Plus: Gisèle Pelicot gives her final statement in French mass rape trial ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. Today we're reporting on the sentencing of 45 pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong. My colleagues explain how the recent security law is impacting opposition groups in the region. Meanwhile, our reporter Laura Gozzi is in Avignon, France, where Gisèle Pelicot and her ex-husband - who admitted drugging her and inviting at least 50 men to rape her - are giving their final statements in court. We're also reporting from Lebanon, Sweden, and Georgia.
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | Hong Kong jails 45 pro-democracy campaigners | | Forty-five people were found guilty of subversion and jailed. Two were acquitted. Credit: BBC | A Hong Kong court has sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists and lawmakers to years in jail for subversion after they planned to organise an unofficial primary for opposition candidates. Among the so-called Hong Kong 47 group, of which only two members were acquitted, leaders Benny Tai and Joshua Wong were handed prison sentences of 10 and four years respectively. Their trial marked the largest use of Hong Kong's harsh national security law (NSL) which China imposed on the territory shortly after the city’s explosive pro-democracy protests in 2019. Beijing and Hong Kong’s government argue that the law is necessary to maintain stability and deny it has weakened autonomy, but activists disagree. "Recently, we could not even organise a dinner party for members and friends," Emily Lau, a former chair of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong, told the BBC. In court, before leaving the dock, Joshua Wong shouted "I love Hong Kong!"
Who are the Hong Kong 47? Some are veteran lawmakers, others were not involved in politics before the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
The context: Here's what you need to know about Hong Kong's tough new security law.
From June: A high-profile British judge who resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court last spring warned the city was “slowly becoming a totalitarian state”. | |
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| 'There will forever be 51 people who defiled me' | | A verdict from a panel of five judges expected on 20 December. Credit: EPA | Gisèle Pelicot, the victim in the mass rape trial that has shocked France and the world, is giving her final statement on Tuesday morning. Her then husband Dominique Pelicot admitted drugging her for almost a decade and recruiting dozens of men online to rape her in their home when she was unconscious. Please note, our coverage contains very distressing accounts of sexual abuse. |
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| | | The courtroom in Avignon is full. Dozens of journalists - both from French and foreign media - are in attendance. To our left is the box where about 15 defendants are sitting. Most stare ahead blankly at the seven presiding judges, although one man is holding his head in his hands. Following one last defendant taking the stand, Gisèle Pelicot starts giving evidence. She begins by saying: "I knew what I was signing up for when I gave up the right to a closed trial … I admit that today I can feel the tiredness." Pelicot adds that for her this is a "trial of cowardliness". Later, she says: "I don't think I'll ever feel at peace until the end of my life. I'll learn to live with it. I'll rebuild myself. But there'll forever be 51 people who have defiled me. And I will have to live with this for the rest of my life." |
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BEYOND THE HEADLINES | The Christians who see Trump as their saviour |
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| | | Rev Franklin Graham speaks during a rally in North Carolina ahead of the presidential election. Credit: Reuters | One of the most striking themes of Donald Trump's election campaign was that he had been chosen by God - a notion reinforced by a bullet grazing his ear during the failed attempt on his life in July. Our religion editor Aleem Maqbool explores why so many see the president-elect, who isn’t known to have an especially strong faith, as a man sent from God. |
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | Sweden's wooden city | Växjö may be 1,000 years old, but its vision for green urban living is futuristic. | |
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And finally... | A Russian software company has invited a seven-year-old coding prodigy to join its management team - as soon as he is old enough to take up paid employment. Pro32's chief executive Igor Mandik told the BBC World Service he had spoken to Sergey's parents about finding ways to collaborate in the meantime, comparing the child to "a coding Mozart". | |
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Six Steps to Calm | Discover a calmer future with this course of six science-backed techniques, weekly to your inbox. | |
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