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tv   BBC News  BBC News  June 4, 2024 4:00am-4:31am BST

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hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. it's been an historic day in mexico, where claudia sheinbaum was elected as the first woman president. ms sheinbaum won about 60% of the vote. us presidentjoe biden called claudia sheinbaum to congratulate her on the victory, and said in a statement: "i look forward to working closely with president—elect sheinbaum in the spirit of partnership and friendship that reflects the enduring bonds between our two countries. " he went on to say: "i also congratulate the mexican people for conducting a nationwide successful democratic electoral process involving races for more than 20,000 positions at the local, state, and federal levels." ms sheinbaum is an environmental scientist turned politician. she is considered a protege of the previous president although
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she insists he will wield no influence over her government. she says she will prioritise welfare programmes, improve the lives of women and tackle security. the elections were marred by violence and threats, and a candidate was reportedly murdered after the polls closed this weekend, one among dozens of candidates killed over the campaign. it's a new day in mexican politics. after two centuries of men in power, when voters eventually chose their first female president, it was with a landslide. the victory itself was a moment to savour for claudia sheinbaum, and she was quick to acknowledge the many women who blazed a trail before her. "i didn't get here on my own. we got here together," she said. "thanks to our ancestors, our mothers, our daughters
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and granddaughters." in a nation of such entrenched machismo, what claudia sheinbaum has achieved here is no small feat. other women have tried and failed, but her offer of continuity with the governing party's social policies, which have pulled millions from poverty, have proved hugely popular with the electorate. this election has been historic for all the wrong reasons, too. it's been mexico's most violent campaign in living memory, with dozens of candidates murdered as they sought votes. in the city of zelaya, a mayoral candidate with ms sheinbaum's own party was gunned down in the street. her murder a sign of the task ahead for the president—elect, one which her critics say she isn't up to. rather, they say, she'll be a puppet of her authoritarian mentor, president andres manuel lopez 0brador. speaking to the bbc during the campaign, she denied that accusation. of course, i am of the same movement with lopez 0brador.
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we fought togetherfor 20 years, or more than 20 years, to have the government that we have now and the opportunity for mexican people and the right for mexican people, the rights. and of course, i'm going to leave a different time in history. viva mexico! mexico may have turned a corner with claudia sheinbaum's win, but it is still a nation where women are treated as inferior, where” women and girls are murdered every single day. to curtail that violence, she must now succeed where so many men before her have failed. will grant, bbc news, mexico city. i spoke to maria fernanda bozmoski, deputy director of the adrienne arsht latin america center at the atlantic council. for the first time, there is a female president notjust in mexico but in the whole of north america. put into context how significant this is. thanks so much for having me on the programme.
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it's huge, a historic milestone, historic election. it's truly consequential. as we just heard, 70 years after mexico's women were allowed to vote, we now have a woman in the presidential palace in mexico. it's just so important. she is coming into her government on october 1st with a lot of power. the congress also, the lower chamber of congress, has a super majority for her coalition, and she has a majority in the senate. we haven't seen a president with this much power in a long time in mexico. it's hugely consequential. i just regret that we keep talking about the men in her orbit, whether it be andres manuel lopez 0brador or donald trump orjoe biden. we really have to celebrate what this means for mexico, for the region and for the world. what is it going to mean for
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mexican women, do you think? will this be a dramatic shift in their lives, given the machismo in society we've been hearing about? i think it's truly inspiring that claudia sheinbaum has reached the presidency. i think she has a strong personality, a strong presence. she is going to be her own president. we keep hearing conversations and speculations about how much power andreas manuel is going to wield over her presidency. while it's true they worked together for a long time, truly, what she's done is huge and commendable. it's a great feat for mexico, for the women in the region. a big part of her plan that we saw in the campaign is making mexico safer for women and girls in mexico.
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on that notion of making mexico safer notjust for women and girls but for all people, we've seen incredible violence across this election campaign. a candidate killed just as the results were coming in, in fact. what is the scale of the task ahead of her on that front? a big task on the security front. the impunity rate in mexico is north of 95%, estimates forecast 98%. you can kill in mexico and there is no consequence for that. that has to change, and it is extremely important not only for mexico but for the united states. mexico is the united states�* largest trading partner. security, economics and trade are so closely linked together that a worsening security situation in mexico is bad news for the us as well.
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just on that relationship between the us and mexico, such a key one as you say, we're hearing that president biden is set to sign an executive order, possibly as soon as tomorrow, that would essentially close the border to asylum seekers once the average daily number of encounters hits 2500, which it's above at the moment. how will the president handle that? what will she do? it's no coincidence that president biden waited until the historic election on sunday to announce this. as the campaign in the united states heats up and ramps up, and immigration of course — immigration and trade will be the hot issues, relations with mexico i think will be top of the agenda. so it'sjust a purely domestic move on behalf of president biden to roll out that executive action tomorrow. what will it mean for mexico, though? we've heard much debate about what it may or may
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not mean in the us, but what will it mean for mexico? we will see now what andres manuel lopez 0brador will do in the next few months of his presidency. we've seen him in the past bow down to the united states, and in a way do the dirty work of the united states on the migration front. claudia sheinbaum, the president elect, has talked about a relationship of coordination, not of subordination, with the united states. so we will see in which ways migration, the migration relationship changes with claudia sheinbaum later in the year. but it is one of the big irritants of the us mexico relationship. 0pening statements begin on tuesday in the federal gun
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charges trial of president joe biden�*s son hunter in wilmington in delaware. 12 jurors and four alternates were sworn in on monday. 54—year—old hunter biden is the first child of a sitting president to be a criminal defendant. prosecutors allege mr biden lied about his drug use on application forms when purchasing a handgun in 2018. he pleaded not guilty to the charges. 0ur correspodent tom bateman was in court in delaware. well, five months before a presidential election and a trial here that will throw a very public glare on the personal life and the allegations of drug misuse of the son of the us president. now, hunter biden arrived here first thing this morning along with members of the biden family, including his stepmother, the first lady, jill biden. she satjust behind him at the front of the public gallery in the courtroom all day. i was in the press benches and watched hunter biden turn and glance to his stepmother
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as the proceedings began. now, at issue here is hunter biden�*s purchase of a handgun here in wilmington back in 2018. the prosecution says that when he filled in an application form to purchase the gun, he didn't declare that he was a drug user and that was misleading. that was a lie, they say. the defence will argue that he couldn't knowingly have viewed himself, described himself as addicted to illegal drugs at the time. but i think it is the political overtones that will also dominate much of the coverage here, as republicans have tried for a long time to link scandal and allegations surrounding hunter biden to his father. so far, without getting much traction, without compelling evidence. this trial due to last around two weeks. hunter biden denies all three felony counts. as for his father, the president issued a written statement as the trial started, saying he couldn't comment as president on a federal legal case, but as a father, he said he stood by his son and supported him in overcoming
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what he said was a battle against addiction, something he described all families as being able to sympathise with. this is bbc news. one of the most prominent political campaigners for brexit, nigel farage, has announced he is standing in the forthcoming uk general election. he said that he would also be taking over as leader of the right—wing reform uk party. ten days ago, mr farage said he wouldn't be standing, because he wanted to focus on the us presidential race. but speaking at an event in london on monday, he said he would contest the seat of clacton in essex. what i intend to lead is a political revolt. yes, a revolt. a turning of our backs on the political status quo. it doesn't work. nothing in this country
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works any more. the health service doesn't work. the roads don't work. none of our public services are up to scratch. the former ukip and brexit party leader said he had changed his mind after spending time on the campaign trail, adding he didn't want to let his supporters down. you're live with bbc news. the united states said on monday it's asking the united nations security council to adopt a resolution backing the proposal to end the fighting in gaza. it comes as g7 leaders released a statement saying they "fully endorse and will stand behind" the comprehensive plan and called on hamas to accept it. the three—part proposal would begin with a six—week ceasefire, there would also be a surge in aid, and an exchange of some
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hostages held by hamas for palestinian prisoners held by israel. although the plan has been met with opposition from hardline members of the israeli government, the us state department outlined how important the proposal is for the country's safety. the israeli military says four men taken hostage by hamas on october 7th have died in captivity, and that their bodies are held by hamas. the idf identified the men as chaim peri, yoram metzger, amiram cooper and nadav popplewell. the army believes they were killed together by hamas in the khan younis area, months ago. meanwhile, israel's military offensive in gaza continues. an israeli airstrike hit a building in gaza's central bureij refugee camp on monday, triggering a massive cloud of smoke. 0ur middle east correspondent lucy williamson has the latest from israel. the price of gaza's war is rising as its cities crumble. the price of peace too high for leaders on both sides. israel said it had bombed more than 50 targets since yesterday.
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but hamas is still fighting here, and hopes for the new ceasefire deal were mixed. translation: hamas should | raise its demands and seriously adhere to the conditions they set, which are the people's demands. translation: hamas, accept the deal. - it's enough. enough of what we lost. we urge hamas to stop the war. israel's prime minister is negotiating on two fronts. his far right allies say he must continue the war until hamas is destroyed, or they'll bring down the government. he's insisted his conditions for a ceasefire haven't changed. translation: we have gone a long way to return - the hostages while keeping the war�*s objectives in mind, primarily the elimination of hamas. we insist that we will achieve both. it's all part of the plan, not something i've just added. but hamas has said it won't free more hostages
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without a guarantee the war will end. tonight, israel learned that four more captives were confirmed to have died — chaim peri, yoram metzger, amiram cooper and british israeli nadav popplewell. after almost eight months of war, much of northern gaza lies in ruins, but israel's prime minister is struggling to end the war because he hasn't achieved his war goals. he hasn't brought back all the hostages, he hasn't destroyed hamas. the us president says hamas is no longer capable of carrying out the kind of attack it did on the 7th of october, but israelis living here by the gaza border say they still don't feel safe. this is the last time yarin saw her neighbourhood — trapped in her home in sderot by the gaza border, as hamas gunmen ran through the streets. she and her three children fled tojerusalem the next day.
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a ceasefire now, she says, won't be enough to send them home. we will free the hostages, but a few years from now your life will be... you will be the next hostages, you will be the next people that get murdered, the women that get raped, all of this will happen again. the ceasefire will kill us. ending this conflict rests with the leaders of israel and hamas, locked in a war for their own survival. lucy williamson, bbc news, sderot. i spoke to michael 0ren, former israeli ambassador to the us. can prime minister netanyahu give that guarantee on his part? it's good to be with you. let's keep in mind, israel is not the united states, the prime minister of israel is not the president of the united states, netanyahu cannot make this decision
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on his own — that's a popular misconception. he has to answer to a cabinet, and that cabinet has to answer to the people of israel. while the people of israel desperately want the war to end and want the hostages released, as you just heard from the residents living around the gaza border, there's no faith that hamas will not come out of those tunnels, even if they are much reduced now, but they will rearm and mount the next attack, which is precisely what their leaders said, they will do it 10,000 times until israel is destroyed. so the government will have a hard time signing an agreement that says the war is over and hamas can come out of the tunnels, even if it's much degraded. a very difficult case to make to the people of israel. does the prime minister, the war cabinet as you say there, in one way have to prioritise the release of at least some of the hostages at this point? stage one of the plan, to make that leap? i'm not a spokesman for the government, i'm not in politics right now, but i think i speak for the majority of people in israel who might say, yes, we are willing to do
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a long ceasefire, and even consider extending that ceasefire further if all the hostages can get out, but israel can't sign on a piece of paper that says hamas basically wins the war, because in order to win, hamas only has not to lose. by not losing, it can emerge from the tunnels, even if you put in an interim government with some kind of international involvement, hamas would slowly be able to assassinate anybody who assumes responsibility — they have done it repeatedly — whether it would take two years, five years, but for the tens of thousands of israelis who have been displaced in the south, that won't do. for the 80,000 israelis who have been displaced in the north under repeated rocket fire, even today, very heavy rocket fire from the north, from hezbollah, unless it restores its regional deterrence, notjust local, the state of israel is becoming in large areas uninhabitable. so when president biden,
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when the us administration say that hamas is now in such a position that it does not have the capability to carry out an attack anywhere near the tragedies that we saw on october the 7th, in that guarantee from him not enough, from what you saying there? now, hamas is not capable of doing that, that is true. and i believe there should be... a contradiction to my own government in israel, i believe there should be a morning after programme, the israeli government has not done that so far. but even that morning after scenario has to take into account that hamas could be resurgent and again take armed action against any palestinian who tries to co—operate in a peaceful resolution of the gaza conflict, the palestinian conflict in general. we have to take that into account. so this is going to be a prolonged effort to keep degrading hamas, by military means. i don't think any other country can undertake that other
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than the state of israel, and ideally we can do it in conjunction with a morning after scenario where international forces would supervise the rebuilding and reconstruction of gaza, the repatriation of the palestinian refugees in gaza. all of that could be done, but the struggle against hamas has to continue, otherwise they come back and re—organises and launches the next attack. given the pressure that we are seeing on the prime minister from the hostage families in particular to get their loved ones home, and we are seeing different views from within the war cabinet as well, how fragile do you think the government is in israel at the moment? we have a national unity government that has elements of the former opposition, benny gantz, opposition leaders in the war cabinet, and the government still have a 64 member majority in the 120 member knesset. it would survive but many
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would take to the streets and protest, and the governance of israel could be increasingly untenable, increasing pressure on the government. so it's farfrom an ideal situation. you could speculate that the radical right wing elements of the government could leave the government and more moderate elements could join the government, but there's no guarantee that would happen. i don't know if prime minister netanyahu would take that risk. i hope he would, frankly, but i'm not in his government. the government can survive, that's the bottom line, even if these moderate elements leave the government. just very briefly, we are almost out of time, the prime minister has been invited to address the joint houses of congress in the us. do you think he should come? i think he has to be very careful about the timing, not to be seen as intervening in any way in the election in washington. the situation is very fraught
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and deeply polarised here. israel should not wade into that. the prime minister of israel coming to the us and presenting a picture of the way the world looks and the region looks from an israeli perspective, that has value. it has to be done with tremendous sensitivity and caution. china has accused britain's intelligence service, mi6, of recruiting a couple who worked for the chinese government to spy for the uk. the state security ministry in beijing claimed that mi6 operatives recruited the couple when they were visiting the uk and then sent them back to china to collect information. 0ur china correspondent laura bicker has more details about the alleged spies. what do we know about how and why the story came to light? the report comes from the ministry of state security, on a wechat channel, which is a
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bit like whatsapp in the west. they alleged that a man mr wang were coerced by mi6 operatives while they were studying in the uk in 2015. the report alleges that these mi6 spies took the couple out and whine them and dine them, in the hope of finding out their weakness. they found mr wang had a strong desire for money, they offered him a highly paid consultant job and then offered him more sums of money if he was willing to be a british boy. the report alleges he was given espionage training. —— a british spy. he was then ordered back to china to report back on the internal workings of the chinese government. we are not told where this couple worked within the chinese government. all we know is they worked with
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confidential information and they were core staff. any they were core staff. any resnonse _ they were core staff. any response from _ they were core staff. any response from the - they were core staff. any response from the british government?— response from the british covernment? ., , , , government? the only response has been that _ government? the only response has been that they _ government? the only response has been that they will - government? the only response has been that they will not - has been that they will not comment, they will not confirm or deny anything when it comes to matters regarding the intelligence services. but i think it comes after both london and beijing traded ongoing allegations of increased espionage. let's be clear, when it comes to spying, this has gone on for decades around the world. what is new is we are getting more details. i mentioned the ministry of state security wechat channel. this has been going on since last year, a brand—new channel anyone can subscribe to, and on that channel they have even given warnings to chinese citizens about being lured by what they called exotic beauties who may deliver them into the hands of foreign spies. so they are making the details public. this is china, information does not come to
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light unless they wanted to. if they make these details public, it is because they are trading various espionage allegations between the west and beijing. —— unless they want it to. laura, thanks for that. that is it for the moment. as always, keep up—to—date with everything we are covering on the website. you can find us on your favourite social media platform as well. that's it from the team in washington, dc for the moment. thanks for watching, stay with us on bbc news. hello there. things are set to turn cooler for the rest of this week as we pick up arctic air, which will spread southwards across the uk during the course of tuesday. so it's going to be pretty disappointingly cool for the time of year, with some really chilly nights to come — gardeners and growers take note — and we'll see a mixture of sunshine and showers. it's all thanks to this area of low pressure pushing southwards out of the arctic,
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bringing this cold air behind the cold fronts across the country as you move through tuesday and into wednesday, and thereafter for the rest of the week, this cooler air hangs around with sunshine and showers, mainly across the north of the uk. tuesday starts off mostly dry. variable cloud, a bit of brightness for england and wales. this band of cloud and showery rain will spread south across the country. some of it will be heavy and squally, maybe a few heavy showers ahead of it in east anglia. but skies brightening up across the north of the uk later on behind the rain band, sunshine and blustery showers, but turning chillier here. last of the warmth hanging on ahead of that rain band, which will clear through during tuesday evening. and then we're all into the cooler air, clearer skies, plenty of showers rattling into northern and western areas, some of them heavy, again, with some rumbles of thunder. but a much cooler night to come to start wednesday. we're looking at low single digits pretty widely. so into wednesday, we have that area of low pressure sitting to the north of scotland, bringing the strongest winds to the northern half of the country. and it's here where we'll see most of these blustery
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showers moving through. again, some could be heavy with a little bit of hail, maybe wintriness on the very high tops of the scottish mountains. better chance of staying dry with some sunshine towards the far south and east, but highs of only 17 degrees — low teens further north. factor in the wind, it'll feel cooler than those temperatures suggest. thursday, similar story. most of the showers will be across the northern half of the country, closer to the area of low pressure, better chance of staying dry across parts of wales, the midlands southwards. it could be up to 17 or 18 degrees on thursday afternoon. but again, another chilly one in the north. and you can see why. that area of low pressure just hangs around thursday evening into friday and the weekend, with that blue hue denoting the cooler air hanging around, especially across the northern half of the country. further south in the sunshine, it won't be too bad. may hit the 20 celsius mark as we head into the weekend. some decent spells of strong june sunshine, but it'll feel chilly in the north with further showers.
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welcome to hardtalk. i'm mishal husain.
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today's guest spent the first 2a years of their life immersed in america's white nationalist movement, with a father who was a ku klux klan leader and the founder of a website whose users have been linked to close to 100 murders. that ideology was derek black's whole world, but then came a turning point and a journey from white nationalism to anti—racism. today, we have that extraordinary story of race, politics and ultimately turning against what your family stands for. how does a transformation like that come about? what can we learn from it? and has derek black found a new purpose as well as a new identity?

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