tv BBC News BBC News August 18, 2019 7:00pm-7:31pm BST
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this is bbc news. the headlines at 7: the government says it's ready for a no deal brexit after claims there could be food, medicine and fuel shortages. ministers say the leaked details don't reflect current plans. this is an old document. since it was published and circulated, the government have taken significant additional steps to ensure that we are prepared to leave on october the 31st, deal or no deal. the search continues for six—year—old lucas dobson who's missing after he fell into the river stour. tens of thousands of protesters have ta ken to the streets of hong kong for the 11th week running. funerals are held for the 63 people killed in a suicide attack
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at an afghan wedding. the islamic state group has claimed repsonsibility. a glacier in iceland goes from this to this, as the country holds a ceremony to mourn the first one to be lost to climate change. and england continue to take australian wickets at lord's, in search of victory in the second test of the ashes. we'll bring you the latest at half—seven. the government says the uk is more prepared than ever for the country to leave the european union without a deal after a leaked document outlining the potential negative impacts was published in a sunday newspaper. the report from the cabinet office
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warns of food, medicine and fuel shortages, and suggests a return to a hard irish border is all but inevitable. the man in charge of planning for a no deal brexit, michael gove, acknowledged there might be some short—term problems, but said the report is a worst case scenario and out of date. borisjohnson is preparing to meet european leaders this week to make his case for a new brexit deal. here's our political correspondent nick eardley. it has been the mantra of boris johnson's government. .. come out of the eu on october the sist, no ifs or buts. we need to get brexit done. we have to leave the eu on october the 315t. so far, though, europe has remained adamant, the brexit deal will not change. so this week, the prime minister will take his case to berlin and paris to tell two of the eu's most influential leaders things have got to change.
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number ten thinks the chance of a breakthrough is slim. expectation management, but the pm knows he needs to make progress soon or the uk will be facing a no deal exit. this morning, the sunday times published a leaked government document looking at what that might mean. on the food supply... critical elements of the food supply chain may be in short supply. on plans to keep the irish border open. the model is likely to prove unsustainable because of economic, legal and bio—security risks. michael gove is the minister in charge of getting the government ready for no deal. this is an old document. since it was published and circulated the government have taken significant additional steps to make sure we are prepared to leave on october the 31st, deal or no deal. do you accept there could be food and fuel shortages in a no deal scenario? it is the case, as everyone knows, that if we do have a no deal exit there will inevitably be some disruption, some bumps in the road. numberten, meanwhile, is furious. a source accused an unnamed former
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minister of leaking this document to try and influence talks with europe. but for opponents of no deal, those tory rebels and opposition mps convinced it would be a disaster, leaks like this are confirmation that their worst fears could become a reality. this isn't project fear, this is project reality. what we have seen revealed in the sunday times today sets out that we could be here in 2019 with shortages of food, shortages of fuel and shortages of medicine. the next few weeks will be crucial in determining whether no deal becomes reality. the brexit process is reaching a crunch point and nobody knows for sure what will happen. rescue teams are continuing to search for a six—year—old boy who fell into the river stour in kent. lucas dobson disappeared near the town of sandwich yesterday afternoon while fishing. simonjones has the latest.
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searching the river stour for a little boy who hasn't been seen since yesterday lunchtime. it's thought lucas dobson fell into the water as he was stepping onto a fishing boat. his father and two other people jumped in after him, but the current swept lucas away. i am not accepting it yet because we can't find him. i tell myself he got out and he's lost, he's looking for us. he's wandering around, wondering where we are. that's what i'm telling myself because to think my little nephew is still in the river is too much to think about. the coastguard, the lifeboat, the police and the fire service have all been involved in the search, plus hundreds of volunteers from the local community who have heard about what happened and have come out to walk the length of the river bank desperate to help. we are sticking together, i think if i was in the family's situation i would expect people to help me out as well.
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you just want a good outcome really, don't you? bless him. the police say they are determined to provide answers for the family. we are working extremely well together, we've got the best kit and equipment, we've got the best skilled, trained personnel out there looking for lucas and i can't say enough how much we are looking to get a quick resolution to this. lucas's family have thanked everyone who has joined the search. their message — we just want our boy back. simonjones, bbc news, sandwich. organisers say 1.7 million people have taken part in the latest mass demonstrations in hong kong. the protests began 11 weeks ago, against what some see as attempts by beijing to undermine the territory's autonomy. today's gathering was peaceful, as our china correspondent john sudworth reports. beneath an ocean of colour, hong kong raised its voice again. chanting
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everywhere you looked, there were umbrellas, held aloft in a massive display of defiance. why are you marching today? for hong kong. for hong kong, of course. yeah, freedom. yes. it's a far cry from this, the violent scenes at hong kong's airport earlier this week, which some thought risked undermining public support. the turnout today was seen as a vital test. given the monsoon conditions, this sea of umbrellas will be seen as confirmation that the pro—democracy movement is farfrom losing momentum. warnings from china also appear to be having little effect. shortly before the rally, the authorities released new footage of troops rehearsing crowd control techniques just across the border. in much of the city, away from the protests, in working—class neighbourhoods
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like this one, there is the appearance of normality. but opinion is deeply divided. "of course it's not good," this woman tells me. "hong kong's a mess." this man says he supports the protests, but he has a pessimistic view about the likelihood of success. "it's in xijinping's hands," he tells me. "the communist party is so strong, it's up to them." this is a spontaneous movement, a mass acting as one with no real leaders. on the one hand, sheer weight of numbers, on the other, an uncompromising government and no end in sight. john sudworth, bbc news, hong kong. gibraltar has rejected a request by the united states to again seize an iranian oil tanker that it had
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been holding sincejuly on suspicion of transporting oil to syria. the gibraltar government lifted its detention order on thursday. it said it could not seek a new order based on washington's request because us sanctions against iran did not apply in the eu. 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 says the taliban cannot absolve themselves of blame as they provide a platform for terrorists. richard forrest reports. 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.
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translation: i was in the kitchen, and was coming to the hall 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
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to negotiate an agreement on the withdrawal of us forces from afghanistan in exchange for a taliban commitment on security and peace talks with the us—backed government. richard forrest, bbc news. a muslim convert who joined the islamic state group as a teenager has had his british citizenship revoked. jack letts, known asjihadi jack, was 18 when he left his oxfordshire home in 2014 to travel to join fighters in raqqa. the government's decision was reportedly made by sajid javid when he was home secretary. the home office have declined to comment on the case, but canada have issued a statement responding to the news:
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more than £78,000 has been raised by well—wishers 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 ten men and boys on suspicion of murder. daniela relph reports. three days after the death of pc andrew harper and the trawl for evidence goes on. at the place where he died, tributes continue to be left, some from those who knew and loved him, others from those just moved by his death. ahead of local team reading's game against cardiff today, footballers and colleagues of pc harper stood in silence, in tribute to the fallen police officer.
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this time last month, pc harper was getting married. he and his wife were due to go on honeymoon next week. in churches across the thames valley, prayers were said for the police officer and his family, and at the church closest to his home, parishioners have left messages in a prayer book. as you would expect, probably around every church in the country there are prayers left for andrew harper, his family, the police, the whole police community, those working on the case. it must be terrible for them. they are naturally held in prayer and i am sure we are just one church out of many around the country where that will be true. the focus of the police investigation is centred on a local caravan site run by the local authority and used by the travelling community. ten people were arrested here, and police remain on site. access to the area is restricted. the police federation has set up a page for donations in recognition
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of pc harper's sacrifice. now way beyond its original target, the harper family will decide how the money is spent. the thames valley force say this is a complex murder enquiry. their priority is to establish how a call—out to a burglary led to the death of one of its own officers. health workers in glasgow say an outbreak of hiv among the homeless and drug users in the city is now the most serious in the uk since the 1980s. the bbc has learnt that at least 157 cases have been confirmed in the last four years. our scotland editor, sarah smith, has been given exclusive access to the first street project in the uk carrying out rapid hiv tests in glasgow. just one tiny drop of blood can test who's been infected by the rapidly spreading outbreak
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of hiv in glasgow. so, i'lljust put this in here, ok, and if it's one line, it means there is no hiv antibodies in the blood, and if it is two lines it means there is, but we we'll just sit that aside for now... injust minutes, robbie gets the news he'd hoped to hear. i'm pleased to tell you there is one line, which means you don't have hiv. sleeping rough and injecting drugs, he knows he is at high risk of infection. so, robbie says he always takes care to get clean needles, available free from various chemists and charities. do you know people that do share needles? aye. if you can get your money to get drugs, get drugs, you can get the right paraphernalia to handle the drugs. it's not hard, you know what i mean. waverley care in glasgow are the first and only team anywhere in the uk taking hiv testing onto the streets.
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hi, it is marrie here at waverley care... they gave us an exclusive look at their attempts to reach hi, it is marrie here at waverley care... they gave us an exclusive look at their attempts to reach the growing homeless population in glasgow. everybody seems to know someone with hiv, but weren't aware of the outbreak. everybody seems to know someone with hiv, but weren't aware of the outbreak. the numbers, they may be aware of one or two, in their close circle of friends, but not aware of the potential hundred—plus that is connected to glasgow city centre who are hiv—positive. widespread hiv testing, trying to identify everyone who is infected, could help to contain the outbreak. but at the moment, the really worrying thing is that the spread of the infection in glasgow seems to be rapidly escalating, with around a 100% increase in new cases this year so far. this man is a heroin addict who manages his hiv with prescription medication. when he was first diagnosed, though, he was terrified the infection would be fatal. i tried to overdose,
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as i was sliding down a wall, somebody touched me on the shoulder and ijumped up. so, that saved my life. why is there such a bad outbreak of it in glasgow? you see, the people that's got it, i think that they're not telling... i think they're not telling people that they've got it and they're letting them use their needles. living on the streets with hiv is not easy. not everyone takes their medication every day — not when heroin is a higher priority. that's why halting the spread of infection is so urgent and so difficult. sarah smith, bbc news, glasgow. 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. the search continues for 6—year—old lucas dobson, who's missing after he fell
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into the river stour in kent. 100,000 people are gathering in hong kong for more pro—democracy protests for the 11th week running. thousands of people in bangladesh have been left homeless, after a huge fire in a crowded slum in the bangladeshi capital, dhaka, on friday. officials say more than 1,200 shanty homes were destroyed in the blaze. it took several hours to douse the flames. many of the structures had polythene roofs which helped the fire to spread. shahnaz parveen reports from dhaka. (tx chard corrugated tin, the remains of furnitures, melted utensils, burnt television sets, mattresses. all items that were once precious possessions, now worthless. a short walk around and all you see is devastation. people are frantically rummaging through blackened objects,
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desperately trying to salvage whatever they can find. some just sit there with an empty look on theirfaces. others are distraught. translation: i have nothing. i went with my son to my village and now i see nothing is left. everything has burnt to ashes. i have not got any help from anybody. for the last two days, we've had no food. we have lost everything, we have nothing left. it's better to kill us, no—one is helping us. it took just a few hours for a raging fire to destroy an entire slum. the residents are mostly garment factory workers, domestic workers or rickshaw pullers. it could have been worse. there were no deaths. many were away in villages celebrating eid. the government says it is investigating what caused the fire and providing rice and compensation to those affected.
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these families have been given shelter in a local school. fires in factories and slums are common in bangladesh. at least 25 people were killed in march when a fire broke out in a high—rise building in the banani district of the capital. shahnaz parveen, bbc news. the opposition in sudan, which signed a landmark power sharing deal with military leaders a day ago, has chosen the five people it wants to be part of a sovereign council. it's due to be sworn in on monday, to help pave the way for a transitional government and, eventually, elections. a shortage of intravenous feed supplies has been declared a national emergency incident by health chiefs and affects hundreds of patients across england. the situation is so serious the nhs is considering importing supplies from other countries to meet the needs of patients who depend on them. alison freeman reports. it's a painstaking process that
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michelle has to go through every day just to stay alive. she has intestinal failure, and gets no benefits from eating or drinking like most other people. instead, these liquid packs provide all of her nutrients, calories and hydration directly into her bloodstream. it's life—sustaining for me. without it, ijust couldn't survive. so it's extremely important that we get this nutrition. it's called tpn, total parenteral nutrition. but at the end ofjune, the supply to michelle and more than 500 people like her in england and wales became unreliable. that's because the company that makes it, calea, was told by the medicines regulator to change its manufacturing process immediately. the change slowed the process so much, calea couldn't meet demand. michelle has had to supplement the erratic supplies with replacements not tailored to her needs, and her health has been suffering. last week i actually lost
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four pounds in two days. i suffered with cramping in my hands and feet and calf muscles. a lot of headaches and numbness and tingling in my hands. the manufacturer, calea, should have been following guidelines which were introduced in 2015. calea was inspected two years later in 2017 by the medicines watchdog the mhra, but no changes were enforced. the watchdog told us it was the company's responsibility to meet regulatory requirements. but injune of this year, calea was inspected again. this time they were told to implement the changes immediately. the shortage has now been declared a national emergency by nhs england. the department for health says it's working closely with the nhs, the medicines watchdog and calea to resolve the supply problem. tpn already restricts the lives of those who use it. michelle's connected for 12 hours each night.
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but patients who rely on it now have the added worry of not being sure their supplies will arrive. i really fear that something terrible could happen. i'm quite upset at that, actually. alison freeman, bbc news. the three remaining didcot power station cooling towers, have been demolished in a controlled explosion earlier this morning. seconds after the demolition, thousands of people in the area said they had suffered a temporary power cut. an electricity supplier has said a power cut in oxfordshire this morning was "probably linked" to the demolition. an electricity pole was seen to go up in flames minutes after the controlled explosions. louise currie has more. they've watched over didcot for over half a century.
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but it took just seconds for the power station's three remaining cooling towers to be flattened. it's quite an emotional thing, really, because those towers have been up since before i was born, so they've always been a landmark finding my way home from a long journey. you sort of think of seeing the towers when you come in from the motorway and it is like, something to say, oh, you're nearly home. i feel quite sad losing them, really. yeah, the skyline has changed now forever. hundreds turned out to watch, but for some it was more poignant than others. dan and kevin worked there for many years. if we want to be environmentally friendly, that is the right thing, but when you've spent all that time, you know, and your dad has spent all that time there, it's a sad day. it is quite nice to look across there and not see towers, because obviously it has restored the area to its natural environment again. but, yeah, sad day. work to clear the site has been ongoing since it shut in 2013.
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but in 2016, tragedy struck. the ten story boiler house collapsed, killing four men. —— a ten story boiler house collapsed, killing four men. the investigation into what caused it is still ongoing. today's demolition appeared to run smoothly, but moments later, an explosion. 119,000 homes lost power forjust over an hour. once the site is clear, it will be redeveloped. there's already plans to build a hotel there. 400 new homes and there is going to be a site for business, leisure and also residential. so, it's already been changing, and it's already going to have its use going forward. before that, there is one last demolition planned in the autumn for the largest chimney. a ceremony has been 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. ijokull went from this...
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..to this. as recently as the 1980's it showed as a mass of solid white. by 2014 it was declared dead. the glacier is now a small patch of ice on top of an extinct volcano, where today's ceremony took place. a bronze plaque was unveiled with a message to warn future generations about the effects of global warming. the strictly come dancing couple, neil and katya jones have announced they‘ re separating. they faced media scrutiny after katya was photographed kissing her dance partner, the comedian seann walsh, during the last series. in a joint statement, the couple said they would remain friends and keep dancing together. just before the weather a reminder we'll be taking a look at the stories making tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests tonight are the chief features writer
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at the financial times, henry mance, and the broadcaster and psychotherapist, lucy beresford. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello, once again we have advertised it as being a day of showery and sunny spells. today foes under a similar banner. although the above supplied by an any of the low pressure which has been around by a number of days stop this banner of cloud was the one that produced more persistent rain for a time. across the southern counties of the british isles. that has now quit the scene. following on behind, somewhat brighter skies, certain across the southern parts of britain. skies clearing beautifully across parts of cardwell. looking a little bit further north —— cornwall. a mixture
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of sunny spells and showers can look a little bit more like that. through the rest of the evening and overnight, we will see those are showers circulating around the low pressure, flooding in across scotland, northern ireland, northern and western parts of the british isles. the administering a bit further east. i'd never eastwards by that noticeable westerly breeze. one or two little spots will get down again. here we are after monday and by that stage where putting that pressure close to the coastjust again, we are suggesting a little friend coming down in the flow that are after a day where, for the most part, they showers are widely scattered with less intensity about them in general. a deal of sunshine, late on any day will really clog things up. this will probably look more like persistent rain in the northern parts of scotland. temperatures pretty much on a par with what we have been through the
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weekend. a change of script on tuesday, it starts up fine and dry for many areas and then we will be looking to read the atlantic where a south—westerly wind will usher a warm front. —— look towards the atlantic. a band of cloud taken up to give rain eventually through wales, northern ireland and southern and western parts of scotland. josie looks to be drier and brighter further east, by the end of the week, many areas will look and bright —— tuesday. tempers will begin to pick up in many spots as well. that is it for me. take care. —— temperatures.
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