Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240713 : comparemela.com

Have attention deficit disorder. President erdogan of turkey says more than 80,000 people have fled recent attacks by the Syrian Government on rebel held territory in idlib province, and that his country wouldnt be able to cope if a new wave of refugees attempted to cross the border. Thereve been reports of civilian deaths in air strikes on towns and villages, and accounts of large numbers of people trying to flee. Gareth barlow reports. Its an all too familiar story after eight years of war. Syrians fleeing fighting. Some people havent managed to escape in time. Members of the White Helmets volunteer rescue group desperately try to help those caught up in the latest upsurge of violence. As the Syrian Government battles to regain territory held by rebels in the Northern Province of idlib. But the turkish president has warned his country cant cope with the number of refugees trying to escape the fighting. Translation more than 80,000 of our brothers from idlib have started migrating towards our borders. If the violence does not stop this number will increase and turkey will not carry such a burden on its own. We are working with russia to stop the attacks, in fact, they are sending a delegation to moscow tomorrow. Russia is a key backer of syrias president assad. Moscows support has changed the course of the conflict. Government forces once again control the majority of the country, but years of fighting has displaced millions. Translation we fled from the bombing and destruction and we do not know where we will go. We have no refuge, we have nothing. Translation we fled from the bombardment. Russian warplanes are striking, there are helicopters, missiles and rockets. We cannot remain there. United nations estimate idlib is home to three million people, a third of them children. Turkey hopes the joint syrian russian operation can be contained to try to prevent another humanitarian disaster for communities already ravaged by war. Gareth barlow, bbc news. Fire crews in australia are assessing the damage from the weekends bushfires, and while the weather has cooled down a little, the political debate is raging on. Prime minister Scott Morrison has acknowledged a link between Global Warming and extreme weather, but has doubled down on his defence of the coal industry. Shaimaa khalil has the story. It feels like a deserted war zone, but this is the aftermath of the catastrophic bushfires that have ravaged New South Wales. And in the village of balmoral, the devastation is everywhere. Russell scholes has been a volunteer firefighter for six years. He was out with his team trying to control the blaze in the village when his own house was burned to the ground. So many of the brigade are tired. Thats the mental side of it when youre continually battling something you cant beat. The Prime Minister Scott Morrison, appearing for the first time today after fierce criticism of his holiday in hawaii, conceded that more needed to be done to tackle Global Warming, with scientists saying that drier conditions brought about by Climate Change have worsened the impact of bushfires. The catastrophic fires have subsided but the situation is still extremely dangerous here. The roads remain closed off. Balmoral was one of the worst hit areas by saturdays fires and the community is still very much in shock. Many havent returned to see what happened to their homes and what happened to their village. Just opposite the road from russells shattered house is a very different picture. Craig hurley stayed to defend his home during the fires, using up all the water reserves he had. Flames like a five or six storey building and just roaring all around you. Just scared as hell, you dont know what to do. Australias bracing itself for a scorching summer, and many are wondering where the next big fire is going to hit. Shaimaa khalil, bbc news, balmoral, New South Wales. Phil mercer is in sydney with the latest. Australia is at the mercy of not only temperatures but also the wind and also the tinder dry conditions that a long drought, especially here in eastern australia, has left much of the countryside. Authorities taking advantage of far more benign conditions. The temperatures compared to the last few days have dropped by almost 20 degrees celsius, so that is giving authorities a helping hand and what theyre doing is they are assessing the damage from the fires of the last couple of days. Here in New South Wales, since friday, 100 houses have been destroyed. There are fires still burning in the state of victoria. In south australia, about 86 homes were lost in the adelaide hills. This is an area quite close to the city of adelaide that is blanketed in smoke. So the fires still rage. Conditions are more favourable today, but many people just wondering when the next extreme bout of weather is likely to hit and what that will mean for the fires. And, phil, we heard in shaimas report that Prime Minister Scott Morrison has conceded a link between Climate Change and events like this, but on the other hand, he has absolutely doubled down on his defence of Climate Change Industries Like coal . Australias centre right government, led by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison, is an Ardent Supporter of the coal industry. Coal generates the lions share of australias electricity and also billions of dollars for the australian economy. There is clearly a political dimension to this. In may of this year, mr morrison won a federal election. No one was really expecting him to succeed at that poll, but that was in large part due to support from mining communities. They were worried that the opposition policies for Climate Change may have impacted the mining industry, so they supported Scott Morrison. So mr morrison is acutely aware that part of his Political Base is within those mining communities. He doesnt believe that changing australias Climate Change policies is essential as he says, if he were to do so, in his words, there could be economic crunching of australias economy. So mr morrison acknowledging that the link between Global Warming and extreme weather events, but not willing to shift australias Climate Change policies. Phil mercer in sydney. An email just released by the Us Government shows the white house sought to freeze aid to ukrainejust 91 minutes after President Trump spoke to president Volodymyr Zelensky by phone in july. In the call, mr trump asked the ukrainian leader to investigate his political rival, democratjoe biden. That phone call is central to President Trumps impeachment, as democrats argue it shows the president used his office for personal political gain. In india, Prime Minister and hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi has tried to calm anger over a controversial new citizenship law, saying Indian Muslims have nothing to fear from it. At least 20 people have been killed in days of protests over the law, with the police accused of using excessive force. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini Vaidya Nathan reports. Days of deadly violence, as indians continue to oppose a law they say is an assault on the rights of the countrys 200 million muslims. As curfews were imposed and internet was blocked in indias largest state, uttar pradesh, protesters say theyve been brutally silenced. As the death toll rises, reports some victims were shot by the police a charge authorities deny. At a rally today, indias Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, expressed his support for the countrys police, but failed to mention the civilian deaths, and defended his citizenship amendment act, the caa, which offers only non muslim Illegal Immigrants from certain countries fast track nationality. Translation muslims who were born on indian soil shouldnt be concerned by the caa order and nrc. A national nrc would introduce citizenship checks for everyone in the country, something many protesters fear could target muslims. Today, the Prime Minister said his government hadnt discussed once since he came to power in 2014, but his close ally, home minister amit shah, has repeatedly promised to introduce an nrc, even in parliament. While the status of that is now unclear, experts say the partys wider agenda is not. There is no question that the bjp government, through its legislative agenda, is moving india in the direction of becoming a hindu state. When you introduce a law that brings religion into determining who is an indian, all indians become vulnerable. Indians from all backgrounds have taken to the streets as the movement against the citizenship law and the Modi Government grows stronger. We are united like never before. We will continue to fight for as long as it takes. Protesters say they are fighting for the future of indias secular constitution. They believe the governments trying to divide this country, and say about this show of unity is the only way to stop that from happening. Rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, delhi. The death toll from two storms that have hit parts of western europe has risen to nine. Spain and portugal are among the countries worst affected which hit the Iberian Peninsula on wednesday but has since weakened. However, a second storm, fabien, has followed closely behind, bringing with it more flooding and power cuts. Kathryn armstrong reports. A waterfront in Southern France is battered by waves and high winds. One of several places to feel the effects of two powerful storms in recent days. Storm elsa swept in from the atlantic on wednesday and was closely followed by a second storm, fabian, which made landfall on saturday. Spain has been the hardest hit with severe flooding reported in many areas. Seven people are thought to have died there, including a fisherman who was swept off rocks into the sea in the catalonia region. At least two people have also been killed in neighbouring portugal, where some towns have been submerged due to flash flooding and winds reaching speeds of over 100kph. The storms have only exacerbated the situation in italy, which has been dealing with the effects of bad weather for weeks. 12 people were stranded in this merchant ship after it hit rocks off the coast of sardinia and couldnt be rescued until conditions improved. There have been widespread power cuts in Southern France and some Rail Services were cancelled due to the likelihood of trees falling on the lines. This has only added to transport chaos in france, due to ongoing strikes that have seen hundreds of trains and flgihts cancelled, and roads gridlocked. Flights. The worst of the storm fabian is expected to pass by sunday night, but Wind Warnings will remain in place in parts of france and the mediterranean on monday, as the region takes stock of the damage. Kathryn armstrong, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come another christmas in makeshift churches. We report on the plight of christians in the indonesian province of aceh. The world of musics been paying tribute to george michael, whos died from suspected Heart Failure at the age of 53. He sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. The United States troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. The pentagon says its failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to the United States to face drugs charges. The hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. In its place, the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. Day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan ams maid of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. You could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. Christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. Thousands went to Midnight Mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti communist riots 10 days ago. This is bbc world news, the latest headlines warnings of a worsening refugee crisis in syria turkeys president says more than 80,000 people have fled fighting in idlib province. As australias bushfire crisis continues, the countrys Prime Minister Scott Morrrison has defended the coal industry and defied calls for new carbon targets. Christians in the indonesian province of aceh are preparing to celebrate christmas in makeshift tents in the jungle. Their churches were destroyed four years ago by islamic vigilante groups and the police. Church leaders say they want to rebuild, but theyve been stopped from doing so by the local authorities. The bbcs asia editor Rebecca Henschke reports. This is the last service martina berutus community were allowed to hold in their church, built in the 1960s. The next day, she had to stand by and watch authorities destroy it. Translator we were all afraid. We felt so sad. It was heartbreaking. Now we have nowhere to pray. A week before, angry mobs burnt down this nearby church after holding protests calling for all churches in the region to be demolished. Translation someone threw a molotov cocktailfrom a car and everything caught on fire. They also threw a bomb at the cross. Then people came from everywhere. The police tried to hold them back but they couldnt. The president , joko widodo at the time, called for the violence to end, saying it was against the countrys founding principles of unity and diversity. But four years on, new places of worship have not been built. The services now take place here, in makeshift churches in the jungle. Aceh, the only province in indonesia that has islamic law brought in regulations two years ago that require at least 100 non christians to support the building of a church. Something christian leaders here say is impossible, but a law, the local mayor defends. Translation there should be an agreement from both sides if the christians want a church permit, then permission from the muslims. In my opinion just follow the rules. Thats the right way. Indonesia, once known for its moderate islam and multifaith society, has seen growing intolerance in recent years, and Rights Groups say that 200 churches across indonesia have been shut down in the last 12 years. With no hope of getting permission to rebuild the church, the minority Christian Community here in aceh is preparing to celebrate christmas here in the forest. The premier League Football Club Tottenham hotspur has promised a thorough investigation after its match with chelsea was marred by racist behaviour from the crowd. Fans were warned three times during the game, after monkey noises and racist chanting were aimed at the chelsea defender antonio rudiger. Jon donnison has more. Well, spurs have issued a statement saying they are now conducting a thorough investigation and that will include speaking to some of the chelsea players. That statement says, any form of racism is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in this stadium. It says they take any allegations such allegations extremely seriously and they will take the strongest possible action against any individualfound to be behaving in any such a way will be taken, including stadium bans. One would imagine with all the cameras and the technology in the stadiums like this it might be relatively easy to catch any alleged perpetrators. But, of course, this isnt the first such incident in recent weeks and months. We had a Manchester City fan arrested earlier this month following a game between city and Manchester United for alleged racist abuse. There have been incidents in some of the minor league games. We also had the england team, the black players in the england team, facing racist abuse when they played in bulgaria earlier this year. So i think this is another reminder that if there were people out there who thought that the issue of racism in football had gone away, that doesnt seem to be the case. Tourists visiting bethlehem in the lead up to christmas have been surprised to see an alternative nativity scene created by the elusive artist banksy. It features in his hotel, called the walled 0ff. The piece invokes the palestinian israeli conflict, and the artist says its designed to make people think about how palestinians live in the city. Courtney bembridge has been taking a look. Dubbed the scar of bethlehem, the work depicts israels concrete west bank barrier with a star shaped hole in the centre and jesuss manger in front. The anonymous british artist says the work is a modified nativity. Christmas known, with the star of bethlehem, that led people to the birthplace ofjesus. Banksy called this nativity the scar