06/08/2011 BBC Weekend News


06/08/2011

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Good afternoon. China has strongly criticised the United States after

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the American economy had its AAA credit status downgraded for the

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first time ever. China holds more than $1 trillion of US Government

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debt. Joe Lynham reports. Americans are waking up today to a new

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feeling - no longer being the safest economic kid on the global

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block. We haven't gotten any good news lately. Everything's costing

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more and more, jobs are hard to get. I don't think we are bad at

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investment but we've got some very bad leadership and bad interest

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groups that are affecting things negatively. Standard & Poor's are

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one of the three main credit rating agencys who provide their opinion

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on the credit worthiness of countries and companies. It is just

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an opinion, and as we saw three years ago it is often very wrong,

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but that opinion still matters to Government and market. That will

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almost certainly trickle down and result in ordinary consumers paying

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more to take out car or home loans. India called for urgent action from

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Washington to cut its ballooning debt mountain. China, America's

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largest single creditor, was even more forthright. The Xinhua

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official Government agency said China had the right to demand the

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United States address its structural debt problems, and

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called for a new, stable global reserve currency to avert a

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catastrophe caused by any single country.

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The consequences of the US downgrade won't go unnoticed here

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either. Though the Government was being optimistic. There is clearly

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a lot of turbulence in international financial markets.

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People saying it is like 2008, but it is fundamentally different. That

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was a crisis of collapsing banks. Britain was at the heart of that

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storm. We are very much at the edge of this storm as our public

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finances are under control, our deficit has been reduced and there

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is confidence in Britain. The real concern is the impact on global

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confidence. It might snap entirely after this downgrade. 31 US Special

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Forces personnel have been killed in a helicopter crash in eastern

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Afghanistan. It's one of the biggest single losses suffered by

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the US in the country. Seven Afghan soldiers were also killed. It's not

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clear how the crash happened, but the Taliban are claiming they shot

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the helicopter down. Our Kabul correspondent joins me now. What

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more do we know? We know that this Chinook helicopter, one of the

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workhorses of the war here in Afghanistan, was engaging in an

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operation against the Taliban. After that operation was complete,

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it took off. For reasons unknown it was brought down. It may have been

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mechanical failure, the Taliban are saying they brought it down. On

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board, 31 US Special Forces and seven Afghan special commandos.

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This loss of life makes at this time blackest day for the NATO

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mission here in Afghanistan in almost ten years. What sort of an

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area is it where this happened? reason that Chinooks operate in

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this area is it is a mountainous area, a difficult area to reach,

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like much of the terrain in Afghanistan. US troops have been

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moving in and out of that area for some time. President Karzai has

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expressed regrets for the loss of the 31 US service personnel.

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Medical staff at a hospital in Norway say four British tourists

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who were mauled by a polar bear are in a serious but stable condition.

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One of their companions, 17-year- old Horatio Chapple, was killed in

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the attack. Doctors say they hope the survivors can be transferred to

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hospitals in Britain soon. Ben Ando reports. A terrible tragedy, a

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precious life lost. Tributes to Horatio Chapple posted on the

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internet following his death in Norway. At an isolated camp on a

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glacier inside the Arctic Circle Horatio was part of the group

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exploring the Svalbard archipelago when they were attacked bay polar

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bear. The bear was shot dead but not before four were injured, two

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seriously and two killed. His parents told the BBC they had

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received an e-mail from their son- in-law hospital in Norway. He is

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completely devastated that one of the best members of his group, the

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lad from Wiltshire, died. We can't imagine what it is like for that

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family. We are upset but their must be unimaginable. This survivors

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were airlifted to hospital in northern Norway but arrangements

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are being made to transfer them back to the UK as soon as possible.

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They were all communicating and giving me thes up and saying we are

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going to get through this, we are going to recover. They are in a

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severe but stable condition, and have received very good treatment

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here, so I think they are extremely brave people, all of them. The trip

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was organised by the British Schools Exploring Society and the

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team had been given training. But polar bears are the largest

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predator in one of the worldest last great wildernesss. No journey

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into their habitat can ever be truly risk free. A three-year-old

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boy has died after being hit by a car in Stockton-on-Tees. Cleveland

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Police said the toddler had visited an ice cream van moments before the

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incident happened. Police are appealing for witnesses. The boy

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hasn't yet been named. The M25 in Surrey is still shut

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after a lorry went through the central reservation yesterday.

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Three people were hurt in the crash between junctions seven and eight.

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It's hoped the lanes will reopen at around 3.00pm. Tailbacks stretched

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for 28 miles, and there is still congestion in the area.

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