Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

Here on bbc news. Hong kongs suspended plans to introduce a controversial new law allowing extraditions to Mainland China. The proposals had prompted the biggest protests in the territory for years. The government had previously argued that the extradition bill would plug the loopholes so that the city would not be a safe haven for criminals, following a murder case in taiwan. But critics argued it would expose people in hong kong to chinas unfair justice system. Hong kongs chief executive carrie lam said the priority now was to restore peace and order. After repeated internal deliberations over the last two days, i now announce that the government has decided to suspend the legislative amendment exercise. Restart our communication with all sectors of society. Do more explanation work and listen to different views of society. I want to stress that the government is adopting an open mind to heat i want to stress that the government is adopting an open mind to heed comprehensively different views in society towards the bill. The secretary for security will send a letter to the Legislative Council president to withdraw the notice of resumption of a second reading debate on the bill. In other words, the council will halt its work in relation to the bill until our working communication explanation and listening to opinions is completed. We have no intention to set a deadline for this work. And promise to report and consult members of the Legislative Council panel on security before we decide on the next step forward. Our china correspondent, stephen mcdonnell, is in hong kong. I think most observers will see this asa i think most observers will see this as a clear and significant defeat for the government of carrie lam. And a victory at least for the time being for hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who have taken to the streets of hong kong, opposing this controversial extradition bill. Carrie lam says that she will be listening in this interim period and there is no deadline for the reintroduction of the bill, so for that reason it is not over yet. And it will be interesting to see how many people turn out tomorrow for a planned protest. There was another large demonstration expected against the extradition bill. Now that it has been shelved for the time being, i think this is a move by the government to try to take some of the heat out of the issue. We did hear carrie lam saying she was hoping that this was going to help restore peace and calm to the city in hong kong. But a lot of ill will still surround this issue, not the least of which is because we saw first this very large demonstration, 1 first this very large demonstration, i Million People a week ago, the government ignored this. Then this second clash around where i am standing, where tens of thousands of protesters were cleared out of here with the use of tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets. There were injuries, quite violent clashes. It will be a while, at least for this, the feeling, the ill will to go away, if you like, in relation to this extradition issue. We have heard carrie lam say she still think thatis heard carrie lam say she still think that is the right thing to do, to be able to send people to Mainland China to face trial and courts controlled by the communist party. Iran is almost certainly responsible for the attacks on two oil tankers in the gulf of oman, according to the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt. Yesterday, the us military released a video which it said showed Iranian Forces removing an unexploded mine from one of the stricken ships. Tehran has denied any involvement. The labour Leaderjeremy Corbyn says theres no credible evidence iran is responsible, tweeting that the uk should ease tensions, rather than fuel a military escalation. Earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent, nick eardley, about Jeremy Corbyns tweet. He wants to see more evidence. He tweeted last night that he doesnt think there is credible evidence to say that iran was definitely responsible for this. That is a view that has been echoed this morning by labour shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry. Lets listen to her on the today programme. These are extremely dangerous developments, and we really have to pause and think about where we are going next. The idea that we are going to get in enmeshed in another war is something we really need to think about very carefully. The governments view is very similar to that of the united states, it thinks iran was almost certainly responsible for this. We have heard again from jeremy hunt this morning attacking mr corbyn for questioning that assessment, saying thatJeremy Corbyns views were pathetic and predictable. And arguing that mr corbyn was not listening to British Intelligence or acting in british interests. The obvious difference between the two, mr corbyn has always been sceptical of some British Military intelligence. Mr hunt is standing for the conservative leadership. I think you have to see it in that context. Jeremy corbyn saying britain should act to ease tensions. Critics ofJeremy Corbyn saying he cast doubts over the skripal poisoning. The key is that the intelligence links between uk and the us, the uk has very strong links, it tends to get a lot of first sight which other european nations dont necessarily get. Absolutely, we know that relationship is strong, that there will have been conversations about what exactly the us knows about this. We know the Foreign Office here has carried out its own assessments. Labourjust isnt convinced there is enough evidence there. It says it hasnt seen enough evidence, that it wants more to be put out there before it can agree with that assessment that iran was more than likely responsible. There is a broader point here that the two sides have different views about the strategic approach to iran. The labour party is very concerned that an escalation here could lead to quite a destabilising conflict in the middle east. The government is worried about that, too. Jeremy hunt has made clear he doesnt want that to happen, but for now they are much more likely, the government, to side with the us. Lets get more on this with professor scott lucas, whos professor of International Politics at the university of birmingham. What is yourjudgment about where the evidence is at the moment . How strong is the evidence linking iran with this attack . The evidence we have seen is not conclusive. All we really have at this point is an American Military video of iranians revolutionary guards in a boat alongside one of the stricken tanker is, removing a mine. That hasnt exploded. The americans say the iranians are trying to remove evidence of their crime. Because that line could tie, could be tied back to tehran. The iranians say we we re back to tehran. The iranians say we were just involved in a rescue operation. Our rescuers saw this unexploded mine, of course we are going to remove it so it doesnt detonate. How do you choose between those two sides . It may be that the americans have more intelligence which they havent revealed, they have may have revealed that the british government. But at least in terms of where we are politically, i think the European Union line is the one that is probably the best, which is, one, we dont have a conclusive idea of what has occurred, too, Everybody Needs to step back from this before it escalates and we wind up this before it escalates and we wind up in this before it escalates and we wind upina this before it escalates and we wind up in a military confrontation. What is the risk of it escalating at the moment, looking at what the signals are coming out of the region . Moment, looking at what the signals are coming out of the region7m moment, looking at what the signals are coming out of the region . It is significant. There is a wider context beyond this. One of the contexts is that we had attacks last month on shipping in a uae port, including saudi tankers. We dont know for certain who did that but the americans blame the iranians. We have had iranians backed who these from yemen attacking saudi pumping stations. Are these attacks by the iranians that are trying to say, dont attack us . On the other hand, we have the iranians saying, and shutting off mediation, they rejected mediation by the German Foreign minister on monday. They rejected mediation by the japanese prime ministerjust hours before these attacks. In other words, the doorfor these attacks. In other words, the door for diplomacy these attacks. In other words, the doorfor diplomacy has these attacks. In other words, the door for diplomacy has been closing, even before these attacks took place. These attacks could shut it entirely, and when that happens, you do have a heightened possibility that someone is going to use military means to resolve this. There have been introduced reported with the uae foreign minister, reported on reuters. With them trying to make clearly conciliatory sounding noises. In terms of trying to de escalate this, how would that happen . The problem is that youve got part of the uae Foreign Ministers interview but there is another part where the uae foreign minister says that the iranians are not credible. Because the iranians claiming this might have been a false flag attempts. The iranians have responded back this morning and insulted the uae minister by saying he is just insulted the uae minister by saying he isjust a milking cow for the americans. There is layer upon layer here, the us versus iran tensions, iran which has had long held tensions with saudi arabia, the uae and israel, and no one at this point is serving as a broker, or able to serve as a broker, and say Everyone Needs to stop going on twitter and making press statements, accusing the other side of being liars and deceivers. Looking at the us administration, the Trump Administration, the Trump Administration operates in a very different way than previous administrations. How does that inform other governments understanding of what the risks are at the moment, and the truth of any state m e nts at the moment, and the truth of any statements that come out . You dont Pay Attention to donald trump as the lead, you look at what the pentagon is doing, the state department, what Us Intelligence agencies are doing. At this point, and i stress at this point, those agencies are saying, we will take steps, we may take steps, for example, increase security around tankers, deploy more personnel to the region. That signal to the eu, the uk and iran and other countries is, all right, we do have military capabilities but we are not going to try to raise confrontation at this point. Wejust going to try to raise confrontation at this point. We just want to show you a line needs to be drawn here, lets see how the iranians respond. Thank you very much. Two teenagers have been killed in london in separate attacks within minutes of each other. Police are investigating after one was stabbed in wandsworth shortly before 5 oclock yesterday afternoon and another was shot in plumstead. Police have made arrests in connection with each death. An exam board has launched an investigation after an a level maths paper sat by students yesterday was leaked online. Pearson said it was determined to identify the source of the breach. Edexcel a level maths papers were also leaked in 2017 and 2018. Nearly 300 more homes are being evacuated in lincolnshire because of fears a river could burst its banks again. People have already been moved to safety from a hundred properties in wainfleet near skegness after the river steeping overflowed. The raf flew in tonnes of gravel to try to repair the breach, but new areas are now under threat. Our News Reporter Michael Cowan has been in wainfleet this morning. It was after the river steeping broke its banks on wednesday, after having two months of rainfall in two days. The raf and chinnock helicopters were drafted into still the burst banks with 270 tonnes of sandbags. It was good news last night when they said that had stopped the flooding and river levels were starting to recede. But people here still dont know when they can get back into their homes. Now fire crews work across the cou nty to now fire crews work across the county to feverishly pump water out of those affected houses. This is a very difficult situation for a close knit local community. Homophobic and transphobic attacks including harassment, stalking and physical assault have more than doubled since 2014, according to home office statistics. The new analysis comes after a number of high profile attacks, including two women who were targeted on a bus in camden. Reports of lgbt hate crime have increased by more than 1a0 in england and wales in the last 5 years. The number of british people who own a second home, buy to let or overseas property, has doubled since 2001, according to new research. The resolution foundation, a think tank focusing on people on lower incomes, says1 in 10 people now own multiple properties. If we can compare if we can compare someone if we can compare someone born in the 1980s to someone born 20 years earlier, the person born in the 80s is much less likely to own any property wealth, but if they do own property, they are as likely to have several properties. The headlines on bbc news. The leader of hong kong backs down indefinitely after mass protests over their controversial extradition law to Mainland China. The political row intesifies over gulf tanker explosions two senior cabinet ministers accuse Jeremy Corbyn of not backing britains interests by questioning if theres credible evidence for the attacks. A major review of hospital food after the deaths of five patients from listeria is announced in england. The comedian, jo brand, has been told she wont face Police Action for a joke she made about throwing battery acid over politicians. She has acknowledged the comments were ill judged. The bbc said the remarks on the radio four show heresy were never intended to condone violence. The comedian david baddiel, has criticised the bbc for excluding thejoke from repeat broadcasts. The bbc are still to some extent the aunty of the nation and they dont like trouble. Even though they did commission the show which is designed to push the boundaries of what people might think. And say. So if it was up to me, i would have kept that line in for the repeat. Apart from anything, its a bit silly when it has had massive coverage to cut it out, that looks a bit cowardly. Six candidates remain in the race to be the next leader of the conservative party and the next prime minister, to replace theresa may. Health secretary, matt hancock, pulled out of the contest yesterday but is yet to declare who he is backing. Former foreign secretary and mayor of london, Boris Johnson, remains the frontrunner and has confirmed he will participate in a bbc televised leadership debate. Now lets recap on who those candidates are who have made it to the next stage. Asjust mentioned, there is frontrunner Boris Johnson, the former london mayor and foreign secretary. Michael gove, currently environment who ran against boris in the last contest, is running again. And another favourite Previous Health secretary jeremy hunt, now the foreign secretary. Also running are sajid javid, the current home secretary dominic raab, former brexit secretary who quit over mays withdrawal bill and finally, rory stewart, the International Development secretary the fate of the next conservative leader will be decided by around 160,000 tory members. Research has confirmed that 70 of Party Members are male and 97 are white british. The average age is 57, although over 40 of the group is aged 65 or above. With me are philip sayer, whos the Vice President of the grantham and stamford conservative association. He joins us from stamford. Chris guyver who is vice chair of the north devon conservative association. He joins us from devon. Of course your association forced out nick bowles, do you think that anyone now in the Party Membership who doesnt agree with brexit happening should also be forced to leave . Happening should also be forced to leave . No, i must correct you, we asked to make his mind up, what is intentions were for the next election, we didnt force him out. It was clear he wasnt fully of the opinion that he wanted to stand again anyway. He was being disingenuous with his remarks about the association and about a no deal brexit. We just asking to make the association and about a no deal brexit. Wejust asking to make his mind up, the more he said, the more unlikely it would be that he would be chosen. Whether former new clip members entering the party . No. I have to smile because that is an overblown story. Yes, we have one or two returning from uk but there was no new clip takeover. There was no infiltration of the party by the ex uk members, who many of them were already conservatives before. What happened was that people join the party to have a say in the future a party. The Central Office and minister encouraged people to rejoin the party. Who do you now want as leader . Im not too sure. I have been coming round to the idea that it probably has to be boris. But im not 100 convinced yet. He attended a dinnerfor us the not 100 convinced yet. He attended a dinner for us the other not 100 convinced yet. He attended a dinnerfor us the other night not 100 convinced yet. He attended a dinner for us the other night and was very popular. People are very keen to meet him and speak to him. He isa keen to meet him and speak to him. He is a known winner. But there are some other good people. Who are you supporting and who are your members supporting . I was just supporting and who are your members supporting . I wasjust laughing in your introduction, i absolutely conform to the stereotype of the conservative Party Members because i am 57 and white, but i do have a beard which is quite unusual for a tory. I would support boris. I think boris will be the person to not only ta ke boris will be the person to not only take us out of the eu but also help us take us out of the eu but also help us win the next general election, because the party is facing a crisis for its very existence. I think we have to think long and hard about who is the person who can save us from that fate. I am absolutely convinced it is borisjohnson. From that fate. I am absolutely convinced it is Boris Johnson. Are your members saying they would vote for the brexit party if it is not boris . Know, no one is saying that. We are quite a loyal tribe, although im sure a fair few tories did vote for the brexit party in the european elections but that was probably to give the upper actual ones of the organisation a wake up call. I think no one is saying that, we are waiting to see how this month plays out and how conservative members of parliament vote. And then present us with a choice of two. I think we will see where we get to at the end ofjuly. If it was a coronation, with that please you and your collea g u es with that please you and your colleagues who are going to get a potential vote deny to you . Certainly not, its very important we have a proper contest. When mps make their minds up and give us two good choices, the party of members needs to decide who it once. Should be the second person . Thats a good one. Jeremy hunt, possibly, michael gove. Do you think should be the second person in that run off . Probablyjeremy second person in that run off . Probably jeremy hunt. I second person in that run off . Probablyjeremy hunt. I think the point about Boris Johnson probablyjeremy hunt. I think the point about borisjohnson is probablyjeremy hunt. I think the point about Boris Johnson is that probablyjeremy hunt. I think the point about borisjohnson is that he isa point about borisjohnson is that he is a one nation tory. You cant be elected may london for two terms and bea elected may london for two terms and be a deranged right winger as he has been portrayed for having run the leave campaign. Whoever runs against boris, if it is him in the last two, the party pretty much. Are you not concerned that whoever wins, if they are going to promise an exit by the end of october, that seems unachievable, the eu still saying they are not going to renegotiate and you are heading for a general election, the tories could lose power . Lets see what happens over the next four months. There was a very interesting vote last week which, when the government defeated a labour motion for them to take control of the business of parliament, i think that could turn out to be a very significant moment in terms of parliament waking up to its responsibilities. The country once a decision, to decide to leave pretty soon. Thanks very much to both of you. A comprehensive review of hospital food, in response to the deaths of five patients who contracted listeria, has been announced by the Health Secretary matt hancock. Several nhs trusts have been affected by the outbreak, which has been linked to pre packed sandwiches and salads. Public Health England said the wider risk to the public remains low. Dr nick phin is the Deputy Director of the National Infection service at public Health England. Thanks forjoining us. Can you just ls how many people and how many trusts are affected by this listeria outbreak . Can you tell us. Trusts are affected by this listeria outbreak . Can you tell us. We have detected nine people we can link to this incident. That covers seven trusts. Do you know exactly how this infection has originated . What do you know whether it is the responsibility of the company or the hospitals . Our role is around detecting and advising and managing incidents and outbreaks. We have got a fairly advanced technique of sequencing which is almost like genetic fingerprinting. We detected three patients with identical strains of listeria. So therefore they had to be linked. As we started to accumulate that evidence and gather the histories of what they had eaten, it all pointed to one company. We then had samples taken from that company and were able to link some of the products with the patients, therefore, giving a very good link and identifying the cause of the incident. We are fairly confident that we have identified it and are working with the fsa local authorities, steps have been taken to stop production, that this issue is no longer. Can you tell us what the foodstuff is and how it has become contaminated or infected . These are products that were used as pa rt these are products that were used as part of the sandwiches. At the moment, the Food Standards Agency and ourselves are trying to identify how this could have got into the food chain. That is going to take some time to do, but what we have done is taken steps to make sure the product is no longer distributed. Therefore, the public and nhs patients are safe. What you are saying is, as i understand it, this was the responsibility at source of the production of the sandwiches, not in terms of how they were handled subsequently . Everything points to the fact that there was some form of contamination in the products used by the company. That is obviously something we are investigating further with the fsa and local authorities. In terms of the message to the public now, people who are in hospital, have got family in hospital and are worried about eating the food they are being served, can the public be sure that it is safe . It is as safe as it can be because we very quickly identified this, on the 25th of may the products were withdrawn. We have now been running for over two weeks and we have not seen any new cases since then. That is very encouraging. One of the things we have to be aware of is that listeria has a long incubation period. We would have expected most cases to have appeared by now. All i can say is that having taken the product of the market, people can have confidence that there is no longer a risk from that source. I know you are being careful not to identify the exact location of these outbreaks, but can you give us a rough area, a region where these cases have appeared . Rough area, a region where these cases have appeared . These cases have been across england. They have mapped the distribution of the sandwiches that were provided. We will have to leave it there. Many thanks forjoining us. Lets catch up thanks forjoining us. Lets catch up with the weather. Hello. We cant guarantee drier weather anywhere today. There has been a lot of fine weather around so far today, particularly across central and eastern parts of the uk, but showers are gathering and it has already been raining across some western parts of the uk. This is where the showers are around the middle of the afternoon, across parts of the south, midlands, the north west of england and sun across western parts of scotland. Temperatures between 15 and 19 degrees. The weather isnt going to change across the uk, at least the pattern, into sunday. Still no pressure sitting in the same place, keeps dragging in clouds and showers. Morning temperatures on sunday more or less what we had earlier today. Tomorrow, a mixture of sunshine and showers. The breeze very noticeable, particularly around western and Southern Coasts on sunday. It might feel on the nippy side with highs maybe 20 degrees. Hello, this is bbc news. The headlines. The leader of hong kong backs down indefinitely after mass protests over their controversial extradition law to Mainland China. The political row intesifies over gulf tanker explosions. Two senior cabinet ministers accuse Jeremy Corbyn of not backing britains interests by questioning if theres credible evidence for the attacks. A major review of hospital food after the deaths of five patients from listeria is announced in england. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres mike bushell. Englands women are heading towards nice, ahead of theirfinal World Cup Group match, againstjapan and they do so with the comfort of having already qualified for the last 16 but its a different story for scotland who have to win against argentina, in paris, to have any hope after they lost to japan. Katie gornall reports. Side by side, but in many ways poles apart. Three years ago, argentina had no fixtures, no coach, and no ranking. They fought back then, and they put up a fight here. Nikita parris had a chance to break through from the spot, but Vanina Correa was more than a match. She typified their resilience. Just as england looked to be in for a night of frustration, jodie taylor came to the rescue. This her first goal in 1a months. As a striker, timing is everything. The floodgates failed to open, but one goal was enough. England are through to the knockout stages with a game to spare, but not without a struggle. As for scotland, they came into their first world cup knowing points would be hard to come by. In red, scotland faced one of the blue ribbon teams, japan. The 2011 champions made a stuttering start to the tournament, but they quickly found their stride here. Playing in your first world cup has to be nerve wracking, but this was not pretty in pink. Penalty, said the referee, and sugasawa picked