Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240713

And coming up at 3. 30pm its click, which has been meeting the young programmers of the future. Good afternoon. Questions have been raised about links between russia and leaked documents detailing talks between the United States and the uk. The papers were used by labour to claim the nhs would be on the table during post brexit trade talks. They were published on the Online Discussion Forum reddit. Last night, the site said it believed the documents are linked to a Russian Campaign to interfere in the general election. Our political correspondent, ben wright, has this report. A warning it does contain flash photography. Elections are about defence as well as attack. This morning, Boris Johnson was in stockport, saying the tories would provide more Grassroots Football funding in england. But today there are also questions about what role russia might be playing in this election. These censored, blacked out reports. This leaked government document detailing initial trade discussions between the uk and the us was highlighted by the labour party. The american message board company, reddit, said it was posted online by an account linked to a campaign originating in russia. I do think we need to get to the bottom of that. As far as im aware, we have not yet established the truth about that. But i certainly think that that document, whatever it was intended to prove, did not prove what Jeremy Corbyn and the labour party hoped that it would prove. Jeremy corbyn was out campaigning in wales this morning. Labour has said publishing the trade document was in the interest of the public and argues that the government should release a parliamentary report into russian involvement in the brexit referendum and the last election. The Prime Minister has answers to give, which he refuses to do, about russian donations given to the tory party, or the report that he is sitting on about russian interference in british politics. And of course there should be no interference in our british political system by donald trump or the russians. Russia didnt crop up in the questions last night, a debate in which borisjohnson and Jeremy Corbyn repeated their manifesto mantras. Mrjohnson focusing on brexit, the labour leader on inequality and public services. There were no shocks or surprises. With the final tv debate done, this campaign is now in its closing stages. A final chance for the parties to pick holes in their opponents arguments and drive home their core messages. While team johnson feels it has the advantage, this unpredictable election is far from over. Ben wright, bbc news, in stockport. Our political correspondent, jonathan blake, is with me. The unspoken aspect of this suggests that somehow this might be designed to help labour because anything that looks like the nhs is troubled a lwa ys looks like the nhs is troubled always plays well for labour. There is no suggestion that some how labour were given this, there seem to have found it in the same way everybody else stayed on social media . They are saying nothing about where they got the document from a journalist never reveals its sources, and labour will focus on what they say rather than where they have come from or at least how they came to be made public. It is worth focusing on exactly what reddit have said because whilst they are clear that this document came to light as pa rt that this document came to light as part of a coordinated effort by accou nts part of a coordinated effort by accounts that they have now suspended, they say only that they believe this was part of a campaign that has been reported as originating from russia so they are not identifying specific individuals who they know are russian or operating in russia and working to put documents such as this in the public domain. But they have said that it shows a pattern of coordination and they have linked it toa Campaign Coordination and they have linked it to a campaign of information originating in russia, which was identified by researchers relatively recently. It does add a new dynamic to this narrative but i think if you look at where it leaves the discussion, it is both helpful and slightly problematic for labour because on the one how people are asking where exactly did you get these documents from . Asking where exactly did you get these documents from . We have to remember that they have been online in their unredacted form for several weeks, even before labour brought them to everybodys attention. But were still talking about these documents and what labour claims they show. That the nhs is up for sale, and their words, and Boris Johnson on the conservatives flatly denying that. It is a double edge sword and the conservatives you have this uneasiness around russian interference in the Election Campaign which is not good for them because people will talk about that report by parliament. Which the government has not released. That is not helpful. What back i want to pick up on that report because my recollection was borisjohnson said it will not be released, the explanation is that the government is going through the rubble process of being checked by all the agencies to ensure there is nothing in it that might be harmful to publish to British Intelligence interests and security interests. Dominic grieve challenge that and said that was not the case but this is a government position but the predators are also said that there is no evidence of russian interference in british elections. So this, again, sends a mixed single potentially . There is nothing to see here, kind of message, from the Prime Minister. Whether he is referring to the contents whether he is referring to the co nte nts of whether he is referring to the contents of that report, that is unlikely, until it is made public and published, iwould not unlikely, until it is made public and published, i would not expect government ministers or others to talk about the contents. Certainly before the election and again people have asked why it was not made public sooner than it was on the government gave various reasons at the time. It had to go through the usual security clearance channels and it was not unusual for something to be held up for that number of weeks. But it will not stop labour and others accusing the government of having something to hide. And in an Election Campaign, the government does not publish that kind of thing . The government knows there is no danger of changing its mind. Thank you. Its the last weekend of campaigning ahead of thursdays election. Our correspondent tomos morgan is following the labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in swansea. And you have the local labour party leader, welsh labour. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, even. Jeremy corbyn came here this morning and went to one of the target seats in the vale of glamorgan where he met the welsh first minister and has given a speech in swansea to around 1000 people and this is his first visit to wales during this Election Campaign andi visit to wales during this Election Campaign and i will turn to the first minister of wales, mark dra keford. First minister of wales, mark drakeford. Your speech first minister of wales, mark dra keford. Your speech reduced first minister of wales, mark drakeford. Your speech reduced some members to tears. Pundits and opinion polls suggest that labour is struggling in wales somewhat. Could you have done withJeremy Corbyn coming to visit a bit sooner rather than a few days before the election . It is fantastic to have jeremy here in the final weekend but it does not ta ke in the final weekend but it does not take a general election to bring Jeremy Corbyn to wales. He was here in the summerand Jeremy Corbyn to wales. He was here in the summer and in the autumn and in swansea when i was with him back in septemberand he in swansea when i was with him back in september and he is in swansea when i was with him back in septemberand he is here in swansea when i was with him back in september and he is here again today, helping us to take our message in all parts of wales and as the polling day gets nearer, mines are concentrated on the real choice that faces us. More of the tories with austerity and cuts and threats to the nhs or real hope for the future. Why do you think the opinion polls in wales and across the uk as well as pundits say that labour is struggling across so many of your held seats and struggling to make gains in target areas . That was an opinion poll published for wales that showed labour making strong advances. Still behind the tories . No, miles ahead here in wales and we will be here on election day as well. There are target seats we want to win and seats we must work hard to win and seats we must work hard to defend but that is what the labour party does, that is why there we re labour party does, that is why there were 1000 people here, hundreds in barry, determined to go on to the last minute, putting the message of hope and opportunity and of a change for the future and i think that will resonate with people in wales and we are looking forward to the 12th of december. Out this is billed as the brexit election in wales and your sta nce brexit election in wales and your stance is you would campaign for remain if we had another referendum. Mr corbyn is in a different cab saying he would remain neutral. Have you had a discussion about this with mr corbyn and how do your opinions differ . How would you compromise on that if it came to it . We discussed this on the bus as we came from cardiff to swansea and oppositions area cardiff to swansea and oppositions are a couple for labour. It is still confused. Do you feel the public understand that . |j still confused. Do you feel the public understand that . I think so added wales were clear, if you want added wales were clear, if you want a second seat on europe the only way to get that is by voting for labour. When the chance comes in wales, we will campaign to remain. Jeremy will be Prime Minister. He will have to implement whatever people decide. If he were to say in advance, i am going to campaign for one side or another, the other side would be bound to call file. He will hold himself in reserve to implement whatever people decide and that is because he is in a different position. Mark drakeford, thank you very much. The first minister saying everything is fine with Jeremy Corbyn and if they made it into power they would be united on campaigning for another brexit vote referendum for the people of the uk and would find a way to campaign on that. Tomos morgan, thank you for joining us. And with mark drakeford. Theres fresh warning that Climate Change and nutrient pollution are dimnishing oxygen levels in our oceans. Thats the conclusion of the biggest study of its kind, undertaken by the group the International Union for the conservation of nature. While nutrient run off has been known for decades, researchers say that Climate Change is making the lack of oxygen worse and is having an impact on certain species of fish. Minna epps is the director of the iucns Global Marine and polar programe and earlier spoke to me from the Climate Summit in madrid. What we are seeing is a 2 decline in the global average. Within that average you have lots of different regional differences and 2 might not seem like a lot but if you think about the terms of the Climate Change debate, we know that even 1 degree will have a huge impact. In the coastal areas, but we are now seeing it in the open sea. We are looking at the reporting of your work at around 700 sites have been identified as having low oxygen levels, up from only 45 in the 1960s. Over several decades but that is a significant rise . Yes and the low oxygen zones have increased by 11. 5 Square Kilometres and that is the size of the eu so this is a huge supply of low oxygen zone. What are the impacts of different species, presumably some species need less oxygen . They are smaller and so on. Presumably some of them are very dependent on the amount of oxygen in the water . That is very true. For example, the species which have a high metabolic rate, let us say the swordfish and tuna, some of the species, they are actually dependent on oxygen rich water. They will be most vulnerable to the change. Deoxygenation also results in other changes that will affect them. It might alter the energy and biochemical cycles affecting these systems that bring nutrients and oxygen rich waters to the surface. We are seeing that if you take the blue marlin, which dives about half a mile down to collect its feed, that is what theyre doing outside the coast of california and we are seeing outside the coast of costa rica and guatemala, they stay by the surface because they want to stay where there is more oxygen rich water which means they become more vulnerable. Not only is their habitat shrinking but ultimately we will lose biomass. In terms of the impact, is there any measures that could reduce this . We are talking about mitigating effects from Global Warming but when we talk about the oceans and the loss of oxygen, how do you reoxygenate the ocean . Very good question it impacts biodiversity, biomass and habitats and energy and biochemical cycles and it is not just fisheries but also other Marine Mammals that will be affected indirectly through the food web. What can be done . There is a solution and that is that we must urgently drastically cut co2 emissions. We need to invest more in nature by protecting and restoring nature. But again, what else we can do is also to reduce those climate stressors or the non climate stressors, like overfishing, that puts additional pressure. Reducing overfishing and over pollution to the oceans would drastically improve the situation. Given where you are, the message you are sending and delivering not just to the public but to delegates, the people who have to negotiate how we get from the targets to implementing . I truly believe that the decisions being made here will actually determine the future of the oceans. Will they be thriving and nutrient rich with biodiversity or will they be depleted and irreversibly damaged . I think the decisions being made here will have a difference so we need to have more ambitious targets collectively. So all the naturally determined contributions which the state is responsible for, that collectively must be much more ambitious. A huge bush fire thats burning out of control near sydney may take weeks to put out. The mega blaze north of sydney stretches for 60 kilometres and is bigger than the city itself. Almost 100 fires continue to burn in the drought hit state of new south wales. Phil mercer reports. The authorities are warning that some of the bushfires in eastern australia are too big to put out. They will only be extinguished by heavy rain. There are 100 places in drought hit new south wales, half are burning out of control. They can be unpredictable and fast moving. Residents and animals have been forced to flee as walls of flame many metres high bore down on their communities. At any time it might come over the side so we are just going to leave. More than 2000 firefighters, many of them volunteers, are on the ground in new south wales. Their task, with the crisis now into its fifth week, is exhausting and unrelenting. It is also dangerous. I water bombing helicopter has crashed landed but the pilot escaped with only minor injuries. Sydney is again shrouded any toxic, smoky haze blown in from nearby bushfires. Health warnings have been issued and many weak and sporting activities have been cancelled. There are Hazardous Conditions in queensland, too. Parts of the state are blanketed in smoke and about 45 places still rage. Bushfires are common in australia but scientists believe this year they have started earlier and been more intense because of Global Warming. At least 280 people have been killed and two Million People are having to cope with unusually heavy rainfall and flooding in eastern africa, according to the un. In somalia, warnings have been issued as cyclonic storm pawan nears the coast and in kenya its reported that at least 100 people are dead and more than 30,000 have been displaced. Lets look at the headlines on bbc news. The online forum reddit says it believes leaked government documents detailing uk us trade talks and posted on its site are linked to russia. Global temperature rises are being blamed for oceans running out of oxygen, putting many species of fish under threat. Warnings that a mega bushfire near sydney thats burning out of control could take weeks to put out. And in sport a good start to management life for duncan ferguson. His first game in charge of everton ended with a 3 1 victory over chelsea. Theyre now out of the relegation zone. Not long to go until the hugely anticipated rematch between antonyjoshua and andy ruinunior. Joshua will attempt to reclaim the three heavyweight belts he lost to ruiz earlier this year. And leinster thrashed northampton in the champions cup. Ed byrne giving them their seventh try of the match to help them to a score of 43 16. Ill be back with more on those stories later. That is jane at the bbc sport centre. Iran and the United States have carried out a Rare Exchange of prisoners. Tehran has freed an american phd student, xiyue wang, who was convicted of spying. He was swapped for iranian scientist massoud soleimani, pictured here with the Iranian Foreign minister. Our correspondent Chris Buckler explains what this means for the us iranian relationship. It shows the countries can talk and negotiate and that will be seen by some as being somewhat significant. Although it is important to point out this is about two individuals, a prisoner swap involving an american who was essentially accused of spying on iran whenever he was there, carrying out Doctoral Research for princeton university, and in the other case, and iranians who flew into chicago airport and is a stem cell researcher who is accused of trying to bring growth hormones into the country. In both cases, if you talk to either country, they will tell you that their citizen has done nothing wrong, that this was in many ways political, but therefore, you can make the argument, the fact they can deal with something, that both sides say is political, it shows there is the hope of talks in the future, and donald trump, despite the fact he has had angry words were iran, he had said he is open to negotiation and he wants to have discussions with the country. I think there is a danger of seeing this as being more a than it than it is. It is a case ofa a than it than it is. It is a case of a prisoner swap are not necessarily a moment when there is a thaw in relations between the countries. In terms of where the relationship is at the moment, there has been a further stiffening of sanctions between the two sites. No suggestion there will be discussions, but the president has said he would be potentially open to some kind of dialogue. How would you assess the state of play and how much domestic political pressure, if any, is the president under over iran . When it comes to iran, con dresses sceptical over the willingness of iran to come to the table and have negotiations. It is not the same with other countries. President trump has faced some push bike on some of his foreign policy, not least with turkey and saudi arabia. It is different with iran, there is a feeling that iran is not a fair player is congress would see it. There is a difficult relationship that has existed over the last couple of years, not least when the us and President Trump took that decision to pull out of the Iran Nuclear Deal and iran responded by deliberately breaching some of the terms of that accord. It was a significant moment and something that was not welcomed by many of the allies of america. It has been difficult in the last couple of months, with the shooting down of an american drone in the strait of hermes, there have been signs of clashes and tension by iran that shows the countries are not coming together, to meet in the middle. At the same time, we have a statement from the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, that says he can see iran being constructive on this. That is probably a step forward, but only a step. They are very, very far apart. Chris buckler. There are calls for an independent review after a man who was wrongfully freed from jail went on to commit a series of rapes, assaults and abductions. Joseph mccann was released earlier this year after an error by the probation service. He was convicted yesterday of attacking 11 people over a two week period. A woman whod alleged shed been raped in northern india has died in hospital after being set on fire. She was attacked earlier this week as she was on her way to court. Five men, including her alleged rapist, have been arrested. Pratiksha ghildial reports. The 23 year old woman who died after being set on fire in the Northern State of Uttar Pradesh was on her way to court to testify against her alleged rapists. She was reportedly dragged from near a train station by a group of men to a nearby field and set alight. Five men are under arrest over the attack. The woman had filed a rape complaint against two of them in march this year. The main accused was arrested, but later released on bail. The family is now demanding the Death Penalty for the accused. Translation my sister is no more. The names of these five culprits must also be erased. This comes close on the heels of another brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman in the Southern City of hyderabad. The 27 year old was making her way home after work when she was attacked, raped and set on fire. But a few days later, the accused were shot dead by the police while under detention and after being taken back to the crime scene. It was overwhelmingly welcomed by many indians, however, Human Rights Organisations have asked for investigation into these killings. These cases have once again renewed a debate over Sexual Violence in india, seven years after the gang rape and murder of a student in delhi that had led to massive outrage and resulted in the country tightening its rape laws. But for many, little seems to have changed. Pratiksha ghildial, bbc news, delhi. A jury in the United States has cleared the Billionaire Elon Musk of defaming a british man involved in the rescue of a group of thai boys from a flooded cave last year. Vernon unsworth took legal action after mr musk called him a pedo guy on twitter. From los angeles, dave lee reports. Elon musk entered court on friday for the fourth and now final day of this trial, what has surely been the most intense not to mention expensive examination ever of a single tweet. How many of you . That tweet, sent in july 2018, came in the midst of the miraculous rescue of 12 thai boys and their football coach from a flooded cave. Vernon unsworth, a british man who lived nearby, was instrumental in advising that effort. Elon musk also travelled to the region with a specially designed mini submarine. In a tv interview, mr unsworth called it a pr stunt, prompting mr musk to snap back, using the phrase pedo guy. He later deleted the tweet, but mr unsworth sued him for defamation, arguing he had been wrongly accused of paedophilia. Elon musk was described in court as a billionaire bully, a man who dropped a nuclear bomb into the life of vernon unsworth. But the jury saw it differently. They said the tweet was an insult, but not an accusation, a view which could set a precedent when it comes to libel cases involving social media. This verdict sends a signal, and one signal only, that you can make any accusation you want to, as vile as it may be, as damaging at it may be, as untrue as it may be, and somebody can get away with it. The only thing im going to say is the jury got this right, and we dont have any further comment at this time. Ultimately, mr unsworths lawyers were unable to prove that his life had been sufficiently negatively impacted. I accept the jury verdict, take it on the chin, and move on. Dave lee, bbc news, in los angeles. A 15 Year Old Girl has been charged after opera singer katherinejenkins was mugged in southwest london while intervening in a street robbery. Katherine jenkins was on her way to a rehearsal on wednesday afternoon when she witnessed an elderly woman being attacked. Scotland yard said the teenager was charged with robbery and assault on police after an incident on kings road in chelsea. Theyre calling it europes first eco mosque, a purpose built centre in the uk that will cater for thousands of muslim worshipers. Shabnam mahmood from the Bbc Asian Network reports from cambridge. Ten years of planning at a cost of over £20 million. The new Cambridge Central mosque has officially opened its doors for the citys 6,000 muslim worshippers. It provides a modern place to worship, designed by the team who created the london eye. This mosque is said to be the first eco friendly mosque in the whole of europe. It boasts a zero Carbon Footprint by generating its own electricity and harvesting the rainwater. The project to build the mosque was funded by more than 10,000 donations, both local and international. Among them, cash from charities in turkey. Hundreds of people were at the inauguration, including the founder and patron of the mosque, yusuf islam, formerly known as singer cat stevens. He welcomed president Recep Tayyip Erdogan of turkey, who was in the uk for natos 70th anniversary. The president didnt say much as he arrived. Mr president , how does it feel to be here . With the crimes that he is committing. But the leaders presence wasnt warmly received by everyone. Dozens gathered in the city centre to show their anger at president erdogans military action against kurds in syria. The decision was defended by trustees from the mosque. We wanted this space to remain for the community at most. The thing that was very different when we presented to the turkish authorities and president erdogan, he said, if this is what the british people want, what cambridge muslims want, we will support it. The gardens and cafe are spaces for the whole community and notjust muslims. It is hoped the mosque will bring people together. Shabnam mahmood, bbc news, cambridge. Now its time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. Hello there. For those of you that have had dry weather and bright skies today, we have got a change in the forecast overnight. A band of heavy rain will push eastwards across the whole of the united kingdom, accompanied by squally, gusty winds. What follows, blustery showers across the north and west of the country. It is the strength of the winds that stops it getting too cold. Overnight lows of around 6 10 degrees celsius. Tomorrow, it is a windy day, a day of sunny spells and scattered showers. The showers will tend to merge together to give some longer spells of rain in Northern Ireland and scotland, particularly through the course of the afternoon, with strengthening winds and the air across these areas will be getting colder as well. Further south, relatively mild but no one is immune from seeing the odd shower. Some very strong winds developing later in the day. The strongest winds from storm atiyah will be affecting the western coast of ireland, gusts of 80mph here. And then through sunday night, wales and western england could see