Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20200804

For so called reeducation rare footage of the uighur ethnic minorities held in secretive detention centres. Hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world 7 and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. Im tim willcox. A massive explosion has torn through the lebanese capital beirut, killing at least 70 people and injuring more than 3700. Its not yet known what caused the explosion but lebanons Prime Minister says his country is facing a catastrophe and beirut is in mourning. Heres our middle east editor, jeremy bowen. Just to warn you his report contains distressing images. Explosion. It was a massive explosion. Shouting. Another view from the bay. And from the streets. What happened 7 oh, my god oh, my god. It looks as if dozens are dead and several thousand injured. And a country already deep in crisis has been hit by a catastrophe. Translation i dont know what happened. I was fishing. I heard there was a fire. I turned and started to head home. I heard something explode and then this happened. This was the fire in beirut port. The flashes, they say, wear fireworks. Then something much bigger ignited. Lebanons interior minister told local media it was alarm bell. This is downtown beirut, close to the Parliament Building will stop since the end of last year, lebanon has been paralysed by a political and economic crisis, and street demonstrations, before the country was gripped by the pandemic. The damage is spread across the city. The shock will run much deeper. And this tragedy risks pushing the lebanese further into despair. Hassan diab, the Prime Minister, broadcast to the nation. He told them that those responsible would pay the price. Beiruts hospitals, already pressed hard by covid i9, are faced with hundreds of casualties. Translation we were at home. We heard what sounded like fireworks. We thought it was a container in the port that was on fire. A few seconds later, we were flying through the air. Lebanon will get International Help which until now, its friends have been reluctant to give because of corruption and incompetence in lebanons wealthy elite. But public anger, already strong, will demand real change at last, if lebanons rulers cannot heal and there is one big question. Who allowed the storage of so much deadly explosive for so long in a warehouse so close to the city centre . Jeremy bowen, bbc news. Sunniva rose is a journalist based in beirut. Her flat has been damaged by the explosion. Quite close and also residential. The the residential. The everybody in the neighbourhood has the window shattered. He cannot even walk in the street, just covered in glass and there were body bags in the street down near my house, entire buildings have collapsed. The city is dark, its completely dark, theres no electricity now it has come back a little bit. As you know there is electricity problems in lebanon in addition to this. The whole city is in shock, people were crying in the streets and covered in blood. I dont know what the actual toll is an injury toll, but its going tojust go up toll is an injury toll, but its going to just go up because people toll is an injury toll, but its going tojust go up because people i think are trapped in the rubble as well. In the hospitals are overwhelmed with this and of course some people frightened about going to hospitals. I dont know if you we re to hospitals. I dont know if you were badly or let the injured but people dont want to risk going to hospitals because of covid i9. People dont want to risk going to hospitals because of avid19. Yes. Lebanon, well coronavirus is not a huge problem in lebanon until the airport reopened in earlyjuly and now its becoming bad. As an economic crisis here right now and hospitals are shortage already warned they were going to be saturated by next week or in two weeks. Already the situation is very bad, hospitals could barely buy material and medicine because of the crisis that predates covid i9 by a long time. I think its going to be very tough on the hospitals tonight. You are probably too young to remember the civil war but the people you have spoken to, did they initially fear that this was some sort of hostile explosion . Must initially fear that this was some sort of i back explosion . Must initially fear that this was some sort of i back the jlosion . Must dont precisely happened with has in last h has in last few has in last few hours. Has in last few hours. We i has i in last few hours. We dont 5 i in last few hours. We dont know in the last few hours. We dont know exactly what happened, i spoke to a lot of people and honestly most people were in shock. No one was very talkative about what they thought would most what happened and only describe it they heard. My son 86 year old woman being treated by a doctor who had a first aid kit on him. There was one person who was quite unphased, someone who is read by the port hall, the shop was destroyed and he said others, maybe the tenth time this building was bombed. He was definitely the calmest one i spoke to. No one knows what happened, and the fact that the explosion was of chemicals and were about now if iiifir ii , of pollution. Nobody to an specialist at knows. I spoke to an specialist at the American University of beirut and people are saying to rep casks masks. At three unclear what happened, and thats happened, and yeah, thats it. Decades of corruption and i failing decades of corruption and of failing infrastructure, protests on the streets about this as well in the last few months. How will lebanon cope with this . It will need a lot of International Help which really has not been forthcoming, has it recently . The International Community has refused to help because of the corruption. In the government has to implement certain reforms on transparency and Anti Corruption reforms on transparency and anti corru ption measures reforms on transparency and Anti Corruption measures before they receive any help. I think this is very different because if it is an accident which is what the government is saying, that its not like the lebanese brought tips on themselves. The International Community knows that lebanon needs help even if just Community Knows that lebanon needs help even ifjust to run the hospitals, this is going to be a huge humanitarian problem here in lebanon. And yes it does feel like its just one lebanon. And yes it does feel like itsjust one more lebanon. And yes it does feel like its just one more calamity. My here is very hard and have to population lives in poverty. The local currency is evaluated by 80 , we have entered hyperinflation. Its already pretty dire and this just feels like, i think people dont know how to react. I hope that they will be having solidarity, as seen pictures of social media of people donating blood, we have to see we need to be very transparent and clear about what happens. So that people can trust the government in this. What happens. So that people can trust the government in thislj what happens. So that people can trust the government in this. I hope you have a peaceful night and can get some sleep, thank you very much indeed forjoining us here on bbc news. President trump has insisted the United States is doing an incrediblejob during the coronavirus pandemic in an interview in which he struggled to defend his handling of the crisis. Thereve been more than 4. 7 million confirmed cases of covid i9 in america. More than 156 thousand people have died. Our north america editor, jon sopel, reports injuly in america, there were 1. 9 million new cases of coronavirus. By a distance, the worst month to date. But the president repeatedly insists it is all going well. So, how can that be justified . 1,000 americans are dying a day. They are dying, that is true, and it is what it is, but that does not mean we arent doing everything we can. Take a look at some of these charts. He produced a series of graphs, the details of which he seemed unfamiliar with. Well, right here, United States is lowest in numerous categories, were lower than the world. Lower than the world . What does that mean . Lowe than europe. In what . Take a look. Were last, meaning that were first. I dont know what we are first in. Last week saw the lying in state of congressman john lewis, one of the heroes of the civil rights movement, who marched on washington with Martin Luther king in 1963. At his funeral, the president s three predecessors spoke, but donald trump chose not to pay his respects. How do you think history will remember john lewis . I dont know, i really dont know. I dont know. I dont knowjohn lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration. He chose. I never metjohn lewis, actually. Do you find him impressive . I cant say one way or the other. Anotherjarring moment in the interview was when he doubled down on his support for ghislane maxwell, friend of Prince Andrew and former girlfriend of convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein. She is now in prison awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges that she denies. You said, quote, ijust wish her well, frankly. Why would you wish such a person well . I dont know that, but i do know. She has she has been arrested for that. Herfriend or her boyfriend. Epstein. Was either killed or committed suicide in jail. She is now injail. Yeah, i wish her well. I would wish you well, i would wish a lot of people well. Donald trump believes he is his own best salesman and between now and the election will be giving a lot more interviews. But whether they will produce the headlines he wants is another matter. Jon sopel, bbc news, washington. Let s get some of the day s other news. New york citys Health Commissioner has resigned. Doctor 0xiris barbot, cited her deep disappointment with mayor bill de blasios handling of the coronavirus outbreak, saying the Health Departments incomparable expertise wasnt used to the degree it could have been. More than 20,000 new yorkers died of the virus, though infection rates are now low. The mayor often clashed with dr barbot, and hes already named her replacement. Tropical storm isaias has brought tornadoes and heavy rains to the east coast of the us, after making landfall in North Carolina as a hurricane. At least one person was killed when a tornado ravaged a mobile home park. In virginia, more than 300,000 people are without power. A Tropical Storm warning is in effect all the way to maine washington, philadelphia and new york have been lashed by the storm. The bbc has obtained rare footage from inside chinas secretive system of mass incarceration in the far Western Region of shin jang. In a self shot video, a former fashion model who is from the uighur ethnic group can be seen handcuffed to a bed. His relatives say he was taken away for what china has called re education and that nothing has been heard from him since. Up to one million uighurs have been detained in so called educational training centres. Neither the Chinese Foreign ministry nor shin jang authorities have responded to the bbcs requests for comment. John sudworth has this report. A few years ago, this man was a long way from his home in xinjiang, making good money as a fashion model in southern china. But this is him in february. His camera reveals his filthy clothes, and his left arm handcuffed to a bed. He is now clearly back in xinjiang. Beyond the steel mesh on the window, a propaganda announcement drones away in the uighur language. Despite the risk that it may bring him further punishment. Relatives, including his uncle, who lives in amsterdam, say they have no choice but to release the video he sent them. Translation staying silent wont help him, either. The only thing i can do is to raise public awareness. It is our only chance to rescue him. The young model had already served 16 months injail, having been convicted of a drugs offence in 2018, although his family say he was innocent. Upon completing his sentence, whatever relief he may have felt was short lived. Soon afterwards, the police picked him up again and took him back to xinjiang, for, they said, a few days education. We have asked Chinese Government officials here whether he was suspected of any further offence and, even if he was, why he was handcuffed to a bed. We have received no response. China has built a vast network of highly secure facilities across xinjiang, some of which we were shown as part of its efforts to convince the world that theyre schools for combating extremism, not camps. But last year, under intense international criticism, it said they were being closed. The texts merdan sent along with his video clearly suggest otherwise. 50 60 people were locked in a small room, he writes. Elsewhere, he could hear the sounds of torture. One time, i heard a man screaming from morning to evening, he writes. His first hand description of the Police Holding cell is very, very vivid. He writes in very, very good chinese. It gives us a lot of detail, and frankly, a lot of horrific detail about the way in which these people are treated. So it is quite a rare source. In the end, it was the virus that allowed him to get word out from this secretive system. With a slightly high temperature, he was moved to this isolation cell as a precaution and given access to personal belongings, which, unknown to his guards, contained his phone. But as suddenly as they began, the messages stopped. He has not been heard from since. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come. Well look ahead to the sri lanka elelctions and the hopes of the current president to strengthen his political hold. The question was whether we wanted to save our people and japanese as well and win the war or whether we wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. The invasion began at 2am this morning. Mr bush like most other people was clearly caught by surprise. We call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality, and enjoyment of life. No other king or queen in british history has lived so long and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she has achieved this landmark anniversary. This is a Pivotal Moment for the church as an international movement. The question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. This is bbc news, the latest headlines. A massive blast in the lebanese capital beirut leaves dozens dead and thousands injured the explosion in the port sent shock waves across the city. 0ur correspondent, Carine Torbey has been at the American University medical centre in beirut. I am standing in front of the emergency guide of one of the hospitals and people are still coming here, either to check on relatives or check whether their relatives are in back at the hospital. There are so many people are unaccounted for. It has been equally overwhelmed. They are working to their utmost capacity and still unable to deal with the injured coming. And of course every single space in the hospital has been turned into an emergency. As hospital has been turned into an emergency as and hospital has been turned into an emergfirqfi hospitals , efifimsjgfiks,, hospital has been turned into an emergefirw hospitals because mares,, , hospital has been turned into an emergerrq to 1ospitals because mess. ,, , even the. Are and the. Are and the to. Are and g to the. Are fir ii. Oi the cases and of the cases and gizfing severity of the cases and giving priority very pressure severity of the cases and giving priorityi are | very pressure severity of the cases and giving priorityi are under. Pressure severity of the cases and giving priorityi are under l the essure severity of the cases and giving priorityi are under. The moment. That they are under at the moment. This is a real emergency insight and emergency unit in the hospital, and people are here not only because they are injured, but also because they are injured, but also because they are in shock and panic. At the moment its very very hard and this is the real scale of what has happened this afternoon. But theres been immensely shattered and dropped by this explosion happened hours ago and still up until now everyone is a nswe rs answers and try to looking for answers and try to understand what president rajapaksa, hopes to install his elder brother and former president current caretaker Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the post formally with an outright election victory. Voters in the tiny Indian Nation indian ocean nation. Its its already been postponed thanks to covid 19. Im joined now by Viraj Solanki whos a Research Associate for south asia at the International Institute for strategic studies here in london. Thanks forjoining us. It has been postponed twice. Pretty extraordinary election on several levels, just talk us through this. Not only covid 19 but other factors as well. Good to be with you, tim. Yes this is an extraordinary election. The covid pandemic has forced the postponement of the election twice since it was first announced in march of this year. Because of that there has been Safety Measures that the sri lankan authorities have had to implement to make sure that this election is safe to go ahead and that the Health Concerns have been addressed. That includes allowing voters to bring their own pens to mark ballot paper is ensuring social distancing, making sure that voters wear masks and having more polling stations, having more polling station officers, and even if they have tested all of these measures through Mock Elections that have taken place over the past few weeks. All of these covid secure measures have resulted in this being the most expensive election ever in the history of sri lanka. In the military has played a role in this and havent they . And the Rajapaksa Party have modelled their party of the Strong Military presence. What are they going for in terms of majority and were they hoping to achieve from these elections . The key thing is to look out for at this election is the number of seats that the slp p win. They are likely to get a majority, over hundred 13 of the 225 seats in parliament, but the raja pa ksa party goal of the 225 seats in parliament, but the rajapa ksa party goal of to the 225 seats in parliament, but the Rajapaksa Party goal of to when the magic figure of 150 seats in parliament which would give them a two thirds majority, and winning a two thirds majority, and winning a two thirds majority would allow them, they say, to carry out the policies that they wish to implement, and this would include key constitutional changes in sri la nka key constitutional changes in sri lanka including one that would increase the power of the president in relation to parliament. The opposition parties however feel that this change would reduce the level of democracy in sri lanka. Politically sri lanka has been caught on several fronts, india, china, what is sri lanka looking for in these relationships . So, sri lanka, because of its important location with the indian ocean has seen over location with the indian ocean has seen over the last two years china and india, and other major powers including the us and japan try to gauge the country and increase their cooperation. Sri lanka is looking to increase their cooperation and gain in terms of its own Infrastructure Development needs, Economic Needs within the country, and therefore engaging widely with each of the major powers that are also seeking to gain influence in sri lanka. Therefore we have seen, for example, china india and the us all engage with sri lanka and provide assistance during the pandemic, and china has provided over 100,000 masks for sri lanka for the safe conduct of these elections. Research associate for the international. Will be across the result of that election and bring you all of the news as it develops here on bbc news. We wa nt we want to this north and south east divide on tuesday it was the case in many parts of england and plenty of dry bright warm and sunny weather. Very different story from the north, every surrendered Northern Ireland and england and for scotland it really was a soaking wet day. As for the front as possible and sink for the front as possible and sink for the south with the two central areas to start wednesday but weak on another front which will move into Western Areas late in the day. This first front will start to migrate northwards again through the morning taking the apache rained with it. His next weather from will proceed across the irish sea with prince of wales in western england, and then for the northwest it will be rather cloudy and spots of drizzle at times. A blustery day to come particularly england and wales and once again stayed dry with brightness across eastern england. Also fairly warm across with the brightness there. Stays rather cloudy with further abrasive rain pushing on into the north sea, but i think it will leave a legacy of clout and clear spells, and by a warm and humid night too,. This waterfront really starts to dial in as we head into thursday, fade out there in response to this building area of the near continent. That will be the theme to the end of the week with High Pressure starting to dominate. That weather front as it fizzles out takes any showers with it, and the crowd starts to break about we pick up warm or southerly winds, a dry day forth variable cloud. Temperatures reaching the low 20s for the north, the high 20s across the southeast. As we head into friday could see a little bit of rain returning to Western Areas, so heavy the bulk of the country its going to be a very warm or even hot date with plenty of sunshine. That low 20s in the north and west, 30 to maybe 3a degrees in the southeast. Feeling quite hot again. As we move into the weekend in the area of High Pressure will building across the uk and will settle things down so should be dry or even for the north and west too. Another hot day across the southeast on saturday and sense of his surgical down a little bit as we head on into sunday. This is bbc world news. The headlines. A massive explosion in the lebanese capital beirut has killed at least ten people and injured hundreds more. The cause is not yet known. The internal security chief has said it happened in an area housing highly explosive materials. That number of debt has risen to more than 50. That number of debt has risen to more than 50. That number of dead has risen. President trump has said the coronavirus outbreak is as under control as it can get in the United States. In an interview with the axios news website, he defended his administrations response to the virus. There is intense speculation in the spanish media about the whereabouts of embattled ex king juan carlos. It follows his shock announcement on monday that he was leaving the country. The 82 year old is targeted by a corruption investigation