Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

Dateline london discusses whether hong kong is losing the battle for hearts and minds following thejuly 1st protests. Good morning and welcome to bbc news. The Trump Administration has been labelled inept, insecure and incompetent in leaked emails from the uk ambassador to washington. Sir kim darroch said that the white house was uniquely dysfunctional and divided under donald trump. But the ambassador also said in the memos that mr trump should not be written off. The Foreign Office says the leak of diplomatic cables was mischievous, but hasnt denied their authenticity. Speaking to andrew marr, the justice secretary said that ambassadors should be free to give frank assessments to their government. I think its very important that ambassadors give honest, unvarnished advice to their country and it is disgraceful that it has been leaked, but we should expect our ambassadors to tell the truth as they see it. Justice secretary, david gauke. Our correspondent andy moore has been at the us embassy. Its very unusual to get such a huge cachet of what should be secret documents put in the public domain. There are lots of them, covering the period of 2017 to the present and lots of them are very uncomplimentary about mr trump. They say that its unlikely his administration will ever become competent, Sir Kim Darroch says those rumours you will have heard about vicious infighting, he says most of them are probably true. Of the president himself he says the man radiates insecurity even though he is the most powerful man in the planet. He says you have to be simple, even blunt, to get your message through to him. Of his future, sir kim says he might crash and burn. 0n the other hand, he says you shouldnt write to the president off. The Foreign Office here are not denying these comments are accurate and true. They say they are the private comments, the honest and unvarnished assessment from an ambassador, and thats what they say the general public would expect of their ambassador, but not for them to be put in the public domain. From the white house, no response yet, but this story is being widely reported in the usa. It is leading the bulletins on cnn for example. So it would be interesting to see just how much these comments will test the special relationship between the uk and the usa. Andy moore. Iran have announced a new breach of the 2015 nuclear deal, pushing enriching uranium closer to a weapons grade level. Meanwhile, france and tehran have agreed to try to resume talks on salvaging the Iranian Nuclear deal. Iranian Officials Say the doors of diplomacy are still open. Irans president , hassan rouhani, has urged European Countries to save the International Nuclear agreement. Alice porter reports. Last week, iran began showing its defiance against the 2015 nuclear deal, an agreement designed to contain irans development of nuclear technology. The regime breach the terms by going over the stockpile limits set for low enriched uranium. Now events have gone one step further. At a News Conference in tehran, senior officials said they would soon exceed the level of uranium enrichment set out in the deal. Translation in a few hours time, Technical Work will conclude and the process of proliferation above 3. 67 will start. We expect that tomorrow morning, when the iaea take samples, we will have gone beyond 3. 67 . Morning, when the iaea take samples, we will have gone beyond 3. 6796. Iran says there is still opportunity for talks, but european leaders may not be so hopeful. During an hour long call with the iranian leader, the french president expressed strong concern about the consequences of abandoning the deal. So how did we get to this position . Just over a year ago, donald trump upended the agreement and the us imposed tough economic sanctions on iran, severely damaging its economy. Economic sanctions on iran, severely damaging its economylj economic sanctions on iran, severely damaging its economy. I am announcing today that the United States with withdraw will withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. Inafew withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. In a few moments, i will sign a president ial memorandum to begin reinstating us Nuclear Sanctions on the iranian regime. European leaders are struggling to postpone the moment when they have to declare the nuclear deal dead. But if iran continues to breach its terms, angering the us, they may have no alternative. Alice porter, bbc news. Our correspondent James Waterhouse is following the story. What sort of state is this deal still in . It is severely weakened, if you like. If you think about 2015, these International Countries got together and said, we dont believe you when you say you are not developing uranium for weapons purposes. They signed this deal saying they would curb sanctions on the basis you do that. And now with the basis you do that. And now with the us pulling out and bringing back in crippling economic sanctions for iran, which you cant do much about, this is now the iranians testing out and saying, we will increase the enrichment of uranium. Its thought not to be much more than 5 . Weapons grade uranium is 90 so we have some way off that. This is very much iran testing the waters and testing the remaining nations in this deal. What has the response been from the various players in this two tehrans decision to do that with enrichment . France are notably concerned. They are the only nation looking at opening up meaningful talks with iran onjust opening up meaningful talks with iran on just what to do about this. Asi iran on just what to do about this. As i have said, the remaining countries in this deal will be very keen to not sort of admit defeat, if you like, albeit many experts will say it is heading in that direction, and the iaea, the International Atomic energy agency, the body whereby inspectors carry out International Inspections have given a statement saying they are aware of irans announcement and inspectors in iran will now report to headquarters once they have verified the announcement. When that happens, we will await the next move. In terms of the United States role in this, we know donald trump said some time ago that he didnt believe iran was honouring its commitments, hence the sanctions. Those sanctions would continue unless the United States could be persuaded to get on board. You get the sense that iran may be playing their last hand, if you like, because in terms of those economic sanctions that have now gone on for some time with the country, they cant do much about those. What they can do is put germany, france, china, russia, the remaining countries in the Iranian Nuclear deal, into a really difficult position because while they are in difficult Economic Hardship with the sanctions, they can put all these Different Countries in a difficult position by not going all the way to weapons grade uranium, but tiptoeing towards it, along with 60 day deadlines, where they say they have a 60 day plan and they know what their next move will be, so its very much a statement of intent. James waterhouse, thank you. More protests are expected in hong kong today as the row over chinas control of the region continues. Last week, activists stormed the Parliament Building to oppose a controversial bill which allows extradition to china from hong kong. China has already issued a sharp rebuke to the uk over its support for pro democracy campaigners, warning britain not to interfere in its domestic affairs. Anti government protesters are expected to rally outside hong kongs west Kowloon Railway station where high speed trains depart for the chinese mainland turning up pressure on the citys pro beijing leaders. Robin brant is in hong kong with the latest. The march has started and its definitely bigger than the 2000 or so that were predicted. At this stage people are gathering in a park, several thousand behind a cordon and after ten or 15 minutes the police decided to let them through. It is pretty noisy, some of them shouting hong kong cheer up. But for now it is peaceful and seems pretty calm. The focus on todays protest is not a political target. They are here in kowloon and they will be walking past posh shops where there are Chinese Tourists from the mainland. Thats their focus today, speaking to people from the mainland, explaining to them their causes and what they are upset about and trying to persuade them to back their cause. This is the beginning. It will go on for one or two hours and end up at the express Railway Station one or two miles that way. The plan is to be peaceful, the organiser said at the beginning to be elegant. But the police are ready, they are jittery, be elegant. But the police are ready, they arejittery, but be elegant. But the police are ready, they are jittery, but they are ready if it takes a turn for the worse. Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show in the last hour the Chinese Ambassador said that china had full confidence in the hong kong authorities and would not intervene to suppress the demonstrations. If you feel the situation is getting out of control and the hong kong authorities cant control things, does beijing, does china, intervene directly in hong kong . You know, you mentioned about the one country, two systems, for 50 years. We are fully committed to this agreement. There is no question about that. So we can see that from day one until now, Central Government have not interfered at all. On every step of the way, we let the Hong Kong Government handle this. Instead, it is the British Government who try to interfere, voiced support for demonstrators, and when these rioters stormed the legco, they even said you cant use this violence as a protest for repression. So they try to obstruct the legal process. And in answer to your question in a simple way, we have a full confidence in the Hong Kong Government to do that, and it shows they are capable of handling this situation. The conservative leadership candidate, borisjohnson, has reiterated that he is not bluffing about the possibility of a no deal brexit. Speaking to the sunday telegraph, mrjohnson said eu leaders need to understand the uk will leave the European Union on october 31 with or without a deal. But the former leadership candidate sam gyimah who backs another referendum says up to 30 conservative mps are willing to vote against the government to block a no deal brexit. With me is our political correspondent, jessica parker. What sam gyimah is referring to, is something that parliament has previously said it would do, and has said we dont want to leave with no deal. It has been pointed out many times that theyre one thing there isa times that theyre one thing there is a majority for when it comes to brexit and parliament is that mps do not want to see a no deal. What we have at the moment is a conservative leadership contest going on where both candidates, borisjohnson and jeremy hunt, although they use slightly different language and have slightly different language and have slightly different language and have slightly different deadlines, both say they want to keep no deal on the table so that has led to a lot of speculation about some in the conservative party, whether there area conservative party, whether there are a group of tory mps who will work with opposition parties to try to use some sort of legislative mechanism to block no deal and stop a Prime Minister potentially suspending parliament in order to see that through. Sam gyimah speaking on the sophy ridge programme on sky news today has said he thinks there are around 30 tory mps who are taking about doing that. There are a lot of mp5 on the. Conservative side. How many do you think . I think there is a significant number that will use legislative options to do two things. Is that less than ten . More like 30 . I think about 30, 30 plus. Theyll be looking to stop the new Prime Minister from proroguing parliament in order to deliver no deal but also to create options for the new Prime Minister so that no deal is not the only option we face. Many mps would say, we have always been quite comfortable with no deal. Just get on with it is the refrain we hear. Yes, i do think particularly supporters of Boris Johnson think you absolutely have to keep no deal on the table. To be fairto keep no deal on the table. To be fair to borisjohnson keep no deal on the table. To be fair to Boris Johnson and jeremy hunt, whilstjeremy hunt has ruled out the idea of suspending or proroguing parliament, borisjohnson has said he is strongly not attracted to the idea and doesnt wa nt attracted to the idea and doesnt want it to happen but you need to keep it on the table, as you do no deal, in order to get the best kind of deal in a renegotiation out of brussels. One of those backing Boris Johnson is another former leadership contender dominic raab, who also speaking to sophy ridge seems to slightly discourage the idea in terms of mps using some form of legislation to block a no deal brexit. What happened is that we, the politicians and mp5, gave to the british people the decision on this. And i dont think its right through all the shenanigans and devices and ruses that have been conjured up, that that decision, which has been made by the british people, is somehow stolen back away from them. So actually this is about a higher duty, which is to give effect to the promises we have made to the people of this country. And there are still voices who are saying we should still keep an open mind until you have left about the prospect of another referendum on the matter. Absolutely. You can look at the conservative party and say it is rather divided on the issue, but look on the other side of the house and the labour party is pretty divided on this issue as well. Lots of reports today about the civil war at the top of the labour party with senior labourfigures at the top of the labour party with senior labour figures coming at the top of the labour party with senior labourfigures coming on at the top of the labour party with senior labour figures coming on the television this morning to say it is rubbish, just a myth, but it is certainly true there is mounting pressure onjeremy corbyn to be much clearer in his support for a further referendum and labour would in the event of a further Referendum Campaignfor event of a further Referendum Campaign for remain. We heard from shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell on the Andrew Marr Show this morning. Where i have expressed a view, i have said that i would vote remain and would campaign for remain. What jeremy is rightly doing, and this is the difference between us, i say just get on with it, butjeremy is saying to talk to people, bring people together and build consensus and then go for it. Thats what hes doing at the moment. He has almost run out of time. That is the issue i have said to jeremy. Run out of time. That is the issue i have said tojeremy. If boris does call a general election in september, we wont even have a co nfe re nce september, we wont even have a conference to decide these matters, which is why we need to decide early and get on with it. That is why he is talking to people now to bring them together. And the reason things are coming to a head, as andrew marr said, parliament is running out of time. The deadline is october 31, but parliament is due to wrap up at the end ofjuly. It is back briefly in september but then we move into Conference Season and then its october before we know it. Thats why a lot of these issues are coming toa why a lot of these issues are coming to a head. Jessica parker, thank you. Voting is underway in greeces snap general election which was called by the left wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He called the election after his party syriza suffered a defeat in the european elections in may. The Government Faces a challenge from the centre right new Democracy Party. Its the countrys sixth general election since the financial crisis in 2008. Voting ends at around 5 oclock this evening. Live to our correspondent mark lowen in athens. Why has the current government fallen out of favour . You might remember back in 2015, Alexis Tsipras swept to power here promising to end austerity and rip up promising to end austerity and rip up greeces bailout with its european creditors. He had to go back on virtually all of those promises as he accepted a third bailout here. He accepted yet more budget cuts. So he has lost a lot of the support base that backed him in 2015. The populist wave that brought him to power. He tried to stand up to other members of the European Union, tried to stand up to the 27 and was forced back. Sound familiar . Perhaps others in london might take a message from Alexis Tsiprass political u turn. So if he loses today, as polls suggest he will, thenit today, as polls suggest he will, then it would be the end of greeces populist experiment and the political pendulum would swing back to the centre right, to new democracy and its leader has promised a new political era, a post bailout era with tax cuts and newjob post bailout era with tax cuts and new job creation post bailout era with tax cuts and newjob creation to return greece more to the european political mainstream. What does the new Democracy Party think it can really achieve that Alexis Tsipras has failed to do . I think the consensus is that among his team, certainly among the leader of new democracys team, that they have the kind of experience and know how and that they are more serious about governing. Remember, Alexis Tsipras, one of the earlier mistakes seen by europe was that yanis Harry Thacker is, the firebrand leftist economic minister, part of Alexis Tsiprass team, tried to represent a more populist front to europe, and it didnt work. Alexis tsipras got rid of him in 2015. The leader of new democracy presents himself as a more serious figure, leading greece down the path of reform and privatisation, cutting bureaucracy and leading greece out of its bailout. This party has yo yo dinner and out of power in the last 50 yea rs and out of power in the last 50 years and is blamed by many for the kind of nepotism that led greece into problems in the first place. So if new democracy wins this evening there might be a worrying echo of there might be a worrying echo of the past. But new democracy say they can lead greece out of the bailout, they are the new face of democracy and give greece the glimmer of hope it desperately craves. How important will young voters be in this election . They are the ones that left in their droves because unemployment rates were so high. About 500,000 young people left the country in a debilitating brain drain. They were a big part of Alexis Tsiprass electorate. I think they are the ones who have been largely disappointed by his breaking of his promises. Those are the ones that new democracy will try to attract to support them in this election. Another point worth making is that if the pendulum swings back away from populism and more towards the centre right, i think there will be those in other countries flirting with populism, perhaps in britain with populism, perhaps in britain with brexit and in the us with donald trump, who might see an omen for them, and a message perhaps that after a populist experiment, the country can be brought back still to a legitimate, re legitimise the kind of political mainstream. I think whatever happens this evening, it will have repercussions beyond greece and if it is the end of the Alexis Tsipras era then its the end ofa Alexis Tsipras era then its the end of a majorfigure in european politics over the last four years, and perhaps the dawn of a new era. Mark lowen in athens, thank you. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres hugh ferris. The last action of the first week of wimbledon may well have been the most popular as the tournament has its traditinal rest day on the middle sunday. Its not often that mixed doubles provides the highlight but andy murray and Serena Williams played and won together for the very first time, putting on a show on centre court in prime time. Natalie pirks rounds up a busy day at the all england club. Time flies when youre having fun. And when the partnership dubbed serandy finally got on centre court. Applause. It was guaranteed box office. The smiles kept coming as the Partnership Began to flourish, though it wasnt always faultless. Commentator serena, get up laughter. With the first set in the bag, they turned on the style to make murrays first return to centre court in two years a successful one. After he lost his mens double match earlier, this pair were feeling the love. Whos the boss in this pairing . Well, were a team. Theres no i in team. We were saying before the match, were both the younger sibling, so were used to being bossed by our older brother and sister, so were sort of taking it in turns, i guess. Johanna konta came through three sets against Sloane Stephens to make week two, but in an epic 5 setter, Britains Dan Evans was so close to joining her. Instead, joao sousa is portugals first player in history to reach the last 16 and will play rafa nadal. Wimbledon is still loco about coco gauff, but today, the teenager and partnerjay clarke had no answer for their opponents lindstedt and ostapenko in the mixed doubles. Shes got biggerfish to fry next week, though. And from the youngest to the greatest Roger Federer now the first player in singles history to record 350 grand slam match wins. No sweat. Natalie pirks, bbc news, wimbledon. Britains harriet dart went out. Beaten by the world number one Ashleigh Barty on centre court. Dart said it was a learning curve. Trouble could be looming for the italian fabio fognini. The world number 10 has apologised after being heard to say that he wanted a bomb to explode on wimbledon during his defeat to the american tennys sandgren. Phil neville described englands third place playoff at the world cup as a nonsense game and said his players need to improve 20 after losing to sweden in nice. The lionesses were 2 0 down in the first 22 minutes. Sofia jakobsson getting the second. England rallied later in the first half and got a goal thanks to fran kirby. Their comeback would have been complete were it not for another intervention from the var. Just like in the semi final against the usa, ellen white thought shed scored an equaliser. But replays showed shed handled the ball in the build up. It finished 2 1. And they take the bronze medal. So englands world cup is over, but the tournament isnt. The final in lyon between defending champions the usa and the netherlands is on bbc1 this afternoon. Kick off is at apm. After losing the first two one day internationals, englands women have something approaching a must win game in the ashes against australia. Its the third odi in the multi format competition. The home side are batting first after winning the toss in canterbury. Australia currently 21 1 after 6 overs. Sarah taylors back in the team. But all rounder Katherine Brunt isnt playing becuase of an ankle injury. Meanhwile, englands men will play australia in the semi finals of the cricket world cup after two positions changed following the final round of games in the group stage. Australia lost to south africa by 10 runs at old trafford. That means that australia finished second in the final standings and therefore play third placed england at edgbaston on thursday. In the other semifinal india will play new zealand at old trafford on tuesday after they thrashed sri lanka to finish top of the table. Rohit sharma became the first man to score five centuries in a world cup, as india won by seven wickets. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more in the next hour. Many working parents find it stressfuljuggling time in the office with childcare. The government says it wants to support businesses to deliver more Family Friendly policies. There are particular challenges for people who are freelance, or work for small companies. But there are some signs things are changing, as dougal shaw reports. This looks like a fairly Typical Office for a trendy london tech start up, but theres something a bit different about it. Working adults here share the space with children, though it also has some quieter, more Traditional Office areas, parents here are encouraged to be with their children while working. Its seen as perfectly normal. The boss of this Small Company provides a childminder during School Holidays to look after children on site. We would see a more productive britain if more people didnt have to lose half a day because of travelling. I just thought what would i have wanted when i was a new working mother. I was astounded at the lack of childcare in the workplace. What she is offering is part of a wider trend. Small companies are increasingly looking for convenient childcare arrangements to attract the best talent. This Co Working Space is one of several now to offer a nursery on the premises. It has space for children to play on the roof, as well as a nursery in the basement, from which adults can easily reach their workstations. It makes it easy for me because i know that i drop her off, she is downstairs if ever anything happens, and im straight up to my desk within seconds. I feel this is how working women should be able to be. Are you not tempted to check on her all the time . No, because i have lots to do. She has lots to do and is having a great time with people that care and love her. I dont really want to interrupt that. This is the fourth second home coworking space in london and the man behind it thinks this is a new expectation that needs to be met. My hope is that if we look ahead in ten years time, why cant every new Office Development have childcare facilities in it . Itjust requires will, ambition and a recognition that working parents and Small Businesses today need access to childcare. Dougal shaw, bbc news. Jodrell Bank Observatory in cheshire has been awarded unesco World Heritage status. Its home to the lovell telescope which has probing the depths of space since 1957. The organisation says it embodies the value unesco places on the universality of science, and its ability to build International Collaboration and foster peace. Now its time for a look at the weather with susan powell. A lot of sunshine across the uk today, but actually not for everyone. If we look at the satellite picture, we have a weather front hanging on to the south, pretty slow moving away to the continent. Still lingering rain as far north as london but the picture should improve in the south east through the afternoon. More clout to the south west and west wales. Cloud coming down on a northerly breeze into eastern scotland and Northern England which could also bring the odd sharp shower, and 1a england which could also bring the odd sharp shower, and 16 degrees for aberdeen and newcastle, rather cool. Through the evening and overnight, perhaps isolated showers in lincolnshire and east anglia, but overall clear skies. Chile in the scottish glens. Cool enough for a grass frost. Cool enough in the south as well, behind that band of cloud, a cold front. Cooler skies on monday. Sunshine to start the day and then a front pushing into Northern Ireland later. More cloud and rain coming in the afternoon. Temperatures between 16 in aberdeen and 2a in cardiff. Hello, this is bbc news. The headlines. Leaked emails from the British Ambassador to washington have described president Trumps Administration as inept, insecure and incompetent. Iran says it has breached yet another condition of its 2015 International Nuclear agreement. Protesters in hong kong are marching in another large demonstration against chinas increasing control over the territory, iran says it has breached yet another condition of its 2015 International Nuclear agreement. The jodrell Bank Observatory in cheshire which has been at the forefront of Astronomical Research has been declared a unesco World Heritage site. Coming up now on the bbc news channel, its dateline london, which this week looks at whether hong kong is losing