Part in one of the biggest dinosaur digs of all time. Hello and welcome im katty kay in washington and david eades is in london. Israel has announced its blocking a planned visit by two us congresswomen after being urged to do so by President Trump. The two women are both muslim. This morning the president tweeted, it would show great weakness if israel allowed entry to ilhan omar and rashida tlaib. Ms tlaib is of palestinian origin, ms omar came from somalia. They are both us citizens. Israel did what the president wanted, with israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu defending the decision saying the congresswomen planned to harm israel. Heres tom bateman from jerusalem ever since their visit to the occupied west bank and East Jerusalem was omitted there were those on the writing israel saying they should be prevented from coming into the country. That would be possible because of a controversial law introduced in israel a couple of yea rs law introduced in israel a couple of years ago which allows the government to ban entry to people who publicly advocate for the Boycott Movement of israel or its settlements. So that was all going on but then we have the us ambassador, the israeli ambassador to the us saying they would be allowed entry because of the tradition of bipartisan support between the two countries, between the us and israel, but now it seems that decision has been reversed. We then had the interior ministry in israel saying they would not be allowed entry. This will cause a significant rupture, particularly among jewish groups in the us who have always championed bipartisan support for israel. Also within israel, the israeli left will say it is anti democratic simply barring foreign politicians from the country because of the view is that they may have. The palestinian not for profit group that was organising their trip has called this an affront to the right of palestinians to reach out. To global decision makers. They say, it is what should be an opportunity for people to see the realities on the ground. They say that this is simply an attempt to cover that up. Theres a lot of domestic us politics at play here. Mr trump is keen to tie these two women to the Democratic Party and present them as unacceptable to american voters. Indeed today, he tweeted just that. Representatives omar and tlaib are the face of the democrat party, and they hate israel but there are signs mr trump may have gone too far in pushing for this ban. Aipac, the powerful israeli lobby in washington which has firmly supported the president on a range of issues, broke with mr trump on this one. We disagree with reps omar and tlaibs support for the anti israel and anti peace bds movement, along with rep. Tlaibs calls for a one state solution. We also believe every member of congress should be able to visit and experience our democratic ally israel first hand. Lets pick this up with our correspondent Chris Buckler whos in washington. You have been watching this all day andi you have been watching this all day and i am trying to remember a time when an american president weighed in in this way against two american congresswomen. As in in this way against two american congresswomen. As it unprecedented . Representatives of the United States essentially being told by the president they have no right to go to another country. I cant think of another example like it. When you look at that statement from aipac, who like to see themselves as a real voice in congress and see themselves as being bipartisan although it is more aligned with the Republican Party than anybody else. It does give you the sense that President Trump has done something which will be uncomfortable perhaps on both sides of the aisle. Take a look at kevin mccarthy, the minority leader. He has been in israel on a visit with other republicans and he was saying on that visit that everyone should come. They should come with open eyes, open ears, open minds. Perhaps President Trump would say where these two congresswomen really going to go with open minds, but it doesnt get away from the point that from congresss point of view and from congresss point of view and from the point of view of all who sit there, they feel they should be respected in the office should be respected in the office should be respected and the president weighing in like that and saying it would be weakness if israel allowed these two congresswomen to arrive , weakness if israel allowed these two congresswomen to arrive, that would be seen by many asjust a step too far. 50 just be seen by many asjust a step too far. Sojust how be seen by many asjust a step too far. 50 just how much are the democrats making of this . The democrats making of this . The democrats extremely angry. I will give you some of the statements, not least from nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house saying that as far as she is concerned this is deeply disappointing and a sad reversal by israel and attacking the president specifically saying it is ignorance in this respect and beneath the dignity of the office. It is worth pointing out that President Trump does have a problem with these two congresswomen, they are part of a group known as the squad that he has attacked before, for example saying that as far as he is concerned they should go back to the countries they came from. All black and ethnic minority members of congress. Another member of that so called squad, aoc, has said that Benjamin Netanyahu squad, aoc, has said that Benjamin Neta nyahu choosing to squad, aoc, has said that Benjamin Netanyahu choosing to ban the only two muslim women in congress from entry tells the us that only some are welcome to israel and not all and accusing President Trump of exporting bigotry. If anything the statement from ilhan omar has gone further, she hasjust released a statement saying this is Donald Trumps muslim ban being implemented by israel. Thank you very much indeed for that. This is extraordinary, we know he is not a fan but it seems he is willing to fracture his own supportjust for another poke at them. This is all about the next election and donald trump trying to paint the Democratic Party as politically unacceptable to mainstream america and by making these two women in the face of the Democratic Party, he is hoping to do that, by charging them with anti semitism and he is hoping he can tour the whole of the Democratic Party with the brush of anti semitism. Even though 41 members of the Democratic Party in congress were actually in israel last week on a visit sponsored by aipac and they apparently stood and cheered Benjamin Neta nyahu aipac and they apparently stood and cheered Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting. You may have gone too far but the more the democrats are forced to stand up and defend these two women, so it is a tricky game, but i think donald trump is laying directly to his base. Not sure this will go down well with mainstream centrist americans and even as we have been hearing from some republicans, and this does not sit well with them. Good luck making sense of Global Economics this week. They are all over the place. Take the china us trade spat. Just last night china threatened to counter us tariffs, then it backtracked and offered to meet washington half way on a trade deal, but President Trump says it has to be all on his terms. So who knows where thats going. The uncertainty is as dizzying as the ups and downs of financial markets. The combined spectres of germanys economy contracting, us growth slowing, trade tensions, brexit and now unrest in hong kong are adding to a gloomy forecast. None of that particularly good news. This is not good news for the president who has tied his own fortunes closely to the fate of the stock market. But, he insists, the market turmoil isnt the fault of his own policies, instead, hes blaming the Federal Reserve. In particular the chairman of the fed, jay powell, who he lambasted today as clueless. And that was just the latest attack. So what can we expect next . Im nowjoined by senior economics correspondent at the new york times, neil irwin. What is going to happen in the markets coming up . Looks like we are going to have a rocky few more weeks and maybe beyond. The markets are signalling, especially the bond market, that there is a global slowdown under way and it could get worse before it gets better and we are probably going to have a period of volatility until something changes. So it seems that for a long period of time last year there were various geopolitical factors that suggested uncertainty and market seemed to almost shrug them off on this long rally that they had. Is it that traders are looking now beyond the latest tweet from the president and the latest pronouncement on a trade war and are looking at more fundamental issues around the world . I think that is right. The trade war itself is damaging but it could be contained. If it was just the itself is damaging but it could be contained. If it wasjust the us itself is damaging but it could be contained. If it was just the us and china here and there, in the grand scheme of things that isnt enormous. The problem is a broader breakdown of trust between nations, the various flare ups of geopolitical tensions and big slowdown in the european economy. This is creating a global backdrop thatis this is creating a global backdrop that is really not conducive to growth. If you are a ceo thinking of building a new factory and hiring people this is not the kind of backdrop you want and that would make you confident in making that decision. We are seeing evidence of that worldwide with lower Capital Spending and industrial slowdown. That worldwide with lower Capital Spending and industrial slowdownm seems as if possibly nobody has told the consumer, the customer. Buying is still going on, why is that . Especially in the us in the uk, you are seeing some real strength in Consumer Spending. Just today we got retail spending in the United States up retail spending in the United States up 0. 6 , manufacturing output down 0. 4 , so the consumer economy going up. These things tend to converge overtime. Up. These things tend to converge over time. Eventually of companies are not expanding and arent growing untiring that will trickle into Consumer Spending through lower wages and lowerjob growth. The question is which prevails and which happens first. Does the consumer pill along the industrial economy orders are a slowdown in industrial economies slow down the consumer . M brings us back to the things that can be done, notably by Central Banks. Cutting Interest Rates as one of the lot of Central Banks have been doing it throughout the year. Is it having the sort of effect it should be having . It has had an effect and every time they cut rates it lowers the tension some. The question is how much ammo do they have left to work with . The Federal Reserve is at 2 and it could go 2 lower, the European Central bank and the bank of japan lower, the European Central bank and the bank ofjapan have already pulled out a lot of stops. How much left do they have to give to support this economy . You raise the question, what fiscal policy does. As the German Government is going to spend and borrow and support things oii spend and borrow and support things on the fiscal side . That have been some early signs of that, and it raises questions, if the Central Banks are not there, who is . We will keep across the markets, still as uncertain as ever, as is the situation in hong kong. On the issue of hong kong and the ongoing protests there were still waiting for word from the british Prime Minister but mr trump is weighing in. He is now tying a trade deal to the situation in the territory and today he offered a suggestion of his own. And more stern rhetoric from chinas ambassador the the uk earlier today who had this warning. Should the situation on hong kong deteriorate further into unrest, uncontrollable for the government of the Hong Kong Special administrative region. The Central Government would not sit on its hands and watch. Zhaoyin feng from bbc chinese is here. Is it likely that siege and would listen to President Trump and decide to meet the protesters . It is highly unlikely and this would not sit right in beijing because it would be seen as a right in beijing because it would be seen as a us meddling in chinese affairs. In the last few weeks they have labelled the protesters in hong kong rioters with behaviour close to terrorism so it would be hard for the Chinese Government to justify a meeting between its leader and terrorists, and also in the last few weeks we havent seen a leader of the protests. It is hard to imagine anyone could lead the negotiation with beijing. Is there anything that any country from outside of china could say or do that would impact how beijing decides to respond to these protests . Honestly, i dont think so, because china sees hong kong as a territorial issue, domestic affairs, and hong kong as a territory that wants to be lost and came back later so it is highly sensitive. The language used by the ambassador here in the uk was talking about a handful of extreme radicals who have taken cover behind so called pro the Pro Democracy Movement here. It is reducing the numbers responsible, targeting specifically is smaller number of people. Do you think that is part of the message . We will come after ringleaders rather than anything on a bigger scale . I think it is a very strong message, one of many warning sent by beijing to the protesters. I dont see it as backing down from beijing. I think beijing knows the heavy price of a military intervention. It would be unthinkable, it would look really bad for china, basically telling the whole world that 22 years after the handover beijing does not have the hearts and minds of hong kong people. It would be devastating for the economy and for hong kong and china as well. Thank you forjoining us. Authorities in gibraltar have ordered the Immediate Release of an Iranian Oil Tanker held since last month. The us had made a last minute request to keep the grace one supertanker in custody however that has been declined. This the ships captain and the iranian authorities have given assurances that the crude oil on board was not going to syria in breach of eu sanctions. According to reports the owner says the ship will now head to a mediterranean port. Kasra naji is in gibraltar and joins us now. One is slightly odd thing in this, which is that the us were putting forward , which is that the us were putting forward, i understood, which is that the us were putting forward, iunderstood, reasons which is that the us were putting forward, i understood, reasons to keep the tanker in gibraltar. What became of that . That was totally unexpected and apparently the authorities in gibraltar received an e mail from the department of justice, from the us, at 1 30am, asking the Gibraltar Authorities to hand over this ship, grace one, to them, because of a series of allegations. We dont know what those allegations are or where, the never made it public, but the court in the end decided that there has been no formal request to the court to attend to this particular issue, the local authorities didnt ask the court to attend to this, so the judge said, i will not bother with this request from the us, because nobody asked me to. I am going to attend to the issue of releasing this ship. This ship has been released now. It is not devastated any more, and you can probablyjust about see it over on my right shoulder in the distance, about a kilometre or two into the sea. And they are waiting for a new captain and one senior captain gets on the ship, that ship is set to sail. We are seeing the live pictures of the ship out at sea and getting ready to set sail. This looks like a victory for iran and something slightly awkward for britain in gibraltar . |j have awkward for britain in gibraltar . have seen reports in britain already, some newspapers calling it already, some newspapers calling it a climb down for britain. But the authorities here, they say they decided to release the ship because they have received assurances from ron that the ship is not going to set sail to any country that is under eu sanctions. They have published some documents, including best, which is a letter from the Iranian Embassy in london to the authorities in gibraltar and in it it says, grace one supertanker was not destined to an eu sanctioned entity and that remains the case. They said the ship is not going to go anywhere near a country that is eu sanctions. So that is the explanation for the authorities to release the ship. Thank you very much. Looks a bit of a loss for the us. Sort of possibly for the uk as well because they didnt want any more trouble getting this ship moved on, to get their own ship back. I just wonder whether there was as much communication between washington and london is well o