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tv   BBC News  BBC News  October 24, 2017 3:00am-3:31am BST

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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: donald trump denies being insensitive to the widow of an american serviceman. she claims the president struggled to remember the soldier's name during a condolence call. it made me cry because i was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it. he couldn't remember my husband's name. the un says the global community must pledge more money to help hundreds of thousands of rohingya refugees, who've fled myanmar. xijinping is confirmed as china's most powerful leader in decades. on the final day of congress he consolidates his position for another five year term. one of the world's most polluted cities introduces a new toxicity charge for older vehicles — a move towards cleaner air, orfewer cars? hello and welcome to the programme.
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president trump has again denied being insensitive to the widow of a fallen soldier, to whom he offered his condolences. myeshia johnson said the president had made her cry "even worse" when he told her that sergeant la david johnson knew what he signed up for. speaking publicly for the first time about the phone call, mrsjohnson said the military had refused to let her see her husband's body. our north america editor, jon sopel reports. sergeant la david johnson was laid to rest at the weekend but there's no resting in peace. instead, there is sound and fury. his widow has spoken for the first time about
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the now infamous call from president trump. the president said he knew what he signed up for but it hurts anyways. and i was, it made me cry because i was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it. he couldn't remember my husband's name. she also revealed the us military refused to let her see her husband's body. i don't know nothing. they won't show me a finger, a hand. i know my husband's body from head to toe and they won't let me see anything. i don't know what's in that box. it could be empty for all i know but i need, i need to see my husband. the phone call from donald trump came last week as the johnson family waited at miami airport to receive his body but, after myeshia johnson's interview today, the president tweeted within an hour to challenge her account. "i had a very respectful
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conversation with the widow of sergeant la david johnson and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation". the white house had been hoping the focus relentlessly this week would be on tax reform and no other distractions. but the president felt he had to respond to the fallen soldier's widow. it seems this is a president who prefers a eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth than he does turning the other cheek. the president this evening has been presiding over a ceremony giving a vietnam war veteran his medal of honour, even though donald trump, like many other wealthy young men, managed to avoid the draft himself. america's wars and how it treats its military families, a source of conflict then, a source of conflict today. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the top uniformed officer in the us military has said american forces will continue to assist local troops in niger,
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despite the death of sergeantjohnson and three other soldiers in an ambush. the chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff, generaljoseph dunford, said members of a night patrol hadn't expected to meet resistance and an investigation into what happened is under way. three us soldiers who were killed in action were evacuated on the evening of 4 october and, at that time, sergeant la david johnson was still missing. on the evening of 6 october, sergeantjohnson‘s body was found and subsequently evacuated. from the time the firefight was initiated until sergeantjohnson‘s body was recovered, french, nigerian or us forces remained in that area. generaljoseph dunford there. a little later in the programme we'll be hearing from former us secretary of defence leon panetta. bangladesh is now housing one million rohingya refugees who have fled the violence in myanmar. that was the admission of bangladesh to a un conference in geneva, with the aim to raise money to help the fastest—growing refugee crisis in the world. but the future of the rohingya
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people is unclear. our correspondent clive myrie has travelled to the bangladesh—myanmar border, and sent this report from the kutupalong refugee camp. for rohingya muslims who have escaped myanmar, neighbouring bangladesh is a land of second chances. these refugees, part of a huge influx we saw cross the border, are queueing for their first food supplies. with their pink ration cards, they are now dependent on the kindness of strangers. it can be a long, tiring wait in the clammy, humid air. best to do what you can to make things a little bearable. these rohingyas are the latest in a long line of victims of a sectarian and religious conflict that stretches back many decades. this is a crisis that's been going on a long, long time. you guys must be feeding people who have probably sort of been through this, crossed the border, many years ago. that's true. we've been feeding for 25 years. you can see it in the camps.
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at the bottom of the camp, there's refugees from 25 years ago. you move upwards, ten years ago. one year ago, and now you can see who's arrived yesterday. these guys have arrived this week? it's incredible. for the refugees, this might be the land of second chances but it seemed one rohingya muslim's luck had run out. a few days ago we found abu in the arms of his big sister by the side of the road. limp and lifeless, acutely malnourished, we alerted unicef. after several days in the clinic, abu's back from the brink. you ok? he was terribly sick, with fever and diarrhoea. it was a close call. so, the doctors say he was malnourished, still is malnourished but he is taking in food, which means that, hopefully, in a few days, maybe a couple of weeks, he should be eating normally. and, fingers crossed,
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gaining weight. but will abu and his big sister ever see the land of their birth again? just how long is this period of exile for the hundreds of thousands here? the future of the refugees is being discussed at the highest levels, between the bangladesh and myanmar governments. could the rohingyas one day return home and these camps close? well, no one's holding their breath. at the un general assembly, bangladeshi's prime minister made it clear where she thinks the blame for the crisis lies. translation: this forcibly displaced people of myanmar are fleeing an ethnic cleansing in their own country, where they have been living for centuries. it's a charge myanmar strongly denies blaming rohingya insurgents for attacks on civilians. the funeral procession of rashida mohammed makes its way through the rohingya refugee camp.
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he was 75 and never saw muslim and buddhist reconciled in his homeland. the younger generation may one day see this happen but, for now, the many rohingya will live and die on foreign soil. clive myrie, bbc news let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. prosecutors in new york are investigating the company co—founded by the disgraced film producer, harvey weinstein, to see if civil rights have been breached. documents relating to complaints about sexual harassment and how they were handled will be seized. mr weinstein has been accused of various sexual offences by dozens of women — claims which he denies. catalonia's leaders are warning they will defy any attempt by the government in madrid to impose direct control. the spanish prime minister, mariano rajoy, has announced plans to sack the region's government and take away some of the powers
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of its parliament. the catalan parliament will meet on thursday to decide on its response. the us secretary of state has again urged iraqi and kurdish authorities to resolve their differences through dialogue, a day after calling for restraint on both sides. rex tillerson is in baghdad for talks with the iraqi prime minister haider al—abadi, amid concerns from washington about iran's increasing influence in iraq. the chinese communist party is concluding its national congress — the vast gathering of senior party officials — which takes place every 5 years. president xijinping, entering his second term in office, has promised a stronger, richer china under even more robust party control. for more on what will take place at the end of the week—long gathering, i've been speaking to our correspondent in beijing robin brant. it's day seven, and delegates a few
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thousand strong have gone inside to the great hall. and what they will hear the closing ceremony, brief words from xi jinping, not the epic three and a half hours we got last week from him. and that will be the end of this five—year gathering. and it will end with xi jinping anointed for a second five—year term. and it will end with the general secretary of the communist party of china in a hugely powerful position. we are expected today to get something which to outsiders sounds like an anachronistic technicality, and edits to the constitution. it's looking like xi jinping's thoughts are going to be written into the constitution, possibly with his name alongside it. he shares his name along with chairman mao, founder of modern china, and deng xiaoping, who led during a crucial period for this country. xijinping thinks he is at the helm in this third era,
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and that is going to be symbolised today almost certainly by seeing his thoughts strangely described and actually written into this constitution. there's more analysis on the national congress on our website including the process of rebuilding the city of marawi, in the southern philippines, has started after the military said it had defeated rebels supporting the islamic state group. president duterte placed the island of mindanao under martial law, after the insurgents took over parts of marawi, capital of the mainly muslim province of lanao del sur. the five month military campaign to evict the militants was backed by america. sarah corker reports. their sound of gadfly can still be
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heard across the city on monday, —— gunfire. but the battle for marawi is now over. months of fighting have reduced entire neighbourhoods to ruin. it was a time for prayer and celebration for filipino soldiers. the end of this conflict and immediate fears that buyers would establish a south—east base in marawi. we have suffered so much death, troops and civilians. marawi isa death, troops and civilians. marawi is a predominantly muslim city in an overwhelmingly catholic nation. the fighting stated in may when rebels stormed the city. president duterte declared martial law across the
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southern philippines. more than a thousand people have been killed in the conflict. as the us defence secretary arrived in the philippines the talks with asian leaders he praised the efforts. there was a very tough fight in southern marawi andi very tough fight in southern marawi and i think the philippine military has sent a necessary message to the terrorists anywhere. it is estimated rebuilding marawi will cost at least $970 million and the conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. while the fighting is over, concerns remain about ids longer term intentions the region. sarah corker, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news — still to come... the only painting by leonardo da vinci still in private hands, will be sold next month. we take a closer look. a historic moment that many of his victims have
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waited forfor decades. the former dictator in the dock, older, slimmer and, as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside korem, it lights up a biblicalfamine, now in the 20th century. the depressing conclusion — in argentina today, it is actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. we've had controversies in the past with great britain, but as good friends, we have always found a good and lasting solution. concorde bows out in style after almost three decades in service. an aircraft that has enthralled its many admirers for so long, taxis home one last time. this is bbc news.
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the latest headlines: donald trump has denied being insensitive to the widow of an american serviceman. she claimed the president struggled to remember her husband's name during a condolence call. the un says the global community must pledge more money to help hundreds of thousands of rohingya refugees who've fled myanmar. more now on our top story. a short time ago, my colleague, laura trevelyan, spoke to the former us secretary of defence and one—time white house chief of staff, leon panetta. she asked him about the controversy surrounding what president trump said — or didn't say — to myeshia johnson, whose husband was killed in action. it makes no sense to get into this tit—for—tat and all it does is it lowers the office of presidency, when you engage in this kind
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of attack on a widow. i mean, she's 2a years old, she's just lost her husband and her life and, because of that, itjust would be better for the country, and for the presidency, if he could just simply move on and deal with the issues that might take the lives of other americans in battle. if we could turn to north korea, a subject that you have written about the many years, the president is heading to the region next month, he goes to south korea, we have a former cia director putting the risk of military conflict at between 20% and 25%. what do you make of those odds? well, i wouldn't get into the odds making business because it is hard to tell what exactly is the situation and how
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dangerous it may or may not be. i do think that because of the exchange of rhetoric between president trump and kimjong—un, that it has increased the tensions in the region and there is no question that the danger of a miscalculation or of a mistake could very well produce a larger conflict, but i think the key right now is to do everything possible to tighten the noose on north korea, through containment and deterrence, increasing our military presence, increasing our navy presence, providing a very tight missile shield and increasing sanctions on north korea and trying to get china to enforce those sanctions so that it can impact on their economy. i think, the reason iran came to the table is because there was a uniformed effort by many countries to put sanctions on iran and enforce them. we need to do
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the same thing on north korea. but on iran, as you know, the president has decertified that deal. he's kicked it over to congress. but our european allies are urging us to stay in it. how damaging is this to the us standing with its allies? well, i regret what the president did and i will tell you why. because what gives the united states its credibility in the world? it's the word of the president of the united states and whether or not presidents stand by those words. we gave our word, working with our allies, that we would enforce that agreement and, yes, there are a lot of concerns about the agreement, should it have covered other areas? why didn't it? but the fact is it is an agreement that is working to prevent iran from developing a nuclear weapon and because it does involve iran and because they are complying, i think it would have been far
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better for the president to say we'll continue to enforce that agreement and we will work with our allies to try to get iran to address these other concerns. that would've been, i think, the better approach. former us secretary of defence leon panetta talking there to laura trevelyan. let's round up some other stories in brief. one of russia's top radio presenters has been stabbed in the neck. a man broke into the newsroom at the broadcaster, ekho moskvy, and attacked tatyana felgengauer, who is now in a medically—induced coma in a moscow hospital. her life is not said to be in danger. a male suspect is under arrest. a report on the international trade in illegal ivory has found a record a0 tonnes was seized last year, but that the rate of elephant poaching in africa declined overall. regulators say poaching in africa appears to be levelling off or slowing in most places.
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a court in new york has found a former hsbc trader guilty of defrauding a british energy company in a $3.5 billion currency deal in 2011. us prosecutors accused markjohnson of exploiting confidential information from cairn. clean air campaigners have warned that new measures designed to improve air quality in london don't go far enough. drivers of some older vehicles will now have to pay an extra £10 to enter central areas of london. the toxicity charge, or t—charge, will apply mainly to diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2006. our transport correspondent richard westcott reports. london has some of the most polluted streets in europe. swimming in nitrogen dioxide and tiny particles, invisible, unless you use a special camera. it's a hidden killer.
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pollution‘s linked to lung and heart disease with children the most vulnerable. what i am in favour of is encouraging people to change their behaviours so they stop driving in the most polluting vehicles for a start, moving to either public transport, walking or cycling or cleaner forms of cars and vans. from today, anyone crossing this line in an older vehicle is going to have to pay an extra £10 for the privilege. and it looks like it's already affecting people's behaviour. so when they first talked about this scheme back in february, they said around 10,000 vehicles a day would have to pay. a few months later, they're now just talking about 6,500 vehicles, so it suggests that people are changing their cars and vans. it'll affect many vehicles registered before 2006. if you include the congestion charge, midweek drivers could actually pay more than £21 a day. critics say it will put small businesses under pressure, like barry neil who mends computers, then couriers them around the city.
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more than 50% of our business goes in via small courier companies. t—charge means they're going to put their prices up, or, effectively, go out of business, which means therefore we are going to have to use bigger companies which raises our bottom line which means we have to pass it on to our clients, so we're going to be more expensive. others worry the new charge penalises drivers with less money. it's going to be difficult for people with older vehicles that have to either get rid of them, buy a new one, or stump up and pay for it. it's going to put a lot of poor people, people that can't really afford it in the first place, what are they going to do? it's pretty difficult. it's notjust a london problem. many city leaders are looking at cutting pollution with plans announced next year. in glasgow, there's talk of a similar low—emotion zone, —— in glasgow, there's talk of a similar low—emission zone, although it's not clear
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if drivers there would pay. meanwhile, the london zone will be extended in a few years with even tougher rules on who has to pay to come in. richard westcott, bbc news. there are fewer than 20 surviving paintings by leonardo da vinci. most of them are held in some of the world's great museums. there is just one said to be by the renaissance master, which was discovered a few years ago and is in private hands. salvator mundi will be sold in new york next month. for three days, it will be on public display in london before it crosses the atlantic. our arts editor, will gompertz, has been to the auction house to take a closer look. jesus as salvator mundi, or saviour of the world. right hand raised in benediction, the other holding an orb. it is said to have been painted by leonardo da vinci in the same period, around 1500, when he produced the mona lisa. an old master it might be, but it was only discovered a few years ago in 2005, lurking under layers of over—painting. some thought it was the find of the century. when it goes to auction
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in a couple of weeks' time, it might well end up being the sale of the century. so here it is — leonardo's salvator mundi. it's here at christie's in london to be seen by the public until thursday afternoon. it then goes to new york, where it will be sold on the 15th of november for goodness knows how much money, and then possibly, depending on who buys it, it will never be seen again. leonardo has global interest. everyone is fascinated with leonardo, and i think we could see it going almost anywhere. it could absolutely go to the middle east. it could go to asia, it could go to russia, it could go to european collectors, and certainly north america as well. let's talk about this particular painting and its authenticity. yes. because it's being sold in a contemporary art sale... yes. ..which begs thejoke, of course, that it was made in the last 30 years. there are many copies of this painting, and i can assure you — we're doing a large catalogue.
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we are reproducing quite a few of them. believe me, you don't need to be the most subtle connoisseur to recognise immediately that they are not by leonardo. the technique he uses, which is really idiosyncratic, the complexity of the way the orb is painted, where every inclusion in this quartz crystal is individually painted, it's a kind of crazy level of perfectionism that only a sort of obsessive scientist painter like leonardo would ever really do, and we find it in none of the copies. we'll see what kind of crazy level of money the painting goes for at next month's auction, where it is already guaranteed to be sold for at least $100 million — a record—breaking figure in the old master category. will gompertz, bbc news. that is the way it is looking. get in touch with me on twitter. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there.
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if you are a fan of the mild air both by day and night you will be glad with this week because we will have south—westerly wind. that is going to feed in a lot of moisture. as you can see, this trail of cloud is heading in. sunshine really will be at a premium through the week. we will see weather fronts continued to wax and wane across the country. on tuesday, you can see the weather front here in southern and western areas. on tuesday, other mild day. that rain will be across many western areas to begin the day. for the south—west, it will be very mild. a little bit of light rain and drizzle and mist and murk. temperatures 15 or 16 degrees to start the day. further north, we will have a weather front bringing outbreaks of rain. quite a wet morning commute across parts. it looks like it will be quite
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wet as well for parts of northern ireland, certainly for scotland. some of the rain will be quite heavy and breezy, particularly across western areas. through the day, that rain moves northwards and eastwards. it remains quite breezy. conditions may improve here, sunshine for northern ireland. sunshine getting into scotland as well. it is rather damp through the centre of the uk. to the south of the weather front, should be fairly dry and very mild, 18 or 19 degrees here, closer to the mid—to upper teens further north. here is the weather front, it will waning across central southern parts of the country on wednesday. i think here we will see the lion's share of the damp weather. further north, brighter with spells of sunshine and quite breezy across scotland and northern ireland. there will be plenty of showers across western scotland. temperatures here around the mid—teens celsius. but again, where the weather front is to the south it will be very mild, 17 or 18 celsius. on thursday, the weather front
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shifts further northwards. it looks like it will be on the mild side in the south. 18 degrees in the cloud. given the sunshine, we might see 20 or 21 celsius and further north in the mid teens. on friday, this area of high pressure nudges in and bring some cool air, which will topple in around it and it will push the weather front southwards, introducing brighter conditions and also introduce as we head into the weekend, some cool and fresh air particularly across northern areas. so a bit of a change into the weekend. it will be brighter for many with some sunshine. it will turn noticeably cooler. this is bbc news, the headlines: america's top general has promised a full investigation into the deaths of four soldiers in niger earlier this month. donald trump has had to deny being insensitive to the widow of one of the serviceman, after she claimed the president forgot her husband's name, during a condolence call. the united nations says the global community must pledge more money
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to help hundreds of thousands of rohingya refugees, who have fled myanmar, which has been accused of ethnic cleansing. bangladeshi officials say they are now housing almost one million refugees but the burden has become untenable. china's communist party congress is coming to an end with xijingping exerting a tighter control on power than ever. the president is expected to consolidate his position for a second 5 year term with additional responsibilities that will see him become the most powerful leader in decades. there are an estimated 70,000 internships provided by companies in the uk every year.
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