is important to recognise that any prudent government will always plan for the absolute worst—case. but it is also important to recognise that in the last three weeks there has been a significant acceleration of what we have been doing. in the days and weeks to come, we will be making sure that everyone in the country is prepared they can be. of course there are challenges in living without a deal, but are also opportunities if we have left with a clea n opportunities if we have left with a clean break. they're not any new significance of the irish border,
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they still and workable? it is the case that the uk government has been clear that we will not pick up any infrastructure at the border. there is no return to hard but if we will have a system of very limited checks. simply by international law requires it. so we are not going to ensure that there any impediments in the irish border. what the european union decide, well, that is a matter for them. that is very well, but this document suggest that as unworkable. it is the case that we will ensure that we have a system in place that ensures there's no need for any of the structure of the body. of course, we want a deal. we believe it is entirely possible to secure a table at the european union by october the 31st. one of the things that stands in the way of securing a deal on the actions by some in the house of commons who wa nt to some in the house of commons who want to try to frustrate the government was not plans for departure in october the 31st. this and everybody recognises that we are leading on that day, the quicker we can move to a deal, which not only
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safeguards and open border in northern ireland, but also safeguards the uk's economy and security and in particular safeguards the eu's economy and security. that was michael gove speaking a short time ago. a ceremony is being held at the top of an extinct volcano in iceland, to mark the loss of the first glacier to be wiped out by climate change. it once spilled from the crater, but photographs taken from space show just how rapidly the glacier disappeared. as recently as the 1980s, it showed up as a mass of solid white. by 2014, it was declared dead. a plaque has been made to tell future generations that only they will know if enough was done to save other glaciers from climate change. the muslim convert known asjihadijack, who joined the islamic state group as a teenager, has had his british
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citizenship revoked, the bbc understands. jack letts was 18, when he left his oxfordshire home in 2014 to travel tojoin fighters in raqqa. the decision was reportedly made by sajid javid when he was home secretary. the home office declined to comment on the case. our correspondent charlotte gallagher said that by revoking his citizenship, the government had effectively passed responsibility forjack letts to the canadians. he was just a teenager when he left to join islamic state fighters in syria. he was 18 years old in 2014. now, in 2017 he was captured by kurdish forces and was put in a kurdish prison, where he remains. his parents have always been supportive of him, not his decision, obviously, to fight the islamic state forces. but they were incredibly worried about him and actually sent him money. in june they were convicted of sending money for terrorism, essentially. they were given a suspended sentence.
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in a series of interviews jack has said that he wanted to return to britain, but he realised that he probably would not be able to, because of what he had done in syria. now we have heard that the british government has stripped him of his british citizenship. we understand it was one if the last acts of theresa may's government, to strip him of that. this is different to the case of one of the schoolgirls from london who left to join fighters in syria, but of the isis brides as she became known. she is challenging that decision in court. her citizenship strips, but she only has british citizenship. under international law it is illegal to leave somebody stateless. jack, his dad is canadian, which means that though he has lost his british citizenship, he still has his canadian one. so, he could go there. essentially, by taking his british passport away from him the british government has made him canada's problem for the future.
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if he ever is let out of this prison. now it's time for a look at the weather with phil avery. hello, once again. if you've heard the description of the weather as sunshine and showers once, you've probably heard it 100 times this weekend but that's the truth of the matter. certainly things have improved across southern counties of britain after an early spell of rain but it's low pressure that's still dominating and in that flow, occasionally, we just gang those showers up to get the odd longer spell of rain. i think that's more likely to be the case across the northern half of the british isles as we conclude proceedings today and push on into the wee small hours of monday. with all the breeze around and a fair bit of cloud as well, not a cold night in prospect by any means at all, although if the skies do clear for any length of time, as was the case last night, we may get down to around eight or 9 degrees. what news of monday? i think again sunny spells and showers but the showers perhaps, a bit more widely spread. a better chance therefore of some sunshine so late in the day, it willjust drag another mass
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of cloud, perhaps more in the way of extended rain spells into the north—west quarter of scotland and eventually that will slump its way towards northern ireland. hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines: the man in charge of planning for a no—deal brexit — michael gove — says leaked documents showing shortages of goods and a hard border with ireland — are out of date and worst case scenarios. this is an old document that since it was published and circulated, the government has taken significant additional steps to make sure we are prepared to leave on october the sist prepared to leave on october the 31st deal no deal. a hundred thousand people are gathering in hong kong for more pro—democracy protests for the eleventh week running kent police name the boy who's missing after he fell
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into the river stour as six—year old lucas dobson. thousands of people are left homeless after a massive fire swept through a crowded slum in the bangladesh capital, dhaka. reports suggest the muslim convert known asjihadi jack — who travelled to syria to join so—called islamic state — has been stripped of his british citizenship. now on bbc news? ca nada's legalised cannabis, but could britain do the same? in this special documentary, three mps go on a trip to canada to find out how legalising the drug has worked. and a warning — this programme contains adult themes. you could go to prison for a very long time in britain if you've got anything like this. there's been a big shift in attitudes to cannabis in the past few years. our current laws are a disaster. you might remember billy caldwell. his mum fought for him to get access to cannabis oil to help with his severe epilepsy.

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