Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At One 20200828

And therefore she actually seemed to get through it fine, and it went from a positive test to, the next one was negative. Britains empty town and city centres the government launches a campaign to get staff back into the workplace. Bowing out japans longest serving prime longest serving Prime Minister, shinzo abe, stands down because of ill health. And for the first time in history, a commemorative blue plaque is awarded to a woman of Indian Heritage she was a British Secret agent in the second world war. And coming up on bbc news more sporting events in the us are called off in protest over the shooting ofjacob blake, with Baseball Players joining the boycott. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. The best is yet to come, said president trump, as he formally accepted the Republican Party nomination to run for a second term. He warned that no one would be safe in an america governed byjoe biden, his democratic rival, in novembers election. He condemned mr biden as a left wing extremist who would demolish the american dream. Mr trump was speaking to more than 1,000 supporters on the white house lawn, despite claims he was using the executive residence as a political prop. From washington, david willis. Cheering and applause music plays 0nto the south lawn, to a rousing reception from an invited and un socially distanced audience, stepped donald and melania trump. The white house a Federal Building a controversial, some have said unconstitutional backdrop, for a political pitch of this kind. Donald trumps appeal to remain here coming at a time of renewed racial tension and on the day a hurricane wreaked havoc on americas gold coast. On americas gulf coast. My fellow americans tonight, with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, i profoundly accept this nomination for president of the United States. Calling the forthcoming election the most important in the countrys history, donald trump called once again for the restoration of law and order in the face of protests against Police Brutality and racial injustice, some of which have grown violent. Like Richard Nixon in 1968, the message to white, suburban voters is clear safety on their streets is at risk, and hes backing the police over the protesters. As long as i am president , we will defend the absolute right of every american citizen to live in security, dignity and peace. If the Democrat Party wants to stand with anarchists, agitators, rioters, looters and flag burners, that is up to them. But i, as your president , will not be a part of it. The Republican Party will remain the voice of the patriotic heroes who keep america safe and salute the american flag. Applause and cheering touting his achievements in trade negotiations, criminal Justice Reform and the middle east, the president vowed to rebuild an economy ravaged by what he calls the china virus. Perversely perhaps, given his criticism of the black lives matter protests, he made this assertion about a voting group his party is nonetheless still hoping to woo. And i say very modestly that i have done more for the African American community than any president since abraham lincoln, our first republican president. Applause and cheering and i have done more in three years for the black community thanjoe biden has done in 47 years. And when im re elected, the best is yet to come. There was no mention ofjacob blake, the black man shot in the back by a white Police Officer in wisconsin on sunday, nor of the trump supporting teenage vigilante charged with murdering two people who were protesting that shooting. Donald trump is trailing joe biden in the opinion polls, although a new poll suggests the race may be tightening in several key swing states, leaving everything still to play for, with barely two months to go until the election. David willis, bbc news, los angeles. Lets speak now to our washington correspondent gary 0donoghue. Still a way to go until november, of course, gary, but how close could this election be . Actually, not that long to go, about 65 70 days, and it is going to be a close election, just like it was last time around. These things are always won, as you know, in the battleground states here in the United States, because of the way american president s are elected. And there are six or seven of those states where joe elected. And there are six or seven of those states wherejoe biden has a lead but the lead has narrowed and is now narrower than the national lead. The president last night again tried to double down and appeal to some of those groups who could help him in those battleground states, particularly white women, who voted for him in the majority last time around and who have really drifted away from this president. You saw, for example, in his speech last night a rather unsubtle attempt to woo night a rather unsubtle attempt to woo them by saying that he was going to put the first woman, in capital letters, which was written on his script, on the moon. There have also been other attempts to wound that group, as well as African American voters. We have seen a lot of those on the republican stage this week. What you are also going to get in the coming days is donald trump and joe biden starting to travel much more, not big gatherings, of course, but criss crossing the country in a more traditional way, for rather untraditional and non traditional Election Campaign coming up. Gary 0donoghue, many thanks, in washington. Civil rights activists are gathering in washington to mark the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther kings historic i have a dream speech. The organisers say it is to protest against continued Racial Discrimination in the United States, highlighted by the death of george floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of Police Three Months ago. 0ur correspondent Barbara Plett usher is in washington. Barbara, whats the message from the protestors today . You know, the main point here is to try to channel that passion and anger we saw in the protests summer into concrete change, something that has a lasting impact. Like the march in 1963 advocated for civil rights legislation that was in front of congress at the time, theyre going to advocate here Police Reform legislation which is currently in front of congress, because the main focus, of course, is criminal justice and Police Brutality, given what has happened over the summer and amplified this week in wisconsin by that Police Shooting of jacob blake. The other main point is voting. This is an Election Year and they are worried that their votes will be suppressed so they are also pushing for legislation to protect their voting rights. And beyond that, they really want to organise the young leadership that was thrown out by the protests this summer to get them into much more targeted action at state and local level which is where a lot of important decisions are made and to organise a massive get out and go campaign for the 3rd of november, which is going to be another big theme of this event. Barbara, thank you, Barbara Plett usher for us event. Barbara, thank you, Barbara Plett usherfor us in event. Barbara, thank you, Barbara Plett usher for us in washington. Here, the risk to children of dying from covid 19 is vanishingly rare, according to the Worlds Largest study so far into young patients with the virus. But the report, published in the british medicaljournal, did find that black children, those who are obese and very young babies do have a slightly higher risk. 0ur Health Correspondent Anna Collinson has more. After months away from the classroom, schools are preparing to open their doors. In scotland and parts of northern ireland, they already have. Now, a comforting message for parents. The Worlds Largest study into the coronavirus has found the need for children to have hospital treatment is extremely small. I think the most Important Message from this paper is that children make up a tiny proportion of severe covid in the uk and that death with covid in children is vanishingly rare, and i would like to say that these findings are really reassuring. The study by the british medicaljournal looked at 70,000 patients admitted to hospital in the uk. Just 651 were children. Six of those died and all had serious Underlying Health problems. Children of black ethnicity, those who are obese and very young babies have a slightly higher risk. But the vast majority of children have mild or no symptoms at all. Tracy mcguires daughter peyton was born maturely. She was diagnosed with covid 19 when she was just three weeks old. Khalifa us she didnt show any symptoms, and therefore she actually seemed to get through it fine, and it went from a positive test, to, the next one was negative, and at that point in time we were just so grateful that we managed to get through the next hurdle, as we saw it recalled the most recent daily government figures show there we re daily government figures show there were more than 1500 covid cases in the uk, the highest since mid june. An increase in testing partly explains the rise. New figures from the ons explains the rise. New figures from the 0ns suggest infections are levelling off, with one in 1900 people estimated to have had it in england. Data suggests parts of tayside in scotland have one of the highest rates of infections in the uk. Other areas that were previously a concern are appearing to subside. Throughout this year, scientists have been racing to learn about how our immune system response to coronavirus. Now, 17 Research Centres in the uk are attempting to find out how long immunity lasts, why some people suffer more than others, and why some are asymptomatically understanding this will help fight the virus. The antibody response doesnt develop in almost every patient. It appears to weaken, and that is causing some concern, that it can decrease by perhaps 10 every month, whereas the cellular immune response may last for much longer. And if we look at the historical precedent of the sars epidemic in 2002, cellular immunity lasted for ten years of. A vaccine is the key to defeating covid 19, but one is not expected before christmas. The government has announced it wants Health Professionals to be trained to administer a vaccine so, a lot of people can get it very quickly if and when its available. Speed is key for health and economic reasons, so key for health and economic reasons, so it has also been proposed that redtape should be cut to prevent any delays. But as schools return, the focus is now turning to adults and their behaviour. Illegal gatherings have taken place across the uk over the summer, and there are fears more rules will be broken over the bank holiday weekend. If infections do rise again, the government is adamant schools will be the last to close. Anna collinson, bbc news. People will be encouraged to go back to their workplaces in a new Government Campaign next week. Employers are being asked to reassure their staff that it is safe to return by highlighting the measures taken to prevent the spread of covid 19. It comes as Business Leaders warn of the damage being done to town and city centres, as workers stay away from offices. Our Business Correspondent katy austin is in Central London. So, why are the government doing this now . Well, we know that lots of businesses have no plans for a mass, full time return to offices any time soon. And while more working from home doesnt seem inevitable in the future, today, the transport secretary placed an emphasis on encouraging a return to work places, where it is safe. By and large, where its possible, people can now return to work. Its safe to do so. Your employer should have put in covid friendly. 0r covid unfriendly, i suppose you could say, measures to ensure that people can work safely from their offices because there are just things that are impossible to do from home. Now, it comes after the big Business Group, the cbi, said some city centres still felt like ghost towns without the commuters they used to have and warned about the impact on city centre economy, businesses. Yesterday, we heard that pret a manger, the sandwich chain, was cutting thousands of jobs. Manger, the sandwich chain, was cutting thousands ofjobs. It has traditionally relied on sales to commuters and office workers. But the decision facing individual businesses around returning to offices is far from straightforward. Another Business Group told me that considerations include trust in public transport, whether or not schools are back and childcare is available, and reduced capacity in offices themselves. Those premises might also need expensive adaptations, to be safe. If government wants to support and incentivise businesses to bring people back into the workplace, they should be taking steps to allow businesses to discount covid related improvements to their premises from their tax bill, for example. They should be putting in place a support package as well for City Centre Businesses that have been so heavily affected by declines in footfall. Now, politically, the government is clearly facing pressure from some tory backbenchers to encourage more ofa tory backbenchers to encourage more of a return to workplaces, for economic reasons. However, today, the Health Secretary said how employees perform is important, not where they are based, and labour has called for assurances that people will not before to choose between their health and theirjob. Katy austin, our Business Correspondent, thank you. Well, with staff being encouraged back to their workplaces, and schools in england and wales preparing to welcome pupils back next week, how will the Public Transport Network cope with the increase in passengers . John maguire has been to find out what measures are in place for students who use public transport, and what you can expect when it comes to social distancing on the school run. The school run is almost back, but as with anything else in 2020 it will look, feel, and be very different. Public transport companies have beenjuggling the demands of social distancing, bubbles, and face coverings all while not really knowing just how many children will turn up. In bristol, first bus will run special servicesjust for pupils, and in some cases for individual schools. Weve added buses in, which are specifically marked up as school buses, and the route number has an s added to it, and they are specifically for those journeys. Obviously the first day is going to be challenging when everybody gets the hang of it, but once the kids have got used to it then i think itll work 0k. And like the summer term, the majority of parents will have no choice other than to send their children to school, but will have to decide how they get there. Ive been extremely anxious about them using the transport. I know its a necessity because i cant physically get them all there myself, but it is concerning to myself with us being a shielding family, and her vulnerability. Id like to know whos going to be in the transport with my second child, as to how many children she is going to have within that transport bubble, but i still dont know that with a week to go. The industrys trade body is working to persuade parents that children will be safe. Understandable that parents may be concerned but there really is no need for them to be. 0perators have been working hard making sure there is enhanced cleaning in place, obviously there is the face coverings that children can wear to keep themselves safe, and making sure that there are Safety Measures in place to protect the driver, as well. From the road to the rails, the return of the schoolchildren would be the biggest step back to pre virus life, but there are considerable and familiar challenges ahead. As with any environment these days, whether it is a pub, a cinema, or indeed public transport, its not necessarily when you are sitting down and not moving around that social distancing is challenging its the getting on and off, the pinch points of accessing a bus ora train. The physical safeguards are plain to see. The safety of those peoples has got to be top of our list. Weve been carrying customers now for some time. We know how to do it in the railway industry. The wearing of masks, which most of the secondary School Pupils will be having to wear significantly gives that additional reassurance to customers that they can travel safely, and, of course, weve got those enhanced cleaning regime is in place, cleaning regimes in place, and the social distancing recommendations that we are helping people follow. There are always nerves on the first day of school, but next week it wont be just the children who will be anxious, itll be a major test of public transport and of public confidence. John maguire, bbc news. The time is 13 19. Our top story this lunchtime. President trump formally accepts the republican nomination for novembers us election saying he is the candidate of law and order. And coming up why people in liverpool are thanking Manchester Uniteds Marcus Rashford. Spectators are gradually reintroduced to british sport, murrayfield is the latest venue to open its doors with fans accepted for tonights rugby match between edinburgh and glasgow. Its the end of an era injapan. The countrys longest serving Prime Minister, shinzo abe, is stepping down because of ill health. He has been seen as a nationalist and staunch conservative who has stimulated Economic Growth and boosted military spending. This report from our Diplomatic Correspondent james robbins. Shinzo abe said he did not want his illness to get in the way of decision making. He apologised to the japanese people for failing to complete his term of office. For decades, shinzo abe has suffered from a rare intestinal disease. He has resigned as japans Prime Minister once before in 2007 because of his ulcerative colitis, chronic condition that hes lived with since he was a teenager. After treatment, shinzo abe did return to power in 2012. But now, after weeks of speculation about him being absent from the public eye, in spite of a worrying increase injapans coronavirus cases, shinzo abe is resigning once again due to the same illness. Translation even though i have one year to go in my tenure and with other challenges that have not been addressed yet, amid the coronavirus outbreak, i decided to step down as Prime Minister. I would like to send my apologies to the people of japan. Mr abe has an reputation as a staunch conservative and a controversial japanese nationalist. As Prime Minister, shinzo abe strengthened japans defences and he boosted military spending, but he failed to revise the constitutions pacifist article 9. It bans a Standing Army in japan for anything other than self defence. Shinzo abe is credited with stimulating growth injapan with his aggressive Economic Policy known as abenomics. He also improved relations with United States by courting president donald trump, often on the golf course. But his government was often damaged by scandal, including allegations of favouritism and also of destroying public records. When coronavirus struct japan, shinzo abes responses were often criticised as being slow, ineffective and out of touch. Whoever is elected to succeed shinzo abe as party leader and Prime Minister could hold power at least for another year. James robbins bbc news. At least six people have been killed in louisiana by one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the United States. Winds of up to 150mph caused power cuts to more than half a million homes. But an expected 20ft storm surge was avoided as hurricane laura crossed into the state of arkansas. A number of us sports are continuing to cancel matches and boycott Team Practice in protest against the shooting of a black man in wisconsin. Basketball, hockey and soccer matches have all been postponed, whilst an on field protest took place at a Major League Baseball game in new york. A number of american football teams have said they must use their platform to tackle racism and drive change. Housing charities, landlords, and campaigners are all calling on the government to provide emergency financial help to people in england who are struggling to pay their rent because of the pandemic. More than 300,000 people have fallen into arrears since it began, according to the Housing Charity shelter. Theres a warning of a homelessness crisis when a ban on evictions in england and wales is due to end next month. 0ur Political Correspondent Jonathan Blake reports. Susan and her family have struggled during lockdown. Illness early on meant isolation and time off work. Sick pay wasnt enough. They couldnt afford to pay the rent and have since been threatened with eviction. Its rent. You have to pay your rent. But if you are put into a situation where you cant afford to pay it, and you cant get help, what are you supposed to do . There are signs that many, many more are facing similar difficulty. Research for the Housing Charity shelter suggests 322,000 private renters in england have fallen into arrears since the start of the pandemic in march. Now, Housing Charities and groups representing landlords, letting agents, and tenants are calling on the government to act. This is an unprecedented emergency, and thats why weve got what i think is an Unprecedented Coalition of organisations, all coming together to say, you know, we have got a debt crisis here, a rent debt crisis, as a result of the pandemic that means that unless the government act, unless the government provides this emergency funding, we are going to see a severe increase in homelessness. The groups say those claiming benefits should get grants to help pay their rent. Others could take out interest free loans similar to a scheme in wales. An estimated total cost of £270 million. The majority of landlords in this country only own one or two properties, and they arent Big Companies who are able to manage the risk of severe rent arrears building up over a number of months. So, these are the kinds of people who really cant afford to continue sustaining the lack of income that they have. The government has shown with the fellow scheme, for example, that it is willing to provide direct Financial Support to prop up parts of the economy throughout the coronavirus pandemic, but there is no sign the treasury is ready to write a cheque to pay the rents for hundreds of thousands of people who have fallen into arrears. Although, as we have seen several times recently, when under pressure to act ministers have come on occasion, changed their minds. For now, though, ministers insist they have taken unprecedented action to support renters by banning evictions, preventing financial hardship, and helping businesses to pay salaries. For susan and others struggling to pay the rent, though, the risk of losing their home remains. Jonathan blake, bbc news. A campaign in march by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford sucessfully led to the government extending its Free School Meals provision to children in england over the summer holidays. Since then £380 millon worth of vouchers have been redeemed by schools and families. Jayne mccubbin has been to liverpool to see what a difference its made. I am a single parent, and im struggling a lot lately. But these School Vouchers have really helped. Thank you, melicia, thanks, reuben and i think the best thing that theyve ever done is brought these vouchers out, and i think that without them, theres going to be a lot of families that are really going to struggle. These families are eligible because they have a Household Income of less than £7,a00 a year, and they say this centre, and these vouchers, have been a lifeline. I was born in syria, i am an Asylum Seeker in the uk. I am not allowed to work, but i do fill my time volunteering for the british red cross, the nhs. We have £35 per week per person, and its very difficult for us. Ive been a single parent for five years now. Usually towards the end of the month, its hard, with the universal credit were on monthly. So, making it stretch for the whole month is quite difficult. Were trying to do our best but thanks to the local support that weve been receiving. Without it, i wouldnt have been able to do it by myself. Exchanging your vouchers for food, it makes you feel like youre doing a proper shop, rather than asking and begging for food. This scheme helped over1 million kids over the summer holidays, a campaign that helped lead to change in england, wales, scotland and northern ireland. The Marcus Rashford campaign . Ive got to say, you know, hes a Manchester United player. I know, this kills you, then, doesnt it . It does, but you know what, ive got to admire him. You know, you dont realise what help that gives to our kids. If theres something great to come out of this epidemic. All our staff have been there, done it and got the t shirt. Yourself included . Myself as well. Its not been easy but its notjust about us, its about every other family in this situation across the country. Its about getting a bit back and help out. Youre glad to do it . Definitely. £15 a week per child for six weeks. That might not sound like much to some people. To others, its meant the world of a difference this summer. Jayne mccubbin, bbc news. For the first time, a woman of Indian Heritage is being honoured with a blue plaque. Noor inayat khan was a secret agent during the second world war. She lived at a house in bloomsbury in Central London before leaving for what was to be herfinal mission. Lizo mzimba reports. Its the first time in its 150 year history that a blue plaque is being unveiled in honour of a woman of indian origin. Noor inayat khan was born in moscow to an American Mother and an indian father. He was a musician and teacher. The family moved first to london and then to france. She was educated in paris and later worked writing childrens stories. After the fall of france in 1940, khan escaped to england, where shejoined the Womens Auxiliary Air force. Two years later, she was recruited to join the special Operations Executive as a Radio Operator. Shortly after, she returned to paris, this time to work as a spy the first female Radio Operator to be sent into nazi occupied france. They were losing Radio Operators like flies. The Life Expectancy was six weeks, so noor was crucial to this. And they flew her in undercover. She is transformed into madeline, the secret agent. After months of dangerous work, she was betrayed, arrested by the gestapo, imprisoned and tortured. She died after being shot in a concentration camp in september 19114. Her plaque marks the return of the blue plaque scheme after a brief hiatus because of coronavirus. The new plaque will mark the house in bloomsbury in Central London that was her family home when she left england for the last time