Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

How hackers are making millions from Ransomware Attacks. Hello and welcome to bbc news. President trump says he plans to impose even more sanctions on iran, as tensions escalate between the two countries. Just days ago, mr trump called off an airstrike on iran at the last minute in response to the shooting down of an american drone. Last week the us blamed iran for attacking two oil tankers in the gulf of oman which tehran has strenuously denied. From washington, Chris Buckler reports. For the moment, donald trump is choosing sanctions as his weapon, not force. But the us military remains primed and ready in the gulf, and while the president abandoned strikes on iranian targets on thursday, the countries still appear to be on a collision course, unless something changes. If the leadership of iran behaves badly, then its going to be a very, very bad day for them. But hopefully, they are smart and hopefully they really care for their people, not themselves. And hopefully, we can get iran back onto an economic track thats fantastic. Washington is putting further sanctions in place in an attempt to prevent iran developing nuclear weapons. Tehran has already warned it is about to breach limits on the amount of enriched uranium it can stockpile, putting the future of the Iran Nuclear Deal in doubt. By threatening the accord, they are trying to get americas allies to put pressure on President Trump to relax the sanctions that are causing real pain for people in iran. Translation the Economic Situation is changing every day. Sanctions and welfare are getting worse. This is because the two governments, iran and the us, are escalating tensions. After attacks on tankers and the downing of an american drone, the strait of hormuz is not only one of the worlds most important trading routes, it is the centre of international tensions. Chris buckler, bbc news, washington. Lets get some of the days other news. A group of researchers say theyve uncovered a Large Scale Campaign to plant forgeries and fake content on twitter and facebook. The Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic research lab says the material originates from russia and appears largely designed to stoke tensions. Thousands of anti russia protesters have been on the streets of the georgian capital, tbilisi, for the third night running. Theyre demanding the resignation of government officials and early elections, after a russian mp was allowed to deliver a speech in the Georgian Parliament on thursday. Russia has banned flights to georgia from next month. Voters in turkeys biggest city, istanbul, will be electing a mayor later on sunday in a contest widely seen as a referendum on president erdogan. The poll is a re run of the one held in march, which was narrowly won by the opposition, but annulled after government claims of irregularities. Mr erdogan has pushed for the new vote. Kim jong un says hes received a personal letterfrom President Trump. State media in north korea reported that mr kim saluted the extraordinary courage of the american president although it was not disclosed when or how the letter was delivered. Earlier this month, the us president said a beautiful letter had been sent to him by north koreas leader. Laura bickerjoins me now from seoul. Was more can you tell us about this latest letter . How tantalising is this . We get an idea that a letter has been sent from donald trump to kim jong un that is the picture of the north Korean Leader reading said letter on the front of the state run newspaper which has been circulated in north korea. The only thing we are managing to glean from that newspaper is that he praised the content newspaper is that he praised the co nte nt of newspaper is that he praised the content of the latter. Is that it was interesting content. And he said he was going to contemplate that interesting content as well as praising the extraordinary courage of President Trump. So what exactly has been proposed, if anything, by the us president . I think that is what is on many of our minds. One of the things that is quite interesting with this is that it is the first sign ofany with this is that it is the first sign of any kind of movement between north korea and the United States since that summit in hanoi broke up without a deal in february. And, secondly, by making this so public both within north korea and without, is kim jong un signalling that not only is he contemplating what donald trump has on offer, hes doing so with the fact that he might also be thinking of coming up with his own proposal. How is it possible that the two leaders maintain such a good relationship, given that last summit, as you say, went so badly . Theyve been very careful not to criticise one another. They think in terms of when north koreas coming out with this state media reports, when its criticising the us, is careful to name the likes of mike pompeo, the us secretary of state, oi pompeo, the us secretary of state, orjohn bolton, for instance, the National Security advisor, rather than donald trump himself. And of course you heard from donald trump just a few weeks ago who described a beautiful letter had come from kim jong un. It does seem that the two leaders want to talk to one another. They feel that when it comes to a deal it would be best done by the two lea d e rs deal it would be best done by the two leaders themselves, rather than working level. That comes with severe problems. It means that there is no kind of basics being done with regard to talks to set up a deal. And it means that although we came away with some kind ofjoint declaration in singapore, it was vague. So when it comes to a deal, think what may be important are the details and that needs to be worked out lower down at a lower level. But right now they are talking, the let us are right now they are talking, the let us are moving between the two countries, so it is a sign of elisa some movement. All right, laura, thank you for taking us through the latest in that fascinating relationship between the two leaders. Laura bicker insole for us. Hundreds of Climate Change protesters have stormed an open cast coal mine in western germany, during a weekend of campaigning against fossilfuels. They ran through a Police Cordon after gathering at the gartz vieler mine early on saturday. Local residents worried about plans to expand the site were joined by teenage activists. Gareth barlow has more. Activists pour in where coal pours out. As hundreds of protesters storm the mine that produces 50 million tons of coal a year, others camp out on railway tracks, which they first occupied on friday, to prevent coal from leaving the plant. Translation we want to block the coal infrastructure because we want germany to phase out of the brown coal conversion, which is the most Harmful Energy source in the world. This is overdue and necessary. Police clashed with the protesters, and the mine owners defended the operation. Translation these are violations of the law. That is unacceptable. These demonstrations are unnecessary, because rwe do not block the phasing out of coal. Something we are being accused of. Since 2012 we have decreased our co2 emissions by 60 million tons, that is 34 . Recent opinion polls show that Climate Change tops a list of concerns in germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to make it Carbon Neutral by 2050, but activists say that is not enough. The two remaining contenders in the race to become the next british Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and jeremy hunt, have been making their pitches in front of conservative Party Members. Boris johnson was the first to speak, but he avoided answering questions about why the police were called to the flat he shares with his partner on thursday night. Heres our Political Correspondent vicky young. Have you ruined your chances of becoming Prime Minister, mrjohnson . Mrjohnson, why were Police Outside your house last night . Hes been accused of hiding from scrutiny, avoiding detailed answers about his policies on brexit and tax. We meet in dark days for our party. Today, the questions were more personal. As borisjohnson faced hundreds of conservative Party Members and was asked why police had been called to his flat in the early hours of friday morning. I dont think they want to hear about that kind of thing, unless i. Applause. Police were called to the flat borisjohnson shares with his girlfriend, carrie symonds, after neighbours reported hearing an angry row and were concerned about her welfare. A neighbour passed on a recording to the guardian newspaper. It is reported a woman could be heard screaming and saying, get off, and get out of my flat. The metropolitan police told the bbc there was no cause for police action. So what about questions of character . Would mrjohnson answer that . Does a persons private life. Booing. Dont boo, no, no, dont boo the great man. Dont boo him. When he answers this question, i will move on. No, no, no. Does a persons private life have any bearing on their ability to discharge the office of Prime Minister . Well, no. I, look, ive tried to give my answer pretty exhaustively. On brexit, he said he was determined to take the uk out of the eu by october 31st. What i said was that leaving on october 31st was, my words were eminently feasible, which was taken to mean that i wasnt100 determined to do it. Eminently feasible means it is not only that we are going to do it but its possible. Borisjohnson is the favourite in this race. Some think he already has a foot on the steps of number 10. But leadership contests are unpredictable. He could face more uncomfortable questions, as he has today. Some in this room do think hes a risky choice, but given the dire state of the conservative party, they might just think he is a risk worth taking. Up next, the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt. He campaigned to remain during the referendum. Now he wants to lead a pro brexit party. So could he be trusted to deliver . If we got to the 31st of october and the eu have not shown any willingness to negotiate a better deal that can get through the house of commons, thats not going to trap us in the customs union, then myjudgement is that, weighing those difficult options up, the Political Risk of no brexit is far worse than the economic risk of no deal. And what about his character . Did he have the charisma and steel to be a Prime Minister . Some people would say, hes too nice. I think its possible to be very polite and very tough. And i think my track record shows, you know, some very difficult industrial disputes that i had at the department of health. The advantage of the politeness is that people will talk to you. But by golly, i hope they dont underestimate you, because im going to get that deal. What did you make of it . I thought boris was absolutely fantastic. He was electric. The room came alive as soon as boris entered the room and he spoke, it was absolutely brilliant. Jeremy surprised me, i have to say. He came over much better than i thought he would. And its food for thought. What did you think about questions about borisjohnsons personal life . I mean, it was inevitable, given the timing, that they would be asked, and probably, probably inevitable that he would choose not to answer. There will be 15 more of these hustings before conservative members choose our next Prime Minister. Plenty of time for more questions. Vicki young, bbc news, birmingham. If you want to know a lot more on that leadership contest and details on the two men, the background, their policies on brexit, go to our website and you can get all those details there. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come celebrating the arrival of caribbean migrants. The uk marks the First National windrush day. Members of the neo nazi Resistance Movement storm three World Trade Centre armed with pistols and guns. We believe that according to International Law that we have a rightful claim on certain parts of this country. Id take pride in the words, i this country. Id take pride in the words, lam this country. Id take pride in the words, i am a berlinale. Chapman, president palin and slightly chubby said not a single word in open court. It was left to his lawyer to explain to the court s decision for murdering john leonard. He believes injune eight murdering john leonard. He believes in june eight god murdering john leonard. He believes injune eight god told him to plead guilty. The medical Research Council remind the government that the great increase in lung cancer is due, mainly, to smoking tobacco. Closing time for checkpoint charlie, which we re time for checkpoint charlie, which were 29 years stood on the border as a mark of allied determination to defend the city. This is bbc world news, the latest headlines President Trump has announced major new sanctions on iran. He says its to stop the country obtaining nuclear weapons. Climate change protesters have stormed a german coal mine as part a week Long Campaign against fossilfuels. President trump has announced a delay of two weeks in his programme to deport two thousand migrant families. Mr trump tweeted that the delay was at the request of Democratic Party leaders. He said he hoped they could work out a solution on immigration reform, but if not, then the deportations would start. Raids by the immigration authorities had been due to begin on sunday morning in cities with large immigrant communities. Earlier, professor michael kagan, director of the immigration clinic at the university of nevada in las vegas gave his thoughts on the delay. I think the effect this has on the community is similar to a type of psychological warfare. The announcement as to whether raids are on or off have a theatrical quality to them, because customs harasses and detains people all the time. We have 200 or 300 new deportation cases in las vegas every month. What are the effects of raids like this . Most deportation cases start in a very silent way. People dont usually see a big raid, its rather when you see those things when they end up on local news. It is when a family finds that a father and mother is not home suddenly, or children get home and they dont know where their parents are. Whats happening now is just the fear. Many, many people worry that that will happen. If you could take peoples blood pressure, i think you would see a medical effect, thats the impact this has. Isnt there an appetite amongst some americans for this very harsh policy . Especially as there is all this talk of a migrant crisis in america . Sure, its obvious that the countrys divided about immigration, and there are certainly some americans, who would probably relish seeing immigrants hauled off, i dont think that is most americans. I dont think theres much poll data. What is interesting about this particular episode is it draws attention to enforcement of Immigration Laws inside american cities, inside American Communities, whereas most of the news has been focused on people at the border, so this would have meant, at least threatened, ramped up enforcement of people were very integrated in communities, and that might be quite different and affect Many Americans in a way that things on the border dont. What is the solution to this issue . There are many people in the us who dont have residency and they dont have permission to work, but they are there and have been there for a while. How do you fix this . Well, obviously, a long Term Solution would be legislation through congress, so that there would be a rational immigration system that would match the kind of immigration system that most americans imagine that we have but lawyers know that we dont have. Short of that would be an executive branch that enforced Immigration Law with a sense of balance and proportionality. There is no law that requires deporting 11 million people, and no data indicating that most americans want that. That that is something that is essentially being threatened rhetorically and it is causing a lot of fear for people. But the situation on the ground is much more complicated and we are talking about many, many people who have been living in American Communities for many years, whose kids go to school with my kids, and who now have to live with a sense of fear that may not lead to anything but a before anyone, but generates a kind of political theatre. Theres growing evidence that an increasing number of businesses and organisations are paying out millions to hackers in secret, against the advice of Law Enforcement agencies. So called Ransomware Attacks, although in decline overall, appear to be becoming more targeted with the Computer Systems of governments, institutions and Multi National corporations being hijacked until a fee is paid. Cyber security reporterjoe tidy has been to visit one Norwegian Company still recovering after thousands of their computers were taken offline by hackers. Nestled away in the norwegian forest, this aluminium plant had no idea it was being targeted by hackers. But when it was hit, it was just one of 170 sites brought to a standstill by a catastrophic cyberattack. Computer systems went down everywhere. 35,000 employees forced use pen and paper. Five weeks on, they are still recovering. This is another one of the computers that went down. So that was all gone . All gone. For days, olaf managed to keep his plant going manually. He relied on the skills of long since retired workers and long since forgotten paperwork. At the companys Global Headquarters in oslo, they are still rebuilding their systems. As we were being attacked, we had to shut down the entire network. A0 countries, 22,000 pcs. We are still very much recovering. We dont trust anything. The hackers ransom note that appeared on computer screens was typical. For a large fee, probably hundreds of thousands, they would restore the compa nys files. But hydro never tried to negotiate and refused to cave in to the cybercriminals. I think in general, it is a very bad idea to pay. It fuels an industry. It is probably financing other sorts of crime. But there are plenty of companies who are paying and keeping it secret. To understand the scale, we need to go to the us, where ra nsomwa re payments are an open secret. This group will divvy up 80 of the bitcoin. Codeware is one of a handful of companies that have started helping victims navigate the murky world of cyber extortion. We always have at least half a dozen to a dozen cases. Are these Big Companies . Some of them are, yeah, Public Companies and name brands. Industry analysis suggests that overall, Ransomware Attack numbers are in decline. Hackers are increasingly going after bigger targets and demanding more money. We recognise that when a Company Needs to pay, and its a large number, then thats what needs to happen and that could be seven figures. How do you feel when you pay seven figures . Not good. It is not a good outcome. Everybody recognises its not a good outcome, but you are dealing with the life and death of the company. Theres no doubt it is a major dilemma and its something authorities are trying to take control of without legislation. Continuing to pay ransom perpetuates the crime. It actually makes the criminals encourages them to commit further crimes and again, the whole idea, if you pay, youre actually fuelling organised crime on a global basis. But looking at the damage caused at hydro, it is obvious why the easy way out is attractive. Full recovery is still months away. The repair bill currently stands at well over £40 million. Joe tidy, bbc news. Events have been held across the uk to mark the First National windrush day, named after a ship that brought hundreds of caribbean migrants to help rebuild postwar britain. The government made the announcement last year after it emerged that some of the Windrush Generation and theirfamilies had been wrongly accused of living in britain illegally. Adina campbell went to meet some of those taking part. Five, six, seven, eight. One last practice for these schoolchildren in north london. For weeks theyve been preparing performances for a special audience. Some of the residents in this care home belong to the Windrush Generation and have been sharing their stories with their younger guests. Hi, my name is kayla. Where do you come from . Im fromjamaica. Do you remember the year when you came . Yeah, i959. What was your first day like in the uk . It was all right. I was sick but when i came, i settled down. Newsreader the empire windrush brings 500 jamaicans. The empire windrush docked at tilbury port in essex back in 1948. Hundreds of passengers from the caribbean who were invited over after the Second World War left their families are to start a new life in the uk. Taking upjobs in the nhs, armed forces and other public services. Some of these experiences are reflected in the Group Performances at the care home. Half a Million Pounds of government funding has been made available for Community Events all over the uk, to celebrate members of the Windrush Generation their families. Applause. I dont need nobody. Its hoped these extraordinary stories will help us remember their valuable contribution. All i need is you. Since i met you, baby, all i need is you. Adina campbell, bbc news. Oh, i like it. You like it . The 2019 fifa womens world cup is underway in france. Norway beat australia 4 1 on saturday in a penalty shootout in nice to reach the quarter finals. Former champions germany also advanced to the quater finals after beating nigeria 3 0 at grenoble. Sheriffs in the us town of butler creek montana have warned people to lock their doors after a black bear was found sleeping in a local households wardrobe. Local police said the bear only responded with a yawn when officers attempted to wake the animal up, having entered a laundry room before bolting the door shut behind itself unfortunately for the homeowners, the bear ripped the room apart before climbing into the wardrobe for a nap. The furry intruder has since been tranquilized and removed. You can reach me on twitter im reged ahmad bbc. Good morning. It certainly was a very pleasant start to the weekend across much of the uk. The sunshine tempted people onto the beaches as it will do later in the week, but for some of you over the next couple of days were going to swap the blue skies for some, particularly stormy ones. Potential for torrential thunderstorms here and there which could cause flash flooding. But, by the end of the week, the sunshine will be back more widely and by this stage heat and humidity will be starting to soar. Now out there into today, weve got that area of low pressure which will bring the storms later on, starting to creep towards us. But High Pressure which brought the saturday sunshine still across most of the uk. So its a bright, sunny start for many. A bit more cloud across the highlands and hebrides with some patchy rain that will gradually move away northwards. An isolated shower in scotland later in the day, but its toward South West England where rain will develop through the morning, spreading into parts of wales and south west of Northern Ireland later on. A stiffening south east breeze to go with it. Elsewhere, the sunshine turns hazy, clouds a lot more compared with saturday, temperatures in the mid teens, northern half of the uk in the mid 20s towards the south east corner and turning increasingly muggy. And as humidity starts to increase later, it could start to turn stormy. Parts of wales, the midlands and particularly Northern England we could see some severe thunderstorms. Rainfall amounts are going to vary quite widely from one place to the next, but some could see as much as 50mm, two inches of rain. That could cause some flash flooding and problems into monday morning rush hour. And the same can be said across eastern parts of scotland as that rain starts to move its way in. So into monday we go, parts of eastern scotland will be wettest to begin with. The rain will ease its way northwards. Sunshine will break through some of the misty, low clouds to begin with, quite a muggy start for england and wales and then we could see some further severe storms again parts of Northern England, southern scotland. Best favoured for the worst of those, but the exact position could change a little bit. A cool day northern scotland with an easterly breeze. Further south, a very muggy and humid sort of a day with some sunshine breaking through the cloud. Now as we go through monday night and into Tuesday Morning one batch of storms move away. And then we could bring more rain in, particularly across the eastern half of england, some severe storms. But they mayjust be a bit further west, so keep checking the forecast for the storms on tuesday. A lot them will ease away through the day. One or two left over, but a fair amount of bright weather and temperatures widely into the 20s by this stage. And, as we see, High Pressure builds back as we go later in the week. After a brief drop in temperatures, some mist in low cloud around the coast, as we go towards the end of the week, High Pressure to the east of us. We start to tap into near record breaking heat across other parts of western europe, temperatures could be widely in the mid 20s to low 30s. Well keep you updated. Bye for now. This is bbc news. The headlines President Trump says his administration plans to impose additional sanctions on iran, to try to prevent the country acquiring nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, british officials are set to meet senior officials in tehran for talks aimed at easing tensions between iran and the United States. Hundreds of climate activists have entered a huge coal mine in northwest germany as part of a protest against global warming. 20,000 campaigners from 17 countries have also been carrying out acts of civil disobedience around the nearby city of aachen in the past few days. The two remaining contenders in the race to become the next british Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and jeremy hunt, have been making their pitch for the job to conservative Party Members. But borisjohnson avoided answering questions about why the police were called to the flat he shares with his partner on friday