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tv   BBC World News  BBC News  October 9, 2020 1:00am-1:31am BST

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this is bbc news — i'm lewis vaughan jones with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world: back to work — donald trump's doctor says he's completed his course of treatment and could return to public engagements from saturday. the debate over the debate. it won't be virtual, but will the next us presidential match—up still go ahead? in michigan, the fbi arrests six men in an alleged plot to kidnap the state's governor, gretchen whitmer. when i put my hand on the bible and took the oath of office 22 months ago, i knew this job would be hard. but i'll be honest, i never could have imagined anything like this. a record rise — 338,000
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people have been infected with coronavirus in the past day, the highest daily number since the pandemic began. and the royal ballet gets ready for its first performance with a live audience in seven months. hello and welcome. president donald trump's doctor says the president has 13 men have been charged with an alleged plot to kidnap the governor of the us state of michigan, gretchen whitmer. the fbi says the plot involved six of the men abducting the governor and taking her to a remote location to put her on trial for treason. governor whitmer has accused president trump of encouraging far right groups by — as she put it — fraternizing with domestic terrorists.
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just last week, the president of the united states stood before the american people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two michigan militia groups. "stand back and stand by," he told them. "stand back and stand by." hate groups heard the president's words not as a rebuke, but as a rallying cry, as a call to action. when our leaders speak, their words matter. they carry weight. when our leaders meet with, encourage or fraternise with domestic terrorists, they legitimise their actions and they are complicit. we can now speak to tracy walder who's a former fbi special agent and cia operative and currently a professor in criminaljustice
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at texas christian university. first of all, we should be clear these are just a —— allegations and enron involved is innocent until proven otherwise but i want to start the people outside the united states, give us an idea of these kind of groups, what they are and what they are about. so i think are and what they are about. so ithinka are and what they are about. so i think a general misconception about these groups is that they are all white supremacist. some do have white supremacist leanings but what they really are are a gathering of mostly groups of men who are arming themselves and are predominant themselves and are predominant the anti—government, that is what we are seeing, mostly folks that are anti—government. we saw that in the 1990s in the united states with the oklahoma city bombing and it looks like we are seeing a city bombing and it looks like we are seeing a resurgence city bombing and it looks like we are seeing a resurgence of that again. that's interesting and given your experience with
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the fbi, at cetera, how do you go about, and in this case, how was this group infiltrated, track down or whatever? so the good thing about these groups is that they tend to really utilise social media. and because of that, they leave a digital footprint because of that, they leave a digitalfootprint and because of that, they leave a digital footprint and it looks to me, from what i've seen, this particular group, the rain coming back watchmen, have been on the fbi's radarfor a long time, maybe since the start of 2020. i don't believe the plot to kidnap the governor was started in early 2020 but they we re started in early 2020 but they were obviously engaging in on line at erviti that was alarming and had probably been reported by a user to the fbi. the plot, the details of this alleged plot seem absolutely extraordinary, to kidnap the governor. how surprised were
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you when the details of that came out? i was surprised but not completely shocked. like i said, we've seen this before. we had waco texas with the branch davidians, and that was pretty out there. and the bombing in oklahoma city. i don't know i would have immediate gone to kidnapping the government —— governor but what we've seen before in may, armed men storming the michigan capital, clearly the governor had become a target. it was really good to get your insight given your background on this. thank you for having me. there's much more on this story on our website, including this breakdown on what the accused were planning and look at us militia groups. just log on to bbc.com/news.
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president donald trump's doctor says the president has completed his course of therapy for coronavirus, and could return to public engagements as early as saturday. here's a memo written by the president's doctor, dr sean conley, released by the white house a short time ago. in it, dr conley says that the president has remained stable since returning to the white house and responded "extremely well" to treatment. for more, i'm joined by our washington correspondent, nomia iqbal. do you make of this memo? it was interesting because in the memo, it says that he is recovering and he is doing well and he should be back doing his public engagements by saturday and that would be day ten since the diagnosis but there is nothing in that statement that says since his first symptoms
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oi’ says since his first symptoms or since his first positive test. these are all the kind of questions that people want clarification on. in fact we don't even know if he's had a negative test and there are all these questions about the state of his health, he is staying in the white house, of course, and so the white house, of course, and so many people have been in donald trump's orbit and been affected by coronavirus including his wife, the first lady, she was diagnosed last week, same time as the president she has remained at the white house ever since and her assistant said earlier this week that she is continuing to rest there and is doing well. still, there are more questions than answers. i don't want to put you on the spot but are we likely to get any more answers? these questions about when donald trump's latest and last negative covid test for example, before we know he contracted it, any sense we are going to get any of these a nswers ? going to get any of these answers? i'm not sure we will
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because president trump wants to get on the campaign trail. he wants to be out there amongst his base, riding up support with only a few weeks to go until the election and all day to day we've seen this back—and—forth between him and joe biden over the debates, next week's debate in florida was supposed to be going ahead, the debate commission wanted to make it virtual and for safety reasons, donald trump said no, joe biden said he would go ahead and then he pulled out and then the last few moments, the donald trump campaign team said next week's debate should still go ahead in person but we don't know yet if that will happen. 0bviously things change by the minute and it could be a different story next hour. we will be picking that up later. great to see you. let's get some of the day's other news. a massive fire engulfed a residential building in the south korean city of ulsan, forcing hundreds of evacuations. the fire is thought to have started on the 12th floor
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of the building just after 11pm and quickly spread. the fire department said 77 people had been treated for smoke inhalation. tens of thousands of indonesians have protested for a third day against a controversial law that critics say will harm workers and the environment. rallies took place around the country. hundreds were arrested in jakarta. hundreds more have been held in strikes and protests in other cities this week. the so—called omnibus jobs creation bill became law on monday. the rape and murder of a young woman in algeria has sparked demonstraions for tougher action against gender—based violence. the killing of the 19—year—old woman set off a wave of outrage on social media, where users called for the death penalty for the attacker. 38 women have been killed in algeria this year. the world health organization says more than 338,000 people around the world have been infected
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with coronavirus in the last 2a hours. that's the highest daily number since the pandemic began. the worst figures in europe are from the czech republic, a small country, but it now has the highest infection rate in the eu, at 327 cases per 100,000 people. thursday saw a record number of infections in the uk. the prime minister, borisjohnson, says it means the country is heading into a danger zone. and officials in germany say they are worried after cases there rose by almost a third in one day. and the united states has the largest total number of cases and deaths in the world. dr krutika kappalli is an infectious diseases doctor and a professor at the medical university of south carolina. my colleague kasia asked her what she makes of this record rise. i think this is something that we should all be alarmed by. we are seeing cases go up all over the world. as you mentioned, in
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parts of europe, we are seeing this in places like iran, argentina, india, the united states and the united states over the last 2a hours, over 50,000 cases, over 900 deaths and over the last week, an increase of 9% of new cases so this is something that is happening all over the world andi happening all over the world and i think it is a sign of people letting up on practising vigilance against coronavirus. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the show must go on — why failed harvests, extreme weather and coronavirus won't stop north korea throwing a big party. this was a celebration by people who were relishing their freedom. they believe everything's going to be different from now on. they think their country will be respected in the world once more, as it used to be, before slobodan milosevic took power.
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the dalai lama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet, has won this year's nobel peace prize. as the parade was reaching its climax, two grenades exploded and a group of soldiersjumped from a military truck taking part in the parade, and ran towards the president, firing from kalashnikov automatic rifles. after 437 years, the skeletal ribs of henry viii's tragic warship emerged. but even as divers worked to buoy her up, the mary rose went through another heart—stopping drama. i want to be the people's governor. i want to represent everybody. i believe in the people of california. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: donald trump's doctor says he's completed his course of treatment for coronavirus, and could return to public engagements from saturday.
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in michigan, the fbi arrests six men in an alleged plot to kidnap the state's governor, gretchen whitmer. as we heard earlier, there are many question marks over the likelihood of a second presidential debate between president trump and his democratic challenger joe biden. the plan was to hold a virtual debate because of mr trump's treatment for covid but the president said that would be a waste of time. we'll have more on how the debate schedule is likely to pan out, but first here's our north america editor jon sopel with more on last night's vice—presidential debate. never before has a vp debate been so important, and there's a reason for that. with both presidential candidates well into their 70s, the old phrase about the number two being only a heartbeat away from the oval office has never seemed more relevant. in the debate between mike pence and kamala harris,
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covid was centrestage, although divided by plexiglass. the american people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country. i want the american people to know that, from the very first day, president donald trump has put the health of america first. whatever the vice—president is claiming the administration has done, clearly, it hasn't worked. but when you say what the american people have done over these last eight months hasn't worked, that's a great disservice to the sacrifices the american people have made. this debate had none of the histrionics and shouting of last week, in what felt like a 0—0 draw. to be honest, the most exciting bit came when a very black fly landed in mike pence's very white hair, and stayed there. president trump and i stand with you. it ended with this trail—ahead. the second presidential debate is next week on october 15th — a town hall—style debate in miami.
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but this morning the independent commission that runs the presidential debates ruled that next week's encounter should be virtual. the president's reaction — a furious "i' no, i'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. that's not what debating's all about. you sit behind a computer and do a debate — it's ridiculous. and then they cut you off whenever they want. joe biden, who has agreed to a virtual debate, was today throwing up his hands. we don't know what the president's going to do — he changes his mind every second. so, for me to comment on that right now would be irresponsible. i think i'm going to follow the commission's recommendations. if he goes off and he's going to have a rally, i'll... i don't know what i'll do. the strategy of the president pre—illness had been to change the subject away from the pandemic. now he seems to be embracing it as a gift. that wasjohn that was john sopel there.
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professor alan schroeder is a presidential debates historian and he's in albuquerque, new mexico. thank you very much forjoining us on thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. thank you. we will go back into history in a little bit, but let's try and work out what is happening at the moment. there are supposed to be three debates between the top two candidates. we have had one. what is your best guess about whether we will get the other two or not. i think it's 50-50 other two or not. i think it's 50—50 we may get one more, probably the last one that was scheduled for october 21. this one next week, i don't see how this could possibly go on, because the commission which responses the debates has said they will do a debate next week, but virtually, and drunk, as you have just now says absolutely not. so i don't think this next one is going to happen. who has more to gain or lose from these debates, going forward , lose from these debates, going forward, now? this is the strange thing. trump is the one
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who needs more debates. he is way behind at this point in the polling and the logic is debates would give him more opportunities to make the sale. but here's the one who said first i don't want to come to a debate if it is virtual on the 15th. so none of this really makes a lot of sense. that is an understatement, that is a phrase i can use again and again, ican phrase i can use again and again, i can think. do they shift the needle as much as we think they do, these debates? have a in the past? normally, they don't. it was interesting in that first debate, that very bombastic performance by trump was that it did have an effect in the polling and the effect was negative for him. he didn't move incredibly, the number of voters who, you know, have switched from one party to the other, but there was some movement. and at this point trump is behind. he needs any platform he can that is going
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to deliver 50— 60 million people like a debate word. do you think you can get a seismic shift? a big enough shift? probably not. attitudes are pretty well cast in stone. more than 6 million americans have voted already. the train is moving very quickly down the tracks there are not too many opportunities. but maybe for history, if he has one more debate he theoretically might be able to wash away the bad taste that last one had in everyone's mouth. fascinating. many more twists and turns, i am sure. thank you, alan schroeder. thank you. next, north korea is preparing for what is expected to be one of the largest military parades in its history, as it marks the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the workers' party. the parades are a chance to show off new missiles, despite strict economic sanctions. but it's been a difficult
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yearfor north korea after kim jong—un's failure to reach a deal with donald trump in 2019. on top of that, the covid—19 pandemic and extreme weather have cut off supplies and wreaked havoc on harvests, as laura bicker reports. hour after hour, north korean reporters broadcast live from successive typhoons. the destruction wrought on this fragile country was seen in real time, a first for this usually secretive state. kim jong—un went to see the damage for himself and raised concerns about vital harvests. this impoverished country has also been battered by the effects of the covid—19 pandemic. although north korea denies having a case, it has been locked down for months. translation: all the routes - land, sea, and air —
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it's a complete shutdown of both people and material. the north korean economy has come to a halt. smugglers and small traders at the border have questioned why the regime is risking the fate of the economy if there's no covid—19 in the country. south of the border, our team is allowed into the demilitarised zone. we drive past the man—made barriers which have divided the two koreas for 70 years. from here, those curious from the south love to peer at the north. this is as close as they can get. 2020 has been difficult for many countries, but for north korea, it has the potential to be devastating. and since the border was shut in january, the 25 million north korean people have been more closed off to the world than ever before. pyongyang dramatically cut off all communication and blew up
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the inter—korean liaison office earlier this year. but still some have hope of ending this war, even after donald trump and kim jong—un could not reach a deal on denuclearisation. translation: there were efforts to reach a big deal, but that resulted in a no—deal. it is time for us to go back and develop smaller deals in sports and culture. the governor would like north and south to share this landscape and designate it as a peace zone, an unlikely dream for now. instead, south koreans enjoy the autumn sunshine perching on the spine on their side of the peninsula. with few covid—19 restrictions and a certain harvest, there are few worries here. the same cannot be said of their neighbours. laura bicker, bbc news. louise bilyk is the winner of
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this year's nobel prize for literature. at 77 c is one of only 16 women to ever be awarded the prestigious prize out of 117 laureates. her poetry focuses on the painful reality of being human, dealing with themes such as death, childhood and family life. let's listen to her reading one of her poems from her collection, faithful and virtuous note. it came to me one night as i was falling asleep, that i had finished with those amorous adventures through which i had long been a slave. finished with love, my heart, to which i responded that many profound discoveries awaited us, hoping at the same timei awaited us, hoping at the same time i would not be asked to name them, for i could not name them. but the belief that they existed, surely, this counted
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for something. the world of the arts and entertainment has suffered huge problems because of the pandemic and great institutions such as the royal opera house, here in london, are no exception. on friday for the first time in seven months the royal opera house will open its doors for a performance by the royal ballet as our arts editor will gompertz reports. this is the first time since mid—march that the full orchestra and the full ballet company have been back at the royal opera house. things have changed a bit while they've been away. the stalls have been removed so the orchestra can play down there, and all the scenery is gone so the orchestra can play at the back if it wants to. this stage is huge, so social distancing is possible, and the dancers only dance in pairs if they are in a specific ballet bubble of two for pas de deuxs. we're in a bubble. he's my working husband.
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laughter what's it like to be back? really good. really nice. if you leave it till late, you probably never... yeah, the body starts to go, like, into netflix mode. yes, exactly, exactly! how's it different compared to a pre—lockdown show? well, a lot of it is. i think no—one was ready, no—one could even think that... this could be possible. yeah, one day, they would have to readjust ballet so it would be social distancing... i know. it's crazy to think, you know? i don't know, i guess it's up to the choreographer. the performance might be back, but playing to full houses
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is unlikely to happen in the nearfuture, putting the royal opera house in a precarious financial position. putting it simply, since march 17, we haven't been able to perform at all. and somehow, we've got to sustain the country's largest community of artists through that, without that income, and it's a huge challenge. prized assets, such as this painting by david hockney, are being sold, which will raise much—needed income, as will — the management hope — this special ballet gala, which will be streamed to the world tomorrow night. for now, at least, the show is going on. will gompertz, bbc news. and before i go, it's taken years of hard work, but finally, 2a sea dragons have been born in an aquarium in spain. take a look at this. it's the first time these beautiful animals have been born in captivity in europe. they are cousins of the better—known seahorse and live in a very specific area of southern australia. they are very delicate and sensitive to changes, light, noise and vibrations, which makes them very hard to breed.
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you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. iam doing i am doing this —— i am lewis vaughan jones and this i am doing this —— i am lewis vaughanjones and this is bbc news. hello there. when the sun came out yesterday, we saw 19 celsius, temperatures above where they should be. and they have been for much of the week. but we will swing now to feeling colder for the next few days, probably with temperatures dipping a little bit below where they should be. we will still see some sunshine like we saw on thursday between the showers, this was the rain that moved away, the showers came in, but this next little area of low pressure comes in, giving some quite heavy rain actually through the night as it crosses scotland, northern ireland into the northern half of england and wales. you can see the wraparound here, the area of low pressure, a brisk north—westerly bringing heavy showers, frequent showers following that rain. so, as we go through the day, there will be early brightness in the south and east, but the rain will eventually reach here by lunchtime. still some heavy rain upon that weather front and we still have that wraparound left
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around the area of low pressure and rain in the north—east of scotland, northern isles and elsewhere, sunny spells and showers. quite a brisk breeze, gusty near those showers, and temperatures will be down, it is colder air, so we will do well to reach about 13—14 in the south, more like eight to 10 degrees in the north. some of these showers could be heavy with hail and thunder. they will continue through the night into saturday morning as well with further bands of showers going southwards, but the air is colder, so where we see the clear spells, it will turn quite chilly as temperatures fall fairly close to freezing in the glens of scotland. so, it's because we have this cold air mass coming down on that north—westerly breeze. but again, we have high pressure to the west and that will tend to start to see the showers easing away through the second half of the weekend, but we're going to keep a close eye on this area of low pressure, as always it's going to include the risk of showers or even into next week some longer spells of rain,
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but for saturday, bands of showers will make their way southwards on that north—north—westerly airstream, probably more showers in northern and western areas, but they could at times fall further east and again, temperatures as on friday, well down, except in shelter. 13 or 1a if you shelter from that northerly breeze. and that wind is still with us on sunday, but probably lighter, the high pressure starting to build in from the west, probably fewershowers, but again, always going to be more of a chance near the low pressure in the north sea, so closer to the eastern parts of england and wales. so, into next week, some uncertainty on where that area of low pressure is going to go. as ever, we will keep you updated.
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you
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this is bbc news — the headlines: donald trump's doctor says the president has completed his course of therapy for coronavirus and could return to public engagements as early as saturday. in a memo, dr sean conley said the president has remained stable since returning to the white house and responded extremel well‘ to treatment. president trump has rejected a plan to hold next thursday's election debate in virtual format, saying it will be a waste of time and the moderator would be able to cut him off. the biden campaign said it was important mr trump was not able to evade accountability. the democratic governor of the us state of michigan has accused president trump of encouraging right—wing militia groups after 13 men were charged with an alleged plot to kidnap her. in a statement, gretchen whitmer said that when leaders fraternise with domestic terrorists
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