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tv   BBC News  BBC News  September 24, 2021 3:00am-3:31am BST

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welcome to bbc news — i'm rich preston. our top stories. the white house says texan border agents will stop riding horses to corral haitian migrants. the us special envoy to haiti, has resigned in protest at their deportation. the german election campaign enters its final days — as the frontrunners to succeed angela merkel hold their last televised debate. a divided society — we look at the plight of migrant workers in singapore, who've largely been banned from mixing with the general public since the start of the pandemic. we deserve something better as a human being, so we want that and we want our privileges back. the dangers and difficulties of life at 50 degrees celsius — a temperature already reached this year, in parts
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of australia. and — how america's reckoning over race is playing out in the world of art — 16 months after the killing of geroge floyd. the white house says us border agents in parts of texas will no longer ride horses, after videos of officers coralling haitian migrants towards a river were widely criticised. the us special envoy for haiti, daniel foote, has resigned in protest at the deportation of haitians, describing the biden administration's policy as inhumane. now, the former us deputy chief of mission in haiti, vicky huddlestone, has added her voice to those calling for urgent governmental action.
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our correspondent will grant has this report from in the dead of night, immigration agents in northern mexico drag haitian families from their hotels as they sleep. just miles from their destination, they can go no particulars further, no matter how desperate they are. even if they made it, they would have been greeted by scenes like this. as migrants attempted to cross from mexico to a makeshift camp in texas this week, they were pushed back by mounted border patrol officers using whips. the biden administration has already deported thousands back to haiti, prompting the us special envoy to resign in protest. deportation is these people's worst nightmare. having travelled from south america to the border town of mexicali, they gather in a haitian restaurant for the only meal a day they can afford. this man has lost more than most. his mother died and his father was left badly injured
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as the family home collapsed in the recent earthquake. having traversed 11 countries and the dense jungle of the darien gap to get here, he says he can't be sent back now. translation: there is nothing for me in haiti, nothing. - if they're going to send me back, they may as welljust kill me, just end it all. the late summer temperatures in mexicali are brutal. beyond this border wall lie many miles of inhospitable desert. yet the haitians who have arrived here in recent days say they will endure almost anything to avoid the same fate as many of their countrymen — deported from texas back to a country on its knees. meanwhile, there is no sign of an end to this crisis. tens of thousands of haitians are scattered in scores of mexican cities, and many thousands more are trapped en route in colombia.
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in truth, very few will be let into the us. migrant rights groups say the biden administration's policy towards haitians is exclusionary and racist. the united states has functioned for hundreds of years as a country that has not welcomed, provided opportunity, or provided justice to black people. and i think anyone who does this type of work at this point could not look themselves in the mirror and not say that there's an effort by the united states government to keep black people from entering. the biden administration is facing its biggest border crisis yet, but so far, its answers are the same as the trump administration's. across mexico, police continue to intercept buses and raid hotel rooms. close bilateral cooperation, or doing the americans�* dirty work. for the haitians travelling north, it amounts to the same thing. will grant, bbc news, mexicali.
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martha pskowski is a journalist for the el paso times. shejoined me a short while ago to provide an update on the situation. i was reporting earlier this week and mexican immigration agents have closed in the park and the mexican side where people had been congregating so the pressure has really increased. when i got there last weekend, people were openly walking on the street. that is not the case any more and there's a lot of fear on the mexican side as well, and people do not want to cross over to the us because they have heard that deportation is going forward. it is either — stay in mexico, attempt to cross to the us, where you will potentially be sent back to a country that you may be left months ago. yes, they are really
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left without options. everyone has been asking me what to do now and everyone i've spoken with, the people i interviewed there, they really don't know what to do. they spent all their money. they have spent months travelling. this was really their last shot and they are holding out hope that they may be able to enter the us but that is looking less and less likely. the biden administration says it has seen a huge surge in migrants trying to cross the border. two hundred thousand people detained in july and the first time this number has been hit in 20 yea rs. has this been badly managed byjoe biden and his team? in the case of haitians, there's been a lot of confusion and the policies are really unclear, so one factor contributing to this is that haitians were granted temporary protected status at the end ofjuly but that only applied to haitians who were already in the us.
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and at the same time, title 42 has made it so that us authorities can expel anyone arriving on the border who, in previous times, would have been able to open an asylum claim. so the haitians in mexico now, many of them came from south america, and the numbers have just been building, and there's been no other option for them to try and access the us. there has been an announcement that border agents will no longer ride on horseback. what do you make of that? i think it is an encouraging step. i was there on sunday, as a border patrol intimidated families that were crossing the river, charging at them, using their reins like whips. i think the situation was already dire, and those images really brought a lot more attention to it so that is one step but the bigger question of how the us will handle the haitians who have very real claims for humanitarian protection,
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that question remains. seven of the main candidates in germany's general election have held a final televised debate ahead of polling day on sunday. they included the three frontrunners to succeed angela merkel, who's standing down after i6—years as chancellor. our correspondent in berlin, damien mcguinness, watched the debate. with just three days to go before the election, this debate was a final chance for party leaders to win over voters. topics ranged from affordable housing and the national debt to climate change and how to deal with china. the current leader in the polls is olaf scholz, the centreleft social democrat to replace
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angela merkel. when asked about the new aukus security pact between the uk, australia and the us, mr scholz said germany should work together with france to create a stronger europe. "i can understand the irritation that france felt about how the defence pact was worked out," he said. his conservative rival, armin laschet, who is lagging behind slightly in the polls, said that europe needed to act independently and cited the american withdrawal from afghanistan. "we need common european defence projects for when the us pulls back," he said. this election campaign has been unusual in many ways. the polls have been erratic, there are more swing voters than ever before and unprecedented numbers are undecided.
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in one poll, 40% of people say they still haven't made their minds up. whoever they do choose, though, it's likely that after the elections, coalition talks will be long and complicated. all of this means that this is one of the most unpredictable elections modern germany has ever known. damien mcguinness, bbc news, berlin. let s get some of the day's other news. the catalan leader, carles puigdemont, who tried to declare independence from spain, has been arrested in italy on a spanish arrest warrant — after four years as a fugitive. spain wants to extradite the former president of catalonia, to face charges of rebellion. authorities in peru will cremate the body of abimael guzman, the former leader of the shining path rebel group that was responsible for the deaths of thousands in the nineteen—eighties and 90s. his ashes will be scattered in an undisclosed location. the government have refused to bury guzman, fearing his grave could become a shrine.
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a us centers for disease control advisory panel has recommended a booster shot of the pfizer/biontech vaccine for americans aged 65 and over, and some adults with underlying medical conditions that put them at risk of severe disease. but the panel declined to recommend boosters for adults ages 18 to 64 who live or work in institutions with high risk of contracting covid. well, in singapore, ever since a series of covid—i9 outbreaks in dormitories last year, migrant labourers have been banned from mixing with the general public. for the past 18 months, the majority have only been allowed out of their facilities to go to work. but, with one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, singapore and its government are facing increasing pressure to let them out. nick marsh has been speaking to some of the men wanting to leave. it's been one of the world's longest lockdowns. behind this barbed wire,
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there's talk of a growing mental health crisis — thousands of men confined in dormitories, leaving only to work. for sharif, things are starting to get too much. i want to send a message to singapore government. we long time in dormitory, so many people are mentally anguished. so, we need to release... we need to allow to go out. please. and with 80% of the public and 90% of workers now vaccinated, experts say that the confinement policy isn't protecting anyone. after 18 months, it's very clear that the mental health challenges, the social isolation are all really bubbling up. speaking as a public health professional, i would say that the covid—19 concerns are massively overblown.
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we can strike a better balance. recently, a handful were allowed out. they were given four hours near a hindu temple as part of a pilot scheme. feel free to share your i thoughts on this location. the government invited us to meet one of them. the authorities call the outing a milestone. the conditions are different. most of the workers live in common conditions, and that's why the measures put in place have to take into cognizance of that. but the workers who spoke to the bbc said they felt they were being punished for their substandard living conditions rather than protected from the virus. tasrif shares a room with 18 others. we deserve something better as a human being, so we want that and we want our privileges back. the government told us they look to ensure workers
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have access to mental health support, but they remain separated from the general public, known officially in singapore as the community. it's been a year and a half now, and for the men who live here, nothing has changed. they're still waiting for the day they can finally leave. but in all this time, the message that they have received has been loud and clear — there are those in singapore who are part of the community, and then there are those who are not. nick marsh, bbc news, singapore. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the team of therapy dogs working to relieve stress at a chilean hospital, overwhelmed by cases of coronavirus.
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benjohnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home to canada in disgrace. all athletes should be clean going into the games. i'm just happy that justice is served. it is a simple fact that this morning, these people were in their homes. tonight, those homes have been burnt down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions alongj here have been strengthened, presumably in case i the americans invade. it's no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world, and so the british government has no option but to continue this action, even after any adverse judgment in australia. concorde had crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes.
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this is bbc news, the latest headlines. the us special envoy to haiti resigns in protest at his government's deportation policy for haitians, calling it inhumane and counter—productive. the german election campaign enters its final days — as the frontrunners to succeed angela merkel hold a final televised debate. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has acknowledged that it will take time and hard work to heal washington's relationship with france. it comes after friction between the two countries following a multi—lateral submarine deal between the us, britain and australia — which led to the abandonment of a multibillion dollar french deal with canberra. our meeting today followed
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yesterday's conversation where they agreed that there announcement would have benefited from open consultations among allies and they decided on a process of in—depth consultations going forward. we recognise this will take time and hard work, and we will be demonstrating it not only with words but in deeds and i'm committed to working closely with the minister on this crucial effort. in the latest edition of our global warming series on what life is like at 50 degrees celsius, we focus on australia. climate change has had a devastating impact on the country, with soaring temperatures and unusually intense bush fires. it's been called the black summer. between 2019—2020, a prolonged heat wave caused huge bushfires across large parts of australia. itjust was extremely hot, and everyone was starting to get worried day by day until it happened. india and her family were among those hit by the fires
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in a rural area of southern australia. coming this way! oh, my! no, no, no! i thought we were going to lose the house, but ijust calmed down for a second and the fire kept going up the mountain. herfamily managed to save their home, but at least 3000 other houses were lost in the fires. i'm worried for my future, i'm worried that this house won't be here in another five years. scientists say the risk of weather conditions fuelling fires is 30% higher than it was 100 years ago because of climate change. there's very strong evidence — irrefutable evidence, in fact — that the climate of australia has changed, especially over the last 50—70 years. we're still in the middle -
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of this heat wave as we head into the christmas period. i have a two—year—old and a four—year—old daughter. it really bothers me that the world that they're experiencing now is a lot different to my childhood. sarah and herfamily were living in sydney in 2020 when the suburb of penrith was the hottest place on earth, officially reaching a high of 48.9 degrees celsius. the heatwave had a deadly impact on some indigenous species. i've just come down to these trees to give these bats some water. i don't know what to do, honestly. this one died. we've had many that have died. australia has the highest carbon emissions per capita of the world's richest nations. it's also rated the worst for climate policy in the 2020 international climate change performance index. the country's prime minister rejected the findings that seven out of ten australians say they want their government to take more action in combating climate change.
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what plants do you think would be planted in our backyard? strawberries. you want strawberries? people like sarah are already making changes. she has decided to relocate her family to a cooler city than sydney. sarah is building an eco—friendly home on this plot. as a scientist, i know how bad the future looks. but as a mum, as a person, i guess as a human being, i really struggle withjust how bad those impacts will be. hanan razek, bbc news. america's reckoning over race has illuminated all aspects of us life — including the art world. top museums and galleries are now soul searching over who holds the top jobs, and which artists get their work shown. the bbc�*s laura trevelyan has been finding out how calls for racial justice are affecting america's art scene.
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civil rights history, with a gallery showcasing black artists. since the protests he has seen a new enthusiasm for the working showing. there's definitely been a spotlight and an uptick in interest in creatives of colour and time will tell. it is great. we'll need to collaborate but i also feel black—owned galleries to create a self—sustaining ecosystem. this is a featured artist whose work explores the experience of black women. she said the upheavel of 2020 has opened the eyes of the world is something she's long been
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depicting. it woke everyone up and it made people realise just how realistic racial injustice is and what that actually looks like. for black people. the beckoning over race in america has posed tough questions for the elite world of art and museums which is a big draw for the crowds here in washington. more than one year after the death of george floyd and the protests which swept dc. are these powerful cultural institutions doing a betterjob of their reflecting the diversity of america? the curator can see a shift happening. i received an e—mail that they were going to exhibit an- artist who is a nigerian - figurative artist, and she is going to have an exhibition on . a november and i was incredibly excited to see that. so i do see a bit- of change, actually. at this collection in washington — america's first modern art museum
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when it opened 100 years ago — the ceo says they too are responding to the national debate over race. we have quite vigorous internal discussions and it was not a moment where i think one could be responsibly mute. if art is an expression of how the artist sees the world so too is the selection by galleries and museums of the work they show the public. in the wake of the racial reckoning there is an effort to see the bigger picture. south korea has reported a record daily number of coronavirus cases — 2000 400 and 3a positive tests in the last 2a hours. since earlyjuly, the country has been grappling with its worst outbreak since the pandemic began, but health officials say they'd expected the surge after an extended holiday — and that numbers are still relatively low compared to other countries. more than 70 % of the population will be fully vaccinated by the end of october.
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coronavirus has meant it's a dog's life for many this past year — but a team of therapy dogs has been working to relieve stress at a hospital in chile which, for months, was overwhelmed by cases of coronavirus. hospital staff say the presence of four legged friends has made a paw situation better, as mark lobel reports. meet pepe. giving a lick of love to this children's hospital in chile. lifting the spirits of staff and patients. translation: when one enters this hospital with dogs everyone greets you and their expressions change. therapy sessions here resemble a mixture of the dog show crufts and yoga with an abridged version of downward dog. what looks like a dog's dinner is anything but. therapy takes many forms.
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translation: the therapy is perfect for the children. the children that are very sick, this helps them escape the stress of the hospital, of what they are living. walkies for these caring canines warms the heart as coronavirus cases soared, they had a ringside seat. translation: dog therapy now units has been a tremendous contribution for patients, parents and workers. it has reduced anxiety and stress, patients are more willing to receive treatment and attend checkups. proving best friends to all ages, these therapy dogs are available for different strokes for different folks. and just before we go, let's bring you some live pictures now from la palma — where a volcano which started erupting on the weekend shows no signs of stopping. about 6,000 of la palma's population of 80,000 have been evacuated since sunday .
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more than 200 homes have been destroyed. it has been an unusually warm september so far. we keep unusually high temperatures as we move into the weekend. thursday was a warm day for many, but not for all. 23 degrees — the top temperature in the midlands, compare that with just ten in shetland. this lozenge of cold air worked in from the north, but that cold air already clearing away. you can see the orange colours flooding across the map, as we head through the next few days. that means warm and at times quite humid weather. that air is holding a lot of moisture and that means a lot of cloud. low pressure to the north of us, high pressure to the south, driving a westerly wind, quite a strong wind across the northern half of the uk and one that will deliver a lot of cloud across western scotland, northern ireland, parts of northern
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england and wales. thick enough to give spots of rain, mist and hill fog here and there. but with some shelter from the westerly when the cloud should break across eastern scotland to give some sunshine at times and warmth as well. 20 or21. across parts of wales and england some real warmth, especially in sunnier places. 23 or maybe 2a degrees. through friday night we will keep that pretty warm and humid air in place and we will see a lot of cloud, some spots of rain and drizzle, mist until fog and more persistent rain into the start to saturday for most of us. as we head through saturday we can expect a lot of cloud in the forecast. a lot of dry weather too. high—pressure not too far away. the highs building to the east of us. as you can see, on saturday, a lot of dry weather around, but extensive cloud cover. some sunny spells, and more across northern scotland.
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also just the chance of seeing one or two showers. the breeze will be strengthening across western areas but it is a southerly breeze by this stage are still feeling quite warm. high teens or low 20s celsius. that southerly breeze will strengthen as we move through saturday night, and particularly into sunday as this frontal system squashes in from the west. that southerly wind really picking up. that wind, though, will start to break cloud up a bit more so we will see more sunshine on sunday and one or two showers but as this front slides into northern ireland, some heavy rain late in the day, 17—22. it does turn cooler during next week.
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this is bbc news. the headlines. the white house says us border agents in part of texas will no longer ride horses, after videos of officers coralling haitian migrants towards a river were widely criticised. the us special envoy for haiti, has resigned in protest at the deportations, calling them inhumane and counter—productive. the main candidates to be german chancellor have clashed over the future direction of the eu during a final debate, ahead of sunday's election. the social democrats, said germany and france should work closely together to help create a stronger europe. current chancellor angela merkel steps down after 16 years. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has acknowledged that it will take time and hard work to heal washington's relationship with france. friction developed between the two countries following a multi—lateral
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submarine deal, signed by the us, britain and australia — that didn't include france. now on bbc news. it's time for panorama. crowds back at wembley. it already feels as if football's come home... in comes sterling! this summer, football almost came home. and we were introduced to a new generation of england stars. but panorama's been investigating a darker side of the beautiful game. i would be on my phone on the way to training, crying, saying how much i didn't want to go. the football academies where superstars are made, but dreams are also broken. he ripped my heart out. his mental health went downhill. and the agents cashing in on talented youngsters in breach of football rules. the approaches and the underhanded tactics, that is the dark side of the game.

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