hello and welcome to bbc news. pakistan s former president, general pervez musharraf, has died following a long illnes. he was 79. president musharraf seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999 serving in office for seven years from 2001. and in 2019 he was sentenced to death in absentia, for treason charges for absconding the murder trial of one of his successors, benazir bhutto. at the time of his death he had been living in exile in dubai, recieving medical treatment. the bbc s gordon corera looks back on his life. 1999. and when troops stormed the national television headquarters to put pervez musharraf in power, the people of pakistan heard a familiar refrain. the nation needed another leader in uniform to save it from self serving politicians. in the past, our governments have ruled the people. it is time now for the governments to serve the people. pakistan had already been under army rule for more than half the time it had been independent. general musharraf
pakistan s former president, general pervez musharraf, has died following a long illness. he was 79 years old. president musharraf seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, serving in office for seven years from 2001. and in 2019 he was sentenced to death in absentia, for treason charges for absconding the murder trial of one of his successors, bennazir bhuto. at the time of his death, he had been living in exile in dubai, receiving medical treatment. the bbc s gordon corera looks back on his life. 1999. and when troops stormed the national television headquarters to put pervez musharraf in power, the people of pakistan heard a familiar refrain. the nation needed another leader in uniform to save it from self serving politicians. in the past, our governments have ruled the people. it is time now for the governments to serve the people. pakistan had already been under army rule for more than half the time it had been independent. general musharraf portrayed himself as
good evening, we begin with breaking news. the pentagon now saying a second chinese spy balloon is currently crossing latin america. that s on top of the one now floating somewhere over this country. exact whereabouts unknown. something so unexpected to be what it is where it is that it left people asking questions like this. what planet is that? actually, that s a good question. it s not mars or venus. the balloon is the size of three buses equipped with solar panels for power, and surveillance equipment. spotted yesterday crossing montana including over icbm sites. it drifted across nebraska spotted across missouri floating at 60,000 feet following the prevailing wednesday. in a moment we ll take a look at where it could be headed next. today china said it was, quote, civilian air ship, a weather research vehicle gone astray, and secretary of state blinken postponed his upcoming trip to beijing. any country that has its air space violated in this way i think would res
since then i have the chemical burns and reaction rash on my face. i could smell the chemicals and like, it s obvious something is not right. before two days ago you could not stand here without getting a headache. it s travelling to inside the ground, it s a very rural area where this happened, these people have farms and livestock and it s going into the waterways. sandra: begin america reports with that train derailment up ending people s lives in a small ohio town where there are lingering safety questions at this hour. almost two weeks after the disaster. hello, welcome, i m sandra smith in new york. hi. john: happy wednesday to you, john roberts in washington. people in east palestine, ohio hoping to get some answers during a town hall meeting, after a train went off the tracks 12 days ago carrying hazardous chemicals. a toxic fire spent plumes of toxic smoke for days. sandra: some residents are worried about water and air quality. people getting sick, f
oren liebermann at the pentagon. let s go arlette at the white house. reporter: president biden offered his first comments on the situation regarding that chinese spy balloon just moments ago, saying they are prepared to take care of it. president biden has been receiving briefings since tuesday, including potential options relating to how they could address this. here is how he answered reporters questions moments ago. you heard president biden say we are going to take care of it. officials here at the white house say the president is consistently being briefed on the various options they have been presented. one option was the possibility of shooting down this plane. that s something they have not ruled out. previously as he was presented that option, he was warned about the potential impact it could have o and impact it could have here on the ground and affecting people. we will see what else the white house and pentagon has to say later today regarding this balloon. it