Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

In football, Kevin De Bruyne helps man city score a massive eight goals and secure victory against watford. And 75 years on from the battle of arnhem, a mass parachute drop takes place in the netherlands to mark what was known as operation Market Garden in world war two. Good evening. The labour Leaderjeremy Corbyn has intervened in an attempt to oust tom watson as his deputy, in a row thats overshadowed the start of labours conference in brighton. The grassroots group, momentum, had tabled a motion at the partys Ruling National Executive Committee to abolish tom watsons role. But this morning the nec backed Jeremy Corbyns proposal to review the position instead. Tom watson likened the ploy to remove him as a sectarian attack on a broad church. Our Political Correspondent iain watson reports. Despite the smiles, friends of the labour leader said he was livid when he found out of plans last night by fellow left wingers to oust his deputy, tom watson. There is no love lost between them but it is also on the eve of an expected election and that was politically dangerous and today he said he would rather review tom watsons than abolish it. We are going to consult on the future of diversifying the leadership positions to reflect the diversity of our society. He is the deputy leader of the party and i enjoy working with him. Tom watson set up a group of moderate mps in the party and he has accused some of his left wing opponents of trying to politically assassinate him. I think it is very sad, we are supposed to be here this week to fight Boris Johnson and outline our positive vision for the country in a general election and it has been undermined on day one. I want this week to be the most positive one we can have, i want us to unify and talk about plans for the country during and after the general election. We have had a bad start and i cannot do anything about that, but i hope. This left wing union leader said he understood some of the frustrations about tom watson. Our deputy leader is supposed to support the leader in any organisation and there is a perception that tom does not do that. That on occasion manifests itself in frustration but Jeremy Corbyn came in and calmed everyone down. It is fair to say that the atmosphere has been heating up inside the labour party. Make no mistake, if tom watson have been forced out of his position as deputy leader, could have seen a pre election crisis in the main party of opposition and potentially even a split. This row has almost overshadowed the argument about brexit, almost. Labours ruling National Executive drew up its preferred policy for brexit this morning. If passed by the Party Conference would mean that a Labour Government would negotiate a new brexit deal in its first three months. They would then hold a referendum on the deal within six months, but with the option to remain on the ballot paper. But crucially, this would mean the party would not decide whether to back leave or remain until after general election. We say no the trouble forJeremy Corbyn is that many of his top team have already made up their minds and theyre making it very clear what they will be sane during the general election campaign. What do you think of the idea of labourcampaigning for a labour leave version of brexit . No we must make sure that we lead at the campaign to remain divisions between major figures in the same party and arguments over brexit, approaching the general election it would appear that labour and the conservatives have some things in common after all. Ian watson reporting there. Well in the last hour, i spoke to the former labour advisor and commentator ayesha hazarika, who said this was not the way to start a poltical conference. Well, it is a very u nfortu nate start. Normally, when you go into conference, you want to go in with a big positive message, normally, a policy announcement, something to really rally the troops, send a signal to the outside world that you are thrusting forward. Remember, conferences are like a shop window for Political Parties to really show their wares to the media and to the public. This is such a critical time, because we could have a general election within a couple of weeks being announced. I think for a lot of delegates that i have spoken to today, i arrived here last night, people are just a bit dazed and confused about this, because the labour party had felt like it was coming together on brexit, yet to go into this Party Conference in such disarray and with such disunity is really a gift to the conservatives. You say people are dazed and are wondering where this came from. What is your take on it . Is momentum going rogue, going it alone . Or 0rdo you or do you think there is a Stronger Movement to try and sideline tom watson . I think it is a bit of both, to be honest. From sources i spoke to be honest. From sources i spoke to last night, my understanding is that a lot of the senior people in momentum were not in agreement with this particular move right now and that it was a bit of freelancing. However, there has been a broader current of disaffection with tom watson. He has spoken out about anti semitism, he has also spoken about the brexit position, which is still quite fuzzy and unclear. I think a lot of people felt that he was being punished for disloyalty, but the thing about a Political Party is you cannotjust have enforced purity of thought across every pa rt enforced purity of thought across every part of the party. It is a place where you have disagreements, you do have debates about things. But the mad thing about this is when the conservative party are so divided, when they have just expeued divided, when they have just expelled 21 long standing mps, it just seems mad for the labour party to be going down that route. I even saw a momentum supporter tweeting, it hasnt done borisjohnson any harm to do that to his party, and thatis harm to do that to his party, and that is not how the labour party should be. I get the sense from delegates today, i have been speaking to people right across the from political spectrum, from the right wing and the more it momentum end of the party, they want you to tea they want unity. I have just held a rally about the peoples mode, where Emily Thornberry was talking to otherJeremy Corbyn supporting mps, they want unity, but they also want the labour party to get a clear position on brexit. They wa nt get a clear position on brexit. They want the labour party to be a remain party when it comes to brexit. Just one more thought on tom watson, you mention perhaps he was being punished for being outspoken on certain issues. Some people, including len mccluskey, saying that it is all about the fact that he is not showing the support that he should do for his leader, and there isa should do for his leader, and there is a perception that he is not supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the appropriate fashion. Supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the appropriate fashionlj supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the appropriate fashion. I dont think thatis appropriate fashion. I dont think that is true. I think is the deputy leader of a party, i worked for harriet harman, who had been around for a long time, of course you support the leader, but you also have to be able to speak up for the membership, because they elected you. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10 30 and 11 30 this evening in the papers our guests joining me tonight are the broadcaster and psychotherapist Lucy Beresford and the chief poliotical commentator at the independent, john rentoul. Saudi arabia says it will respond with necessary measures to attacks on two of its Oil Facilities last weekend and has again accused of iran being behind them. Iran denies involvement and earlier said it was ready to destroy any aggressor after the us announced it was sending troops to saudi arabia. Our security correspondent Frank Gardner reports from the saudi capital, riyadh. Punctured bombed and blasted, the graphic aftermath of last weekends attack on saudi refineries. The pinpoint attack quickly blamed by the us on iran temporarily knocked out half of saudi arabias Oil Processing capacity. Iran denies responsibility and to date the guard commander issued a fiery warning against any possible retaliation. A limited aggression will not remain limited. We will punish you and follow you, we have shown we will not rest until the aggressor is destroyed. The uss held off. The us has held off military action, instead, putting sanctions on their wealth fund. Also sending additional troops to defend saudi arabia. At a press Conference Today in the saudi capital and minister of state welcome to this move. In addition to the us weve also had very Strong Military corporations with a number of other allies and in particular the united kingdom, and i think the challenges that we are facing now call for enhancing Security Cooperation between the kingdom of saudi arabia and its allies and partners. The government has welcomed the deployment of additional us troops to bolster the air defences. Now is the time, so the minister, for his country to work more closely with the us and britain. Iran is to blame for all the recent missile attacks on his country. Many had expected President Trump to respond more forcefully to this crisis, instead he listened to saudi calls for restraint. With tensions still high the single incident could change all of that overnight. Joining me from washington is our correspondent david willis. We hired there from frank, tension is still running high. We heard from frank. Yes indeed, they are locked and loaded, as he put it to just over a week ago in response to those attacks on saudi oil fields, the president s response has been somewhat different in tone. The sending of troops, american troops, to saudi arabia, he is focusing on defence rather than attack, the precise numbers will be worked out this week in talks between the saudis and the pentagon. The pentagon is pointing out that this isa pentagon is pointing out that this is a response that is defensive in nature, as it puts it. Despite calls from some in his own party for a more robust, a military strike on iran itself, anything else, some have suggested will be seen as a sign of weakness in tehran. The president , for his part, has been at pains to point out that he is the commander in chief of the largest army in the world, he could call in such a strike in a minute, he says. But he is preferring to demonstrate strength through restraint. Well, it will be interesting to see if that pays off, what the iranians make of it, but this is a president we should remember who was elected on a promise to withdraw american troops from conflicts overseas and of course, he is unlikely to want to be involved in a conflict in the middle east, a long way from home, over a strike in which no american lives we re strike in which no american lives were lost, with just about one year to go until the elections here. Naturally, this part of the world, of interest to many in the Global Community and will no doubt be a focus at the un next week. That is right, donald trump is expected to use his speech to the United Nations General Assembly to call for some sort of coalition to work to persuade iran to become less aggressive in the region. It is unclear who that coalition might consist of for a number of reasons, not least because the United States has failed with its saudi allies to pinpoint precisely where in iran these attacks were launched from. There is a feeling as well that the actions of the trump administration, withdrawing from the iran nuclear accord, have actually exacerbated tensions in the middle east and then, there is distaste towards the saudis over the murder of the saudi dissidentjamal saudis over the murder of the saudi dissident jamal khashoggi, which saudis over the murder of the saudi dissidentjamal khashoggi, which the anniversary of which is just weeks away. President trump may find himself very isolated on this, but he has to do it, because the saudis have brought so much military hardware and spent such a lot of money. Thank you, david. In a rare sign of dissent in egypt, small groups of protesters have gathered near Tahrir Square in cairo, to shout Anti Government slogans. Theyve called for president Abdel Fattah Al sisi to go and demanded an end to military rule. Police fired tear gas to disperse them. In 2011, Tahrir Square was the site of mass protests that led to the overthrow of president hosni mubarak. Organisers of a Climate Change march in paris have called off their demonstration after violent clashes between police and radical activists. The climate march was initially peaceful until groups of so called yellow vest protestersjoined it. Police have fired tear gas and made more than 100 arrests. The headlines on bbc news Jeremy Corbyn has quashed an attempt to oust tom watson as the deputy leader of the labour party, a row which has overshadowed the start of the partys conference in brighton. Iran reacts defiantly in response to the us sending troops and Missile Defence systems to saudi arabia and the uae, after last weeks attack on saudi oilfacilities. The travel firm thomas cook has approached the government for emergency funding, as it tries to avoid going into administration, leaving customers with uncertainty. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres james. The holders new zealand made a winning start at the Rugby World Cup as they beat south africa 23 points to 13 in yokohama. In a tournament which is expected to be one of the most open in years. Are south africa had taken an early lead, but the all blacks hit back. Two quick tries from george bridge and Scott Barrett put them in front. Keeping up their record of never having lost a World Cup Group match. Both sides are expected to reach the latter stages of the tournamnet. There is plenty of stuff we can work on. The boys showed a lot of fortitude and we took the opportunity is, most of them, when they came. We scrambled well when they came. We scrambled well when they had opportunities themselves, so they had opportunities themselves, so both those areas are really important to us. France had a narrow win against argentina. It finished 23 21 in tokyo. The french had a 17 point lead at halftime, but the pumas fought back to take the lead. Replacement Camille Lopez won it for the french, his drop goal inside the last 10 minute saw them retake the lead. Argentina missed a late penalty to win it and may now struggle to get out of pool c, as it also includes england. Confirmation of those results then while australia survived a scare against fiji in the early match in sapporo. They trailed for an hour of the match before the beaten finalists from four years ago ran in four second half tries to eventually win 39 21. Beware the wounded animal. Beaten by norwich last weekend, Manchester City responded in ruthless style. The champions beat watford 8 0 at the etihad. This was their biggest win in the premier league. They were 5 0 up within 20 minutes. Bernando silva scored his first Prmier League hatrick. Kevin de bruyne hit the eighth but couldnt make it nine that would have equalled Manchester Uniteds Record Premier League victory, when they beat ipswich in 1995, 9 0. After fighting, afterfighting, normally, after fighting, normally, it afterfighting, normally, it can be so afterfighting, normally, it can be so boring, people start to do what they want, they start to play for themselves. It was completely the opposite, so we were more aggressive in the first half in our oppressing, and we continued to try and score goals, and i think it was a good afternoon for our fans, supporters, and a lovely day in the sunshine. Lovely day in the sunshine for them. Meanwhile Leicester City are up to third after a 2 1win over tottenham at the king power. Spurs did take the lead in the first half through harry kane. Ricardo pereira levelled the match in the second, James Madisson won it for the foxes with this goal. That means tottenham now drop down to 5th. Elsewhere, two early goals from chris wood saw burnley beat norwich. Sheffield united won 2 0 at everton. And the late game between newcastle and brighton finished goalless. Aberdeen have moved up to third in the scottish premiership after they beat livingston 2 0 away from home. Ross county are 5th after a 2 1win at motherwell. St mirren and hamilton ended goalless. Celtic and rangers both play tomorrow. Ferraris sharl leclair is looking for a hat trick of wins this weekend after claiming pole for the singapore grand prix. The 21 year old from monaco has won the last two races for ferrari from the front of the grid. He stormed round the marina bay street circuit to take pole by less than two tenths of a second from championship leader lewis hamilton. Sebastian vettel will start from third in the other ferrari. It was a crazy lap, but ijust decided, im going to give it absolutely everything and we will see what happens. If i am going into the wall or i managed to finish the lap, and yeah, a few times i lost it, but i managed to keep it on track. I still improve the lap time, there were some mistakes, because at one point, i was half a second quicker than my previous lab and then i lost a little bit when i lost at the rear, but in the end, i managed to finish the lap and im externally happy. Extremely happy. The worcestershire rapids and the essex eagles are currently contesting the final of crickets t20 blast at edgbaston. Essex won the toss and opted to field. The rapids didnt get the start theyd hoped for losing wickets refula rly. They finished on 145 9 off 20 overs. Essex have just started their innings, they need 146 to win. They are currently 7 0, they have just started their innings. In the rugby unions Premiership Rugby cup, exeter chiefs beat bath 28 14. 4 tries from them, all converted. Three in the first half and then a final score in the last 10 minutes. There were also wins for saracens, worcester warriors, london irish and sale. Englands Danny Willett and spaniard jon rahm are the co leaders at wentworth, heading into the final round of the bmw championship. Theyre both level on 15 under. Willett the 2016 masters champion made six birdies in a a under par round of 68. Fellow englishmanjustin rose is tied third three shots behind. Thats all the sport for now. More news from the labour conference now, and the party has revealed plans to force large employers to provide flexible hours to women going through the menopause. Companies with more than 250 employees would have to train managers on the effects of the menopause and accommodate the needs of female staff. Shadow equalities minister dawn butler announced the policy at the start of the partys conference in brighton. Today, i am pleased to announce that a Labour Government with the help of the unions will ensure that we and the stigma of talking about menopause, and the Training Provided so that line managers can understand what adjustments may be necessary, insure a Flexible Working, conduct risk assessment, and review Sickness Absence seizures to consider the specific needs of menopausal women. Lauren chiren, founder and director of women of a certain stage joined us earlier she advises large employers and coaches female executives on how to achieve Peak Performance throughout the menopause. She says the plans are an important step towards creating workplaces that accommodate all genders and all life events. There is a dichotomy, women of a certain stage was set up so that we could ensure that employers understood what menopause was about and make sure that nobody left the job orfelt that and make sure that nobody left the job or felt that they couldnt cope inajob job or felt that they couldnt cope in a job because of what they were going through in their life stage. When i read it initially, i was really delighted and exceptionally excited about the fact that one of oui excited about the fact that one of our main Political Parties was pushing this forward. I think the flip side of that is that we need to understand that all genders and all life stages, Everybody Needs to have an opportunity to excel and use their strengths and skills to benefit the workplace and life in general. We will come to Flexible Working on a minute, and on the question of the menopause and the people you work with, their experiences, what is it that people are experiences, what is it that people a re often experiences, what is it that people are often facing that their employer may know nothing about and have no understanding of . When women hit menopause, about 80 of women suffer with one or more of the 3a recognised the symptoms of menopause, typically, that could be sleeplessness, fatigue, anxiety, hot flashes, everything that affects your ability to concentrate well and have clarity of mind and make good decisions during the day. If you are in that position and you dont have any opportunity to look after yourself and take a pause and keep yourself and take a pause and keep yourself on track, then it can be really challenging to get through a day of work, as you would have done in the past. It is about recognising that for yourself, also, having employers realise there are small accommodations they can make that mean that women can thrive during menopause. You mentioned that the symptoms are often fluctuating, they change day by day, week by wood week, month by month. How do you see this on a practical term, practical level, working, in terms of offering Flexible Working . That very much comes down to the employer, the role that women are holding and looking to see what opportunities there are available. If the role can be flexible in terms of the hours that are being worked, you might come in later and work longer, you might work from home, there are different opportunities tojob work from home, there are different opportunities to job share, it is about looking at what that role is all about and what it needs to do. So it could be that you might need to step out for a couple of minutes, just to regain your composure and get back on with what you were doing, it might mean that you are working slightly different hours. It is about taking each case on an individual basis, but having a policy that says that when you enter menopause or you start entering perimenopausal symptoms that you can have an open and honest conversation with the appropriate person and you know who that signpost person is in your organisation and you can look at how youre going to continue to flourish in your going forward. Uncertainty remains about the future of the uks oldest travel company, thomas cook. Union leaders have urged the government to step in to prevent the firm from collapsing, which could leave tens of thousands of british holidaymakers stranded abroad. But government sources suggest ministers are reluctant for a taxpayer funded bailout. There have been clashes between pro democracy campaigners and the police in hong kong for the 16th weekend in a row. A march by thousands of people had official approval, but demonstrators say Police Forced it to end early, prompting some to throw petrol bombs at officers who used tear gas to disperse the crowds. Our china correspondent, Stephen Mcdonell sent us this report from hong kong. Todays rally was cleared. That is, they had official permission for it, and yet again its turned into one of these street battles. This week, a Senior Police officer told us that they are stretched to the absolute limit. They say they are handling this crisis but, if there was to be a greater escalation, the only way they could deal with it would be to eat into other areas of their police work. As the Police Detain protesters, there is a lot attention from the local media. This is especially the case given the Amnesty International report that was released a few days ago, accusing the police of excessive force, which is something the officers here deny. But, given that, when they apprehend people, the media are on them. After being cleared out of other areas, protesters have come here to yuen long to mark two months since triad connected gangs ambushed activists and, using home made weapons, bashed them in the train station, and theyve accused some Police Officers of colluding with those gangs. Theyve also accused some pro beijing politicians of being linked to the underworld. This is why they want an independent enquiry, which is one of their key demands. You can hear them calling out now five demands, not one less. Stephen mcdonnell reporting. Pop Singer Taylor Swift has cancelled her performance at the melbourne cup horse racing event in australia. It comes after she was criticised by Animal Rights groups, who accused her of endorsing animal abuse by agreeing to perform at the event. Six horses have died at the cup since 2013, including one horse which was out down on the course last year after fracturing its shoulder. 1500 british, american and other nato paratroopers have re enacted a mass parachute drop in the netherlands to mark the 75th anniversary of the battle of arnhem. Among them 97 year old Sandy Cortmann the only surviving veteran to make an assisted jump. He was just 22 years old when he parachuted on to the same drop zone during one of the key battles of world war ii. Jon donnison has more. September 19114, and one of the largest airborne assaults in history. 35,000 allied troops dropped behind enemy lines in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to secure eight bridges and break through to germany. Today, 75 years on, hundreds of parachutists re enacted the most dramatic element of operation Market Garden. Among those floating down to earth, 97 year old british veteran Sandy Cortmann, who completed a tandem jump. Earlier, he lay a wreath at the grave of his friend, gordon matthews, one of 1500 allied soldiers who were killed in the failed operation. I just want to look at his stone and speak to it. He was yourfriend. Hi, gordon. Also paying tribute to those who died in preparing tojump today was major tim, a link between the present and the past. He carried with him a photo of his great uncle, leonard plant, along with his medal. He jumped in on the first wave and the following day was killed. This is one of the last opportunities to do it whilst perhaps we still have veterans who would have been there on the day, they are still around to share that experience with us. Hundreds attended todays ceremony, among them, the few surviving veterans. Every year, i come back, because i like to know when i come back that i go to the graves, and it is the memories that. So many men wiped out. I couldnt believe it. Shown by the mortar sergeant, who, with a wry smile,