Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

Hello and welcome to bbc news. World leaders have gathered at the g7 summit in france, and there have already been calls for donald trump not to intensify americas trade war with china. Trade isjust one issue where the leaders could find themselves more divided than united. Climate change and the Iran Nuclear Deal will also be discussed. The white house has shared these pictures of the leaders having an informal dinner together at the biarritz lighthouse ahead of talks on sunday. Not the first time theyve met today. We saw them sitting at prettily decorated table in a hotel at biarritz a little earlier on. Emmanuel macron spoke in french and english. The spoken policy issues that he hopes the g7 will tackle. Trump said a little less. He said they had a great friendship having met each other a few times. Mr trump clearly enjoyed having dinner at the alpha tower, he referenced that. But he did not get into any of the policy details which divide these two men in these two countries. Perhaps a more useful guide in regard to mr toms mood was a statement he gave just before he got on the plane to fly to france where he said, look, im not happy with how europe is behaving in terms of trade and if need be we will put ta riffs trade and if need be we will put tariffs on french wine among other european goods. Already donald tusk of the European Union has said, look, if that happens we will retaliate. The backdrop to this is that donald trump is far from happy about the trading relationship between europe and the us, the trading relationship between china and the us, it will be one of the big issues to play out across the summit. All of the european leaders toa summit. All of the european leaders to a lesser or greater extent have said that trumps approach to this trade war with china and nascent trade war with china and nascent trade war with europe is not helping the global economy. There are 13,000 security personnel in biarritz. They are aware of protest we have seen in france over the past few months. I can show you some pictures. There has been limited trouble. Very limited trouble. We have seen some clashes between police and protesters and today we saw some yesterday as well. It has not been violence on the scale that some people expected. So going into the evening of day one of this three day summit here in biarritz, day two is going to bring a focus on africa, among other things. Five African Leaders have been invited including the president s of south africa and egypt. It will be interesting to see whether below this grand Political Drama of these big hitters of the political world coming together we will also get some firm policy commitments both on education, on health care and on gender equality in africa. Health care and on gender equality in africa. Hundreds of new fires are raging in brazils amazon region, according to official figures. After coming under international pressure, the president has ordered the army to help fight the fires in the Worlds Largest rainforest. These pictures are from boca, an area located in the state of amazonas where the fire has already reduced large swathes of forests to ashes. Protesters have ta ken to streets in many cities in south america demanding more action. Andy moore has this report. There have been angry protests outside brazilian embassies across south america. In mexico city. In santiago in chile. And in colombia, where Indigenous People were among the demonstrators. Translation i feelvery sad because the earth is our mother and what is happening in brazil, the president of brazil needs to stop the fires. We live from the earth because she is the one who gives us food. At the g7 summit, there was an offer of european financial help to fight the fires. The burning amazon rainforest has become another depressing sign of our times. And mr tusk warned a trade treaty with south american countries was at risk. It is hard to imagine a harmonious process of ratification by the European Countries as long as the brazilian government allows for the destruction of the green lungs of planet earth. The pressure from europe and the protesters has persuaded the brazilian president to change course. In a televised address last night he said he would send in the troops to help fight the fires and crack down on illegal deforestation. Translation all the countries have expressed solidarity with brazil. They have offered to help tackle the wildfires and have also offered to take brazils position to the g7 meeting. Wildfires can happen anywhere and they should not be used as a pretext for international sanctions. More than 700 new fires have started in brazil this week alone. Has mr bolsonaro done enough to persuade the International Community he is taking the problem seriously . Andy moore, bbc news. Its notjust brazils amazon rainforest thats ablaze. Fires in bolivia have burned over 800,000 hectares in the province of santa cruz. Exacerbated by strong winds and lack of rain, the fires have burned for 20 days. Local lawmakers have blamed farmers for starting the fires. Lets get some of the days other news. An estimated forty thousand people have turned out in the german city of dresden for a rally against far right extremism, ahead of state elections in saxony next weekend. Some held placards that read, racism is not an alternative. The ministerfor the minister for integration said it sends an important message. Israel has launched airstrikes on targets just outside the syrian capital, damascus. The Israeli Military says it targeted Iranian Forces inside syria, which were preparing to launch killer drones at israel. Unidentified gunmen have reportedly fired on a tourist bus in jordan near the ancient city of petra. Ajordanian news agency said the bus was not carrying any passengers at the time and there were no injuries. An employee at the british consulate in hong kong who was detained in Mainland China has been released. China says simon cheng was detained for visiting a prostitute. But his supporters have dismissed that claim and suggested his case was linked to the political crisis in hong kong which erupted again today, with the worst violence in more than a week. 0ur china correspondent John Sudworth is there. Hong kongs protesters have become battle hardened. Gunshots. With the crisis well into its third month. What began as opposition to a proposed extradition law is now a full scale, pro democracy movement, fuelled by fears that the citys freedoms are being eroded under chinese rule. Just before the barricades went up, news came that a staff member at the uk consulate in hong kong had been released from custody in Mainland China. But the claim that simon cheng was detained for playing a prostitute has been met with disbelief. They got him and faked the picture. They photoshopped the picture which he was with a so called prostitute just to detain him for 15 days. Some suspect a political motive, the protests are the biggest challenge to communist party rule in decades and china has been accusing the uk of meddling. Hong kongs political stand off descends once again into violence. The Police Firing tear gas and rubber bullets as they chase the protesters away down the main street. It continued late into the night, with the protesters already planning further battles in the days ahead. John sudworth, bbc news, hong kong. Queen elizabeths second son, Prince Andrew, has released a statement about his friendship with the disgraced financierjeffrey epstein. Its the first time he has spoken directly about his links since epstein took his own life in a new york prison cell earlier this month. Prince andrew said at no stage did he see or suspect any criminal behaviour. Epstein had been awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he killed himself. Heres our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. What was Prince Andrew doing at the home of a convicted paedophile in new york in 2010, peering out through the door as young women came and went . The questions about andrews friendship withjeffrey epstein have shown no sign of abating and so, from the prince today, a statement in which he says he is eager to clarify the facts. He states. I met mr epstein in 1999. During the time i knew him, i saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year. I have stayed in a number of his residences. The prince goes on. At no stage during the limited time i spent with him did i see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction. Andrew does acknowledge that it was, in his words, a mistake and an error to see epstein after his release from prison. This photograph of them together was taken in 2010. Andrew expresses regret that what he knew of epstein was not, as he puts it, the real person. And yet epsteins behaviour was a matter of public record. Two years earlier, in 2008, he had been prosecuted for procuring an underage girl for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison. But andrew was one of his friends, emerged, when this photo was published. It had been taken at one of epsteins parties in 2001. It showed andrew with a then 17 Year Old Girl virginia roberts. Andrew has always emphatically denied any impropriety. In todays statement, the queens second son expresses tremendous sympathy for all those affected by the actions and behaviour of his former friend, jeffrey epstein. The leader of indias Opposition Congress party, rahul gandhi, has been prevented from visiting indian administered kashmir to assess the current security crisis there. He was reportedly blocked from leaving the airport after landing in the regions main city, srinagar. Well the situation in the state ofjammu and kashmir is tense, after the Indian Government scrapped part of the law which guaranteed its autonomy. On friday, in spite of a curfew, hundreds of protesters clashed with police after friday prayers. Reporters from bbc hindi were there at the time heres their report. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come a passport on a phone. How new technology could make travel documents a thing of the past. As darkness falls tonight and unfamiliar light will appear in the sky, an orange glowing disc that is brighter than anything save the moon, and our neighbouring planet mars. There is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of it is a new nation. It will take months and billions of dollars to repair what katrina achieved in hours. Three hours of the longest in hundred and 17 years so it is with great satisfaction that the swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. This is bbc news. The headlines Emmanuel Macron has called for a de escalation of trade tensions at an informal dinner ahead of tomorrows g7 talks. Hundreds of new fires continue to burn in the amazon as International Hundreds of new fires continue to burn in the amazon pressure mounts on brazils president over his environmental policies. Lets have more on the g7 summit in biarritz. Its Boris Johnson First International gathering as Prime Minister. High on the agenda for him is brexit. The European Council president donald tusk said he was willing to listen to his ideas for brexit as long as they were realistic. But the two men clashed over who would be to blame in the case of a no deal brexit. 0ur chief Political Correspondent vicki young is in biarritz. Landing for his first summit, and it could be a tense one. Borisjohnson is determined to leave the eu but says britain wont be walking off the world stage. The Prime Minister wants to show hes got an Important Role to play and has strong views on global trade. Im very worried about the way its going, the growth of protections, of tariffs that we are seeing. The uk thrives mightily on being an open, outward looking, free trading nation. Thats what were going to be promoting because i think its good for the world. There is a lot on the g7 agenda here in biarritz, but right now for borisjohnson nothing is more important than brexit. Can he persuade eu leaders to give him a new brexit deal . Thats something brussels has said it wont do, even though parliament rejected the Withdrawal Agreement that theresa may negotiated. So is this man likely to help the Prime Minister . Donald tusk famously said there was a special place in hell for those who promoted brexit without a plan. Most saw that as an attack on mrjohnson. He will be the third british conservative Prime Minister with whom i will discuss brexit. The one thing i will not co operate on is no deal. And i still hope that Prime Ministerjohnson will not like to go down in history as mr no deal. Mrjohnson is optimistic it will be the eu who changes the direction the end. Downing street is playing down the chances of a breakthrough here in biarritz but thinks leaders like Emmanuel Macron are ready for some meaningful conversations about the so called backstop to avoid checks at the irish border. The Prime Minister insisted again today that it has to go and said donald tusk said remember that if he does want to go down as mr no dealer brexit. Mrjohnson hopes he can depend on the american president for support. Donald trump said that brussels has not treated the uk very well over brexit. Tomorrow they sit down together and discuss a post brexit trade deal. So far so good. The weather is perfect. The guestlists fantastic, everybodys getting along and well accomplish a lot this weekend and i look forward to it. Friendly words, but they may not be able to disguise the serious differences between leaders here. Vicki young, bbc news, biarritz. Weve all had that terrifying moment where youre getting ready to go on holiday and you think youve lost your passport but new technology could make remembering to carry your travel documents a thing of the past. Instead, the passport would be saved on your phone and detected by a biometric scanner at the border. Our Business Reporter Simon Browning has been to try it out. Sunshine, holidays, city breaks. We all love our trips away. And its the time of year when flights are full, airports are bursting, and there can be lots of waiting around. Now, we all know what its like to arrive on holiday at your destination, to arrive in the passport hall and be greeted by queues to get your passport scanned. Theyre a nightmare 30 minutes, an hour. Well, new Technology Means that could be the thing of the past when our passports go onto our phones. This kiosk is called protect. Its the start of a contactless id system designed by a group of companies and academics to speed up our transition across borders. After downloading an app to your phone, you register your passport with itjust once. Now its going to ask you just to look into the camera and this is just simply to make a match between the passport photo and your live image. So your identity has been now verified, so thats been the link has been established. In a moment, this will be confirmed on the screen. This has now been done. And your mobile phone now says youve been enrolled. 140 million passengers arrived at the uk border in 2017 and that is expected to double by 2050. But airports cannot double in size, so they need to process us faster so we arrive and leave much quicker. The advantage of this is that passengers can choose to use it, and if they are low risk and eligible thats to say you can come through without too much examination then they can go through and not stop they can just keep walking. Whereas the rest of the passengers who have to be seen can go to the normal control. The security of our data has never been under such scrutiny. The designers of protect insist safeguards are in place and information is encrypted. But other questions remain. What if your battery dies . What if you have bought the wrong smartphone . And can the biometric tunnel be fooled . Im going to test whether the passport application works, but im going to try and trick it with this mask. The Developers Say the system is ready for implementation, and the home office says it continues to investigate the application of new and emerging technologies at uk borders. Werejust gonna see. Im hoping it did not recognise me. Thats right. It is a big negative. None of us like to queue, even though we are so good at it. But are we ready to replace them with a hassle free biometric future . Simon browning, bbc news. And for the first time, crime may have gone galactic. Nasa is reported to be investigating a claim that an american astronaut accessed the bank account of her former spouse whilst on board the International Space station. Astronaut anne mcclain says she hasnt done anything wrong saying she did access the account but only to check that bills were being paid. So is there such a thing as space crime . Professor mark sundahl is the director of the Global Space Law Center at cleveland university. Space law may sound like a new field, but the earliest space treaties were drafted in the 60s and 70s and made it perfectly clear that a state has jurisdiction over its own space module. But we are talking about the International Space station. So who has jurisdiction their . Right, thats a good distinction because it is a separate treaty that governs the International Space station and it does have an article 22, special rules regarding criminal jurisdiction. In case anything untoward happens on the iss. And we give unrestricted primary jurisdiction to the country whose nationals are accused. In this case it would be the United States. In the event that there is a foreign victim of a crime, then there is a possibility to share thatjurisdiction but i think in this case it would be quite clear that the United States has jurisdiction. Before we go any further, we should make perfectly clear to your viewers that we dont know if there was a crime that was committed. And we are certainly not talking about aggravated assault or murder, here. We are talking about checking the balance of our bank account. So we should be careful not to smear nasa unnecessarily. These are americas finest. And it could be, i suppose, and Internet Crime because it may well have been an internet connection, albeit a very Long Distance one that allowed the access to the accounts. Absolutely right. So we have a convergence of cyberspace and outer space. But i dont think that any us court would have a problem serving jurisdiction in the event there was a crime or there was probable cause to bring this astronaut into court. I dont think thats a question. In that sense, its not terribly complicated. But it has launched a greater discussion about how we will handle crime in space when things arent quite as simple. Indeed. We are not too far away from space tourism, are we . Virgin galactic say they are going to get their systems are sorted soon. Now, god forbid that passengers start having fights and things. But how would Legal Affairs work on a space tourist trip . Again, you are right. We bring human nature into space with us. We think we will be able to change human nature, but that is hard to do. Thejurisdiction problem will not be difficult. If we are talking about a us space plane launching from us territory and returning to us territory, its clear under space law that the us will have jurisdiction in that case. But of course, if we are talking about foreign nationals, people from different countries, may be launching and landing in a different country, thenjurisdiction becomes more complicated but not so really than would be the case in any other international crime. A spacecraft carrying the first russian robot to be sent into space has failed in its attempt to dock at the International Space station. The spacecraft was unable to lock onto its target, but another attempt will be made on monday. Its hoped robots will eventually be able to carry out complex tasks in space, like spacewalks. A reminder of our top story. Emmanuel macron has called for a de escalation of trade tensions at an informal dinner ahead of sundays g7 talks. Leaders will also try to resolve differences over Climate Change and brexit. The European Council president donald tusk says it may be the last chance to restore harmony among leading industrial nations. Thank you for watching bbc news. The weather really sets the tone for the rest of the weekend. Good news a few like sunshine and you like heat. It was a Beautiful Day for the beach in cornwall on saturday. I think there will be more beachwear than places and temperatures on saturday afternoon got very close to 31 degrees just to the west of london. 29 in wales making it the warmest Bank Holiday Weekend on record for wales but in northern scotland it was a little bit cooler because of extra cloud. You can see that rain of cloud on the satellite picture. Rain now clearing away northwards. You can some of this cloud has been filtering in over recent hours into wales in the south west. These Western Areas more generally see some patches of cloud as we go through the day on sunday. Further eased 102 mist patches early on. They should send a clear and then were going to see some sunshine. More sunshine than we had on saturday although shetland could see some extra cloud furthering its way into this afternoon. As far as temperatures go, 28 degrees in glasgow. 3233 across parts of the south east and it is going to feel increasingly humid as well. As we go through sunday night into the early hours of monday that humility could well cause some areas are mist in low cloud and fog to from than Western Areas. Could be some quite Poor Visibility in parts of the west as we go into the first part of monday. Further east some clear spells in just the odd mister patch and the temperature is 1a or 15 degrees as we start the day. Through monday there will again be plenty of dry weather and some spells of sunshine but remember that early mist in the west, some of which could take a little while to clear. This frontal system getting close to western scotland, may be some rain into the Western Isles and some of the western fringes could see the odd shower. Turning cooler in the west. Things will be changing as we head into the coming week. Through monday night into tuesday we could see some showers on those that are weather front here and then a more meaningfulfront weather front here and then a more meaningful front starts make some progress into the west. That was taken up the cloud apart of scotland should see some rain here. The chance of the odd shower to push out here. Could be heavy or thundery but still the potential for some really warm weather especially across eastern areas. However, wherever you are across the uk things will cool off as we head deeper into the week. Some outbreaks of rain around at times as well particularly across the north and west. This is bbc news. The headlines Emmanuel Macron has called for a de escalation of trade tensions at an informal dinner ahead of sundays g7 talks. Leaders will also try to resolve differences over Climate Change and brexit. The European Council president donald tusk says it may be the last chance to restore harmony among leading industrial nations. Hundreds of new fires are raging across the amazon according to official figures. More than 78,000 forest fires have been recorded in brazil so far this year most in the amazon region. President Jair Bolsonaro has ordered the army in after mounting international pressure. Police have used tear gas to try and disperse Anti Government protesters in hong kong. Officers are also said to have charged at demonstrators with batons outside a police station. It is the 12th consecutive weekend of protest