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tv   Witness History  BBC News  August 1, 2020 4:30am-5:01am BST

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mexico's confirmed coronavirus deaths have exceeded 46,000, placing the country's death toll from the pandemic third highest in the world. it means mexico has overtaken britain, with only the united states and brazil recording more deaths. the mexican health ministry also registered a record 8,500 new cases on friday. james murdoch, the younger son of media mogul rupert murdoch, has resigned effective immediately from the board of news corporation, which owns fox news, the wall streetjournal, the times and the sun, citing "disagreements over editorial content". james murdoch and his wife have previously criticised news corp for its climate change coverage. a 17—year—old has been arrested in florida, —— those are your headlines. the teenage driver of a getaway car involved in dragging
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to his death pc andrew harper in berkshire last summer, has beenjailed for 16 years for manslaughter. two passengers in the car, who are both 18, were jailed for 13 years. the teenagers were attempting to steal a quad bike when pc harper responded to the 999 call. helena wilkinson was in court and her report contains some flashing images. andrew and lissie harper were married for less than a month when he was killed. today, she was in court with family to see those responsible jailed for their crimes — jessie cole, henry long and albert bowers. this is cole and bowers laughing after their first court appearance. i've got four masked men outside my house and they've got weapons. they're stealing my quad bike. this is the 999 call about the theft of a quad bike that pc harper had been responding to with a colleague. the officers soon came across the teenagers‘ car. jessie cole quickly
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unhooked the bike. through the rear view camera, you can see his legs as he tries to escape, followed by pc harper, who got caught at that moment in the tow rope. sentencing the teenagers, mrjustice edis said they had killed "a talented and brave young police officer who was going above and beyond his duty in order to provide a public service". pc harper's widow, lissie harper, read a victim impact statement to court. she said: these are three people who i do not believe have ever
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shown an ounce of genuine remorse or contrition for their actions. they did their best to frustrate the police investigation. thejudge said there was nothing he could do to restore andrew harper to his loving wife or family, and they had the profound sympathy of the whole nation. helena wilkinson, bbc news. now on bbc news, witness history. hello, and welcome to witness history with me, razia iqbal at the royal academy in london. today we will hear from five people who have lived through incredible moments in history. coming up: the woman who defied the salvadoran government over the murder of six priests. the town that was poisoned by asbestos. and the agricultural scientist who helped save a billion lives.
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but first, of all of the revolutions that swept across eastern europe just over 30 years ago, the overthrow of nicolae ceausescu and his wife elena in romania was the bloodiest. the uprising began in the western city of timisoara, where a local pastor, laszlo tokes, took a stand against the authorities. the unrest started in timisoara, in transylvania, following the arrest of pastor laszlo tokes. laszlo tokes, who was an outspoken critic of the government, refused to leave when the secret police came to arrest him. several hundred churchgoers gathered to stop them. i did not want to become a revolutionary. but step by step, my attitude was radicalised because we had to speak out. he was a stalinist—type dictator. the romanian system became
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more and more cruel. we were under total control by the securitate, the romanian secret service. the church became a centre of peaceful opposition. i did not make politics. i only tried to express that we must obey god, rather than men. it wasn't just that he was a gifted preacher, he was the first man they had ever known who was prepared to stand up and challenge the ceausescu dictatorship and its deadly security network. people began to gather around my church. looking out through my windows, on the large crowd, sincerely to say i was frightened of the probable consequences of their brave demonstration.
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i remember people began to sing patriotic songs, to shout against the regime. "liberty, liberty! " "down with nicolae ceausescu!" the army were very cruel, very violent. about 50 people were killed in a day. that was the bloodiest day in timisoara. in very short time, the demonstrations enlargened into the neighbouring cities. nicolae ceausescu is fighting for his political life in the only way he knows how — the violent suppression of any kind of protest. in the morning of the 17th of december, we were taken by the securitate in a very brutal way. it was clear for us that we are
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to be executed or imprisoned. my wife was pregnant with our second child, which later on was born. i think it was our angel in that time, and protected us when we were prepared for the worst. romanians went on an anti—nicolae ceausescu rampage as the armyjoined the revolution. thanks to god, we had a little radio apparatus, and we were informed that the ceausescu couple is on the run. translation: romanian brothers, we come here to the romanian broadcasting company to tell you that the dictator has fallen! to let you know that the country is free! with an angry rooftop mob closing in on them, the ceausescus panicked and made their escape by helicopter.
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it was a wonder, and we considered it a gift of god on christmas for the people. that was the most joyful day in our full lives. singing. laszlo tokes on the romanian revolution of 1989. next, a story of identity, loyalty and betrayal. in the 1950s and ‘60s, the french colony of algeria in north africa was battling for independence but some algerian muslims chose to fight on the side of france. they were called the harkis. when france lost the war in 1962, it abandoned its former colony and in post—independence algeria, thousands of harkis
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faced brutal prosecution for siding with the former colonial ruler. serge carel was one. and he has been telling witness history about his ordeal. translation: the harkis were local forces, on the side of the french army in algeria's independence of the war. we gave everything for france, but what we didn't know was that france would abandon us. news reel: as tensions rises in french north africa, france arms her algerian supporters for defence against rebel raids. the prefect of 0ran province, monsieur lambert, personally hands out weapons to muslims recruits at nadroma, where hundreds are being enrolled daily.
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translation: i was about 17.5, 18—years—old at the time. you had to choose between france and the fln rebels. my father had been in the french army and had fought in world war i. my brothers were also in the french army. so i chose france. i was proud of what we did. proud of serving france. we were always sent out in front of the french troops. if there was an attack, the harkis would be the first to die. we had to get rid of the fln fighters who were terrorising the population.
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translation: we always knew at that one day algeria would gain its independence. what general de gaulle should have done was take all the harkis and their families to safety in france. but when independence was declared in 1962, the french disarmed the harkis and left them defenceless. the fln took advantage of this and began to round us all up. they took me to a barracks, where there were about 50 other harkis prisoners. there was blood everywhere. they stripped me naked and started torturing me with electric shocks. each time a new group of soldiers came on shift, they began again.
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the same thing every day. the fln even made us dig our own graves. some people were thrown in alive, some were thrown into the river and the jackals did the rest. i was arrested on july 8th,1962 and i escaped on september 10th 1962. it took me a long time to feel welcome here in france. i decided to change my name and convert to catholicism. i wanted to make a fresh start. i could say that i was born under a lucky star and that i am lucky, but not all the harkis were so lucky, and that is the fault
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of france. serge carel, an algerian muslim, who fought on the side of the colonial power france in the war for algerian independence. now to australia, and a tale of environmental devastation. the town of wittenoom, in western australia, emerged in the 1940s and ‘50s around a profitable blue asbestos mine. asbestos, a natural fire retardant, was in high demand. but in wittenoom, people were unaware that raw asbestos could be lethal. thousands died, and the town is now almost completely abandoned. bronwen duke grew up there. people were warned, but they didn't take it seriously until people started to die. i lost both parents,
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both grandparents, my brother, three uncles, about four cousins that i can think of — and that's just the immediate family in my world. i was born in 1958 in the far north of western australia in the pilbara, in a little town called wittenoom. the blue asbestos mine was the genesis of the town. asbestos is a naturalfibre that is encased in rocks. they would extract the asbestos out of the mine, and the mill would actually then bag it and ready for shipment, and it was sent to all places around the world for the various things that they use asbestos for. newsreel: fire-resisting, sound—insulating product known as asbestos is a piece of rock. the practical uses of asbestos are very numerous. at least 18,000 articles are made of it. ranging from packing for steam engines and linings for friction surfaces,
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to bulkheads for aeroplanes. there were a lot of immigrants that came into australia after the second world war. and a lot of them were just looking forjobs, and there werejobs to be had in wittenoom. my dad was one of them. he was the jack of all trades. he used to drive the bus to take the guys from town to the mine every day. my mum and her sisters all met their husbands up there. it had all of the elements of a normal country town. they used to have race days, and there would be balls, and all sorts of social activities that everyone was involved in. but my parents were not aware of the dangers at all. i don't think a lot of the people in town were aware of the dangers. asbestos fibres get into the lungs and those fibres can cause asbestosis or mesothelioma. it encases the lung in cancer and prevents it from breathing.
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in wittenoom asbestos wasn't confined to the mine. asbestos was used in gardens, it was used on driveways, it was used up on the roads. it was literally everywhere. if you went out to play, as all small children do, you're playing in asbestos. one of the flying doctors flew into town and said, as soon he got there, he said "we have to close this, this has to stop." well, the mine was very profitable, so it was decided that that wasn't the case. it was 1966 before they actually closed the mine. but people had started to die. we left when my dad got sick. we now know in actual fact that he had asbestosis at that time. it's almost like having an asthma attack where you can't breathe and you're fighting to catch your breath. my mum and my brother died from mesothelioma.
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there's just hundreds of people from wittenoom, that i know of, that have gone with mesothelioma or asbestosis. none of my family that's in their photo are alive. they're all gone. every one of them. there is no compensation for taking away your parents. 0ryourfamily. there's no justice in that at all. nothing. money does not bring them back. money doesn't compensate for their death, or what you miss. bronwen duke on the devastating legacy of asbestos in one western australian town. remember, you can watch witness history every month on the bbc news channel, or you can catch up on all our films, along with more than 1,000 radio programmes in our online archive. just search online for bbc witness history. now to central america, and the civil war in el salvador. throughout the 1980s, left—wing rebels were fighting
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the us—backed government. in 1989, government soldiers dragged six jesuit priests from their beds and murdered them. it changed the course of the war. the salvadoran government tried to blame the killings on the rebels. but one brave woman stood up to the authorities, providing important testimony that contradicted the official version. lucia cerna told her story to witness history. the priests' funeral took place at the university where they were murdered. they were el salvador‘s leading left—wing intellectuals. thousands came to mourn, not just for the dead men, but because they'd symbolise for the hope that el salvador might on day become a country where power came from the ballot box and not from the barrel of a gun. translation: the priests were always on the side of the poor. that's how they were.
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it still hurts to remember them and to remember what happened. i will keep telling this story until my dying days. i can never forget it. the government troops are fighting the biggest guerilla offensive since 1981. the rebels appear to have moved into the capital in force and have held position for more than 12 hours. translation: there were soldiers and rebels shooting all over the place. we couldn't go out, and food and water were running low. i was very nervous. i worked as a cleaner at the jesuit university. i called one of the priests, and asked if we could come and shelter on the campus with my husband and daughter. he said, "yes,
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of course, come." it all happened just after midnight. we were woken up by the sound of gunfire near the entrance to the university. i got up and went to an open window to look out. i could see the shadows of men by the entrance to the rooms where the priests slept. they were soldiers. i heard one of the priests calling out, that it was an injustice. a disgrace. then i heard shouting, and more shooting. after that, there wasjust silence. the killing that has caused the greatest outrage is the murder of the six catholic priests dragged from their beds and shot yesterday morning. translation: the government said it was the guerrillas who had killed them. but i said no, it was the army,
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and that i'd seen the soldiers. they did not like me saying that. after that, i was taken, with my husband and daughter, to the airport and put on a plane. the jesuits said that they could not protect me in el salvador. i guess that i was there for a reason that night. another person might have kept quiet and not spoken out. but as god says, you have to do something in this life, and i did something. lucia cerna, on speaking out against the el salvadoran government. our final story is about a man whose work is said to help save a billion people from hunger and famine. in 1970, the american scientist norman borlaug was awarded the nobel peace prize for his pioneering work developing
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disease—resistant crops. at the time, famine and malnutrition were claiming millions of lives across the world. dr borlaug's work meant countries like india were able to become self—sufficient. witness history hears from his friend, ronnie coffman. if the field is uniform, you get a general picture of what it is likely to yield. the man who fed the world. norman borlaug, praised for saving more lives than anyone in human history. we were in the field, hard at work, and we looked up and saw a car. and dr borlaug said "whoa, that looks like margaret." margaret was his wife. and she gets out, she says "norman, you won the nobel prize." he didn't really believe it. he comes back, and we go back to work.
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obviously i am personally honoured beyond all dreams by this election, but the obligations imposed by the honours are far greater than the honour itself. he grew up on a farm in iowa, coming of age during the great depression. he saw a lot of breadlines, a lot of people out of work. he saw a lot of poverty. i think that set him on his career to do something that would benefit society. he started his work in mexico in the 1960s, developing high—yielding disease resistant wheat that boosted harvests in became known as the green revolution. he was trained as a plant pathologist, trying to protect plants from diseases, and specifically, to do something about the rust disease which was wiping out the crop in mexico.
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what is rust disease? it's a fungus, it's carried in the wind. it is the worst plant disease in the world, so he set about to develop rust resistant wheat varieties. i was in my 20s at the time, he was in his 50s, but i had trouble keeping up with him. there are those who now say that food is not the problem, i say it will be a continuing problem. india is especially concerned. over half its population extremely vulnerable to famine. india didn't have a chance of feeding their population. tens of millions of people were dying from hunger, and malnutrition, so it was considered at the time a hopeless situation. the green revolution essentially eliminated famine. this did not necessarily solve all the problems of hunger, but it gave india a chance.
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his techniques did attract critics. the plants, it was said, were too reliant on chemicals, the farming too intensive. butjust imagine in the absence of the green revolution what might have happened — large numbers of hungry people, an environmental disaster. the figure that was always used was that dr borlaug saved a billion lives, and i think it's probably true. ronnie coffman, remembering hiss mentor dr norman borlaug and his revolutionary work to create new grains. that is all from witness history this month here at the royal academy. we will be back next month, with more first hand accounts of extraordinary moments in history. but for now, from me, and the rest of the witness history team, goodbye.
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hello there. the heat on friday was certainly extreme. it arrived quickly and it is going away quickly. but the heat was far and wide. we had temperatures of 37 degrees in london, 29 in edinburgh. but a significant drop on the way for saturday. for liverpool and sheffield, a drop of 11 degrees or more. the heat has been coming to an end with a bang. we've had this band of cloud coming in from the west bringing some thundery rain and we scooped up some thunderstorms from continental europe, it's been heading eastwards, out into the north sea, and behind that band of cloud, we are seeing atlantic air spilling our way and that's the reason why the temperatures will be dropping. things will feel different
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as we head into monday. still going to be very warm for eastern parts of england, mind you. by the time we get to the morning we have rain affecting shetland and may be a few showers coming into some other western parts of the uk. throughout the day on saturday, it's going to be a mixture of sunshine and a scattering of showers, mainly across western areas, a few will push their way eastwards gradually through the day. much of the day may well be dry with sunshine at times and it stays dry right across the south—east and east anglia until the evening. and we'll find temperatures at 25, 26 degrees, warm but it is a cooler day everywhere in the temperatures 18 in the central belt. i'm sure the footballers for the fa cup final will appreciate the change in the weather it looks like it should be dry at wembley. more showers to come into northern ireland on saturday evening. those will push their way into scotland, we keep the cool air coming in on the westerly breeze. so temperatures overnight, saturday night into sunday morning, a little bit lower, probably a more comfortable night for sleeping — 11 to 1a degrees. again on saturday, a day of sunshine, and showers.
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probably more showers around on sunday. especially across the northern half of the uk and some of those could be on the heavy side as well. it's continuing to cool off, temperatures continuing to drop away a little bit, our high on sunday in the south—east is 23 celsius. more of the same on monday. same sort of temperatures, sunshine and showers, perhaps heavier showers in the afternoon for the eastern side of england. it's getting a long way away but i think around tuesday and wednesday we could be in for some wetter and windier weather. but by end of next week, probably turning quite a bit warmer once again. goodbye.
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this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm aaron safir. the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in mexico has overtaken britain's. it's now the third highest in the world cracks in the murdoch empire as rupert murdoch's sonjames resigns from the board of news corporation, citing editorial disagreements. two teenagers are among three people charged in connection with the hacking of high profile twitter users. and muslims worldwide are celebrating the festival of eid al—adha, but with coronavirus restrictions, things are different this year.

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