04/11/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

I'm Chris Rogers.

Our top stories:

Saudi Arabia is reported to have

shot down a ballistic missile over

the capital Riyadh -

a loud explosion was heard

near the city's airport.

Lebanon's Prime Minister resigns

saying his life is in danger.

He blames Iran.

President Trump departs Hawaii

is on his way to Japan -

the first stop in his 11 day

tour of Asia.

And saying sorry to "Sue".

An English farmer uses

a tractor and GPS technology

to apologise to his wife.

Hello and welcome

to World News Today.

Reports from Saudi Arabia say

the military has shot down

a missile over the capital, Riyadh,

close to the international airport.

The authorities say the missile

was fired from neighbouring Yemen,

where Houthi rebels are fighting

the Saudi-backed government.

There are no reports of any damage.

A television station

supported by the Houthis said

the missile had hit its target,

the airport, but there's been no

evidence to support that claim.

The Houthis have fired

a number of missiles

across the two countries' border,

but none have gone so close

to a major population centre.

With me is Mohamed Taha

from BBC Arabic.

The fact that it came so close to

hitting the international airport,

or maybe it has if the Houthis'

claim is correct is why Riyadh have

reacted. They have reacted quickly?

It couldn't be denied, because as

you said, whether the missile or

parts of it hit the airport or a

building, in the airport, whether it

is, it has been intercepted or not,

but you know. At the end of the day,

there is fire and explosion in part

of the airport. So flights are

normally, are happening normally and

movement happening normally. But as

you said, the fact that this missile

managed to get to Riyadh is

significant.

Sadly, the war in Yemen

is often described as the forgotten

war. It goes through months without

making the international news. Very

little humanitarian aid. It is

difficult for journalists to find

out what is going on. Do you think

perhaps they have chose the

international airport to get it back

on the international agenda, how

busy is the airport?

Yes the

international airport is the main

airport in the whole of Saudi

Arabia, there are other busy

airports, but this is the main

airport with the capital and it has

two terminals, north and south.

Saudi Arabia, Riyadh's capital is a

big capital, is a business hub.

There are many international

businesses are going to Saudi Arabia

and companies are in Saudi Arabia at

the moment. The vision of crown

prince is to evolve Saudi Arabia by

2030 to be a financial hub, so what

happened tonight I think will have

lots of thinking from the crown

prince.

In many ways it was also

internationals, businessman and

women and even people visiting the

country, being targeted as well?

Yes, that is correct. And this is

the significance as well, that the

Saudi cab Tall, Ree -- capital,

Riyadh, has not under attack from

the beginning of the Saudi Arabia

country more than 60 years ago.

Is

it quite random when the Houthis

fire missiles, how much danger is

there of of the war spilling into

Audi Arabia?

They have threatened

before to hit into the heart of

Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia replied

straightaway by air attacks on the

area. But what happened tonight I'm

sure will have significant effect on

the range of the war in the Middle

East.

Thank you.

Iran has rejected accusations

by the Lebanese Prime Minister that

it's spreading violence

across the region.

Saad Hariri resigned

from his post unexpectedly -

saying he feared for his life.

Iranian officials say his

resignation is a Saudi plot

to create tension in Lebanon

and the region.

BBC Arabic's Carine Torbey has

the latest from Beirut.

It is a resignation that has stunned

Lebanon. Saad al-Hariri said he

holds Hezbollah and Iran

responsible.

TRANSLATION: I want to

say to Iran and its followers that

they're losing in their interference

in the affairs of the Arab world.

Our nation will rise up as it has in

the past and cut off the hands that

wickedly extend into it in the same

way it was forced back on to you in

Bahrain and Yemen.

On the streets of

Beirut it didn't escape people's

notice that the Prime Minister was

speaking from Saudi Arabia. The

Saudis have backed Saad al-Hariri

and they will be seen as pulling the

strings. President Trump has put all

his cards on Saudi Arabia in its

confrontation with Iran. That

peopled the pressure on Saad

al-Hariri, whose decision to go into

government with Hezbollah last year

will not have pleased the Saudis.

Since he took on his father's

political mantle after his

assassination in 2005, Saad

al-Hariri have never stepped out of

the shadow of his father and

establish his own identity. His

reference to a threat to kill him

has raised the political temperature

in Lebanon. Many there will be

concerned that his decision will

plunge the country into new

uncertainty as the Middle East

recalibrates in the wake of the

Islamic State group's defeat,

putting Lebanon in the cross fire of

the tension between Iran and Saudi

Arabia. Let's direct to the director

of the Middle East centre, who joins

us from Italy. Very unusual for the

Lebanese leader to announce his

resignation in Riyadh?

Absolutely.

Hello and it is good to be with you.

Yes, it is very unusual for him to

announce his resignation from

Riyadh. There are multiple messages

here, one is reinforces his claim

that there was a threat to his life

that was thwarted a few days ago.

That it is also a message to say

Riyadh is back on the scene in

Lebanon. One wonders if this is also

a reaction to the apparent, I don't

want to say win, but the apparent...

The fact that Iran and... PROBLEMS

WITH SOUND.

So this could signal something

actually we are back with a heavy

hand.

It is a little bit of a dodgy

line, we are going to try and stick

with it. This comes just a few hours

before a missile, we presume from

Houthi rebels, lands in Riyadh. This

whole region has a complicated

history, so without going into that,

can you try and explain something of

the significance of what we are

seeing, the tensions that seem to be

developing in the region. Are we in

danger of an all out Middle East war

to be frank?

Not immediately, but

definitely the tensions are boiling

above, I mean, they're at an

all-time high. We haven't seen

things this unstable and this

precarious in a very long time. I

can't remember the last time when

things were this precarious.

Particularly when you put this in

the context of Saudi/ist Iranian

tension. The missile was claimed by

the Houthis. It is obviously coming

in direct, in the context of Saad

al-Hariri resignation and his

announcement that Saudi Arabia and

other gulf countries will deal with

Hezbollah in the same way that they

dealt with, the same way they went

into Yemen and into Bahrain. In

other words, he is hinting at a

military intervention or some sort

of a military strike. My sense is

that the Qatar scenario might be

more likely and we may see sanctions

in place against the country or

against specific Hezbollah members.

It is not clear yet. But I think

over the next 24 hours hour we will

have a better picture. But these are

dangerous times and for Lebanon it

is plunging us into again the

unknown.

Thank you very much for

speaking to the BBC. Apologies for

the bad sound quality there. But I

think you get a accepts. Things are

-- sense things are not good in the

region and the BBC will keep you

up-to-date.

President Trump has left Hawaii

to begin his marathon tour of Asia -

the longest by a US president

in 25 years.

This was Donald Trump boarding

Air Force One with First

Lady, Melania, earlier.

They will arrive in Tokyo on Sunday,

then it's on to South Korea,

followed by China, Vietnam

and the Philippines.

Steven McDonnell

reports, from Tokyo.

Here in Tokyo, people are expecting

Donald Trump's visit to be

completely dominated by security

issues emanating from

the North Korean nuclear threat.

Now, in theory, the United States

and Japan do have a lot to talk

about - trade for example -

but everyone knows all of these

other issues are going to be

completely swamped by North Korea.

On his way to Asia,

Donald Trump also travelled

to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii,

where other side of the sunken ship

USS Arizona they had

a wreath laying ceremony.

But perhaps more crucially

in Hawaii, he also had a briefing

from the generals at the US

Pacific Command, speaking

about regional security.

No prizes for guessing

what they would have

been talking about -

again, North Korea.

When Donald Trump arrives

in Japan he'll be meeting

US troops based here.

The same in South Korea.

Perhaps this is a way of sending

a message in terms of American

capabilities in this part

of the world.

He'll also be trying to build

a coalition of Asian governments

in an attempt to pile even more

pressure on the North Korea

to get them to give up

their nuclear weapons.

That includes Beijing.

Now, some analysts have said

that China hasn't done

enough in this regard,

but Donald Trump says of his Chinese

counterpart Xi Jinping

that his effort so far has been

"Pretty terrific."

Stay with us. Still to come: Netflix

cuts ties with the star of one of

its biggest shows. We will hear more

about Kevin Spacey's fall from

grace.

At polling booths they voted on an

historic day for Australia. As the

results came in, it was clear the

monarchy could survive.

Of the

American hostages there was no sign.

They're being held in the compound

and student leaders have threatened

should the Americans attempt rescue,

they will all die.

The mission has

surpassed all expectations. Voyager

one is the most distant man made

object in the universe.

This comes

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ideals.

This is BBC World News Today.

The latest headlines:

State media in Saudi Arabia say

a missile fired from Yemen has been

shot down close to the international

airport in the capital Riyadh.

There are no reports of any damage.

Lebanon's Prime Minister

has resigned, saying

he fears for his life.

He's accused Iran of sowing

"fear and destruction".

Netflix has cut all ties

with Kevin Spacey -

who plays the lead role in one

of its most successful

programmes, 'House of Cards'.

The company said it would no longer

be involved in the series

if the actor continued to be

part of it.

It comes as police in New York

say they have a viable

case against the Hollywood

producer, Harvey Weinstein,

who is also accused

of sexual misconduct.

Ben Ando reports.

The TV company Netflix said it will

no longer work with the actor Kevin

Spacey as allegations against him

mount up. A number of men have said

the actor assaulted him. One said he

was attacked while Mr Spacey was

working at the Old Vic theatre. A

claim being investigated by the

police. A film about the writer Gore

Vidal made by Mr Spacey will not be

released. And police say they may

arrest Harvey Weinstein on suspicion

of rape. This may be the most

serious of the accusations so far.

The police say the woman they have

spoken to has given a credible

account of how the woman attacked

her twice in 2010.

We have an actual

case here. We are happy with with

the investigation is. Mr Weinstein

is out of state. We would need an

arrest warrant to arrest him. Now,

we are gathering our evidence and we

continue to do so every day.

Harvey

Weinstein's accusers include

household names. He has issued a

statement denying any suggestion of

nonconsensual sex, but each day sees

now investigation and police

investigations on both sides of the

Atlantic into the allegedly corrupt

behaviour of some of show business's

most powerful men.

For more on the situation

I was joined a short time ago by BBC

Arabic Hollywood reporter,

Sam Asi.

He's met and interviewed

Kevin Spacey numerous times and says

the star's fall from grace has been

swift and brutal.

This show put Netflix's original

programming on the map.

It was the first show

they started original

programming.

His publicist left him,

his agent left him.

Now, even his Oscar campaign

has been cancelled by

Sony for All the Money in the World,

where he plays J Paul Getty and

everybody thought he would be

a very strong candidate to

win another Oscar this year.

So the damage is immense,

it's almost like

the end of his career,

if it's not the end already.

Many people say it should be

the end of his career, but

Netflix have made these decisions

about him and his future and other

studios without a proper police

investigation, without even

being charged.

That was the case with

Harvey Weinstein, that was the case

with all of them.

This is a question I posed

to some of Hollywood stars,

including Matt Damon

and Ben Affleck this morning.

You've just interviewed Ben Affleck.

Yes, he said that the

public has the right to

judge these people,

because they harm members

of the public and that somehow

the reaction of the public

has awakened the authorities

to these issues.

Because now they are

investigating, at least they're

opening some investigations.

But there is, I appreciate

what Ben Affleck is

saying, and that is

the

power of social media as well,

but what we have got to remind

ourselves there is a huge argument

that people

shouldn't be named by people

who accuse them of things until they

have been charged.

I also asked Matt Damon,

who was nearly dragged

into this quagmire, if you recall,

when it started when a journalist

falsely accused him

of trying to kill a story

about Harvey Weinstein.

And he said, no,

this is not about me.

This is about the victims.

I know who I am, I'm a decent guy,

everybody knows that.

And it is true, Matt

Damon is one of most

decent stars in Hollywood.

But you know the risk,

it could happen even

to somebody like Matt Damon.

Why do you think it's

been an open secret

for so long?

What have people like

Ben Affleck had to say?

Did they know that,

I mean we all know there

is some kind of a casting couch

culture in Hollywood, but why do you

think it has been such an open

secret, why haven't people like Ben

Affleck, who say that,

come forward and said

something themselves

on

social media, why are actors

so scared to speak out?

I don't think, when you ask

them this question,

they mostly say, yes, we knew that

Harvey for instance was a womaniser.

Everybody was aware

of the casting couch.

But I don't think, when you ask them

that question, they also

say, we never imagined

it to be that brutal.

Nobody imagined rape.

Or such systematic, systemic sexual

harassment and abuses.

Do you think some people

are too scared to come out

and say anything?

Absolutely.

Absolutely, because these victims,

these women were too

scared to speak up and

you know pay attention

to the

victims.

Even the stars of today,

they were all abused when they

were powerless.

When they were just on the brink

of starting their careers.

None get harassed or abused

when they are in a

powerful position.

So this is the abuse

of the powerful over the powerless.

Once they're powerful,

these women when

they're powerful,

they're untouchable.

Now the sport.

In the Premier League,

Liverpool have piled the pressure

on West Ham manager Slaven Bilic

with a 4-1 win at the London

Stadium.

West Ham were made to regret

missing an early chance,

as two Liverpool goals in two

and a half minutes put

Jurgen Klopp's side in charge.

The Hammers did pull one

back after the break,

but Liverpool replied

57 seconds later -

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

with his first goal for the club.

Mohamed Salah added the fourth

14 minutes from time.

Elsewhere in the Premier League,

the early kick off between Stoke

and Leicester ended in the draw.

A home win for Huddersfield

against West Brom.

Bournemouth scored in stoppage time

to beat Newcastle at St James Park -

which mean they climb out

of the relegation zone.

Another away win for Burnley.

They beat Southampton

1-0 at St Mary's.

Brighton are up to eighth in

the table after beating Swansea 1-0.

The Swans have dropped

into the bottom three.

Celtic's unbeaten run

in domestic matches now stands

at a British record 63.

That beats their old mark that had

stood for 100 years.

In his 50th league game in charge

Rodgers named an unchanged team

for only the second time.

Afterwards Rodgers

credited his players.

It means everything. It is an

incredible feat by the players and a

wonderful example of

professionalism, of playing and

creating high standards every day.

And we have faced everything, going

behind in games, playing in dodgy

surfaces, playing on AstroTurf

pitches, being tired in games, going

behind, semi-finals, finals. They

deserve all the credit they get for

it.

Bayern Munich made it seven wins

in seven winning away at Borussia

Dortmund. A goal from Robbens set

them on their way. In Spain there

were wins for Valencia and Atletico

Madrid. Espanyol lost.

England have bounced back

from their opening weekend defeat

at the rugby league world cup

defeating Lebanon 29-10 in Sydney.

They made tough work of it

considering the Lebanese,

with a strong australian influence,

are the lowest ranked

team at the tournament.

But prop James Graham was just

pleased with the win.

We got the victory this week, which

was important to us. It is a

tournament that I think we are going

to build into. There was patches

today where I thought we were good

and sometimes a bit indifferent. But

you have got to give credit for

Lebanon. This is their first World

Cup. So I think it has got to be a

celebration of where Rugby League's

going to get to in my opinion.

Jack Sock remains on course to take

the final place at the season ending

ATP World Tour Finals after making

the final of the Paris Masters.

The American who's ranked 22nd

in the world found it a hard

fought opening set against the home

favourite with the crowd

support but gradually

wore his opponent down to take

a 7-5, 6-2 win as he keeps alive

hopes of a date at the O2 Arena

in London looking to oust

Pablo Carreno Busta

from the 8th and final place.

He will play the Serbian qualifier

Filip Krajinovic who caused a shock

when he beat ninth seed John Isner

in three sets.

Felipe Massa says this

season will definitely

be his last in Formual One.

The Brazilian intended to retire

at the end of last year,

but returned to Williams

after Valtteri Bottas moved

to Mercedes following the retirement

of world champion Nico Rosberg.

Massa won 11 races over his 15-year

career and says this

time his decision is final.

That's all the sport for now.

We'll have more for you on BBC News

throughout the evening.

There are many ways to send

a message these days,

but a mysterious one the size

of a field in Oxfordshire,

to the west of London,

has caused some bafflement.

The name "Sue" with a kiss

in giant letters was spotted

by a police helicopter.

A farmer, Murray Graham, has now

admitted he used his GPS-operated

tractor to spray the crops

in the shape of his wife's name -

to apologise for being moody.

Fs spraying down there and I had

some chemical left and I thought I

would spray it out and see whether I

could write my wife's names. It did

it over two week ago.

Sue is your

other half, what were you trying to

say to her by the medium of

crop-spraying?

Just that I'm not

quite as grumpy and old as perhaps

as I make out occasionally!

You can get in touch with us on

Twitter and keep up to date on the

BBC news web-site. From me and all

the team, this afternoons for

watching. -- thanks for watching.