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tv   BBC World News  BBC News  July 15, 2020 12:00am-12:31am BST

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this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm tim willcox. president trump signs an executive order that he says will hold china accountable for its actions in hong kong. hong kong will now be treated the same as mainland china. no special privileges in a special economic treatment. and no export of sensitive technologies. the uk also strikes a blow on beijing — ordering tech from chinese company huawei to be stripped from its telecoms network. tears from ghislaine maxwell — as the former girlfriend of jeffrey epstein — is refused bail — she will go on trial nextjuly, charged with trafficking minors
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nice to meet you. i can't believe it. plus, a truly unique reunion. an auschwitz survivor meets the family of the american soldier who saved her life. hello and welcome. in a news conference, donald trump has outlined a litany of complaints against china as he announced the signing of an executive order stripping hong kong of its right to preferential economic treatment. president trump announced his moves saying the people of hong kong have had their freedoms taken away. today, i also signed
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an executive order ending us preferential treatment for hong kong. hong kong will now be treated the same as mainland china, no special privileges and no special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies. in addition to that, as you know, we are placing massive tariffs and have placed very large tariffs on china. that's the first time that's ever happened to china. our north america correspondent peter bowes is in los angeles. he says president trump not only attacked china but also joe biden. yes. a awofold announcement, holding china responsible. the president said it's for actions against hong kong and the people of hong kong which he described as being oppressive and also the announcement ending the special preferential treatment that hong kong has received and saying that hong kong would now be treated the same as mainland china. that is an announcement that politically affects trade between hong kong
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and the united states. but it really was quite a litany of complaints against china. i have to say not particularly unexpected given the current climate of the president repeatedly blaming china for the coronavirus pandemic in the way that it has spread around the world. that is something in this press conference in the rose garden at the white house that the president has focused on a lot as well as also attacking joe biden, his rivalfor the presidency later on this year, and after the initial announcements about hong kong and china, this news conference had very much the feel of a presidential rally with the president hitting a number of issues but repeatedly coming back to his complaints against china and also his view ofjoe biden. and how he believes perhaps joe biden presidency might go in relation to china. a very extensive attack onjoe biden.
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critics would say he was turning it into a campaign tactic. he also repeatedly said beijing concealed the coronavirus outbreak and repeatedly referred to covid—i9 as the plague. make no mistake that we hold china for the responsible for concealing the virus. and unleashing it upon the world. they coudl've stopped it there. they should've stopped it. it would've been a very easy to do at the source when it happened. he didn't call call it kung flu, which he has done in the past. do you have any more information, it is a few months ago that he did have intelligence suggesting that china knew much more about it.
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no, we don't have any hard facts in relation to that, to back up the claims we've heard from the president in the past. but this line of rhetoric as something repeatedly we have been hearing from the president for a number of weeks now. it is very clear. it does have the feel of a rally by president trump many of which we will see no doubt in the coming weeks and months. this will be a thing that will hear from president trump and is perhaps no surprise that he is even holding this news conference today at a time when the coronavirus is spreading rapidly again around the united states and the headlines otherwise in this country about how the virus is seemingly out of control in states like florida, texas, here in california, perhaps florida being the worst affected state and some significance there because florida is going to be one of those battle grounds come the election in november and it's a state that president trump nearly won four years ago but the opinion polling suggesting that joe biden is in the lead at the moment. earlier the british government announced it's to carry out a major u—turn and exclude
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the chinese company, huawei, from building britain's 56 data networks. the change in policy comesjust six months after ministers originally agreed to give the company a limited role. the reversal of the policy will please washington — but anger beijing. here's our security correspondent, gordon corera. sg promises to be the technology of the future, powering innovation and connecting everything around us together. but today we learned that huawei will be locked out of that future in the uk, as the government announced a major u—turn on the role of the chinese company. as facts have changed, so has our approach. that is why we have taken this decision that there can be no new huawei equipment from the end of this year, and set out a clear timetable to exclude huawei completely by 2027, with an irreversible path implemented by the time of the next election. critics claim allowing
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a chinese company to build these 56 phone masts is a security threat, risking data being stolen or services switched off. that's something the company denies, but pressure from washington has forced the uk to shift from its january decision to let the company play a limited role. this is a decision based on us trade priorities, and trade requirements, as opposed to a decision about security. you know, we're very disappointed by the decision from the government. we think it's bad news for the people of the uk. if you use a smartphone or use the internet. there are thousands of mobile phone masts all across the country, and the challenge is that huawei is already embedded in many of them, notjust 5g, but also 4g we've already been using with our phones, and even the network carrying data beneath our streets. the government has chosen a seven—year timeframe for huawei's removal because,
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even though it will slow down 5g roll—out, they are hoping it will limit the disruption to the technology on which we all rely. there's been intense lobbying from the telecoms companies who use huawei. they'd warned even of coverage blackouts. but today the chief executive of britain's biggest, bt, seemed confident they could make this timetable work. are you actually going to be going round places and physically taking out huawei kit, or is itjust more a question of replacing it when it comes for upgrade? it's mainly going to be replacing it when it comes for upgrade. there is a little bit of re—engineering and moving huawei kit into different places, but, again, you know, what's so important for us is to have the time to deploy the right kit in the right place, and make sure not only are we delivering the service for our 2a million mobile customers today, but also building the new network, the new 5g network for the future. conservative backbenchers had pushed for a tougher line. one cautiously welcomed the new plan, but said he wanted to see it followed through.
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i'm hoping this is going to be a slow goodbye to huawei, a high—risk vendor, but it could be that they double down, they try to sell as much kit in the next few months as possible, and people are still putting, legally, high—risk vendor kit into our 56 network in three, four and five years' time in the hope that policy or government changes. this evening came the first response from china. its ambassador to the uk tweeting, "disappointing and wrong decision by the uk on huawei. "it's become questionable whether the uk can provide an open, fair and non—discriminatory business environment for companies from other countries." today may not be the end of the road. just as washington piled on the pressure, now it may be beijing's turn. gordon corera, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the trump administration has reversed course on a plan to bar international students from american universities who were set to take
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classes exclusively online. harvard and mit had sued the administration over the proposal, saying it would hurt their access to an education. international students also provide much—needed tuition fees for us schools. the us government has carried out the first federal execution in almost two decades, putting to death a man who killed an arkansas family in the 1990s. daniel lewis lee died by lethal injection at a federal prison in indiana. relatives of those killed by lee had campaigned against his execution. the police of chief in the german state of hesse has resigned over allegations of links between the police and the far—right. police computers were used to obtain data about three prominent women who were then sent threats from neo—nazis. the police chief said he knew that data was being accessed by the police computer, and failed to pass on the information soon enough.
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french president emanuel macron led a scaled—down bastille day celebration in paris. instead of the usual military parade, he joined dignitaries in applauding health workers who played key roles in the pandemic. more than 1,000 were invited, alongside relatives of those who died fighting the disease. ajudge in new york has denied bail for ghislaine maxwell, the former girlfriend of the late american financier and convicted paedophile, jeffrey epstien. at a hearing today, maxwell pleaded not guilty to charges that she helped him to abuse underage girls. nada tawfik was inside the courtroom, and sent this report. after a life of luxury, this is ghislaine maxwell's reality, denied bail and heavily guarded here at the metropolitan
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detention center in brooklyn with her trial atleast a year away. jeffrey epstein‘s alleged conspirator appeared remotely in court and pleaded not guilty. stripped of her privilege in a prison top and her hair tied back, she sat expressionless during the hearing. her lawyer said she was not jeffrey epstein and had been unfairly portrayed as a monster by the media. but the prosecution said she was a flight risk and skilled at living and hiding. they say she bought her property in new hampshire under an alias. when agents raided the estate, she locked herself in another room. annie farmer, one of her accusers in the indictment, phoned into the hearing and implored the judge to detain her. she said maxwell was a sexual predator. i don't think it is something that will be over with this year.
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david boies represents i2 epstein accusers, including annie farmer. he says he has handed over evidence to prosecutors which could implicate others if introduced during the trial. prince andrew is somebody who is going to come under even more scrutiny now than before. there is... too much evidence of their connection. both independent of epstein and with epstein. prince andrew has denied having sex with under age girls or being aware of jeffrey epstein‘s crimes. this saga has been filled with twists, turns and disturbing revelations. ghislaine maxwell's trial has the potential to be even more explosive. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: unmasking the benefits — we look at the effectiveness of face coverings in the fight against coronavirus.
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after months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the eurozone. the immediate prospect of greece going bust, in the worst crisis to hit the eurozone, has been averted. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worst floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called "the great white way" by americans. but tonight, it's completely blacked out. it's a timely reminder to all americans of the problems that the energy crisis has brought to them. leaders meet in paris for a summit on pollution, inflation and third—world debt. this morning, theyjoined the revolution celebrations for a show of military might on the champs—elysees. wildlife officials in australia have been coping with a penguin problem. fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much, they could barely stand.
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this is bbc news, the latest headlines. donald trump signs an executive order to end us trade preferences with hong kong a u—turn from the uk— the government here bans china's huawei from its 5g network. the chinese government has responded with retaliatory measures against us sanctions against chinese officials over alleged abuses in xinjiang. specificially putting sanctions on outspoken critics of china — senators ted cruz, marco rubio and ambassador—at—large for international religious freedom sam brownback. one of those targetted with sanctions is the republican congressman chris smith. he gave me his reaction.
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tim, it is atleast going to be a visa ban. i've been warned by the fbi it could be a lot of other things. attempts to besmirch my name on social media, attacks on my credit cards and things like that. they have a lot of capability but frankly, what they are doing to hong kongers and to the people in mainland china is unconscionable. xi jinping has unfortunately become one of the worst violators of human rights in human history. with the uighurs, it is genocide. there is no doubt about that. they need to be held to account. i've had hearings on it, i've tried to go to china. i've been denied in the past to get a visa. not very recently but many times. so there is a really serious concern that is xi jinping has consolidated the dictatorship under the cover of the fog of the covid—i9 pandemic
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and has moved against hong kong and now he is moving against others, particular the uighurs, with the concentration camps... beijing would say you are interfering in internal affairs which is the reason they always give for this. but in terms of how the west and the united states, europe, has approached china over the past 20 or 30 years, has it been wrong do you think? do you think we misread china in terms of our diplomacy? that is a great question. there was a naivety on the part of many that if you traded more they would matriculate to a democracy. there is nothing to suggest hardliners will go along with that and i was the one when bill clinton delinked human rights from trade, favoured nation status,
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we lost, may 26, 1994. they looked to us and said all they care about our profits. we need to reclaim that linkage, and say with hong kong that we are not going to look at scans when you crush the basic law and your agreement declaration and treaty and again, what they have done to hong kongers who have campaigned so bravely is just right in the plain light of day... briefly, president trump has given his press conference and attacking the democrats. his critics would say he is using the bashing of china as a presidential campaign tactic. if that is not the case though, where does it go from here? are we in the state of de facto cold war with beijing? we are in a state of catch up to again an enabling of dictatorship that has allowed them to take
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hong kong and allow them to do what they are doing to the muslims and even with groups like huawei. i'm so glad to see david take the issue of human rights as it applies to giant which has aided and abetted the genocide against the uighurs. the state department put out nine myths that they bust in their paper, most recently promulgated and i'm glad to say your parliament has now adopted the david amendment and has taken steps to disengage from any complicity with the huawei corporation. there's no transparency with it and they are complicit with human rights abuse. in many western countries the debate over wearing a face
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mask has become mixed up with freedom and politics. injapan however, wearing a mask is simply what you do to stop viruses. they've been doing for years, long before covid. medical experts believe it's a habit that's helped them now. from tokyo, rupert wingfield—hayes has more. at shinagawa station in tokyo, it's the morning rush hour. tens of thousands are pouring from the station, heading for nearby office towers. not a single person here is without a facemask. no—one has been ordered to wear one, but everyone does. translation: i don't think it's acceptable not to wear a mask. i think everyone in the world should do so. coronavirus is something we should take very seriously. i thinkjapanese are obedient and listen i think japanese are obedient and listen that's why we wear masks. it's very japanese.
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the effectiveness of masks like these at protecting from covid—19 is still hotly debated, but there is a striking difference in death rate between countries like japan, where masks are universally worn, and place where they aren't. in the united states, the current mortality rate from covid—19 is 400 per million. in the united kingdom, it is over 600 per million. here in japan, it's just 7 per million. scenes like these — of americans protesting against mask—wearing — have left one of the world's leading public health experts shaking his head in despair. it's striking if you look at the united states, where there is almost a wilful, flagrant desire to show that "i'm not going to do what other people are telling me to do, i'm not going to wear a mask." and it's been transformed from the idea "how do we protect each other?" to "i'm going to show that i'm not going to be pushed around."
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in japan, university experiments like these have shown clearly how wearing a mask can cut the volume of droplets ejected by a cough or a sneeze. for long—time tokyo resident james whitlow delano, there is no question where he would rather be during this pandemic. i'd rather be here. i think the japanese, generally speaking, are more civic—minded, community—minded. they care, frankly, more about their neighbours. individualism is great, it's baked into who i am, but this is a time to set that aside for other people. and to me, mask—wearing is so important in that process. until there is a vaccine for covid—19, this is the new reality. but if wearing masks can help protect yourself and others, it is a discomfort most japanese people appear willing to bear.
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rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. we all need good news these days — so here's the story of an unlikely reunion. lily ebert was a teenager when her family was taken to auschwitz. she survived, with the help of an american soldier. 75 years later, lily has met the family of that serviceman. guy lynnn has their story. nice to meet you. nice to meet you, so nice to meet you. it is so nice to meet you, i can't believe it. holocaust survivor lily ebert meets the american family of a soldier who liberated her 75 years ago. it brings tears to my eyes, really. me too. a reunion spanning two continents, four generations in the most amazing of circumstances. good luck and happiness... ..and the start to a new life. it was ten words of hope, quickly written on the only bit of paper an american soldier
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could find — this german banknote. lily ebert was 16 in april 1945 when she and her sisters were liberated by that man from a death march. they'd survived auschwitz, where nearly a millionjews and thousands of others were murdered by the nazis. i lost my mother, brothers, sister. that was the terrible thing. now 90, she found the note from the unknown soldier going through her things with her great grandson, and he turned to social media to find out who the soldier was. so i posted it online in the morning, and i left my phone for a few hours, and suddenly i get on twitter and i had a few thousand notifications, and then suddenly someone tweeted me saying, "this must be the soldier". and before long, dov had traced the family of that soldier, private hyman schulman, who died nine years ago in new york, and wrote his name in hebrew on the note.
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75 years on, lily finally got to thank them. and i really, all the time i looked after it because it was, for me, something special. and till dov got in touch, the family of private schulman had no idea about the incident. i was shaken because suddenly he wasn't my father and all of the history we had had together. instead, he was this young man in the throes of war, doing something extremely kind for somebody, and it was actually overwhelming. the families are planning to meet in person now, all thanks to this well—worn banknote and a soldier's kindness that this amazing survivor will never forget. guy lynn, bbc news. what a lovely story. more on that in all the other stories on our website.
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for me in the team, goodbye. hello there. if anything, tuesday is looking a little grayer than wednesday. we did manage some sunshine on tuesday — across the midlands, across parts of scotland — but this was a general picture for most of the country, that of a lot of cloud. now, we've got thicker cloud courtesy of this weather front toppling in. it's been bringing rain and drizzle through the night across northern and western areas. it continues to progress further southwards and eastwards. under the clear skies further south and east, it's not going to be particularly chilly. we could start with a little bit of sunshine here, but we'll have thicker cloud and rain for many areas. and as a result, it'll be a mild night but a misty one. a lot of this low cloud will sit on the hills and around the coasts as well, hence the fact it'll be grey and damp to start for many. that drizzly rain makes its way towards east anglia and the southeast for
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the afternoon, whilst tending to ease further west. we may see some brightness for northern ireland and for wales and the southwest later. and for shetland, we may hold on to some sunshine until quite late in the day. but for most, there's more cloud, still some patchy drizzle, and it'll feel a little bit cooler. there's a gentle northwesterly breeze, the exception perhaps being northern ireland. seeing temperatures just a little higher here. now, as we go through the evening and overnight, that cloud continues to thin out a little bit, so it's going to be another mild night, misty and murky again but without those weather fronts, as they move away on thursday. it promises a better chance of seeing some brighter weather, even a little sunshine, and so that'll help to lift the temperatures. it's just the far northwest where we'll see some rain coming in on this weather front late in the day. so, better chance of some brightness on thursday, high pressure still with us then, building through those weather fronts, weakening them all the time. but i think for scotland and potentially northern ireland, friday will bring some more rain. and it's cooler air that follows behind. there's a good chance that we'll see some decent spells of sunshine for many other
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areas on friday, and that will really elevate the temperatures — 23 to 26 celsius. now, as we go into the weekend, that weather front will progress further southwards. so it will introduce potentially more cloud, some patchy rain for northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england. brighter but cooler weather follows on behind. but we've still got that warming air further south, so the potential for something much warmer still to form across southern and eastern areas. but during the day on wednesday, it does look potentially very cloudy for many of us. as ever, there's more on the website.
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this is bbc news. 0ur headlines: president trump signs an executive order stripping hong kong of its right to preferential economic treatment with the us. he said the territory would now be treated the same as mainland china. it comes as his administration takes a toughening stance on china over its crackdown in hong kong. the british government decides to stop using equipment from the chinese tech giant huawei for its 5g telecoms networks. it said the decision was prompted by a new cyber security assessment. the us has welcomed the move, but there are fears china will retaliate. a judge in new york refuses to grant bail to ghislaine maxwell, the former girlfriend of the late convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein. she wept as she appeared via video link. she's been charged with trafficking young girls for him and goes on trial nextjuly.

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