tv BBC News BBC News October 19, 2019 12:00am-12:31am BST
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welcome to bbc news, i'm ben bland. our top stories: turmoil in barcelona: police fire rubber bullets and use tearg as at protesters angry at the jailing of catalan separatist leaders. what is clear is that they are becoming worse and worse, more violent, more protesters on the streets, and more response from the police as well, who tonight tried to protect the national police headquarters, which had us down here. too close to call: britain's prime minister goes all—out to get mps to back his brexit deal ahead of saturday's crucial vote. what matters is mps coming together, across the house tomorrow, to get this thing done.
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rare criticism of president trump's decison to withdraw troops from syria by a republican party heavyweight: mitch mcconnell calls it a ‘grave mistake‘. making history that's out of this world: two astronauts take part in the first ever all—women space walk. hello and thanks forjoining us here on bbc news. violent clashes between protesters and police have continued into the night in barcelona. officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at youths who responded by throwing stones and setting makeshift barricades on fire. earlier on friday, about half a million people held a peaceful demonstration in the spanish city, against the jailing this week of catalan separatist leaders.
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damian grammaticas sent this report from barcelona. central barcelona. parts of it are a battleground tonight. a full—scale confrontation under way. between police and protesters. round after round, fired by the riot officers. in return, stones, bottles and fireworks, hurled back at them. this is now the fifth night in a row of these clashes in barcelona, and what's clear is that they are becoming worse and worse. more violent, more protesters on the streets and more response from the police as well, who tonight have used tear gas for the first time and rubber bullets as they are trying to protect the national police headquarters which are just down here. the day began with huge columns of people, converging on barcelona from across catalonia. some had been walking
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for three days to get here. a general strike had shut down the city. now, they took over the streets. these are pro—independence supporters, putting on a huge show of force after spain jailed on monday nine catalan leaders who tried to declare independence for the region two years ago. it's only going to stop once we achieve what we want, that are changes, real changes. not all catala ns want the region to split away. there've been counterprotests by those who want to stay part of spain. they have been tiny by comparison. they don't speak for the majority, because the support for independence is not the majority. this was the spark for the violence today, protesters hurling eggs and cans at spanish police officers. eventually, police patience snapped. every day this week, there have been scenes like this.
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police action, fuelling tempers on the street. the severity of the jail sentences for the catalan leaders has caused real anger. but so too have police tactics, which the protesters see as heavy—handed. spain's prime minister has warned those involved in any violence will face the full force of the law. there has now been a week of unrest with no sign of it ending. and catalan leaders say their hopes of independence are undimmed. joining me now from barcelona is clara sarria, founder of the youth organisation s'ha acabat!, which is opposed to catalan independence. clara, the scenes we have seen on the streets of barcelona, the protests, the counter protest, do you think all of that could have been avoided if the sentences for
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those catalan separatist leaders had not been so severe? well what is clear is that the sentences are there to be respected, and in spain there to be respected, and in spain there is a separation of powers, there is a separation of powers, there is a separation of powers, there is that legislative, executive and thejudiciary, there is that legislative, executive and the judiciary, and there is that legislative, executive and thejudiciary, and the there is that legislative, executive and the judiciary, and the sentence has not been excessively severe, which is a vision that is obviously not shared by separatist, but i believe the process would have taken place anyway, no matter the outcome of the severity of the sentence. so what do you think the way forward is then, because there are clearly strong feelings on both sides of this, among catalans, would the a nswer this, among catalans, would the answer be to hold an official referendum? that is a very complicated question, and there are many versions on the matter. my personal stance is that if a referendum were to be held, it would
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be repeated once and again until the result matched to the expectations of the independence movement. the main solution for this problem would be to simply learn to respect each other, learn to live with each other, learn to live with each other, which is the normal situation ina other, which is the normal situation in a democracy, there are many political stances that are respectable, and they can live together without any sort of problem. and then they can be parliamentary represented. what do you make of the way it has been handled by police and security services, because clearly they cannot allow the streets to descend into this sort of violence and chaos, but some have accused them of being a little bit heavy—handed in the way they have dealt with it. the truth is that protests have been going on forfour nights now, and you know, the situation has been extremely worrying, protesters have been lighting private cars on fire, they have thrown projectiles at officers, they have that garbage bins are light, they have thrown
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molotov cocktails, that these protests have not been peaceful at all. they have been very aggressive, and police are public servants, they are there because it is their obligation, and they are the same offices that would help you in situation of need, and they would help any citizen, including the independence protesters. and if the streets descend into chaos, they are to help everybody, notjust the independent sympathisers. borisjohnson has appealed for mps across westminister to unite behind his brexit deal — saying there is "no better outcome" for the whole of the uk. the british prime minister has spent the day engaged in last—ditch efforts to try to secure the 320 votes he needs to get the deal through the house of commons later. it's expected to be a knife—edge vote — but in the last few hours a number of hardline tory brexiteers say they will back the agreement. several opposition labour mps are also expected to rebel laura kuenssberg has the latest.
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that's not the real borisjohnson. it's a fancy dress version, a climate protester who had scaled the scaffolding around big ben. the actual prime minister is teetering on an even narrower edge. he has to take a leap, not knowing if he'll meet victory or defeat. we've got a deal that allows us to get out of the backstop, that's abolished, and we can do free trade agreements as one whole united kingdom around the world. clearly, what matters is mps coming together across the house tomorrow to get this thing done. and ijust kind of invite everybody to imagine what it could be like tomorrow evening, if we have settled this. but in order to get this deal, though, you have given some concessions, you've accepted quite a significant customs border between northern ireland and the rest of the united kingdom. that is something you said you would never do, you said no british prime minister could do that. no, on the contrary, nobody wants to have checks at the northern irish border. so, what we've agreed with the eu
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is that temporarily — temporarily, and by consent of the people of northern ireland, if there's stuff that is coming from gb into ireland, or from anywhere else in the world via northern ireland into ireland, then, yes, there can be checks. but that, of course... and those checks can be levied by uk authorities. but that is very far from having a tariff border. by your admission, and it's there in black and white in the deal, there will be extra customs checks, and for some people, including your allies, that's just not acceptable, that puts the union at risk. no, there are no tariffs going from gb to ni. but there are extra checks. they already are, as you know. but of course it is also going to be superseded, as we come out, as i hope we do at the end of this month, as we get on to negotiate the uk—eu free trade agreement.
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so, all these arrangements are in fact going to be obsolete once we do that big eu—uk free trade deal. you hope they will be. the deal brokered by brains in whitehall and in brussels contains concessions from the eu and the uk. it leaves the future more open between the two sides, compared to the previous agreement, and in theory gives the uk more ability to trade round the rest of the world. but it does contain what could be significant changes to how northern ireland fits into the jigsaw of the rest of the uk, and that's not the only reason why the prime minister faces an uphill struggle to get this through mps. you can watch all the developments at westminster across bbc world news on saturday, with special live coverage outside the houses of parliament. and there is plenty more coverage online, including a short video that explains those numbers and how they stack up in the house of commons. i
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will put that link on twitter in a short while, but it is all there, and we will have more later in the programme. let's get some of the day's other news. afghan officials say an explosion during friday prayers at a mosque in the eastern province of nangahar has killed at least 62 people and injured more than 30 others. it's not known who carried out the blast, which brought down the roof of the building. floods caused by eight days of torrential downpours in north—eastern ghana have left 28 people dead and displaced hundreds. relief items are being transported 800 kilometres by road from the capital accra to the affected region on the border with burkina faso. meteorologists warn the rains could last into november. it's emerged that boeing employees exchanged messages about possible problems with the automated safety system on its 737 max jet nearly two years before the plane was involved in its first crash. the max planes have been grounded pending an investigation because of two accidents which have
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killed more than 300 people. a federal court in new york has found the brother of the president of honduras guilty of drug trafficking charges. tony hernandez was arrested last year in miami. prosecutors accused him of using his honduran government connections to smuggle 200 tons of cocaine into the us. the majority leader of the us senate says president trump's decision to withdraw troops from syria was a ‘grave mistake'. in a rare criticism of president trump, mitch mcconnell has warned that that there are significant dangers in america abandoning its allies. peter bowes is our north america reporter. peter, what more did he have to say? this is clearly damning criticism of the president's policy in syria, his
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decision to withdraw forces, he says, as you say, it was "a grave strategic mistake", says, as you say, it was "a grave strategic mista ke", and says, as you say, it was "a grave strategic mistake", and he goes on to say it will "leave the american people and homeland less safe", he says, "embolden our enemies and wea ken says, "embolden our enemies and weaken important alliances". and what he is getting at is his concern that this will result in terrorist organisations, groups like islamic state, regrouping with the potential of attacking the united states at some point in the future. in fact he says " if some point in the future. in fact he says "if permitted to regroup and establish havens, they will bring terror to our shores." . he says "there is no substitute for american leadership". and without mentioning mrtrump by name, leadership". and without mentioning mr trump by name, clearly he is criticising the leadership of the current us president in what he is saying, in this article he refers to the fact that he has worked with three presidential administrations since 9/11, he says fighting radical
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islamist terrorism, and he says he has learned lessons from that. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: stepping out in space: two nasa astronauts complete the first all—woman spacewalk. a historic moment that many of his victims have waited for for decades. the former dictator in the dock, older, slimmer, and as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside korem, it lights up a biblical famine, now, in the 20th century. the depressive conclusion, in argentina today, it's actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. we've had controversies in the past with great britain.
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but as good friends, we've always found a good and lasting solution. concorde bows out in style. after almost three decades in service, an aircraft that enthralled its many admirers for so long taxis home one last time. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: protestors have clashed with police in barcelona, after a huge demonstration by catalans against jail sentences imposed on separatist leaders. borisjohnson is making a final push to persuade mps to back his brexit deal, ahead of a crucial vote in parliament on saturday. and staying with that crucial vote, earlier i spoke with journalist and labour activist paul mason
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and salma shah, a former special adviser at the home office about how this would go for borisjohnson. he is closest to being to do that now than theresa may ever was and i think the issue of reaching out across the party is that so many have decided that they are anti—brexit altogether, or they have anti—brexit altogether, or they have a real crisis of conscience in terms of supporting a tory government verse trying to deliver for their constituents. so it's not in the bag yet, but there is still a chance he could do it. and paul, indication as some of the opposition parties will have ruled out voting for this deal. canape minister alive, say, on opposition labour mps when they represent constituencies when there was a strong vote in favour of leaving? the number of mps who sit for live constituencies will vote
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for live constituencies will vote for this deal —— leave. the dup is dead against this deal because of the deal that has been done with the republic of ireland and with europe. sojohnson, i republic of ireland and with europe. so johnson, i think, republic of ireland and with europe. sojohnson, ithink, is reliant republic of ireland and with europe. sojohnson, i think, is reliant on ten orfive sojohnson, i think, is reliant on ten or five labour mps sojohnson, i think, is reliant on ten orfive labour mps going through and crossing the floor, these are from working—class areas and there isa from working—class areas and there is a big ds—affinity, so the crisis of conscious these ten labour mps will be bigger and the vote will rest with them. there also has been the added complication, another possible vote on an option that would allow mps to support the deal, but with a built—in delayed until the legislation is passed. do you think i could win over some who may not quite be comfortable voting for
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it outright as it is? i do think thatis it outright as it is? i do think that is a question of say paul mason mps being more comfortable with having a delay. i think it's a question of the tory rebels, the faction from the conservative party who had the with withdrawn from them a couple of weeks ago to make them more comfortable with voting for this deal, to ensure we don't fall into a new deal by no accident. so in terms of all of the functions that are there, i think this sort of conditional delay is probably best for those people to come back to the tory fold. and, pole, it's been suggested if the prime minister doesn't get this deal through parliament, he will try again to bring a general election to break the deadlock. you think that is what opposition parties want and are ready for? the progressive opposition parties, the labour party, the welsh nationalists, do wa nt party, the welsh nationalists, do want one, because we know what the deal is. it's not an open question of what is brexit going to be like? there is a deal that they can't acce pt there is a deal that they can't accept because of its attack on labour rights. and the instate could
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be another new deal, a cliff edge. they will want another election as soon as they can get it. in the northern hemisphere, there comes a cut—off point where schools are full of christmas parties in mid—december, where you can't get one. so it is touch and go for me. if the letwin amendment goes through then we might have an election by then we might have an election by the end of spring. paul mason and salma shah speaking to me there a short time ago. lebanese riot police have fired tear gas during clashes with anti—government protestors in beirut. it's the second day of demonstrations — the biggest in years. they're angry at unemployment, high prices and the poor state of public services. in response, prime minister, saad al—hariri, gave his partners in his governing coalition three days to commit to a programme of economic reforms.
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taymor azari is a journalist based in beirut. he has been covering the protests. we have seen thousands of people expressing there anger, they have been calling for economicjustice and the downfall of the resume, which is a slogan similar to the 2011- which is a slogan similar to the 2011— site are of spring —— downfall of the regime. people have been extremely hopeful, which is interesting to see in this country. the last few years we have had smaller protest movements happening, and are usually fizzle out after hours in the square. now we are seeing staying powers of the protests. they have been going on non—stop or two days. now it is 2:20am in the morning and there are hundreds of people in the main square of beirut, hundreds more across the country. where do you see this going next? well, the staying
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power is strong and so the people will likely remain in the streets. we are going into a weekend now, universities and schools and other public institutions, you know, other private businesses, are going to be closed tomorrow. so we expect to see people staying in the streets. it's really not even necessarily tied to what the government's — how the government response. i've spoken to people in the street to say it doesn't matter what they say, just wa nt doesn't matter what they say, just want them to leave. so it really seems like it will continue. and what does all of this mean for lebanon's government, lebanon's leaders? they really have been rattled, which is a remarkable thing in this country. we have a very resilient political class, and when i say political class, i really do mean political class. it is a
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closely massed class of business people and politicians who really have ruled the country since the civil war which ended 30 years ago —— closely—meshed, sorry, i lost my train of thought there. no, that's 0k. train of thought there. no, that's ok. we were just looking at the response by leaders and whether it was what was expected and how they are dealing with this unrest? well, the lebanese prime minister came out today and basically said he would ta ke 72 today and basically said he would take 72 hours, give us 72 hours to the people in the coalition government to accept a series of economic reforms, what are cold economic reforms, what are cold economic reforms, what are cold economic reforms but i really hugely unpopular austerity measures. —— but are, he seemed quite detached to people on the streets. what they are calling for is no new taxes on the people, because they are already struggling. the country's economy has been stagnant for years. its
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finances are in disarray, and anything the government has been able to do is say ok, we will increase taxes. and that is what has led to this movement here. and the prime minister saying well, i would actually like my people in coalition with me to come out and support this package is actually, you know, it seems to be the wrong direction to go in at this point. thank you for joining us in deed. the first all—women space walk has taken place, in another milestone for space exploration. the american astronauts christina kochjessica meir replaced faulty equipment on the outside of the international space station. more than 200 people have carried out spacewalks since 19 65, but only 1a have been women and until today gareth barlow has the details.
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for almost eight hours, they made history. the first old women —— all—women spacewalk in history. stepping outside the international space station, 400 kilometres above the earth. this is to everybody that has a dream and is willing to work ha rd to has a dream and is willing to work hard to make a dream come true. watching from solid ground as they made repairs to the space station, president trump held the moment. and ijust want president trump held the moment. and i just want to congratulate you, what you do is incredible. and so, you're very brave people. i don't think i want to do that, i want to tell you, but you are amazing people. earlier, what would have been the world's first all—women's
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spacewalk was cancelled because nasa did not have enough medium—sized spacesuits. it took nasa until 1978 to start appointing women, after rising female cosmonauts —— russian. proving that there is space for us all. gareth barlow, bbc news. don't forget you can reach me on most of the team on social media. i mentioned a while ago, a very useful video that explains the numbers involved in that visual brexit vote in the uk parliament that is happening later on saturday. i said the link therefore you on twitter, and it sets out the boats that i needed by borisjohnson to win parliamentary approval for the deal he agreed with the eu, and the numbers he can rely on, supporting him, but also the ones that remain
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doubtful. so that link is treated for you. you can find it and read plenty more on the website bvc .com/ news as well as the bbc news app —— bvc .com. good morning. this time last week the world whether story was typhoon hagibis. in fact, the world whether story was typhoon hagibis. infact, we the world whether story was typhoon hagibis. in fact, we were watching this powerful typhoon barrelling its way towards the shores of japan. weather warnings were enforced, several of the rugby world cup matches were cancelled, including the england— france. i'm pleased to say fast forward seven days and yes we have some shower cloud across japan but the weather story looks much betterfor japan but the weather story looks much better for the quarterfinals. in fact, it should be relatively dry, bright and warm, with temperatures into the mid—20s for the england— australia match. i wish i could say the same, however, for the uk on saturday. it does look as
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though we're going to have plenty of showers, some of them heavy with the odd roll of thunder. but there is an improvement with the second half of the weekend. we are still under this influence of low pressure with this weather front enhancing the rain fall across eastern scotland. will also see plenty of showers out of the west as well. of these showers will boost further inland as we go through the day, perhaps not as many as we have seen across england and, the rain fairly persistent through eastern scotland, drifting down towards these disorders as we go through the date and then a northerly breeze getting in behind. so top temperatures on saturday of 10- 15 so top temperatures on saturday of 10— 15 degrees. but as we go to the overnight period, the showers will start to fade away in the northerly wind will start to kick a little bit further south. that is going to allow others temperatures to fall away. low single figures in a few spots, each earlier start to sunday morning but a quieter start to sunday morning. that i'm sure will come as welcome news. in fact, the second half of that we can look
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drier and there will be fewer showers around as well. a better day for getting out and about. so we start off financially know, that northerly wind would be a future, albeit light, a few showers along the is closed, a little more cloud here, damp and drizzly in places. further south and west we will see a little more sunshine and after that chilly start temperatures will recover 9— 40 degrees, the high. again, we could have an issue with some fog and frost through the night, but the story into the early half of the week as high pressure building from the west. there is this weather front that could just bea this weather front that could just be a little bit of a fly in the ointment for the extreme south—east, maybe some rain close to the kent coast. but generally across the uk on monday, that quieter theme of weather is set to build. there will be light winds, there would be a little bit of fairweather cloud and it will feel just a little little bit of fairweather cloud and it will feeljust a little bit cooler. but with the sunshine compensating, hopefully a better feel. 9— 14 celsius. take care.
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this is bbc news, the headlines: violent clashes between protesters and riot police have continued into the night in the spanish city of barcelona. earlier on friday, about half a million people held a peaceful demonstration against the jailing this week of catalan separatist leaders. britain's prime minister has urged mps of all parties to unite behind his brexit deal — ahead of a crucial vote in the house of commons on saturday. boris johnson spent friday trying to secure the 320 votes the government needs to win a majority for his agreement. 0ne president trump's most loyal supporters, the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, has condemned his decision to withdraw troops from syria as a "grave mistake". writing in the washington post, he said it would embolden washington's enemies and leave americans less safe.
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