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tv   BBC News  BBC News  August 4, 2022 4:00am-4:31am BST

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this is bbc news, our top stories: taiwan sends up flares to deter aircraft, hours after beijing protested at the visit by the us house speaker nancy pelosi. the un secretary general describes oil and gas companies making record profits on the backs of the world's poorest people as immoral. iurge i urge all governments to tax these excessive profits and use these excessive profits and use the funds to support the most vulnerable people through these difficult times. in a major victory for pro—choice groups, the conservative state of kansas, votes to keep its abortion services. and, tributes to roy hackett, one of britain's most influential civil rights campaigners, who's died, at the age of 93.
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welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. taiwan has scrambled fighter planes after chinese military aircraft entered its air defence zone. beijing is protesting against the visit by the us house speaker nancy pelosi — who vowed her country would never abandon the island china has also begun manoeuvres around taiwan that are affecting air and shipping links. taiwan is self governing, and lies about 160 kilometres across the taiwan strait. it sees itself as independent, but china views it as its own. from taiwan, here's rupert wingfield hayes. despite what china has been saying, today's meeting between nancy pelosi and taiwan president
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ing—wen didn't look terribly sinister. president tsai began by presenting ms pelosi with taiwan's highest civilian honour. she in turn praised taiwan's democracy and promised america would stand by the island. our solidarity with you is more important than ever, as you defend taiwan and your freedom. we are supporters of the status quo, and we don't want anything to happen to taiwan by force. so strength, and one of the biggest sources of strength is democracy. most people here are unfazed by china's threats. if anything, they're excited that the world's attention is focused on taiwan, if only for 2h hours. i think everybody is very excited here and very happy that she can come. and, more importantly, that people can show their excitement that, you know, that they're very welcome. to most people here,
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taiwan is a proud, independent country, with its own national flag and its own democratically—elected president. it is not some renegade province of china. but beijing has used its considerable economic and political clout to make sure this place is recognised by almost nobody. and that's why nancy pelosi's trip here today has been so important to them. they also knew china might retaliate, and that is exactly what it's now doing. china has declared these six areas around taiwan closed to all air and sea traffic, starting from midday on thursday until midday on sunday. some of them encroach on taiwan's own territorial waters. in beijing, the foreign ministry said china had been forced into taking these actions. translation: for days, china has repeatedly - expressed its opposition to pelosi's taiwan visit, but the us and the taiwan separatist forces seem not to have heard.
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in this case, china can only speak to them in a language that they can understand. china's state television has been showing warplanes and navalforces mobilising, and ballistic missile carriers on the move. taiwan's defence ministry says china may be preparing to blockade the island. if so, we could be heading for the most serious crisis in more than 20 years. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in taipei. earlier i asked our news reporter azadeh moshiri, what more we know about these military drills. we know that these drills are going to involve long—range ammunition shooting, happening in waters about ten miles away from taiwan so that's about 16 kilometres and it is one of the most busy waterways in the world. taiwan has also said that china has sent 27 warplanes in its air defence zones prior to these drills beginning and they are arguing
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that given the zones that china is covering, the fact that it's encircling this island, it effectively amounts to a blockade. china is arguing that it is whollyjustified based on the us visit, that the us violated its sovereignty and warned that anyone who offends china will be punished. how about china and other countries like the us, how are they responding? taiwan has responded by putting in some contingency measures for its own safety, as you said it has scrambled more than 20 jets to warn them off but it has also directed its ships to find alternative routes to avoid these drills. it is also in negotiation with japan and the philippines to find other aviation roots it can use. in terms of the us, they say that this is completely unjustified and that they are going to be watching these drills closely. in fact we can listen to the white house's national security council spokesperson when he spoke to the bbc earlier. we have serious
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security commitments throughout the region, five of our seven treaty alliances are there in the indo—pacific and nothing has changed. either about our commitment to help taiwan in self defence, and also nothing has changed about our one china policy. we have said all along that there is no basis, nojustification for the chinese to establish some sort of pretext for this to emerge into a crisis or conflict. there is of course whatjohn kirby says there but i think some of our viewers may be thinking that this sounds familiar because we have been through this when it comes to ukraine and russia and the us supporting ukraine and then russia also pushing back against this. there appears to be parallels. there does appear to be a few parallels here but in terms of the history, the geography, the fact that they are separated by waters
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here, china and taiwan, there are also significant differences, especially because most countries in the world don't actually acknowledge taiwan's independence. they have formal ties with beijing, that is very different to the situation with ukraine, but as you say, this has been a concern in the west that china will be looking at the invasion of ukraine and that perhaps china will be taking its cues from president putin's decisions, from the way that the west has responded so there has been a concern all along, all the way back from february, especially from the white house national security council that this could be a moment where tensions will be much more heightened than they were before. the united nations secretary—general has said it is immoralfor oil and gas companies to be making record profits on the backs of the world's poorest people, and at massive cost to the climate. presenting a report on the energy crisis, antonio guterres urged all governments to tax excessive profits and use the money to help the most
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vulnerable. our new york business correspondnent michelle fleury has the latest. the un secretary—general did not mince his words. guterres tore into what he called the grotesque creed of these companies in the financial backers. they have seen bumper profit and with oil and natural gas prices soaring since the war in ukraine. it is immoral for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from this energy crisis on the backs of the poorest people in the communities and at a massive cost of the climate. mr guterres is urging the government introduced a windfall tax on the record profits and together he pointed out the largest producers made a profit of almost a hundred billion dollars in the first three months of this year and he wants the money for this collection to be helping those most in need.
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mr guterres is picking up on a rising chorus of voices were calling for a windfall tax on energy. in america, you have some congressional democrats who have floated the idea and in europe, spain is planning to following the footsteps of britain and italy which have already adopted such plans. it is also not the first of the oil industry has been criticised for taking advantage of the global supply shortage to fatten profits. president biden signalled out exxon saying it had made more money than god this year. meanwhile, the russian energy giant, gazprom, says the delivery to russia of a turbine crucial to its gas supplies to europe has been made impossible by the current sanctions. but german chancellor, olaf scholz, has blamed moscow for not honouring its gas supply contracts and accused putin of blocking delivery of the turbine. this comes as fears of gas shortages, and even blackouts, are growing in germany as the country tries to prepare for a tough winter ahead. jenny hill has this report.
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he's holding europe's feet to the fire. vladimir putin knows germany relies on his energy, that its industry needs his gas. the aluminium they produce here flows down vital supply chains — cars, medical equipment, wind turbines. but no—one can rule out shortages this winter. honestly, if they cut energy, there is no real contingency plan. the only thing you can do is then prioritise, and, let's say, allocate the capacity that you could still run to the most important markets, where you think the damage to society is the biggest, right? so you'd cut back on production? that's the only way. russia cut gas to europe, but it wants the world to think it's germany's fault. so, today, a photo—op. the german chancellor and the german turbine russia says it can't do without.
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olaf scholz insists it's available and there is no technical reason for russia to withhold its gas. but this is a chancellor who promised to phase out coal and end nuclear power. he is having to rethink those pledges now. "germany's last three remaining nuclear power stations," he said, "only provide electricity, and only a small amount." "nevertheless, it could make sense to keep them going." it would be a huge political compromise. one of those plants is in bavaria, and provides 12% of the region's electricity. it's due to be decommissioned at the end of the year. in the nearby town of landshut, they're painfully aware that germany doesn't yet have enough gas stored for the winter. translation: we are preparing for disaster management. - should the gas supply break down, energy intensive
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industries would be the first to be taken off the supply grid, which would have catastrophic consequences for industry in our region. secondly, we would have to ensure places like hospitals and old peoples' homes are looked after. vladimir putin is casting a long shadow over the baking heat of the german summer. he may not yet have triggered the economic and political turmoil he'd no doubt like to unleash in the heart of europe, but he is forcing governments like germany's into difficult decisions and uncomfortable choices. and that's before you throw soaring energy bills into the mix. europe faces a volatile winter. and its leaders, a critical task — to insulate europe from russian power. jenny hill, bbc news, landshut, in bavaria. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: star studded. but dropped, we'll be finding out why the batgirl film
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is being scrapped just months before it's due to be released. the question was whether we wanted to save our people, and japanese as well, and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush. — like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old, and still full of vigor, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in
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the anglican community. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: taiwan has launched flares to deter aircraft, hours after beijing protested at the visit by the us house speaker nancy pelosi. the un secretary—general has accused oil and gas companies of making huge profits on the backs of the world's poorest people. president biden has hailed a vote in the conservative state of kansas to uphold access to abortion services. it's a major victory for pro—choice groups, after the us supreme court overturned roe v wade two months ago, ending federal protection for the procedure. since that ruling, abortion has been banned in ten states across the us and restrictions imposed in at least four. the referendum in kansas is the first time voters have had the chance to weigh in.
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nomia iqbal reports. cheering. in this deeply conservative state, it is a moment that has given liberal groups hope. it's going to be ok, it's going to be ok. they'd expected the vote to protect abortion rights to either be tight, or not go their way at all. i am speechless, really. i'm so proud and relieved. i'm relieved that our rights remain intact in kansas. when the us supreme court overturned roe v wade two months ago, a ruling that legalised abortion nationwide, many republican—led states banned or restricted the procedure. not kansas, because the right is enshrined into the state's constitution. an amendment had to be passed to remove that right. it was a yes or a no vote. no won, by a lot. so proud of everybody in this - state of kansas who has stepped
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forward and worked so hard for this. - for president biden, this result is proof that the removal of roe v wade is out of step with public opinion. voters made it clear that politicians should not interfere with the fundamental rights of women. the voters of kansas sent a powerful signal that this fall, the american people will vote to preserve and protect the right, and refuse to let them be ripped away by politicians. and my administration has their back. anti—abortion groups say this is a temporary setback. this campaign has been bitter and divisive. about $12 million has been spent by both yes and no sides, in a state with a population ofjust three million people. both groups have accused each other of aggressive and misleading tactics. unlike its neighbouring states, abortion is currently legal in kansas until 22 weeks of pregnancy, and now will stay that way. for many, that's emotional, and disappointing. itjust goes against my faith,
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i guess, or my feelings. i just don't like to see an innocent life taken, if it isn't really, really medically necessary. other states will now vote directly on abortion rights in the mid—term elections in november. but this comfortably republican state has shown just how unpredictable this issue is in america. nomia iqbal, bbc news, kansas. ajury in texas has begun weighing how much in damages a prominent far—right us conspiracy theorist should pay for claiming that the massacre of 20 children and six teachers at sandy hook elementary school was a "hoax." alexjones, founder of the website infowars, has been found liable in multiple defamation lawsuits brought by parents of the victims of the 2012 shooting. the parents are seeking compensation of $150 million from jones, who recently admitted that the shootings were not fake, but real.
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it is 100% real, as i said yesterday, it is 100% real, and the media still ran with lies that i was saying it wasn't real on air yesterday. it's incredible. they won't let me take it back. theyjust want to keep me in the position of being the sandy hook man. warner brothers has scrapped its upcoming batgirl film just months before it's due to be released, after poor screen—testing results. the dc film, which was set to feature hollywood stars leslie grace, michael keaton, jk simmons and brendan fraser, was filmed entirely in glasgow. production reportedly cost more than $70 million, and the film was scheduled for release later this year, in cinemas and on hbo max. earlier, i spoke to dawn chmielewski, the entertainment business correspondent at reuters and asked her why the the film was cancelled.
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batgirl was defeated by the lethal strategic shift and corporate strategy. in corporate strategy. let me explain. warner bros discovery is a newly merged company, that combined the old warner brothers, that's familiar to movie goers for more than a century, with discovery, maker of some reality programming. and as the new executive team came in, theyjust decided to shift strategy. this movie, batgirl, is actually intended to go directly to hbo max, the streaming service, but its budget approaches that of a theatrical release. under the new management, the company thinks that these big budget films really should have some sort of a theatrical run — audiences should see them in theatres, generate some ticket sales and buzz, and then go to the streaming service. this movie, however, was not quite good enough
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for theatrical release, would have required an additional investment on the part of warner bros discovery, and then another $30 million, $50 million to promote it, to get audiences excited to see it in theatres. so, that additional cost just was not worth it in the estimation of the new executive team at warner bros discovery. just based on those test audiences, that i mentioned, people watched it, said they did not like it, it was a stinker? exactly. based on what sources are telling me inside the studio, it would have required some additional work, in parlance of the industry, some reshoots, some additional work to get it to the level that it could be exhibited in theatres. there's another nuance to this. dc is one of the crown jewels of the warner brothers library and the new management is hoping to release films and series that are really of a high calibre, in hopes of matching the economic performance of walt disney compa ny�*s marvel films, which your audience would be familiar with. so they felt that this just
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did not hit the mark. but it is not going to hbo max either, as i understand it, is that correct? it's not going to the streaming, because people might want to skip over the theatre and just get it online? well, we will see what the horns of social media drum up. we have seen social media spark the release of other films, like the snyder cut, for instance. sometimes, fans can generate enough enthusiasm that a film ultimately is released. so we will see what happens here but for the moment, it does not seem to have a home. people might want to watch it now that they can't. laughter. that's sometime the way it goes. i was just thinking though, it was filmed in glasgow, which must have been very exciting for glasgow, and now a huge disappointment. do you think this might be a bit of bad news for the uk film production, that's kind of looking to have more movies come and film here? the uk film business
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is booming, based on some of the productions that i see taking place there. so, house of dragons, which is the hbo's prequel to the game of thrones, was shot there, big netflix period drama, bridgerton, was shot there, star wars endor, which is a discovery+ streaming service, was shot there. an increasing number of productions actually are heading to london and to the broader uk. so, you folks have already gotten hollywood's attention. thanks, dawn chmielewski. one of the uk's most influential civil rights campaigners, roy hackett, has died, at the age of 93. he helped organise the bristol bus boycott, the campaign in 1963, to end the bristol omnibus company's colour bar, on employing black and asian people. the protests that followed, paved the way, for the race relations act. our correspondent, jo black, looks back at his life. trying is what i did in my life, in my whole life,
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i keep trying. for 60 years, roy hackett dedicated his life fighting for racial equality. in 1963, he was one of the driving forces behind this campaign, the bristol bus boycott. the protest, which sought to overturn a ban by bristol omnibus company on employing black and asian drivers and conductors. back then, it was legal for companies to discriminate against someone because of the colour of their skin. there were placards in the door, no irish, no gypsies, no black, no dogs. bristol, it wasn't like it is today. it was very hard for us to find a place to live, number one, and it was very hard for a black man to get a job here in bristol. that fight saw the company change its policies,
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and helped pave the way for the race relations acts of 1965 and 1968, which made discrimination illegal. that fundamental step, just getting the law on the side of antiracism, the bristol bus boycott and what happened to his colleagues were absolutely fundamental, this is our story, the british colour bar, the british bus boycott, and roy is the story of how we became the britain we are today. roy hackett�*s name became synonymous with civil rights, and for many, his tireless campaigning made him a father figure, notjust in bristol. to remember him is notjust to remembera moment- in the civil rights movement, but it is to remember that. moment in a continuum of history and struggle i against racism. roy hackett was also one of the founders of st paul's carnival, one of the uk's most inclusive events. the jamaican—born campaigner was appointed obe in 2009, and became an mbe in 2020. he has been described as a humble, principled freedom fighter, a man whose
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legacy lives on. roy hackett who's died, at the age, of 93. programmes at the great mosque of mecca are once again able to touch and kiss one of the most revered relics in islam, the black stone, set in the end shall —— ancient structure known as the cabaye. of the tiers of pandemic restrictions the protective barrier has been removed around it. it was originally set up at the start of the covid-19 originally set up at the start of the covid—19 pandemic but has just been of the covid—19 pandemic but hasjust been taken of the covid—19 pandemic but has just been taken down in time for the pilgrimage season. and before we go — i want to show you these incredible pictures from iceland, where the fagradalsfjall volcano has started erupting again, just a few months after its first eruption in 6,000 years ended in september last year. iceland's government says that
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— as it's a lava eruption — there's currently no expectation of ashfall or of damage to infrastructure. i will leave you on those pictures. hello, there. we've had some exceptional weather throuthuly, and statistics came through this week to show that it was the driest on record in some southern and eastern parts of the uk, and there's little sign of any rain here for the rest of the week and into the weekend. but it's notjust been dry across the south and east. across the whole of the uk, through the summer so far — the meteorological summer, june, july — we've had just over 100mm of rain, whilst during the whole of the summer — so another month, august, added on — we'd normally expect to see about 240mm, so we're way off that. it has been dry across many parts, but obviously exceptionally so in the south, and with this high pressure moving in, over the next few days, that's going to keep our weather fronts at bay, and it means the dry weather persists. rain will fall, but
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mostly in the north. this shows the accumulations over the next 3—4 days, and we do expect some rain for northern ireland and for scotland, but very little across the south and east, where we need it. there's been some heavy rain, actually, overnight, across scotland and northern ireland, some heavy, thundery rain just across the east of scotland in particular. there could be some quite nasty conditions for travelling here, localised flooding. further south, we're losing the humidity — finally, we're lowering the humidity — more comfortable for sleeping. so, some rush—hour issues, potentially, with spray and standing water on the fast routes in the south and east of scotland, before that clears away. sunny spells and scattered showers, heavy in the north of scotland, rumbles of thunder, potentially, one or two into the midlands, east anglia. but notice the temperatures, 20—25, feeling a lot fresher, i think, compared with recent days, less oppressive.
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we'll notice that, actually, at the commonwealth games in birmingham — temperatures 3—4 degrees down here. through the evening and overnight, the showers continue, as you can see, perhaps some heavier ones clumping together and a fresh feel again. more noticeable again across the south, and we keep that fresher air, actually, through the weekend. the rain comes in the form of showers, just one or two getting into northern parts of england, perhaps the midlands, again, and parts of wales, but few and far between, for the most part. temperatures on a par with those of thursday, 17—24 celsius. then, into the weekend, there is going to be some rain, particularly across the north of scotland, but elsewhere, there's a lot of dry and settled weather, warming up again into next week.
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this is bbc news. the headlines: taiwan has scrambled fighter planes after chinese military aircraft entered its air defence zone. beijing has protested against the visit by the us house speaker nancy pelosi — who vowed her country would never abandon the island. china has also begun manoeuvres around taiwan that are affecting air and shipping links. the head of the united nations, antonio guterres, has accused oil and gas companies of making huge profits at the expense of the world's poorest people. he said the energy industry had displayed "grotesque greed". president biden has hailed a vote in the conservative state of kansas to uphold access to abortion services. it's a major victory for pro—choice groups after the us supreme court overturned roe v wade two months ago,
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ending federal protection for the procedure.

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