A number of seats currently held by pro beijing incumbents, are being contested by pro democracy candidates, butjoshua wong, one of the prominent protest leaders is banned from running, because he called for Self Determination for hong kong. Lets go to hong kong, where our correspondence Jonathan Head lets go to hong kong, where our correspondenceJonathan Head is with us. CorrespondenceJonathan Head is with us. Jonathan, how high up the list of priorities is the protest in hong kong for voters, do you think, there are other issues, obviously, but the protests are the things everybody is talking about, and which seem to have blighted the lives of so many people there . Yes, i think for everybody here, the so called five demands being called for by the protest movement, embraced by large numbers of hong kongers, the polls suggest a large number of people are sympathetic to those demands, though of course not everybody supports the way the protesters have expressed their opposition, and the escalation of violence and disruption we have seenin of violence and disruption we have seen in recent weeks. I think we can assume people are taking these local elections very seriously as an opportunity to express their views. That line there has been there for the last two and half hours since voting started. It comes all the way around here, and as you can see it comes here, goes around the corner, and eventually moves into the polling station inside there. It is quite a slow moving line. So voters have had to wait, some of them, i would think the more than an hour to be able to cast their votes. Very orderly, as far as we can see. No emotions here, everybody is being very calm about it all. We dont really know what the main issues are on the minds of these voters, but everybody here is preoccupied with the protests. They have divided families, in some cases. It has polarised opinion and each side, the pro democracy side, the alliance of pro democracy side, the alliance of pro democratic parties who broadly support the demands of the protesters, and the pro government side, which has traditionally dominated these local elections for the local councils, each one is hoping that factors which have emerged in the protests in recent weeks will swing in their favour. The pro democracy side is hoping for a very big swing on their side to increase the pressure on carrie lam to either resign or meet those five demands of the protest movement. 0n the government side, they are hoping the government side, they are hoping the chaos we have recently seen, the disruption to peoples and the violent confrontations with police, might persuade people who might be sympathetic with the protesters peoples demands, to stay with the government side. A lot will hang on what the results i want the votes have been cast. Briefly, just how seriously are the government, carrie lam, and the other side, the pro democracy protesters, how seriously are they taking these elections . Well, a sign of it is that it elections . Well, a sign of it is thatitis elections . Well, a sign of it is that it is the First Time Ever went all the seats, the 452 seats in the district elections, are being contested. Normally the pro government side is well resourced and does very well. In this district there were tendencies which were not contested last time, now they are all being contested. The candidates are very visible and are fighting hard. Everybody knows a lot is at stake in these elections and it is notjust about the usual local bread and butter issues. This is very much seen as a test of the governments support and of the support for the protest movement which is held out here now for more than five months. Jonathan head, thank you. Lets look at some other stories in brief. Protesters in bolivia have lifted blockades in la paz ahead of talks aimed at ending weeks of unrest and violence, which has claimed more than 30 lives. The talks are between supporters of the ousted president , evo morales, and his interim successor, jeanine anez. Both houses of parliament, meanwhile, has unanimously approved a bill permitting a fresh president ial election. Protests have continued in colombia for a third consecutive day, despite the imposition of a curfew overnight on friday in the capital, bogota. Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who gathered by a National Park close to the city. President ivan duque said the Security Forces would continue patrols to prevent more vandalism. Jeremy corbyn has defended his decision to adopt a neutral stance in the event of a future brexit referendum, calling it a sign of strength and maturity. He told friday nights bbc question time leaders special he would not campaign for leave or remain if his party wins power, in order to allow him to credibly carry out what voters decide. His opponents have questioned his position, as our political correspondent, nick eardley reports. Applause. Whatever your priority at this election, brexit is one of the Biggest Issues facing the country. For months, labour has walked a political tightrope, trying to keep everyone leave and remain happy. Ifjeremy corbyn wins power, hes promising a new deal and another referendum. But hes now confirmed he wont pick a side. Youre telling us tonight you will remain neutral on the issue of whether or not we should remain within the eu . Yes. First heard here on question time. Some see that as weak, others indecisive. But mr corbyn disagrees. I think being an honest broker and listening to everyone is actually a sign of strength and a sign of maturity. Our country has to come together. We cant go on forever being divided by how people voted in 2016. Boris johnson faced pressure too on the question of trust, and he would love to keep the election focus on brexit, saying his deal is ready to go. And after months of bitter splits, his party is uniting around it. 0n the critical question of our times on brexit, weve got a clear plan agreed with the eu ready to go. And in sharp contrast to what we saw in this debate last night ofjeremy corbyn saying that he has decided to be indecisive on brexit. Absolutely, yeah. She agrees, even if she is on the other side of the debate. Jo swinson says shell stop brexit right away in the unlikely event she wins power. She faced pressure last night from some who branded that anti democratic, but the lib dem leader says she, and not jeremy corbyn, is the champion of those who want to cancel brexit. They want a leader, not a bystander. I think it is. Just beggars belief that somebody who is standing for the role of leading our country can then say that on the Biggest Issue that we have faced for generations theyre not going to take a position. Its a total abdication of leadership. The snp, who could be crucial in a hung parliament, are scathing too. I do think people have a right to expect from somebody aspiring to be Prime Minister that they say where they stand on the issue of should the uk be in or out of the european union. And i think that sort of statement of so called neutrality will simply feed the suspicion that maybe people have thatjeremy corbyn actually wants the uk to be out the european union, but simply isnt willing to say that. Because we know whose side we, the labour party, are on. Jeremy corbyn has been taking sides on many issues, promising to take on the elite on behalf of what he calls the many. But on brexit, the labour leader is keeping his cards close to his chest. The conservative party is to launch its manifesto later on sunday. Among the pledges, there will be no rises in income tax, National Insurance or vat. And a promise of more money for childcare, a pothole filling programme, and a National Skills fund. Heres nick eardley again. Borisjohnsons pitch to the country tomorrow will feel very familiar to the pitch hes been making for months now. Unsurprisingly, at its heart will be that pledge to deliver brexit. The conservatives will say tomorrow that if they win a majority brexit bill, the Withdrawal Agreement bill, will be back in parliament before christmas. All part of a strategy to make sure that the new deadline of the end of january is met. What mrjohnson will call an early Christmas Present to the nation. Now, his opponents will point out that even if we do leave at the end of january there will still be months, potentially years of trade talks to come. But the conservatives believe that the simple act of leaving will allow the uk to start focusing instead on domestic priorities. Tomorrow well see what mrjohnson thinks that they are. Now, he will promise big pledges on tax no rise in income tax, no rise in National Insurance payments, no rise in vat. All of which will make it harder for the government to raise money. And at the same time there will be big spending pledges. Pensioner friendly policies like keeping the pension triple lock, keeping winter fuel payments, keeping free bus passes for the elderly. We already know that mrjohnsons talking about more money for the health service, for police, and for schools. Tomorrow there will be i billion for childcare, 2 billion to fill potholes in england, 3 billion for skills. Now the tories say all of this manifesto promise will be fully costed. Well find out tomorrow exactly how theyll pay for it. But an election where the cheque book has been opened, the tories are no different. Labour has pledged to put an extra tax on Foreign Companies and trusts buying property in the uk. If labour win the general election, the party says it would charge offshore organisations an extra 20 on their purchase. Labour says the extra £3. 3 billion a year raised by the measure, would go towards public services. The us Vice President , mike pence, has made an unannounced visit to iraq, to try to reassure kurdish leaders of americas continued support. He flew into irbil in kurdistan in the north of the country. You may remember us troops withrdrew from kurdish areas in neighbouring syria last month. That withdrawal was criticised by syrian kurds who say it was a betrayal. After the us military left, turkey moved into the border area around tal abyad and other kurdish controlled towns. Heres what mr pence had to say. I dont think there was any confusion now among the leadership here in the kurdish region that president trumps commitment to our allies here in iraq as well as to those in the Syrian Defence forces, the Kurdish Forces who fought alongside us, is unchanging. We can now speak to steven cook, whos a senior fellow for middle east and Africa Studies at the council on foreign relations. He joins us from washington. Stephen, something of a surprise trip, this . It was a surprise trip. And if the Vice President was going to the kurdistan region of iraq to reassure the kurds, he was talking to the wrong kurds. It has not. The issue has been won between syrian kurds and the united states, not necessarily the iraqi kurds and the united states. Do you think that was just the united states. Do you think that wasjust an the united states. Do you think that was just an issue of security . It is obviously very dangerous in syria. But as you say, it seems to be kicking the syrian kurds when they are down, they famously dont get on with the iraqi kurds, they dont see eye to eye, especially the ypg. Do you think that was an error on their part, was it for security reasons . Well of course the security situation in North Eastern syria is fraught, but of course, at the same time, you cannot count on anything from the Trump Administration. So it might very well be that it was hard for them to make a distinction between the iraqi kurds and the syrian kurds. 0f between the iraqi kurds and the syrian kurds. Of course, the iraqi kurds with him the Vice President was meeting have historically actually had quite good relations with the turkish government. With whom. So this was adding insult to injury, even as the Vice President was there to suggest that the us stands by its allies. Forgive me for maybe being a bit sceptical. Do you think there is a chance some people will see this is a bit of a pr stu nt . Will see this is a bit of a pr stunt . 0bviously will see this is a bit of a pr stunt . Obviously a number of republican colleagues back in washington were furious at donald trump was my decision to pull troops out of syria. That is 10096 of the case, in fact. Out of syria. That is 10096 of the case, infact. Many, many republicans chose, for the first time in three years, to openly challenge the administration on this issue. And of course it was Vice President pentz who went to ankara to broker a ceasefire once the turks moved into syria. Vice president pence. There is another issue, of course. The Trump Administration is embroiled in the impeachment process here in the us and Vice President pence has been implicated in the controversy. So there was every effort on his part to look like a statesman rather than being dragged into the politics of the moment in washington. Quickly, stephen, he also spoke on the phone to the Prime Minister of iraq, 325 people around that have been killed in protests in iraq in recent weeks. Is it your understanding that he would have spoken to the Prime Minister, and what about . No doubt that Vice President was reassuring the Prime Minister of their arc of american support, but it is somewhat weak tea, as they say, for the Vice President to be in a rock can only make a phone call to the Prime Minister. If the us really wanted to signal its strong support for the Iraqi Government and stability in iraq, they would have found some way formike iraq, they would have found some way for mike pence to meet with the iraqi leader. Lots of issues to talk about, stephen. Thank you so much for joining about, stephen. Thank you so much forjoining us. This is bbc news. The headlines voting is under way in hong kong local elections. They are being seen as a test of opinion towards the territorys government and its response to months of democracy protests. Jeremy corbyn has defended his decision to remain neutral in the event of another Eu Referendum if labour wins the election. He said that being an honest broker was a sign of strength. President trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani has said he is not concerned about being indicted for crimes now being investigated by the impeachment inquiry. This is after the Us State Department released records relating to the Trump Administrations dealings with ukraine which show repeated contacts between secretary of state mike pompeo and mr giuliani. Here is Chris Buckler in washington with the latest developments. During the impeachment inquiry, Rudy Giulianis name was mentioned a lot. Hes been accused of smearing people and of trying to push ukraine into launching these politically partisan investigations into Donald Trumps rivals. Well, hes come out fighting, and in a pretty angry interview with fox news, mr giuliani has defended himself against any wrongdoing. Are you afraid, mr mayor, that you could be indicted . Oh, wow. How long have you known me . Ive known you several years. You think im afraid . I dont know. You think i get afraid . Well, the. I did the right thing. I represented my client in a very, very effective way. He insisted that us media reports that he was being investigated because of his links to two soviet born businessmen who are currently facing Campaign Finance charges were completely wrong. And hes attacked some democrats, particularly singling outjoe biden, who of course was one of the people that he wanted to see ukraine investigate. He actually made these unsubstantiated allegations that mr biden was involved in some kind of corruption, which of course mr biden denies. He also indicated that the president , in his words, would not throw him under the bus during the investigations that are taking place. But he also said, perhaps pretty intriguingly, that he had insurance to ensure they did not happen. I mean, ive seen things written like hes going to throw me under the bus. When they say that, i say he isnt, but i have insurance. 0k. This is ridiculous. We are very good friends. He knows what i did was in order to defend him. Hes also been mentioned in documents that have been released over the last 24 hours. Theyve been released by the Us State Department after a freedom of information request from an Ethics Watchdog Group called american 0versight. And in those documents, it seems very clear that there was co nta ct and conversations between Rudy Giuliani and the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, at the time he was pushing for ukraine to launch these investigations. Now, up to this point, mike pompeo has tried to stay out of this whole impeachment hearing process that has been taking place. But Rudy Giulianis contact with him mightjust drag him into that. Gps have voted to reduce visits to patients homes, saying they no longer have the capacity to offer them. Doctors supported the proposal at a meeting of english local medical committees on friday. But the health secretary, matt hancock, said the idea of taking home visits out of gps contracts was a complete non starter. Jenny kumah reports. Family doctors say their workload is on the rise, and this, coupled with falling gp numbers, mean something has to give. In his surgery in leeds, this doctor is well aware of the challenges facing surgeries like his. One of the daily pressures that gp practices are under is the obligation to do home visits. What would be much better is if we had a dedicated Home Visiting team, with people with the time to be able to do this throughout the day, rather than gps having to squeeze it in. Under the proposals, home visits would not be scrapped completely, but delivered by a separate service. Similar to the way out of hours care has been contracted out. Sometimes a gp has to go and see someone, and they might be too frail to travel. And thats always been part of the vocation of being a gp, and it will continue. So these proposals wont go any further, but what we will do is train, fund, and recruit more gps. Theyre saying, as a point of desperation, they can no longer continue those home visits. I think this is a siren call to all of us, a siren call that the funding of the nhs has to be increased so that gps can undertake those home visits. Doctors say they recognise that vulnerable, complex, and end of life patients will need home visits. Theyjust want to see a change of policy to ensure patients get a suitable service. Jenny kumah, bbc news. A number of Police Officers have been assaulted while trying to break up a large fight at a birmingham cinema. West Midlands Police were called to the star city complex in nechells late yesterday afternoon following reports of a group carrying machetes. A spokesperson for the force said fighting broke out as officers tried to clear a group of more than 100 people from the area. Several arrests have been made. To latin america, where the colombian president , ivan duque , says he will later today launch what he calls a National Conversation in response to a wave of deadly Anti Government protests. Demonstrators are angry at planned austerity measures and a renewed upsurge in violence. Janey mitchell reports. Curfew, colombia style. Protesters simply defied it, with a noisy picket of the bogota home of president duque, who some see as the puppet of former right wing president alvaro uribe. Translation im here for the same reason all colombians are here. Were tired of mr duque, were tired of mr uribe. Theyre a pair of liars. The night time curfew in bogota followed clashes on friday, with Police Firing tear gas to disperse protesters, amid reports of looting in the south of the city. Hundreds of people, including Police Officers, were injured. Three were killed as protests turned ugly elsewhere in colombia. The violence came a day after a nationwide strike, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to express fury over rumoured changes to the minimum wage, pension and tax reforms all denied by the government. Demonstrators are also angry at what they say is a lack of action to end corruption and the murder of human rights activists. Some accuse the government of failing to honour its 2016 peace deal with the left wing farc rebels, amid a spike in killings. In a televised address on friday, president duque promised dialogue on his social policies aimed at narrowing the gap between rich and poor. Translation from next week, i will launch a National Conversation to strengthen the current social policy agenda, working in a united way on a medium and long term vision to allow us to close gaps in society. Little sign so far of demonstrators being placated, as a wave of social unrest sweeps latin america. Janey mitchell, bbc news. Brazils most popular team, flamengo, have won the showpiece tournament of south American Club football, the copa libertadores, for the first time in nearly four decades. Flamengo scored twice in the last three minutes to come from behind and beat the argentine side river plate. The final was originally due to have taken place in santiago, but the match was switched to lima, peru, because of street protests in chile. And this was the scene in Rio De Janeiro when the final whistle blew. Flamengo fans had gathered at the maracana stadium to watch the final on large outdoor screens. Tim vickery, the bbcs south america football correspondent, told me it was an extraordinary match. Well, maybe Manchester United fans will remember their Champions League victory over Bayern Munich in 1999. It was a little bit similar. River plate didnt only have one hand on the title. They had one hand and maybe three or four fingers of the other hand on the title. I think plenty of flamengo fans are still, a few hours afterwards, thinking well, how on earth did we win that one . What an extraordinary game of football, so dramatic, and i suppose in a way it vindicates the decision by the authorities over here to move to this idea of having a one off final on a neutral ground. The tradition over here, simon, has always been two legged final, home and away. Now, the switch has come really for two reasons. One is commercial. This game happened at a good timeslot for europe. Bbc two showed it in england, in britain, for example. Also, there was a hope, i think, that a neutral ground would throw up an excellent spectacle, and we certainly got a dramatic spectacle. The flipside of the coin, if you like, the downside of this one off final on a neutral ground, is that south america is not europe. Distances are vast, travel is expensive, and income is badly distributed, so some of the fans really suffered. There were tales of 55, 60 hour bus journeys to get there. But win or lose, whichever side you were supporting, i think no one who was there in the stadium in lima forget the experience. Yes, youre absolutely right. It is so different to travelling here in europe, with the Champions League. For people watching back at home who may not know, just explain how big this is in south america. It is the south american equivalent of the Champions League, so the winners of this are the champions of the continent. But thats not all. It also means that, as continental champions, they go next month to the club world cup, which is a competition which unites the champions of all of the continents. Now, in europe, that doesnt play very big. Over here, it is huge, because it has the chance of a crack, if you like, at the promised land, the chance at having a go at the glamorous european champions, who this year, of course, are liverpool. Now flamengo, as you mentioned, have only once before in their history won the copa libertadores, the south american title. They followed that up in december 1981 with a win over the european champions, 3 0. Those european champions were liverpool, so the flamengo fans are desperate for history to repeat itself. They still sing about the events of december 1981. Im sure they will sing about the events of november 2019. But they would like to sing about the events of december 2019, as well, but in order to do that, they have to beat liverpool next month in qatar in the club world cup. The british conductor, organist and composer sir stephen cleobury, who directed the choir of Kings College cambridge for nearly four decades, has died at the age of 70. 0 come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant. His name was familiar to millions around the world through the bbc World Services broadcast of carols every christmas eve. Sir stephen was knighted earlier this year. He retired as director of music at Kings College just two months ago, after 37 years in the role. The weather now, with alina jenkins. Hello. After a very wet day across parts of the uk on saturday, sunday promises to be a drier day, albeit with a lot of cloud and some misty, murky conditions. But, briefly, we have a weak ridge of High Pressure extending across the uk. Still some rain to talk about at first on sunday, particularly for eastern scotland, still on the heavy side. Slowly that heavy rain pushes its way across northern scotland, and eventually becomes confined to the Northern Isles through the day. Quite wet and windy here. But elsewhere, turning dry across scotland, largely dry across northern ireland, england and wales, but with a lot of cloud and some mist, some patchy fog through the morning. That will be slow to clear, Poor Visibility in places, so any brightness really at a premium on sunday. But away from the Northern Isles, its mainly dry, mild, 9 12 celsius the top temperature. And then our attention turns to the south west, our next area of rain pushing into South West England and south wales through the evening and overnight, not getting much further north and eastwards. Quite a wet start to the week across South West England and wales. Further north and east, mainly dry, mild, temperatures not much lower than five or six celsius, but generally the theme in the week ahead is for more rain. This is the set up as we go into monday. An area of low pressure, frontal systems pushing their way north and eastwards. Looks like the heaviest of the rain on monday is probably going to be across england and wales. As it tracks its way north and eastwards through the day, it starts to become a little bit patchier. But there will be some outbreaks of rain into northern ireland. Could pop up for a little bit across Northern England for a time, into southern scotland. Northern scotland probably escaping, mainly dry. Some brightness and sunshine following on behind the rain across wales and South West England, but also a few showers. But it is another mild day, 9 13 celsius. Now, one area of low pressure pulls away into the north sea. Heres our next one arriving as we go into tuesday. This has the remnants of what was Tropical Storm sebastian, so its going to pep up the rain, strengthen the wind. The timings of this rain may well change as we go into tuesday, so keep an eye on the forecast if you can over the next 24 48 hours. But it looks like well see another spell of quite heavy rain at times, strong winds as well, particularly across wales and South West England. Some spells of sunshine following on behind the rain, but also some heavy showers. So, all in all, its a really unsettled and often quite windy day on tuesday. Still mild, 10 13 celsius. Bear in mind there are some warnings in place for the rain on both monday and tuesday. All the details are on the website. It looks like, as the week goes on, things do eventually turn drier, but also colder again. Bye bye. This is bbc news. The headlines people in hong kong are voting in local elections for the First Time Since pro democracy protests began. Activists opposed to chief executive carrie lam have encouraged voters to turn out in large numbers, and there are long queues of people waiting to vote at many polling stations. Both houses of bolivias parliament have now approved a bill calling for a new general election. No date for the poll was set. The interim president is meeting opposition groups to try to end four weeks of violence thats followed the last election, which international monitors said was fixed. President trumps lawyer and close ally Rudy Giuliani has said hes not afraid of being indicted in connection with the impeachment inquiry. Speaking on fox news, he attacked those whove accused him of pressing ukraine to make investigations into the family of president ial rivaljoe biden. Now on bbc news, dateline london. Hello and welcome to dateline london
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