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tv   BBC World News  PBS  April 20, 2011 6:00pm-6:30pm PDT

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>> and now bbc world news. >> another victim of lydia's bloody conflict, oscar- nominated journalist is killed. rebel forces reject the cease- fire offer from colonel gaddafi. candlelight vigils mark the first anniversary of the gulf oil spill. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to on pbs in america and around the globe. coming up later, burning from border to border, wild fires raging out of control across texas. two firefighters have been killed. and the waiting game -- prince charles becomes the longest serving air parent. -- heir apparent.
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an award winning british photographer has been killed in a mortar attack in the libyan city of mizratah. he co-directed the documentary on the afghan war. two other journalists are believed to have been wounded. there were among a group of people who were caught up in mortar fire in the main road leading to the center of the city. [gunfire] >> the battle for libya is being fought on the streets of mizratah. today, it claimed that of a british photographer who was there to document the war. tim harrington was more famous
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than most. he made an oscar-nominated documentary about troops in afghanistan. last year, it was being shown in british cinemas. in a bbc interview in october, he spoke lightly, but knowingly about the dangers of that war correspondents face. >> as a journalist, war is traumatic, as you well know. and there are a lot of dramatic things in life. you have a core cash. you can have a messy divorce. you can lose a child. those are the things that you have to get back up and face up to and go on with your life. being in war is no different from that. being a journalist, you find mechanisms and people you love to help you navigate through the trauma that inevitably follows. >> and stedman tonight, his family said, " it is with great -- in a statement tonight, his
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family said, "it is with great sorrow that we hear that he was killed in libya." he was in libya to continue his multi-media project to highlight human tissues during time of war and conflict. he will be forever mess. this city has been home to 300,000, but of which died today. the day before he died, he tweeted that there was indiscriminate shelling and no sign of nato. >> our correspondent was in the hospital in the city and filed this report. >> what we have seen since returning to the city is one that is still under siege and under fire. if anything, the situation seems to be worse than our previous visits last week. there is an easy -- an eerie quiet on the streets.
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people are reluctant to go out in the streets. one of those killed today was the ukrainian doctor who was at home in his apartment, packing his bags to leave the city when there was what we believe a mortar attack outside. the main hospital is continuing to be flooded by casualties. the had more than 100 today. doctors stress the vast majority are civilians. many are arriving with terrific injuries. a group of journalists came under fire today in the main frontline. a british photographer was killed. he was an award-winning a photographer, oscar-nominated documentaries. he had said last night, "indices, indiscriminate shelling -- to "in seige,
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mizrahta, indiscriminate shelling, nato is no where." >> the organization of human knights -- human-rights watch worked with him on a number of human rights stories, including assignments in darfur, chad, and tree lanka -- and sri lanka. >> he was an exceptional photographer. he was a human rights person to his court. he deeply cared about the stories that he covered. he lived in monrovia, the capital of liberia, for eight years. he documented the civil war there for a brilliant documentary that he made about
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liberia. he was the only person to do such a thing. there were not journalists there, covering it in the way that tim did. but he did it because he cared and no one else did. >> what was so special about his approach to the work? >> i think he knew very well -- you commented on his last tweet where he spoke of indiscriminate fire. he knew what was acceptable in wartime and what was not. he knew what it was four civilians to be a target of war rfare. he was sensitive to these humanitarian issues at the center of warfare. he was also a delightful man. he was a great colleague, enthusiastic, willing to do things that many people were simply not because he had such a big part. >> what were the conflicts? >> that is an interesting
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question. what draws someone into dangerous work? it may come from a sense that attention to a situation like this can make them better. when conflicts go uncovered, when no one is watching, when the world turns a blind eye to tierney and dictatorship and indiscriminate warfare, then those things can go on. it is when the eye of the world is turned, when the lens of tim heatherington is on to show what is happening in liberia or chad or sharia lsri lanka that it ch. >> what to do you think the international community could be doing? >> the number one priority of
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the international community must be to see that civilians are protected. that is a difficult thing to do. gaddafi is not listening very much to the international community. but there are representatives from many other countries is in tripoli they can also speak to the libyan dormant about the many people who have been detained and from whom there is no information about their detention. they are believed to be in government hands and they have simply disappeared from tripoli itself and from regions all over the country where gaddafi is still in control. what happened to those people? the international committee should be raising their cases and demanding answers when they speak to the libyan government. >> do you think this death highlights the humanitarian issues in libya? >> bbc has been covering this story. human rights watch has been on the ground in misrata in
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benghazi. but there are cities that are still in darkness where we know that there is terrible fighting going on there and indiscriminate warfare node journalist, no information coming out about it. there is still a lot that we do not know and we must continue, as tim did, to pay attention and turn our eye to that terrible conflict. >> the president of yemen has rejected opposition calls to resign quickly. for more people died in anti- government protests. he accuses his opponents of conspiracies and coups. >> the temperature in yemen continues to rise and boil over. security forces again confronted protesters in the capital. thousands of mainly young people have been on the streets demanding the immediate
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resignation of the president. he has offered to go when his presidential term ends in two- years time. but that is not good enough for the protesters. the security forces responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades and opening fire on the crowds with water cannons. >> if the government continues its systematic repression, the young people should consider occupying public enterprises, such as oil companies, the ministry of foreign affairs, and other institutions. the regime is to know that young people have limits to their patients. they will not turn to violence. but they know how to stop the regime. >> when the anti-government movement begin -- began in january, the protesting streets were confined to the capital. but now it has moved to other cities.
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in taiz, security forces opened fire on protesters. they set fire to the streets. opposition groups say that the president who has run the country for 33 years has to go. >> he has to face reality and he has to face that it is better to step down peacefully and leave as a leader that step down in the last moment. >> they reached the leaders in abu dhabi to try to find a way out of the crisis. little apparent progress was made. the u.s. victory council is also meeting to discuss the theeriorating situation -- violence in yemen is further destabilizing the poorest country in the world. more than 120 people have been killed and thousands injured in three months of escalating
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unrest. >> a has become the first female british officer to be killed and almost a decade at the conflict in afghanistan. she was injured as she was trying to clear roadside deployment. she was lifted back to the u.k., but died in hospital in birmingham. that takes the #british soldiers killed since 2001 to 3 minutes 64. -- that is the number of british soldiers killed since 2001 to thre364. >> she was brave and hugely professional and utterly selfless. she was a lead highet operator, a bomb expert. she had already served in
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ireland. she was in helmund less than a month. she was called to diffuse a bomb. she went back to diffuse a second. it went off, fatally injuring her. >> we remember her as a robust individual. she will never be forgotten by this regiment. although i know that she was proud to bpart of this and we were proud of her. >> she was a sixth behind rest operator to be killed in the past three years. that job is one of the most demanding and the most perilous. it is estimated that they stand a one in eight chance of losing
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their life during a six-month tour of helmund. >> there are so many things to think about, not just in terms of safety and security of the civilian population, but ashlee the technical composition of that bomb. as you walk up, you try to regulate your breathing. you think about how you neutralize that device. you also think if there are any secondary devices hidden anywhere. willoughby ambush to? i at -- am i in a shooter's microscope? >> she always said that she had the best job in the world and she loved every second of it. she had two families, us and the army. she lived life to the full. no one loved her more than us.
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>> still to come, thousands of wildfires raged out of control across texas. cooler conditions could help control the blaze. high-profile figures connected to celtics support in scotland appeared to be vigilant. james cook sent this report which shows flash photography. >> is this now a target to? they have all celtic in common and are targets for nail bombs designed to maim or even kill. the first parcel bomb addressed to lend was found in it -- to kneel lennon was found in a sorting office. another was intercepted near glasgow. two days later, a parcel was
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delivered to his constituency office. the firm -- the fourth office to paul mcbride was posted here. but what linked the targets? paul mcbride accused the scottish football association of bias against celtics. three days later, the bomb was found. chris was pictured wearing a celtics' top at the british parliament. six days later, she received a bomb. and in clashed with rangers two days -- and neil lennon clashed with rangers two days before he received one. this right in 1980 is just one example of the hostility between protestant unionist rangers and irish catholic celtics. it is rooted in historical fact. >> to my knowledge, nothing like this has never happened before,
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either weather is sports related or society related. this could potentially be a watershed. >> why? because may be attempting to murder people over football will shock scott went into action. >> you are watching bbc news. these are our top stories. an oscar-nominated journalists has been killed while covering the conflict in western libya appeared fighting continues in misrata. rebel forces have rejected a cease-fire proposal by colonel gaddafi. in texas, they are battling to contain wildfires that have burned more than 1 million acres in the past fortnight. several towns have been evacuated. >> burning from border-to- border, that is how one official described the massive wildfires now raging across texas. everything in their path is
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destroyed. battling the fires is a huge challenge. drowse, high temperatures, and strong wind is not helping. several towns have already been evacuated. the police are taking no chances. >> it would be severed to move right now. >> they told us just to evacuate. >> personal stuff, family files, food. >> but others are staying could >> it has never been this close before. i am scared. >> now the buyers are getting close to one of texas's. -- one of texas's largest cities, fort worth. other u.s. states have also been hit by nature's destructive power. >> tornado! look at that spinning in there. >> oh, my god.
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>> tornadoes tore through missouri and illinois, the latest in a series of storms that killed dozens and wrecked everything in their path. thousands of homes have no electricity. more storms are predicted in the coming weeks. nature will not let up just yet. >> a year after the deep water horizon disaster in the gulf of mexico, the environmental and economic costs are still being counted. the 5 million barrels of crude oil released from the reagan may be doing untold and unseen damage. may be doingeaig untold and unseen damage. >> i think that was always going to happen. remember the huge cost of bp, forced to put $20 billion aside for compensation. there are tens of billions more to pay for the cleanup operation.
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the obama administration blamed not only bp, but trans ocean and halliburton as well. they said that this was a huge bill. no one will pay that for us. so it will go through the courts. it may take years or decades. meanwhile, scientists cannot agree how much damage all of that oil has done in the gulf of mexico. most scientists say that it is not as severe as everyone first thought. some say it has gone altogether. still others say that it is lying on the bottom of the ocean floor. it could take years of study to find just how much damage it has done in the and. >> vp is still involved in the cleanup operation, is it? >> it is not for the moment. at its peak, there were 150,000 people involved in the operation. now it is down to two thousand people. i was down in louisiana where we found a fresh cleanup crews
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still finding tarballs, but the operation is down to a minimum. some people are not exactly sure who is in charge. the fishery and what the officers are involved. but it has been scaled down hugely. on the face of it, some parts of the gulf look healthy again it is what lies below the surface that worry a lot of people. of course, the compensation purposprocess is still going on. i have not found anyone in the gulf. who has been happy with the process. it is universally hated. it is still ongoing. it could be paying out for another two years pierre >> presumably, bp is suing trans ocean to get the money back that it is giving out in compensation. >> the composition of $20 billion is a drop in the ocean, pardon the pun, compared to the bill of the clean-up operation. that may be up to $60 billion. they think it is fair.
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trans ocean is blamed as well. they want them to share the costs. >> prince charles has been the longest serving heir to the british crown. we have been assessing prince and prince william's future role. >> they are known for their commitment to duty. throughout his journey into adult life, william has been prepared for his future role. now he's about to marry. very soon, he will have a wife who will help to project glamour and bring a sense of renewal to an ancient institution. >> hello. >> little wonder that experienced guys who have seen william and kate together are reassured about the future. this was st. andrews in february. >> between them, they will make
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a very good advertisement for the waunakee. >> today, i represent the queen. >> increasingly, william is assuming the mantle of a future king. >> here, today, we love and we grieve. >> this was new leak -- new zealand a few weeks ago. in christ church, he saw the effects of the earthquake than in australia, and very badly affected by floods, he met the families of the bereaved. he was down-to-earth and sincere and people were impressed. >> they have a lot of respect for him, i'd say. >> yes. >> good for the future of the monarchy? >> definitely. he should be the next king. >> they put into words that may gather momentum after the wedding. but the rules of succession of the british throne are very clear and do not permit any choice. william is indeed a future king,
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but he is not the next king. the next in line to the throne is, of course, the queens the eldest son and heir, prince charles, who has made it clear that he hopes that his wife camilla will be crowned alongside him as britain's queen. that is the way the constitution works. there can be no exceptions. or can there? max hastings is an editor of the daily telegraph. >> if time passes and prince william is more and more the center of the stage, one question is bound to be asked. would it be in today's interest, including those of the prince of wales, for a new, young, and next generation prince william to succeed to the throne? i think an enormous amount would seem to be what is the will of the british people. >> other voices say no. sarah bradford is the queen's
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biographer. >> i think that it would be very strange for the waunakee if -- for the monarchy if public opinion would ask the next to step aside. a think we have to simply accept the rules of the game. >> so william must wait. that, according to his godfather, is how it should be. >> in my line of business, there is no such thing as being a -- it goes from father to son and they have to wait their turn. that is as it should be. >> the queen will be 85 tomorrow pin she will never abdicate and she will be succeeded by charles. as things stand, the reign of king william maybe decades away. >> of course, there is more royal coverage on the bbc news website. thank you for watching.
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>> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe, and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth expert reporting of bbc world news online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vt., and honolulu. newman's own foundation, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank. ♪ >> union bank has put its global
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expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles. by kcet los angeles.
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