tv BBC News BBC News September 1, 2019 7:00pm-7:31pm BST
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this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 7pm: the most powerful storm ever to reach the bahamas has now made landfall. "catastrophic conditions" are forecast. it's been lurking. it's just been building out there. it's been moving very slowly. that's a bad thing, not a good thing. the slower it moves, the bigger it is and the bigger it gets. mps from multiple parties will try to push through a law this week to prevent a no—deal brexit. the purpose of legislation is clear, and that is to prevent us leaving without a deal. obviously, if we're at the 31st of october, that will require an extension. germany's far—right celebrates gains in two state elections — but exit polls suggest they've failed to gain overall control in either place. chaos at hong kong airport as protestors cause flights to be delayed and cancelled.
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good evening, welcome to bbc news. hurricane dorian has become the strongest storm in modern records to hit the northwestern bahamas. the us national hurricane center said dorian made landfall in the abaco islands as a category 5 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour and gusts of more than 220 miles per hour. in the abaco islands as a category 5 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour and gusts of more than 220 miles per hour. hurricane dorian is expected to pound the islands with up to two days of torrential rain, high waves and damaging winds before it takes aim at the us mainland.
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the national hurricane center has tweeted a warning about a catastrophic storm surge of 18 to 23 feet which will affect the abaco islands during the next few hours. they have urged people to seek elevated shelter immediately. here's the state minister for grand bahama, kwasi thompson. and i want to go through the list so that everyone is clear. if you have, if you're in these areas, or if you have family members in these areas, please, please heed the warning. state minister for state ministerfor grand state minister for grand bahama. nick millerfrom our weather centre has been following the path of the storm. it looks like the worst case scenario for the bahamas as hurricane dorian moves in with its destructive winds. of course, it has strengthened. you can see the eye on the satellite picture, always an indication of the power of a hurricane. it's slow moving, too, and that means its destructive winds last longer, along with the rain. huge amounts of rainfall. and a storm surge. the amount of water above normal tide level coming to the bahamas, particularly the northern islands,
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the abaco islands into grand bahama. now, after the bahamas, where does it go next? well, continues west but then it looks like it is going to take a turn to the north. this is the forecast track from the usa national hurricane center. along this line here — if it follows that track, it would not make landfall in the usa. but look at the range of possibilities in the blue shaded area. it may still head a little bit further west than this. it is a distinct possibility that it could still make landfall in florida or anywhere into the south—east of the usa towards the mid—atlantic. as we take a look at the forecast rain and wing after the bahamas, as it takes a turn to the north, eventually, look how close it comes to florida. even if it doesn't make landfall in the usa, it is close enough along this coastline here to bring some significant impacts before eventually it starts to move a little bit quicker and then back out into the atlantic. all of these ingredients come with hurricane dorian. it is truly a devastating storm as it stands right now. and all of this is being felt by the bahamas.
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well, as nick miller said there, it looks like the us will feel at least some of the impact of hurricane dorian. here's president donald trump speaking a little earlier today. i ask everyone in hurricane dorian‘s passed to heed all warnings and electrician orders from local authorities. it looks like they're going to be having to give them, u nfortu nately. going to be having to give them, unfortunately. it's been lurking. it's just been building unfortunately. it's been lurking. it'sjust been building out unfortunately. it's been lurking. it's just been building out there. that's a bad thing, not a good thing. the slower it moves, the bigger it is in the bigger it gets. but we want to minimise any unnecessary study public, and our brave first responders have been working very hard —— unnecessary risks to the public. they have never seen anything like it, the rush to get so much. again, the coast guard and the army and the marines have been incredible, terminus amounts of gas vary quite quickly. americans
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are strong, determined and resilient and we will support each other, and we work very hard to minimise whatever the effect of what is coming at us. we don't even know what's coming out this. all we know it is possibly the biggest. i am not sure i have ever heard of a category five. i knew it existed, and i have seen five. i knew it existed, and i have seen some category five. i knew it existed, and i have seen some category four. you don't even see them that much. category five is something that i don't know that i've ever even heard, even though i know it's there. that's what we have, unfortunately. we will, of course, keep an eye on the impact of hurricane dorian in the impact of hurricane dorian in the past. —— and the path. labour says it'll present a bill in parliament this week designed to stop the uk leaving the eu without a deal. sir keir starmer, the shadow brexit secretary, has told the bbc that if the legislation is passed, it's likely to delay
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the date of departure. the cabinet minister, michael gove, refused to commit the government to implementing such a change even if it's approved by mps — saying minister would wait to see what happens in westminster this week. here's our political correspondent, iain watson. hey, ho, borisjohnson's got to go! a weekend of protests on the streets. a week of rebellion at westminster lies ahead. save our democracy — stop the coup! demonstrators want the suspension of parliament later this month lifted, but the politicians will still meet this week. opposition mps and some conservative rebels will attempt to stop borisjohnson taking the uk out of the eu without a deal. but how? very simple. the route will be by legislation, because i believe there has got to be legislation in place to lock this and make it unlawful for him to take us out without a deal. but this could lead to a further delay to brexit. obviously, if we're at the 31st october, that will require an extension,
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but i think this should be a very short, simple exercise. so, if the opposition parties pass a law to stop no—deal, will the government to respect it? this cabinet minister refused repeated invitations to say that the government would abide by the of parliament. we will see what the legislation says when it is put forward. let's see what the legislation says. you're asking me about a pig in a poke. let's see what the legislation is that he puts forward. so what could happen if borisjohnson's defeated? the prime minister has argued that if mps rule out no—deal, it will weaken his hand in negotiations with brussels. so rather than accept mps‘ instructions to delay brexit, he may well try to call an early general election instead. but that would need the agreement of two thirds of mps at westminster and the liberal democrats have said explicitly, and labour have hinted strongly today, that they would only allow this to happen if polling day comes before and not after we leave the european union. of course, all this could be avoided
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if borisjohnson gets a deal, but michel barnier, the eu's chief negotiator, said brussels won't be poring over new plans unless they're very similar to the ones he previously agreed. and this week, the government will step up its campaign to get people ready for brexit. but how ready, really, are we for no—deal? for example, will food supplies be unaffected 7 everyone will have the food they need. some prices may go up. other prices will come down. you know it's going to be a big week in parliament when the world's media sets up camp on its doorstep. the next few days could determine how, when and, indeed, if we leave the european union. joining us now is aodhan connolly, director of the northern ireland retail consortium. thank you very much forjoining us. we are being told not to panic, no need to scaremongering, no need to stockpile. how, in yourview, arst
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don't make our food applies going to be affected —— ourfood don't make our food applies going to be affected —— our food supplies go to be affected if there is no—deal brexit coachella we... would result in charges for some fresh foods. we're doing everything we can to mitigate. we have been stocking up on nonperishable goods so the consumers don't need to, but this no—deal brexit would mean, and succumbing direct from the retailers, our members, and directly from suppliers, that there will be disruption. the likely cause shortages forfresh disruption. the likely cause shortages for fresh foods, particular items for things like fresh fruits and vegetables. at that time of the year, when brexit is what you happen, we get around 90% of our lettuce, about 80% of our tomatoes, about six keepers in our fresh fruit from outside of the uk, and if there are complexities, delays, that means for those supply chains, there's going to be issues -- 60% of
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chains, there's going to be issues —— 60% of our fresh fruit. chains, there's going to be issues -- 6096 of our fresh fruit. but surely that means we're not could you have the choice we are used to if it is a case of having what we need rather than what we want, but something rather different. there is a lot of stuff that we don't grow here out of season in the uk and a lot of stuff we don't grow in the uk at all, not too many banana farms in lincolnshire, for example. it's not just about availability, it is about cost as well. here in northern ireland, we have about half of the discretionary income of british households. we are feeling the cost rises because of a no—deal brexit harder than others. it is for things like nontariff barriers, those checks, those delays, and already in northern ireland, over 12 hours behind freshness
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because the food has extra miles to travel, so for us in northern ireland, our big two concerns are for shoppers, the costs, but as well as the availability on our shelves. how long, then, in the event of a no—deal brexit the rise in prices and lower availability going to last? we need a deal. the amount of food we import it's about 30% of the food we import it's about 30% of the food for the uk has imported from the eu, and we cannot bite our nose off to spite our face. we need that deal. is more dinesh the food we get the eu. -- it deal. is more dinesh the food we get the eu. —— it is more thanjust the food we get. zero tariffs are preferential tariffs because we are members of the eu. we need to have a good trading relation with our
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neighbours for stud that means we need a deal. aodhan connolly, from the northern ireland retail consortium, thank you. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the mirror's political correspondent nicola bartlett and the president of the foreign press association, benedicte paviot. there's been an exchange of missile fire, across the border between israel and lebanon. the militant group, hezbollah, says it has destroyed an israeli military vehicle, killing some on board and injuring others. these images from hezbolllah television allegedly show the aftermath of the attack. israel said there had been an attack but it was returning fire after anti—tank missiles were launched at its territory. prime minister netanyahu said there had been no casualties at all — "not even a scratch". polls have now closed in eastern
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germany in two regional elections. exit polls from two states in the former communist east of germany — brandenburg and saxony — indicate that the main established parties have held off the challenge of the far—right alternative for germany party, but the afd has made gains, winning 22.5% of the vote in brandenburg. our correspondent damien mcguinness is in berlin for us. asigh of a sigh of relief from the main parties. that's right. i think we can parties. that's right. i think we ca n safely parties. that's right. i think we can safely say that angela merkel‘s conservatives will be very happy that they've managed to hang onto power in saxony, where they have governed since german reunification. an equally, her coalition partners in berlin, the centreleft spd, able to stay in government more than likely in brandenburg. we have got some tricky coalition negotiations ahead of us now, because event lots of parties in the parliaments, according to these initial results, so according to these initial results, so it is not good to be easy to coalition. but i think we can safely say so far, the two main established
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parties will manage to stay as incumbents and will be able to lead ordinarily, the government, in both those eastern german states. and it wasn't a given because come as you say can and there was some risk of -- it say can and there was some risk of —— it wasn't a given, because, as you say, there was a risk of getting pushed out of power. they have been doing incredibly well, better than the polling had suggested to him but still quite not as good as they help. in brandenburg, the afd would have hoped to win the most votes. that would have paved the way for possible future coalitions and regional states and even, one day, in the government. because at the moments, no other party will work with the afd. they're seen as toxic but if a party wins the most votes ina region, but if a party wins the most votes in a region, like these elections today, that would have changed the game. you could not ignore them eventually and there would've been growing pressure and on angela
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merkel and the conservatives to possibly one day work with the afd. that has not happened, so the afd certainly in second place. damien, thank you very much. damien mcguinness in berlin. joining me analyze those early projections in the states of brandenberg and saxony is damien mcguinness, correspondent how much of a force have the afd becoming germany coachella clearly they have become a force. -- the calm in germany? 30 years after the reunification of not only the people that are governing have come in from the west, but there is no infrastructure, no jobs,
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in from the west, but there is no infrastructure, nojobs, people, youngsters are leaving east germany to go elsewhere. this, it is a bit ofa to go elsewhere. this, it is a bit of a desolate place and on top of that, they feel badly treated by the establishment, and on top of that, they feel they are lumbered with the burden of the immigrants which mrs merkel let into the country three yea rs merkel let into the country three years ago. but what are the afd promising to deliver in a way the order parties cannot? they are promising a lot... there's a difference between the brexit party in britain, a single issue party, and the neck or three in germany. afd is more across the board —— and afd is more across the board —— and afd in germany. industries like mining, coal mining, very important.
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how, though, will these results be viewed by angela merkel?” how, though, will these results be viewed by angela merkel? i think she will be immensely relieved because angela merkel is on her way out. she promised, announced, she would leave before the next election, due to be held in two years' time, so she's probably... she has got another year left in power, and for this time, she is more worried about legacy than anything else. how is she going to protect that legacy, do you think, to make sure that the last few months of her tenure are not overshadowed by things like that? one aspect is, of course, brexit. we are moving on from eastern germany to european affairs. brexit is an issue. could cause the german economy 100,000 jobs by the german
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government's own estimation, and she will try and persuade borisjohnson to agree to whatever idea she can agree from their own site. we will wait and see, because this week is going to be very important. i'm sure it will be closely watched in germany. john from die zeld newspaper, think you very much. you're watching bbc news. the headlines this evening. the most powerful storm ever to reach the bahamas has now made landfall. "catastrophic conditions" are forecast. mps from multiple parties will try to push through a law this week to prevent a no deal brexit. germany's far—right celebrates gains in two state elections — but exit polls suggest they've failed to gain overall
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control in either place. thousands of pro—democracy protesters brought chaos to hong kong international airport today — blocking road and rail links and forcing dozens of flights to be cancelled. police in hong kong have meanwhile been defending the use of force to subdue and arrest large numbers of protesters on the subway system. our china correspondentjohn sudworth reports from hong kong. hong kong airport, a vital part of an open, free trading economy under siege. fight forfreedom! with pilots having to clamber over the barriers... ..as the pro—democracy campaign tries to hit this city where it hurts. well, this is the main airport approach road and, once again, this meandering leaderless protest movement is showing its ability to take its message to the international community. they come, they disrupt, and, if necessary, melt away and there is very little the authorities can do about it. thousands turned up for the action, and although many flights
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were still getting away... ..with transport links brought to a standstill, passengers faced major problems. do you support what they're doing? i support what they're doing but there's means and ways of doing it. i don't think this is the right way. hong kong's never had democracy and it's certainly not going to have it in the future, so... what do you make of the disruption? it's bleep. i'm trying to go on my honeymoon. eventually, the police arrived in force, but, as predicted, the protesters had already vanished. moving on to this nearby metro station, the service, now a target of violence and vandalism for closing stations, giving protesters fewer ways to escape. yesterday, similar acts were met by a fierce response, heavily criticised over accusations that innocent bystanders were caught up in it.
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but defended today in this police press conference. "minimum force was used", they said. it was anger over that incident, though, that helped fuel today's demonstration. with many walking home along the airport expressway, this city's extraordinary escalating cycle of chaos continued late into the night. john sudworth, bbc news, hong kong. the international committee of the red cross says it believes that more than 100 people have been killed in a saudi—led coalition air strike in yemen. the attack hit a detention centre run by the houthi rebels in the western city of dhamar. the red cross said teams were searching the rubble, but that the chances of finding anyone alive were very low. the trade war between the united states and china has intensified with the imposition of new tariffs or taxes on many consumer goods. the us has imposed a 15% tariff on over $100 million worth of chinese imports. china has responded with similar tariffs on us goods.
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our business correspondent katie prescott is here, why is this important? this isjust the latest front of tariffs in a trade war that has been going on for two years trade war that has been going on for two yea rs now. trade war that has been going on for two years now. because we are talking about the world's two biggest economies, this is really important and it has the possibility to destabilise the economy run the road. what is really different about these tariffs is these are going to hit consumers squarely in the pocket. previous ones have been on things that will impact on industry, such as steel and aluminium. this list, 200 when he pages worth of goods, covers things like food, clothes, nappies, things like what schoolchildren will need when they go back to school next week like pens and pencils, and retailers say they will have little choice but to pass this tax or tariff through to consumers because theyjust cannot absorb that themselves. some economists are saying this could raise the cost of household study by about $800 a year, or £650. so what
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has president trump been saying most recently about this? in the last hour, president trump has adjusted that businesses should try and source their goods from other parts of the world other than china this is one of the reasons he launched the trade were in the first place two years ago, to try and push china to change the way they do business, but also to persuade american company to source their goods from elsewhere and to remain factoring back to america. and i spoke to the national grid to federation in the states a few hours ago, and they said there don't make this just isn't possible —— they said this just isn't possible. there are things about china, and it's very good resources, and its logistics, and its size, it's a perfect place to do business. the question now is, when will all this come to an end? and really, although the two sides are getting together in september again, it seems unlikely they will be anytime soon. and in the
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meantime, if the american consumer and the chinese consumer and business really suffering for all this. katie, thank you for this. katie prescott. air passengers in the uk are experiencing disruption to flights because of a system failure at french air traffic control. all flights travelling through the country's airspace are affected. british airways and easyjet have both confirmed widespread disruption to inbound and outbound services. at least seven people have been killed — and more than 20 injured — by a gunman in the us state of texas. police have said he was a white man in his 30s and was later shot dead in the town of odessa. john mcmanus has this report. oh, my god, he's fixing to shoot! the terrifying moment a gun suspect crashed his vehicle into a police car, filmed by a bystander in texas. a road chase ended with police officers confronting him at this cinema complex, then shooting him dead. the chase began after an officer who stopped the man's car for a traffic check was shot. the suspect then drove off,
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hijacking a us postal van and randomly shooting at other vehicles. just driving around, a normal day, and then i hear gunshots, it was at least ten shots. i got one on my door and one went through, ricocheted right through to my wrist. can't get it out yet because it's a piece of metal. a two—year—old was amongst those injured. as the authorities broadcast warnings, the public were cleared from this shopping mall. there's something, people running through the mall. we're not sure why, we need to see what this is. come on, everybody. and this local tv station had to hastily evacuate their studio. 0k, we're going to leave the set, we're going to slip awayjust for a minute, we don't know what's going on. but there's no sign of a let up in american gun violence. we need to do something to keep guns out of the hands of criminals like
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the killer here in odessa but protect second and demonstrates two secondment rights. but the president was clear where he saw the blame lies. a very sick person. always, you say, it could have been worse but it was certainly bad stop it but there's no sign of a letup in american gun violence. this been nearly 300 mass gun attacks this year there's been nearly 300 mass gun attacks this year already. john mcmanus, bbc news. the president of poland has warned that that the world has not fully learned the lessons from the the nazi occupation of europe during the second world war. speaking during a day of commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the conflict, andrzej duda said imperialism had returned to europe. earlier, a ceremony took place in the town of wielun, which was the first to suffer aerial bombardment during the conflict. the german chancellor angela merkel and the us vice president mike pence were among those who observed a military parade in the polish capital, warsaw.
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our correspondent in warsaw, adam easton, gave us this update on today's speeches. the vice president mike pence from the united states was very complimentary of the polish resistance, polish refusal to give in, to surrender, to the notjust one but two brutal occupations at the start of the second world war — the nazis and the soviet union. he also referenced contemporary poland, howjohn paul i! came here and inspired the solidarity opposition movement to get together, to feel his support, to overcome and overthrow the communist regime. it was actually the polish president during his speech who was most striking. he talked about the absolute terror the nazi occupation launched here in poland. he said that poland and the world has not fully learnt the lessons
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from that absolute terror. he said that imperialism is on the rise again in europe today. adam easton in warsaw. as war beckoned eight decades ago, britain began evacuating 1.5 million people — most of them children — from cities to the countryside. operation pied piper was the biggest and most concentrated mass movement of people in britain's history. hannah gray has been speaking to some of those wartime evacuees. the sun in the sands, where i first had my alcoholic drink at the age of ten. the age of ten? a glass of cider. roger is 91. he's brought his granddaughter to the village he was evacuated to 80 years ago. ten years old, nearly 11, and of course i was evacuated to the beautiful village of lamberhurst. can you remember the date that you got evacuated? yes, friday the 1st
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of september 1939. this building here is the former butcher's shop where i stayed for the first five months. roger was one of 1.5 million people evacuated at the outbreak of world war ii. archive narrator: so it's goodbye to the cities and danger areas. labelled and loaded and not forgetting their gas masks, the children head for the special train, and they're not worrying, they're off on a holiday. how were you feeling? were you afraid? no, it was great. we loved it because the battle of britain was being fought over us, the skies full of vapour trails, planes coming down in flames, parachutists coming down, we thought it was quite exciting. and this was the kitchen. stone floor. reg and mary remember it vividly too. they were only nine.
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we stayed in london through the blitz and then we went to, i think, north devon then, and my mum took seven children because the youngest was a baby in arms, so we were all separated. we took condensed milk, i had a big bar of cadbury's chocolate but i'm afraid that got eaten before we got to paddington station! so we got to the village and then you're in front of all these people standing there. you get picked out like prize cattle. really did. the good—looking ones, in the end, me and this other boy from paddington who i've never seen since, we was the last two. and i rememberthe children being very nasty to us, calling us bomb—dodgers and "go back to where you live" and all that. later on, every evacuee wants to run away. i had a mate, a fellow i knew up at the recreation club,
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