Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

For an early election. Hello and welcome to bbc news. The number of People Killed by Hurricane Dorian in the bahamas could be staggering, according to officials there. At the moment 30 people are known to have died, but many areas remain cut off. In the last hours, dorian has made landfall over Cape Hatteras in North Carolina in the us, and has weakened to a categoryi storm. But the full force of the hurricane was felt in the abaco islands in the bahamas. These are the latest pictures from there. Along with aid and equipment, officials are sending morticians and hundreds of body bags. Our correspondent Aleem Maqbool has been aboard the british ship rfa mounts bay, and has just sent this report. Heading out to try to find more survivors of the hurricane, this military helicopter is taking off from a royal fleet auxiliary ship that tracked right behind dorian as it smashed into the bahamas. Last night, the helicopter discovered a group of people whod been cut off, no communications for five days. We delivered the aid first thing in the morning, this morning, to give them more food. So basically, we are sort of the emergency response, so to speak. And the military here was helping some communities, even as others close by were still feeling the brunt of the storm. Well, this british ship really has been at the forefront of the International Emergency relief effort following Hurricane Dorian. Right now, it is launching a vessel loaded with heavy lifting equipment and vehicles to try to get to an area that was badly affected by the hurricane, but hasnt yet been reached at all. And they have often been the first outsiders to get to the most devastated areas. But new affected communities are still being found, like one we headed to in the north of great abaco island. There, kirk sawyer had just left his house when dorian tore through. Sheltering with a friend, debris flying around and huge waves coming in, he thought he wouldnt make it. I told my friend, i said, hey, we were friends for almost a0 years. We arrived together, were going to die together here. And not being able to tell his family outside he is alive has been tough. For them, he had a message. Your uncle kirk here, hes alive, he made it through this. So ill see you all soon. Thank you all for being concerned about me. Love you all. The reality is many didnt survive. In marsh harbour, we saw more bodies being removed, and the signs are the recovery effort will go on for many days yet. I honestly believe abaco is finished. I think abaco will not recover until the next ten years, like, fully recover, because everything is gone. Absolutely everything is gone. The uk is distributing shelter and ration packs across affected communities. But even those of them who have been doing this through powerful hurricanes of recent years told us they had never seen needs as great as this. Aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the abaco islands of the bahamas. India has lost contact with a lunar explorerjust as it was going to land on the surface of the moon. The chandrayaan 2 mission was just over 2 km above the moon when transmission ceased. The descent is a complex operation and success would have made india only the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, and the first to touchdown on the most southerly part, where no one country has been before. So what happened to the mission . Raji rajagopalan is the head of the nuclear and Space Policy Initiative at the Observer Research foundation. I think it is too early to say with any certainty as to what could have possibly gone wrong. Until almost until the last minute, you got it right. But i think it was always going to be a complex mission. Even china, that has developed certain capabilities, its first Landing Mission on the moon was in the near side of the moon. So landing on the southern polar region, orfar side, those are much more complex missions, and isro has not the Indian Space Research organisation has not really come up with a statement as to what could have gone wrong. There are a couple of things i could see. One is that the engine at the centre that was supposed to come on, maybe that malfunctioned and that did not come on, that is a possibility. Second, to give it a positive spin, is that maybe the lander, the rover and the lander has landed actually perfectly fine, maybe, butjust has lost the Data Transmission links. And maybe that is a positive way to look at it. But i think, given the complexity of the mission and the overall success rate so far of various missions from various Different Countries have tried, i think has been about 50 , so this was always going to be a difficult one. Having said that, i would just add one point, which is that you still have something really interesting to this mission, which is the orbiter. The orbiter is still functioning without any glitches, and thats going to will be around for a full year, which means that the orbiter will continue to be able to sending messages, data, as well as being able to take messages, for instance. So theres still quite a bit of advance benefits you see from this mission, but of course, the mission as planned has not gone that well, in a sense, of course. Now, you touched on the complexity of the mission. If it had succeeded, it would have been the first country to land on the south pole of the moon. Why is that so much harder, and why were they aiming for that . Because i think india did not want to repeat what other countries have done. Because we didnt want to do Something Like that to say we have done it too. That was not the primary purpose. Most of the Indian Space Agency missions have tried to complement other missions that have already been undertaken, whether it is nasa or the european or the russians centre, and so forth. So this mission was going to add to the information, so this was going to add to the missions, by adding to what has been done so far. So it was going to be a complex mission, but if it had landed successfully, it would have added to humanitys understanding of the lunar surface, the presence of water and so forth on that part of the lunar surface. Lets get some of the days other news seven south american countries have signed a pact to protect the amazon river basin, the Worlds Largest tropical forest, by co ordinating their response to disasters. The summit in colombia was called amid global concern over the tens of thousands of fires burning there. The host, president ivan duque, said the establishment of a Natural Disaster network and a satellite Monitoring Network would help combat events like widespread fires. Eight us states and the district of columbia have launched an antitrust investigation into facebook. It is in a bid to determine if the social media giant has stifled competition and put users at risk. The investigation wants to determine if facebook endangered consumer data, reduced the quality of consumers choices, or increased the price of advertising. The former president of zimbabwe Robert Mugabe has died at the age of 95. Mr mugabe dominated his country for decades. He led the independence struggle against white minority rule and then himself ruled zimbabwe for 37 years. His early achievements in broadening access to health and education for the black majority were later marred by violence and economic collapse. Our correspondent Shingai Nyoka reports from the capital, harare. He was once zimbabwes liberator, leading a war against white minority rule. But by the end, the adulation president Robert Mugabe once enjoyed was gone. I, Robert Gabriel mugabe. He cemented his power winning overwhelmingly at elections in 1980. As leader of a new nation, he set about creating a better country than the one he inherited. He spent massively on education and infrastructural development, building a thriving black middle class and one of the most literate populations on the continent. But there was a vicious, ruthless side to the statesman. Between 1983 and 1987, mugabe deployed a military unit trained by the North Koreans to deal with his political opponents in the south of the country. But, as the 1990s ended, the economy was in trouble. Facing new political opposition, Robert Mugabe made a fateful step. He gave the go ahead for the seizure of white owned farms. White farmers fled. The western world took note, breaking diplomatic ties and imposed economic sanctions. In 2008, in the midst of billion Percent Inflation and widespread unemployment, mr mugabe suffered his first electoral defeat. It only led to more violence in the second round of voting. Tonight, president Emmerson Mnangagwa paid this tribute. Comrade mugabe bequeaths a rich and indelible legacy of tenacious adherence to principle on the collective rights of africa and africans. But the truth of his last years in power was that his country was collapsing around him. He could no longer hide his frailty, and he leant increasingly on his wife, grace, who had ambitions of her own. But the rising discontent in the party he dominated for a0 years continued and fuelled the demise. There are reminders of Robert Mugabe everywhere, but on the streets, there are no visible signs of mourning. That is because he lived out his last years cut off from public and political life, in an opulent mansion far removed from the struggles of many zimbabweans. Many will remember him as a gifted orator and visionary, who liberated zimbabwe, but who turned his back on the high ideals he had originally believed in. And you can find more reactions to the death of Robert Mugabe on our website. Just go to bbc. Com news. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come this week the us passed a grim milestone 10,000 people shot dead since the start of the year. But will anything change . Freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible. Bishop tutu now become spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here, of the blacks in soweto township as well as the whites in their rich suburbs. We say to you today, in a loud and clear voice, enough of blood and tears enough. Translation the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. It is an exodus of up to 60,000 people, caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. Lam free this is bbc news, the latest headlines relief workers on great abaco in the bahamas are searching for the bodies of those killed by Hurricane Dorian. Hundreds of people are still missing. Dennis clancey, Deputy Director of Field Operations with team rubicon, has spent the last couple of days traveling around abaco and gave us his account of the situation. I think if you asked the survivor on the ground, the biggest need is just information. They dont have any connectivity, they cant talk to their families. The Co Ordination of the agencies working there, there are a ton of agencies there trying to bring some aid. It is all about Co Ordination that is critical right now. In terms of reaching some of the worst affected areas, we have obviously seen the devastation in places that tv camera crews can reach, and people are able to get to and take photos from. What is the state of play regarding actually accessing further remote areas . It has been difficult these past few days, particularly in abaco island, because a lot of the roads are washed out. They have to really rely on boats and planes or helicopters to get around. It is incredibly crowded. But people are it is really ongoing now, and we are starting to get a picture but there are still a lot of populations out there that need help. And you mentioned the airspace being crowded. Is that really down to people just desperate to get away from there . I think a lot of people on these islands are questioning whether they will ever return to the island on which they lived. Some pieces of land are no longer there, they dont have their homes. They are making plans, and it will be a challenge to rebuild the bahamas, as we see a large exodus of people. And where are these people going . In many cases if you are affluent on these islands, you can secure a helicopter. The majority of the population, they dont really have that. They dont have resources. In the last 2a hours, they started evacuating people off islands for critical medical things. But the general population need help to get some structure to those people, and get them into actual shelters, people have been outdoors since the hurricane hit earlier this week. Another long week in british politics is coming to an end. Its been dominated by the next steps in brexit, and attempts by the Prime Minister borisjohnson to call an early election. So far, those attempts have failed. Opposition parties are united in insisting an election cannot happen until after an eu summit in mid october. And a bill preventing the uk from leaving the eu without a deal will become law on monday, despite the Prime Minister pressing lawmakers to reject it. Heres our deputy uk political editorjohn pienaar. Much easier, this, than leading the country. Borisjohnson is trying to call an election before brexit to stick to his plan leave on time, deal or no deal. But he has lost control, and he wants it back. We must get brexit done, and thats my message to my colleagues. Lets come together, get this thing over the line, and unite our country, and then get on with defeating the labour opposition, you know, when they finally have the guts to have an election. You can almost smell the election coming, but he is having to wait, a spectator, as his opponents try to force him to give up on a no deal brexit, break his promise, maybe his premiership. You keep mentioning 31 october. Youve made it abundantly clear thats your line in the sand. If you cant deliver that, youre going to have to resign, arent you . That is not a hypothesis im willing to contemplate. I want us to get this thing done. Today in the lords, the legislation banning no deal was sent to become law, decreeing there would be no election until brexit is delayed. As many of that opinion will say, content. Content to the contrary, not content. The contents have it. Opponents had co ordinated their plans. Weve agreed that were not going to give the Prime Minister the general election he is so desperate for until an extension is secured and the risk of no deal is completely eliminated. The Prime Minister is on the run. Boris is broken. We have an opportunity to bring down boris, to break boris, and to bring down brexit, and we must take that. I want an election, the snp wants an election, but we will do that when weve made sure that the security of our citizens is determined. And you want to weaken borisjohnson ahead of that election by making him break his word. Well, he has gone out with ridiculous promises of leaving the European Union on 31 october. Borisjohnson, thats not going to happen. No sight ofjeremy corbyn, though he gathered opposition leaders by phone. Labours brexit policy is still a work in progress. But the party has joined the alliance that has cornered borisjohnson. And in downing street, theyre searching for a plan, any plan, that will somehow help the pm regain some kind of control. He has sworn he will never seek an extension to brexit, but now a new law could force him to do just that. He wont break his word, he cant break the law. Mrjohnson needs to find a way to force an election or salvage his plan to deliver brexit, maybe without reaching an eu deal first. And in there, there is no sign they have found one. Reporter are you asking for an extension, mr frost . What chance of a last minute deal . Britains brexit negotiator, david frost, has been in brussels today. But the finnish pm, who is chairing the eu, suggested a no deal exit could be close. It seems very obvious that we are not getting brexit with agreement. On with the whites and off to peterhead market. Campaigning keeps you busy. Haggling is part of the job. £50 perfish. Good god, thats an expensive fish borisjohnson is famously upbeat, but his premiership could still end badly. A series of Mass Shootings in the us over the last year has put pressure on President Trump and congress to change the countrys gun laws. But for many communities gun violence is a daily reality. This week the us hit the grim milestone of 10,000 people shot dead so far this year. Of those killed or injured by gun fire 2,500 of them were children. From washington, Chris Buckler reports. The cordons and closed off streets have become too familiar. They mark the spot of the latest drive by shooting that has left a man and woman in hospital. It happened on peoples doorsteps and was just one of half a dozen shootings in washington, dc on this single evening. This is one of the cities that symbolizes this countrys problem with guns. A very huge problem that america has with guns and something does need to be done about it, because we are going to continue to keep losing people. Some Mass Shootings here in the United States attract a huge amount of attention. But the more regular, almost routine gun violence goes ignored. This is just another night in america. The police in dc are desperate to get illegally held weapons off the street. They have had to deal with a summer of shootings. And they know guns are being used to terrorise neighbourhoods. Among the victims of the last few months of violence was karon brown, an 11 year old who loved american football. He was apparently murdered in a territorial dispute over selling water and cookies. Karon was loving, funny, Everybody Loves him. He was the joy of our lives. The new football season is just beginning, but its notjust a player missing from this team an assistant coach of the woodland tigers was killed just days after karon, murdered in a drive by shooting. You know one day, a player, and then the next day the coach. So it is like, just heartbreaking. Every parent shares a struggle. Away from the pads and helmets of the football field, how do they protect their child . Our children arent able to be children. They should be able to be free, and learn from their surroundings. But the things thats being taught out right now in the streets is not safe for them. It is really. It is reallyjust messed up. Its ok. Does it make you worried . Yes. Like americas debate about guns, little of this is new for the woodland tigers. Of 19 boys who played here in 2001, 11 are dead. Thats the majority of a team who would not even be close to a0 years of age. And as each evening comes, the sirens and searches are a regular reminder of the presence of guns. A woman in her early 70s has given birth to twin girls in the indian state of andhra pradesh. Mangayamma yaramati had undergone in vitro fertilization, or ivf. She and her husband had first tried to have a baby nearly 60 years ago. The bbcs tim allman has the story. Looking more than a little bemused by all the attention, the proud father shows off his newborn children. He is 82 years old, quite an age to be a first time dad. His wife, the proud mother, is only a few years younger. She is still in hospital after undergoing a cesarean section. The couple had never been able to have children naturally, and had to use a donor egg to conceive. The first attempt she was pregnant, and that was really amazing for us. And from that time, we formed three teams, one to look after the pregnancy and one team to look after her nutritional needs, and another tea m her nutritional needs, and another team to look after her general health. The new mother also means in this case a new grandmother as well. Translation i am very happy, and tens as well. My daughter at last became a mother. We will look after the children, no problem with that. I always wanted a granddaughter, now i have two, i am very happy. India has become a destination for so called fertility tourism, as i have yet here is relatively cheap. There are hundreds of mostly unregulated clinics that provide help and age is really an obstacle ivf. Help and age is really an obstacle ivf. Authorities say new laws are being considered. But highlighting the potential risks for the children and much older parents. Only a day after a father, he suffered a stroke and is now in hospital. When asked who would look after his children, he said it was in the hands of god. You can reach me on twitter im benmbland. More on these and other stories on oui more on these and other stories on our website whenever you want to have a look, they are also available on the bt bbc news app. Hello there. For many of us the weekend is fair, it will be mostly dry with some sunshine but there will also be a few showers. We have one or two around at the moment, north scotland, Northern Ireland, north wales and north west england. If you are heading outside here, might be worth taking an umbrella with you. Showers will be fleeting in nature so they wont last very long in any one place. For some of us then it will be a chilly start to the weekend, particularly across North Eastern areas, but it is a mostly dry prospect, those showers will continue for a time, Northern Ireland, north wales, north west england, perhaps sneaking into the midlands. We may well see a few light showers pop up later in the day across east anglia and south east england. But still for the vast majority it is a dry day with sunny spells that said we have a cool northerly wind so temperatures just 13 degrees in aberdeen, the highest temperatures towards the south west, where 19 in cardiff and plymouth should feel pretty pleasant throughout the afternoon. Saturday night is going to turn to be quite a cold night, with clear skies, light winds, temperatures would get down to about 3 celsius or so in newcastle, perhaps a few patches of frost in eastern scotland and north east england, the very coldest areas. So sunday does promise to be a cold start for this time of year. For most of us a lovely start today, plenty of sunshine, a bit of cloud will bubble up across the north west. Quite a change here for Northern Ireland and west scotland as a warm front moves in, that cloud will bring the threat of a bit of light, patchy drizzle for a time, quite misty around some of our Western Hills and coast. Temperatures coming up a bit across north east england, so not quite as chilly but the highest temperatures further south. Mondays weather dominated by this area of low pressure, the low pressure itself is forming really across england and wales, so there is quite a degree of uncertainty exactly where the heaviest rain will be and how far east it gets. The forecast could change but the general idea is that monday is going to be quite an unsettled day for many of us, rain at times and temperatures not too impressive, highs of 1a 16 degrees. Thats our weather, but lets take a quick look now at Hurricane Dorian, this is the last port of call, dorian is going to make another landfall, this time in canadas nova scotia. Gusts about 100mph. Thats the last youll hear of dorian, it will spin up to iceland where it will be an area of low pressure, it is not coming to the uk but this might. This is expected to be Hurricane Dorian. It will turn into an area of low pressure, but later in the week that could effect our weather. This is bbc news. The headlines rescuers in the bahamas are searching the island of great abaco for the bodies of People Killed by Hurricane Dorian. Hundreds are still missing. A relief operation is under way with un, us and british involvement. However, some communities havent yet been reached and are in desperate need. Indias attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon appears to have failed. Scientists lost contact with the landerjust as it was about to touch down on the lunar surface. The unmanned vikram probe was above the moons south pole when data stopped transmitting from the spacecraft. The british Prime Ministers demand for an early general election looks set to be rejected, after opposition parties agreed to block it when it is put to mps on monday. They said that preventing the uk leaving the eu without a deal at the end of october is their priority