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tv   BBC News  BBC News  July 23, 2022 12:00am-12:31am BST

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this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. steve bannon, the former aide to president trump, faces jail after being found guilty of contempt of congress. he tells reporters he remains defiant. the prosecutor missed one very important phrase. i stand with trump and the constitution, and i will never back off of that, ever. ukraine and russia sign a deal allowing the resumption of ukrainian grain exports from ports on the black sea. we report from the farms on the front line in the donbas. a deal to end russia's blockade could make a huge difference, but it won't end the war. so, here in the donbas, ukrainian farmers are racing to harvest and to store what they can, whatever the risks.
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anti—government protests continue in the sri lankan capital as the new prime minister names his cabinet. and the more you look at the stars, the more you discover! we'll explain how a powerful new space telescope is expanding our view of the universe. hello and welcome. the former trump strategist steve bannon has been found guilty of contempt of congress by a court in washington. the charges were brought after he defied a summons to testify at the congressional hearings into the january the 6th riots at the us capitol building. he'll be sentenced in october — he could face up to two years in prison. but, speaking outside the courtroom, he remained unrepentant.
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i want to start by thanking the jury. we respect their decision today. i really want to thank the hard—working citizens that had to take an entire week off. we respect their decision. we may have lost a battle here, but we're not going to lose this war. in the closing argument, the prosecutor missed one very important phrase. i stand with trump and the constitution, and i will never back off that, ever. the bbc�*s barbara plett usher in washington told me more about the charges he was found guilty of. the issue was quite straightforward — did mr bannon defy congress by flouting the tina — defy congress by flouting the tina issued him by its and beatty— tina issued him by its and beatty -- _ tina issued him by its and beatty —— the subpoena. he had argued — beatty —— the subpoena. he had argued it— beatty —— the subpoena. he had argued it was not a flouting.
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that— argued it was not a flouting. that he _ argued it was not a flouting. that he was in negotiations with— that he was in negotiations with the _ that he was in negotiations with the committee. the prosecution said he had blatant disregard for their demands and that he — disregard for their demands and that he was doing so to protect his former— that he was doing so to protect his former boss, president drum _ his former boss, president drum 50— his former boss, president drum. so he has been found guilty— drum. so he has been found guilty on _ drum. so he has been found guilty on both charges —— president trump. these are misdemeanor crimes and the most severe _ misdemeanor crimes and the most severe sentence would be up to two years — severe sentence would be up to two years in prison. and severe sentence would be up to two years in prison.— two years in prison. and this is all in context _ two years in prison. and this is all in context when - two years in prison. and this is all in context when it - two years in prison. and this i is all in context when it comes to the committee that is looking at what happened during the riots on the 6th of january 2021, this is what's is so crucial about his potential involvement.— crucial about his potential involvement. ., �* , involvement. that's right, the committee wanted _ involvement. that's right, the committee wanted to - involvement. that's right, the committee wanted to speak i involvement. that's right, the| committee wanted to speak to him because he had information that he — him because he had information that he had taken part in consultations with mr trump and his allies — consultations with mr trump and his allies around the strategy to overturn the election that he had —
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to overturn the election that he had also, on his podcast the night before the assault, had basically said all hell would break— basically said all hell would break loose the next day. they wanted — break loose the next day. they wanted to _ break loose the next day. they wanted to question him on his involvement. now that he has been — involvement. now that he has been convicted, he is the first dose — been convicted, he is the first close trump aid to be evicted in regards _ close trump aid to be evicted in regards to the capital attack _ in regards to the capital attack. it could strengthen the committee's hand as it tries to -et committee's hand as it tries to get more — committee's hand as it tries to get more information from mr trump's — get more information from mr trump's allies. so it might have — trump's allies. so it might have a _ trump's allies. so it might have a greater leverage in that case _ have a greater leverage in that case it's— have a greater leverage in that case. it's not clear if this would _ case. it's not clear if this would encourage it to make a crimihai— would encourage it to make a criminal referrals and more high—level crimes, but it is an interesting development. the lawyer— interesting development. the lawyer of mr bannon has said they— lawyer of mr bannon has said they wiii— lawyer of mr bannon has said they will appeal the decision. he said — they will appeal the decision. he said there was a government overreach. — he said there was a government overreach, in particular because _
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overreach, in particular because the committee would not accept _ because the committee would not accept the argument that mr barman— accept the argument that mr bannon had executive privilege because — bannon had executive privilege because he was protected by having — because he was protected by having formerly worked in the white — having formerly worked in the white house.— white house. this particular trial itself _ white house. this particular trial itself was _ white house. this particular trial itself was short, - white house. this particular trial itself was short, and i white house. this particular trial itself was short, and asi trial itself was short, and as we were talking a little earlier, thejury we were talking a little earlier, the jury came to their conclusions pretty quickly. we heard steve bannon come out there, being unrepentant and very much sticking to his lines. i wonder what we can expect next, if anything. well, the sentencing _ expect next, if anything. well, the sentencing is _ expect next, if anything. well, the sentencing is going - expect next, if anything. well, the sentencing is going to - expect next, if anything. well, the sentencing is going to take place _ the sentencing is going to take place in — the sentencing is going to take place in october. we'll find out what _ place in october. we'll find out what the senates is going to be — out what the senates is going to be. there is going to be this— to be. there is going to be this appeal, according to 's lawyer, _ this appeal, according to 's lawyer, and it sounds like mr bahhbh— lawyer, and it sounds like mr bannon will keep up his political opposition stance to the committee itself. he said his greatest disappointment was that what he called the showcase committee members, the metre _ showcase committee members, the metre mirrors of the showcase
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committee investigation did not have _ committee investigation did not have the — committee investigation did not have the guts to come forth and testify— have the guts to come forth and testify at— have the guts to come forth and testify at the trial that —— the — testify at the trial that —— the committee members. it also souhds _ the committee members. it also sounds like he is completely unrepentant for having stood by mr trump. unrepentant for having stood by mr trump-— mr trump. barbara plett usher the 're mr trump. barbara plett usher they're speaking _ mr trump. barbara plett usher they're speaking to _ mr trump. barbara plett usher they're speaking to me - mr trump. barbara plett usher they're speaking to me just - they're speaking to me just after we got that verdict. benjamin teitelbaum is a scholar and author. his book 'war for eternity�* looked at the world of steve bannon — the power brokers, alliances and more. i asked him what he made of the verdict. i certainly think that he's disappointed, _ i certainly think that he's disappointed, although. i certainly think that he's disappointed, although i| i certainly think that he's - disappointed, although i don't think— disappointed, although i don't think he's— disappointed, although i don't think he's necessarily - think he's necessarily disappointed - think he's necessarily disappointed to- think he's necessarily disappointed to be i think he's necessarily - disappointed to be convicted. i think— disappointed to be convicted. i think this — disappointed to be convicted. i think this means _ disappointed to be convicted. i think this means the _ disappointed to be convicted. i think this means the end - disappointed to be convicted. i think this means the end of. think this means the end of some — think this means the end of some media _ think this means the end of some media attention - think this means the end of some media attention for. think this means the end of some media attention for a| think this means the end of - some media attention for a long time that — some media attention for a long time that was _ some media attention for a long time. that was the _ some media attention for a long time. that was the great - time. that was the great purpose _ time. that was the great purpose of— time. that was the great purpose of his _ time. that was the great| purpose of his behaviour. time. that was the great i purpose of his behaviour. it was — purpose of his behaviour. it was to _ purpose of his behaviour. it was to garner _ purpose of his behaviour. it was to garner more - purpose of his behaviour. it. was to garner more attention between — was to garner more attention between himself— was to garner more attention between himself and - was to garner more attention between himself and the i was to garner more attention between himself and the usi between himself and the us
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government _ between himself and the us government. so _ between himself and the us government. so that's - between himself and the us| government. so that's going to conclude — government. so that's going to conclude with _ government. so that's going to conclude with this _ government. so that's going to conclude with this trial. - conclude with this trial. thats— conclude with this trial. that's my— conclude with this trial. that's my first - conclude with this trial. j that's my first thought. conclude with this trial. i that's my first thought. so our that's my first thought. so your first _ that's my first thought. your first thought, i that's my first thought.“ your first thought, i wonder in terms of what this we were talking about congress now has leverage when it comes to subpoenas that people will have to think about whether they ignore them or not. that's an impact from this. absolutely. i don't think— impact from this. absolutely. i don't think congress _ impact from this. absolutely. i don't think congress has i impact from this. absolutely. i don't think congress has any . don't think congress has any choice other than to pursue this case. it does restore the authority of a congressional subpoena. bear in mind, however, that what is legally compelling is not necessarily politically compelling. steve bannon will use this. he will use this again garner support and make sure his supporters feel like the justice system and the us federal government is against him. that has been his agenda of the whole time. i don't think that it is frustrated that much by a single conviction. brute
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frustrated that much by a single conviction. we don't have much _ single conviction. we don't have much time, _ single conviction. we don't have much time, but i single conviction. we don't have much time, but what| single conviction. we don't i have much time, but what does this mean for the committee investigating the attacks? hopefully for them, it shows their force. hopefully for them, it shows theirforce. it hopefully for them, it shows their force. it shows they can compel other people to speak and that they're willing to see their subpoenas through the end. that's certainly powerful. it would be a mistake for the committee's supporters to think that this is going to change public opinion among trump's supporters. i think it's going to be an additional piece of evidence in their minds that everyone is out to get them. the author benjamin, who's written about steve bannon. russia and ukraine have signed a deal to resume vital exports of millions of tonnes of ukrainian grain. in his nightly address, the ukrainian president, vlodomir zelensky, said ukraine now has $10 billion worth of grain to sell. the world shortage of ukrainian grain since russia's invasion has left millions at risk of hunger. the agreement was brokered
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by turkey and the un. for its part, russia will get safe passage for its exports of grain and fertiliser through the black sea. here's the reaction of the un secretary general antonio gutteres. this is an agreement for the world. it will bring relief for developing countries on the edge of bankruptcy and the most notable people on the edge of famine. it will help stabilise global foot prices which were already food prices which were already at record levels even before the war and a nightmare for developing countries. ukraine's wheat is vital for the global economy, but the russian invasion has made growing and harvesting crops a dangerous occupation. our correspondent andrew harding has been visiting front—line farms near the heavily—bombarded city of slovyansk. it's harvest time in ukraine's in war—torn donbas. from his perch, vlodyr bukhantsov can the front lines, just one hillside away the north.
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traces of smoke on the horizon... ..and then this. jet engines roar overhead. two ukrainian fighter jets roar overhead to attack russian positions. you can see a russian rocket blazing upwards, narrowly missing one jet. the planes both launch decoy flares and turn sharply, heading home. "we see this almost every day," says vlodyr. "the pilots do their job, we do ours. "my son is fighting on the front line near here, too." farmers and fighters. almost everyone else has left, or is leaving, this region — hurried farewells at a bus stop, to the sound of russian rockets landing nearby. and plenty of those rockets and cluster bombs are hitting ukraine's wheat fields... ..setting fire to
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thousands of acres. it's another challenge for the farmers and for a world that is increasingly desperate for ukraine's crops. a farm owner takes me on a tour of his bomb craters. he used to sell almost all his wheat and sunflower seeds for export. but the war has put a stop to that. he shows me more footage of the damage to his farm. this is where the cows were killed by another bomb. in fact, we can just hear a few more in the distance. it's quite a noisy morning here. but the biggest problem, sergei tells me, is the russian blockade. "the ports are closed," he says. "we can't export anything, and so the price we get for our wheat "has dropped by two thirds."
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a deal to end russia's blockade could make a huge difference, but it won't end the war. and so, here in the donbas, ukrainian farmers are racing to harvest and to store what they can, whatever the risks. andrew harding, bbc news, in eastern ukraine. so, how quickly can these exports start? that's a question i put to oleksiy goncharenko, a ukrainian mp for odesa. very quickly. in the next week, odesa is ready to start shipments. now we are just waiting for the ships to come and we are ready to put ukrainian side and send them to those who need this. it's millions of people who are starving or close to starving today. starving or close to starving toda . ~ ~' ., starving or close to starving toda . ~ ,, ., ., today. we know the impact that the shortages — today. we know the impact that the shortages around _ today. we know the impact that the shortages around the i today. we know the impact that the shortages around the world | the shortages around the world are experiencing because of the blockade of the export, but
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just in terms of the area, the waters, the ships don't have enough people because they have been moved off. many ships have been moved off. many ships have been damaged. ijust wonder can it be so quick to get this going moving?— it be so quick to get this going moving? -- this grain. everything — going moving? -- this grain. everything is _ going moving? -- this grain. everything is already - everything is already technically moving. they can be exported within the ships in the deal, so that is not a problem. what is a reality, and i agree with you completely, putin will do everything he can to slow down the process. to make it as bottleneck as he can and to make the shipments like and to make the shipments like a teaspoon style. because he doesn't want it. the only reason why it became real is because ukrainian army were
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successful enough to destroy big part of russian fleet, including their ships. it shows how we should deal with russia. the first we've seen, thanks for the united kingdom, altogether made this deal possible. but putin will do everything he can to disrupt it and will try to use it as a leverage. he's weaponising everything. leverage. he's weaponising everything-— leverage. he's weaponising eve hina. ., ., everything. when you say how to deal with russia, _ everything. when you say how to dealwith russia, i _ everything. when you say how to dealwith russia, iwonder- everything. when you say how to deal with russia, i wonder when | deal with russia, i wonder when it comes to... you're in washington and testified in congress about the occupied territories of ukraine. there are negotiations with russia to reach this deal. russian produce which doesn't have sanctions, but it will be able to move that produce. are you
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comfortable with the international community negotiating with russia ? definitely, negotiating with russia? definitely, when we have genocide. but designated was going on as genocide. it is quite difficult to speak with russia about anything, but here it was a good rule from ukraine. this deal is more important not for ukraine, but for the whole planet. we don't want to see people starving. we want to see people starving. we want to... that's why we made the compromise. want to. .. that's why we made the compromise.—
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the compromise. and mp for odesa speaking _ the compromise. and mp for odesa speaking to _ the compromise. and mp for odesa speaking to me i the compromise. and mp for odesa speaking to me a i the compromise. and mp for| odesa speaking to me a little earlier about that deal. lots more on our website. gridlock as the port of dover is overwhelmed with traffic and warnings of worse to come. coming down the ladder now. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire has been blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence i and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia, l but now, a decade later, i it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm unable to swim properly.
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thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc news. the latest headlines... steve bannon, the former aide to president trump, faces jail after being found guilty of contempt of congress. ukraine and russia sign a deal allowing the resumption of ukrainian grain exports from ports on the black sea. the un says the agreement could help millions avoid hunger. let's turn to the ongoing crisis in sri lanka, where one of the first acts of the new president, ranil wickremesinghe, after being sworn in on thursday, was to deploy paramilitary police to remove protestors from camps set up outside the presidential palace.
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tents were torn down and demonstrators have re—grouped further down the street. they remain concerned at the lack of action taken to end the economic crisis. from colombo, anbarasan ethirajan reports. just after midnight, hundreds of sri lankan soldiers stormed the protest site. tents and banners were torn down, and within minutes, activists were pushed back. some faced the brute force of the security forces. they ran towards us with batons, full—on batons. they attacked us. i'm laughing because i can't believe it. i can't believe it now that they just did that without any reason. we were we were peaceful, 100%. they even broke our guitar, like, they were showing it to us. by sunrise, the entire protest area from a section of the road was clear.
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what is seen here is president ranil wickremesinghe's stern message to the protesters. he was sworn in as the country's leader a day earlier after ex—president gota baya raja pa ksa fled the country last week. the early—morning eviction triggered an angry response from the activists. a tense situation here in colombo, where protesters have gathered on the other side of the barrier. these are anti—government protesters, so there is a heavy deployment of navy commandos here. then you also have a special police force, and there is another barrier behind which there are dozens of naval commandos and then a water gun van. police are also ready to fire
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the tear gas if the situation goes out of control. they are prepared. sri lanka is bankrupt and already facing an economic uncertainty. many feel that a raid like this will only revive the movement which was already showing signs of fading away. there seems to be no immediate end to sri lanka's troubles. anabarasan ethirajan, bbc news, colombo. wildfires are continuing to burn across parts of of europe — with spain badly affected. officials say more than 190,000 hectares of land have been scorched, with conditions expected to worsen. some 30 wildfires are thought to be burning. these satellite images give an idea of how badly some areas have been affected. these are the salamanca and cah—ser—reth provinces in spain — around 200 kilometres west of madrid —
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shown before the fires began, then with the smoke — and finally, the image of the burned areas left behind. the uk's main port for people wanting to cross the english channel, dover, was in gridlock on friday — with delays of up to six hours to get onto a ferry. the port declared a critical incident and blamed inadequate staffing at french border posts. french officials denied the claim, but there are also warnings that the situation could worsen over the weekend. here's our transport correspondent, katy austin. it's the big summer getaway, but no—one stuck in these queues today was getting away very quickly. the durnford family took these photos on the way to catch a ferry for the first—ever holiday abroad together. so, this was supposed to be a one—hour carjourney from sevenoaks in kent, and it's just been nearly seven hours now, and we're still not checked in. we completely missed our 9.30 ferry. i was able to get out of the car with my girls and we got to the shops to get some food, because we didn't bring that much food
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with us because we thought we were going to be having lunch in france. and they were allowed onto a later ferry five hours after they'd expected to depart. dover and the surrounding roads are gridlocked and police were out managing traffic. with post—brexit and covid checks now in place, the port of dover said it had done what it could to prepare for a busy summer and worked with local and government partners. the report also said it had worked with french border police to plan for the expected traffic volumes, but it accused them of providing woefully inadequate resource this morning. what we had requested for the start of the day around 4am in the morning, was to have 14 officers in place that could manage, because the traffic starts arriving that early in the morning. what we did have was six, so we had an inadequate number of immigration officers. the port boss insisted his teams had been providing regular updates on what was needed. i promise you there was no more communication, no more planning, no more analysis
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that we could have done. the french authorities hit back, saying it was not correct that they hadn't put sufficient manpower in place, that the plan had been to man all posts at 8.30am, but an unforeseeable technical incident at the channel tunnel led them to postpone full operational capacity by one hour. then eurotunnel said the incident had nothing to do with officials being delayed. it's now mid—afternoon, and things are flowing a bit more freely than they were. but the delays this morning were so great there is a really long backlog. as the blame game continues, the reality is a miserable start to many people's holidays. katy austin, bbc news. the white house has issued an update on president biden's health after he contracted covid. the headline — his symptoms have improved. the detail came in this letter, from the president's personal doctor, kevin o'connor. he says mr biden did suffer from a slight temperature on thursday evening, which was treated with
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over—the—counter paracetamol, and he still has a slight cough and a runny nose. the president has tweeted this picture of himself at his desk in the white house — and today, he has also led a meeting with his economic team on fuel prices via video link. last week, nasa released images from the world's most powerful telescope. though a partnership with the european and canadian space agencies the james webb space telescope produced the deepest, most detailed infrared view of the universe to date. and researchers say the images have revealed 10 times many more disk—shaped galaxies, much like our own milkyway in the 'early universe' than previously thought. the lead author of the study professor christopher conselice from the university of manchester spoke to us earlier. we've looked at some of the earliest images from the james webb space telescope.
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we looked at galaxies we are discovered. with the hubble telescope, we thought these were very strange looking, very distorted in that they were in some mode of formation. but the web images clearly show they are not like that, many of them are actually almost normal—looking. like our own milky way, rotating system which is elongated into kind of asymmetrical disc—shaped. of asymmetrical disc—shape, which is surprising because we thought those kind of galaxies did not exist, but now we're fighting them in great abundance quite early in the universe. so it's really surprising. was it some strange chemical accident — a military attack — or even an alien invasion? the truth turned out to be
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a little less exotic — it was actually the glow from lights from a cannabis lots more on our website. hi. we are forecasting rain this weekend, but not an awful lot of it, and most of it will fall in western areas of the uk, particularly the northwest. there'll be some sunshine around, too, and many of us will actually escape the rain all together, rain that we really need because the gardens are very parched. so, here's the low pressure that will approach us. in fact, it's approaching us right now, the unsettled weather out towards the west. but ahead of this weather front in east anglia, in the southeast, we'll see very warm weather as south—westerly winds develop and tap into some of that heat that's across france right now. but let's have a look at the here and now and the rain approaching northern ireland through early saturday morning. elsewhere, it's generally dry, quite a bright start to the day, a mild one too, 17 celsius in london, 15 celsius in hull and around ia celsius in the lowlands of scotland.
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so, the forecast for saturday shows increasing amounts of cloud out towards the west. you can see that rain moves in, it's a fairly broken area of rain, so it'll wax and wane through the morning, into the afternoon, and in fact, if anything, the skies may clear in northern ireland middle of the day, and it'll be quite sunny and pleasant with temperatures up to 20 degrees. it'll stay dry generally east of the pennines, across east anglia and the south coast. so, a fine day for portsmouth, southampton, brighton, and temperatures will be in the low 20s. but towards evening, notice this lump of rain heads towards northern ireland and southwestern scotland, and that could really be quite heavy for a time saturday night into sunday. here's sunday's weather forecast. so, the low pressure, slow—moving and just to the northwest of us, brisk south—westerly winds pushing in clouds and showers, but most of the showers escaping east anglia and the southeast, where warm south—westerly winds will draw in that heat from france. so, temperatures temporarily
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reaching 30 celsius there in norwich, and by that, i mean it'sjust going to be the one day. in fact, by the time we get to monday, and this is monday's weather map, the low pressure moves out into the north sea. on the back side of it, the winds are coming in from the north. so fresher conditions sweep across the country and it'll cool off. so, here's the forecast for a couple...for a few cities, then, northern areas staying a little unsettled into monday and fresher. further south, also cooling off, but staying generally dry. bye— bye.
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this is bbc news. the headlines.. donald trump's former strategist, steve bannon, has been found guilty of contempt of congress. he was charged after refusing to testify to the inquiry into the january the 6th riots at the us capitol — and could face two years in prison. ukraine and russia have signed a deal which will allow the resumption of ukrainian grain exports from ports on the black sea. they had been blocked by russia, following the military invasion. russian exports will also be guaranteed safe passage. the un says the agreement could help millions avoid hunger. anti—government demonstrations have continued in the sri lankan capital, colombo — as the new prime minister names his cabinet. the protesters remain concerned
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at the lack of action taken to end the economic crisis.

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