Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240713

A vast area of australias east coast, including sydney, is facing some of the worst threats from bushfires the country has ever seen. There are dozens of blazes across New South Wales and queensland. Authorities have predicted catastrophic conditions on tuesday. A state of emergency has been declared in both states. The head of the Rural Fire Service has warned that the fire danger will increase in the coming hours. We still have 52 fires burning across New South Wales. 30 of those are uncontained, and weve got 13 at watch and act alert level. We are certainly starting to see an increase in fire activity, and therefore the fire danger is increasing accordingly. The reality is conditions will simply continue to get worse and deteriorate over the coming hours, and particularly into this afternoon, when the combination of the hotter temperatures, the drier atmosphere and the strengthening winds all come together to drive fire behaviour. Our correspondent Shaima Khalil gave us this update from sydney. Well, the main danger is, as youve heard there, going to be focused on the areas around sydney, the greater sydney area north and south of that, so east coast in New South Wales. Mind you, this is a very populous area were talking about. 6 Million People who are bracing themselves for worsening conditions. As the day grows hotter, as the winds grow stronger, this is where were going to hear more localised, big fires obviously all of this under the umbrella of this catastrophic fire danger. Sydney woke up to a haze as the smoke from other areas, neighbouring areas, has come and settled near the skies here. I certainly, and people around me, felt it. You could smell it in the air. And really, as the day progresses, the danger becomes more severe. The firefighters and the fire authorities have been updating people on an hourly or two hourly basis, and now were seeing more localised fires, really. But it all comes down to the heat and to the wind, because things can get out of control really quickly, and i think people have been told that if theyre in vulnerable areas, they should leave. Because firefighters are trying to control some areas. They cant be everywhere all of the time. Yeah, and in those areas close to the fires, people have described to us, even before the fire reaches cars, say, there is so much eucalyptus in the air, cars explode before the fire gets to them. All this exacerbated by, i guess, the bone dry ground, its been a long drought. Strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity. I think these are the three elements that make it extremely difficult to control and predict the size of. Already were seeing thousands and thousands of hectares of one fire alone, and were talking about, you know, dozens and dozens of blazes in the New South Wales area. And despite, you know, firefighters trying to control it, whether its by being on the ground or whether by aircraft, with water bombs, or even people volunteering, its very, very difficult to predict how big or how out of control its going to be. Earlier i spoke to poppy brown, the head of red cross at New South Wales. I asked her about the scale of fire danger in the state. Its a really unprecedented situation in the state at the moment. And theres been, you know, over a million rugby pitches burnt already. We know that, as you said, the most populous areas, in terms of sydney, wollongong and newcastle, are facing this catastrophic fire danger at the moment. We are in a state of emergency, and we are prepared, but everybody is bracing for what potentially is a very, very dangerous day for New South Wales. And poppy, you use the word unprecedented. Youve really seen nothing like this before . Not at this scale. So reports on the news have indicated that we had our very, very bad black saturday bushfires in victoria about ten years ago. Theres already been double the amount of hectares burnt as in those fires. So we are in a very difficult day and very extreme situation. Weve had fires across the state since about friday, at really extreme levels. Weve had lots of evacuation centres open for people to where they cant stay in their homes, and were there helping prepare people for what could be a very dangerous day. I know there are reports at least three people have died, thousands, of course, displaced. Given the danger, though, it seems amazing that more people have not been hurt. Yes, look, that is, you know, very distressing obviously for the people who have lost their lives already, but fortunate that we have not had any more lives lost to date. And thats credit to the fire services, whove been working absolutely around the clock to support and protect communities. And im just here at the moment in the Fire Service Control Centre in sydney, which is very, very busy, as you can hearfrom the noise behind me, and theyre doing a fantasticjob. There is more disruption to transport in hong kong today, as protestors continue attempts to bring the territory to a standstill. Police have already clashed with protestors on campus in City University in kowloon tong, and trains and roads have been blocked. Schools and universities have suspended classes. Speaking in the last hour, chief executive carrie lam has described the action as selfish. It is a second day of disruption after monday became one of the most violent days so far during five months of pro democracy protests. One man was shot in the chest by a Police Officer and another was set on fire during an argument with protestors. We can speak to our correspondent in hong kong, martin yip. Martin, what is the latest in all this . Well, train stations being shut down, mike, as we speak now because of apparently attacks by protesters, and now rather thanjust one university you have mentioned, the City University of hong kong, theres two other universities, at least, who are with protesters, and possibly students from there as well, who are holding up barricades against the police and there is some sort of stand off. At least in the Chinese University of hong kong, as well as the university of hong kong itself. So there is a stand off everywhere. And in the past few hours, i myself took at least an extra 30 minutes to get into the city on my usual bus, and massive disruption for those who are taking the train, as you have mentioned already. They just have the train, as you have mentioned already. Theyjust have to keep queueing up for buses orjust figure out their way to work. Terrible things have been happening, and it seems that the violence is only getting worse as it goes on. Carrie lam has been speaking. She has already referred recently to the protesters as enemies of the people. Is there going to be any sense from what she said she gets the problem here, has any idea how to deal with it . Its hard to tell if she is actually getting the sense of how to solve the problem, and there are so many guesses on what is actually in her mind. Butjudging from what carrie lam has said this morning, she might be playing into two things. Because besides calling those protesters selfish, she also thanked those people who tried to get to work in these difficult circumstances, as well as saying that, if the government would ever call for class suspension, they would be falling into the trap set by the processes. So if you remember what happened one year ago, just after the typhoon, there was even more massive disruption across the city, on highways and railway stations, because tens of thousands of trees were brought down. It was just too hard for millions of people who tried to get to work, somehow highlighting the kind of fear that has been spread across the city for so has been spread across the city for so many years, that employers employees are so afraid of being disciplined by their bosses, they just have to get to work no matter what. Carrie lam is playing into this. She thanked those who go to work today, sort of drawing and those who are not supporting the protests. She is thinking this is a way to solve the protests by making more people in the city hate the protesters. Thank you for that. Laurie wen is a pro democracy advocate. She told me what she made of the violence on monday and the reaction of the hong kong government. There is no simple answer. A lot of very disturbing things have happened, especially recently. Our hearts are heavy. But i think we cannot be distracted from what the fundamental problem is. Why is it that millions of people forfive months have engaged in many, many peaceful, la rge scale protests, and we still dont have what we demand . Thats the fundamental problem here, because the Carrie Lam Administration is not accountable to the people here. She and her administration, they are accountable to the Chinese Communist party. The fundamental problem is that we do not have democracy here, in 2019. 7. 5 million hong kongers, we still dont have democracy. That is what the crux of the problem is. But do you not feel, would you not acknowledge, that this is getting massively out of proportion, and possibly damaging to the pro democracy cause . Yes, weve seen a protester shot with live ammunition at point blank range. Yes, weve seen a Police Motorcyclist driving into protesters. We understand that motorcyclist has now been suspended from duty. But also, a man who was simply arguing with protesters about the fact that theyd attacked a train station is doused in flammable liquid and set on fire. Yes, i understand. I personally do not support violence of any kind, except in self defence. When it is not self defence, violence is something i personally abhor. We do have millions of people in this movement, and it is a leaderless movement. People have different ideologies, tactics and strategies, so unfortunately i cannot control the behaviours of every Single Member of this movement. People who share the same goals unfortunately dont always agree. I understand that, but protesters have a sense, dont they, of how other protesters are feeling. It is possible for it to be made clear to the people who are doing this kind of thing that this kind of thing is well, unacceptable is putting it mildly. Yes, its youre right, in that of course we make it clear to each other how we feel. But let me put it this way. If this is the 18505 and were in the United States, and im a member of the Abolitionist Movement, i can make it very clear to other members, the millions of other members of the Abolitionist Movement because we all think slavery is wrong, there are other people who believe, you know, were going to use violence. Were going to go do things that the peaceful, non violent camp doesnt agree. And we disagree, but that doesnt mean that all of a sudden i am no longer a member of the Abolitionist Movement. It doesnt mean that all of a sudden i then support slavery. So just because there are things. Just because there are members of our movement who engage in behaviour that i really disagree with, that i really do not condone, doesnt mean the cause of our Democracy Movement becomes less true. A former British Army Officer who helped set up the Syrian Rescue Group the White Helmets has been found dead in turkey. The body ofJames Le Mesurier, who received an 0be in 2016 for his work in syria, was found on monday in istanbul. The turkish authorities have launched an investigation into his death, as our Diplomatic Correspondent Caroline Hawley reports. It was on the street outside the building where he was staying thatJames Le Mesuriers body was found early this morning. There has been no official statement from the police, but Security Officials have been quoted as saying they believe he fell from a balcony. James le mesurier, who was in his 405, set up the mayday rescue charity, which helped train syrias volunteer rescuers, known as the White Helmets. These are the White Helmets in action. They operate in rebel held areas of the country, saving survivors of indiscriminate air strikes by the syrian military, and its backer, russia. Speaking to the bbc five years ago, he paid tribute to their courage. It has been a source of immense pride for everybody whos been involved in the training and support to these heroes. They provide an incredible amount of inspiration, in an environment that is otherwise so devoid of positives. Seen here just yesterday, the White Helmets rush into danger in idlib province, the last area of the country still held by the rebels. For the work they do, the White Helmets and James Le Mesurier have earned the hatred of both the kremlin and the syrian regime. 0nly last week, the Russian Foreign ministry accused him of being an m16 agent, and of having links with terrorists. The russian charges against him that came out of the foreign ministry, that he was a spy categorically untrue. He was a british soldier. Hed been to sandhurst. But above all, he wasnt a serving soldier when he founded mayday and the White Helmets. He was a real humanitarian, and the world, and syria in particular, is poorerfor his loss. Whatever the exact circumstances of his death in istanbul, friends and colleagues say hell be remembered for helping save countless syrian lives. Caroline hawley, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come feeling stressed . Meet lilou, the worlds first airport therapy pig. She is hogging the limelight at San Francisco airport. The bombastic establishment outsider, donald trump, has defied the pollsters to take the keys to the oval office. I feel great about the election result. I voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. Its keeping the candidates name always in the public eye that counts. Success or failure depends not only on public display, but on the local Campaign Headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. Berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced around their liberated territory. And with nobody to stop them, it wasnt long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. Yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. Palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. After 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy. Women ministers whod long felt only grudgingly accepted in the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcomed. Welcome back. Very glad to have you with us. This is bbc news. The latest headlines a vast area of australias east coast, including sydney, is facing some of the worst threats from bushfires the country has ever seen. A second day of disruption in hong kong as protestors block roads. Schools and universities have suspended classes. In the last hour its been announced that former us president jimmy carter has been admitted to hospital hes 95. In a statement, the Carter Centre said he is to have a procedure on tuesday to relieve pressure on his brain, caused by bleeding due to recent falls and that he was resting co mforta bly. His wife rosalynn is with him. The former us secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has told the bbc shes dumbfounded that the uk government wont release an intelligence and Security Committee report into russian covert actions in the uk. The 2016 us president ial candidate is in london with her daughter she spoke to the bbcs mishal husain. Im dumbfounded that this government wont release the report about russian influence because everyone who votes in this country deserves to see that report before your election happens. Why do you think they wont release it . |j election happens. Why do you think they wont release it . I dont know they wont release it . I dont know the answer that. I think reporters like you and others should be absolutely relentless in trying to get to the bottom of it. We know from even this Current Trump administrations intelligence officials that the russians are still in our electoral system. There is no doubt of the role that russia played in our 2016 election and is continuing to play. There is a lot of evidence that russia played a pa rt of evidence that russia played a part in the brexit election. Im not in your country, i dont have a say about any of that, but the fact that the current government wont release this report by your own government should raise some questions. Hillary clinton speaking to mishal husain. The former bolivian president evo morales is on his way to mexico to take up the offer of asylum. He was forced to stand down on sunday. His resignation has sparked clashes between his supporters and police. The Mexican Foreign minister said mr morales life was at risk in his home country. At least 20 people have been hurt. Katy watson reports from la paz. For many in bolivia, the demise of the regions longest standing president could not have come soon enough. 0vernight, celebrations turned to violence yet more unrest with buildings torched and vandalised. This is one of many barricades that you see across la paz blocking the streets in the city. Now, this one is Anti Government and people here say that despite the fact evo morales has resigned they are still here for democracy because bolivia still does not have an interim president and neither do they know when new elections will be called. A few people, though, braved the journey to work. Translation we are all afraid. It does not matter which side youre on. We are afraid of what is going to happen. Everyone is calling for conflict but what matters are the people. Elsewhere, people still on the streets, calling for change. These protesters were blocking access to the president ial palace, making sure no government member could return to their office. Translation evo morales could have left through the front door if he had respected what people were saying. But unfortunately he tried to perpetuate himself in power and that made people not want him anymore. A few minutes later, a Police Convoy carrying jeanine anez the politician expected to step in as interim president later this week. There is still so much uncertainty. No one knows when the new elections will be and until then, instability in this poor country is a constant threat. The british, french and german governments are saying they are extremely concerned that iran has re started enriching uranium at an underground site, south of tehran. They describe it as a fresh breach of the commitments the iranians gave in the International Nuclear deal. It was signed with several world powers but the United States has abandoned it. In a confidential report seen by bbc news, the uns nuclear watchdog, the iaea, says irans stock of enriched uranium is growing. Well, first it was flint, michigan and now in newark, newjersey. Americans are finding higher than normal amounts of lead in their Drinking Water and people are outraged. The mayor has a plan to speed up the replacement of lead Service Pipes to remove the toxic threat. But as nada tawfik reports, thats not enough for those who are living in fear of the water in their homes. Its dinner time and alika is making pasta with her kids. But to boil it, only bottled water will do. She lives in newark, newjersey, the latest American City to grapple with a lead water crisis. Officials gave her a filter, but she still doesnt trust the water. Im always spending money on water. I spent more money on water than on buying food for the house. Newarks problems began when a Corrosion Control treatment failed at its pequannock plant, causing lead from pipes to seep into the water. Officials switched to a new treatment, but it will take months to be fully effective. Now, mayor ras barakahas announced an expedited plan to overhaul the infrastructure. Across the city, crews are ripping up the streets in order to replace lead pipes with copper ones. Under the programme, all 18,000 lead pipes in newark will be removed in under three years at no cost to homeowners. When the lead Service Lines are replaced then 100 , you know, there will be no lead in the water. If you have a filter, the filters are working and so you should use your filter and if youre using the filter then youll be perfectly fine. Still, some members of the community believe officials were slow to respond to the crisis and warn residents, including those who are now suing the city. I still am unsure about when i am getting lead service line replacement, even though i put in for it over six months ago. So its all of this that really leaves me frustrated. What happened in flint, michigan, and now here in newark, newjersey, has once again raised questions about the safety of the nations water infrastructure. Decades after lead pipes were banned, many still remain in place in older homes and buildings. And part of the fear is that many people simply do not know if they have lead pipes or not. Despite assurances, churches and charities continue to hand out bottled water. Efforts may be under way to finally rid the city of lead pipes, but rebuilding trust could take much longer. Nada tawfik, bbc news, newark, newjersey. In San Francisco, a rather unusual member of staff can be spotted among the corridors and departure gates of one of the citys airports. Sporting a pilots cap and pink toenails, five year old lilou is helping stressed travellers have a more enjoyable journey. Gareth barlow reports on the worlds first, airport therapy pig. Pigs might fly, as the old saying goes, but lilou is getting pretty close to taking off stop at least, she is certainly taken off with passengers at San Franciscos international airport. Ive never seen one here, so its interesting. Its fun. I got really excited. She can do tricks like a dog. The heart, just the, i dont know how to really explain it but its really cool. Lilou is part of the wag brigade, which uses therapy animals, including a therapy period, to ease the stress of travellers and flying. It makes them happy and pause for a second. It makes them go oh, its great. Snap out of the moment. Musician. A style icon, and a social media star. The only thing lilou cant do is visit duty free. Gareth barlow, bbc news. That main news story again. Hundreds of schools in australia have been closed as towns in New South Wales and queensland face catastrophic bushfires. And you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter im bbcmikeembley. Thank you for watching. Hello there. Its been a very unsettled start to november, even indeed before november, weve seen a lot of rainfall around. Low pressures been firmly in control and its been quite cold as well. The rest of the week stays unsettled thanks to low pressure, it will be quite windy too and we will see some snow around as it will remain cold, particularly over the higher ground. Lower pressure firmly in control of our weather for tuesday, bringing fairly strong wind from the north west there will be a lot of showers circulating around it. Early on tuesday, it looks like most of the showers will be across parts of scotland and Northern Ireland, Northern England, some wintriness over the high ground of scotland but further south, it should be dry with lengthy clear skies. But that does not mean it wont turn quite chilly here. 1 3 degrees here with the showers, generally 11 5 degrees to start tuesday. So we start with sunshine across the south, and in other areas, but bands of shower and long spells of rain spreading into south eastern areas into the afternoon. And there will continue to be some wintriness over the high ground. It will feel cold with temperatures 7 8 degrees. Out on the wind, itll feel quite raw. Low pressure pushes off into the north sea and allows a bump of High Pressure to build in before wednesday before this next weather system moves in wednesday night into thursday. It could bring some areas quite a lot of rainfall, unfortunately. Through wednesday, though, it could be a chilly start in central, eastern and Northern Areas but dry and bright thanks to that bump of High Pressure. The next weather system will be arriving across Northern Ireland and wales and the south west of england, bringing some heavy rain here later in the day and it will be another chilly one, temperatures struggling to get up as much as four degrees across scotland. So through wednesday night a few showers here and the weather front across the south west will push northwards and eastwards, itll pivot as well, we think. Bit of uncertainty too, its northwards or southwards extent but some areas could see quite a lot of rainfall it could be the flood affected areas in the midlands and Northern England could see quite a bit of rainfall. But again, i have to emphasise theres some uncertainty on the position of the weather front. There are a number of flood warnings still in force and this rain could exacerbate that. So stay tuned to the forecast and head onto the bbc weather website. As we head out into friday the weather front eventually starts to fade and move southwards and eastwards. So it could be quite cloudy on friday across southern and eastern areas, one or two showers here, quite blustery. But further north and west, we will see a ridge of High Pressure move in. Its an improving picture here with some good spells of sunshine. And temperatures again on the low side, sticking in single figures for most. This is bbc news, the headlines hundreds of schools and colleges across the australian state of New South Wales have been closed as the region prepares to deal with potentially catastrophic bush fires. A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales and in neighbouring queensland. Activists in hong kong have blocked roads and clashed with police, a day after some of the most violent unrest during five months of pro democracy protests. Riot police fired tear gas on a university campus, and commuters were forced to abandon a train after objects were found on the line. Bolivias former president evo morales is on his way to mexico wheres hes been granted asylum following his resignation on sunday. Mr morales said it pained him to leave, and he vowed to return with more strength and energy. Clashes between the former president s supporters and Security Forces have continued in bolivia. One of the uks biggest steel makers has been rescued by a chinese company, potentially safeguarding