tv BBC News BBC News July 10, 2021 12:00am-12:31am BST
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this is bbc news. i'm nancy kacungira, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the taliban are rapidly retaking land across afghanistan as the us—led mission withdraws the last of its troops. if the taliban push for a military solution, the outcome is likely to be a long war. police in haiti say 28 foreigners were involved in the president's assassination on wednesday, most of them colombians. california braces itself for a weekend of record—setting temperatures, as the heat continues to rise on the west coast. and novak djokovic books his place in the wimbledon final. will he nowjoin federer and nadal in the 20 grand slams club?
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thank you forjoining us on bbc news. in a major escalation since international troops started withdrawing from afghanistan, the taliban have seized a key border crossing. islaam kalaa is one of the biggest trade gateways into iran, generating around 20 million dollars a month for the kabul government. the defence ministry says security forces are trying to recapture the site. from kabul, our chief international correspondent lyse doucet has more on the situation across afghanistan. these are momentous and deeply uncertain times in afghanistan. for those who don't follow afghanistan closely, what are these details coming in tell us? they tell us the taliban are making rapid advances in all areas of the country much more quickly
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than anybody expected. and possibly even the taliban. the latest news is they have taken over this border crossing on the border with iran at islaam kalaa. russian media now reporting tell taliban now control most of the afghan border. there's reports now their territory of the southern province of kandahar and the television network in afghanistan reported east of kabul, the village is also coming under taliban control. while these reports were coming in, the afghan president made his first visit to what was the biggest us military base in the country at bagram. he conceded that the country was now going through a critical transition, but vowed that his government and his security forces would prevail. that is the message we heard last night, afghans heard last night, from the us president joe biden, who emphasised that american support would not end.
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and that the afghan political leadership and security forces have the capability to prevent a taliban takeover. but he asked as afghans are asking will they do it. the taliban of course are saying that they are advancing. but in a sign of how they are ever mindful of their international legitimacy, they held a press conference today in the russian capital of moscow. a member of the taliban negotiating team boasted that if they could take 40—50 districts in a day, they could take over all of the country within two weeks. but he says they are not after power. as the taliban make gain an districts, many of our viewers have been asking us what is the mood like in kabul? is kabul also coming under attack? we decided to go to the streets of the city to find out what is the mood here.
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the city springs to life. kabul�*s oldest market, one of its busiest. painters, masons, plasterers, they all come here to find a day's work. it's always been tough, but much tougher now. translation: the . foreigners are leaving. we are worried about the war. it's everywhere. people are fleeing into the cities but there is no work here. we are under so much pressure. this fridge. and they sold all their crockery? yes. selling up, upping sticks. more afghans are leaving. a street of second—hand goods. nusrat set up shop here when his job ended with the us military. lots of afghans were working with them, now they are jobless. a lot of them are planning to go out of afghanistan because of their security
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and because of a lack ofjobs. the americans said it's time to go, it's 20 years, that's enough. for what purpose did they come in, for what purpose are they going? what is the conclusion? if they didn't gain something, they didn't build something for us, they didn't make the security for us — why are they coming? tea and treats in the city centre. sweet moments for afghans who can afford them. the kind of life many young afghans here, men and women, want to live. growing insecurity already threatens it. we are hurrying just coming to the restaurant, coming . to a cafe, meeting our friends, just go home _ the taliban say this is a western lifestyle. maybe they say we are acting like europeans i or american people. but i think it's not true. we have the right| to choose our life.
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a lot is being knocked out of afghan lives. at this popular bowling alley, we hear notjust worry about the taliban. the government is failing them too, even in promoting sports like this. munir ahmad assafi is a national champion. translation: fewer people are coming here now. - before we used to gather about a0 people, we would divide into teens and hold competitions, but that doesn't happen any more. the changes over the past 20 years in afghanistan have brought new measures of freedom to many living in kabul. it's a life they want to hold onto and now fear they are losing. the departure of international forces is turning into the loss of so much more. for now, the walls keep rising to protect the most powerful, most privileged. the government under pressure to protect its own people. as the taliban make rapid gains beyond kabul, you feel
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the rising uncertainty on every street. the us says it will send law enforcement officers to haiti as soon as possible to see how they can provide assistance after the assassination of the country's president, jovenel moise, earlier this week. haitian government officials said they've also asked the us to send troops to protect key infrastructure — a claim that the white house has refused to comment on. the deadly shooting at the presidential residence is being blamed on foreign mercenaries — severa are thought to be from colombia. the bbc�*s daniel pardo is in the capital bogota and told me what more we know about the assassination. we know that they are former military soldiers. very young in their military career, around 40—45 years old, but who retired partly because salaries are not great in the colombian military forces, as well as the fact that escalating, you know,
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moving up in the colombian military is very difficult. so, they retire, and then, they have the possibility to enter this huge, very international industry of mercenaries where, for a lot of money, they can get involved in these international operations. we've been hearing about colombian mercenaries being involved in the iraq war, afghanistan, and yemen. so this is part of an industry that has been growing for many decades, really, in columbia after the development of the war on terror and the war on drugs that has been partly financed by the united states. so, these are people who were part of that military that has been trained by the united states, or partly, at least, and are very pro, and have really good skills in this sort of operation.
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so you describe they are almost in industry, and there have been lots of questions about the motive behind this attack. does this colombian connection provide news for any investigators in that direction?— investigators in that direction? ., 4, direction? not really, the link between whoever _ direction? not really, the link between whoever wanted - direction? not really, the link between whoever wanted to l direction? not really, the link l between whoever wanted to kill the haitian president and these mercenaries is not clear. bear in mind, they killed him — allegedly, at least — in exchange for money. the link politically at least between columbia and haiti is very weak. we do know that the president had loads of enemies in the economy, the political sphere, and even the legal industry. so it is very difficult to link those two things. but what we can infer, at least, is that someone paid colombian mercenaries to have him killed. hundreds of distraught relatives of people killed in a fire at a food factory
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near the bangladeshi capital have clashed with police. the protesters are critisizing the slow pace of the rescue. at least 52 people lost their lives in the blaze that broke out on thursday, it was still burning nearly 2a hours later. akbar hossain reports from dhaka. this was the fate of factory workers who didn't make it out. many cannot be identified. the factory, which consists of several buildings, employees around 7,000 workers. when the fire broke out in this one, more than 1,000 people are believed to be inside. some were seen jumping from the building to save their lives. relatives gathered in front of the factory, desperate for news. translation: we came here because my niece l was not answering her phone for a while, and now the phone is not ringing at all. we are worried. it is not clear yet how the fire started. but workers' rights activists in bangladesh say safety
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standards are generally lax, and the factory managers do little to make improvements. it's being reported that many workers' fates were sealed because the exits are blocked. translation: on the third floor, gates on both - stairwells were closed. other colleagues are saying there were 48 people inside. if that's true, not even their remains could be found. several hundred firefighters battled through the mud to tackle the blaze in the six—storey building. but it took nearly 20 hours to bring the situation under control. firefighters are still searching for bodies under the rubble. translation: our firefighters initially rescued 25 _ people from the rooftop. once the fire's under control, we will conduct a search and rescue operation inside. then we can confirm if there are any further casualties. fire safety is a huge concern for a country of 160 million people. in the last decade, it is estimated more than 1700
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people have died in fires, more than factories than homes. but those overlooked fire safety standards are rarely prosecuted. akbar hossain, bbc news, dhaka. the un security council has voted to extend a cross border aid operation into syria from turkey for another year. the mandate for the long—running operation was due to expire on saturday, but a last minute compromise was reached between russia and the us. jean mackenzie reports from turkey—syria border. here was her last resort. it's where she ran to after two of her sons were killed. as millions fled the syrian regime, they found shelter in this corner of the country, outside the government's control. now they're trapped in makeshift camps, up against the border with turkey, existing on help from outside.
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just over the border in turkey, trucks are loaded with food, water, and medicine — part of an un agreement to bring crucial aid into a part of the country still controlled by rebels. 1,000 of these trucks go across the border every month carrying vital supplies, and that now includes covid vaccines. this is an absolute lifeline for people in idlib. for many, it's their only lifeline. that lifeline was in danger. russia, syria's key ally, signalled it wanted to close the crossing, preferring aid to come from inside syria instead. but after a last—minute compromise, all members of the security council voted to keep it open for another year.
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this has proven to be the safest, the most direct, and the most reliable way of getting aid to people. whatever happens, we must keep this border crossing open. if we can have more crossing points, we would welcome that. for this hospital, where medicines and supplies were already running low, it's avoided a catastrophe. the us ambassador to the un said after the vote that the security council had made the decision to save lives — that millions of syrians can breathe a sigh of relief tonight. jean mackenzie, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: california steaming, as temperatures rise on the west coast. we look at how the severity of these heatwaves has increased in recent years. central london has been
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rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. police say there have been many casualties, and there is growing speculation that al-qaeda was responsible. germany will be the hosts of the 2006 football world cup. they've pipped the favourite, south africa, by a single vote. in south africa, the possibility of losing hadn't even been contemplated — and celebration parties were cancelled. the man entered the palace l through a downstairs window and made his way to the queen's private bedroom, then _ he asked her for a cigarette — and, on the pretext _ of arranging for some to be - brought, summoned a footman on duty who took the man away. one child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world. education is the only solution.
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this is bbc news, the latest headlines... the taliban are rapidly retaking land across afghanistan as the us—led mission withdraws the last of its troops. police in haiti say 28 foreigners were involved in the president's assassination on wednesday — most of them colombians. california residents are bracing for a weekend of record—setting temperatures as heat continues to build on the west coast. as heat continues to the us national weather service has issued an excessive heat alert, with meteorologists warning that some of southern california's inland areas could reach tempreatures of 49 celsius — that is 120 degrees farenheit. dr david eisenman is the director of ucla centre for public health and disasters. he says the severity of such heatwaves has increased in recent years.
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we know there have been not only more often, but happening earlier in the summer season some heat events are lasting longer, and more severe. and importantly, the night times are not cooling down as well as they used to be. and that brings a danger with it, doesn't it? this sounds like a dangerous weekend just looking at what those temperatures are going to be, they could be a lot of trouble with the. absolutely. cooling is not a luxury for the human body. the body is set at a temperature of approximately 36.8 celsius, that is the normal temperature. once it reaches a0 celsius, it starts to break down, and inflammatory processes, toxins are released, and organs are damaged and people die. what can emergency services do to prepare for this? what are they doing to prepare for this, and what can people and some of these most affected areas
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do, as well? we want to make sure that people who have come who don't have air conditioning have some access to cool space. be it cold water for a while, a cool shelter, something that is air—conditioned, it's really important to have a few hours at least every day when the body is cool down. we also recommend that if you know somebody who is older and living alone, you check in on them several times a day, to make sure they are hydrating and staying cool. you mention people who are older, but with a heat wave like this, are there certain groups that are more at risk than others? so the extremes of age, the youngest in the very oldest, are at higher risk for some people of chronic diseases like diabetes or kidney disease or heart disease. we know people who are unhouseed or homeless
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are at higher risk. and really anybody who doesn't have air conditioning in the home, which seems to be low income communities are at higher risk. this weekend is when it is predicted to get to be hot this. but this is obviously a long—term issue that people are going to be having to deal with in this area. it is, and we need to start treating these extreme heat events like other disasters, like hurricanes or tornadoes. we need to not think of them as another set of hot days, these are new disasters that are coming on more frequently. we need to prepare for them like we do for hurricanes and tornadoes and take them just as seriously. let's get some of the day's other news. the death toll from a collapsed apartment building in miami has risen to 78 after 1a more bodies were pulled from the rubble. the search—and—rescue mission has now ended and become a recovery effort, more than two weeks after the 12—storey champlain towers south fell in the middle of the night. dozens of people remain missing. thailand is tightening restrictions in greater bangkok and some southern provinces.
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the measures are designed to curb a wave of coronavirus infections which saw a high number of new cases and deaths on thursday. the world health organization has cautioned more studies are needed to determine whether booster shots for covid—19 would be required to maintain vaccine protection. the covid pandemic is far from over, with lockdowns extended in australia and indonesia, and soaring rates in many parts of africa. but already there are calls for the world to come together to make sure we are better prepared for the next pandemic. the world trade organization is calling on g20 leaders to establish a global $10 billion fund to address the future costs of any future pandemics. for more on that, here's the director general of the world trade organization. the $10 billion fund we're proposing is for the future, forfuture pandemic preparedness. so, one of the things we're
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learning from this pandemic is just how unprepared the world is, or was for the pandemic. and the fact that this covid—19 pandemic is like a dress rehearsalforfuture pandemics which may happen every 5—10, or 15 years as the case may be. so, we are saying in order to be better prepared, we need this $10 billion fund, and the g20 actually, the hosts of the high—level panel who came up with this recommendation of which i'm a member — and we're saying that the global community should pay into this fund, $10 billion every year. it's tiny compared to the trillions that have been spent fighting the pandemic. it'll help the world prepare to have better surveillance so that we can prevent or deal properly with these pandemics. it would help to build health systems, strengthen the health systems which have shown
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themselves to be very weak, to invest in manufacturing capacity so we can get a better supply of medical goods. and we are also saying that we need better governance. global governance has been missing, and it's there that you need a multilateral approach that brings together finance and health to deal with this problem. so, we are recommending also a global health support. the director general of the wto. the men's final is all set for wimbledon, with top seed novak djokovic facing matteo berrettini on sunday. 0ur correspondent chetan pathak was watching the semifinal action at the all england club. ultimately, it's no surprise to see novak djokovic into his seventh wimbledon final. this is a man motivated by numbers. and, win on sunday, and he'll have 20 grand slams — the same number as roger federer and rafael nadal. standing in his way on friday
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was denis shapovalov, the 22—year—old canadian who's won so many admirers at these championships with the way he plays. and he made djokovic work hard for this. losing in straight sets, yes, but hanging in there in each and every one. from the beginning, when he broke djokovic early, he showed his intent, and at times, he got tight and nervous — and that was his undoing on this occasion. but he will hope for better in the future. matteo berrettini is who awaits novak djokovic in sunday's final — the first italian man to reach a wimbledon final. he got past hubert hurkacz in four sets, the polish 14th seat already knocked out roger federer and daniil medvedev. but for hurkacz, he couldn't keep his nerves under control, at least in the first two sets before he battled back to win the third. but berrettini's powerful serve and forehand got him over the line. before the men's final
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on sunday, we have the women's final on saturday, the world number one ash barty and the eighth seed karolina pliskova playing in their first wimbledon final. for barty, she's the first australian woman to get to a wimbledon final since evonne goolagong in 1980. for pliskova, she had been written off by many — not a name people were expecting to see in the final, but could she yet pull off a surprise win? some cycling news, and britain's mark cavendish has equalled the long standing record of stage wins in the tour de france. cavendish claimed his fourth win in this year's tour. he now has 3a stage wins — equal with the legendary belgian rider eddy merckx — a five—time overall winner of the tour. he claimed his 34th stage win way back in 1975. a teenage basketball prodigy has become the first african—american to win
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the scripps national spelling bee in the us, claiming $50,000 in prize money. zaila avant—garde cruised to victory when she correctly spelt the world "murraya", a type of tropical tree. despite practising for up to seven hours a day, zaila says spelling is a side hobby and dreams of becoming a professional basketball player. let's take a look at her win. murraya. m-u-r-r-a-y-a. that is correct! applause cheering and there is your champ. that twirl and that smell are priceless —— smile. you can reach me on twitter —
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i'm @kacungira. stay with us on bbc news. bye—bye. hello there. it's looking unsettled this weekend as well, but it's not going to be raining all the time everywhere. there will be some places staying dry, but the general theme this weekend is for sunny spells and for scattered showers to develop. again, these will be heavy and thundery, and slow—moving as winds will be light. if you look at the pressure chart for saturday, we've got this weather front across the south, bringing an area of more persistent rain to southern counties. it will continue its journey eastwards through the morning through the channel islands, southern and southeastern counties of england, then clear away in the afternoon. elsewhere, after a dry start, we'll see those showers developing a little bit further westwards this time, affecting wales, west midlands, northwest england and scotland. again, it will be heavy, slow—moving torrential downpours which could lead to localised flooding. those temperatures range from 19—21 degrees. now, those showers will fade
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away during saturday evening, and then, overnight, most places will be dry, but rain will start to push into the far west later on, those temperatures in double figures. it's going to be another mild and muggy night for most of us. now, for sunday, a new area of low pressure starts to push in off the atlantic, affecting northern and western areas. it looks like some eastern parts may stay dry altogether with some hazy spells of sunshine. so, most heavy of the showers on sunday will be across more northern parts of the uk, but wales, northern ireland, the southwest of england will start to see areas of more persistent rain moving in. in the east, with that sunshine, we could see 22—23 celsius, and again, it's going to feel quite humid. so, for wimbledon this weekend, saturday, the early rain will clear away to leave something a bit drier into the afternoon. sunday, mainly dry, but i still can't rule out the odd shower there. and for wembley on sunday, certainly it's a dry start, but into the evening, we start to see some of that rain in the west pushing its way eastwards. that's because this area
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of low pressure will be working its way southwards and eastwards across the country. by monday, this is the position it'll be in. it's going to bring a very unsettled day. most northern and western areas will see sunny spells, some heavy showers. it's england and wales which will see the cloudiest skies and areas of heavy, maybe even thundery rain affecting central and southern areas, which could lead to some issues. the temperatures not quite as high —19—20 celsius will be the high. the heavy, thundery showers clearing away from the south and east. on tuesday and wednesday, by the mid—latter part of the week, high pressure wants to build in, so it'll start turning sunnier, drier, and warmer.
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this is bbc news. i'm nancy kacungira. the headlines: the taliban in afghanistan say they've captured two majorfrontier points, one with iran and the other with turkmenistan. the militants are rapidly retaking land as the us—led mission withdraws the last of its troops. president ashraf ghani has conceded his security forces are in a critical transition. haitian government officials say they've asked the us to send troops to protect key infrastructure as the country reels from wednesday's assassination of presidentjovenel moise. the white house has declined to confirm the request. the murky circumstances surrounding the killing have triggered political turmoil and unrest in the streets. california residents are bracing for a weekend of record—setting temperatures as the heat continues to build on the west coast. the us national weather service has issued an excessive heat alert, with meteorologists warning some of southern now on bbc news,
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