04/03/2018 World News Today


04/03/2018

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This is BBC World News Today.

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I'm Geeta Guru-Murthy.

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Our top stories...

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Civilians flee eastern Ghouta,

as Syrian government forces

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advance on the rebel-held area.

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Polls are closing in just under an

hour in the Italian general

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election.

Parties on all sides are

hoping for at least a share of

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power.

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As Hollywood prepares

for the Oscars,

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will the ceremony focus on the films

or the new mood of protest?

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These are live pictures. Harvey

Weinstein has changed the scope of

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award season on what people ask on

red carpets and what they wear full

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he has changed how the whole

industry is behaving.

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Hello and welcome

to World News Today.

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The Syrian president has insisted

that the current offensive in

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Eastern Ghouta must continue as

thousands of civilians flee. He said

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also that Western accusations over

chemical weapons are an excuse to

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attack the Syrian army. A monitor

based in the UK says government

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forces have now taken a quarter of

the Ghouta enclave. Our Middle East

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editor reports from Damascus.

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These people said their village

was moving because the

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Syrian Army had arrived.

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One man cursed the Russians and

Iranians, key allies of the regime.

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Air strikes, he said,

including banned cluster

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bombs had not stopped.

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TRANSLATION: It has been

four days, no fuel, no

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bread, no food, no water.

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Where is the world?

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Where are human rights?

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We are humans, not animals.

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400,000 people live

in Eastern Ghouta, an area

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of fields and small towns

about the size of Manchester.

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Most of them are civilians who have

not been able to escape the war.

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TRANSLATION:

When the planes

shelled, I could not see

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anything in front of me.

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I did not wait for the ambulance,

I started running.

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The air strikes have been

followed by ground troops

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who are making rapid advances.

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The strategy seems to be to cut

Eastern Ghouta in half.

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Negotiations between the rebel

groups and the Russians have been

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going on for quite some time.

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It is not clear if the objective

is a ceasefire or the effective

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surrender of the rebels.

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The biggest rebel group says

it is regrouping after a retreat.

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The fighting is still going on,

for the regime the prize is the end

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of the last major rebel

enclave around Damascus.

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For the rebels, these

are desperate moments.

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Jeremy Bowen, BBC News, Damascus.

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Italians are voting

in a general election

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against the backdrop of a bitter

debate on immigration.

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Latest indications point,

once again, to no clear majority

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for any single party.

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Well, let's cross live to Rome.

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My colleague Karin Giannone

is there for us.

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It has been a fierce campaign. We

get the results soon.

A fierce

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campaign indeed. The polls close in

just under an hour. Italians really

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do not have a clear idea of what the

likely outcome is going to be. As

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you mentioned, no party looks like

it will get the necessary 40 descent

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to secure a majority. So, the close

of polls could be the starting point

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for coalition talks that may go on

for weeks. This report from our

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Europe editor.

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Charming, but troubled Naples,

unhappily encapsulates the problems

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at the heart of Italy's elections.

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Falling living standards,

unemployment, and mass irregular

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migration from Africa.

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But uncertainty hangs in the today.

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Italians are voting for change.

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They are just not sure

which political party to trust.

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TRANSLATION: I am so

worried about Italy.

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I said a prayer before

coming to vote.

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TRANSLATION: Italians

are frustrated.

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Politicians need to

hear our voice today.

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Son of Naples is the leader

of the party tipped to become

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Italy's largest today.

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His Five Star Movement claims to be

corruption-free and people-friendly.

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But the political system

here favours coalitions and meaning

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this familiar face could

be kingmaker instead.

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Naples and the south of Italy

will swing the vote today.

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Silvio Berlusconi did some

last-minute campaigning here

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on behalf of a right-wing Coalition.

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So, what does this rather chaotic

political picture mean

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for Italy and Europe?

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After all, this is the Eurozone's

third-largest economy.

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Confusion is quintessentially

Italian, Brussels is used to it,

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the financial markets seem prepared

for it, they believe that

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a Coalition government will

smooth away political extremism.

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This Napolitan shop is famous for

its handcrafted political figures.

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Today, all Italian voters

will help paint the future

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landscape of the country.

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Turnout really is key because, in

the weeks before the elections, some

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polls were saying as many as 40% of

Italians were not going to bother to

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turn up or were undecided. In the

last election 28% of the voting

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population and stained. As we heard

there, the South is three critical.

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-- abstained. Latest figures show

there is a higher turnout than usual

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in the south and a lower turnout

than usual in the north. In the

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south that could favour the Five

Star Movement. I been speaking to

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John Hooper, Italy correspondent for

the Economist about just how turnout

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could affect the result.

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The first thing that is different is

turnout, which seems to be on the

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low side, going the way of maybe 5%

and 10% less this time. And with

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very significant regional

variations. In the south, turnout

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seems to be higher, which should,

perhaps, favour the Five Star

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Movement, which has made the south

into something of a fortress. It

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seems to be going lower in the

centre and the North and that may be

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bad news for particularly the

Democratic Party.

You would be able

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to talk about disillusionment with

the parties in the south because of

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the economic situation in the south

to two high unemployment.

High

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unemployment and high juvenile

unemployment. Lots of people in need

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25 to 35 age group who are on

short-term contracts, who are not

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getting the benefits of full

employment, and who feel there is a

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plague on all your houses. Vote for

the Five Star Movement because they

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are in new faces and they promised

something different.

What exactly do

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the Five Star Movement offer? Can

you define them left, right or

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centre, or none of the above?

If you

average out their policies they come

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up more in the centre. They are more

like a group in Spain in the fact

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they pick policies both from the

right and the left. They would say

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the left and right mean nothing but

since the fall of the Berlin Wall,

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these are outdated concepts. Having

said that, what they really stand

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for, certainly according to their

founder, is the introduction of

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direct democracy. In other words,

doing away with the present system

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of parties and replacing it by a

system in which everybody can click

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with a mouse and vote on everything.

That is really the original purpose

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of the Five Star Movement and in

fact Grillo put up a post just the

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other day saying that you have to

remember what you are there for.

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This is a party which, once it gets

into power and does that, it should

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disband itself. That is why they

call themselves a movement. They

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really are different from parties

want to do away with parties.

If you

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thought it was just the European

Union watching closely what happens

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in Italy, think again. I rather

interesting figure has arrived in

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town to monitor this election very

closely. None other than Donald

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Trump smack former chief strategist,

Steve Bannon. He finds himself very

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much aligned with the leader of the

populist, anti-immigration

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right-wing party. He has come to

town to give a boost to those forces

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of population which have been making

huge waves in this election, which

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has been very dominated by the

matter of immigration. Just to take

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you through what we are expecting.

Polls close at 11 o'clock local

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time, just under an hour. Every hour

we will get an updated exit poll.

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They are slightly unreliable. There

is a 5% margin for error. At around

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0130 GMT, 130 in the morning Italian

time. That is when we will get a

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definitive result which may give us

the shape of what has come out of

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the polls. It will not necessarily

tell us the shape of the Government

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because that can all be decided by

coalition discussions which may go

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one for a very long time to come.

We

will see you in the coming hours.

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Thank you very much.

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Another earthquake struck Papua New

Guinea. This one is ranked 6.0 at

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the depth of ten kilometres. That is

a week after an earthquake caused

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landslides, damaged buildings

enclosed oil and gas operations. The

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people are in need of supplies.

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The German Chancellor,

Angela Merkel, is set

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to form her fourth government,

after the centre-left

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Social Democrats agreed

to join her conservatives

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in a renewed coalition.

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It brings an end to

the political uncertainty

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since September's election.

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Voters in Switzerland have rejected

a proposal to abolish the mandatory

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licence fee for Public broadcasting.

In a referendum, more than 70% said

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no to the change. The Swiss pay

almost $500 a year for the public

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broadcaster. It broadcasts in all

four national languages.

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Stay with us on BBC World News.

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Still to come...

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Tributes to the world's

first four minute miler,

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as Roger Bannister dies

at the age of 88.

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It was just a matter of seconds as

the very lurched onto her side.

The

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hydrogen bomb. The Americans have

successfully tested a weapon whose

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explosive force dwarfed that of the

bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

My heart

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went bang and bang will stop the

constitutional rights of these

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marches and their rights for

citizens of the United States, they

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should be protected so they do not

get their heads broken and are sent

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to hospital.

It is religious

controversy. Does it worry that it

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will boil up when you get to the

States?

It worries me. I hope

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everything will be right when you

get to the end of the day.

-- will

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be all right.

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This is BBC World News Today.

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The latest headlines...

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President Assad says the Government

assault on Eastern Ghouta must

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continue with civilians fleeing the

rebel-held enclave.

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Millions have been voting in the

election in Italy.

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Not long to go now before

the film industry's

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biggest event of the year

- the Oscars.

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This year's event comes

with Hollywood still reeling

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from the allegations of sexual

harassment and sexual

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assault against several

high profile figures,

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These are the live pictures. Camera

crews and genocide gathering outside

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the red carpet area where pretty

soon we will see the stars parade.

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-- and journalists.

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Will Gompertz reports.

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Here on a still concealed

Oscars red carpet, just

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about everybody has got an opinion

about what is going

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to happen tonight.

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But what does a genuine Hollywood

insider, with her ear

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to the ground think?

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Does she expect there to be

a post-Weinstein reaction that might

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change how Academy members vote?

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I don't think so. Harvey Weinstein

has changed the scope of awards

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season and what people ask about on

red carpets and what they wear, how

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the whole industry is changing.

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In terms of voting on the Oscars,

I don't think that there will be

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a real effect on who wins

and who loses.

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My daughter, Angela was...

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I would be surprised

if Three Billboards repeated

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its Bafta success

and won Best PPicture.

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That movie is quite polarising among

American Academy members.

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The Shape of Water,

Guillermo Del Toro's film, is one

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that has won a lot of the precursor

awards that lead up to the Oscars,

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so that seems to be sort

of a rising contender.

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Who is going to win?

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I would put my money on Get Out.

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Chris was just telling me

how he felt much more

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comfortable with my being here.

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Noted.

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What about Best Actor?

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You cannot reason with a tiger!

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Not when your head is in its mouth.

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The front runner for Best Actor

is Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour,

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for whom this is, in many ways,

possibly a lifetime

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achievement award.

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There is an outside contender,

Timothee Chalamet for

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Call Me By Your Name.

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He has kind of captured,

what I think of as the

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ingenue spot this year.

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This year it is seemingly held by a

beautiful young man.

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Surely Francis McDormand

is a shoo-in as Best Actress for her

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performance in Three Billboards

as a grieving, seething mother.

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Her performance in Three

Billboards...

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If there is any movie that sort

of captured the #MeToo movement

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and the idea of female rage,

surely it is this one.

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And what about Greta Gerwig

and her film Lady Bird?

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Could she become just the second

woman in the history

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of the Oscars to walk away

with the Best Director prize?

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I think Greta Gerwig is a long shot.

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I think her being nominated is

a milestone for a female director.

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It has happens so rarely. Kathryn

Bigelow is the anyone who has won in

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the category.

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Three, two, one.

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Ready?

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Action!

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Guillermo Del Toro is the person

I would put my money on.

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This could indeed be the year

that The Shape of Water is the film

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that makes the biggest...

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Splash?

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Will Gompertz, BBC News, Hollywood.

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Let's go live to Hollywood. You are

looking stunning. We can see people

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are riding behind you. What is your

sense, our people focused on the

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films all the controversy?

It is

impossible to separate the two. This

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is the culmination of the awards

season with the biggest awards yet

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to come. People are celebrating some

of the most adverse range of movies

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we have had for best picture

nominee. We have tragic comedies in

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Three Billboards to romances in Call

Me By Your Name, and The Shape Of

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Water. Among those films we have

seen a lot of diversity and

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storylines talking about the

underdogs, the underrepresented,

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capturing the culture right now.

There are very real controversy

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surrounding the Oscars. The Me Too

movement is capturing the fact that

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there has been rampant sexual abuse

in this industry which Harvey

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Weinstein has come to symbolise.

Also the underrepresentation of

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minorities in Hollywood. I expect in

a ceremony for all of that really to

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come to light.

We can see the

excitement behind you already. Also

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a change in the presenter line-up.

Casey Affleck has withdrawn, hasn't

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he?

There has been a lot of conflict

because he has been accused of

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sexual assault. He denied and said

they had settled the matter. That

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was going to overshadow the

tradition of having the person who

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won best actor present the best

actress award. He withdrew and said

0:18:260:18:31

he will not be attending the Oscars.

The Academy thanked him for that and

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said they want the focus to be on

winners. Instead we are going to be

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having Jodie Foster and Jennifer

Lawrence presents best actress and

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also, for best actor, we're going to

have Jane Fonda and Heron Mellon --

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Helen Mirren presenting that.

Thank

you very much.

0:18:490:18:56

We will of course bring

you all the winners

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and the reaction from the red carpet

here on World News,

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which kicks at 0100 GMT.

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And you can find much

more on the Academy

0:19:020:19:05

Awards on our website.

0:19:050:19:11

Now the sport.

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Talking of the red carpet it

certainly hasn't been rolled out in

0:19:190:19:24

Central London. The pressure has

increased on Arsene Wenger. Brighton

0:19:240:19:29

& Hove Albion were 2-1 winners over

the gunners. Record signing barmy

0:19:290:19:37

Yanks scored for Arsenal. Arsene

Wenger's sign of four points behind

0:19:370:19:43

Tottenham.

It took us a while to get

into the game. They were sharper us

0:19:430:19:53

on the ball. We made some defensive

mistakes. In the second half it was

0:19:530:19:59

all us but we could not find a goal.

We are going through a tough time.

0:19:590:20:05

Of course it is difficult at the

moment.

As tough as you can

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remember, do you think, this week?

Three defeats back-to-back. It never

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happened to me in my life. It hit me

on the confident side and you could

0:20:150:20:21

see the team at the moment struggles

a bit.

A Barnardo 's silver goal

0:20:210:20:27

proved the difference as Manchester

City extended their lead at the top

0:20:270:20:31

of the table to 18 points. The blues

managed just three shots on goal

0:20:310:20:37

throughout the game and are

languishing five points of the

0:20:370:20:42

Champions League qualification

places. Pep Guardiola is on target

0:20:420:20:47

to win the title in three different

countries.

18, a strong team, like

0:20:470:20:57

Chelsea, are still the champions. We

did not concede one shot on target.

0:20:570:21:07

Against the Chelsea players,

everybody was involved and I was

0:21:070:21:13

very happy.

Lionel Messi scored his

600th career goal from a wonderfully

0:21:130:21:18

struck free kick. They are eight

points clear of the division. The

0:21:180:21:29

Atletico defence only conceded 12

goals in 27 games. The Catalans

0:21:290:21:34

remain unbeaten this year. They

almost scored a late equaliser only

0:21:340:21:41

to have it ruled out for offside.

Elsewhere in Spain, Valencia lead

0:21:410:21:47

real Bettis in Sunday's other big

clash. The Fiorentina captain has

0:21:470:21:59

died after a sudden illness. The

Florence -based outfit was scheduled

0:21:590:22:02

to play Udinese. He joined the team

and made 58 appearances for them.

0:22:020:22:19

Sir Roger Bannister, the first man

to break the four-minute mile, has

0:22:190:22:23

died at the age of 88 foot he has

been described as one of the

0:22:230:22:27

inspirational figures will stop he

also won gold over the same distance

0:22:270:22:37

at the 1954 Commonwealth Games. He

later became a leading urologist and

0:22:370:22:41

was diagnosed with Parkinson's

disease in 2011. -- neurologist.

0:22:410:22:47

Andrew posse got a gold medal. --

Pozzi. It was a relief to the

0:22:470:23:02

British co-captain he made some

mistakes but held his nerve to claim

0:23:020:23:06

the gold. The Burundi athlete was in

a class of her own and defended her

0:23:060:23:17

title. The fastest time of the world

in 2018. Thank you.

0:23:170:23:31

Sir Roger Bannister -

the first man to run a mile

0:23:310:23:34

in under four minutes -

has died at the age of 88.

0:23:340:23:37

He set the record on a track

in Oxford in 1954 -

0:23:370:23:40

later winning the gold at the same

distance at that year's

0:23:400:23:42

Commonwealth Games.

0:23:420:23:43

Joe Wilson looks back at his life.

0:23:430:23:54

NEWSREEL:

25-year-old Roger

Bannister, third from the left.

0:23:570:23:59

There are some moments of sporting

history which become part

0:23:590:24:01

of the world's history.

0:24:010:24:02

He's decided this

is the right moment.

0:24:020:24:04

What Roger Bannister achieved

in 1954 was like a lunar landing

0:24:040:24:07

for 20th century sport.

0:24:070:24:08

Bannister's old friend and rival

Chris Chataway is in third place,

0:24:080:24:10

waiting to take over as pacer.

0:24:100:24:12

To run a mile and stop

the clock before it reached

0:24:120:24:14

four minutes in 1954,

this was a magical number,

0:24:140:24:17

a barrier of human achievement.

0:24:170:24:18

A feat that would redefine

what was humanly possible.

0:24:180:24:20

And it would fall to a young medical

student to achieve it.

0:24:200:24:23

After two-and-a-half laps,

Brasher gives way to Chataway.

0:24:230:24:25

Bannister, a superb tactician, has

suffered some criticism in the past

0:24:250:24:27

for adopting his own rather

unorthodox training methods.

0:24:270:24:29

But they are paying dividends now.

0:24:290:24:32

At this point it

becomes quite painful.

0:24:320:24:32

I overtake Chris Chataway

and begin the finish.

0:24:320:24:35

And here he comes.

0:24:350:24:36

Bannister goes streaking forward

with about 250 yards to the tapes.

0:24:360:24:40

Every stride counted.

0:24:400:24:42

The tape broke at three

minutes 59.4 seconds.

0:24:420:24:48

And Bannister has done it.

0:24:490:24:50

Though he is out on his feet,

his coach and team manager tell him

0:24:500:24:53

he has achieved his ambition.

0:24:540:24:55

It might have felt like the world

stopped when that clock stopped.

0:24:550:24:58

Four minute mile was a sporting

catch phrase everyone recognised.

0:24:580:25:02

There was certainly a feeling of it

being a national event and something

0:25:020:25:06

of a landmark for the country.

0:25:060:25:17

I am overwhelmed and delighted at

being able to do it today. I was

0:25:190:25:27

very lucky.

Sir Roger Bannister was

knighted in 1995. He regarded his

0:25:270:25:33

work as a neurologist as more

consistent. He described the gentle

0:25:330:25:40

irony when he was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease. His training

0:25:400:25:50

would have been half an hour a day

on the cinder track. He was perhaps

0:25:500:25:57

sport's last great amateur. Sir

Roger Bannister, who

0:25:570:26:03

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