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tv   BBC News  BBC News  June 27, 2024 3:00am-3:31am BST

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good to have you with us. we begin in bolivia, where president luis arce seems to have defeated a military coup attempt. generaljuanjose zuniga, leader of the coup attempt, and former commander of the bolivian armed forces, was arrested by police a shortwhile ago. this is the moment that general zuniga was arrested by police and they took him away in a car while speaking to reporters outside of the military barracks. the president and vice president took to the main square to greet supporters. on wednesday hundreds of soldiers and armoured vehicles fired shots at government supporters who tried to stop them an army tank knocked down the main gate of the presidential palace while troops entered the
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building and general zuniga announced he would release political prisoners as rumours had been swirling for days that the general was on the verge of being dismissed. will grant is joining us to talk about this. it appears a coup has been averted. what is the latest you can tell us. it averted. what is the latest you can tell ve— can tell us. it looks that way and it gives _ can tell us. it looks that way and it gives a _ can tell us. it looks that way and it gives a sense - can tell us. it looks that way and it gives a sense of- can tell us. it looks that way and it gives a sense of how. and it gives a sense of how volatile things remain in bolivia despite the fact we had almost two decades of morales who was knocked out by the military in 2019 and his one—time ally has taken over, luis arce, but yet these things can happen in bolivia and it is shocking to see an old school style military coup attempt which is what this looks like it has boiled down to be. you are right in your description of what has happened that
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general zuniga has been arrested and is detained and facing charges and it looks like his effort to build an insurrection that would be supported through the military has failed. it's all a variety of different actors including the regional response from venezuelan and beyond and within bolivia by the former president for democracy to prevail and take to the streets to support luis arce and all of those things were absolutely key in making sure that this attempt to not get off the ground. attempt to not get off the round. . ~ ., ., ground. talking more about general zuniga _ ground. talking more about general zuniga and - ground. talking more about general zuniga and what. ground. talking more about general zuniga and what he j general zuniga and what he appeared to be trying to achieve here. what do we know about that and why now? in essence, this dates back to the attempt, the successful effort to knock morales out of power. in the wake of that, the people
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who were in powerfrom in the wake of that, the people who were in power from the right including the brief interim president who i interviewed in lap hours at the time has gone to jail and they have been the people who have taken the brunt of this as well as a number of military figures for what was, to all intents and purposes, an attempt to squeeze out morales from power and i think the events of the past 12 to 2a hours reflect dissatisfaction over that as well as with government policy. we saw that general zuniga spoke to luis arce in the residence, in the seat of power and basically demanded changes, so quite why that is a difficult question to ask but i think this has been building and there were things he was unhappy with and specifically the military had been forced to take a back foot ever since
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moranis was forced from power in 2019. ., ., . ., ., , in 2019. you touched on a tense olitical in 2019. you touched on a tense political environment. _ in 2019. you touched on a tense political environment. tell - in 2019. you touched on a tense political environment. tell us i political environment. tell us more about that on the day to day living situation for people living in bolivia and whether they are satisfied with that or not is the case may be. itrefoil not is the case may be. well the basic— not is the case may be. well the basic nexus _ not is the case may be. well the basic nexus of— not is the case may be. well the basic nexus of power- not is the case may be. well the basic nexus of power is i not is the case may be. -ii the basic nexus of power is to the basic nexus of power is to the left and clearly has been for some time in bolivia since morales burst onto the international scene when he became leader. the union leader suddenly breaking 500 years of near apartheid bearing in suddenly breaking 500 years of nearapartheid bearing in mind indigenous people did not have the right to vote until only a few decades before that, so he was such an important actor and one had expected him and luis arce to work in tandem for a while did when luis arce took
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control back from the left wing groups that allowed morales to come back from exile in mexico. but soon the cracks started to appeal and now they were at loggerheads so there is no cohesive unit in terms of the left but there is dissatisfaction in terms of the day to day living you mention and of course life is very expensive for people in bolivia as it is across south america and of course wages are very low. there were big inroads made by morales in terms of poverty reduction but that was when the commodities price at was sky high and it's not quite the same today and luis arce has a much harder environment than morales inherited in 2005 so it's a complex political picture and the traditional conservative elites in bolivia have not gone anywhere during that time and often have the backing of the military and it looks like in this case that
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were the interests that zuniga was trying to represent when he attempted this coup. kenya's president, william ruto, has scrapped a finance bill that included controversial tax hikes following a day of massive demonstrations in which at least 23 people were killed. the bill aimed to raise an additional 2.7 billion dollars in taxes in an effort to lighten the heavy debt kenya is facing. the proposal contained tax hikes on basic goods and services. opponents to the bill said tax hikes would harm people already struggling with the cost of living. initially, president ruto responded with defiance to the demonstrations — but in a sudden change of course — he now says, �*the people have spoken�*. having reflected on the continuing conversation around the content of the finance bill of 2024, and listening keenly to the people of kenya who have said loudly that they wanted
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nothing to do with this finance bill 2024. therefore i concede, and therefore i will not sign the 2024 finance bill. and it shall subsequently be withdrawn and i have agreed with these members that becomes our collective position. us secretary of state, antony blinken thanked the kenyan president for showing restraint on a call. in a statement, a us state department spokesperson said that: mr ruto has now vowed to enter into dialogue with young people who have been at the forefront of the country's biggest protests since his election in 2022. but some protesters are now demanding that the president
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step down entirely — with the slogan "ruto must go." our africa correspondent barbara plett usher sent this update from the kenyan capital, nairobi. it was quite a dramatic reversal as mr ruto has stood firm until now but he finally bowed to the public opposition to his contentious tax bill and he laid out a clear rationale as to why he thought it was necessary and said the funds were needed to reduce the national debt and for development programmes but he conceded that the people simply were behind him so he said he would not sign the bill. it was a significant change of tone from the one adopted after protesters stormed parliament when he failed a fuel security response against what he called treasonous events but the police reaction added to the pressure and killed more than 20 people and the injured many more and there was condemnation from organisations in kenya and concern expressed by mr ruto's partners who are urged restraint. now that he has climbed down
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this me to fuse the dangerous tensions of the country but some prominent activists have already dismissed it and said it is too little, too late and won't bring back the dead and is a pr stunt and they have pledged to return to the street. civilians in gaza are relying on dwindling resources to get vital aid and before the 7th of october attacks more than 500 trucks of humanitarian resources were delivered on a daily basis but it has been reduced to 400 aid trucks since the beginning of the war and nearly a quarter of the population is facing food insecurity. in march american troops started building temporary peer in the mediterranean sea but rough waters has meant keeping open running is the challenge. at one of the first media outlets is cbs who have an exclusive look on the operation on the gaza coast. we travelled across
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the eastern mediterranean with us forces to garzo's devastated central coast. amongst the first journalist to visit the $200 million humanitarian platform where we saw trucks carrying pallets of food aid into the besieged palestinian territory. since the pier became operational in two months ago only around 400 aid trucks like this have come of it and the need in gaza just over there is desperate. before the october seven attacks, over 500 truckloads of aid would enter gaza in a single day. mil enter gaza in a single day. all i know is _ enter gaza in a single day. fill i know is my objective is to get as many supplies as i can into gaza for the people of gaza. , ., , , , ., gaza. the pier has been plagued by problems _ gaza. the pier has been plagued by problems and _ gaza. the pier has been plagued by problems and is _ gaza. the pier has been plagued by problems and is has - gaza. the pier has been plagued by problems and is has only - by problems and is has only been fully operational for a total of 16 days. but when israeli forces arrested four
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hostages in gaza earlier this month in a operation that killed over 270 palestinians, an israeli military helicopter was seen taking off from the beachin was seen taking off from the beach in front of the pier, prompting the world food programme to suspend operations that over concerns it had been compromised.— compromised. this is a humanitarian _ compromised. this is a humanitarian pier, - compromised. this is a humanitarian pier, not| compromised. this is a - humanitarian pier, not part of any operation and it is about humanitarian assistance and thatis humanitarian assistance and that is my mission.- humanitarian assistance and that is my mission. critics see as a president _ that is my mission. critics see as a president by _ that is my mission. critics see as a president by dentinho - as a president by dentinho focused on pressuring israel to open all land crossings were aid trucks into gaza but the administration wants to make it work and says the pier will likely remain operational even longer than originally planned. the espionage trial of the american journalist, evan gershkovich, has begun in russia. the wall streetjournal reporter denies collecting secret information for the cia about a russian tank manufacturer. this his employer and the us
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government have also vehemently rejected the allegation. mr gershkovich has been held in a moscow prison for nearly fifteen months. if convicted, he could face a sentence of up to 20 years. our russia editor steve rosenberg reports from the city of yekaterinburg. this is evan gershkovich, after 15 months in a russian jail, awaiting trial. russian prosecutors call him a spy. america says he's being held hostage. as his trial opened, some smiles. but, if convicted, the us journalist faces up to 20 years in a russian prison. so, we managed to see evan gershkovich briefly. but, from this moment on, this trial will be behind closed doors. so, no family members, no diplomats, no media allowed in. the next time we may be able to see the american journalist will be at the end of his trial. he was arrested on a reporting assignment here in yekaterinburg and accused of collecting information for the cia.
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evan gershkovich, his employer, the wall streetjournal, and the us government fiercely deny it and call the trial a sham. this is a bogus process. this is outrageous and outlandish. he will not enjoy any of the due process that one would expect in the west, in any western court. it will be closed door, it will be secret. we don't expect any chance, really, of his being acquitted. but could there be a prisoner swap? it's happened before. in 2022, russia freed us basketball star brittney griner, injail on a drugs charge. in return, america released russian arms dealer viktor bout. there's no guarantee though. former marine paul whelan was convicted of spying four years ago in russia. the us insists he is wrongfully detained but hasn't secured his release. and, despite us—russian
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contacts over evan gershkovich, there is no sign yet of a deal that would bring him home. steve rosenberg, bbc news, yekaterinburg. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some stories making news in the uk. police have arrested a man in his mid—20s on suspicion of harrassment and offences, in connection with the westminster "honeytrap" scandal. it is understood the man was a labour party member, whose membership was suspended after labour was notified of the arrest. the party says it will not comment further due to an ongoing police investigation. princess anne is said to be recovering well after suffering a minor head injury and concussion, thought to have been caused by a horse. her husband, sirtim laurence, visited her in hospital in bristol, thanking medical staff and emrgency services who attended their estate in gloucestershire. he also said he and the princess royal were touched by kind messages they had received. england football star phil foden has left the team's euro 2024 camp and returned to the uk, for the birth
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of his third child. he's expected to be back in time for sunday's game. england will play slovakia in the last 16 for a place in the quarterfinals. if they advance, they would play either switzerland or italy. you're live with bbc news. in less than 24 hours, us presidentjoe biden and former president donald trump will take to the stage in atlanta for the first presidental debate of the 2024 election. the highly anticipated debate is a chance for both candidates to address issues that have plagued their campaigns thus far. this will be the first debate since trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in his new york criminal trial. he is also awaiting trial in three other criminal cases, one of which is in the state of georgia where the debate is being held. president biden, under increasing scrutiny about his age and frustrations from the left flank of his party, is coming off the back of his son's recent gun trial conviction.
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polls across the country currently show an essential tie between the candidates, with mr trump holding a small lead in some of the key swing states that will ultimately decide the election. when they meet for their historic re—match for the first debate since 2020, voters will be able hear each candidates' stance on major policies. some of the key issues will likely be at the center of the discussion: immigration will highlight a partisan divide following executive orders passed by president biden, border security will likely be on the agenda. since the pandemic, economic inflation is a growing concern as cost of living has risen for many americans despite a growing workforce. president biden is expected to lean on his support of reproduction rights as abortion availabilty is split across the country. thursday's debate could prove to be a turning point for voters in the race to the white house. let's get more on this from bloomberg's washington bureau cheif peggy collins and senior axios contributor margaret talev.
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i think they will try to cut through with some policy issues, particularly on the economy and border security as you are mentioning and i think the danger is devolves into a back—and—forth between don't take him, pick me, and that well as margaret was saying, potentially not draw in more voters that might be on the fence in terms of being able to sway it at all. but there is some potential to head itoff at the pass/ there are different rules to this debate and the microphone is not supposed to be on for the person whose turn it is not to turn —— talk and you don't have the same audience dynamic because there is no studio audience of voters so it will come down to to some extent whether the moderators
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can manage the flow of these questions and control the candidates. that could be really important. there's also a lot of history and these debates are happening before either one of the two gentlemen has formally become the nominee for their party, and will that set a new precedent and will that be how the debates are going forward? voting start early voting in the process so is this just a continuation of the permanent campaign? and these are two rivals who have a lot of questions that voters want to answer about themselves and not just attack the others and talk about the past. isa is a clash over immigration tax before rishi sunak and keir starmer and the heating confrontation saw a live audience challenge them to justify their ta —— stance on integrity in politics. chris mason sent this report.
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we travelled across the eastern mediterranean with after the recent allegations about political betting, how would you restore trust in politics?— would you restore trust in olitics? ., , , politics? this takes leadership and what i _ politics? this takes leadership and what i did _ politics? this takes leadership and what i did when _ politics? this takes leadership and what i did when one - politics? this takes leadership and what i did when one of. politics? this takes leadershipj and what i did when one of my team was alleged to have been involved and investigated by the gambling commission, they were suspended in minutes. i was furious to hear about these things. that's why i've dealt with it. but the choice of this election is about... as sue said, it's about leadership, it's about integrity in politics, and it's a question of doing what you say. keir starmer's made this broader point, but the point is — he's changed his mind on every major position
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that he's taken. sir keir jabbed back. "what about wider questions of culture in government? he asked. this isn'tjust what's happened this week, last week in the gambling commission. we saw partygate earlier in this parliament. the prime minister himself was convicted and fined for breaking the rules which he brought in and imposed on everybody else. next, onto a question about benefits, as the exchanges got more punchy, energised, personal. and i just want to address beverly's point... you opposed it when i announced it. you literally opposed it. if you listened to people in the audience and across the country more often, you might not be quite so out of touch. beverly... applause. you're going to have higher welfare under you, and that's why you can't deliver tax cuts the way that i can. and people should not surrender to this. if there's that much wrong with the system, who is the guy in charge of the system over the last 14 years? why is it so bad? keir, you want to be in charge, but you've got nothing to say to people about what you would do about it.
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we're an island. why can't we easily close our borders? | if keir starmer is your prime minister, all those illegal migrants will be out on our streets. and that is the choice for you. do not surrender our borders to the labour party. steve, this is complete and utter nonsense. sir keir said, "hang on." if it were working, why are record numbers still coming under your watch, prime minister? how on earth can you say it's working? labour want more return agreements, which rishi sunak took the mickey out of. iran, syria, afghanistan. so when keir starmer says he's going to return people, is he going to sit down, are you going to sit down with the iranian ayatollahs? are you going to try and do a deal with the taliban? it's completely nonsensical, what you are saying. next, the economy and rishi sunak returning to a favourite theme. i say that the labour party's policies will mean all your taxes are going to go up by thousands of pounds. it is in their dna. mark my words. your pension, your council tax, your home, your car — you name it, they will tax it. well, pensioners are not
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going to be better off with a prime minister who's making promises that he can't keep because they're not funded. that's exactly what liz truss got wrong. there's one thing that we cannot repeat at this election — please do not go back to liz truss, mark ii, with this prime minister because the same damage will follow. the whole point of nights like this is the power lies with the audience in the room, and robert made the most of it. mr sunak, i think you made i a fairjob of being chancellor, but you're a pretty mediocre prime minister. _ sir keir, i think that your strings are being pulledl by very senior members of the labour party. - are you two really the best - we've got to be the next prime minister of our great country? applause. my primaryjob was to deliver that economic stability, so i can start cutting your taxes. that is the journey we're now on.
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so whatever your other frustrations, the choice for you at this election is about the future. it has to be rooted, if we're going to restore hope, in my view, in returning politics to service, the sense that you come into politics to serve. and then... ..vicky in oxfordshire, who asks this — will. you protect women's rights i to single—sex spaces from any and all males regardless of if they hold a grc, . a gender recognition certificate? - rishi sunak? yes, unequivocally. i get that not all of you will agree with my position, but i'm being clear with you — sex means biological sex. you have to change the equalities act to deliver the security of women's spaces and women's services. that's what i believe the right thing for our country is. keir starmer said it was important to protect women's spaces and added... i will treat them as i treat all human beings — with dignity and respect. and i'll tell you for why. .. applause. the prime minister of the united kingdom standing in parliament,
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making an anti—trans joke in front of the mother of a murdered trans teenager — i will never, ever allow myself to be put into that position. applause. brexit was discussed too, as were prospects for young people, and then this flashpoint during their closing statements. and before you make that choice, think what a labour government would mean. can you afford to pay at least £2,000 more in tax? that is a lie, and he's been told not to repeat that lie and he'sjust done it. and this is your closing . statement, keir starmer. if you want to end 14 years of chaos and rebuild our country, then that power is in your hands. and that was it. five weeks after this campaign began, its final set piece moment had finished. we will have more on the uk
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general election on the website and you will have full coverage there of what both sides are pledging and we will have lots more on the us presidential debate, coming up tomorrow, full coverage on bbc news from 9pm eastern time. more news at the top of the hour. see you soon. hello there. wednesday was the warmest day of the year so far, with 31 celsius reached in wisley in surrey. but that's the last of these sorts of temperatures for now. it does look like for the rest of the week, into the weekend, it's going to be turning fresher for all areas and the winds will be picking up as well. but we'll still have quite a bit of sunshine around. now, the change is all courtesy of this area of low pressure, pretty deep for the time of year, pushing to the north and the west of the country, where it'll bring significant winds and some rain. but the cold front associated with it will spread across the country, pushing the warm and humid air back out to the near continent. this is the cold front —
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barely anything on it as it reaches southern and eastern england. but it will bring a change to the air temperature. plenty of sunshine here, but windy with showers or long spells of rain for north—west england, north wales, northern ireland and into scotland. so temperatures here much lower than of late. highs of 24 to 25 degrees across the south—east. but warmer along north sea coasts, as we've lost the onshore breeze. but it will be a very blustery end to the day for thursday. gales across the far west of scotland, far north of northern ireland, showers or longer spells of rain, whereas i think as we head through thursday nights across much of england and wales, it should be largely dry with some clear spells. lighter winds the further south that you are. but it will be a cooler night to come for all, with temperatures 10 to around 12 degrees. so as we head into friday, then, we see that area of low pressure pulling away from the north of the uk, but it will take its time. it stays quite windy, blustery, with outbreaks of rain across scotland, whereas for england and wales, closer to a ridge of high pressure. so the further north that you are, it will be windier with showers or longer spells of rain. the further south that you are, variable cloud, but some good spells of sunshine.
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and i think for many, it will stay dry on friday. temperatures perhaps reaching around 23, maybe 24 degrees. otherwise, it's the mid to high teens further north, so you can see that cooler trend is continuing. into the start of the weekend, bit of a question mark on it, but it looks like this area of weather fronts will bring thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain to the central slice of the uk through the day. to the north of it, it stays quite blustery with sunshine and showers, feeling cool. but some good sunny spells across the south and south—east could put temperatures up to around 25 celsius, so feeling quite warm again, but cooler further north. but as we head into part two of the weekend, it does look like it'll be cloudy with some further spots of rain and feeling cooler for all.
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this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme.
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perfume is a $50 billion industry and growing. and there's one flower that's found in hundreds of bottles, considered to be the most valuable scent in the business. the most beautiful flower that exists in perfumery. the most exotic and wonderful of all scents. jasmine. bbc eye investigations takes you to the heart of the jasmine trade in egypt to reveal dark secrets in the perfume industry.
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