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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 18, 2020 2:00am-2:31am GMT

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welcome to bbc news. our top stories: leaked documents seen by the bbc provide new evidence of china's crackdown on uighurmuslims in the western region of xinjiang. apple warns it won't meet its quarterly revenue projections due to the coronavirus outbreak affecting both production and demand in china. with 800,000 people displaced since december combined with freezing conditions — the united nations says the offensive in idlib has created a major humanitarian crisis. and the world's richest man — amazon bossjeff bezos — says he's donating $10 billion to help fight climate change.
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documents seen by the bbc appear to provide some of the most detailed insights yet into how china has handled hundreds of thousands of muslims held in a network of internment camps. they include personal details of members of the uighur community, placed in detention for reasons such as wearing a veil, applying for a passport or accidentally clicking on foreign internet sites. researchers who've studied china's policies in the western region of xinjiang believe the documents are further evidence of an official campaign against the uighurs. the authorities have always denied any form of religious discrimination. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. for two years now, the bbc has reported on camps like these in western china where about a million uighurs and other muslim minorities have been detained without trial. china says the uighurs held here learn chinese and communist party doctrine
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as part of an attempt to combat extremism and terrorism. but a leaked document seen by the bbc suggests these camps are part of a comprehensive crackdown on religious practice. across 137 pages, the spreadsheet sets out in huge detail why more than 300 uighurs from one particular county in xinjiang province were considered for detention. some were detained because they had applied for a passport. they had relatives abroad or had unintentionally landed on a foreign website while searching the internet. others were detained because they used to grow a long beard or used to wear a veil, or because they had a minor religious infection. some were guilty of violations of birth control policies, orsimply being an untrustworthy person. the document was passed through intermediaries to asiye abdulaheb, a uighur exile living in amsterdam, who decided to make it public.
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translation: of course i am worried about the safety of my relatives and friends, but if everyone keeps silent because they want to protect themselves and their families then we will never prevent these crimes being committed. the document includes data gathered by communist party officials of uighurs‘ private and religious lives, what they eat and where, when they pray or go to mosque. and details of some 3,000 family, friends and neighbours with whom they may be considered guilty by association. the document is hard to verify 100%, but experts who have examined it told me they believe it is genuine. the entire internment campaign and the reasoning behind it reveals a very detailed and in itself entirely consistent worldview, one which we might liken to the ideology of a medieval witch hunt, which is highly fearful of anything religious.
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last year, china invited the cameras in, claiming these camps were merely vocational education centres. and today, the country's embassy in london insisted the only people being held were those convicted of unlawful or criminal acts involving terrorism and religious extremism, and it denied targeting any specific religion or ethnic group. james landale, bbc news. live now to washington dc. doctor elise anderson is lead author of a report into this new data leak. she is with the uyghur human rights project. a very good to talk to you and thank you for your time. what are you particularly picking up on in this data? thank you so much for having me, it is a delight to be here talking to you and about this really shocking and alarming document. what this document is, what it tells us is that it gives us more documentary evidence that chinese authorities are
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labelling crepe free people as suspicious and locking them up for perfectly legitimate and reasonable, everyday actions. and it is something that should be really alarming. and it does seem to us that people are damned if they do, damned if they don't. exactly. that is exactly how i would put it. what of the most damned if they do and damned if they don't sort of moments that appears in this document happens when you start to compare entries for different internees to want another. some people have been locked away because they had a passport and they ended up going abroad at what point. then they came back to china, came back to the county. they we re came back to the county. they were suspicious and interred for that reason. other people, maybe their neighbours, their friends, have been interned because they have passports but never went abroad. right, so what the state is demonstrating is that there is almost no way
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for huge swipes of society, a large section of society to be trustworthy. there are curious references to apparent family planning violations, also to the word labour which may be significant. yes, so... as for family planning. it was very surprising to the members of all the members of the research tea m all the members of the research team at my organisation, the uighur human rights project. we discover look at this document is that family planning or birth—control violations were the single most frequently cited reason for internment. we can't say for certain exactly what it is but we have several suspicions. what is that we do know from other lecture documents and from other evidence that has been coming out from the uighur region or xinjiang, that many local officials have told us that they been trying to fill. 0ne
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possibility is that officials in the region havejust been rooting around looking for any possible reason they can have two lock people away to meet their quotas. ijust have to put this to you and you would have heard it before. the chinese authorities insist that they run only vocational education centres and places designed to tackle religious extremism and terrorism. you have any doubt these documents are genuine? we do not have any doubts that these documents are genuine. these documents look very similar to other documents that our organisation has seen and no are authentic. i also think it would just be... it seems beyond the realm of probability for people to have fabricated the level of detail thatis fabricated the level of detail that is in this documents. so, the number of, the thousands of chinese national id numbers which do appear to be legitimate. the level of detail
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about individuals in the documents. the reference that the document makes two policies that we know chinese authorities have been pursuing in the region. those things all authenticate the document. thank you so much. thank you. apple has warned that it won't achieve its forecast revenues for this financial quarter because of the coronavirus outbreak. the tech company says that although its factories in china have reopened, they're not yet operating at full capacity. the authorities in china have confirmed a firther 98 deaths from the virus and just over 1,800 new infections in the last 2a hours. 0utside china more than a50 cases were confirmed on board the diamond princess quaratined in japan. hundreds of american citizens from the ship have been airlifted to the us, and other countries are considering similar evacuations. rupert wingfield hayes reports. get going. bye. the moment americans cheryl
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and paul molesky stepped off the diamond princess and into the welcoming arms of the us military. the plane takes you to the united states. and then you get your passport. all good with that? woo hoo! the 340 american evacuees a re clearly relieved to be going home. but they are taking the virus with them. on board their evacuation flight, a special isolation unit. inside, 14 fellow passengers who have tested positive. and as the americans took off and headed home, another 99 new infections were confirmed aboard the giant cruise ship. for those still on board, like briton david abel, the stress is starting to take its toll. it's all getting to us now, and it's notjust me, other passengers as well. it's the not knowing factor that is the real challenge. the quarantine on board the diamond princess is supposed to end
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on wednesday, and passengers had been told that if they tested negative, they then would be allowed to go home, but with 99 new viral cases confirmed today, the overwhelming suspicion is that the quarantine is not working. and because of that, the journey home for those left on board is now looking a lot more complicated. tonight, the foreign office said it is formulating plans to get the britons on board the ship home. australia is already preparing a flight to evacuate its nationals. but when i spoke to one of them, aun na tan, she was not enthusiastic. we're finding the thought of being put on a plane with unknown... you know, people who haven't been tested yet and potentially getting the infection right then, after we have already completed almost two weeks of quarantine, not ideal. japan, meanwhile, is starting
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to feel the effects of the virus's spread. next weekend is the emperor's birthday, a celebration that usually draws huge crowds of well—wishers. today, the whole event was cancelled without warning. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in yokohama. in syria, aid officials describe young children freezing to death and families with nowhere else to run, to escape government airstrikes and army operations. a humanitarian crisis seems to be descending into a new kind of deadly chaos. in a rare public address, president assad has insisted his military campaign will continue — despite the impact on his own people. freya cole reports. a young assyrian girl and her father play a game while jets drop bombs in the distance. laughter is the only way, says
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the girl ‘s father, to cope with the hardships of incessant war. the syrian army, backed by russia, has increased our strikes in the north—west of the country in the relentless goal to control the last major rebel strongholds. translation: the battle to liberate idlib and aleppo countryside is ongoing. regardless of some of the empty bubbles of sound coming from the north, as well as the battle for liberating all civilian soil, crushing terrorism and achieving stability. as assad wraps up his offensive, more people are forced to flee. in the last four days alone, united nations has estimated 40,000 people have been displaced. many of them are women and children. i hope to reach the border with turkey with a dream to enter europe but first they must outrun the bombs and to survive the bitter cold. translation:
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there are ones hundred and 40 familyc there are ones hundred and 40 family c without shelter. there are no heaters, the conditions are no heaters, the conditions are difficult, the weather is harsh, especially at night. we have very young children who have very young children who have suffered because they have become ill from the cold. aid agencies have warned that their resources a re agencies have warned that their resources are seriously overwhelmed. to add to their concerns, the syrian army is wiping out vital public resources like this hospital which has been forced to close. a ceasefire is desperately needed according to the united nations but it's a plea which has been repeatedly ignored, not only by the syrian army but by leaders around the world. freire cole, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news: senior officials from the european union have told the boss of facebook he is not doing enough to regulate content on his platform. at a meeting in brussels, officials urged mark zuckerberg to back up the company's efforts to curb hate speech and disinformation, with more
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regulation and accountability. britain's chief brexit negotiator has said that the uk will not be bound by european union rules after brexit. david frost has just been giving his first major speech in brussels, laying out the uk government's position as it tries to negotiate a future relationship with the eu. an advisor to the british prime minister who's suggested intelligence is inherited and has a racial component, has resigned. andrew sabisky is also reported as saying compulsory contraception could avoid creating a permanent underclass. he claims he's suffered from selective quoting — but says he's going because he doesn't want to be a distraction. the dj and music producer andrew weatherall, has died at the age of 56. he suffered a pulmonary embolism while being treated in hospital in london. he rose to fame in the 1980s and 90s and made influential, inspirational work with a number of bands including new order, happy mondays and primal scream, producing their era—defining album screamadelica.
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stay with us on bbc news. still to come: crossing the border just to get to school. why a pair of american students journey from mexico to the us each and every day. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. that has a terrible effect on the morale of the people. i am terrified of the repercussions on the streets. one wonders who is next. as the airlift got under way,
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there was no let—up in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flow into the sea on the east of the island, away from the town for the time being, but could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded a new—generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they called it mir, the russian for peace. welcome back. could to have you with us. —— good. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: leaked documents seen by the bbc have provided detailed new evidence of china's crackdown on uighurmuslims in the western region of xinjiang. the tech giant apple has warned that it won't achieve its forecast revenues for this financial quarter because of the coronavirus outbreak. both production and demand in china have been affected. the chief executive of amazon, jeff bezos, has pledged $10 billion to help tackle climate change.
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in a social media post, he says he's setting up a fund to give grants to projects by scientists, activists and non—governmental bodies to help fight what he calls the biggest threat to our planet. he has pledged the company will be carbon neutral by 2040. well, for more, we can now speak to our correspondent, peter bowes, who joins us from los angeles. just to be clear, these are gra nts to just to be clear, these are grants to help ideas come to fruition to get done? this is not a prize. this is not a company that he can profit from. these are indeed grants that will be awarded to various organisations starting this summer, activists, scientists as you say, non—governmental organisations who are pursuing the goal of tackling climate change as he put it, the devastating impact of climate change in his quite short social media posting. he said, we can save earth, but he stresses that collaboration is needed between all of these various organisations and
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individuals. there will be people saying, he can afford it, he has an estimated fortune of 130 billion dollars and of course the company has faced a lot of criticism for the emissions from its delivery vehicles for the amount of waste from packaging. yes, he has faced a lot of criticism as indeed has amazon for exactly those reasons, he is not doing very much to save earth because of all of that packaging, all of all of that packaging, all of those cardboard box that is, all of those diesel and petrol trucks that are driving around, delivering parcels. amazon has indeed alleged to purchase many electrical vehicles, trucks to deliver those passes over the coming years, pledged to be carbon neutral within two or three decades, but the criticism continues. 0f three decades, but the criticism continues. of course he is also part of blue 0rigin, which is the rocket company pursuing suborbital space tourism, and that venture has
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been criticised because of its potential carbon footprint. so while people have indeed praised him in the last few hours for the social media posting, outlining these new plans, he is still getting quite a lot of criticism, people saying he could still do more. when is all this getting going? immediately? it is getting going this summer, and he hasn't given us a lot of detail as to exactly who or indeed that the nature of these grants, but certainly pledges by the summer of this year that this money will start to be distributed. peter, thank you very much. the daily rush to school is a staple of life for parents and kids around the world. but what if, instead ofjust heading down the road or to the other end of town, you have to cross an international border? that's what two american students living in mexico do, each and every day. their story is the latest in our bbc series, crossing divides.
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we argued as definite us citizens because we were born in the united states. we live inxago in the united states. we live in x ago and we study in the us. we are in high school. crossing the border for us, depending on how long the line is, it is chaotic sometimes. bell rings
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being bilingual at the border is almost a superpower. you are the glue. you are able to bring two worlds together. let's read on. keep going. i know it is for our benefit to speak english, but in our free time we always speak spanish. we are sort of a hallway into america if you will. in fact, we have actually found packages of drugs on our campus, people that have just hopped over the fence illegally, running away from border patrol agents. it is concerning. people jump the border want to get a better life, opportunity. i can relate to them. we have never missed
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school. i think it is a privilege to come to school even though it is chaotic. that is the school run. a ghost ship has washed up on the coast of ireland. there have been warned to stay away. the boat drifted for more than a year in the atlantic ocean, travelling from africa to ireland. the crew was rescued back in 2018. there are fears any oil or diesel on board my leg. —— may leak. jacqueline du pre's career as one of the most gifted
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and celebrated cellists of the 20th century was cut short by multiple sclerosis. she was just 42 when she died. more than three decades later, her life has now inspired a new work by the royal ballet. the world premiere has just been held at the royal opera house in london. 0ur arts editor will gompertz reports. the cellist is a story of love and loss between a woman and an object — the musicianjacqueline du pre and her cello. the cello, you know, it looks like a person. we refer to its neck, its body, its voice. its sound is very much like the human voice. lauren cuthbertson plays the cellist, marcelino sambe her instrument — a combination that required some role reversal. usually, the woman is traditionally in front of the man and the man partners from here, but actually, when you're playing the cello, i'm behind marcelino like this, so we had to come up with different grips. it was almost like reverse. yeah.
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the ballet tells jacqueline du pre's life story, charting her rise to international superstardom followed by a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, forcing her to give up her beloved cello. the moment when you know something is wrong but you don't know what it is i think must be horrific, especially when, you know, she couldn't feel her fingers. she had this tingling sensation. the weight of the bow was not feeling as it had done before. there are two subjects, i suppose, in this ballet. there is the cello as a subject and then there is jacqueline du pre's illness, which is multiple sclerosis, which your mother also has. yes. in terms of my mother and ms, i think it gave me confidence to explore that condition, because i'm, you know, seeing it in a very personal way. but it's not a ballet about ms. it's a ballet about someone who finds their voice,
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finds their identity and loses it. this isn't a tragedy only, it's also a celebration that such talent exists, and almost like the sound waves still continue now. the choreographer cathy marston ending that report by will gompertz. a reminder of our top story: a document shown to the bbc suggests that some of the estimated one million muslims placed in chinese internment camps were sent there simply because they had a beard or wore a veil. others were considered potentially radicalised by the authorities because they had applied for a passport. 0r accidentally clicked on a foreign website. the document — compiled by village—based teams in china's far western region of xinjiang — appears to set out in detail how the authorities decided the fate of uighur detainees after recording intimate details about their personal lives. the chinese embassy in london insists that what it calls "vocational education centres" are designed to tackle terrorism and religious extremism. it denies religious
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discrimination. there is much more on all the news on the bbc website. thank you for watching. hello there. storm dennis may be long out of the way, but its left a legacy, a legacy of severe flooding in places, water as far as the eye can see on this weather watch picture from the worcester area. now, there are still a number of severe flood warnings in force, these tending to be clustered along stretches of the river wye, which has reached record water levels, and on stretches of the river severn. aside from that, there are still well over 200 flood warnings in force elsewhere in the uk, and it's likely to be a number of days before the floodwaters completely ebb out of the way and those flood warnings start to come down. now, as far as the satellite picture goes, we've got shower clouds working into the uk, but we do have a more organised area of showers i've just drawn
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in here, and that's going to be crossing the uk, bringing pretty much everyone a downpour or two over the next 24 hours. now, over the next few hours, we do have showers around, most frequent across the north—west of the country, and for scotland and northern england, those showers falling as snow, above 200 metres elevation, leading to some icy conditions and the risk of some slippery roads on some of those higher scottish routes as we start the day on tuesday. through the rest of tuesday, it is a showery kind of day but remember that feature i showed you just a moment ago? well, here it is working its way eastward across the country. everyone gets a downpour from that, and when those showers come along, they will be very heavy and accompanied by sudden gusts of wind, so it will get very, very squally. behind that band of showers, we're looking at some colder air working into scotland, northern ireland and northern england. temperatures typically around 5—7 degrees for these areas. now, the winds fall light tuesday night as a ridge builds in, but then we've got more rain on the way mid—week, so after a bright and somewhat chilly start to the day, we've got some thickening cloud
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and outbreaks of rain that are going to move in for wednesday. the heaviest falls of rain will be from the north of wales, northwestwards. however, there is still uncertainty about how heavy the rain is going to be around southern wales. but clearly, this extra rain could cause us some problems so we are keeping a close eye on developments and particularly with regard the flooding situation. now, that warm front moves away and actually things will get warmer and milder overnight with rising temperatures ahead of the next front, which comes through and this is a cold front. now, on thursday, this cold front swings through. again, we'll have some very squally, gusty kind of winds. the rain won't last too long but it will be happy for a time, and behind the cold front, the air gets colder, so again, the showers will be turning increasingly wintry over the higher hills of scotland later on in the day. that's your latest weather. bye for now.
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this is bbc news, the headlines:
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new evidence of china's crackdown on muslim minorities in its western province of xinjiang has been revealed in a leaked document seen by the bbc. the document sets out how the authorities decided the fate of more than three hundred uighur detainees. the us technology giant apple has warned that it won't achieve its forecast revenues for this financial quarter because of the coronavirus outbreak. the company says that although its factories in china have reopened, they're not yet operating at full capacity. the united nations says the latest government offensive in syria has now displaced almost 900,000 people since december. it has created a new humanitarian crisis in the region. in a rare public address, president assad has insisted his military campaign will continue — despite the impact on his own people.

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