you're watching beyond one hundred days. britain's ambassador to washington resigns after his emails are leaked, the president trashes him and borisjohnson fails to stand upfor him. it all became too much — and sir kim darroch stepped down saying it was impossible for him to carry out his role as he'd like. the ambassador has received the full support of the british foreign office — in a striking statement the office says darroch was the target of a malicious leak and was simply doing hisjob. a sentiment the prime minister echoed. good government depends on public serva nts good government depends on public servants been able to give a full and frank advice. i want them all to be have the confidence to be able to do that.

the transatlantic row has domestic ties with brexit and the conservative party leadership race all entangled in this resignation. also on the programme..... the us labor secretary comes under fire for his role in a plea deal reached with a financier now charged with sex trafficking. alex acosta will soon speak out. and thousands cheer on the us women's soccer team — and their fight for equal pay — at their ticker tape parade in new york. hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in london, michelle fleury is in new york. british diplomats are supposed to be able to tell their bosses in london what they think, without those thoughts becoming public. they are supposed to be able to give candid analysis without fear of losing theirjobs. today, sir kim darroch, britain's ambassdor to america learned that neither of those things still hold. sir kim resigned today after leaked emails printed in a uk

newspaper revealed his less than flattering assesment of the us president. the resignation is highly unsusual and prompts a lot of unsettling questions for british diplomacy and british domestic politics. we will explore all those issues in the programme — starting with this report from our diplomatic correspondent james landale. kim darroch, 42 years a loyal public servant, from a council estate who advised prime ministers and until this morning her majesty's ambassador to the united states. he resigned because his lick remarks critical of donald trump made it impossible to carry out his role. westminster there was anger and support in equal measure. sir kim has given a lifetime of service to the united kingdom and feel him and enormous debt of gratitude. good government depends on public

serva nts government depends on public servants being able to give full and frank advice. i think the comments made about him are beyond unfair and wrong, he has given honourable and good service and should be thanked for it. at the state visit last month they went on good terms but his private description of an inept and dysfunctional white house prompted insults. i will keep them until he is due to retire. after the man who will be our next prime ministers refused to support him some white whitehall sources said sir kim had to go. boris johnson has biscoe thrown our top diplomat under the bus and there are lots of people here who are very angry. allies said

this was a shabby attempt to politicise the resignation and that the position had become untenable. he isa the position had become untenable. he is a superb diplomat and i want with him for many years and i think whoever leaked the intelligence has done a grave disservice to our civil servants. you said you are not going to back in. on the contrary. i think it is wrong to drag them into the arena. morality at the foreign office is low at the risk is at least britain looking like a leaky ship, buffeted by a foreign power with diplomats fearful of speaking truth to politicians who may not defend them if that truth eventually. this afternoon foreign office staff met to show solidarity with sir kim. their boss told mps it

was unprecedented for the head of a friendly government not to cooperate. i have been in touch with the ambassadors this week stressing that unvarnished and honest analysis is what we need to, it is what officials need in order to give the best possible advice to ministers to the decisions can be as good as possible. the question is who will be the next resident in the british embassy in washington. he or she will have a big repairjob to do. and joining us now from washington is the bbc‘s nick bryant. obviously the us uk relationship considered a special, does the us now feel it has the upper hand? the us has always believed it has had the upper hand, there is a was been an imbalance in the special relationship right back to 1946.

when winston churchill coined that phrase, and was most evident if britain was under in suez when eisenhower pulled the rug from under the feet of prime minister anthony eden. it shows how embarrassed it is right now, at this time of brexit when britain —— how imbalanced it is. when looking for good terms and trade deal there is desperation and the diplomacy and neediness in the special relationship in donald trump is the sort of president who picks that up, it is pretty obvious you do not need to be sherlock holmes to realise that and that is what we have seen, and that he did not use the phrase has famous catchphrase you are fired, that was kind of the message of those tweets over the past few days. one that ridiculed

sir kim one more importantly that blackballed him. immediately diplomatic doors started shutting on monday and he was not allowed to attend a dinner with the president and the theresa may backed him and though and the theresa may backed him and thoutheremy and the theresa may backed him and though jeremy had backed and the theresa may backed him and thoutheremy had backed him, boris johnson did not. it is always a good day for me go back to 1946. do you know from your reporting in washington what it was that made sir kim decided he had to go? what really pushed him out the door? we're not getting any want from the embassy in washington, the whitehall torque as was through watching the televised debate last night but he watched on asjohnson has followed boss and future boss has prime minister not take the opportunity to back him info. that is coming out of whitehall, not washington. they are

not here in washington, obviously beenin not here in washington, obviously been in contact with the embassy that they are not giving away much. his position had become untenable, you had this extraordinary situation and unprecedented situation in modern times where the white house was going to be a no—go zone for the ambassador of america's crosses ally. it is about access to the white house and this administration, the state department said it received no directive to sever ties with sir kim but the state department are more peripheral in this administration than they have beenin this administration than they have been in the past, access to the white house and the west wing edible office is what it is all about. sir kim was being denied that and his position became impossible. as he himself wrote in his resignation letter. thank you.

for more on the impact of this decision we can speak with nicholas burns in washington — who served as the us ambassador to nato and greece. iam going i am going to guess that during your time as american ambassador to greece and nato, there were things you wrote and cables to washington that you would not have liked to have printed in public,. that is certainly true. that is the job of a diplomat, not always to be nice to the country to which you are a creditor, is to tell the truth to get on government and give the unvarnished analysis of what is happening, that is exactly what ambassadors do and what kim darroch did, he did hisjob. itappears ambassadors do and what kim darroch did, he did hisjob. it appears he has been upended by two forces, scurrilous officials in britain will eat the cables, a violation of the official secrets act, officials in britain who leaked the cables. also

donald trump who is so vain and vengeful who should have put his vanity aside because of this relationship is pivotal to the notice this, we need to trust a britain and president trump acted ignobly and trying to blackball a very decent and good ambassador. watching this incident is a former ambassador yourself follows transatlantic relations, doesn't look like britain wasn't bullied by the white house? i am afraid that does. it is true the us and uk have not always been on the same page but ican not always been on the same page but i can tell you from many decades there has been a high degree of trust between london and washington, but always agreeing but trusting. when president trump and essentially said that ambassador kim darroch was persona non grata , said that ambassador kim darroch was persona non grata, he made it impossible to continue his job and

what a terrible signal that is to the british people and government at a time of great to given the brexit debate, america needs to be a better friend to britain and i really feel and everyone who i have talked in washington believes that president trump did not act appropriately. this is a situation involving a very closest allies. we have been focusing on the us and uk relationship but is evenly there will be different metrics all across washington feeling chose from this —— diplomats feeling chilled from this. american diplomats as well, diplomacy depends on the ability of government is to maintain official secrets. and confidentiality. when kim darroch sent a cable to london and an american ambassador sends a cable to washington that is secret, it has to remain secret, governments

depend on these very honest assessments of foreign leaders and situations addition do not have that is impossible for diplomacy to function. you have the official secrets act, the united states has was perched up on the use of classified information and i think that really is a great concern. —— united states has was which govern. business review and some ways the wea kness business review and some ways the weakness of british brexit diplomacy? —— i'm afraid it means britain goes ahead, this is a friend of britain, for goes ahead with brexit britain will be more isolated. it will not have its power base in unit and be more dependent ona base in unit and be more dependent on a griddle or ship with united states. under a normal american president who would deal fairly with britain that might not be a problem,

they would welcome a relationship but i am they would welcome a relationship butiama they would welcome a relationship but i am a afraid donald trump is not that, you might try to take advantage of britain and upstage the british debate he has done and to be so impolite and arrogant in saying he will not stop to the british ambassador, can you imagine a situation like that,. we say about a run on north korea will not talk to them, we have said that ever during suez or the iraq war disagreements, between people be never boycotted each other until donald trump did that to ambassador kim darroch, it isa that to ambassador kim darroch, it is a low point in the transatlantic relationship and a lot of us need to reflect on the proper way for friends to write with each other at a time of crisis. thank you. with me is colleen graffy — former us deputy assistant secretary of state under president george w bush.

a low point in relationships, as the special relationship never less special? i would focus to reinforce everything that has been said that it is absolutely key that diplomats have confidential exchanges with their host countries and people perhaps do not understand how important this is. there is one international treaty, the vienna convention of 1961 which says you cannot check a diplomat was ‘s car, you cannot run to the embassy, you cannot check their baggage as it goes through the airport. this is how critically important this is. we perhaps have forgotten yvonne fletcher murdered and foreign secretary geoffrey howe had to make the tough decision to say we are not going to violate the sanctity of an embassy even under this condition and we had to diplomatically undo it. the focus should be on how did

the slick happen, is it a disgruntled employee, summer with a political agenda, a hostile government seeking to undermine relations? if so, what rights does that we have to address that but also what is the purpose of the media and publishing this? i know freedom of press and expression but this goes beyond this, there is no inherent need for the public to know about secret cables and in fact it goes against the public interest, they should want their ambassadors and diplomats to be able to communicate freely and so i think that should be some reflection on whether the media should consider that when they receive something like this if it is not a whistle—blower situation that they should think twice before publishing it. my father was a british diplomat, he fully agrees and would love to hear what you are saying but

we live in an age were things get hacked, will this change the way that diplomats do business? change the import of ambassadors around the world if they have to fly back to london to deliver once in person rather than fuel can do it securely? no, they have to be able to communicate and cannot take the time to fly, we have to figure out more secure means of doing this, have a way of tracing him information gets out so they can catch individuals that do this. we need to find ways of responsible journalism that publishers will say unless that is a whistle—blower situation here we are going to put this back to the foreign & commonwealth office and allow them to make the decision. i think going forward it is absently critical for parliament to ascertain how this happened and then create safeguards so that diplomats can continue to speak freely and frankly. thank you. ithink

continue to speak freely and frankly. thank you. i think this is the point we have been hearing consistently that there has been some criticism of kim darroch forcing what he did but the point is if you cannot try under plans to give you candid advice then what is the point of having diplomats and an ambassador if they cannot tell you what they are thinking? if they just tell you this is a nice platitude i will give you about my hosts then there is not much point. i think that the sum of the shock we are seeing today, someone doing their job and essentially thrown under the bus for doing it. we were looking at the foreign & commonwealth office statement, the very clear they wa nted statement, the very clear they wanted to point out he had not done anything wrong and was just doing hisjob. jennifer araoz says she was 15 years old whenjeffrey epstein raped her in his new york townhouse. she said she was lured their by a female friend of epstein's, was initially paid to give him sexual massages and then eventually was raped. ms araoz gave her account on us tv

after mr epstein was charged earlier this week with sex trafficking in underage girls. he has pleaded not guilty. pleading not guilty too — at least in the court of public opinion — is donald trump's labour secretary alex acosta. he was the prosecutor in florida who cut a deal with mr epstein back in 2007 that is seen as excessively lenient. mr acosta is expected to speak about the case soon. we are joined now by former assistant us atttorney kim wehle. talk us through why the controversy around alex acosta when he was prosecuted in this case. there were numerous women and girls involved in this alleged sex trafficking scheme, jeffrey epstein had very powerful lawyers and a lot of money and well—connected politically and it is

reported that alex acosta as us attorney felt pressured to give him what most people believe is a sweetheart deal. he ended up not only with 13 months in prison but was able to come and go to his local office and in addition got a non—prosecution deal when he was essentially immunised from product charges relating to the very sad situation and in addition alex acosta did not let the victims know that this deal was coming and that that this deal was coming and that that violates federal law is protecting victims. there are a lot of pieces to it that show or suggest it is money and influence that got him on this deal notjustice. he has tried to address some of this on twitter, we are waiting to hear his first remarks on television shortly. he is not expected to resign, what do you think we might hear? we are

ina do you think we might hear? we are in a world these days where sexual misconduct allegations including against the president tends to get a general shrug from populist or social order. so i think he alex acosta will make that determination based on if you get any kind oppression how much particle pressure is and hang on to his office. in the old days this kind of scandal would probably produce a resignation but these days i think the question is whether there will be sufficient public pressure to resign and the broader question has to bei resign and the broader question has to be i think what kind of people we wa nt to be i think what kind of people we wantan to be i think what kind of people we want an elected and appointed officers at the federal level. is it something that once someone with

integrity, someone who is going to work for the mill of the people are have that perception? i think that isa have that perception? i think that is a problem with respect to alex acosta pots decisions in miami that we are not necessarily illegal but problematic. we live any time when talking about me to the idea that cases like this are coming to light and people who act badly towards young women are being charged and yet you seem to be suggesting we have a case for people can act with impunity. we will have to see. alex acosta himself is not on trial, he was not charged with anything and is not a criminal defendant like jeffrey epstein is. we saw harvey weinstein fall in terms of his career and the question here is mr acosta's association with a plea

deal that has been revisited, the idea being this conduct is not ok. it was so bad that that has to be a greater penalty. people in america who do not have that kind of access to money or good lawyers end up serving time for much smaller or less severe criminal wrongdoing. alex acosta these days could survive this particle followed with very few repercussions. —— this political followed. thank you. the days of ticker tape are gone. but the tradition of throwing paper on the street in celebration was alive and well in new york today — as the city threw a ticker tape parade for the victorious women's world cup team. the american players were greeted with cheering crowds and chants of equal pay. at city hall they were handed the keys to the city and their calls for equity have inspired women

of all ages. the bbc‘s nada tawfik was out on the parade route and sent in this report. new york was absolutely buzzing with energy and excitement. here along broadway and lower manhattan, known as the canyon of heroes, thousands of fans lined up to catch a glimpse of the us women's soccer team as they made their way down on the floats. they had their signature swagger, dancing, waving to the crowd, and sipping champagne as they basked in their victory. now, fans were just excited to be here but they also held up signs calling for equal pay for these tremendous athletes, really being part of the cause, this passionate cause that the us women's team has spoken so powerfully about. even new york's governor, andrew cuomo, here today, said, "let's be honest, if it's about talent, "these women deserve to be paid more than the men."

such a jubilant celebration here in new york as the team was handed the symbolic keys to the city and given such a warm welcome home. and it's notjust here on earth that americans are celebrating this win. earlier the bbc spoke to astronaut christina koch, who is currently living and working on the international space station about this women's team. i couldn't be more happy for the team. i think they demonstrated awesome tenacity, hard work, drive, grit, and those are also the things that are embraced by the human space flight programme and by nasa, in terms of us pushing further, pushing harder and making sure that we bring our best every single day, just like they brought to every single match. and it was an honour to watch them, and we really enjoyed following along and even being inspired by their example. the reaction from space. i had a chance to walk along that parade

route this morning. one of these chance was about equal pay and this has been an issue, they have managed to highlight. a lot goes back, we have figures to show you put this issueis have figures to show you put this issue is about the compensation that fifa pays. world cup prize money. the problem is the men's world cup prize money still substantially dwa rfs prize money still substantially dwarfs what the web get. —— what the women get. when was the first ticker tape parade? 1886. wall street workers are spontaneously through ticker tape out the windows in celebration of the opening of liberty. christian would be proud. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news —

we'll get more on the fallout as britain's ambassador to washington resigns. has donald trump got his way, and what does this mean for that transatlantic special relationship?

we have seen lively downpours developing across scotland and northern ireland this afternoon and

evening and the more general area of rain spreading west to east overnight may give many gardeners a welcome drop of rain but precious little in southern counties of england. some thunder mixed and across scotland and northern england and afairly across scotland and northern england and a fairly humid and muggy night with temperatures twin 12 and 16 starting thursday morning. this is the chance to enter thursday, more extensive areas of low pressure across the uk and where the cee—lo pressure that is where air is rising and that helps the showers and if you first thing, some are close to wimbledon. they will fade and most of the daf not all of it should be dry with a small risk of showers. north and east likely to see showers through the morning, many fading and most becoming dry and the bulk of the day but a few showers was p°ppin9 the day but a few showers was p°pping up- dry the day but a few showers was popping up. dry mostly in northern

ireland but showers to become lively and scotland. another humid day in the sunshine, between 20 and 25. across scotland because see vicious thunderstorms through the evening rush—hour and to thursday and that could have travel impact, risk of minor flooding. that moves to the north sea with the area of low pressure on friday with winds following anticlockwise so more of a north—westerly breeze on friday sweeping away assumption ability and still very pleasant and the sunshine with a fair bit seen, shimmer clouds here and they are particularly in the east and we are where winds meet heavier and longer lasting downpours in the afternoon. it will be fresher but temperatures still warm with most but temperatures still warm with m ost pla ces but temperatures still warm with most places in the low to mid—20s. a fresher start to saturday but with winds from the north—east where the meat down the spine of scotland and england route could see some showers

developing. not quite as heavy and couple of days and around the coast most should be dry and bright and still pleasant in the sunshine. you're watching beyond one hundred days. the british ambassador to the united states is stepping down four days after his confidential cables about president trump were leaked. the uk government has opened its inquiry into the source of the information that compromised ambassador sir kim darroch. also on the programme... the us labor secretary alex acosta is about to answer questions about his role in a plea deal struck with disgraced financierjeffrey epstein. andy murray's come—back dream is over — even teaming up with

serena wasn't enough. the uk's relationship with the us has suffered a blow today after the british ambassador in washington announced that he was resigning. the ambassador had receieved a barrage of insults from president trump in recent days after leaked documents revealed he believed the presidnet‘s administration to be inept and dysfunctional. the house of commons' foreign affairs committee today launched an urgent inquriy into the leak. appearing before the committee sir simon mcdonald, head of the civil service at the foreign office, said the ambassador had decided to resign for two reasons. (tx sot) to resign for two reasons. one is the pressure on his family, who have been living every minute with him and he did not want to put them through possibly months more. it was his judgment that for as long as he remained in washington, he would be a target, and his family with him. and second, the impact on the rest

of the embassy in washington and their ability to work. a short time ago we spoke with conservative mp crispin blunt who is supporting borisjohnson in the party's leadership campaign and who is sympathetic to his stance. so, mr blunt, reporting is that boris johnson's so, mr blunt, reporting is that borisjohnson's failure so, mr blunt, reporting is that boris johnson's failure to stand so, mr blunt, reporting is that borisjohnson's failure to stand by sir kim darroch wade into his decision to resign. did mrjohnson make a mistake? no, i don't think so. because playing the comedy position borisjohnson so. because playing the comedy position boris johnson has so. because playing the comedy position borisjohnson has got to ta ke position borisjohnson has got to take is that of the next prime minister of the united kingdom. —— plainly, the position he has got to take. it's a foregone conclusion he is going to win the ballot of the conservative membership and become prime minister and he's got this enormous asset in terms of his personal relationship with donald trump, which donald trump has tweeted about. there was no point expending that ammunition. he will know that the british government as a lwa ys know that the british government as always going to stand up for its diplomats and civil servants. that's funny, because that's not what it

sounded like mrjohnson was doing last night, and as you know, sometimes saying nothing is as much as saying something and he did not ta ke as saying something and he did not take the opportunity last night to stand up for take the opportunity last night to stand upfor sir take the opportunity last night to stand up for sir kim, and take the opportunity last night to stand upfor sir kim, and i'mjust wondering, does that not put the potential future prime minister of the united kingdom in the position of siding with the white house over britain's own civil servants? well, he said nothing in respect of either of those. and of course, as the next prime minister, he's got to balance theissues prime minister, he's got to balance the issues and the most important asset that he can bring to the table in terms of the american relationship is that personal chemistry that he appears to enjoy with donald trump in the opinion of donald trump. that is a very important asset for the uk. sikkim has taken what i think is a public spirited decision to end his tenure early because of the relationship with donald trump and managing the relationship with donald trump is a

challenge to everyone who's got relations with united states, not least his own team inside the white house. as there is, though, he will be seen as beholden to donald trump and his credibility will already be undermined even before his is taking up undermined even before his is taking up office? i think it's been wholly overblown at the british end, rather unsurprisingly. , about what he did ordid unsurprisingly. , about what he did or did not say. of course, british diplomats can expect full support from any british government if they're reporting in candour on the states to which they have been sent on behalf of the british government. and that obviously must continue. the problem has been the leak of that correspondence in the second problem is the behaviour of donald trump, who is an utterly unconventional president, no doubt to the despair of people who have to

manage him in the white house. thanks forjoining us. let's speak now to chris bryant, labour mp who sits on the commons' foreign affairs committee. everyone seems to agree on one thing, which is that we need to find out who the source of the leak is and try and stop these leaks from happening in the future. there is now an urgent enquiry into this list of how long do you think it is going to be before we know he leaked this material? you say leaked, it may be lea ked material? you say leaked, it may be leaked or hacked, we don't quite know. i was very wary today when i was asking sir simon mcdonald whether he thought that there might be more material still to come, i in relation to the usa or to other embassies around the world, and he seemed rather anxious and nervous that they might. so the story may be farfrom that they might. so the story may be far from over. my that they might. so the story may be farfrom over. my biggest worry, though, is that it is absolutely vital that every ambassador, every head of mission around the world, he

was there on behalf of the british government, the british nation, knows that when they're up against the wall they will have the full sun support of every part of the british political establishment. and that does mean former foreign secretaries as well as a sitting foreign secretaries. and, yes, crisp and is absolutely right to say that donald trump a's behaviour is absolutely egregious and shocking. —— crispin is right to say. i asked again today whether the foreign office had any memory of any such event, were a foreign state essentially said, we will not deal with your british ambassador, and not even iran or travis‘s venezuela have behaved like that. the last example be confined is in 1886 was of —— chavez's venezuela. this is truly uncharted territory for us. what you make of crispin's point that boris johnson

needs to preserve his special relationship with the president and not expend capital at this point on a diplomat whose position had potential become untenable? a diplomat whose position had potential become untenable ?|j a diplomat whose position had potential become untenable? i worry about two elements of this. i remember neville chamberlain thought in the 1930s that his personal charm could somehow overcome all the problems of adolf hitler and with mussolini. he kept writing to his sisters to that effect. and consequently british ambassador, in berlin, kept writing back to neville chamberlain what he thought neville chamberlain what he thought neville chamberlain and adolph hitler wanted to hear. it's absolutely essential that british ambassadors everywhere in the world, especially with our closest allies, are able to send back letters to the british government which are not trying to curry favour either with the place they are serving or with the government that they are saving. they have to be open, honest and truthful. and my anxiety is that if mrjohnson thinks when he is prime

minister somehow he is to manage to smooth everything before him by sheer virtue of own personality, actually, the biggest asset he has is the british foreign office, not his own personality. thank you for joining us, chris bryant there. let's get more on this. let's speak now to georgina wright — a researcher at the institute for government think tank in london. the british diplomatic service, the top echelons of it, unlike the american ones, are not meant to be political, they're american ones, are not meant to be political, they‘ re meant american ones, are not meant to be political, they're meant to be part of the civil service. what is this make the british civil service and its independence look like in the eyes of the world when a british ambassador is forced to resign over something like this? obviously, this is going to be a key question for the foreign office and we've seen sir simon mcdonald giving evidence empowerment, clearly it's going to knock trust. —— evidence in a public. what you do as an ambassador is represent your government abroad

but also build links with the political establishment there and have to get a sense of what is going on, what is going on in that his country, what are they concerned about? and you need to be able to feed that back to london in a confidential manner. i think the key question of that is not necessarily the content of the leaks but why they have happened at all. which is why the enquiry is taking place, but there's something else going on here as well, which does make it look like if the host country complains loudly, they can get rid of somebody they don't like. that shouldn't be they don't like. that shouldn't be the way the british civil service works. there is clearly a political message. . . works. there is clearly a political message... i mean, what we need to remember is the government did sign very firmly with sir kim and this was his decision to resign, he felt he couldn't carry out his responsibilities or duties in the way he would like. and so he thought it was best if he resigned early. he was also due to leave his post at the end of the year, so presumably the end of the year, so presumably the foreign office and government in general have been thinking about who they were going to point x. —— next.

but there has been reported that sir kim left in part after watching that debate between borisjohnson and jeremy hunt in which he felt he did not get the support he was hoping forfrom not get the support he was hoping for from boris not get the support he was hoping forfrom borisjohnson. not get the support he was hoping for from borisjohnsonlj not get the support he was hoping for from boris johnson. i mean, obviously this is speculation. i can only sort of base my analysis on the letter that sir kim so it today and the responses he got from government, and clearly it's not just government, it was across the political spectrum to stop people today saying what a great ambassador they thought sir kim had been. at a really challenging time, actually. it's not only about sort of explaining the complexities of brexit ten often bemused american audience, but also being able to talk about this opportunity is for uk us relations after brexit, and crucially, building strong links with the political establishments and have good relationships with eu ambassadors and other ambassadors in washington, dc. it's an incredibly complicated row, one of the most

ambassadorship positions here for the uk government. the question for the uk government. the question for the next prime minister is, who they appoint, how quickly do they appointment them, will theresa may who appoints an next ambassador, and will they have support from government if another similar situation were to happen again? georgina, thanks for coming in to join us. thank you. that is going to be the question of course. we do know that donald trump in the past has suggested he would like nigel farage to beat britain's ambassador to washington. that of course does not happened so far, mr fahd has anotherjob, but not happened so far, mr fahd has another job, but let's not happened so far, mr fahd has anotherjob, but let's see who gets thatjob anotherjob, but let's see who gets that job next. —— anotherjob, but let's see who gets thatjob next. —— mr farage. let's go now to mr costa, who has been making a statement about that whole situation withjeremy epstein. —— mr acosta. whole situation withjeremy epstein. -- mr acosta. facts are important factor being overlooked. this matter

started as a state matter. he was being prosecuted initially by the state of florida not by the us attorney's office. in 2006 a grand jury attorney's office. in 2006 a grand jury convened, reviewed the evidence and confirmed a single charge. that charge would have resulted in no jailtime, at charge would have resulted in no jail time, at all. charge would have resulted in no jailtime, at all. no charge would have resulted in no jail time, at all. no registration isa jail time, at all. no registration is a sexual offender and no restitution to the victim. further, the state attorney's office allowed epstein to self surrender and arraigned him the following morning. simply put, the palm beach state attorney's office was ready to let epstein walk free, no jail time, nothing. prosecuted in my former office found this to be completely unacceptable and became involved. —— prosecutors. our office became involved. our prosecutors, as it

2008 article recounts, resented the ultimatum, plead guilty towards serious charges, that required jail time, registration and restitution, or we'd roll the dice and bring a federal indictment. without the work of our prosecutors, epstein would have gotte n of our prosecutors, epstein would have gotten away with just that state charge. alex acosta there, defending his record, basically arguing that he wanted to prosecute when others at the time wanted not to press charges. question, of course, going forward, will this be enough to quell those who want to see his resignation? it didn't sound to me that he was even thinking about resigned today, and from what was being said earlier, it sounds like you can probably stay in his job. earlier, it sounds like you can probably stay in hisjob. —— like he can probably stay in hisjob. donald trump clearly plans to keep up his maximum pressure strategy with iran. he tweeted iran has long been

secretly enriching, "in total "violation of the terrible $150 billion deal made byjohn kerry and the obama administration. sanctions will soon be increased, substantially! " inside iran there doesn't appear to be a change in policy — iran's ambassador to the un told the bbc his country has breached the nuclear deal and will take further action unless europe provides compensation for the impact of us sanctions. here's majid takht—ravanchi speaking to our state department correspondent barbara plett usher. for the time being we are in the deal and we invite others to stay in the deal. apparently, besides the us, the europeans have not been up to the job and they have not honoured all the commitments, other commitments, up till now. but what more are you expecting the europeans to be able to do? they cannot give you the economic benefits of the deal because the us sanctions are too strong. when president trump decided to get out of the nuclear deal, we were approached by three european leaders encouraging us, insisting iran not to get

out of the nuclear deal and they promised us to do exactly what they were supposed to do, to compensate what we have lost as a result of the us withdrawal. so it is not acceptable to us, to see that the europeans are not honouring their commitments. so what happens if they were not able to compensate you in the way that you want? do then you keep raising the level of uranium enrichment? for the time being, we are in phase two. if nothing happens in the course of the next 60 days, i think we will have to go to the third phase, and elements of the third phase are not known yet, but when it comes to that then ask what we are going to do. president trump nearly bombed iran last month. do you think he wants a war? i don't think that president trump wants war with iran, but those who are close to him, definitely, they are looking after a conflict between iran and the united states, and whatever they have been doing is exactly in line

with what they said. does iran want war? no, we do not want war. we do not want to have war with us or anybody else. it is not in our interests to see fire being spread in our neighbourhood. iran's ambassador to the un. this is beyond one hundred days. still to come — the uk government looked to be taking a bold step on tackling climate change but now some of its own advisors says it's not enough. now if you're feeling unwell and haven't got time to see a doctor, how about asking alexa? from this week, people will be able to get medical advice from amazon's voice assisted technology. they can ask questions such as ‘how do i treat a migrane?‘ and alexa will then automatically search the nhs choices website for answers. but critics have condemned the new service as a ‘data

protection disaster waiting to happen.‘ our health correspondent, nick triggle, reports. alexa, what are the symptoms of chickenpox? according to the nhs website, chickenpox starts with red spots. the popularity of voice assistive technology is growing, and now the nhs is looking to harness its benefits. from this week, people using their amazon alexa device to search for health information or ask medical questions will get that information drawn directly from the nhs choices website. but will this be enough to convince people not to go to their gps or pharmacists?” have an alexa, and she rarely hears me right, so i probably wouldn't.” think if it's for something less... life—threatening, likely common code and things like that, i would be happy to to it. the department of health and social care in england accepts there will be limits to what

it would be used for but believes it could be useful, especially for people who may struggle to access the internet in a traditional way, such as older people or those who are blind. here's your flash briefing. doctors agree there is potential in using voice assistive technology in this way but have concerns. the beauty of when you see a health—care professional is there notjust listening a health—care professional is there not just listening to the words that you say. they are looking at you as a whole person. they have your background hand, your medical notes, they can evaluate so many other elements. and this could be just the start. the government is also in talks with other companies about setting up similar arrangements. last month the uk government put into law a committment to eradicate its net contribution to climate change by 2050.

a bold step, and the first major economy in the world to do so. but today, scientists gave their climate change ambitions a ‘brutal reality check‘. the government's own climate change advisers say ministers are failing to drive down emissions fast enough and aren't preparing for the problems changing weather patterns would create. a government spokesman said the uk had cut greenhouse gasses faster than any other g7 country. and will soon set out plans to tackle emissions. earlier i spoke to alyssa gilbert, head of policy and translation at the grantham institute for climate change and the environment. the british government has set a whole load of targets for reducing emissions and meeting climate change targets was apparently doing? it's not looking great, actually, today we've had a reporterfrom not looking great, actually, today we've had a reporter from the independent advisers to the uk government and basically, progress is not looking good. while they have been doing well for greenhouse gas emissions so far, if we look a bit to the future, the sort of early 20 30s, were not going to be meeting those targets anymore. and that

particular tight because the government has now said we're going to go even further more ambitious, but if not even meeting our current targets 20 30s or so, that's not looking good. of the current measures, only one has actually been met. give me some examples of the kind of things the government said they would do but fail to do. for example, the government has made commitments to energy efficiency in the housing stock. all houses in the uk bya the housing stock. all houses in the uk by a certain date should be banned c, which is pretty good. but at the same time they have not picked in place the kind of incentives they would need to get us to band c, and other things... it doesn't seem like the policy incentives are stacking up against those laudable goals. so i understand that using technology that exists to retrofit older buildings is incredibly expensive.

but in new buildings, presumably, we could insist the government could insist that they build—up to technological standards that would make them environmentally friendly buildings. not happening? that's right, not happening as yet. in fa ct, right, not happening as yet. in fact, a few years in the past, there was quite a good smart homes proposals for regulations that would mean all homes and meet a certain standard and the government to that away without, as far as i can see, any good argument for doing so. they now put it back on the table so it looks like it might happen again. but for the purposes of this kind of progress report, unless we see that legislation passed through, they're not going to get a tick in that box. what are your expectations for what the government must do to improve its scorecard and how quickly do they need to do it? and is there any chance they're going to?” they need to do it? and is there any chance they're going to? i think there is some chance they're going to. we have had the right kind of rhetoric from government. there are definitely taking it more seriously, listening to the pressure they are getting from the public on this, which is promising. i think they're nervous about putting things in

place where they think they invite be pushed back from industry or individuals about poss. but we should see that a lot of the things you need to do, for example, to improve your home or a long—term investment. those things payback over time because you have become more energy efficient and you pay less on your heating bills. and that's quite significant, actually force of you get your money back in the long run. so it's about seeing these things as investments and helping give people and companies are sort of upfront money that they need to make investments that will them back. in changing the way they think about it. thanks for coming gatwick airport says it's now fully operational after earlier having to suspended all flights due to an air traffic control system problem. the london airport has apologised — the runways were closed for almost two hours — causing around 25 flights to be delayed or diverted. it's still advising passengers to check the status of their flights.

it has been packed day at wimbledon — the top three players on the men's side were all in action and the mixed doubles tandem of serena williams and andy murray were on court. you can expect drama with that sort of firepower — and today did not disappoint. from courtside at wimbledon, holly hamilton gave us this update. for the 13th time, three very familiar names have made it to the top for of yet another grand slam semifinal. and for roger pedro, who is victory over kay curry was a milestone, his 100 victory at wimbledon. —— roger federer‘s victory over kai nishikori. next up for the swiss, it's his old rival rafa nadal, who comfortably beat the american sam querrey. and this will be the first time those two have met here since 2008. and to complete the big three, who else but defending champion novak djokovic? he wasted

absolutely no time beating belgian david goffin in straight sets. the only man standing in his way for a place in the final will be roberto bautista agut, who beat an argentinian to qualify for his first ever grand slam semifinal. he didn't think you'd get this far, he was supposed to be on his stag do at the moment! but his friends are a p pa re ntly moment! but his friends are apparently making the trip from ibiza to london in what will be a study with a difference. i think study with a difference. ithinki study with a difference. i think i made a major error because it came to london for two days this week and wimbledon is on and i'm not at wimbledon! lovely to be here with you, michelle. i could have been at wimbledon. get out of here, go to wimbledon! now, if you're one of those many parents trying to work out how to juggle work and childcare, maybe you should take a leaf out of serena williams‘s book — or at least, her instagram story.

this is serena fresh out of her quarter final match yesterday, and straight on the exercise bike for a cooldown, taking her daughter alexis olympia along for the ride. if only the andy murray/serena williams double team worked out as well as this dynamic duo. you have a very small child. what about your horror stories of having tojuggle work about your horror stories of having to juggle work and a little boy? have you been on an exercise bike? i bet you have. so far, cross my fingers, i've managed to escape that! but i have to say there was once a little child who came in, a colleague had a bit ofa who came in, a colleague had a bit of a childcare crunch and basically was forced to appear on air with her child sat under the desk was quietly, i should ask. —— child sat under the desk was quietly, ishould ask. —— i child sat under the desk was quietly, i should ask. —— i should add. i once had a baby and i had a choice between feeding my baby, who was crying, on air, where i was doing a radio to, so i ended up breast—feeding a baby while i was

doing a radio to way. perhaps too much information for everybody! it's a women's programme tonight, guys. we'll see you back here tomorrow. good evening. lively dampers of cross as part of scotland and northern ireland this evening, and a more general area of rain spreading east overnight may give many a garden a welcome drop of rain but precious little rainfall in the southern counties of england. are fairly humid and muggy night, with temperatures around 12—16 as we start this thursday morning rush—hour. the chart to go into thursday, more extensive area of low pressure a cross thursday, more extensive area of low pressure across the uk. where you see low pressure systems, that's where air is generally rising. that helps shower files build—up and we will have if you first thing, one too close to wimbledon i early

doors, but they will fade away. most of the day if not all of the day should be dry butjust a small risk ofa should be dry butjust a small risk of a shower. scotland and north—east england, some showers during the first part of the morning rush hour, many will fade and most will become dry and a lot of us will spend the bulk of the day dry, but shower is p°ppin9 bulk of the day dry, but shower is popping appear in there. a dry day by and large across northern ireland but parts of scotland that showers could become thundery. a humid day in the sunshine, 20—25, may be more. a quick scan across scotland, we could see again vicious thunderstorms to take us through the evening rush hour and through the first part of thursday night. i could have travel impacts, risk of minor flooding, could have travel impacts, risk of minorflooding, too. but they could have travel impacts, risk of minor flooding, too. but they depart into the north sea with that area of low pressure on friday. when slowing anticlockwise around that area of the pressure means a north—westerly breeze on friday across the country. that means it sweeps away from humidity, apposite in the sunshine, but showers popping up here and there particularly in eastern

scotla nd there particularly in eastern scotland and eastern england. where winds meet you could see heavy and long lasting dampers in the afternoon. fresher, but tempest only warm side. on saturday, winds coming in from the north—east from the side and from the north—west for the site, where they meet down the spine of scotla nd site, where they meet down the spine of scotland and england, we could see showers develop once again. not as heavy as over the next couple days, and on the coast most should be dry and bright. still present at the sunshine. more sunny spells to come on sunday, winds later, and fewer showers, too.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the british ambassador to washington quits. sir kim darroch said it was impossible to do his job after president trump's very public attacks on him. some say he resigned because borisjohnson refused to back him in last night's debate but the tory front runner rejects that claim. my view is it's wrong to drag civil servants into the political arena, that's what i think. he's basically thrown this fantastic diplomat under a bus to suit his own personal interests. lifting the lid on how labour has dealt with accusations of anti semitism a bbc investigation is told mr corbyn's office interfered in the independent process. neighbour rejects the claims.