Surf is up. Hello and welcome to todays verified live. Downing street has described as unacceptable remarks alleged to have been made by one of the Conservative Partys biggest donors about the mp diane abbott. The guardian reports that during a Business Meeting in 2019, frank hester said diane abbott made him want to hate all black women and that she should be shot. Mr hester has admitted making comments about her which he described as rude. Mr hester has issued a statement saying that at the meeting in question, he said he abhorred racism. Diane abbott has also released a statement responding to his alleged comments. She said. Government ministers have faced questions from the media and they called his comments unacceptable but stopped short of calling them racist. Well, its clear that what he said was inappropriate. He has, as i understand it, apologised for those remarks. I think the Critical Point here is i dont think what he was saying was a gender based or a race based comment, b
Some pictures live from a Polling Station in moscow. Now, there is the potential for a run off vote if no candidate wins more than 50 in the first round. But with many of mr putins opponents unable to run, it seems inevitable that Vladimir Putin will be re elected without the need for that second ballot. Our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is following developments in moscow. Vladimir putin has been in power a long time, right, 25 years almost as president or Prime Minister. And hes expected to win a fifth president ial term. Now, this whole event, this three day event, which starts today, is being presented by the russian authorities almost as a celebration of democracy. The kremlin just a few days ago described russian democracy as the best democracy in the world. Critics of the kremlin would disagree and would say that this poll is neither free nor fair nor transparent. Vladimir putin does not face a major challenge. There are three other candidates on the ballot paper, but his most
One said suicide, self harm and Eating Disorder Content was prolific on socials. The other said cyberbullying had a negative impact on childrens health. All make for grim reading, but the recurring theme here was the childrens lack of trust and confidence in reporting these problems online. Shiona mccallum, bbc news. Fast food isnt so fast at mcdonalds at the moment. The food chain is experiencing technical problems in some of its restaurants across the world, leaving customers unable to orderfood. The company said they are aware of a Technology Outage impacting their venues, and that the issue is being resolved. Our correspondent sean dilley has the latest. Key points beyond acknowledging that theyre aware of a Technology Outage which impacted their restaurants. They said the issue is now being resolved. Now, thejournalist in me does pick up on the fact were talking being sounds like a present tense word. The outage issue, they say, is not related to a cybersecurity event. Just to le
18 others, including his then chief of staff, mark meadows, and his lawyer, rudy giuliani, have also been indicted. Mr trump has denied wrongdoing and has described the investigation as politically motivated. Its the fourth criminal case to be brought against him since he left office. Lets take a listen to what Fulton County District Attorney fani willis said a short time ago. The indictment alleges that rather than abide by georgia was Mike Whittall process for election challenges, defendants engaged in a Criminal Racketeering Enterprise to overturn georgias president ial election result. Subsequent to the indictment, as is the normal process in georgia law, The Grand Jury issued Arrest Warrants for those who are charged. I am giving the defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than noon on friday the 25th day of august, 2023. Earlier, Donald Trumps campaign issued a statement. Lets speak now to sean dilley, our North America correspondent, live from washington, dc
Pleas to the charges. Our correspondent Daniel De Simone has been tracking the Court Proceedings and sent this update from the old bailey. Theyve been in the uk for between ten and 15 years. The three defendants are orlin roussev, Bizer Dzhambazov and katrin ivanova. The latter two have been living as a couple in a series of suburban properties in london for about ten years. Mr roussev arrived earlier in the uk, about 15 years ago, and he worked in financial services, in a technical role in communications, and later moved on to, he claims, own a company that was involved in signals intelligence, which involves the interception of communications. The other two worked, were told, in health care jobs. Thats what they told neighbours. They did own a local Community Group that supported bulgarian people who moved to the uk with english language classes and other things. This investigation is by the met Police Counterterrorism team, which has responsibility over espionage investigations. It