so, too, has the republican candidate for vice president, jd vance, as the race for the white house heats up. thousands of anti—racism protesters turn out for peaceful demonstrations across england after a week of rioting and disorder by far—right groups. taylor swift's eras tour concerts are cancelled in vienna after police thwart an apparent terror attack. hello. welcome to this hour. kamala harris�*s campaign says it's raised $36 million in the first 2a hours after she named minnesota governor tim walz as her running mate. the democrats are hoping the now—completed ticket will gain momentum, as well as money. the pair have been out on the stump in key battleground states. so has republican

vice—presidential pickjd vance who criticised mr walz�*s military record. wednesday was the first full day of the harris—walz swing state tour. as they appeared in front of voters in wisconsin at a rally in eau claire, kamala harris played up her running mate's midwestern roots. it's one of several us battlegrounds that are likely to decide the election. with just 60 days to go until election day, governor walz told voters what he believes he brings to the ticket, referencing his rural upbringing, military service, and teaching career. he also accused former president trump of attacking the working class. this election�*s about which direction this country's going to go in. we know donald trump's taken us backwards. and don't believe the act, he's playing dumb. he knows exactly what project 2025's going to do to our personal liberties. crowd booing. destroy unions, rig the economy for the ultra—wealthy. we know that when he goes back, he's picking up and doing the same things

he did when he was there the last time. except — except — you all know this — it will be much, much worse when he comes back. meanwhile, just across town, donald trump's running mate, senatorjd vance, held a campaign event at the airport in eau claire, wisconsin. mr vance acknowledged he was there as a contrast to the harris—walz event in the same city. he criticised ms harris for what he says was her lack of media interviews, railed against illegal migration and the flow of fentanyl across the border, and blamed the vice president for higher prices. every single thing that americans need to buy in order to live a halfway decent life has become more expensive because of kamala harris�*s economic policies. instead of saying i'm sorry, instead of saying maybe we should go to into a different direction, she is running from the media, refusing to answer tough questions and hoping that a basement campaign is going to earn her promotion and i think we ought to say to kamala harris, you are fired.

your policies and agenda didn't work and it's not what the american people want. my colleague sumi somaskanda was that rally in detroit which ended a short while ago. i spoke to her earlier. it's empty now this airport hangar where the rally was held today but i can tell you just a few hours ago this place was absolutely packed. we don't have exact numbers yet from the harris campaign but the entire airport hangar and even some of the airfield were filled with supporters of kamala harris and tim walz and they were clapping and cheering. it was like a concert atmosphere almost. and of course it rose to a deafening roar when kamala harris and tim walz stepped down off air force two and when they came out on stage and delivered their speeches as well. it was interesting to see, a lot of the supporters we saw on hand here for this rally were the type of voters the democrats believe they have to turn out to win. members of their base. we're talking about women, people of colour, young voters. i spoke in particular to a few young voters

and it was interesting to hear what they had to say. they were essentially pointing to cost and affordability in their lives, especially looking towards their futures, and they believe kamala harris and tim walz will make things more affordable for them. we also spoke to some women of colour who said, look, it's time to see a woman in the highest office in the us and that they see themselves in kamala harris. so, all in all, a joyous atmosphere here, very much reflecting what you saw in eau claire, wisconsin, a little bit earlier in the day and in philadelphia as well yesterday. thatjust means that kamala harris and tim walz are going to take this energy that they say they've been building through the grassroots onto the road as they continue their tour. it's notjust kamala harris and tim walz who've been in wisconsin and in michigan today because as we were just saying, sumi, jd vance has also been in almost identical places to them. tell me what he's been saying and what the mood is around his campaign or the trump—vance campaign there.

it's interesting to hear whatjd vance has been saying. he's been following kamala harris exactly in the same locations — in pennsylvania, in wisconsin and here in michigan as well. if you listen to his message, he is criticising kamala harris and tim walz on a few key points saying they are dangerously liberal radical leftists, that they will make america california which they call an american nightmare. they're referencing liberal policies in the state of california, of course, kamala harris is a former senator from that state. they're also criticising them of the economy saying the cost of inflation on this country has come from biden—harris administration's economic policies. they're also criticising tim walz for his record as governor. they're saying he is far too liberal, his progressive policies have, as they said, ruined minnesota. they blame him for some of the riots we saw in the wake of the george floyd killing in minneapolis in 2020 saying he let that city burn. they're also saying his military record,

that he didn't serve any combat time and that that is a sign that he ran away from responsibility. those are the messages we are hearing from jd vance but of course those here say that is simplyjd vance grasping at straws because of the enthusiasm that we saw on hand here. sumi somaskanda live in michigan for us, thank you very much. republicans have also accused tim walz of being pro—china. donald trump's former ambassador to germany, richard grenell, said, "no one is more pro—china than marxist walz." while republican senator tom cotton said mr walz needed to explain "his unusual 35—year relationship "with communist china". to discuss this in more detail, i spoke to new york correspondentjohn sudworth, who was formerly based in china. there have been accusations from republicans tim walz is pro—china. how much truth is there to that?

pro-china. how much truth is there to that?— there to that? you are right. within hours _ there to that? you are right. within hours of— there to that? you are right. within hours of the - within hours of the announcement he had one kamala harris�*s lead stakes as the us media reported here, like to call it, the attacks had begun. senator tom cotton suggesting the minnesota governor had questions to answer because it is long and deep connections to china. and there are those connections. tim walz first went to china in 1989, went on a teaching programme from harvard, spent a year there in the south of china teaching english and american history and then, after returning to the us, he set up a business with his wife where they arrange for you as students to visit on a summer programme and that went on for many years, and by tim walz�*s own

estimation, he visited china some 30 times or so during that period. that obviously makes him unusual as somebody who is vying to be america's second—in—command, but your question i think is the key one. does it open him up to those attacks? a deeper examination of his record, which suggest, i think the position is far more nuanced. dashwood. you have written an article for the bbc news website about this and end that you talk about his congressional record. he was a congressman, served in congress from 2007. when you look at his voting record, what did you learn about that accusation or claim he may or may not be pro—china? it claim he may or may not be pro-china?— claim he may or may not be pro-china? it is interesting. that period _ pro-china? it is interesting. that period from _ pro-china? it is interesting. that period from 1989 - pro-china? it is interesting. i that period from 1989 onwards was a myriad —— period when the us foreign trade and economic

policy was based on trade and engagement with china. it was a deep bipartisan consensus and a good thing so it is not surprising you can find instances of tim walz saying, for example, he did not think china could automatically be treated as an adversary. that was pretty common parlance at the time and shared across the aisle, but what is interesting about him is those deep ties to china, his experience, has, if anything, you could argue made him hawkish, certainly when it comes to china's human rights record. he spent more than a decade on a congressional committee that was focused solely on china's human rights record. he has met some of the highest profile chinese dissidents, at least people china would consider as dissident, figures likejoshua dissident, figures like joshua wong dissident, figures likejoshua wong who tim walz met in 2016, a leader of the hong kong

pro—democracy movement and perhaps most notably, tim walz has met the delay lame, someone who china works very hard to pressure foreign governments, dignitaries, international figures from a meeting with. none of that will be welcomed in beijing, of course, and in terms of his public statements, tim walz has made it very clear he sees china's human rights record as deeply problematic. you talk about the fact the year his teaching posting took place, 1989, was in fact the year of the tiananmen square massacre in beijing. wilds more do you know about that?- do you know about that? that's ri . ht. do you know about that? that's right- -- _ do you know about that? that's right. -- what. _ do you know about that? that's right. -- what. that _ do you know about that? that's right. -- what. that seems - do you know about that? that's right. -- what. that seems to l right. —— what. that seems to have had a large impact on his views. he chose to stay in china despite the bloodshed. he

said he did so out of solidarity with the chinese people, that it was important to stay when many other americans were living and he has spoken many times since about the events ofjune1989. he co—sponsored a resolution in congress marking one of the anniversaries of the massacre, so again, none of this will make him palatable to china, but more importantly, perhaps, it stands, you might think, in some contrast to claims now being made against him and it will at least allow the democrats to point to some of that record, to those photos, for example of him shoulder to shoulder with the dalai lama to suggest he claims he is somehow pro—beijing are political partisanship at best, at best —— worst political mischief.

tens of thousands of anti racism protesters filled streets across england on wednesday in response to nearly a week of rioting led by supporters of the far—right. police had been monitoring more than 100 far—right protests which were planned for wednesday. but instead, up and down the country, the anti—immigration protests were eclipsed by large, peaceful demonstrations against racism and violence. like here in bristol, where a major far—right march was planned. and in liverpool, where counter—protesters gathered to show support for refugees, as was the case, in brighton. jemma bicknell was at one of the largest protests in walthamstow, in east london. it was just a really lovely, warm, jubilant, defiant atmosphere, really. it was really lovely. and why did you decide to turn out today?

i just felt like it was really important to stand with my community, with my neighbours to show the fascists that they're the minority and that we are all unified in leading with love. and how many people turned out amongst your friends and family and were there some hesitations among some people to go onto the streets today? yeah, i mean, quite a few of my friends were texting a bit worried. i didn't feel worried because there was a similar protest 12 years ago and the exact same thing happened, so thousands of people in walthamstow turned out and the fascists actually were escorted away by the police because there were only about 25 of them. they didn't even show up today so i wasn't really worried and i went along with some of my neighbours from my street and met up with some other friends when i got there, some of them i couldn't even find because the crowd was too busy, there were thousands of us. thousands of you holding signs, and showing — what exactly were you trying to show then to people? and to the world, i suppose. i think, well, the whole country was doing it, were't they? we werejust sending a message that all the hatred we've seen recently we won't stand for, and it doesn't represent

who most of our country is. that's been all over the news lately. it's really upsetting. but this was really heartening and itjust showed that we are much more unified than it seems like we are at the moment. and you talk about some of those riots that we've seen across parts of england in the last week or so. how have you felt when you have seen all of that unfold then? it's devastating, really devastating. i saw some awful videos even when we were walking over on instagram and that's why it felt so important and that's why... you know, we live in a really diverse community in walthamstow and the crowd was representative of that community, so a really mixed bunch, and we reallyjust wanted to show that we don't stand for that, particularly in london. we're such a multicultural society and we love living side—by—side and so we wanted to just send that message that we won't stand for it. and did see any of the anti—immigration protests then?

because they were planned in many parts of england including in walthamstow which is why you and others decided to go and counter protest in the first place. we were expecting them to turn up and we waited for a few hours and there was lots of cheering and excitement and chants and theyjust never showed, so we alljust walked home, and even some shops and some cafes were open on the side of the street and letting people go in, so yeah, although obviously lots of places were boarded up, some of them had opened up for the counter protests and so there was just this sort of street party atmosphere in the end and we didn't see any edl protesters, no. a sense of relief, but, what do you think comes next? i feel like this is representative of how politics has been so divisive for the last few years and there are still

loads of that going on. i do think it is kind of — there is a lot of unhappiness, i'm not going to be unrealistic and think that suddenly everyone is completely unified. they are not. there are still people that are still unhappy. they are still going to probably be rioting in some places but i'm hoping this will take the wind out of it. you can but hope but i am worried about it and i don't want to see those things happening. i think hopefully this will give people the confidence to keep standing up against it, but i am really worried about more of it happening. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news: judges have ruled that shamima begum will not be allowed to challenge the removal of her british citizenship at the supreme court. it was revoked on national security grounds after she travelled to syria as a teenager to join the islamic state group in 2015. it was ms begum's last chance to challenge the decision in the british legal system.

former production staff on strictly come dancing have told bbc news about what they call a "toxic" workplace culture where they claim they faced bad behaviour, including verbal abuse and bullying. the allegations come after weeks of damaging claims from celebrities about their experiences on the show. bbc studios said the welfare and safety of its crew has always been its priority. banksy has posted another artwork in london, marking the third piece of a new animal—themed collection — this time featuring monkeys. on tuesday the artist posted an image of two elephants on blocked out windows in chelsea. on monday he revealed a goat stencil on a wall near kew bridge. you're live with bbc news. the middle east remains on edge as iran says its response to the killing of hamas leader ismail haniyeh in tehran

will take place "at the right time "and in the appropriate shape". iran and hamas accuse israel of carrying out last week's assassination. israel has not claimed or denied responsibility.saudi arabia says the assassination was a blatant violation of iran's sovereignty. 0ur correspondentjenny hill has more on the regional reaction to hamas's decision to name yahya sinwar, considered the architect of the october 7 attacks in israel, as the group's new political leader. iran and its proxies have welcomed the choice of yahya sinwar as the new political leader of hamas. in that move they see a gesture of defiance towards israel. it's an appointment which has infuriated the israeli leadership. mr sinwar, who is believed to be in gaza, tops their most wanted list and they have renewed threats to kill him and eliminate his organisation. this country remains on a state of high alert after iran vowed to avenge the assassination of mr sinwar�*s predecessor in tehran last week.

the killing has been discussed in an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from around 50 predominantly muslim states. russia's kursk region is under a state of emergency after what the kremlin says is a continuing incursion by the ukrainian military. russia's president, vladimir putin, has accused ukraine of a "large—scale provocation". russia's top general says up to a thousand ukrainian fighters had crossed the frontier, with attacks reported in two neighbouring districts in the kursk 0blast. some ukrainian border districts have been hit by return fire — 6,000 civilians are reportedly being told to leave. telegram channels affiliated with the russian defence ministry suggest ukraine has captured three russian towns in the border region. james waterhouse has more from kyiv. it is always hard to tell what is going on when we talk about ukrainian attacks inside russia

but clearly something is happening. according to russian military, bloggers as well as the criminal, there is a major ukrainian attack involving hundreds of troops and several rocket and missile strikes and armoured vehicles. i think it is reflective of what ukraine might be what to achieve. clearly, it wants to hold on to several settlements it has reportedly claimed as well as two town is now according to local russian officials, wants to hold onto them for some time stopped by? russia is having to redeploy troops from even neighbouring russian regions all the frontline in ukraine. there were also fears in kyiv of russia launching a major cross—border attack on the sumy region, so there are a lot of swirling reasons as to why ukraine would mount an attack like this but it is also in the eyes of some counterintuitive

because ukrainian forces are continually outnumbered in the east where russia is seizing more and more territory, so the idea of sending them into russia itself is a high—stakes strategy. it has brought condemnation from vladimir putin which reflects a possible blind siding for moscow given how static this war has become, but if ukraine is able to draw russian forces to prevent or at least stall an attack on the northern parts of the country, kyiv will see this operation as being worth it in the long run. taylor swift cancelled all three of her upcoming shows in vienna, (box after police thwarted an alleged terrorist in vienna after police thwarted an alleged terrorist attack on the concerts. police arrested two people suspected of planning islamist attacks. nearly 200,000 fans were expected to attend. posting on x, austria's chancellor said the cancellation was a "bitter disappointment" and that the "threat was recognised early,

"combated and a tragedy prevented." maui is celebrating the recovery of a 151—year—old banyan tree after it was damaged in the 2023 wildfires. it is the oldest banyan tree on the island and is a gathering place along lahaina's waterfront. it was shipped to the island from india and planted in 1873 and has drawn millions of tourists over the years. the tree was badly scorched in the deadly fires that burned lahaini two years ago. now arborists and volunteers working to preserve the tree say that parts of it are growing back healthy. joining me now to talk more about this is duane sparkman the chair of the maui county arborist committee. welcome. you set up an organisation called tree recovery to try to recover some of those trees damaged in the fire last year. let's start with this banyan tree because it is the one that people talk about the most. what has your

organisation and volunteers done to try and get it back to some form after all the damage last year? we some form after all the damage last ear? ~ ., some form after all the damage last ear? ~ . , last year? we have been spending _ last year? we have been spending time _ last year? we have been spending time making i last year? we have been i spending time making sure last year? we have been - spending time making sure we have nutrients in the soil, we are adding a lot of compost to the soil, adding microbiology to make sure the tree can take nutrient and survive this terrible trauma it went through. the amount of desiccation to the tree dried out 50% of the mass of that tree and we have removed it so far. we have a little trimming to continue with and then we have a lot of irrigation to install, compost to install and it is a big programme to make sure this tree not only survives but thrives well into the future. survives but thrives well into the future-— survives but thrives well into thefuture. �* , ., ., the future. because half of the tree passed — the future. because half of the tree passed 's _ the future. because half of the tree passed 's branches - the future. because half of the tree passed 's branches died . tree passed �*s branches died last year. tree passed 's branches died last year-— last year. that's right. the proximity _ last year. that's right. the proximity was _ last year. that's right. the proximity was too - last year. that's right. the proximity was too much i last year. that's right. the | proximity was too much and last year. that's right. the - proximity was too much and only a little portion caught fire. it was just from the ambient

heat, the building next to it that caused it to dry out completely and die. pretty incredible. _ completely and die. pretty incredible. tell— completely and die. pretty incredible. tell us - completely and die. pretty incredible. tell us about i completely and die. pretty i incredible. tell us about the other trees because those fires really impacted so many swathes of the islands, that there are thousands of trees that have to be replanted or restored in some way. be replanted or restored in some way-— be replanted or restored in somewa .~ ., ., , some way. we have lost roughly around 25,000 _ some way. we have lost roughly around 25,000 trees _ some way. we have lost roughly around 25,000 trees in - some way. we have lost roughly around 25,000 trees in the - some way. we have lost roughly around 25,000 trees in the areaj around 25,000 trees in the area alonejust in that around 25,000 trees in the area alone just in that space, only about 1000 trees surviving so knowing that an understanding we need to get out tree canopy but, we began this process of starting a non—profit called tree recovery and we are soliciting, bringing in funds to the nonprofits so we can purchase trees from nurseries, buy supplies and growing trees for a duration, afterfive years possibly, because it will be awhile before people can actually build a home and put tree back and they aren't ——in the yard. we have been able to

put one of the trees into the birthstones because they were ready to be taken. as people become ready they call us and they get implanted in the ground and that begins healing process. ground and that begins healing rocess. ., ~' ground and that begins healing rocess. ., ~ , ., ground and that begins healing rocess. ., ~ . ., process. thank you so much for takin: us process. thank you so much for taking us through _ process. thank you so much for taking us through the _ process. thank you so much for taking us through the work - process. thank you so much for taking us through the work thatj taking us through the work that you and your colleagues are doing to restore and recover some of those trees that were badly damaged in last year's fires. thank you very much for joining us here. that is it for me. you can see plenty more on the bbc news website. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. for many parts of the country, i think wednesday was a pretty cloudy day, the best of any sunshine across scotland and northern ireland. there were a few passing showers here, whereas further southwards across parts of england and wales really limited tojust glimpses of sunshine. it was pretty cloudy for much of the day.

looking out in the atlantic, we've got another area of low pressure that's set to bring some damp weather in initially thursday morning, as this warm front spreads its way in. mind you, we have got some drizzle around at the moment. ahead of that feature across wales and western areas of england are not patchy drizzle for the south—east. we've got some showers for the north west of scotland, we've got some showers for the northwest of scotland, but the skies continue to clear in east scotland and north east england, so it's here where we're going to have the brightest start to the day on thursday with a fair bit of morning, sunshine. any sunshine in southeast england short—lived. it's going to turn quite cloudy, but staying on the bright side, the damp and drizzly weather for wales and western england replaced by more general outbreaks of rain through the day, the rain heavy as it swings across northern ireland into scotland, northern england and north wales. top temperatures running into the low 20s. now, through thursday night that we'll see that rain band continue its way northwards and eastwards, the rain turning heavy for a time in northern scotland before clearing out of the way, and there may well be a hang back of cloud, still bits and pieces of rain

left over into friday morning before this front finally pulls out of the way. then we get this little ridge of high pressure starting to build from the west, and that means an improving weather picture. rain clearing away then from eastern england. many of us will have fine spells of sunshine developing through the day. 0k, there'll be a few showers for west scotland, an odd one for northern ireland, north wales, but for many during the afternoon on friday, it will be dry with sunny spells, temperatures widely into the 20s and getting warmer across east anglia and south—east england with temperatures into the mid 20s. a warming trend because the jet stream is going to change as warm air gets brought northwards by tropical storm debby, colderair comes out of canada. it changes the shape of the jet stream. the jet stream gets more wiggly through the weekend. the significance of that is we get underneath this ridge and that makes it get a lot warmer, if not hotter, particularly across parts of england and wales, where temperatures will push into the low 30s.

the short blast of heat, though not everywhere. there will, i think, be some heavy rain to come across the north and west of the uk. that's the latest.

v0|ce—0ver: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. donald trump isn't getting the presidential election race he wanted, and he doesn't seem happy about it. a visibly ageing, faltering joe biden was the ideal punchbag. now he's in the ring with kamala harris, seemingly more energetic and confident running for the white house than she's been as vice president. the polls have tightened. republicans are suddenly nervous. my guest is chris ruddy, a long—time trump friend and ceo of the conservative media group newsmax. is team trump veering off track? chris ruddy in florida, welcome to hardtalk.