tv BBC News BBC News September 20, 2023 4:00am-4:31am BST
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hello, i'm sumi somaskanda, and i'm outside the un headquarters where world leaders have been addressing the general assembly. all eyes were on ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky here in new york. he delivered a speech aimed at convincing world leaders to stick by ukraine's side. it's a rare visit across the altantic for mr zelensky, and his first time appearing in person at the summit since the war broke out. he gave a stark warning that russian aggression could expand beyond ukraine, saying it was unrelenting threat that would not stop at ukraine's borders. zelensky pleaded for unity against russia's war in ukraine. look, for the first time in modern history we have a real chance to end the aggression on the terms of the nation which was attacked. and this is a real chance for every nation to ensure that aggression against your state,
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if it happens, god forbid, will end, not because your land will be divided and you will be forced to submit to military or political pressure, but because your territory and sovereignty will be fully restored. it's no secret that mr zelensky is eager for ukraine to be allowed into nato. but the road to becoming a member is still a long one. earlier, my colleague catiriona perry spoke with nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg about ukraine's membership bid, and overall allied military support. well, many, many countries, more than countries,
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are part of the us—led effort to provide unprecedented level of military support to ukraine, united kingdom, many other nato allies, and this strong support to ukraine has enabled them to push back the russian invaders, to liberate the territory and now also conducting an offensive which is gradually gaining ground. so, nobody knows how long this war will last but we have seen that ukrainians have been able to make progress, not least because of the support from the international community. they may have made progress, but russia pushes on. the international community has not been able to stop russia, even though it's a member of the security council here. why is that? what else needs to happen? because what we have seen is that russia as a permanent member of the un security council is violating the core and fundamental principles of this organisation that is to respect the sovereignty and the borders of all the members. and therefore, it is important to that they are criticised open — they care at the un. but even more important is that we stand by ukraine that we continue to provide support to them. and the bravery and the courage of ukrainian people has impressed the whole world. but i also think that
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president putin totally underestimated the strength of nato allies and partners in our resolve to provide support to ukraine. the support ukraine also is looking for his nato membership. where is that at the moment? well, we have the summit the nato injuly, where all the heads of state and government participated, and there we made important decisions to move ukraine closer to nato. ukraine has never been closer to nato membership, partly by the fact that we agreed a one—step instead of a two—step process towards the membership for ukraine. but we also agreed a big programme to ensure ukrainian forces becomes fully interoperable with nato forces and established also a new nato—ukraine council. so, we are moving towards nato membership for ukraine and allies stated clearly that ukraine will become a member of the alliance. one of the other headline speakers on tuesday was us president biden. hejoined mr zelensky in taking
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aim at moscow in his annual address to the general assembly. if we allow ukraine to be carved up is the independence of any nation secure? i would respectfully suggest the answer is no. we have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would—be aggressors tomorrow. shortly after president biden�*s speech, my colleague caitriona perry also spoke to the us ambassador to the united nations, linda thomas—greenfield, outside of the general assembly. ambassador, thanks forjoining us. if we could just look back at what the us presidentjoe biden has said there. he had some very strong words to the international community, really, about the russian aggression into ukraine, saying the fundamentals of this whole organisation, of the un charter, had been put under threat, put at risk. is there broad support for that message, do you think? i think the president's message was actually much broader than that.
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i think what the world was waiting to hear from the president was what we thought of the sdgs. they also appreciated our views on ukraine, but he really talked about our commitment to reaffirming the goals of the sdgs and i think that message went over quite well. on ukraine, he was strong and he was clear, that this is a brutal attack on a smaller nation, it is an attack on the very values of the un charter, it is an attack on the united nations system, and it is something that we have to stand together to fight. he said that president putin thought that we would lose our patience and move away and he was very strong in stating that we cannot do that, we have to remain strong,
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we have to remain committed to fighting this brutal war. when you're talking about standing together though, president biden is the only one of the five permanent members of the security council, the only leader to be here — what does that say about unity and relationships there? yeah, look, all of the countries here are represented at senior levels. president biden�*s participation and his presence is a reflection of our commitment but we are engaging with a number of countries. there are 140 leaders, i think — and i do not really know the exact number — who are all here. the other p5 members are represented at senior levels and we will engage them at the levels that they are here. president zelensky will address the gathering in person today and joe biden says the price of peace, as far as russia was concerned, was ukraine's territory, ukraine's capitulation and ukraine's children.
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what is the international community going to do now? it is a year and a half into this conflict already. we're going to stay strong, we're going to remain committed to supporting ukraine until this is over. and the president was clear in stating that there is no—one who wants a peace of more than ukraine. who wants peace of more than ukraine. we want peace but peace cannot be at the price of ukraine giving up its territory, giving up its independence and giving up its children. if we move then to talk about us—china relations, the president again addressing that and the need to manage the competition between the two nations as he says, so it doesn't tip into conflict. is that something that the us is planning for, a conflict with china? it was clear from the president's statement that we are not planning for conflict, we are working to avoid conflict and we are working to manage this relationship, to ensure that conflict never happens.
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you mentioned a little earlier, the sdgs there, which the president addressed at some length, as well, and he called for trillions more dollars are needed to try and make these targets, as we heard from the un, the targets are way, way behind where they should be. what can you do? we can do what we're doing this week, we can reconnected we can do what we're doing this week, we can reconnect to those goals, we can make commitments to ourselves to achieve those goals and that is what the president did today and i think that is what a number of countries are doing, showing that they are committed to the sdgs. we had a very, very strong declaration that was passed by consensus and i think that says everything about where everyone is on ensuring that we achieve the sdgs goals because those goals are about people, it's about dealing with poverty and dealing with education and supporting women and girls, so, they are goals that we all support and we are
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the redoubling our efforts to make sure that we get there and, in the end, deliver to the people of the world. climate change a big part of delivering on the sdgs. obviously it feeds into almost everything and the targets that need to be met. what more can the international community be doing? pledging support is one thing but action is what's needed. you are exactly right, action is what is needed. the united states is taking action, we are encouraging other countries to take more action and recommit to achieve the climate goals because we know, as the secretary general said, two years ago, this is an existential threat to the world and we have to find a path forward to deal with that issues related to climate change and we need to do it today, not tomorrow. it is upon now. it is upon us now. ambassador, i know you are
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under time pressure, se we will let you go. thank you so much forjoining us. thank you. one of the main talking points here at the unga has been the recent natural disasters in north africa. so let's look at the latest from there now, and focus on libya. journalists were ordered out of derna — that's the city devastated when two dams collapsed following disastrous flooding in the country's east. it follows angry protests from demonstrators in fury over failure of authorities to protect the city from floods. irate residents of derna say the devastation could've been prevented, with officials blaming insecurity in the area for incomplete repairs to the dems after 2007. there are also reports that the mayor's house was burned down. the extensive recovery process continues in the region. the united nations has revised down its estimate of the number of deaths, to 4,000, with at least 5,000 missing. back here at the un i spoke earlier with francesco rocca, president of the international federation of red cross and red crescent for more on climate—related natural diasters like libya,
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and the earthquake in morocco. mr rocco, thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. i want to start with the catastrophic situation in libya right now. your organisation has said that what has happened in derna is a wake—up call to the world, because climate change made this catastrophe more likely. what do you mean by that? i mean that we are supporting a group of scientists, the world attribution group, the group that is working with our climate centre — weather attrition, sorry — and this is more again 50% likely to happen. this is the big news that is coming from this research. and we are talking about only 1.2 degrees. and these are the consequences. this is the reason why we are calling for this wake—up call to the international community. we have to act now.
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this is important to realise how the climate change is affecting the most vulnerable and, of course, this is not enough. we have to pay attention to preparedness, better infrastructure, which in derna we will understand better what has happened, but climate change is the most important thing to be focused on. does that mean what happened in derna could have been prevented? maybe not. but could have been mitigated, yes. this is for sure. so we are hearing that a united nations team that was supposed to travel to derna to help with the floods, that they were denied access, communications were shut down, some journals have reported that they were asked to leave. first of all, have your teams been able to access derna and the people who most need assistance? when it comes about this country, you know how difficult it is to access. this is not the first time, of course. now we're talking about this disaster but even in the past it has always been very difficult. but fortunately we have our libyan teams since
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the beginning and we have been providing support to our men and women that are working on the ground. unfortunately, since the beginning we have lost three volunteers. many international societies, italian red cross, qatar red crescent, saudi, turkish red crescent, so we are channelling to our organisation an important support on the ground because the needs are immense. we are talking about shelter, we're talking about water sanitation, we're talking about health. only one hospital in this moment is working there now. given those conditions are you concerned about these reports that the libyan authorities may be restricting access? we always not happy when you have restriction to the access. but so far we are able to have the access to our organisation and we are grateful to the libyan authorities for this. we hope they can have a dialogue with other organisations because we do need as much support as possible. i also want to ask about recovery in morocco.
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we know your organisation is in intensifying relief operations there after last week. that is especially because there is rain on the horizon and it is expected that possibly trigger landslides. are we expecting there could be more loss of life in morocco? of course. this is not a joke. when we make a call it's because there is a serious threat. we know the weather conditions now with the autumn coming, especially in the mountains, there is a high risk for the people that are now in need of shelter so we are increasing now. it's not about food, it's not about water, fortunately the community in this moment is providing, a lot at country level, but we need, for example, blankets, mattresses, we are working a lot on shelter. this is the most important thing to prevent loss of life in the next days. given these dual tragedies we have been discussing,
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libya and morocco, what is your message to world leaders who have been gathered here at the united nations general assembly? that climate is one of the most important threats and then they have to work at community level for preparedness. preparedness is the key, so that community are really able to create resilience. this is not only a simple word, a word of the new centre, resilience is important at community level — just to mitigate, for example, we cannot prevent earthquakes. we can mitigate the damages. thank you so much forjoining us. thank you. you heard francesco rocca there talking about being prepared for these disasters, but there's also a focus this year on the aftermath, with the number of displaced people reaching record highs. at the end of 2022, over 108 million people had been displaced, and this year even more will be forced from their homes, primarily due to natural disasters and political conflict.
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earlier, the bbc spoke to the un high commissioner for refugees, filippo grandi, about climate related displacement. those are natural disasters of dramatic proportions, —— tragic proportions, likely to cause displacement. probably more localised, because people will want to go back home as soon as their places are available again. but of course climate change in its broader manifestation is going to be more and more a factor for people to move, especially as we see in the horn of africa, in the sahel region of africa, when it combines with conflicts, which is very frequent. filippo grandi speaking earlier. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the parents of ftx founder sam bankman—fried
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are being sued for allegedly holding millions of "fraudulently transferred dollars" and turning a blind eye to misconduct at the company. bankman—fried's father served as an adviser to ftx and his mother helped direct her son's political donations, according to filings. attorneys for the parents said the claims are quote "completely false." us presidentjoe biden�*s son, hunter, will plead not guilty to three criminal charges relating to a gun purchase he made in 2018. that's according to his lawyer. the younger biden was indicted last week for possessing a gun while he was an illegal drug user and lying to buy it. if convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison. a russian court declined to hear an appeal from wall streetjournal reporter evan gershkovich — returning the motion to a lower court. gershkovich has been detained in a moscowjail on espionage charges for nearly six months. if convicted, gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison. you're live with bbc news. azerbaijan's armed forces have
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launched what they're calling an anti—terror operation in the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh. explosions and sirens were reported on tuesday in the territory's capital. an armenian human rights official claims that at least 25 people have been killed in karabakh as a part of the offensive. tensions between armenia and azerbaijan have been high for months around the breakway enclave — which is smaller than the us state of delaware. it functions as a de—facto region of armenia and its population is mostly ethnic armenians, but it's internationally recognised as azerbaijani territory. our south caucasus and central asia correspondent rayhan demytrie has more. fighting has continued along the line of contact between azerbaijan and its breakaway nagorno—karabakh region. local authorities in the ethnic armenian populated territory say that azerbaijani armed forces are using artillery, missiles and attack drones. there are reports of casualties, including children.
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azerbaijan launched what it described as an anti—terror operation to gain full control of its nagorno—kara bakh territory. it is demanding full withdrawal of armenian armed forces from with internationally recognised territory. armenia says it has no military presence in karabakh and claims the aim of the offensive is ethnic cleansing. that azerbaijan wants to drive ethnic armenian population out of their home. there has been strong international condemnation of this anti—terror operation, with urgent calls for azerbaijan to end hostilities and return to negotiations. but barcoo says it will continue its anti—terror measures
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until local authorities in nagorno—karabakh�*s arm and surrender. as we just heard from rayhan demytrie there, the operations have drawn widespread condemnation. more specifically, in a call with armenia's prime minister, us secretary of state antony blinken called on azerbaijan to cease its operations and return to dialogue. russia's foreign ministry echoed that sentiment, saying in a statement, �*with the sharp escalation of the armed confrontation in nagorno—karabakh, we urge the conflicting parties to immediately stop the bloodshed, stop hostilities, and eliminate civilian casualties.�* britain's prime minister is considering a major policy shift on the government's environmental commitments. that's according to multiple sources have been speaking to the bbc. it could include delaying a ban on the sales of new gas and diesel cars, and phasing out gas boilers. rishi sunak is preparing to set out the changes in a speech in the coming days. our political editor chris mason reports. within the conservative party in recent months, a fuming row,
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a cost of living squeeze but extra cost for families to green targets. long—term promises, short—term political pressures. and then, this moment... 13,965. cheering and applause. in the london suburbs, the tory by—election victory this summer when many expected defeat. and the key issue? a costly clampdown on dirty vehicles imposed by the capital's labour mayor, an idea the conservatives oppose. cutting carbon matters, the prime minister has long argued, but a balance has got to be struck. i'm committed to net zero, of course i am, but we're going to do that in a pragmatic and proportionate way without unnecessarily adding costs and burdens to families, especially at a time like now when the cost of living is a challenge for people with inflation where it is. let me explain how and why
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we are reporting this now, what we know and what we don't know. what we do know is the prime minister really wishes these had not leaked, he has lost control of the choreography of his announcement. and i can tell you that downing street have asked government departments to consider delaying, watering down or not committing to eight environmentally related themes. we've reported a few already, let me read a few more... no new taxes to discourage flying, no policies to change people's diet are no measures to encourage carpooling. what we don't know yet is having considered these ideas, is exactly which ones he actually commits to. in new york this week as world leaders gather at the united nations, intense debate about climate change and what to do about it. amongst those there, this conservative mp, who led a review into the government's approach to net zero.
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this is going to be an economic disaster. actually we are missing out already, we see the us where i am here at un climate week, turbo—charging their efforts towards a green industrial revolution. why do we want to fall behind? did your heart sink when you heard about this? we still have a couple of hours and days in which the prime minister might want to change his mind so hopefully if he listens to this programme, he will reconsider. but some conservatives and others have long campaigned forjust this kind of policy shift. here was the last prime minister just yesterday. we should, as many other western countries already doing, delay implementing net zero commitments such as the ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030. other environmental regulations which are hiking the cost of living like enforcing the replacement of gas and oil boilers, should also be abandoned. tonight, labour said... this is an absolute farce, this is absolutely no way to run a country, late—night
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policy statements from the downing street bunker, as ever driven by the absolute chaos within the conservative party with a weak prime minister. but there was no commitment from labour to restore any targets that are dropped. a leak within government and a huge row boiling over — more than ever. before we wrap up this half—hour from here at the un, let's look ahead to wednesday's main events. ukrainian president zelensky is set to present the details of his ukrainian peace formula at a special meeting of the un security council wednesday. he describes these as �*solutions and steps�* that will counter russia�*s military aggression. and of course, there�*s lots of diplomacy on the sidelines of the main event. president biden will meet with israel�*s prime minister benjamin netanyahu. it will be their first face—to—face meeting since the israeli leader returned to power last december. and it comes as mr netanyahu faces protests at home over his controversial judical reforms.
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that�*s all from us here at the united nations. i�*m sumi somaskanda. the team and i will be back here on wednesday with more un coverage. for now, we leave you with these live pictures of london as we hand off to our colleageus there. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. we�*ve got some fairly stormy, autumnal weather on the cards over the next few days. the remnants of ex—hurricane lee are moving in from the atlantic, bringing reasonably mild conditions, but also some strong winds and, for some of us, some heavy downpours, as well. we could see some localised flooding with some of this heavy rain that�*s on the way. so low pressure moving into the northwest — this frontal system here moves slowly from west to east over the next 2a hours or so, bringing those squally,
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strong winds and heavy rain. so, over the next few hours, we�*ve got some rain across parts of scotland. it�*s becoming more persistent for northern england, wales, and down towards the southwest of england, too. wherever you are, it�*s not a cold night — temperatures staying up in the mid—teens for many of us, just single figures across the far north of scotland. but through the day on wednesday, this band of rain pushes slowly southwards and eastwards. the strongest winds in and around that front could gust to more than 60mph around exposed coasts of wales, for instance. really breezy conditions, too, for central and eastern parts of england, although the morning will be dry and reasonably bright here. further north, then, during the morning, 40—50mph gusts — enough to cause some disruption across parts of scotland and northern ireland. a mix of sunshine and showers, but the gusts will strengthen to more than 60mph during the afternoon, and those gusty winds will reach the southeast of england, as well, with this rain becoming really quite heavy and persistent.
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you might hear the odd rumble of thunder around, as well. temperatures in the high teens, possibly 21 celsius towards the far southeast. reasonably mild, but that mild air, with its heavy rain and strong winds gets cleared away as we head through into the early hours of thursday morning. so, a colder night then wednesday night, thursday morning, many of us down into mid—single figures, i think. but we�*ll start the day with some heavy showers already in the northwest, and they�*ll push their way slowly southwards and eastwards, across northern ireland and scotland. again, gales possible across the northwest. less windy by this stage, thursday, across much of england and wales — though sunny spells, scattered showers, but it will feel colder than it has done of late. into friday, another day of sunshine and showers. the winds rotating around that low pressure to the north, so gales again possible in the far northwest of the uk. less windy, i think, further south, but a cool, blustery, breezy sort of day — 14—18 celsius or so. looks like many of us should see a bit of a quieter day, less windy with some sunshine on saturday, particularly in the south. and then, we�*ll return to some blustery and showery conditions from sunday onwards. bye— bye.
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voice—over: this is bbc news. we�*ll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk, i�*m stephen sackur. what sort of political system best delivers individual rights and collective wellbeing ? in the western world, the consensus answer is democracy.
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but what happens when the building blocks of democratic societies start to crumble, when bonds of trust and shared history weaken, when information is no longer impartial, and hostility undermines common purpose? well, my guest, the israeli historian and public intellectual, yuval noah harari, is watching his own country grappling with these questions. it�*s happening in the us and europe, too. so where will it end? yuval noah harari, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is now more than a decade
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