tv BBC News BBC News October 13, 2022 4:00am-4:31am BST
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welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: ajury in the us orders the conspiracy theorist alexjones to pay more than $900 million to the families of the victims of the sandy hook massacre. urgent action is required to reverse biodiversity destruction, that's the stark warning from the world wide fund for nature after wildlife populations decline by almost 70% in 50 years. the un general assembly votes overwhelmingly to condemn russia's attempts to annex four ukrainian regions. the us is promising more weapons for ukraine, including air defence systems. we are going to do everything we can as fast as we can
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to help the ukrainian forces get the capability they need to protect the ukrainian people. scientists in australia teach brain cells grown in a lab to play a video game. we find out why. the next stage could open up options such as cyber security management or more economist devices and perhaps could lead to sentience and fully autonomous robots. and after years as science fiction, we meet the inventor who's taking off in his brand—new flying car. ajury in the us has ordered the conspiracy theorist, alexjones, to pay
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$965 million in damages to the families of victims of the sandy hook massacre. mrjones falsely claimed for years that the mass shooting had been staged by the government to try to introduce tighter gun controls. the school principal was among the 26 people killed in the attack in 2012. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes has been following the story. i asked him what prompted this case. this goes back a decade and it is as a result of the families, they say they were harassed and persecuted by followers of alex jones because of the lie that he told, and as you have this goes back a decade and it is as a result of the families, they say they were harassed and persecuted by followers of alex jones because of the lie that he told, and as you have this goes back a decade described, he said essentially the shooting was staged, that it did not really happen. he went as far as questioning
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the very existence of some of the children who died and said that the parents who appeared at news conferences in the days and weeks afterwards, he described them as "crisis actors". as a result, the parents say that they suffered significantly over the years. they brought this action and, yes, clearly, it was about money and we have seen this colossal amount, almost $1 billion that the jury has awarded for alex jones to pay the families. but they've also made the point that this was a case about highlighting the importance of telling the truth. a colossal amount of money, as you say. what have the families said now that the verdict has been given. they are clearly relieved. there was a lot of emotion in the courtroom and, clearly, severalfamilies and individuals involved, and a complex decision, so it did take some time for this verdict to be announced and you could see the emotion in the faces of those parents, those relatives. and talking afterwards, they say that it is over, they wanted to make the point
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that really you cannotjust go out there and tell lies. yes there is freedom of speech in the united states but you cannot tell lies and especially lies that have the kind of consequences that these families suffered. liz dunning is a gun violence survivor and vice president of development and partnerships at brady, an organisation that advocates for gun control and against gun violence. i asked her what it will mean for the families to have this ruling. survivors are not a monolith so everybody�*s individual experiences are their own, but i will say for me, the amount ofjust incredible relief, i was becoming emotionaljust listening to this lead—in, just knowing the justice they had been waiting for and hoping for an wishing for an dreaming of is here. i cannot imagine and i hope that they are finding time tonight and in the days ahead to be together and to be proud of the incredible strength and effort that they have demonstrated over this really long period of time.
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stories of gun violence are unfortunately not rare in the united states. as someone with such a strong personal connection to this, do you find it difficult to follow stories like this? there is an aspect of it that is absolutely re—traumatising, but i also am of parent of children and ifeel like it is also my duty to be present, to pay attention and to apply myself because of my experience to create a better world for my kids and for everybody�*s kids. alexjones has suggested he will appeal. what's your reaction to that? i guess it's not a surprise because he is who he is, but the incredible vitriol and hate that he spewed for a very long time, it does stalk. there was a message today that truth matters, justice matters
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and as your correspondent said, lies and lies of this vitriolic unspeakable nature are unacceptable and i would imagine that the nextjury orjudge that reviews this case would find similarly to this group of incredible jury members who will surely take a long time to get what they have seen and heard out of their minds. you mentioned the message that this verdict says about spreading lies and misinformation. but longer term, do you think this will affect the narrative when it comes to gun control in the united states? i certainly hope so. i think unpacking moments like this are important and we know, actually, that most americans are with us in preventing gun violence. 90% of them want to expand what are called background checks on firearms, about 70% of americans want to ban assault weapons. so it's not everybody and it is most of us who want to lean in to this
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different world, and i think the more that we can shut down these conspiracy theories and these unspeakable liars, the more that we can move to a place where we can keep our kids safe. liz dunning, a gun violence survivor, speaking there. we have had reports from ukraine, reporting shelling on the settlement near the capital, the administration of said rescuers are already working at the site of the shelling, it is just after six in the morning in ukraine, this follows a week where there have been several strikes on the ukrainian capital, we will bring you more on that as we have it. let's get some of the day's other news. north korean state media says the country's military has test—fired two long—range strategic cruise missiles. the state news agency says the operation had been successful and was aimed at enhancing the reliability of tactical nuclear weapons.
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kcna reported that the missiles flew for 2,000 kilometres — just over 1,200 miles. authorities in nigeria say more than 500 people are now known to have died in flooding that has ravaged the country in recent weeks. experts say it's the worst floods during the rainy season in over a decade. 1.5 million people have also been displaced. meanwhile, at least 18 people have died in flooding in northern india. dozens of villages in uttar pradesh have been affected with some being totally cut off. officials say the monsoon season has extended into 0ctober — it normally ends in mid—september. a new report that's just been released by the world wide fund for nature has shown that, on average, monitored wildlife populations have declined by a staggering 69% since 1970. it says governments, businesses and the public must take what it called "transformative action" to reverse the destruction of biodiversity. earlier, i spoke to the wwf�*s
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chief scientist, dr rebecca shaw, about how this new alarming statistic has come when you have a staggering loss of population, average population numbers across the planet, you are talking about a lot of species, losing a lot of individuals across a vast geography. so there are certain species that have declined more than others. those include things like sharks and rays, which i think we have all heard about in the news, it also includes lowland gorillas and also other species like the australian sea lion and amazon pink river dolphin. you mentioned australia and the amazon. talking geographically, what particular parts of the world are of concern to you? what we see is the steepest
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declines in population abundances, in the tropics. the tropical marine systems, tropical rainforest, and we also see the biggest declines in latin america. so we are talking about 94% decline in average abundance of populations in latin america. that is massive in a place that is so species rich and so vital to our climate change future because it stores so much carbon. this is a simple question, but perhaps with a not so simple answer. what is causing this? well, it is a pretty simple answer. we have unsustainable practices that are associated with energy use and production and food production, consumption and waste that need to be reversed, and there are lots of good information about how the nations of the world, the governments of the world can do that, and we have really important
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conferences coming up in november, december, of this year to get after that. you can find out more on our website. if you are interested. doctor rebecca shaw there, the wwf chief scientist. the un general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn russia's attempts to annex four the un general assembly has voted overwhelmingly regions of ukraine. only four countries voted with russia — belarus, north korea, syria and nicaragua. meanwhile, the us and its nato allies have reaffirmed their support for ukraine in the face of intensifying russian aggression, promising to send military hardware to kyiv for as long as it takes. in the past few days, putin has given us all another grim preview of a future in which the appetites of aggressive autocrats outweigh the rights of peaceful states. we're going to do everything we can as fast as we can to help the ukrainian forces
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get the capability they need to protect ukrainian people. for his part, vladimir putin has accused the west of stoking the global energy crisis, suggesting damage to the nord stream gas pipeline was the result of �*international terrorism'. with mr putin under increasing pressure at home and abroad, our russia editor steve rosenberg considers what his next move might be. what will vladimir putin do next in ukraine? what is he thinking? his special military operation has not gone according to plan. but u—turns? that's not his style. this is. at an event in moscow, classic putin — the kremlin leader painting russia as the victim and the authorities in kyiv as terrorists. keep in mind, though, that it was russia that invaded ukraine. i don't follow them.
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constantin�*s newspaper has criticised russian officials for nuclear sabre—rattling during the special operation. he says putin wants a new world order and don't expect de—escalation any time soon. he's authoritarian leader of a nuclear power. he's unchallenged leader in this country, and he has some strong beliefs and perceptions which drive him crazy, and he's started to believe that this is existential. would putin really go nuclear in ukraine? he's dropped unsubtle hints. days before the russian invasion, the president oversaw massive nuclear drills. he's since warned the west he's not bluffing about the nuclear option. in putin's mind, for him, defeat is unimaginable.
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if you'd run a country for 22 years, like vladimir putin has, and if you'd silenced all your critics and crushed the opposition, like putin has, you may well feel like putin appears to feel — that you will always end up a winner. to acknowledge that any other outcome is possible means facing up to an unpalatable fact that you are not invincible. and in a country with no checks or balances, and where the leaders don't feel accountable to the public, there are few constraints on kremlin decision—making. the problem is that the system, which was created in this 30 years, didn't create the society. there is a lot of very nice people in russia. i think you met them. but there is no civil society. that's why russia can't resist.
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this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: a jury orders conspiracy theorist alex jones to pay over $900 million to the families of the victims of the sandy hook massacre. the world wide fund for nature urges governments to take immediate action to reverse biodiversity destruction after wildlife populations decline by almost 70% in 50 years.
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not so long ago, flying cars were a figment of the imagination. but now that they've actually materialised, investors are scrambling to be a part of this technological phenomenon. xpeng's brand—new flying car caused a sensation when it was unveiled in dubai this week as wendy urquhart reports. the evtol flying car x2 looks like something out of a sci—fi movie, so it's no surprise that the great and the good from dubai turned out in droves to watch the 90—minute test flight. inside this carbon—fibre car, there are two seats with headrests and the passengers have the option of driving it manually or switching to auto mode so that they can enjoy the view from on high. it's the brainchild of the chinese car company xpeng aeroht. they say the flying car's super—aerodynamic design boosts in—flight performance and they also point out that because it's all electric,
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it produces zero carbon dioxide emissions, and this isjust the beginning. we are now in the researching process, we are — make the step—by—step to the international market and, first, we select dubai city because dubai is the most innovation cities in the world and this is our first public flight globally, and this is our first step to the international. the x2 can reach a height of 3,200 feet and it's capable of flying for around 35 minutes at a speed of 130km/h. so it's perfect for short, low—altitude city flights, but there are still a lot of questions to be answered, like when will it be ready, how much will flights cost, and will they be affordable? or is thisjust another pipe dream? wendy urquhart, bbc news. the man to help answer those
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questions is sandro monetti. he is the director of a new documentary tech to the future, which highlights futuristic breakthroughs, including flying cars. i asked him if flying cars are going to take. —— take off. yes, science fiction is finally becoming science fact. what we are witnessing here is a race in the skies to get to market first. you been focusing on the package there on the chinese entry but the europeans have been at this longer. aeromobilfrom slovakia have been working since 2010 on their own flying car. it's featured in my movie tech to the future, playing at the newport beach film festival this sunday and coming soon around the world, and what fascinates me about this is because ever since i was a kid, the idea of flying cars seemed so sexy and exciting and now it is coming real. i mean, probably, the european one is going to cost $3 million to buy one, they have an uber—style model coming and it will be
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interesting to see who gets there first, them, the chinese or somebody else. that raises the question — when is this going to happen? you mentioned this has been on the research books since 2010. that is 12 years ago. how much longer do we have to wait? three or four years until you can have one in your garage if you've got a spare $3 million, six or seven years they reckon for the uber—style service, aeromobil are going to own the platform as well, but there are so many legal hurdles as well to mount because i think that will hold things up more than technology. i mean, you see the test flight in dubai there, not many powerlines to crash into, pretty open skies. here in los angeles, where i live, there are drones flying around all the time, sort of filming movies, so where do you have these flying cars, how can you make them safe? the technology is there but, like a lot of things, it's going to keep the lawyers very busy. you mentioned tech hurdles, legal hurdles. what about public opinion? do you think people
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are ready forflying cars? well, that's a great question. and when i've been going around, promoting this film, it's something that divides the audience 50—50. half of them are terrified, half of them are excited. so many of us in the world can't agree on anything, flying cars as well. i think they are hugely exciting, loads of people think they are hugely dangerous. as with so many things with technology, time will tell. sandro, you've got to tell us — would you get in one? absolutely not. i will happily document it, i will happily report it, but i am too scared to actually get in one. but i couldn't anyway because you need a pilot's license at the moment, and i don't have one yet, but if you want to drive one soon, get studying. which country do you think will be the first to fully license and allow flying cars? well, ithink, having been very close to the slovakian version and seen the passion that has gone into it and the time,
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i rather suspect they might shock the world and get there first. but it is a race and money talks, and so whoever attracts the biggest investment will, i expect, be first to market. have learned how to play a basic video game. —— scientists in australia have grown brain cells in a lab that have learned how to play a basic video game. they say that their so—called "mini—brain" can sense and respond to its environment. the team also claims to have created the first "sentient" lab—grown brain. other experts describe the work as "exciting", but say that calling the brain cells sentient was going too far. here's our science correspondent pallab ghosh. these little white blobs are clumps of brain cells that are being grown in a lab. researchers connected cells similar to these to a computer. under the microscope, you can see the tiny wires that send electrical impulses in and out. it learnt to play a 1970s game called pong in the rectangle on the screen.
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the lab—grown brain moves a white line to try and stop the dot getting past. right now, we have the chance for drug discovering, disease modelling, understanding intelligence. the next stage could open up options such as cybersecurity management or more autonomous devices. and, finally, perhaps we could even lead to sentient and fully autonomous robots that can act and change in the real world. the researches grew a clump of 800,000 brain cells from a mixture of mouse neurons and human stem cells. the plan is to see if more of these mini—brains become worse at playing the game after they've been dosed with alcohol, just like a human player would. mini—brains are also being grown in a uk lab in order to study brain development. it's taken researchers six weeks to grow these mini—brains. you can see the electrical activity of their neurons on this screen here. it's precisely because
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they behave similarly to human brains, even though it's at a very rudimentary level, that researchers here are taking great care in the way they develop the technology. there may be the potential, probably much further down the line, to simulate something like certainly intelligence and cognition, and we want to make sure that we know ahead of time where that boundary is so that we don't accidentally stumble over it. the scientists are working with ethics experts to develop new rules to regulate the research. will these so—called mini—brains develop to the point where they can feel pleasure or pain? and how might we consider their moral status if they were conscious or sentient? and how should we regulate the use of this research in future technology? these are questions that we haven't begun to consider. today's mini—brains are a very long way off from becoming self—aware, and many researchers believe
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that's unlikely to ever happen, but they agree that they do need to proceed with caution. pallab ghosh, bbc news. the hollywood star jamie lee curtis has had her hands and feet cemented in concrete at a ceremony in los angeles. the tcl chinese theater handprints—footprints tribute has been a prestigious hollywood honour for the past 95 years. the actress signed the date as october 31, halloween, rather than the day's date, october 12, in homage to the film that launched her movie career. before we go — bear with us — for the finale of a story that's gripped the world. a new champion has been crowned in this year's fat bear week. yes, that is a competition, with cameras following bears across katmai national park in alaska as they devour fish ahead of their winter hibernation. and the winner is...bear 747. here he is back injune at the start of the salmon run, and here he is in september. since then, he kept gaining weight,
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reaching an estimated 635kg — that's1,400 pounds — and becoming one of the largest brown bears on earth. that is it from us. for now, you can reach me on twitter. goodbye. hello there. 0ur weather story is becoming a little bit more unsettled as we head towards the weekend. no two days the same at the moment, not only in terms of weather, but also the feel of things, both by day and night. now, for thursday, many of us will see some sunny spells, but there will be some blustery, squally showers developing in the far north—west. over the next few hours, we'll start to see this weather front easing away from channel coasts. it mightjust continue to bring a little bit of early—morning rain on thursday. look at the temperatures — double digits because of the cloud and the rain around. further north, though, it's going to be a chilly start, with a touch of light frost in rural parts. but as we go through the day,
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there will be a good slice of dry, sunny weather to look out for for most of us. into the afternoon, however, the winds will strengthen, we'll see some squally showers developing into northern ireland and north—west scotland in particular. elsewhere, temperatures pretty similar to the last few days by the middle of the afternoon. we're looking at highs of 11 to 17 celsius — that's 63 fahrenheit. now, that weather front will continue to move its way steadily south and east, weakening all the time. it's going to be replaced by another one moving through scotland and northern ireland as well. at the same time, there's the potentialfor a little bit of showery rain once again just clinging on to channel coasts first thing on friday. sandwiched in between the two, we should see some drier, brighter interludes, and behind, it's going to be bright and breezy with showers. so, friday is a really messy story, a real autumnal picture of blustery showers. warm in the sunshine still with 17 degrees the high. now, low pressure never too far away as we head into the weekend. plenty of isobars, particularly
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the further north you go. gusts of winds 40—50mph and they're going to be driving weather fronts in around those areas of low pressure. so, saturday is going to be a case of sunny spells and squally showers, the showers most frequent out towards the west, but some of those will start to push a little bit further inland as the day continues. favoured spots for the best of the drier weather, parts of aberdeenshire and perhaps through south—east england as well. and here, we'll see highs again of around 11 to 17 degrees. not much change as we go into sunday and monday. the winds stay blustery from a warm source, plenty of showers to dodge as well. take care.
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this is bbc news. the headlines: a usjury has ordered the conspiracy theorist, alexjones, to pay more than $900 million to the families of the victims of the sandy hook massacre. jones falsely claimed that the incident was staged by the government to try to tighten gun controls. the world wide fund for nature has urged governments, businesses and the public, to take what it's called "transformative action" to reverse the destruction of biodiversity. the plea came after their bi—annual report showed wildlife populations have decline by almost 70% since 1970. the un general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn russia's attempts to annex four ukrainian regions. the us defence secretary lloyd
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