tv Verified Live BBC News August 8, 2023 3:30pm-4:01pm BST
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saving the amazon — leaders from eight south american countries gather to thrash out an urgent plan to protect the rainforest. a bbc news investigation uncovers allegations of sexual abuse by spiritual healers in morocco and sudan. portugal battles renewed wildfires in the country's third heatwave this year. we hear live from one resident in the fire's path. the uk's elections watchdog reveals it has been the victim of a "complex cyber—attack" — potentially affecting millions of voters. we'll talk live to the chair of the electoral commission. and we'll be live from fringe in edinburgh, where comedians and theatrical performers have gathered for the festivals 76th year. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre,
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here's tanya arnold. colombia are through to the quarter finals of the women's world cup for the first time. they beat jamaica 1—0 and will now face england on saturday. catalina usme�*s goal in the second half in melbourne was enough to set up a clash with the european champions. they become just the second south american nation to ever reach the quarter finals of the world cup. brazil were the first. forjamaica though, their impressive world cup comes to an end. for us, we are coming in with no games. i feel very happy for the players that they could perform at this level without getting adequate games to play so i am very pleased with them and they gave it everything tonight. they should be proud of themselves and i am very proud of them. england's laurenjames will miss
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that quarter—final against colombia and has apologised for her red card for standing on nigerian defender michelle alozie. in a post on social media she said to alozie... france are also through to the quarter—finals, they comfortably beat morocco 4—0 in adelaide. they were never really troubled by the opposition, kadi diani opening the scoring afterjust 15 minutes, and further goals from kenza dali and two from eugenie le sommer sealed the victory and a quarter—final against hosts australia in brisbane on saturday. in the premier league, wolves managerjulien lopetegui is set to leave the club, with former bournemouth manager gary o'neil is being lined up to replace him. it's understood the former real madrid and spain coach, who joined midway through last season, is unhappy with the club's transfer policy this summer.
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talks held today over the spaniards exit from the club have been described as "amicable. " chelsea's christopher nkunku has had an operation on his knee and will be out for an extended period according to the club. the french international suffered the problem during the first half of chelsea's pre—season friendly against borussia dortmund last week. nkunku joined the club this summer for a fee of £52 million. and newcastle have confirmed the signing of tino livramento from southampton. the 20—year—old full—back could cost them up to £40 million with add—ons. he joins on a five—year deal. anthonyjoshua will fight finland's robert helenius at london's 02 arena on saturday. helenius, who fought last weekend, steps in with a week's notice as the replacement for dillian whyte, who failed a voluntary drugs test.
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helenius�* last big fight was a first round knock—out defeat to deontay wilder who could be joshua's next opponenet if he comes through saturday night's bout. tuesday marks the return to the court of the former world number one, caroline wozniacki, after three years away, in which time she's had two children. she plays australia's kimberley birrell in the first round of the canadian open in montreal. she's aiming to peak in time for the us open, and isn't backjust to make up the numbers. i think i still have a lot to give to tennis, and that is why i decided to come back after practising for a little while i thought, i am hitting the ball well, i still feel fit, i still feel like i have a couple of good years in me, so that is why we are here. my goals are still the same, i want to be the best i can possibly be and i want to win tournaments. when i'm on the court,
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i want to win, no matter who is on the other side. and that's all the sport for now. a year—long undercover investigation by bbc news arabic has uncovered allegations of widespread sexual abuse and coercion by spiritual healers. in the first investigation of its kind into the issue, more than 60 healers in morocco and sudan were accused of rape, sexual assault and coercing women into sex. this film, by hanan razek, contains references of sexual abuse and sexual violence that some viewers may find upsetting. sawsan was having problems with her husband and went to a spiritual healer for help. translation: he said he would have i sex with me and use the resulting l body fluids to concoct a potion i should feed to my husband. he said this is the treatment. i left immediately and i will never go back.
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the practice of spiritual healing in sudan is unregulated, which leaves many women like sawsan vulnerable to sexual exploitation. they turn for help to this centre, run by a healer, sheikha fatima. she helps women who believe illnesses or emotional problems can be solved by expelling evil spirits. translation: many women told us that part of the treatment involved _ the healer touching part of their body. out of 100 women, undoubtedly a quarter of them would have been sexually abused by a healer. in the first investigation of its kind, we spent months verifying stories of abuse. 50 women in sudan accused a0 healers of harassment, assault and manipulating them into sex. one of these women told us about
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a healer who had assaulted her. translation: | saw. his shadow behind me. then he groped me. in the end, when he approached me, i swore to god i would scream and alert his children. i took his hands off me and i left. after hearing accounts from two other women, we sent an undercoverjournalist to visit the healer, sheikh ibrahim. translation: |'u do prayers - and recite 5,000 times over prayer translation: no, no, that didn't happen. - translation: |'u do prayers - and recite 5,000 times over prayer beads to find you a solution. sheikh ibrahim puts his hand on our undercover journalist's thigh. she pushes it away. he then puts his hand on her stomach and tries to touch her genitals. shocked, she immediately leaves. we contacted sheik ibrahim
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to put our allegations to him and he agreed to be interviewed. i asked him if he had ever tried to have sex with women who had come for treatment. translation: only treatment. i only do treatment. what about our evidence that he had sexually assaulted women, including our own journalist? translation: no, no, that didn't happen. - god will hold her accountable for that. allah will reveal the truth. then he abruptly ended the interview. we took our evidence to sudan's top religious authority. translation: it's become a profession for those - who have no profession. we don't deny there are sexual anomalies. we undoubtedly support treatment with the koran, but in the current form, its chaos. with no help coming from the authorities for women, she has her own advice for those wanting to see a healer. translation: if i tell them
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to forget about the healer. and to solve their problems in another way. hanan razekjoins me now from the newsroom. really shocking account and horrifying stories. in terms of the scale of this, what was your assessment? it scale of this, what was your assessment?— scale of this, what was your assessment? . , . ., , ., assessment? it was much worse than i had originally — assessment? it was much worse than i had originally expected. _ assessment? it was much worse than i had originally expected. when - assessment? it was much worse than i had originally expected. when we - had originally expected. when we started looking into the practice, which is widely popular in arab countries, we found first that it is extremely popular especially in sudan and morocco and we started looking into this and we were really astonished how widely, how wide the miss practising and misbehaving in
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the countries is. we spoke to 80 women in both countries who accused over 60 healers of sexual assault, harassment, rape and manipulating them into sex. we spent over a year because it was very difficult to convince women to speak in the first place. a lot of women were afraid to speak to their own families because of the stigma surrounding death. we are talking about men who are seen but they have religious authorities and many women told us, even if they tell their own families, they wouldn't believe them. when we spoke to them about reporting to the police, some of them told us how would i report to the police if i don't have witnesses? i was in this room with a healer, thinking that he can help me getting out of my depression or with an emotional problem or other health issues. nobody would believe me. and what
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was most difficult was that some women do believe that these men would have some power to take revenge of them if they dare to report them to the police. i was readin: report them to the police. i was reading your — report them to the police. i was reading your account _ report them to the police. i was reading your account that - report them to the police. i was reading your account that is - report them to the police. i was reading your account that is online. it is worth a read because you give so much extra detail. one of the victim saying she dare not tell her family what had happened to her because she was afraid what they might do to her. and it was really interesting watching that report, daunting for your undercover journalist, going into a meeting like that knowing what was likely to happen? like that knowing what was likely to ha en? , , ., like that knowing what was likely to ha en? , i. like that knowing what was likely to hauen? , ., happen? yes, you can hear her when she went out — happen? yes, you can hear her when she went out of _ happen? yes, you can hear her when she went out of the _ happen? yes, you can hear her when she went out of the room, _ happen? yes, you can hear her when she went out of the room, she - happen? yes, you can hear her when she went out of the room, she was i she went out of the room, she was almost out of breath, even though she was expecting something like this might happen because this man when we spoke to him in sudan, three of the women we spoke to told us about him, about different accusations allegations including harassment to sexual assault and
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they were too serious so we decided to send our undercoverjournalist to him and that was the first meeting with him will stop she went and pretending that she is married and it helps because she has been married for eight years and she didn't get pregnant, which is one of the very common women who to healers have. and a few minutes after that meeting started, he was touching her inappropriately and when i met her afterwards to make sure that she feels all right, she said even though she was expecting a bit of this, it felt so unpleasant and of course, she said she feels for other women who didn't see this coming. and she told me she feels extremely angry and she wanted to expose him. this isjust an angry and she wanted to expose him. this is just an account of the undercover journalist, this is just an account of the undercoverjournalist, let alone the women who go there every day with
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problems, seeking help, thinking that those healers can actually help them heal other illnesses or sickness, but then they are faced with sexual abuse instead. really owerful with sexual abuse instead. really powerful investigation. _ with sexual abuse instead. really powerful investigation. thanks i with sexual abuse instead. really| powerful investigation. thanks for giving us more of the details. now, one of the countries that experienced extreme heat and forest fires injuly was portugal. and august has seen no let up. fires, like these shown here, are raging in the centre and south of the country, and monday saw the hottest temperature of the year. 46.1; degrees celsius in santarem, north of the capital lisbon. one of the many people battling the heat is former bbc correspondent alastair leithead. he joins us from alentejo in the south of portugal. lovely to talk to you again, but not so lovely the circumstances around you. just start by telling us how bad are these fires? this you. just start by telling us how bad are these fires?— you. just start by telling us how bad are these fires? this is a huge fire. it's bad are these fires? this is a huge fire- it's a — bad are these fires? this is a huge fire. it's a couple _ bad are these fires? this is a huge fire. it's a couple of _
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bad are these fires? this is a huge fire. it's a couple of hills _ bad are these fires? this is a huge fire. it's a couple of hills behind i fire. it's a couple of hills behind me. i can hear the buzz of the aircraft that are continuing and have been going since early this morning to a reservoir not too far from head to pick up the water to come back and then drop it off, mainly on houses, buildings are the ones that firefighters are prioritising. the key thing is to try and control this huge fire which is square kilometres in size. yesterday it went from a relatively small fire to double that size in just a few hours because a very strong east wind. where we are on the coast of south—western portugal, when their winds come from the east, those are the hottest areas. these are very dry winds and these are flames that are going for eucalyptus forests, pine nut forests and spread very quickly down the various valleys. very quickly down the various valle s. , ., , , .,
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valleys. the line is dropping out. ho efull valleys. the line is dropping out. hepefully it _ valleys. the line is dropping out. hopefully it will _ valleys. the line is dropping out. hopefully it will pick _ valleys. the line is dropping out. hopefully it will pick up - valleys. the line is dropping out. hopefully it will pick up as - valleys. the line is dropping out. hopefully it will pick up as we . hopefully it will pick up as we continue to see some of the pictures of the blazes and the heat and the impact it's all having. i know you had a pretty close escape last year as well. the fires moved in they move very quickly where you are? apologies, as you can see, the lines just failing as there is a continue to see some of the pictures. alistair was telling me a little bit earlier that there are some 950 firefighters currently battling these blazes. 13 aircraft he was referring to. huge battle going on from the portuguese authorities but they are really struggling to contain these fires. i think we will come away from this now, we will try
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to re—establish that line and come back a bit later to this. sorry to lose that line in the south of portugal. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. lugging the weekly shop the long way round. no one will deliver here so sarah rogers and the other residents have to take this route every time they want to get from their cars to their homes. i do the shopping for my next neighbour who is disabled. if i didn't do his shopping, then he wouldn't have any stuff. for two years now, it's been like this. the bridge was closed in 2021 because of the concerns that it might collapse under its own weight. some repairs meant it could be reopened to pedestrians 18 months ago but newport council has no date for when things will be completely back to normal. all we get when we try to contact them is the fact that they are monitoring the bridge.
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i mean, how long is it take to monitor a bridge? newport council said work had proved complex and technically challenging. it said repairs were ongoing and thank the residents for their patients. it said all the emergency services had been given the code to the gate. you're live with bbc news. details of tens of millions of uk voters could have been accessed by hackers who targeted the elections watchdog. the electoral commission said there was little risk of "hostile actors" being able to influence the outcome of a vote, but apologised for the breach in its systems. and we can talk to the chair of the electoral commission, john pullinger. let's start by trying to get the chronology of this. when did you first become aware that he had been hacked? we first become aware that he had been hacked? ~ , ., ., ., , hacked? we were first aware of this in october of _ hacked? we were first aware of this in october of last _ hacked? we were first aware of this
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in october of last year, _ hacked? we were first aware of this in october of last year, when - hacked? we were first aware of this in october of last year, when we - in october of last year, when we discovered some suspicious activity on some of our logins in our systems. in on some of our logins in our system-— on some of our logins in our s stems. , ., ., ., , systems. in terms of what was accessed. _ systems. in terms of what was accessed, take _ systems. in terms of what was accessed, take me _ systems. in terms of what was accessed, take me through - systems. in terms of what was i accessed, take me through that? systems. in terms of what was - accessed, take me through that? this was a complex — accessed, take me through that? ti 3 was a complex cyber attack. it affected part of our systems and the part that it affected meant that a hostile actor was able to gain access to the copy that the commission holds of the electoral register, which as he said at the beginning, contains details. details are the names and addresses of the people who are on the electoral register across the uk. also e—mails in our internal systems. you register across the uk. also e-mails in our internal systems.— in our internal systems. you said in a statement _ in our internal systems. you said in a statement earlier— in our internal systems. you said in a statement earlier that _ in our internal systems. you said in| a statement earlier that protections were not in place to protect this. why won't they? we have known about hostile act as the sun while wanting to target exactly the sort of thing? it was a very sophisticated attack.
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and i think we must be continuously vigilant for these kind of things. cyber threats are changing all the time and we need to keep adapting. as you said in our statement, we are learning from this and upgrading our systems but i think it's a fact of modern life that we need to continue doing so and we will continue doing so for the future, looking forward to potential future threats. but there were _ to potential future threats. but there were failings here? we i to potential future threats. but i there were failings here? we are bein: there were failings here? we are being open _ there were failings here? we are being open here _ there were failings here? we are being open here and _ there were failings here? we are being open here and we - there were failings here? we are being open here and we have i being open here and we have apologised for the fact that data has got out there. we identified businesses, we got on to fix it. this is just something, businesses, we got on to fix it. this isjust something, there is always a risk that we need to be alert to and respond. hopefully by defending it, if not by defending it, being absolutely open about what happens to people can respond accordingly. happens to people can respond accordingly-—
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happens to people can respond accordinul . ., ., ., ., accordingly. you have mentioned how comlex accordingly. you have mentioned how complex this — accordingly. you have mentioned how complex this hack _ accordingly. you have mentioned how complex this hack actually _ accordingly. you have mentioned how complex this hack actually was. i i complex this hack actually was. i read out in the introduction the view from the electoral commission that the bottom line is that it isn't throwing open the prospect of any sort of influence over potential elections. how can you be so sure? first of all, this affected the copy at the electoral register that the commission holds. the individual registers that are used in elections are spread around the country and used by individual officers in each local authority so that spreading out is in self itself a resilience. there was no attempt to do anything to the data so people's data has not been destroyed or amended in any way but in any event may come to there are separate systems. so we can be confident that it has not been
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affected by this attack. in confident that it has not been affected by this attack. in terms of their individual— affected by this attack. in terms of their individual data, _ affected by this attack. in terms of their individual data, what - their individual data, what potentially could have been accessed and in terms of lessons learned and new protocols you have put in place since 2022, what changes have you made? . . since 2022, what changes have you made? ., ., ., _, , made? the data that could be accessed is — made? the data that could be accessed is simply _ made? the data that could be accessed is simply the - made? the data that could be accessed is simply the names | made? the data that could be i accessed is simply the names and addresses of individuals who are on the electoral register. if people have got concerns about their own data, they can contact us or they can also contact the information commissioners office and we will respond and follow up with any questions and concerns that people have got. and also people who have beenin have got. and also people who have been in e—mail contact with us, that potentially could have been accessed. we have no information that anything has been downloaded or taking away and no one has taken responsibility for this but we can't be sure that is why we have made the announcement today just be be sure that is why we have made the announcement todayjust be as open
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as we can. in terms of what we can do in future, the key lesson learned is that we have to be continuously on a day by day basis vigilant and work very hard with experts in the community and particularly in the uk, the national cyber security centre, they have the cutting—edge research. we have to make sure that our cyber expert are further ahead by the people who are trying to attack us. . «a by the people who are trying to attack us. ., ., , ., a whole cast of comedians and theatrical performers have descended on edinburgh for this year's fringe festival. 2023 marks the festival s 76th year — and over that time the event's grown from a handful of performances to a sprawling extravanganza. our reporter courtney bembridge is there. what madness do you have for us today? mr; what madness do you have for us toda ? ~ , , ,
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what madness do you have for us toda ? y , , ,., today? my next guest is so energetic- _ today? my next guest is so energetic. he _ today? my next guest is so energetic. he had - today? my next guest is so energetic. he had come i today? my next guest is so energetic. he had come all today? my next guest is so i energetic. he had come all the today? my next guest is so - energetic. he had come all the way from perth. he is also a hypnotist and i was in his audience the other day and i was on stage and i was hypnotised. tell me about your show? it is an 80s themed comedy hypnotist it is an 805 themed comedy hypnotist show _ it is an 805 themed comedy hypnotist show i_ it is an 805 themed comedy hypnotist show. i have taken the theme of the 5how. i have taken the theme of the ridiculous— show. i have taken the theme of the ridiculous decade that was the 805, the music, — ridiculous decade that was the 805, the music, the movies, jammed it into a _ the music, the movies, jammed it into a fun — the music, the movies, jammed it into a fun party of the show. you have recently — into a fun party of the show. you have recently gone _ into a fun party of the show. you. have recently gone viral.
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so we had there someone who was under your influence. tammy what you do? i under your influence. tammy what you do? . ., under your influence. tammy what you do? ., ~' ., under your influence. tammy what you do? ., ., , ., do? i take a group of people on stare. i do? i take a group of people on stage. i focus _ do? i take a group of people on stage. i focus their _ do? i take a group of people on | stage. i focus their imagination. and then — stage. i focus their imagination. and then we take them through a few ridiculous— and then we take them through a few ridiculous routines. what i want to do is _ ridiculous routines. what i want to do is put _ ridiculous routines. what i want to do is put on — ridiculous routines. what i want to do is put on a show that is so much fun, _ do is put on a show that is so much fun, so— do is put on a show that is so much fun. so happy— do is put on a show that is so much fun, so happy and what i've loved i5 fun, so happy and what i've loved is that the _ fun, so happy and what i've loved is that the world has embraced that. i think— that the world has embraced that. i think we've — that the world has embraced that. i think we've got 21 million view5 that the world has embraced that. i think we've got 21 million views on tiktoic _ think we've got 21 million views on tiktoic i_ think we've got 21 million views on tiktok. i have had me55age5 coming from all— tiktok. i have had me55age5 coming from all over— tiktok. i have had me55age5 coming from all over the world about how much _ from all over the world about how muchioy— from all over the world about how muchioy it — from all over the world about how muchjoy it is bringing and it's lovely— muchjoy it is bringing and it's lovely because we have some of these people _ lovely because we have some of these people here in header coming to see the show _ people here in header coming to see the show. tell people here in header coming to see the show. ., ., .,
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the show. tell me what i need to do. obviously. — the show. tell me what i need to do. obviously. it's _ the show. tell me what i need to do. obviously. it's a _ the show. tell me what i need to do. obviously, it's a long _ the show. tell me what i need to do. obviously, it's a long one _ the show. tell me what i need to do. obviously, it's a long one so - the show. tell me what i need to do. obviously, it's a long one so i - the show. tell me what i need to do. obviously, it's a long one so i may i obviously, it's a long one so i may have _ obviously, it's a long one so i may have a _ obviously, it's a long one so i may have a chance to take a night off, i will need _ have a chance to take a night off, i will need a — have a chance to take a night off, i will need a debt of something. ju5t going _ will need a debt of something. ju5t going to _ will need a debt of something. ju5t going to practice the intro. we are going _ going to practice the intro. we are going to _ going to practice the intro. we are going to do — going to practice the intro. we are going to do a big jump and cake our le-5 going to do a big jump and cake our legs out _ going to do a big jump and cake our legs out. now we need to get the old leg5 out. now we need to get the old footloose _ leg5 out. now we need to get the old footloose thing going on. that's probably all you want to see of that. thank you so much for having us. of that. thank you so much for having us— having us. more firm courtney throughout — having us. more firm courtney throughout the _ having us. more firm courtney throughout the course - having us. more firm courtney throughout the course of- having us. more firm courtney throughout the course of the l throughout the course of the programme. hello there.
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i think most of us have had to manage our expectations a little with summer 2023 across the uk, and the next few days no exception, i'm afraid. so far today the best of the sunshine has been through the north — scotland, northern ireland and northern england. there has been a bit of a north—south divide. further south it was a cloudy, misty, murky, drizzly start to the day and that cloud and drizzle is pushing its way steadily east as we speak out of wales, out of south—west england, over towards the capital and along the kent coast for the remainder of the afternoon. in fact, we draw a line really from north wales over to lincolnshire. anywhere north of that will continue to see the best of the sunshine. a few scattered showers. the winds will strengthen close to gale force across the northern isles, tied in to storm hans that's affecting scandinavia at the moment. but one unifying factor is the feel of the weather — still disappointing for this time of year. high teens for most, maybe, if we're lucky, 20 or 21 degrees. now, as we go through the evening and overnight, we'll see that rain easing away from the kent coast.
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we keep some cloud filtering in across the south—west. where we've got the breaks in the cloud temperatures into single figures, but it feels quite humid down to the south—west by the end of the night as we're tapping in to that warmer air coming from the near continent. high pressure is building and we will start to see an improving picture on wednesday, but this warm front toppling across the high will still introduce more in the way of nuisance cloud and drizzle. quite murky conditions once again on those exposed west coasts. northern and eastern areas seeing the best of the sunshine and potentially the best of the warmth on wednesday, but all of us will be a degree or so up in comparison to of late, so low 20s, possibly as high as 2a or 25 degrees. that's the mid—705 fahrenheit. warmer still as we go into thursday. we're going to tap into some extreme heat that's pushing its way up from iberia. by the time it gets to us, it's not going to be, obviously, as hot. but nevertheless, thursday is likely
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saving the amazon — leaders from eight south american countries gather to thrash out an urgent plan to protect the rainforest. a warning from washington about the wagner mercenary group taking advantage of the coup in niger. the us secretary of state speaks to the bbc... every single place that this group, wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed. applause. thousands turn out in ireland for the funeral of the singer sinead o'connor. the uk's elections watchdog reveals it has been the victim of a "complex cyber—attack" — potentially affecting millions of voters. hello, i m matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking
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