Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240713

Of control across australia. A heatwave sees temperatures exceed a0 degrees in every state. The search continues for father of four and firefighter Anthony Knott whos now been missing for 10 days. 2019 saw the hottest month on record. In half an hour on bbc news weather world looks back at some of the most significant meteorological events of the year a court in cyprus has convicted a british teenager of falsely claiming she was raped by a group of israeli tourists six months ago. The 19 year old said she had been attacked in a hotel in ayia napa. She was arrested after police said she withdrew her accusation. Earlier we heard from our europe correspondent, kevin connolly. He explained the background to thejudgment. Essentially, this revolves around a judgment on this young woman as a witness. The districtjudge in famagusta has said that he has found her to be an unreliable witness and that in retracting her allegation of rape, she was effectively, in so doing, admitting that she had made up the allegation in the first place. So the whole affair revolves around the disputed circumstances of a night in a hotel room in cyprus in july. This young woman was having a Holiday Romance with one israeli. She says she was gang raped by a group of his friends. They have always denied that. After they were released, she was questioned. The police say she changed her story, and it is that changing of the story which lies at the heart of todays conviction under the cypriot charge of public mischief, which is in effect falsifying a legal claim. So no sentence today, but a criminal conviction and a long appeals process to follow, i think. The woman, who was 19 at the time, says she was forced to admit to this. Thats right. Her lawyers are going to focus on the human rights aspect of this case, which is not so much about the disputed events in that hotel room, but how the woman was handled by the police and criminaljustice system in cyprus afterwards. They are going to say she was questioned without a lawyer being present to represent her, that she was questioned for a long period of time, she was hungry, traumatised, tired and distressed. And it is in those circumstances, and because of all of that, that she changed her story. They will also argue that retracting an allegation is not the same as fabricating a charge. So they are going to explore all of that. They have said it may go as far as the European Court of human rights ultimately. Today is certainly not the end of the road. Earlier i spoke to Michael Polak a lawyer who specialises in helping people caught up in legal difficulties while abroad. Hes been working with the teenager during the case and said that they intend to appeal. Its a very worrying conviction for a number of reasons. It should be noted that none of the israeli youths were brought to court to give evidence about what happened in the hotel room that night. So what the court was left with was the evidence of the teenager about what happened. We say there was supporting evidence which shows that she was actually telling the truth. It is very worrying for a court to rely upon a retraction Statement Given after more than seven hours in a Police Station without any legal representation and without any interpretation from somebody who was suffering from ptsd. We have brought expert evidence from dr christine tizzard, a well known psychologist in ptsd, who said the teenager was suffering from ptsd and that people suffering with ptsd can make retraction statement just to get themselves out of the situation in which they find themselves. And it is ordinary and normal for them to do so. So you are planning an appeal on what basis . Are you saying the trial wasnt correctly performed . Well, there are a number of reasons for appealing the decision. That includes how the judge approached the evidence in the case. A number of times through the hearing in the trial transcript, he refused to hear evidence which went to whether a rape took place. He would say, this is not abouta rape, iam not hearing a rape case, im not interested in that evidence. But to be guilty of public mischief, it has to be an imaginary offence. So it is clear to everybody that one of the elements must be that she wasnt telling the truth about the rape. So we say that approach in itself means that she didnt have a fair trial because he had closed his mind to whether the rape had taken place. There are also other issues with regard to relying on a retraction statement when no lawyer was present. We say that is an important breach of both European Union law, European Union human rights law, and also the cypriot constitution. As her lawyer, what would you say was behind that retraction, then . Well, she was taken into the station on a day when the female Police Officer who she had been dealing with wasnt available. And we say that wasnt by chance. She was taken by two male Police Officers to the Police Station and was told she couldnt leave. There are snapchat messages she sent to her friends saying, they say they are going to arrest all of you. They say im not entitled to a lawyer here, i can have a lawyer in england, but not in cyprus. They say if i retract my statement, they will let me go home. If i dont, the next time i see my mother i will be in the courtroom. So there was an enormous amount of pressure placed upon her to make that retraction statement. Heres the thing. Nothing in the Police Station in cyprus was recorded, and it is hard to believe a modern country in the European Union doesnt record anything which happens in the Police Station. Its a choice cyprus has made not to record things in the Police Station. Theres no audio recording or visual recording. So it means whatever happens in the Police Station cant be looked into by a court properly. I think her family spent time with her over christmas. She gets sentenced on the 7th of january. She could be going to prison. Its possible that she could go to prison. She spent four and a half months in nicosia prison in a shared cell, which is a very difficult situation for a teenager to be in. We hope that any prison sentence will be suspended, but were not sure what the court will do. The outgoing governor of the bank of england, mark carney, has said Financial Companies are failing to act quickly enough to curb their investment in fossil fuels. In an interview with this programme, he says some Financial Assets could end up worthless if investment firms do not adjust to a zero carbon economy. Mr carney is due to start a new role next year as the uns special envoy for Climate Action and finance. Its talked about 2020 being a decade of action absolutely necessary on Climate Change. We want action on the finance side. We want, on that disclosure, companies doing that disclosure. We want that to become the norm. Its important that you and i, people watching, can understand how our moneys being invested. Is it being invested consistent with the transition path that is the law of the land that is what our citizens want, which is that were transitioning in a way that will stabilise the climate . You will spend a lot of 2020 working on the climate as part of your un role in the run up to the glasgow summit. I wonder why you choose not to use the term climate emergency. I would say were in a climate crisis, just like a financial crisis, where action needs to be taken. This is a slow burn crisis, if you will, so its more difficult to act because you dont have the public spectacle of a failing bank or queues outside a Building Society or those types or those types of tangible, the markets moving around, the tangible ways that force action. Thats part of the challenge. Thats the tragedy of the horizon. You have taken a fair amount of flak in this role on various different fronts, including from mps. I wonder if you think, as you look at this country, whether we have enough truth in our political debate, enough truth in our Brexit Debate . I think whats essential on this topic, on Climate Change, is that we have a cross party, nonpartisan approach to it, that the science is clear, that the type of transition that we have been talking about, that we get as specific as possible about whats needed. We cant afford, on this one, to have selective information, to have spin, misdirection, misleading. It needs to be absolutely clear, because we are all in on it. Im also seeing it in the light of other challenges that we have, and i wonder how difficult you think the next stage of brexit might be, trade deals . Well, i would like to think that we will turn a page as we move to the next stage. Those deals will be developed in the context of a very shifting Global Environment for trade. The Global Trading system is fragmenting. We should be clear about that. Because of the us, and china . Theres a variety of forces, but the nexus of that is because of that relationship. But it is absolutely broadening. The broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough has paid tribute to Climate Change activist Greta Thunberg in an interview for radio fours today programme. The 16 year old and 93 year old spoke to each other via the internet about their worries and fears over lack of action on tackling Climate Change. Speaking to sir david, greta said she was inspired to make a change, by watching his programmes. When i was younger, when i was maybe eight, nine, ten years old, the thing that made me open my eyes to what was happening with the environment and the climate was films and documentaries about the Natural World and what was happening, what was going on. So that has been an eye opener for me, and that was what made me realise the situation. So thank you for that, because that was what made me decide to do something about it. Its very flattering that you should say that. A lot of people didnt. The trouble is, politicians are just concerned about tomorrow and the day after. And when you say theres this big danger looming in 20 years time and we have to do something now, they say yes, of course, well do it the day after tomorrow. And its the same even now. Here we are in britain, where weve just had a general election, and you would think that if you think the same way that you and i do, that the most urgent thing is to deal with this problem. Was it mentioned in the election . Hardly at all. The only reason that it has been mentioned even that much is because of you. You have woken up the world, really. We need to highlight the gap between what the science calls for and what is actually being done. Im not a scientist, in the sense that i have not devoted much of my life to climate science. What i want to do and what i have been doing all my life is making programmes about animals and natural history, because thats fun and thats what i like doing. And im sure you like sitting down watching creatures and Natural World. We dont want to spend our time marching on the streets. But we have to, and you have shown great bravery in doing that. I dont know why people are listening to me. I dont know how long it will last, ijust know that right now people are listening to me and i need to use that opportunity and to try to get out as much as i can during that time. But of course, it is a problem repeating these things over and over again. But thats what you need to do because they are obviously not listening, and you need to repeat it until people get it, until it is being understood. Raging bush fires are burning out of control across australia, with authorities in the state of victoria saying its now too late for people to evacuate. Yesterday, tens of thousands of residents and tourists were told to leave due to worsening conditions. The Rural Fire Service in New South Wales has confirmed that a volunteer firefighter has died and two firefighters have suffered burns whilst tackling a blaze. It is believed that their truck rolled when it was hit by extreme winds. Officials are predicting another day of extreme danger with soaring temperatures and a change of wind direction. Briony sowden has this report. An unprecedented step in unprecedented bushfire conditions. As emergency level blazes flare across victoria state, tens of thousands of holiday makers are told to get out. This is a high risk day for victoria. This is a day we do not often see. Our state is dry. Its going to be very hot and very windy. People, get out now. If you dont, you have to stay across the conditions and listen to those warnings through the day. Temperatures above a0 degrees and changes in wind direction are pushing destructive bushfires closer to towns and homes in already dry, tinderbox conditions. Victorian authorities are most concerned about two out of control bushfires which have merged in popular tourist spot, east gippsland. The blaze is within a few kilometres of the only highway into and out of the area, and there are fears that that road could be cut off. Its hot and windy and there was a lot of smoke about and a lot of fires still going, so im best off camping down here until its over. We would prefer to be safe. If we got stuck here, it would be a big problem for us. A warm front has pushed mercury levels above a0 across south eastern australia, with fire warnings stretching from west to South Australia and into tasmania. The biggest blazes are raging in New South Wales, where two mega blazes have now encircled the countrys most populated city, sydney. In the blue mountains, flames up to a0 metres high tore through bilpin, leaving a trail of devastation. It had escaped from the fire. Thankfully, it wasnt burnt. The bushfires have had catastrophic impact on wildlife and their habitat. Some experts estimate up to half a billion animals may have perished in the flames. All four paws are burned. Her nose has been burnt. Her ears are both burnt. All of that, im ok with. I mean, im sure shes not ok, but shes on pain meds, but shes ok with it. My biggest concern is the eyes. This eye closest to me, her right eye, looks like it certainly has smoke damage. In New South Wales, the warm weather is forecast to peak on new years eve, with some relief expected on wednesday. Well sydneys iconic new years eve fireworks will go ahead after the New South Wales Rural Fire Service granted organisers an exemption from a total fire ban. Our sydney correspondent Shaimaa Khalil has more. Here in the sydney harbour, preparations are well under way for new years eve celebrations. Thousands of tourists have packed the place, getting ready for the events. However, this year it has been particularly controversial. The issue of fireworks in particular, and this is because more than 300,000 people have signed a petition saying this is not the right thing to do. This is not the time, given the bushfire crisis and given the fact that nearly 100 fires are raging across New South Wales, with the biggest one surrounding sydney. This as well as temperature is being expected to rise above a0 celsius across New South Wales into tuesday, which is new years eve, and more fires are expected with the worsening conditions. Elsewhere in southern australia, specifically in the state of victoria, more than ten emergency fire warnings have been issued. The area that was under the most threat throughout the day has been the area of east gippsland on the east coast of victoria. We have seen temperatures soar. We have seen the wind grow stronger and change direction and people have been told it is now too late to evacuate the area. This is a popular tourist destination. About 30,000 people have been holidaying in the area. We are expecting temperatures to cool a bit towards the end of the day in victoria but for now, the danger is not over. The headlines on bbc news. A british teenager is convicted by a cyprus court of falsely claiming she was raped by a group of israeli tourists six months ago. The world will face irreversible heating unless firms shift their priorities soon. Thats the warning from the Outgoing Bank of england governor, mark carney. Raging bush fires are burning out of control across australia, with authorities in the state of victoria saying its now too late for people to evacuate. Temperature are exceeding a0 degrees in every state. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres jane. Another win for liverpool to keep them at the top of the premier league, but it was after two controvertial var decisions. The wolves manager Nuno Espirito santos was furious after the referee decided liverpools first goal should be disallowed for a hand ball but that was overruled by var and the goal stood. Then wolves thought theyd scored but var ruled it was offside. Their manager expressed his frustration. The decisions are being taken by a referee that is miles away from here, miles and miles away in a tv screen. He does not feel the game, he doesnt get the. He doesnt feel the game, he is not in the game. What is happening is what we have mentioned before, it is a fantastic club, team, funds and stadium and we are celebrating a non go non a. Come on. The pundits on match of the day 2 ian wright and martin keown debated the need for var and the publics reaction to the technology. The problem is making too many people unhappy, too many people are unhappy with what is going on. Something has to be done in respects of revealing how we are dealing with it. Var isjust doing of revealing how we are dealing with it. Var is just doing its of revealing how we are dealing with it. Var isjust doing its job, of revealing how we are dealing with it. Var isjust doing itsjob, would you take off site out of var . Would you take off site out of var . Would you prefer going back to human error and we all go, were not going to hammerthem for and we all go, were not going to hammer them for getting it wrong, thatis hammer them for getting it wrong, that is human error. Would you prefer to go to it . I wouldnt want to go back to it. I wouldnt mind. They have overruled 21 goals. It is that grey area. What i am saying is when you look at the percentage you realise were doing pretty good job. Manchester city beat Sheffield United 2 0 at the etihad. The goals came from Sergio Aguero and kevin de bruyne. City are third in the table, 1a points behind liverpool and have played a game more. Elsewhere, chelsea came from behind to beat arseanl 2 1. David moyes says he has Unfinished Business at west ham, after being appointed to manage the club for a second time. Moyes kept the hammers in the premier league during six months as caretaker manager at the club two years ago. Hes replaced manuel pellegrini, who was sacked after saturdays home defeat by leicester. Since leaving everton for Manchester United in 201a, he has struggled to establish himself at the clubs he has managed. Moyes was sacked after 10 months at united, despite signing a 6 year contact to replace sir alex ferguson. He then moved to spain to take change of struggling real sociedad, but only lasted for a year. Moyes then returned to england with sunderland in 2016, but resigned after they were relegated. He then took charge of west ham for the first time on a tempory basis, keeping them in the premier league. Despite avoiding relegation, moyes record at west ham was not great. A win ratio of 29 with only 9 wins in 21 games. West ham are currently in 17th place in the premier league, so he has plenty of work to do. Michael van gerwen is a step closer to successfully defending his title at the world darts championship. Hes through to the semi finals at Alexandra Palace after beating Darius Labanauskas 5 sets to 2. Van gerwen now faces englands nathan aspinall. Peter wright plays gerwyn price in todays other semi. And after her success at the world championships, Fallon Sherrock will be the first women to play in the world series of darts next year including the us darts masters in new york, great to see how much she has done for the womens game. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Are you on tomorrow . Iam not, are you on tomorrow . I am not, i are you on tomorrow . Iam not, i had it off. Are you working tomorrow . Iam working tomorrow . I am working tomorrow so happy new year and i am working tomorrow so happy new yearand do i am working tomorrow so happy new year and do behave. I will try, not promising. I know, never. Police in sussex are into the tenth day of searching for a father of four who disappeared after a night out with friends. Firefighter Anthony Knott hasnt been seen since the 20th of december. His fiance says she feels numb, not knowing whats happened to him. Jon ironmonger reports. Ten days gone, Anthony Knotts disappearance remains a total mystery. A firefighter with the london fire brigade, the 33 year old went missing during a work night out in lewes in sussex on the 20th of december. Hed been to various pubs in the town and was last seen leaving the lamb just after 7pm. He is a family man, he loves hisjob, he loves his friends, he loves his kids. Its christmas. This isnt something that he would intentionally do. He wouldnt want to stay away, so thats why we are extra worried because its. Its just. Itsjust not like him. And were thinking. Were just thinking the worst. Search teams have scoured the nearby river ouse which was flooded in recent days, but have found nothing. Police say theres no evidence to suggest anthony has left the town, or that his disappearance was the result of criminal activity. They have now released this cctv, which shows him walking with a distinctive bounce in his step, in the hope it could jog someones memory. We have got to keep an open mind, but there has been no contact there has been no communication or bank activity, we know that to be very out of character. The Emergency Services are expected to continue searching for their colleague this morning. Jon ironmonger, bbc news. James waterhouse is in lewes and has been following the story. Police themselves have said this case is unusual because a, the sheer amount of time that Anthony Knott has been missing, ten days now, it was the 20th of december, that was when his christmas do was taking place and secondly, that it was out of character. You heard there injohns report that his family say he loved both his family and his work, he seemed happy at the time of him being dropped off and you see him carrying about his normal business on the cctv. So police are saying they are keeping an open mind frankly, they have to because all possibilities are being explored. In the meantime, this distinctive walk he is said to have had, they hope that description might help jog some memories . Yes, they are very much putting the focus on that, he apparently walks on the balls of his feet so hes very light, if you like, so they are urging members of the public to keep an eye out for that or recollect their memories to see whether they saw him at the time of his disappearance. There are posters dotted all around lewes with anthonys image and a message underneath urging him to get in touch and what weve got to bear in mind is around the time of his disappearance, the area around here, the river ouse, were all affected by heavy floods at the time. So now, as those waters subside, the police are thanking members of the public for their support. They said the response has been outstanding but they are urging people to stay safe as they try and help with the search because they are now searching an area just north of lewes, where the flood water has now subsided, for any further clues that there might be. But this has been, for his friends and family, this has been ten days now he has been missing over, of course, the christmas period. Coming up on bbc news. 2019 saw the hottest month on record. In half an hour, weather world looks back at some of the most significant meteorological events of the year. Now its time for a look at the weather with simon king. Nothing too much going over the next couple of days, and 2019 on a quiet note. This morning we had a patchy mist and fog, a lovely photo with default lifting up, lots of blue skies above that. We have got sunshine. They disencha nt skies above that. We have got sunshine. They disenchant melting across scotland through the afternoon but we have rain which is moving southwards, it is weakening as it sped through Northern Ireland and into the far north of england. It is quite a mild day, temperatures getting into double figures. That rain will ease out but we will have cloud moving across other areas in the cloud will keep temperatures up while further north across england into southern scotland and Northern Ireland, there will be a touch of frost with clearer skies. For the last day of 2019, there will be plenty of sunshine in northern and eastern areas, a little bit more cloud was the south west. Goodbye for now. Hello, this is bbc news, im simon mccoy. The headlines. A british teenager is convicted by a cyprus court of falsely claiming she was raped by a group of israeli tourists, six months ago. Her lawyer is planning an appeal. There was supporting evidence, we say, which goes to show that she was actually telling the truth. And its very worrying for a court to rely upon a retraction statement. The world will face irreversible heating, unless firms shift their priorities soon. Thats the warning from the Outgoing Bank of england governor, mark carney. I would say were in a climate crisis, just like a financial crisis