hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: prime minister boris johnson pledges to fund a new high—speed you're watching bbc news. rail route between manchester and leeds. it is time we put some real substance into the idea of northern i'm shaun ley. the headlines at apm: powerhouse rail. that's why we're prime minister borisjohnson pledges here this morning. we want to inject to fund a new high—speed rail route some pace into this this that can between manchester and leeds. unlock jobs and growth. it is time we put some real president trump praises borisjohnson — substance into the idea of northern and says talks on what he calls a "very substantial" us—uk powerhouse real. that's why i am trade deal are underway. the uk's biggest charitable funder working on. we want to inject some of scientific research, pace so that we can unlockjobs and the wellcome trust, says a no—deal brexit threatens the uk science industry. boost growth. president trump praises the mp for sheffield hallam, borisjohnson — and says talks on what he calls jared 0 mara, says he is to resign a "very substa ntial" as a member of parliament — us—uk trade deal are under way. to deal with personal issues. the uk's biggest charitable funder of scientific research, the wellcome trust, says a no—deal brexit threatens riot police fire tear gas the uk science industry. at protesters in hong kong the mp for sheffield hallam, after tens of thousands march jared o'mara, says he is to resign through the town where gangs as a member of parliament to deal with personal issues. riot police fire tear gas at protesters in hong kong after tens of thousands march

through the town where gangs attacked pro—democracy activists last weekend. and coming up at liz30pm victoria derbyshire, the week in review. good afternoon. the prime minister has pledged to fund a new high—speed rail route between leeds and manchester. borisjohnson says it will "turbo—charge the economy". it is thought the new route is part of the government's wider investment commitment to the north of england, set to cost around £39 billion. but labour have cast doubt on the plan, saying mrjohnson failed to deliver on infrastructure when he was mayor of london. in manchester, they're expanding the tram network, spending millions

on improving public transport. but the new prime minister says he wants to go further, promising to build a fast railway line between this city and leeds, 35 miles away. i want to be the prime minister who does with northern powerhouse rail what we did for crossrail in london, and today, i'm going to deliver on my commitment to that vision with a pledge to fund the leeds to manchester route. but while local leaders have welcomed that promise, the chief executive for transport for the north told the prime minister that the proposed line doesn't go nearly far enough. we want to have liverpool, sheffield, hull and newcastle all getting the benefit, as well as leeds and manchester. well, there you go, barry, 39 billion, a number to conjure with, i dare say. but you're absolutely right, barry,

and you're right in your aspiration and we support that. labour says today's announcement is just reheated promises, pointing out that improvements to northern rail services have been on the table for years. jeremy corbyn, though, said he would go much further. when the government set up its powerhouse for the north, they had an office in whitehall to administer it. we are moving the treasury to the north, we're moving an awful lot to the north, in order to ensure that that fairness of national investment begins to be a reality. both leaders are promising that they are the man to rebalance the british economy, as they target northern voters ahead of a possible election later this year. tom barton, bbc news. our correspondentjudith moritz is in manchester for us. with a reminder, judith, of the heritage of the north of england in the development of the railways, to

start with. yes, and behind me now, i think at this venue was an accident is the location of choice for borisjohnson to make this announcement today. behind me you can see stevensons rocket which in 1829 was the locomotive which reached what were then considered to be speeds of 30 miles an hour along the liverpool and manchester railway line. the first railway line in the world to connect two cities. boris johnson kemme at the date talk about rail travel —— came here today to talk about rail travel at a much higher speed. this commitment was made by george osborne five years ago, for his launch of the northern powerhouse project. there are people here in the audience who would be forgiven for saying that was five yea rs forgiven for saying that was five years ago, here we are back again, what has changed? what is new? then you announcement seems to be that,

whilst there have been words about the northern powerhouse rail project in the past, that, mrjohnson says, he now intends to get things going, to get it moving. he is pledging to fund certainly in the first instance the high—speed line, a new high—speed line between manchester and leeds. he was asked the question you heard in the clip about, in that report, about what about the rest of the north? because there is a view here that the line is vital, but there are other places, sheffield, bradford, huddersfield and liverpool out to the west, that all need to to be part of the same rail project, and mrjohnson said that he intends his commitment to extend to that wider project as well. how did people react here? they think the devil is in the detail. businesses,

the cbi, manchester airport and politicians and even on the other side of the house, labour politicians, andy burnham, the mayor of manchester, welcoming this as evidence that the north of england is moving higher up the political agenda, but they say that there needs to be detail about how this is going to now happen. mrjohnson has told his officials they need to accelerate their work so they can, so that a deal in this rail project can be done by the autumn but it is then a question of when work begins in the longer term with andy burnham, the mayor of greater manchester saying that whilst it is a good, long—term aim, he wants to see investment immediately for projects around the transport infrastructure of greater manchester which can be looked at, straightaway. judith morris there, in greater manchester in front of stevenson rocket. it was the engine

which claimed the first casualty of the railway age when it ran over a cabinet minister! we can speak now to luke raikes, senior research fellow at ippr north, and specialist on regional economies and transport. what do you make of this? your think tank was established in the north of england as part of the effort to encourage more investment and research into what was needed in the region. what, is this the right project? in some ways it is very welcome because it has been promised for about 15 years as you say so it is good that the prime minister spoke about it and the opposition yesterday made similar commitments ona yesterday made similar commitments on a different agenda in liverpool city region so it is great that politicians are talking about this agenda, but the north of england is really important, politically, of course, but also economically to the country. it is twice the size of the scottish economy, it would be one of the largest eu countries if it was a

country in its own right, so it is important that they do this, and it was good to see this today. boris johnson said in his speech about how one of the driving forces for the vote for brexit had been a vote against sort of remote bureaucracy is not just against sort of remote bureaucracy is notjust in brussels but if you are in the north of england, in caernarvon, in cardiff, or if you are in plymouth, in bristol, these problems apply around the uk. we are a very centralised countries still, despite having date —— devolution to the nations, certainly england are still very centralised. you detect willingness from government to hand over not just money willingness from government to hand over notjust money but control over a project to speak to the institutions of the north of england? if the prime minister is to believed then yes. it has not gone as well as soaked in the last five yea rs, as well as soaked in the last five years, they have been promises about

devolution, we have seen some new metro mayors across the north, but not as many as we would have liked to see so it would be good to see something on that as well but the civil service doesn't like to get —— let go of the control that has over the country. it would be good to see some initiatives behind that. it looks like the prime minister boris johnson will be driving that so it remains to be seen whether they will follow through. and red onus was the studio a couple of hours ago, former labour transport secretary, and he said, at the launch of hs2 a decade ago, that this almost guarantees hs2's ago, that this almost guarantees hs2‘s continuation, we know that it was going to be reviewed, because he said that it is the logic that this is part of a bigger hs2. is it possible this could be the consolation prize for hs2 not quite happening? the two are quite intricately aligned with one another. it seems that those two

plans need to go forward together. quite encouraging to see from the prime minister boris johnson quite encouraging to see from the prime minister borisjohnson today was the emphasis on connections within the north and within the city regions of the north. they received quite a lot of emphasis from him so that relates to buses and train tracks between cities, but also the importance of pounds, which is a good thing in that space, as well. that brings us to part of the transport network we don't talk much about, buses. in many towns and cities including in the north of england, that is the default public transport options for people, not trains. in greater manchester 8096 of public transport journeys are trains. in greater manchester 8096 of public transportjourneys are by bus so it is good to see that emphasised by the prime minister. andy burnham has used powers granted to him under the last government. it is a bit of a free fall, it is chaotic at the

moment, and the bosses don't work for the people who want to use them, they work for the private companies that want to make money out of them. soa that want to make money out of them. so a regulatorfor a london that want to make money out of them. so a regulator for a london style system is the right thing for manchester and the rural areas of the north which do not always get much attention. thank you very much. let's move on, now. us president donald trump has said talks are under way to agree what he says will be a "very substa ntial" trade deal with the uk after brexit. speaking after a phone call with the new prime minister yesterday, the president said borisjohnson would do a greatjob. boris and i just spoke. i congratulated him and he's all set to go. he's gonna be — i think he'll be — do a greatjob. we're working already on a trade agreement. and i think it will be a very substantial trade agreement. you know, we can do with the uk — we can do three to four times — we were actually impeded by their relationship with the european union. we were very much impeded on trade.

president from speaking to white house correspondent ats yesterday. —— president trump. a little earlier i spoke to drjennifer cassidy, a former diplomatic attache at the eu and un and now a lecturer in politics at oxford university. she said the president's comments about a deal were unduly optimistic. any statement president trump comes outwith, i say disappointed but not surprised. so, as we heard from the clip, regarding his remarks on the uk us trade deal, there is nothing new regarding his lack of substance, his lack of detail and his terrifyingly optimistic or indeed if it's just a strategic use of a narrative to say three or four times, six times trade is going to increase. there is absolutely no detail and we are seeing the same with the prime minister in the uk. what the experts are saying

regardless of what party they are aligned with, this isn't going to happen for timing issues, negotiation issues, bureaucratic issues. it's worrying to hear these narratives without any counter—factual evidence put at them. downing street is delighted and says the two men when they spoke yesterday, agreed it would be an opportunity that no longer being part of the eu would give more flexibility for the uk to reach a trade deal with the us. what might be the sorts of obstacles that might arise? of course, and we seen it a few days ago, with the speaker of the house, the democratic speaker of the house nancy pelosi giving another interview to the irish times. she paid a visit to ireland a couple of months ago, visiting the north and the south. regarding the border. so, she unequivocally said,

if the uk reject the backstop, ie in other words if the uk leaves on the 31st of october without a deal, thereby rejecting the backstop, de facto, there will be unequivocally no trade deal given to the us and the uk. britain's thriving science sector would be put at risk by a no—deal brexit. that's the warning from the head of the wellcome trust — the uk's biggest charitable funder of scientific research. the trust spends around £1 billion a year supporting research — most of it in the uk. katy austin has more. jasmin is a scientist from germany, researching sex chromosomes at the francis crick institute in london. she's not sure whether to stay in the uk, though, because the country's leaving the eu. my feeling is that over the next 10, 20 years, if brexit actually happens, especially if it happens without a deal, which seems likely now, that uk science is on a decline, with regards to,

yeah, funding opportunities, positions that are available, attractiveness of living here. you could see this place as a symbol of britain's status as a science superpower — europe's largest biomedical research facility under one roof, with 1200 researchers working here from across the globe. the director here warns continued success relies on collaboration that he says is incompatible with a no deal brexit and notjust because millions of pounds in funding would be at risk. it's our reputation, it's being able to attract people. it's making them feel comfortable here. all of this is injeopardy if we are turning our back on europe and saying, "we don't really care about you." and what it will mean is, is we have to follow the rules and regulations that we've had no role or impact on in setting up ourselves. so, in fact, we lose power, we lose freedom, rather than gaining it. now britain's biggest science charity has written to the prime minister, praising his vision for a thriving

science sector but describing no deal as a threat. we're already a science superpower, but there are some clouds on the horizon, which if we don't banish them, could erode that position. what we are anxious about is that the science that is done here goes on being excellent, and to do that it requires both more investment and support from the government, it also requires an immigration policy that welcomes to this country the best researchers in the world, and their families. in a statement, number 10 said the prime minister is committed to supporting the uk science sector, to take full advantage of opportunities outside of the eu, so it can offer the best environment for cutting—edge research and the best global talent. katy austin, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: prime minister borisjohnson pledges to fund a new high—speed rail route between manchester and

leeds. president trump praises borisjohnson and says talks on what he calls a "very substantial" us—uk trade deal are under way. the mp for sheffield hallam, jared 0 mara, says he is to resign as a member of parliament to deal with personal issues. the tour de france is said to be won tomorrow by you can burn out who will become the first colombian to win the race after finishing today's penultimate stage in the yellow jersey. tradition dictates that the final stage tomorrow is processional and the race leader is not challenged. last year's winner, geraint thomas, will finish in second place overall. lewis hamilton will start on pole position for the german grand prix. verstappen will start in second place without reporters in third. both ferraris we re reporters in third. both ferraris were eliminated after car trouble. warrington set up a third challenge cup final appearance in four seasons

after defeating hull fc in the semifinal. the next one between st helens and halifax will start later. i will have more details for you later. let's return to that story that sheffield hallam mp jared 0'mara has said he will resign when parliament returns from its summer recess in september. mr 0'mara was elected as the labour mp for the constituency in may 2017, ousting former deputy pm nick clegg. he now sits as an independent mp. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake has been following developments and he told me what was behind 0'mara's decision. he first attracted attention when apparently sexist and homophobic comments he made online before he became an mp came to light. the whip was withdrawn from the labour party but he was readmitted and he subsequently quit himself. most recently, his former chief of staff has been attracting attention,

when he quit in dramatic fashion this week, posting several tweets online, making clear his very dim view ofjared 0'mara and the state he was in. we had a statement on thursday from mr 0'mara saying he was taking time out to get professional help and apologised to his family and constituents. today, we have a statement again from mr 0'mara, saying that he does intend to stand down as an mp after the summer recess, when the house of commons reconvenes in the autumn, he will look to resign. i will tell you what he has had to say and that short statement. please let everyone be assured that i will be tendering my resignation via official parliamentary procedure. i am not in a fit state to continue nor would it be appropriate if i was. he reiterates his apology to his constituents, the people of sheffield and the people of the uk as a whole. the procedure, mps do not have the right to resign

after being elected so there is a bit of arcane parliamentary procedure that comes into play. he will be appointed to one of two jobs which are formal titles which carry no responsibility or salary, either the crown steward and bailiff of the chiltern hundreds or the manor of northstead and there will be a by—election to elect the new mp for the seat of sheffield hallam, which as a side note, was formerly the seat of lib dem leader nick clegg and it is now held by labour with a majority ofjust over 2000. it has had two liberal democrat mps, richard allen, who went to work in silicon valley, and nick clegg. there is a by—election next week and the lib dems are desperate to take that back. they would presumably be very keen to fight in sheffield hallam hard. they will have their eye on it, a slim majority of 4%, just over 2,000 votes,

so that will be a target for the liberal democrats under new leaderjo swinson as they look to maximise their presence in parliament and they will be campaigning on that uncompromising no brexit message. jonathan blake. police in hong kong have fired tear gas at an unauthorised protest involving thousands of demonstrators. the march was in response to attacks on pro—democracy activists by armed masked men last week. protests began seven weeks ago against a planned extradition law. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonnell was there. this violent day of street clashes has finally come to an end. the protesters were here in their thousands, tens of thousands, at the height, they have finally been pushed by riot police, block by block towards the train station and they have left. behind me, i am sure you can see that the riot police are resting, sitting down, after a full day of battles with hardline protesters,

throwing bricks and other projectiles at them. they have responded by firing rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, and itjust shows yet again that these protests are escalating in terms of the level of violence. a few weeks ago, we saw the odd projectile being thrown at the police, but today, there were a lot. protesters came here geared up for battle. some had home—made shields, gas masks and helmets. they knew there was going to be a big series of clashes. the response has also been lots of tear gas coming back the other way. there is no sign of an end to this. we are in the second month of this political crisis, the protesters have expanded what they are calling for. initially, they were demanding that this unpopular bill be withdrawn, allowing people to be extradited to mainland chinese courts controlled

by the communist party. that bill is politically dead, those mass street rallies featuring hundreds of thousands of people killed it, but emboldened, bolstered by that victory, they have decided to accelerate and they are going in harder, attacking the authorities. they believe the peaceful path does not work, and for many they think that this is it, this is the fight for hong kong that had to come, and they are hoping somehow or other that this will lead to genuine democratic elections here but there is no sign that the government in hong kong or especially beijing will be prepared to grant them that. potentially it could go the other way, imagine the politburo standing committee in beijing, watching this rebellious city, where tens of thousands of people are prepared to attend what is essentially an illegal gathering. the nuclear option for them

would be to send out the people's liberation army who are garrisoned in the city to take back control of the streets. that would be the end of hong kong as we know it. stephen mcdonnell in hong kong. police in russia have detained more than 500 demonstrators who gathered in moscow to demand free and fair local elections. thousands of people attended the protest which was called for by the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny to pressure authorities into allowing opposition candidates to run in a local vote in moscow, which they are currently barred from. authorities in india say they have rescued more than 900 passengers from an express train trapped by torrential rains near the indian city of mumbai. helicopters, boats and diving teams were deployed after the train became stranded close to the town of vangani. passengers were told to remain on board, but were left without food or waterfor 15 hours. rail passengers between

london st pancras and nottingham and sheffield have been urged not to travel as disruption caused by hot weather enters a third day, and train conductors go on strike. the extreme heat earlier in the week damaged overhead line equipment, causing long delays. train companies have told customers to expect a reduced service until monday. six people were assaulted on board a p&0 cruise ship in the early hours of friday morning. the britannia was en route from bergen to southampton when the incident happened. two men in their 40s from essex are currently in police custody. the us supreme court has ruled that the us president can use military funds to build sections of his proposed border wall with mexico. the supreme courtjustices narrowly voted to allow $2.5 billion to be diverted from the military budget to strengthen existing barriers in border states. meanwhile, the us says it's reached an agreement with guatemala to help stem the flow of migrants reaching its southern border. chris buckler in washington reports.

the long border between the united states and mexico has been at the centre of a long battle between president trump and his political opponents. in congress, democrats have consistently blocked his attempts to secure funding to build more and bigger barriers between the countries. prompting the president to declare a national emergency. he has repeatedly argued that the surge of migrants making their way to the us has created a crisis at the border. and he said that left him in a position where he should be able to redirect billions of dollars from defence department funds to pay for the wall. and now the supreme court has agreed, overturning a decision from a lower court. on twitter, president trump said it was a big victory for the wall and a big win for border security and the rule of law. it's not the only

success he is claiming. guatemala has now agreed to a deal where migrants who travel through the country to the united states will have to claim asylum there before they reach the us border. that will apply to huge numbers of people fleeing violence and poverty in el salvador and honduras. the president oversaw the signing of the new deal in the white house. in return, mr trump has dismissed threats of sanctions and tariffs and agreed to more visas for farm workers from guatemala. it's going to be terrific for them and terrific for the united states. this landmark agreement will put the coyotes and the smugglers out of business. these are bad people, these are very, very bad, sick, deranged people. but it's not clear if the new measures will substantially reduce the numbers trying to get from central america into the us. translation: you don't know how i feel. i want to cross over

to give my son a better life. the money i've been spending to get here is not a small amount. build that wall! donald trump is a president preparing to seek re—election. he promised his supporters tougher immigration policies and a border wall. he believes he is making progress. but there's still a chance of more barriers being put up by the courts and politicians in the us congress. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. hello, the heatwave across the uk has now gone, and we are back into fresher air for this weekend and on into next week. pretty wet weather around for some of us, and particularly in the next 2a hours. we have a weather front that is parked up for the evening, from the north—west of scotland to the south—east of england. through the course of the night it will slump

into northern ireland, leaving drier weather to move into scotland but it could turn misty behind the front first thing on sunday across parts of central scotland. a muggy night again, temperatures in the mid teens and fresher than it has been lately. breezy across the uk, northern ireland wetter for sunday, some sunshine in the south—west, brighter for scotland but showers developing later in the day. hopefully sunshine for the north—east of england and east anglia by the afternoon. wales and the south—west faring well in the second half of the weekend. 00:29:35,385 --> 2147483051:51:32,407 top temperatures 2147483051:51:32,407 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 of 23 or 2a degrees.