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tv   BBC News  BBC News  January 18, 2017 5:00am-5:31am GMT

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hello, you're watching bbc news. i'm adnan nawaz. our top story this hour: president obama reduces the sentence of chelsea manning. the us soldier, who's due to be released in may, was behind one of the country's biggest leaks of classified information. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: britain's prime minister spells out her goals for brexit. the uk, she says, will leave the single market, but will seek new trade agreements and aim to control immigration. the president of the gambia declares a state of emergency, just days before he's due to leave office. russia's main opposition leader talks to the bbc and tells us what he thinks about president putin and donald trump. hello, i'm sally bundock.
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in business: weighing up the wish list. business leaders give us their take on theresa may's plans for brexit as the pound starts to sink again. and mark zuckerberg gets a real grilling in a us court room, as he defends the origins of facebooks virtual reality headset. president obama has commuted the sentence of chelsea manning, formerly bradley manning, the american soldier who was found guilty of providing us intelligence documents to wikileaks and sentenced to 35 years in prison. she has served seven years. it's a high profile and controversial move just days before mr obama leaves office. the bbc‘s rajini vaidyanathan, who covered the original trial, has the story. chelsea manning was responsible for one of the largest leaks of government secrets in american history. born bradley manning, it was while serving in iraq
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that the low—ranking private hacked government databases, handing more than 700,000 classified documents to julian assange‘s wikilea ks organisation. request permission to engage. it included this classified video, showing us forces machine—gun iraqi civilians, who they mistook for insurgents. clea r. and also 250,000 diplomatic cables from across the globe, and nearly 500,000 military records, which detailed american military tactics, and revealed the names of afghan informants. but the main outcome was that it caused huge embarrassment to us diplomats, by making public their private thoughts. it was a very unfortunate and damaging actions...action that were taken, that put at risk individuals and relationships. manning's supporters said
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she was a whistleblower, not a traitor, but bradley manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. during the court martial, manning's lawyers said their client struggled with gender identity disorder. she has three of the 35 year term. —— served only three. shortly after the trial, bradley announced she would be known as chelsea, and live as a woman. she was being held at a male prison and tried to take a life on two occasions. 12 to 16 months her mental condition deteriorated significantly and she became addressed. julian assange thanked those campaigned for chelsea's release and edward snowden, who also lea ked release and edward snowden, who also leaked government secrets, tweeted
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his thanks to president obama. but the republican speaker paul ryan said the decision to cut short chelsea manning's sentence was outrageous and sent a message that those who compromise national security won't be held accountable for their crimes. 0ne security won't be held accountable for their crimes. one of president 0bama's final acts in office will please as much as it will anger. the future of the european union without its second largest economy has greater clarity this wednesday morning. the british prime minister, theresa may, has set out 12 key objectives she hopes to secure once brexit negotiations formally begin. key among them is that the uk will leave the single market but still seek a free trade deal with the eu. after her speech, mrs may repeated her committment to a free trade agreement in phone calls to angela merkel, francos hollande, the president of the eu, and the head of the european commission. tom bateman reports. theresa may's brexit speech brought
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the most clarity yet on her approach to the negotiations. she told ministers and european diplomats she wa nted ministers and european diplomats she wanted ambitious trade deals with the rest of the eu, but she confirmed britain would leave the union's formal free—trade area. confirmed britain would leave the union's formal free—trade arealj wa nt union's formal free—trade areal wa nt to union's formal free—trade areal want to be clear. what i am proposing can't mean membership of the single market. the uk would have control of immigration policy, she said, and in an unexpected move the prime minister revealed she would be prepared to walk away from the talks if the deal wasn't good enough. the foreign secretary borin johnson if the deal wasn't good enough. the foreign secretary borinjohnson —— borisjohnson foreign secretary borinjohnson —— boris johnson writes that the countries are queueing up to do trade deals with britain. today, attention turns to the response from the rest of the eu. the head of the european commission jean—claude juncker is due to speak. some in the european parliament believe mrs may's demands are unrealistic. european parliament believe mrs may's demands are unrealisticm creates an illusion, the illusion that you can go out of the single
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market, that you can go out off the customs union and that you can cherry pick. but you can have still a number of advantages. the prime minister will face mps later, with some opponents saying her plan risks and economic catastrophe. she has called for unity over brexit. so five at least that seems some way off. —— so far. and sally is here with all the business news. it is interesting to see how the markets have reacted, how business leaders are we into that 12 point plan of theresa may's, using her much anticipated speech to announce that the uk's priorities —— announce the uk's priorities. leaving the single market means britain will lose the right to trade with the european union without restrictions. despite this, the uk prime minister says the government will negotiate for the best possible access to the trading bloc. she also said they would aim for a
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new customs union agreement. this would allow the uk to form new relationships with non—european trading partners, but it could impose higher costs on businesses based in britain. many financial firms which use london as their european headquarters have already started to look for an alternative locations around europe. the market reaction told another story with the value of the pound rocketing after the pm said she would allow parliament to have a say on any final deal. so investors showing some scepticism that a hard brexit will get the go ahead of politicians. you can see the spike in the pound. that was just after she spoke about how mps would have to vote on the decision. in world business report we will be live in davos. we'll be hearing from sir martin sorrell, he's the boss of the world's largest advertising company wpp. it will be interesting to get his
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ta ke it will be interesting to get his take on what the reason may‘s plans are. we are also talking about mark zuckerberg, but facebook founder, who has denied allegations that his company's who has denied allegations that his compa ny‘s virtual reality who has denied allegations that his company's virtual reality unit 0culus stall its technology from a rival firm. he faced hours of tough questioning in a us court on tuesday. zenimax is suing facebook for $2 billion. mark zuckerberg dismissed the claims, saying, quote, "like most people in the court, i've never even heard of zenimax before." i wonder if that will stand up as a good line of defence. anyway, we will be talking about that and we will be talking about that and we will have all of the other business stories in about 20 minutes. thanks very much. the gambian president has declared a state of emergency a day before his official mandate ends. yahya jammeh has refused to accept defeat to adama barrow in last month's election. as greg dawson reports,
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some holiday companies have begun flying tourists home from the west african country. the buses are crammed, and so are the suitcases. these people are among the thousands abandoning their homes in the gambia's capital, banjul, fearing for their safety. as they count the passengers, staff are struggling with demand. translation: we've been overwhelmed. we have 25 minibuses leaving every day. that's not including the number of big buses leaving. and, despite that, there are still passengers waiting for a seat. while many choose to flee, this man insists he is going nowhere. just days before he was supposed to leave office, president yahya jammeh declared a 90—day state of emergency, and warned against any threats to public order. if it is allowed to continue, it may lead to a state public emergency. last month, the gambian president conceded defeat in his country's
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elections, and agreed to stand down after 22 years in power. the man who beat him, adama barrow, was supposed to be sworn in on thursday. the result prompted celebrations on the country's streets, but within days presidentjammeh called a by—election, citing flaws with the vote. despite international pressure, he is refusing to step aside, and the stand—off has now prompted travel companies to fly tourists out of the country. the uk foreign office is the latest to warn people not to travel to gambia, claiming: 0n the road out of the gambia's capital stands a stadium where president—elect barrow is due to be sworn in on thursday, but there is little evidence of any preparations being made, and little hope for those calling for a peaceful transition of power. as donald trump prepares
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to take office on friday, many are waiting to see how the new american president's relationship with president putin will develop. the bbc‘s hardtalk programme has recorded a world exclusive interview, in moscow, with russia's main opposition leader, alexei navalny. stephen sackur asked the chairman of the russian progress party how he feels when donald trump says we should be ready to trust vladimir putin. it sounds disappointing for me and it is bothering me because i have no idea why mr trump is so kind to mr putin, because their views on politics are 100% different. from migration to the economy, 100% different politicians. but they like each other and it is strange, but, well, i would say that international relationships between the kremlin and foreign countries... they wasn't
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and foreign countries... they wasn't a hot issue inside of russia. so someone a hot issue inside of russia. so someone is good for putin, someone is bad, it doesn't matter to me. do you in any sense feel betrayed by an incoming us president who says that he regards working closely with putin would be a great asset? because in a sense that works against everything you are trying to achieve. you are trying to tell the russian people that as long as putin has power russia is going to be facing sanctions, russia will be isolated, russia has no international future, isolated, russia has no internationalfuture, and isolated, russia has no international future, and yet trump's message is different. international future, and yet trump's message is differentl don't like it and i could say honestly i am irritated ideas, annoyed by this. but i don't feel betrayed. the context here again comes back to donald trump, it was whether it's been on the ukraine, crimea issue, or syria, donald trump has indicated that he can foresee the easing of sanctions, maybe even
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the easing of sanctions, maybe even the removal of us sanctions on russia, if putin will work with him on what trump regards as the big priority, which is the fight against jihadist terror and the so—called islamic state movement. how would you feel if the united states eased sanctions against russia ?l you feel if the united states eased sanctions against russia? i can't support this part of sanctions that applies towards the russian economy in general, since i am a russian citizen. but i will be definitely very, very unhappy if mr trump will ease and cancel this part of the section which applies to the particular personalities, like france, are putin's oligarchs or corrupt officials in his closest circle, it was actually this part of sanction is very nice for the russian people and it is supported by the russian people. but, to put
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it bluntly, do you think donald trump cares about issues inside russia, human rights, freedom, democracy? absolutely not and i would say that previous administrations and previous administrations and previous administrations before 0bama didn't ca re administrations before 0bama didn't care about this as well, practically. some of them said some things, but in general theyjust don't care and don't have any delusion about this. are you absolutely determined, you talk about your run for the presidency, you're determined, come what may, the challenge vladimir putin in the election which we believe will come in 2018? you are going to run? i am going to run and, well, i am not naive person. i understand the kremlin is very unhappy with me running andi kremlin is very unhappy with me running and i understand they will do everything to prevent me from running. soi do everything to prevent me from running. so i understand what's going on in russia and i understand there are a lot of risks and understand the danger, but this is
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my country. i will fight for my country and i know that i am right. that was alexei navalny. you can see stephen sackur‘s full exclusive interview with russia's main opposition leader starting on the 19th of january, at the times listed here. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: out with the old, in with the new. why the world's biggest fish market is moving, and why some are not happy about it. the people of saigon have just heard that at last there is to be a ceasefire. the reaction of american servicemen was predictable. i'm going home! demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with teargas and set upon by police dogs.
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anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him the butcher of lyon. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia, but the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot, a tide of humanity which is believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc news. i'm adnan nawaz. the latest headlines: president obama has commuted the remainder of the 35 year prison sentence of chelsea manning, the soldier was behind one of the biggest leaks of classified american intelligence. britain's prime minister, theresa may, has been setting out her strategic goals for the uk's exit from the european union. let's take a closer look at that story, particularly how brexit might
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affect the transatlantic relationship. professor david banks is a political scientist at the american university in washington. professor, thanks for your time. let's talk about the transatlantic relationship. first of all, give us an appreciation for how it might affect the uk standing on the global stage. thank you for having me. my ta ke stage. thank you for having me. my take on this will be overall i think brexit will work against british in —— interest in the medium to long—term and despite wanting more independence and i think the uk had real influence in the way it acted asa real influence in the way it acted as a bridge for a lot of others in terms of the united states. are you talking about what happens in international organisations such as the un, orare international organisations such as the un, or are you talking about as
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much as trade as anything else?l think my point is that even if we think my point is that even if we think about trade, i know that the president—elect donald trump has said he intends to strike a deal very soon with great britain and theresa may said in her speech she thought this would give britain freedom of action on global deals. the point is britain as an independent country separate from the eu has far less bargaining leverage with trade deals, even with the united states, where i understand it it accounts for a small percentage of imports for the united states, so it won't get the deal that it might think it can. what about the transatlantic relationship in terms of — i mean, since the second world war the us and great britain have been together on almost every single foreign policy issue anywhere in the world? here i am not so sure there is much britain can do to determine the course of this. i think by minister
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theresa may is making a useful choice to make no noises towards the new administration, the trump administration, which might signal discontent or unhappiness, but the single fact of the matter is we are not quite clear what type of part of this administration will take. all the indications seem to suggest that president trump intends to break severely with that post world order that you mention. thank you for your time. along with many countries, mexico is also looking at how the presidency of donald trump may affect bilateral ties. the country's economy could take a battering if mr trump follows up on vows to build a wall between the two countries, renegotiate the north american free trade agreement, nafta, and place tariffs on imports from mexico. the bbc‘s juan paullier explains what's at stake for many mexicans. for us, life is about hard work and
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crucial help from the united states. he couldn't have his farm without the money he receives from his sons. now there is an imminent threat donald trump. the us president—elect promised to block the tax remittances sent to families here. millions of mexican families depend on remittances. atiga source for the country than oil exports. but trump will inflict damage in other areas.
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i think the things that will impact them the most is trade, via fiscal policy and via remittances. the fiscal issue will hit us hard. because, if the states conduct very expensive fiscal policy, reducing taxes, mexico will have to follow suit, and that would put the mexican public finances in a very dire point. the mexican economy has problems of its own making. almost half of the population have been living in poverty long before daughter was even close to the white house. now every time he tweets about mexico the country's currency tumbles. some sectors are feeling the pressure. this is a city two hours away from the capital and one of the main industrial hubs, home to
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thousands of factories, many of which send products across the border. trump has left these businesses and thousands of families on edge. making sheep blankets and close up north, hefty tariffs would mean some of the 900 people working here will lose theirjobs. we are worried. we know that a lot of economic variables in mexico depend on this situation with this guy. you know that the devaluation in mexico has been close to 20% since he was elected. with the trump effect, and the situation becoming worse, maybe we could reduce the workforce 10%. the fear and uncertainty is felt across mexico. and once donald trump becomes president on friday, people will be waiting to see if there worries turn into a bleak reality. tokyo's tsukiji fish market is something of a legend.
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the biggest in the world, it supplies the city's finest sushi restaurants, and an eager public. but it's to be closed down and moved to a bigger, more modern site, and that's a sadness for some people. 0ur tokyo correspondent, rupert wingfield—hayes, reports. it's five o'clock in the morning inside the world's biggest fish market and the tuna auctions are under way. this is the first auction of 2017 and the prices are likely to be high. this will be the last new year auction held in tsukiji perhaps ever, because this market's supposed to close, and over here, if you come over here, you can see, you can see through here, these are the really big ones, these are the fish that are 200—250 kilos, these are the ones that might reach record prices — that current record for one fish here, us $1.7 million. tsukiji market is like no other, vast and chaotic.
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on a good day, 60,000 people bustle through this maze of alleys and shops. but soon, all of this will be gone, the buildings demolished, the land sold to developers. toichiro iida's family have been trading tuna since the days of the shogun. in tsukiji, i'm third—generation, and we are doing this business for 170 years almost, so, what we feel is we built this place, i mean, the tsukiji, not built by someone. actually, we make history in this place. but why do we have to move from here? moving is not the only worry. the meat from this 200 kilo monster will go to the top sushi restaurants in nearby ginza. but fish like this are getting hard to find. in the pacific and atlantic, stocks of bluefin tuna has fallen by more than 90%. the frozen one is 1000 or less each day, and a fresh one is like 300,
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200, something, 100 less, so the number of fish is decreased, so we don't have enough fish to sell, actually. do you worry about the future of the industry? yes. maybe, maybe it is going to be like the whale, could be. this new year, the top bid went for this 210 kilo bluefin, $632,000 us. critics say publicity stunts like this ignore the fact that these fish are now endangered species. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news at the tsukiji market in tokyo. coming up injust a couple of minutes, sally has all the latest business news in world business report.
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hopefully you'll cloudy weather, if not it will be disappointing. the cloud will bring misty conditions across the north—west midlands. as we start wednesday morning, there will be fog patches over the hills and the pennines and across lower areas, the vale of york, south—east england. for most of us it won't be desperately cold. frost free for many. it is a different story across the south—east of england. there is a sharp frost forming. 0n the south—east of england. there is a sharp frost forming. on wednesday morning, —6 degrees, but it will be glorious to start without clouds. 0ne glorious to start without clouds. one or two fog patches, that said. away from south—east, for and, cloud to start. the closer you are to this
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weather front, you are likely to see rain or drizzle. north wales, cheshire, greater manchester will start on a damp note. northern ireland and scotland have a cloudy start. rakes in eastern scotland, where it will be chilly to start, patches of frost possible —— breaks. 0n patches of frost possible —— breaks. on wednesday, this front is slow—moving. not much change. although it will become dryjust about everywhere in the afternoon. it will be cloudy here. for northern ireland and western scotland, i hold out the prospect of rakes in the cloud, so some bright spells, but overall it is quite cloudy —— breaks. the best of the sunshine for south—east england. it will be chilly here. on wednesday night, the clear skies extend further across southern counties of england. that is where the frosty weather will be on wednesday night. further north it is largely frost free and relatively mild. that takes us into thursday and the forecast is for more cloud,
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thick enough for a spot of rain in scotla nd thick enough for a spot of rain in scotland and north—west england, dry weather otherwise. in the south of england, the best chance of some decent sunshine. temperatures similar, between 7—10 degrees, and more of the same to come on friday and into the weekend. the next time we see significant changes in the weather is probably into the early pa rt weather is probably into the early part of next week. that is your forecast. this is bbc news. the headlines: president 0bama's commuted the 35 year prison sentence of chelsea manning, the soldier behind one of the biggest leaks of classified information. manning, formerly known as bradley, will now be released in may. britain's prime minister has given more details of her government's plans to leave the european union. theresa may says she intends to pull the uk out of the single market and that no deal would be better than a bad deal. thousands of tourists are being flown out of the gambia, where president yahya jammeh is refusing to step down and has declared a state of emergency. he's scheduled to hand power
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on thursday to the opposition leader adama barrow. russia's main opposition leader has told the bbc he would be very unhappy if donald trump eases sanctions applied to individuals close to vladimir putin. alexey navalny also confirmed he would run in the 2018
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