tv BBC News BBC News January 11, 2021 4:00am-4:31am GMT
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this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: a senior democrat lays out the possible timeline for impeaching donald trump after at least 200 democrats give their support to a draft article of impeachment. indonesian investigators believe the boeing 737 that crashed on saturday broke apart on impact, which could rule out a mid—air break—up. japan has declared a state of emergency in tokyo fewer than 200 days to go before the olympics. and with landmines now clear, a christian shrine on the riverjordan has hosted its first religious procession in more than 50 years.
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hello and welcome. democrats in the us have clarified their plan to try to end donald trump's political career. they're hoping to persuade the vice president mike pence to use his constitutional right to take powerfrom mr trump. the democrats accuse president trump of inciting his followers to launch a deadly assault on congress last wednesday. separately, the justice department said it had charged two more people in connection with wednesday's events. the outgoing president is due to travel to texas on tuesday. i've been speaking to our north america correspondent peter bowes about the timetable for impeachment. events are moving quickly and we are getting a clearer outline of how things could unfold during this week with articles of impeachment. we've also reallyjust seen a letter that nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, has sent to her colleagues, outlining the options as well.
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and before they get to impeachment, the intention is to try to pass a resolution in the house that will urge the vice president mike pence and the cabinet to convene to invoke the 25th amendment of the us constitution. now, this is something we've heard a lot about over the last few days. this is an amendment that would essentially declare — if agreed upon by a majority of the cabinet and the vice president — it would declare the president, mr trump, incapable of holding office and he would be replaced by the vice president. now, we had indications last week that mike pence wasn't in favour of this but the democrats in the house are going to try again, pass a resolution urging the vice president and the cabinet to head in that direction. if it doesn't happen — they're going to give him 2a hours — that's when they will move forward with the articles of impeachment, which could be before the house tuesday or wednesday — and it seems as if there is overwhelming support, at least from the democrats, to pass that. it means that those articles of impeachment could go through by the end of the week
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and then the question comes, what to next? is it time to send those articles to the senate? or, as has been suggested, james, should they hold on for maybe 100 days so that it will givejoe biden a little bit of leeway at the beginning of his term in office to pass some vital legislation that he needs the senate for. going back to the 25th amendment, is mr pence likely to react to what the democrats are suggesting? well, that's the key question. so far, he hasn't reacted in any way that would suggest that he would agree with that course of action. now, things have been developing quite quickly over the weekend and we've been hearing from other senior republicans who have suggested that they believe that swift action ought to be taken against the president. so perhaps it remains to be seen whether the vice president has been swayed by what he's heard from his colleagues and perhaps will take a different course of action in the next 24—48 hours. his decision will be
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crucial to this. what do you make of the president's plans for potentially a final road trip? this sounds like the president wants to perhaps, to some extent, defer all the attention away from talk of impeachment and what's happened over the last few days to, as he would see it, some of his successes from the last four years, and this road trip to texas to look at a section of the border wall really would highlight — at least, as far as his administration is concerned — one of his successes. this is what he campaigned on — building a long stretch of wall along the us—mexico border — and it looks like he wants to at least make a point about that in his final few days in office, and i wouldn't be surprised if other issues that the president believes are at least positive as far as his promises to his base supporters, i wouldn't be surprised if they're raised in the next few days as well. peter bowes there. i've been speaking to
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professor michael gerhardt from the university of north carolina. he testified in the impeachment proceedings against both bill clinton in 1998 and donald trump in 2020. i asked him what he would say if he was asked to testify again. well, i would say that i think the house is perfectly positioned and has great legitimacy in proceeding with the consideration of impeaching president trump a second time. i think there's no doubt whatsoever that the misconduct that the president has exhibited this week qualifies as impeachable and therefore, the only real question is whether or not the house has the will to move forward to impeach the president for trying to undermine the legitimacy of the presidential election and inciting or encouraging behaviour that damaged the house, damaged congress, and also left five people dead. how might the president offer a defence? i think the president's defence will actually be first — i can hear it now — it's just another witch—hunt
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and that he is not responsible for all those things his followers did, that, in fact, he has not done anything wrong and there is just a few days left and therefore, this is a waste of time. you know impeachment as well as almost anyone else in america. does it work as it is meant to? no, it does not work as it is meant to! i think that is the lesson we are learning over these last few decades. i think that political parties have gained stronger attachment over people and that's clouded their ability, or undermined their ability, to think in terms of what's the best thing to do here for the sake of the constitution. impeachment typically does take a while to get moving. i don't think it is going to take a while this time, though. i think speaker pelosi clearly has signalled she is going to move fast, and she certainly has that capability, but the real question becomes what's the senate able to do?
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mitch mcconnell, the senate leader right now, has said he will do nothing. the senate won't come back into session until the new president is inaugurated. this will be left to the new majority leader chuck schumer to figure out how to do the trial and how to hold the president, though no longer in office, accountable for his behaviour. in a letterjust now, nancy pelosi spoke to her democratic colleagues. she talked about section 3 of the 14th amendment — that is a little—known section which allows, to my understanding, congress to vote to expel officials engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the us. is that appropriate? i think that is another option that is on the table here. i think that is appropriate. keep in mind we have senators who were encouraging this behaviour and who showed solidarity with it, and they were also — the same senators were also on the floor of the senate doing the president's dirty
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work and trying to undermine the integrity of the last presidential election. every state in the union has certified the results of the election. congress has certified the results of the election. there is no fraud here. there is nothing illegitimate. there isjust a president in office who is a bad loser and that is not reason enough to overthrow the republic, storm the congress and kill people. is the 25th amendment, which allows the vice president —— professor michael gerhardt. and with the last hour, the professional golfers‘ association of america has cut its ties with president trump, voting to take the pga championship event away from his newjersey golf course next year. the pga presidentjim richerson said the board had exercised its right to terminate the agreement with the trump organization. indonesian divers will today try to retrieve the data recorders of a sriwijaya air jet that plunged into the sea two days ago with 62 people on board minutes after take off from jakarta's main airport. reports from indonesia say the boeing 737 airliner broke apart as soon as it hit the water, and that debris
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found so far has come from a relatively small area. officials from the navy have been briefing reporters. callistasia wijaya from the bbc‘s indonesian service has the latest. yes, they say that the search will continue today and they are trying to retrieve two black boxes which might help to solve the mystery of why the plane stopped sending signals only four minutes after take—off. yesterday, the officials also said they have located these black boxes and marked the area where the accident may have happened and now behind me is a turbine of one of the engines of the plane that was collected by the team yesterday, and there was also another ship that will be deployed today to continue with the operation. as of now, we can update you that the search team has
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also collected what they believe to be parts of human bodies and they are now being examined by the police. do you know any more information about what kind of people were on the flight? yes, we know that there are 62 people on board and until now, we have not heard information that there is any survivors for this accident. and the family of the passengers, they said they are quite — they are hoping for the best outcome from this investigation but they are realistic with their expectation about the result of this investigation. callistasia wijaya. let's get some of the day's other news. the frontrunner in kyrgyzstan‘s president election, sadyr japarov, appears to have won by a landslide. preliminary results suggest he took nearly 80% of the vote. voters also opted for a presidential system in a simultaneous referendum.
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the new system will give mrjaparov sweeping new powers when a new constitution is passed, probably later this year. a snap lockdown in the australian city of brisbane has been lifted, after no new cases of covid—i9 were found in the community. 2.5 million people were put into a three—day lockdown on friday, after a cleaner in queensland's hotel quarantine system tested positive for the uk variant of coronavirus. uk health secretary matt hancock has warned that flexing lockdown rules "could be fatal". he's urged everyone to adhere to restrictions aimed at bringing coronavirus infections under control. the labour leader sir keir starmer says the current rules may need tightening. our political correspondent iain watson reports. central london on a sunday. shops usually open, now shuttered. streets eerily quiet. government ministers say the early signs are more people
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are complying with this lockdown than the last one in england in november, but the data also shows that in some parts of the country, more people are on the move than during the first lockdown in march. so, the government is making its message even more stark — careless actions cost lives. the government rules only are one part of this. what really matters is what every single person does, because that's how the virus spreads. we could all do something to help, which is to stay at home. because every time you try to flex the rules, that could be fatal. we are going to go all over on three. one, two, three. so, is this the consequence of flexing the rules? the scenes in university college hospital in london show the huge pressure the nhs is under in battling a new variant of the virus, and scientists who advise the government say that what may be needed isn't simply more compliance, but more restrictions. whether the current restrictions are enough, i think it remains to be seen.
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it will be a week or two before it becomes clear. they may be sufficient, but we have to be very vigilant and if there's any sign that they're not, then we're going to have to be even stricter, i'm afraid. the view from downing street is that the current measures are pretty harsh and they would much rather encourage people to follow the rules, rather than impose new restrictions. they say that in any case, their options are quite limited but the path of this pandemic has forced politicians to change course before, and a man who wants to occupy number 10 downing street says that the current restrictions may have to be tightened. they may not be tough enough but, in a sense, i think the most important thing is for people to get that message about stay at home. the labour leader says he now wants to summon the spirit of the first lockdown in march. parliament agreed then to close some things which remain open now, so what would tougher restrictions look like? well, i think there is a case
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for looking at nursery schools. we're talking to the scientists about it, but i think quite a lot of people are surprised that primary schools are closed and that nurseries aren't closed. that sounds like a probably yes? i think they probably should be closed. tonight at westminster, the streets are calm but activity in government is frantic. in the coming days, the medics and scientists — notjust the politicians — will be telling us that following the rules will save lives. iain watson, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: virtually anything is possible at this year's ces electronics show, where the high—tech expo swaps vegas for the comfort of your own home. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown
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and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa tomorrow, in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. around the world, people have been paying tribute to the iconic rock star david bowie who sold 140 million albums in a career that spanned half a century. his family announced overnight that he had died of cancer at the age of 69. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai, has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: a senior democrat lays out the possible timeline for impeaching donald trump
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after at least 200 democrats give their support to a draft article of impeachment. they continue to believe without evidence that the —— election was rigged. dear lord, we ask that you watch over our president... they come to pray for their president... donald j trump. ..and demand that their rights be restored. they will never break our will. amen. these supporters of donald trump don't recognise the result of what they believe was a fraudulent poll. people have been coming here to the capitol building in phoenix ever since the election to protest. farfewer are coming now but those that do, say they have no plans to stop. i think there's only one thing that will happen that will stop these, is when trump becomes president again. i believe that's the only thing that will stop this. will you continue to come down here afterjoe biden is inaugurated on
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the 20th of january? joe biden will not be inaugurated on the 20th ofjanuary, so i don't feel any need. i'll keep coming here until trump is back in office, remains in office. these scenes in the nation's capital shocked america and the world. people watched a protest, called by the president, turn into a riot that resulted in destruction and loss of life. but at sammy's mexican grill near tucson, where donald trump supporters work, meet and eat, what they say they saw was a peaceful march infiltrated by violent members of the far—left. somebody prepare everything. everybody acting. so you think the president was set up to look bad? yeah, definitely. yeah. there is no question about it. who? who would do that? who would set up the president to look bad? the democrats. democrats. of course.
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i truly believe that a lot of the people that were there were probably antifa and many of the other people who have gone to these various things and tried to create havoc. i think it's probably some other group because if you look at the rallies he had, there were never any violence in the rallies. and like marie said, with the antifa, i think they were travelling around the country, causing trouble. but hours before his arrest for trespassing on capitol grounds, one high—profile local protester told me there were no members of antifa present that day. i did not see anybody that i would consider blm or antifa on the frontlines, and the reason why i know that, is because blm and antifa are cowards. joe biden is due to be inaugurated in less than two weeks. a fact fervent supporters still flying the flag for donald trump are far from ready to face. sophie long, bbc news, phoenix. with fewer than 200 days
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to the olympics, japan has declared a state of emergency for the nation's capital tokyo and its surrounding areas. covid—19 cases are surging and prime minister suga has bowed to calls to impose new restrictions. the state of emergency was imposed as the country's medical system faced increasing pressure. aru na iyengar reports. japan is battling with a third wave of coronavirus infections. there's a state of emergency in tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures. there's fewer people on the streets, barely any tourists. now, governors of other areas such as osaka and kyoto are asking to be put into emergency measures. on saturday, new cases topped 7000 for a third day in a row. a record of 7900 new infections was hit on friday. and deaths are spiralling, surpassing 4000 this weekend — that's just 18 days after the figure topped 3000 on december 22. to add to japan's woes, a new poll by kyodo news agency
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shows support for hosting the tokyo olympics has hit a new low. just over 80% of 1000 participants said the event should be cancelled or postponed again — a jump from 60% back in december. bringing together tens of thousands of people from all over the world could transform the olympics into the superspreader event of superspreader events. so i think a lot of people are cautious. prime minister yoshihide suga is putting on a brave face. he says japan is still committed to holding a safe and secure olympics. he's hoping the public mood will change when the country begins vaccinations, scheduled to start in late february. aruna iyengar, bbc news. a huge fire has destroyed a multi—million dollar house in beverly hills. flames and smoke could be seen for miles in the night sky. firefighters say the house was fully engulfed by the blaze when they arrived. no—one is thought to have been
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injured in the fire. it's known as one of most influential tech events in the world, attracting thousands of attendees each year. but as you'd expect the consumer electronics show or ces will be entirely virtual this year. so how will the all—digital ces cope now the new products will be appearing online? i've been speaking to carolina milanesi, a technology analyst and founder of the the heart of tech, a technology consultancy firm. she told me the show will easily translate online. absolutely. you would think that they have all the technology they need to make it work online, but the interesting part about ces is not so much the speaking part of the engagement where you go and hear keynotes from people in technology politics and even in show business but it's really more about being able to touch and see and experience the new devices that are brought to market and more importantly, network with people. how do you network online, then?
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that's exactly the problem. they are trying their best to try to replicate moments where the audience can come together, ask questions to the brands and try to, you know, doing it over zoom or teams or any other tools that we've been using for the past year, but it is much more difficult tojust bump into brands and people that you weren't planning to and discover some gems that would otherwise get missed. has the pandemic or has months in lockdown helped companies or designers to design products that reflect the experience that we have all had and that we are continuing to have? yeah, there's been a lot of attention, first of all, in what we're doing now and being able to connect remotely with a camera and mic and try to continue to remain productive and focused, and you see around the world, people have made it work both on a personal side and a work
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side and what i have seen from the initial pitches of different companies at ces, there's a lot of focus around hygeine and how we can touch less surfaces and still get work done. are there any particular products that we really need right now to help us get lockdowns? there are some people that are arguing that maybe virtual reality is what we need the most, the ability to escape from our day—to—day, and i'm not a great believer but i'm becoming more and more convinced as i stay more home and i see what's going on in the us at the time being. for the first time in more than 50 years, mass is being
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held in a special site on the banks of thejordan river, where christians believejesus was baptised. the area was vacated in 1967 after the six day war fought between israel and neighbouring jordan and other arab states. now, finally, landmines have been cleared. mark lobel reports. a new dawn on the bank of the riverjordan. a coronavirus—compliant congregation of priests, guests and soldiers celebrate the feast of the baptism ofjesus, for the first time in over half a century here. this sacred land once hosted jordan's war with israel which ended in the 90s, but left thousands of landmines embedded on these shores. they have now been cleared under israeli instruction. both sides want the bullet holes visible here on the side of the chapel to remain, as a nod to the site's violent history.
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for these important christian worshippers, accompanied by israeli soldiers in this occupied part of the jordan valley, a place of war is now an oasis of peace. allowing for a truly touching epiphany. translation: we are here at the jordan river where jesus was baptised. it is a historic, unique moment in the history of christianity and jesus. we christians renew our baptism procession here. the eucharist this year, led by the custos of the holy land, may have been a smaller affair because of the pandemic but this moment marks a new beginning. the qasr el yahud, as it's known, is also a revered river crossing injewish history, guaranteeing many more future pilgrims of different faiths will be flocking here soon. mark lobel, bbc news. i think ithinki i think i drove past that a
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site dozens and dozens of times but never got to go there. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @jamesbbcnews hello there. quite a few of us had a pretty cloudy day, really, on sunday, but there were some cloud breaks, a bit of sunshine around. in the right place at the right time was pandapix, spotting this beautiful sunset in the doncaster area of south yorkshire. now, sunday was a day that was a little bit less cold than it has been over recent days. still chilly, though. just one in hereford, four in manchester. but it's turning milderfor the vast majority of us, and through monday, temperatures between 8—10 degrees celsius pretty widely. now that milder air is working in at the moment, so temperatures are lifting. we do have rain around, though. damp across north—western areas, rain turning a bit more persistent in northern ireland and heavy rain in western scotland combining with snowmelt brings the risk of some flooding here.
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the only place, really, that's really cold overnight is shetland, where we'll still see some frost and there'll still be a few snow showers around as well. monday, milder air then pushes in off the atlantic, and with this milder air, we're going to have strengthening west—southwesterly winds. a mild day, but a cloudy day for most of us. a few breaks every now and then. the cloud at its thickest across north—western areas, where we'll have some rain, and persistent rain in scotland. well, northerly winds feeding into this weather front. we'll start to see the rain turn to snow across the highlands and the grampians, with accumulations above around 200—300 metres' elevation. could be some pretty heavy snow, too, but otherwise, it's mild — 8—10 degrees celsius. for tuesday, we've got pressure building to the north of the uk, and that's going to send colder and across northern and some eastern areas of england, too. might be colder, but there'll be loads more sunshine to go around. some wintry showers for northern scotland, an odd shower also just brushing into parts of norfolk. now, it will be cold for many of us. temperatures around 2—6 degrees celsius.
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but in the south west, where it stays cloudy and damp, it will be relatively mild, around ten in cardiff and plymouth as well. now, we've still got mild air into western areas on wednesday behind this next weather front. this front pushes in, bringing heavy rain, turns to snow for a time across the high ground in scotland and across the pennines as well. big temperature contrast. 10—11 degrees celsius towards western areas, but still cold in the north east with temperatures about three. we could start to see some of that snow get down to potentially some lower levels through wednesday night, but some uncertainty about that.
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senior us democrats have suggested that the house of representatives could vote as soon as tuesday on whether or not to impeach president trump. however, they may decide to delay the start of a senate trial until afterjoe biden‘s first hundred days in office. indonesian investigators believe the boeing 737 carrying 62 people broke apart when it hit the water, which they say could rule out a mid—air break—up. navy divers say they're confident they will be able to retrieve the flight recorders. there are fewer than 200 days until the olympics. the host japan has declared a state of emergency for the nation's capital tokyo and its surrounding areas as covid—19 cases surge to the highest levels since the start of the pandemic. the prime minister has bowed to calls to impose new restrictions. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk.
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