tv BBC News BBC News October 24, 2021 4:00am-4:31am BST
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this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: the film director injured in a fatal shooting on the set of an alec baldwin movie speaks about the death of his colleague — as the police investigation continues. italy's former interior minister, matteo salvini, goes on trial, charged with kidnapping — after refusing to allow a migrant rescue boat to dock. covid infections in the uk rise — as a prominent government adviser says he's fearful of another "lockdown christmas." colombia's most wanted drug trafficker is captured — after a joint operation by the armed forces, and the police. riot police block the path of a new caravan of migrants hoping to get to mexico city, and then on to the united states. and the environmental activist greta thunberg talks to the bbc
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about where she thinks world leaders are failing on tackling climate change. instead of trying to find solutions, real solutions, that would actually lead somewhere, that would lead to a substantial change, fundamental change, they seem to spend their time trying to come up with loopholes. the film director injured in a fatal shooting on the set of alec baldwin's new movie, has spoken out for the first time. in a statement, joel souza says he is "gutted by the loss of my friend and colleague" cinematographer halyna hutchins. ms hutchins was killed and mr souza wounded when a prop gun with a live round was fired by alec baldwin. investigations are continuing as court documents suggest
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the actor was told the gun was safe, moments before the shooting. with more, here's our north america correspondent, sophie long. "we miss you." the simple words of a husband and a son whose lives have been changed forever. emergency services: santa fe ems. what's your emergency? in this audio released by the emergency services, you can hear the script supervisor calling for help, describing what happened just moments before. two people accidentally shot on a movie set by a prop gun. we need help immediately. we now know that when alec baldwin was handed the weapon, he was told it was safe. what's called a cold gun. yet the shot, or shots, it released killed cinematographer halyna hutchins and seriously injured directorjoel souza. the person responsible for the safety of all weapons used on the rust set was 24—year—old hannah gutierrez—reed. as the daughter of a legendary hollywood armourer, she'd been around guns all her life but,
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just a month ago, she spoke of her lack of experience in the job. by all means, i'm still learning, but, yeah, dad has taught me everything. i think loading blanks was like the scariest thing to me, because i was like, "oh, i don't know anything about it." there've been unconfirmed reports of complaints about safety standards on the set and that a number of crew walked out hours before the shooting happened. at this stage in the investigation, we don't know if hannah gutierrez—reed was among those that remained. halyna hutchins honed her craft here. one of her teachers said she had a unique perspective of the world. as herfriends, family and industry grieve and search for answers, a candlelit vigil will be held near the film set where she lost her life doing what she loved. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. well, earlier i spoke to firearms expert clark aposhian who has extensive experience working as a weapons handler on hollywood productions. he gave his thoughts on the latest information about the shooting.
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what i'm hearing is that it was actually a loaded round and it was handed to the actor, alec baldwin, and he fired it. it's a breakdown of at least three things. no live ammunition on a set, and pointing a firearm at a person, still not allowed on a set even during the shooting, you know, the filming of it. and finger on the trigger when it shouldn't have been. well, you touched on it there. what are the normal working practices around guns on sets and what are your thoughts about what appears to have gone wrong here? well, when you're actually using an actual firearm to fire blanks with, there's absolutely no live ammunition allowed on the premises, on the set, in any way whatsoever. secondarily, the firearm handler, the weapon handler or the armourer, is to keep eyes on that weapon and have complete control of it, especially when it's transferred from the armourer to the actor or the talent. it goes directly from the armourer who that, only after having checked it
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and inspected that weapon, and in a single action revolver, a i9th—century firearm like this, the inspection of that weapon is critical because you have six chambers that you have to individually, one at a time, look at. is there ever a need to have live ammunition in a gun on a movie set? no, there is not. that's an easy question to answer. why might there have been a live round on this set? i had heard anecdotally that they may have been test firing the firearm, and we have done that before but not on the set — we go to a separate range and do all the safety protocols and make sure no live ammo comes back — and that's just to help the actor familiarise themselves with the sound of the gun and that type of thing. but there's absolutely no reason and i'm still trying to figure out how that happened.
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guns and other weapons appear on movie sets, tv sets and on theatre stages all the time, we rarely hear of accidents and yet this has happened. are there additional safety measures that will need to be introduced ? is this being looked at? does the movie industry and the entertainment industry need to make changes to prevent this happening again? i'll tell you, the movie industry, the entertainment industry, has done a greatjob. the vast majority of the weapons you see in films and tv shows and that are not actual weapons, they're not guns. they are specifically designed to fire a special kind of a blank that will not accept a live round, or they're just proper guns with a few moving parts, not actual firearms, and they add the muzzle blast and the smoke in post—production afterwards. on lower budget films you'll still see some actual firearms with blanks being used. i think with this, and i think the trend has been to move away and go to more computer—generated interfaces.
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in sicily, the former italian interior minister and right—wing leader matteo salvini has gone on trial. he's charged with holding migrants at sea in 2019. he denies accusations of kidnapping and dereliction of duty — after a boat carrying 147 migrants was refused permission to dock on the island of lampedusa for nearly three weeks. a number of other ex—government ministers as well as hollywood actor richard gere are expected to give evidence. mark lowen reports. in august 2019, a spanish ngo boat rescued 147 migrants crossing from north africa to europe and asked to dock in the southern italian island of lampedusa. the hard—line anti—migrant matteo salvini was then interior minister and deputy prime minister and his trademark policy was to close ports to migrant rescue boats. screaming and crying. for almost three weeks, they were kept on board in boiling heat and terrible conditions. prosecutors say that amounted to kidnapping and deprivation
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of their rights. mr salvini said the decision was taken by the whole government and claims he was defending italy. the actor richard gere, who was on holiday in italy at the time, and travelled to sicily to deliver supplies to the migrants, has agreed to testify at the trial. i grew up a christian, i'm a buddhist now, but i can't imagine jesus christ would be happy with a law that says it's illegal to help people. it makes no sense to me, it's completely crazy. i'm ashamed for all of this planet that it is illegal to help people. if convicted, matteo salvini could in theory face up to 15 years in prison. he is trying to make political capital out of the trial to bring the issue of migration, key to his support base, pack into focus as it's receded from public debate. "i'll go to trial with my head held high", he tweeted when proceedings began, adding, "italy first". mark lowen, bbc news.
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let's get some of the day's other news. in west africa, security forces in nigeria are hunting for hundreds of inmates who escaped from a jail in oyo state. heavily—armed men stormed the prison after blasting the walls with dynamite. over 800 prisoners were reported to have escaped but some have already been recaptured. the russian energy giant, gazprom, says it'll suspend exports to moldova unless it pays a $700 million debt, and signs a new supply contract by december. gazprom has reduced supplies by a third to the former soviet state — which relies entirely on russia for its gas. earlier this week, moldova was forced to introduce a state of emergency due a shortage of gas. china has announced it will pilot a new property tax as authorities try to control the largest housing market in the world. state media say the long proposed measure would initially last five years and apply to residential and commercial property
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in selected urban areas. saudi arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has announced a goal of net—zero carbon emissions by the year 2060. the energy minister said the environmental targets could be met without adverse social or economic effects. paasha mahdavi is assistant professor of political science at the university of california, santa barbara. his research focuses on energy and global environmental politics. i asked him what impact this pledge by saudi officials will have. it will be a major step in the right direction in terms of domestic emissions. saudi arabia is itself among the largest c02 emitters in per capita terms and the 10th largest carbon emitter in global terms. so the announcement could be particularly big for clean energy development within the kingdom and could improve the reliability of clean energy in the form of clean electricity and clean water for saudi citizens. the reason for that, of course,
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is that the kingdom right now burns a tremendous amount of fossilfuel for air—conditioning and desalination. but it is important to keep in mind this pledge is only about domestic emissions. it does not apply to emissions that others produce when they import and burn saudi oil, which hinders its impact at the global scale. do you think it's achievable for them? you know, it's hard to say, given how few details were offered in the pledge. but if you look at what was said during the announcement and in other venues recently, it is clear that the kingdom is in no way planning to move on from oil and, instead, it aims to remove greenhouse gas emissions from existing production, capturing carbon dioxide emitted at the source, cleaning up methane emission leakages, so with that in mind, yes, there is a path for success in decarbonising oil production towards net zero, as well as greening domestic production of electricity, but it is not going to reach net zero once you factor in emissions from its products sold abroad,
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which is the vast majority of emissions tied to saudi arabia is the world's largest exporter. it is a big promise, net zero by 2050, but saudi's neighbour the uae has set a goal of 2050, a whole decade earlier, should saudi arabia be doing more? yes, there is this interesting comparison with the uae announcing 2050 as well as the us, the uk, and the eu. now, of course, 2060 is what russia and china have announced as well. so there is a target there in mind with comparison. but what's so fascinating about 2060 is some of the rationale is the energy minister does not believe that the technology will be ready until 2040 to remove carbon dioxide and to achieve some of the decarbonisation goals. that's interesting because it's not quite as consistent, what we see right now, in terms of the technology that is available.
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but, you know, make no mistake, this is an initiative that's focused on greening just the supply side of the climate change crisis. we need bolder action on the demand side, bolder action by countries that consume fossil fuels and, let's not forget, are historically the worst offenders in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and we need that action fast. we are running out of time. to spain's canary islands now, where the eruption of the cumbre vieja volcano continues. on saturday the government announced it would speed—up the arrival of aid for some of la palma's hardest hit sectors. tanya dendrinos reports. a month on, and still just as furious. the unabated flow of lava continues on la palma. this thermal image showing the volcano in all its fiery rage. for some, it has been a spectacle. but for those living under the cloud of ash, it's relentless.
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translation: the past few days the ash was very, - very fine, but now that it's raining, we have a much bigger problem. the cumbre vieja volcano has been erupting since 19 september. lava has covered almost 900 hectares of land. 2,000 buildings have been destroyed, more than 7,000 residents have been forced to evacuate. translation: the main cone has undergone some changes, - part of the secondary cone has collapsed. we don't know yet if it has affected the lava turnover but during the morning, we saw lava overflowing and saw lava erupting from higher up. a 206 million euro relief package was announced in early october. on saturday, the prime minister announced aid for the island's employment, agriculture and fishing sectors would be fast tracked. translation: don't
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give up hope. - the solidarity of the spaniards is here on the island of la palma. the spanish government is here, and we will be here every single day of this crisis, and every day once the eruption is over. ——and every day once the eruption is over. the spanish government will be here. a sentiment to cling to foreign island at the mercy of this volcano, with no end to its eruption in sight. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. you are watching bbc news, the headlines: the film director injured in a fatal shooting on the set of an alec baldwin movie speaks about the death of his colleague — as the police investigation continues. italy's former interior minister, matteo salvini, goes on trial, charged with kidnapping — after refusing to allow a migrant rescue boat to dock, two years ago. a prominent adviser to the british government on covid—19, is urging the public to do everything possible, to reduce
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transmission of the virus. professor peter openshaw says infection and death rates are unacceptable, and he's very fearful there could be another lockdown christmas. the government maintains there's no need for stricter covid measures in england, and is encouraging all those who are eligible, to get their vaccine boosters. with the latest, here's yunus mulla. as covid infection rates continue to rise sharply in england and wales, and remain high across the uk, at the heart of the government's plans to deal with covid this winter is getting people vaccinated. at this clinic on the wirral in merseyside, rising infections is a concern, for people like rachel, who has just lost a family member to the virus. i lost my son—in—law last sunday because he didn't have the vaccines. and his life support was turned off last sunday. so it's important that everybody, everybody, gets the first,
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second and maybe the booster. here, they're also trying to persuade some of the five million people across the uk who haven't come forward for theirfirstjab. we have not vaccinated 15 to 20% of the population. i think that poses a significant risk. although the government focus remains on vaccinations to deal with this pandemic, ministers are under pressure, with growing calls to go further and act sooner, rather than later, in introducing extra measures. one prominent government adviser has urged people to do what they can to reduce transmission of the virus. do everything possible in your control to try to reduce transmission. don't wait for the government to change policy. the sooner we all act, the sooner we can get this transmission rate down and the greater the prospect of having a christmas with our families. relying on vaccinations may not be enough. average daily hospital
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admissions in england of people with covid—19 have climbed to their highest level for nearly eight months. combined with the usual winter pressures such as flu, calls for government action may be difficult to ignore. yunus mulla, bbc news, wirral. colombia's most wanted drug trafficker and leader of the country's largest gang, antonio usuga, has been captured. the 50—year—old boss of the clan del golfo, who's also known as �*otoniel�*, was arrested in a joint operation by the army, airforce and police. gail maclellan reports. this is the man with a $5 million bounty on his head. the us government accuses him of exporting tons of cocaine into the united states. antonio usuga, also known as �*otoniel�*, was arrested byjoint operation by the army air force and police. one officer died in the operation. the colombian
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president described the capture as the most significant capture since the death of pablo escobar. translation: , ., , escobar. translation: , ., translation: this man is too afraid of policemen, _ translation: this man is too afraid of policemen, soldiers, l afraid of policemen, soldiers, social leaders and also a recruiter of minors. antonio usu . a recruiter of minors. antonio usuga has _ recruiter of minors. antonio usuga has also _ recruiter of minors. antonio usuga has also been - recruiter of minors. antonio | usuga has also been accused of killing community leaders across the country, it took several offices and years to bring him tojustice. gail maclellan, bbc news. a new caravan of some 6000 migrants, mostly from central america, has set off from the southern mexican city of tapachula for the united states. the group is made up primarily of people from haiti, el salvador, guatemala and honduras. isaac guzman is a photojournalist based in the state of chiapas which is where this caravan departed from and he told me more about what the conditions
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are like in mexico. they have policies they are implementing since 2018, people decide in some way to make a route by themselves and sometimes it gets dangerous because of people they engage with, who kidnap people so they travel to mexico city in a caravan is a proposal for everyone to be safe, and better thanjust going in a few groups. so the main idea of the caravan is to be safe all together because, as you may know, in mexico there is a lot of violence, and since 2018, for the migrants, so that is the idea. this caravan is a way to be safe in the country. meanwhile, ahead of next week's crucial climate summit in glasgow, the environmental activist, greta thunberg, has called for honesty from world leaders, about where they're falling down on combatting climate
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change. greta thunberg, has been speaking to our science correspondent, rebecca morelle. it was a video that went viral — greta thunberg's surprise performance of rick astley�*s �*80s hit. it was to launch the climate live concerts ahead of the un climate talks in glasgow. # we're no strangers to love... so what does greta want to tell politicians at cop26? be honest about where you are, how you have been failing, how you are still failing us, how they spend their time. instead of trying to find solutions, they seem to spend their time trying to come up with loopholes. greta thunberg says the climate meetings are all talk but no action. this was her last month... there is no planet b, there is no planet blah. blah blah blah, blah blah blah! you've accused politicians of just saying "blah blah blah" — aren't you just saying "blah blah blah" ? yeah.
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but that's the role of an activist, to organise marches, to have speeches, to organise events. it's not ourjob to be politicians. what's it like being the face of climate activism? i don't think people would recognise me in private if they met me. i appear very angry in the media, but i'm not, i'm too silly in private. so will she ever stop campaigning? after the cop, i don't know — i will go home, go back to school. and of course you can't say this is the point where i will stop being an activist. it's not black and white like that. greta will be busy for a while yet, as she prepares to head to glasgow in the coming days. rebecca morelle, bbc news. a collection of artworks by picasso has been auctioned by the hotel in las vegas where they've been displayed for the past 20 years. the paintings and two ceramic pieces had up till 110w been a striking centrepiece
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of the picasso restaurant at the bellagio hotel on the las vegas strip. but the hotel's owner, mgm, decided to sell off the works. michele quinn is a lifelong las vegas resident and former mgm curator she told me more about the auction. they had a selection of 11 lots, a combination of ceramics, ceramic works that picasso experimented with paint on ceramic, as well as several high level premium paintings that they had on view for quite some time. so they all did quite well. the auction was probably around 3—4 times the estimate of most of the lots except for a few premium lots which landed within estimate and of course the star went for well above estimate. it was a very strong sale, all lots sold. what was the star item? the star item was lot 11, femme au beret rouge—orange, the portrait.
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while it was probably the smallest piece in the sale, it has been the signature piece for the whole collection, one of the best paintings he has done, a very small portrait, which is very unusual for the scale. tell us about their former home in the restaurant and the place they took when the bellagio opened many years ago? when the bellagio opened, under the guidance of steve wynn, he decided he wanted art to be the focus of that property and he created a restaurant that was named picasso and within that he put these masterworks within the restaurant. they have beed part of the environment and part of the view permanently since the beginning. so, it is interesting that they are taking this turn and changing that because i know they are not closing the restaurant. they are just changing the inventory. why did they decide to sell them? i got the sense that there is a change in management
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and focus. las vegas likes to reinvent itself every ten years, it seems, or so and this is about a new direction and the previous ceo, jim murren, who i worked with, had a different vision of how art should be integrated and i think the new management is probably less concerned with that and probably looking towards different growth opportunities, so i think it's just a difference in vision. briefly, is las vegas an unusual home for fine art? yes and no. i have been studying art in las vegas since the 90s, when the bellagio opened and steve put his collection on view very prominently and you saw this in the movie oceans 11 and many people perceive las vegas as devoid of culture but we are not. we just have an unusual way of presenting it, i think!
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you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ rich preston hello there. saturday was a pretty cloudy day across the board. temperatures were edging up and part two of the weekend it looks a little bit milder. we will also have some sunshine around which will make it feel mild too. but there will be some showery bursts of rain all courtesy of this weather front which is bringing a very wet night to parts of northern ireland and western scotland. sunday morning this weather front will be slowly weakening as it continues to journey its way eastwards across the rest of scotland and for england and wales. lying across western england and will across the morning you'll notice it will become more fragmented with showery bursts of rain edging their way across the rest of england and wales through the day.
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not reaching the southeast until evening time so staying dry here with some glimmers of brightness. elsewhere sunshine showers with heavily rumbling thunder in ireland and western scotland. it's going to be another blustery day right across the board. windiest for southern and western coast could see up to maybe 40mph in exposure. it's going to be milder, probably milder than saturday, with top temperatures in the brighter spots reaching around 16 celsius. through sunday night it stays blustery. there'll be clear spells and showers, most of the showers will be affecting more northern and western areas, the odd heavy one again in eastern areas which will tend to stay dry with just a few showers getting through there. another mild night to come for england and wales with a perhaps something a little bit fresher for northern ireland and scotland. here's the pressure chart then for monday, low pressure to the north of the uk, westerly winds cover these weather fronts accentuated showers with sunny spells for tuesday at more significant area of low pressure affects the north of the uk further south, closer to an area of high pressure it should be
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drier and a little bit brighter. this is the picture for monday, a lot of sunshine around, many places to stay dry altogether but we will have showers around. most of the southern and western areas, some of them on the heavy side. another mild day to come across england and wales, the mid—teens again, something a bit cooler and fresher for scotland and northern ireland here. around ten to 12 degrees. as we move through the week, it stays mild very milder across southern areas but southern areas will tend to see the driest and the brightest of the weather. further north always windier and wetter at times.
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this is bbc news, the headlines: police in new mexico are continuing to investigate a fatal shooting on the set of an alec baldwin movie. the film's director, who was injured in the incident, has spoken about the loss of his friend and colleague — the cinematographer halyna hutchins. italy's former interior minister, matteo salvini, has gone on trial in sicily over his refusal to let a migrant boat dock in august, 2019. he denies charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty. mr salvini had closed italian ports to rescue boats, accusing humanitarian groups of encouraging people smuggling. a prominent adviser to the british government on covid—19, is urging the public to do everything possible, to reduce transmission of the virus — as coronavirus infections are continuing to rise. ministers say there's no need for stricter measures in england, at the moment.
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