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tv   BBC News  BBC News  May 19, 2023 11:00pm-11:30pm BST

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made an summit, where he made an intervention there that we have been talking about. onto the daily telegraph, the uk talking of economic decline, an article from the chancellor talking about negative direction of risk and talking up the economic opportunities but history about household bills about to fall as putin's energy war fails. a household bills about to fall as putin's energy warfails. a big development for economics. the guardian, patience paid £550 per hourfor guardian, patience paid £550 per hour for private guardian, patience paid £550 per hourfor private gps. guardian, patience paid £550 per hour for private gps. other times, ai is a clear and present danger to education. let's leave that that's all from us tonight. but before we go, we learned this morning of the death aged only 59 of one half of the most iconic guitar duos of the 1980s. so we leave you with the smiths�* bass player andy rourke along withjohnny marr, who created the legendary guitar section of how soon
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is now, back in 1985. goodnight. music: how soon is now by the smiths.
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this is bbc news, here he was at westminster in february giving the speaker a pilot's helmet. on the helmet reads, we have freedom, give us wings to protect it. this is what he wants. f—16 fighter jets like these flown by the polish air force. modern warplanes that could give ukraine greater control of the skies. some european countries are ready to give some of theirs to ukraine but they are all made by the us and that means that president biden, who is at the g7 summit injapan, needs to give his permission first. he has been reluctant, fearing it could escalate the war, but now his officials say the us
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will help train ukrainian pilots and will not stop european countries donating some f—16s. this comes after concerted pressure from european leaders, including rishi sunak, who earlier this week promised president zelensky to gather international support for getting ukraine the air power it needed. but training pilots and delivering planes will take many, many months, so they are unlikely to play any role in ukraine's coming counter offensive. but this decision does send a strong signal to moscow that western allies are determined to support this country militarily for a long time to come. for now, the fighting continues. both sides wait for ukrainian commanders to decide when to launch their long expected assault. james landale, bbc news, kyiv. the bbc�*s nick marsh is in hiroshima for us and we can bring him in now.
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nick, wejust heard nick, we just heard about those fighterjets. the other big news today of course, we are hearing new sanctions are being introduced against russia. what we know about that's so against russia. what we know about that' h, against russia. what we know about that' ., , ., ., against russia. what we know about that' ., ., ., that's so it was a wrath of sanctions _ that's so it was a wrath of sanctions actually - that's so it was a wrath of. sanctions actually announced that's so it was a wrath of - sanctions actually announced even before the summit yesterday morning here in hiroshima, the united states imposing sanctions, around 300 of them actually. and the idea really is to starve the russian war effort, to quote officials. the idea is to try and limit rushers access to essential battlefield materials. there is also a joint statement from g7 leaders when it came to tightening restrictions on loopholes in terms of evading sanctions. it's very easy to impose them, of course, but we know that russia is finding alternative sources of income, using third—party countries to get around these as well. but i suppose the most significant development to come out of the summit so far is what you just heard there, nj mendels report,
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this permission that the united states is giving now to train ukrainian pilots in these advanced f-i6 ukrainian pilots in these advanced f—i6 fighterjets. it signals a long—term commitment to ukraine. it's unlikely they're going to be able to use those upcoming offensive, but the fact that the us is really, you know, allowing access to this tentative, advanced technology, the european partners will be in default as well in furnishing the aircraft as well as the training, it shows a real double down and support from g7 leaders. that something, of course, that ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has been asking for for many months now. we are hearing that the president is expected either virtually or in person to be joining this g7 summit. we virtually or in person to be “oining this g7 summit.�* virtually or in person to be “oining this g7 summit. we expect them to attend in person. _ this g7 summit. we expect them to attend in person. we've _ this g7 summit. we expect them to attend in person. we've had - attend in person. we've had confirmation that he will be meeting president biden here in person, here in hiroshima, at the g7 summit. the rumour was going into overdrive, we
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didn't know if you would be doing it virtually or coming, there's always a big security risks surrounding this kind of hugely high—profile visit. he understand why he and allies will be tight—lipped about that, but when he does come it will be a hugely significant moment. it will be the first time that he is in the presence of all of his g7 allies. he's coming from saudi arabia, addressing arab leaders, including pastor al—assad, a huge prudent ally, so i think the audience he will find here, the solidarity he will find here, will be much more receptive, shall we say. be much more receptive, shall we sa . w' be much more receptive, shall we sa , . " �* ., , be much more receptive, shall we sa. , ., say. nick marsh reporting fresh from the g7. say. nick marsh reporting fresh from the g7- thank— say. nick marsh reporting fresh from the g7. thank you _ say. nick marsh reporting fresh from the g7. thank you so _ say. nick marsh reporting fresh from the g7. thank you so much. - russia has responded to those sanctions we have been mentioning by banning over 500 us citizens from its borders. among them, kay bailey hutchison, united states ambassador to nato under former president donald trump. i spoke with her earlier. well, madam ambassador, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us now.
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i want to start because we just learned that you personally have been sanctioned by russia. you've been included on a list of some 500 americans. among them, barack obama, a comedian, seth meyers, arkansas governor sarah sanders, some other people on that list as well. lots of high profile names. what does this latest development mean for you and what is your response? well, i'm not surprised at all. although you did give me the news. but i have been very critical of what russia is doing in ukraine. and really all the time i was at nato, i called russia out for what they did in uk with skripal. and so i'm not surprised. and whatever it is, it is. and i'm proud to be with another group of patriots who are calling russia out. well, why do you think you were included on this particular list? well, i've been critical, of course,
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of russia for the devastating attack on the free country of ukraine and the obliterating of their infrastructure, killing people, torturing prisoners of war. it goes on and on. and when they attempted to murder mr skripal, who lived in the uk and was a former soviet spy, that was just outrageous too. it was novichok, the poison that was put on the doorknob of the home where he was living. so russia has been very... i just want to hop it and ask you just quickly, because it's an interesting list as well. there are politicians, there are former officials, there are late night comedians. there are journalists. what do you make of this particular mix of people that have been sanctioned by russia? i'm sure that it has something to do with being critical of russia.
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and they have tried to put things over on other countries. all of the cyberattacks that we saw when we were at nato, against some of our nato allies or an ally that was on the cusp of becoming an ally in nato, and the cyberattacks on that. so, i am certainly very clear in calling out for what it is, the russian disinformation, the torture, the war crimes that they are producing right now in ukraine. and if that puts me on a sanctions list, i'm fine. speaking of sanctions, at the g7 meetings, at that summit, some new sanctions announced against russia, many of them aimed at military technology. in your mind, do these sanctions go far enough? what would you like to see? well, i would like to see full sanctions of any kind of trade or any kind of monetary enterprise
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with russia right now. the russian people, unfortunately, it's not their fault. it is all on vladimir putin. but nevertheless, if they are not feeling the pain of the sanctions, then vladimir putin is going to continue to have just mayhem on ukraine and what they have done to the infrastructure of ukraine, as well as killing innocent people and children. even a maternity hospital was targeted by russia. so, i think that they deserve to have sanctions when they are acting in this way. and that's the only thing that we can do, other than help ukraine, which we are doing. the us also announcing that it will support assistance in terms of training with these f—i6 jets, but we don't know yet when any jets
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might arrive in ukraine. do you think that the us is moving fast enough for these militaryjets, which of course the ukrainian president has been requesting for many months now? i think we should have done it sooner, and i think we ought to do it right away. i think we should do the training. and i do want to give credit, great credit to prime minister sunak of the uk. he was very upfront early in saying that he would do the things that could really help ukraine. and of course, borisjohnson was the first european prime minister to visit ukraine even when it was considered very dangerous. so, i think uk has played a great part here. i support that, and i think the united states has also given the lion's share of the equipment and the operative things, the missiles and the operative,
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bradley fighting vehicles, those sorts of things. but obviously, we need to do it quick. we need to help them win. a stalemate is not in the interest of ukraine. winning is necessary, and we should help them win. i do want to be sure to ask you, as the former us ambassador to nato, should nato be acting faster to bring on new members and should ukraine be one of those new members? well, i think that we take every country that asks to be a member, and we consider if they have the qualifications to be a member. and that includes a resilient democracy, anti—corruption laws, rule of law, treatment of human rights. does ukraine meet those qualifications? not now,they do not. and that's why they were not in the cusp. and they knew that. they knew, because their own people had an anti—corruption campaign going.
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that's what president zelensky ran for and won. but they had not yet been able to achieve what needed to be done before this invasion. so, they were not. but i think that they will. i truly believe they will eventually become a member of nato, an ally. but i don't think that they're even asking. they weren't even asking when russia made the claim that they were trying to get into nato, they weren't. they knew that they were on a list that we would hope someday to be able to give their request a yes, but they were not there yet and they were trying, but they were not. ambassador kay bailey hutchison, thank you so much for your time. thank you very much, carl. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.
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meet poppy and her noisiest squeaky toy. she can hear it, but she can't see it. her owner, eve walton, discovered herfurry friend had lost her sight at the start of the covid i9 pandemic. when we got the diagnosis, i was really worried about poppy's general quality of life and all the things that we'd done so far. like, we're never going to be able to do that stuff again. faced with an uncertain future, eve founded the underdogs training, specialising in training blind dogs. she's now helping other visually impaired canines and their owners globally. it could be that your dog's lost their sight, and we need to work on confidence with different textures and sounds. how do we go about giving them a nice, safe approach to training without them bombarding into the coffee table? i really want to just help to show people that actually just because a dog has lost its sight, they can still have an absolutely incredible life.
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you're live with bbc news. if you were watching the programme yesterday, you would have seen our report from el salvador about the government's brutal crackdown on the street gangs there. in the second part of this report, will grant looks at how normal life is returning to many neighbourhoods which spent years under gang control. la campanella is dotted with abandoned houses. when the 18th street gang ran the neighbourhood, scores of homes fell empty. their owners forced out. some became places used for rape, murder and torture. now, with most gang members jailed in a crackdown, the government is returning those homes to local people. schoolteacher al dela rosales received hers through a credit scheme. her neighbourhood shedding its violent past. my children couldn't grow up playing in the street or in the parks or have their friends come over for their security. we as parents wouldn't allow it.
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they grew up cooped up inside for their whole childhoods. undoubtedly, president nayib bukele's security policy is changing the face of el salvador. gang graffiti has been painted over, sometimes whitewashed, sometimes with colourful murals. but supporters say the changes are more than just cosmetic. a morning game of football between teenagers from next door neighbourhoods. there should be nothing out of the ordinary in that. and yet, this game is verging on the unique. the players come from places that were run by rival gangs, and they couldn't even move from one side to the other, much less hold a game of football. yet with certain constitutional rights suspended, thousands have been detained without due legal process. the government insists non—gang members will be released soon. we don't want to arrest anyone who offered the gang's support, but did so because they were forced
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to and had no choice. we're not capturing innocent people. labour union leader de flores is sceptical. arrested following an anonymous tip off, she spent seven months away from her children in hellish prison conditions. she describes her treatment as torture. it was a kidnapping by the state. if you have done something wrong, then you have to pay. _ but if you haven't, then| is deprivation of liberty. and that's kidnapping. i committed no crime, _ so i shouldn't have been imprisoned. odell used to stay inside at dusk. now local kids in la campanella can play without fear of being caught in the crossfire of a turf war. but while ordinary life has returned to long suffering neighbourhoods, some fear president bukele has permanently militarised el salvador to achieve it. will grant, bbc news san salvador. the devastation of aleppo in syria
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after years of civil war that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and millions homeless. syria's government stands accused of terrible atrocities, led by president bashar al—assad. but today, after nine years of international isolation, he got a warm welcome at a summit of fellow middle—eastern leaders. president assad has held on to power, despite western opposition, with massive military support from russia's president putin. joining me now is hagar chemali, the former director for syria and lebanon at the national security council under president obama. thank you forjoining us. i want to start with what president velasquez that if this arab league summit, criticising those who turned a blind eye to russia. how will that message be receive there among arab nations's i be receive there among arab nations' ~ . , be receive there among arab nations' ~ ., , ., , nations's i think that they are very easy to cap _ nations's i think that they are very easy to cop departmental- nations's i think that they are very easy to cop departmental eyes, i nations's i think that they are very i easy to cop departmental eyes, what i want to say is they are very
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easily able to turn a blind eye to atrocities and to authoritarianism and dictatorship and that is because half of them lead that way. syria is another story. syria is on another page obviously. but the fact is that a lot of these leaders that are welcoming him with open arms have no problem with his war crimes, his atrocities, telling the world that they want to turn the page and move on. they want to turn the page and move on, ,, , ., ~' ., they want to turn the page and move on. ,,, ., ~ ., _, ., they want to turn the page and move on. ., ., , on. speaking of the welcome of us sawed at their _ on. speaking of the welcome of us sawed at their summit, _ on. speaking of the welcome of us sawed at their summit, does - on. speaking of the welcome of us sawed at their summit, does not l sawed at their summit, does not basically end his isolation once and for all, after all of these years's doesn't end his isolation, but it is a punch in the gut and it is a message to dictators all over the world that you can commit heinous war crimes and be this deplorable and still, you are going to find friends, you're going to find partners around the world who are willing to do business with you, who
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were willing now, i assume to invest in syria and areas that are under bashar al—assad control, and to look away and pretend this hasn't happened. this is an abomination, notjust because other dictators will hear that message and it will inform their own decision—making, but it undermines the international order that is set up after world war ii, and that's what connects us to rush her. when president belinsky says, i hope you don't turn a blind eye to russia's behaviour, it falls in the same bucket and so i would classify this as a win for dictators around the world, unfortunately. given what you just said, did this group of countries making me sick take not only by welcoming bashar al—assad back but not attaching any preconditions's hundred percent yes. so to answer quickly, yes. on the first hand, making any kind of overture at this time is a major
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mistake, especially without conditions. by the way, conditions that could have included him stepping down. there are many conditions they could've imposed on him. my assumption is for them to decide that their policy failed. and i understand. i worked on the us one policy in syria. i was director for syria and lebanon for two years at the national security council. it includes the first two years of the syrian crisis. the policy failed and didn't achieve its mission to support a stable transition to democracy and to undermine bashar al—assad power. and yes it failed, but that doesn't mean that you should move on and welcome this person with open arms. there are still steps that can be done to further isolate him and to usher in new leadership. but by doing this, not only have they thrown all of that away, if the worst negotiation i've ever seen, but my assumption is that for him to be welcome this much, the saudi arabians in particular, they must be getting something else in return, because not all the leaders accepted it. one walked out when the syrian president
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started speaking so they are not all of the same page, and the aryan league is not exactly a strong, forceful entity in international politics. it doesn't really come with very fancy decisions so i don't expect much. nonetheless, it is an awful message. but yeah, i think that, awful message. but yeah, ithink that, ., ., , ., awful message. but yeah, ithink that, . . , ., , that, are there any positive to be taken here. _ that, are there any positive to be taken here, potentially— that, are there any positive to be| taken here, potentially welcoming syria back to this kind of group could benefit the victims of that earthquake that we saw earlier this year quest mark or maybe even to start to bring some syrian refugees back to the country quest mark are there any potential positives that we might take from this move quest mark we might take from this move quest mar ' �* . we might take from this move quest mari �* ., we might take from this move quest mari ., we might take from this move quest mar �* ., ., mark i'm glad you asked that, because a _ mark i'm glad you asked that, because a lot _ mark i'm glad you asked that, because a lot of _ mark i'm glad you asked that, because a lot of extra - mark i'm glad you asked that, because a lot of extra work i mark i'm glad you asked that, i because a lot of extra work have been debating this idea that perhaps it's a good move or delete word for refugees. i know that countries like lebanon, for example, are looking forward to this because the refugees have been a heavy strain on the economy and they are hoping those refugees can return. the fact is,
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and these are facts, that the last nine years, as you mentioned, i believe it's 11 years since the civil war started, those 11 years, many of the refugees have been targeted and jailed. so given that it's the same leadership and he still controls a chunk of the country, doesn't control a huge swathe in the north, which makes you wonder what is he even ruling over as a countries leader. how legitimate could that possibly be quest mark that said, there is this hope, i don't have high hopes for it to be perfectly honest with you, and i certainly don't think that the refugees are going to trust that they're welcome back without some kind of risk of the tension, or torture. i kind of risk of the tension, or torture. ., ., ., ., i. torture. i do want to ask you, because _ torture. i do want to ask you, because you _ torture. i do want to ask you, because you act _ torture. i do want to ask you, because you act as _ torture. i do want to ask you, because you act as the - torture. i do want to ask you, | because you act as the former director for syria because you act as the former directorfor syria under because you act as the former director for syria under president obama at the national security council, looking back, do you think that the us under obama was tough
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enough on this leader? h0 that the us under obama was tough enough on this leader? ha i that the us under obama was tough enough on this leader?— enough on this leader? no i don't. i think there — enough on this leader? no i don't. i think there are _ enough on this leader? no i don't. i think there are things _ enough on this leader? no i don't. i think there are things i _ enough on this leader? no i don't. i think there are things i could - think there are things i could have been done earlier in the beginning before things turned so ugly. when bashar al—assad had decided six weeks into the protest that april 2011, they started in march 2011. by the end of april 2011 we had decided that it was clear bashar al—assad had decided to use a policy of clear indiscriminate violence against his people as a response to the protest. as a result we had a very heavy policy sanction, we had executive orders to do that. given that we knew that, there were steps i believe we could've taken, like, for example, bombing airways, bombing weapons in the middle of the night so you don't have civilian casualties, measures is that lb and i understand are very forceful and probably more reminiscent of barr shaver but that said, i was there because i understood how the syrian government works, how the syrian leadership thought. and i knew that the only language they would
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understand is the language of force and the language of military. without some kind of message coming from the west, saying we are watching you and you better not go so far, there was nothing holding them back. basher also spends this time trying to find out where the redline was, and the factors there was no real redline. taste redline was, and the factors there was no real redline.— redline was, and the factors there was no real redline. we have about 30 seconds — was no real redline. we have about 30 seconds left _ was no real redline. we have about 30 seconds left but _ was no real redline. we have about 30 seconds left but i _ was no real redline. we have about 30 seconds left but ijust _ was no real redline. we have about 30 seconds left but i just want - was no real redline. we have about 30 seconds left but i just want to i 30 seconds left but ijust want to ask you, what would you like to see the biden administration due off the back of this move quest mark the us has decided — back of this move quest mark the us has decided to _ back of this move quest mark the us has decided to oppose _ back of this move quest mark the us has decided to oppose the _ back of this move quest mark the us has decided to oppose the arab - has decided to oppose the arab countries and maintain sanctions of course, but i do believe that the last three years, the biden administration has been somewhat silent on syria, not really very strong on their positions, and they need to be louder about it and they need to be louder about it and they need to be louder about it and they need to be more forceful.— need to be louder about it and they need to be more forceful. thank you so much. stay with us here on bbc news.
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hello again. whenever we talk about showers, you can get vastly different weather from one place to the next. if we look at friday's weather in redding, we had hazy spells of sunshine coming through this cloud. it was quite a nice day. butjust down the road, 15 miles away in benson and oxfordshire, got a direct hit from a pretty big shower. it brought 19 millimetres of rain in the space of two hours. that's a third of a month of rain. and instead of it being a nice day, it was a day where you might have needed to paddle to get back to your car. now, over the next few hours, it's essentially dry across england and wales. most places having clear skies. do have some thicker clouds starting to move in across scotland and northern ireland. the cloud thick enough for an occasional spit of rain, but nothing particularly
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significant. here are your temperatures as you head into the first part of your weekend. now, the weekend across england and wales, lots of sunshine on the way and it is going to be mostly dry for scotland and northern ireland a bit more in the way of cloud, but it'll still be bright. however, the cloud at times will be thick enough to give just a little bit of rain. now, any rain that we do see across these northwestern areas isn't going to be that heavy, because these weather fronts are weak. they're running into an area of high pressure which is tending to squish them. so saturday morning, we start off perhaps with a nice sunrise for some across scotland, maybe north west england, north west wales, the thickest cloud across scotland and northern ireland. an odd spit of rain, but not much. england and wales dry with plenty of sunshine from the word go and we'll keep those sunny skies all day. it is going to feel warm in the sunshine with temperatures widely 18 to 21, a little bit cooler around some of our north sea coast, given the developing onshore wind. and a reminder, at this time of the year, the may sunshine is a strong sunshine and so we'll have high levels of uv if you're
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outside for any length of time. might be worthjust thinking about slapping on a bit of sunscreen. in sunday's forecast, it's a similar kind of split to weather, really, with the cloudy skies across scotland and northern ireland. still some bright weather getting through again. there could be just a few spits of rain falling from this weather front. that's very weak. england and wales dry, more sunshine and warm again. temperatures high teens to low 20s. in fact, this weekend we could see the warmest day of the year so far, not the temperatures of that high. it says more really about the fact that the weather's not been that warm so far this year. but into next week, high pressure is in charge and for most it will stay fine and dry.
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this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hours straight after this programme. hello and welcome to news watch with me, samira ahmed. the eurovision song contest is known for its extravagant and over—the—top style, but did bbc news go over the top itself in reporting on the event? and was the launch of a new video game a genuine news event or an excuse for a promotional plug?
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