Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

At whether e scooters are legal, and tests out new fingerprint based contactless cards. Thats in half an hour. Ten people, aged between 13 and 30 years old, are being questioned on suspicion of murdering a Police Officer in berkshire who was dragged along a road by a vehicle. Pc Andrew Harper, who was 28, died on thursday evening while responding to reports of a burglary. Flags have been flying at half mast across the Thames Valley force area, in memory of the officer, who married only four weeks ago. Our correspondent simonjones is at the scene and i spoke to him a little earlier. Morning. There is still a big Police Presence at the scene here where pc harper lost his life. This part of the road remains cordoned off and if we have another look at the other side of the all, a lot of officers there as part of an ongoing investigation. We believe pc harper was dragged across the road by a vehicle and ended up back at their side of the street. At this side of the street. Weve seen a steady stream of people bringing flowers to the scene. Some of them knew pc harper and were visibly upset when they saw what had happened. Others were from the local community who said they heard about what happened and were shocked and wanted to show their respect. Also wanted to give their thanks to Police Officers for putting themselves in harms way to protect the public. Ten people are still being questioned on suspicion of murder and a nearby caravan site is also being investigated by the police. Heres the latest on the ongoing investigation. Roughly three miles from the crossroads where pc Andrew Harper lost his life, caravans behind a fence at a site now linked to the investigation into his death. Ten people are in custody and are likely to face questioning today. All male, ranging in age from 30 down to 13. Pc harper died near the a4 between reading and newbury in berkshire. He was responding to reports of a burglary when he was apparently struck by a vehicle and dragged beneath the wheels. Some reports suggest he was subsequently hit by a police car arriving at the scene. His chief constable says andrew will be missed as a friend, colleague and a fine officer. Highly regarded. Popular member of the team. The team of officers are very professional and deal with a number of challenging environments, so we have experienced and capable officers on that team so well regarded and a significant loss to the force and also his colleagues and friends. Pc harper was married just four weeks ago. He and his bride were about to go on their honeymoon. He is the first policeman to die in the line of duty since an officer was stabbed at the houses of parliament two years ago. Flags were flown at half mast yesterday at Thames Valley Police Stations. Today, pc harpers colleagues will resume their investigation into how a routine call to a seemingly petty crime turned to tragedy. The Investigation Continues and police are currently at the scene carrying out searches. Shay donald is National Vice chair of the Police Federation of england and wales, and hejoins me now via webcam. Thank you very much for being with us. Thank you very much for being with us. Not the kind of interview you are your colleagues want to be doing this weekend, responding to the death of a colleague killed in the line of duty. The number is ten offices in the last ten years. It is, relatively speaking, small, but i guess you have to add into the number of violent assaults against the police in that period as well. The numbers may be small but the impact that that would have on the families of those who have been lost, not to mention colleagues and the devastation that any death within policing, especially officers killed in the line of duty, resonates throughout. It is ten too many in my opinion. You raise a significant point about officers faced with violence on a day to day basis, and its those life changing injuries that officers are sustaining from violence that is exhibited by criminals on a day to day basis. It is a dangerous job out there and we seem to forget that at the end of the day, these brave Police Officers are just members of the public who come forward to undertake this service to protect the public themselves. But when they finished their shift, they are mothers, they are fathers, they are mothers, they are fathers, they are brothers, they are sisters. They perform superhuman feats daily, but its just ordinary human beings. You mention families, and pc hunter was a recent groom. Harper. What kind of support can you offer families in these situations. We will be in close contact with the family but you have got to understand under these tragic circumstances, everyone has to tread very carefully because it is a shock to everyone involved, but the Thames Valley Police Federation is engaged with the loved ones and colleagues and friends. Definitely involved in the process of looking after eve ryo ne the process of looking after everyone who is dealing with the outcome of this traumatic incident. Forgive me. I think i called pc harper pc hunter. That was a slip of the tongue. Nowjust in terms of the protection of the officers in the coming weeks and months. What are you looking for from the government . We have a promise of 20,000 officers to be recruited. There have been concerns that will be difficult to achieve given the loss of trainers, the loss of stations and Everything Else that has happened in the nearly ten yea rs else that has happened in the nearly ten years since austerity was introduced. What can the government most usefully do . Definitely, numbers is part and parcel of the solution. 0bviously, with less officers out there, we are having more and more officers attend incidents on their own with no assistance, so the 20,000 will make assistance, so the 20,000 will make a great difference in allowing officers to attend incidents safely. If im looking for asks from the government, im definitely looking at the equipment that they use, so a wider roll out of the taser which has proven to be effective in protecting the officers and the public. More importantly, i would really like to see the usage of the criminal justice really like to see the usage of the criminalJustice Department really like to see the usage of the criminal Justice Department taking the legislation that is currently out there for assaults against Police Officers and Emergency Service workers and setting examples because when a Police Officer is assaulted, when an Emergency Service worker is assaulted, it is an assault against society. What we are having at this moment in time as we are not sending a message and there is no are not sending a message and there is no consequence are not sending a message and there is no consequence to actions. If we can get the criminaljustice service, the courts, the probation services, magistrates, thejudges, using the legislation to send a and strong message that the Police Officers or Emergency Service workers should not be assaulted and if you do, you will bear the consequences of the law. National vice chair of the Police Federation for england and wales, thank you very much for speaking to us. Pro democracy demonstrators are gathering for a rally in hong kongs kowloon district, just hours after thousands of teachers took to the streets in a peaceful show of solidarity as protests in the territory enter their 11th week. Meanwhile, in the border city of shenzhen, chinese paramilitary troops have been training this week in a clear warning to the demonstrators. Lets go to hong kong now where we can speak to our correspondent stephen mcdonell. There is the contrast, just in the way you are dressed in the two hours since we last spoke. You are now in the gear you need to be when there is the potential for a violent confrontation and the riot police lined up behind you. They try to keep it peaceful but here we are, another saturday night in hong kong and another Police Station siege, or at least a stand off. Here we have the Police Information with their shields. They have had various things thrown at them from across the road and notice they are not in their full kit, so it is not as serious as it sometimes gets. We will move around here and i will show you where the protesters are. They are on the other side of the road where traffic is still actually coming through. Every now and then they are running up and throwing tins and things like that, nothing too heavy at the moment, at the police. Across the other side here, are the protesters. You can possibly hear these warning signs and im seeing people running frantically. This looks like we do have the normal riot police now in place. They have come out to try and clear them away from here, it seems. We arejust moving clear them away from here, it seems. We are just moving quickly down to this main road here. The riot police are moving very quickly. This is their new method. They come in fast. This is what they told us about in the briefing this week. They move quickly and try to seize protesters when they can. There is the line of riot police in front, holding up a sign telling people to clear away. We arejust sign telling people to clear away. We are just running to catch up with them. So, this is in mongkok, on the kowloon side of the harbour. Police moving through very quickly and with intent. The idea is to move protesters on very rapidly. The days of the long stand off have gone. The days when we saw protesters sort of having pitched battles with police. We are not having that any more. You can see the police here giving instructions to people to clear out, andi instructions to people to clear out, and i can tell you the protesters are also moving very fast because they dont want to get arrested either. The riot police are not walking any more, they are running in. They are running because they wa nt to in. They are running because they want to try and make arrests, not just control the situation. They are thinking long term now if they can arrest enough of these protesters they are hoping to take the wind out of them, at least the more radicalised elements of this pro democracy movement. Is there any indication that the protesters themselves have changed their approach in the light of what happened in the airport during the course of the week and the fears that might be enough to provoke a fairly strong response from the chinese . Well, it was the protesters who changed first. Look at these fans coming through, because the police have got their vehicles here coming through after them. It means after they have made arrests they can quickly get on board these vehicles and race to the next area. They are responding to the protesters because they have a hit and run strategy where they go somewhere, throw bricks and projectiles and the like and then quickly race off. The police have done the same. They are more mobile know and say that they we re more mobile know and say that they were stretched but now they say theyve been moving quickly and are able to control the situation. The long term significance of this is they say there will be no need for paging intervention because they can now, as i say, move some 3000 riot police to whatever location they need very quickly. Stephen mcdonald there on the other side of hong kong harbour. For now, thank you very much for that update on whats happening there. As we see, the protests are moving and the police are moving the protesters on as quickly as they can. Lets get some perspective on this now. With me now is the author diane wei liang. She was studying at beijing university in the 1980s but was forced to leave because of her involvement in the students revolt that led to the Tiananmen Square massacre. When you see those pictures, diane, from hong kong and you see what happened during the course of the week at the airport, how do you feel a repeat of a crackdown like the one we saw in Tiananmen Square back in 1989 can be avoided . The only way to avoid that is now to start dialogue between the two sides. I understand the Student Movement started in hong kong with the demand for withdrawal of the extradition bill. I think now we are past that, into the territory of political reform. The problem with this movement is that it is hailed asa this movement is that it is hailed as a leaderless movement. Therefore, for a dialogue to happen, the government needs to talk to someone. You do need to speak to a group of representatives who can claim to be the leaders of this movement. At the moment it is difficult to see how dialogue can be started. 0ne moment it is difficult to see how dialogue can be started. One of the two sides needs to back down. I fear it would not be a government, it would not be the Hong Kong Government nor by proxy beijing. In terms of the potential for kind of cracking down on this, the president is not known as a man who tolerates opposition or challenges tolerates opposition or challenges to the authority of the Central Government in beijing. Presumably the scenes over the last few weekends must have been causing real alarm for politicians in china . It definitely has caused alarm, and they possibly have instigated some Decision Making to send the troops to the border but also add caused outcry, believe it or not, within china. There have been a number of foreign luxury goods that have been boycotted because they printed t shirts that struck hong kong as a separate country and it had been a trending topic and supporting the chinese flag that had been supporting the protesters thrown into the harbour at one point. The journalist who was taken as an undercover policeman at the airport and attacked by the protesters. All of this had happened very quickly within china. The president now has a lot of support within the mainland and on top of that also the support of the business community, including a huge number of business tycoons within hong kong who have decisive 01 within hong kong who have decisive or heavy handed damage control. We are all looking at possibly this is the last chance for of the Hong Kong Government to insert control and bring the protest under control before beijing decides that they can possibly deal with it and beijing will need to send in troops. Life pictures on the kowloon side of the harbour as stephen said. The protesters keep moving to try to avoid being arrested and to avoid a direct confrontation with the police. Diane, do you think that in the absence of International Support the absence of International Support the protesters a re the absence of International Support the protesters are more likely to be arrested and suppressed than actually to get the changes they are seeking . I think that is very much a likely outcome. At the moment, however, i do not see the protesters backing down because they have invested a lot of effort and they have generated a lot of press in the international community. What they have done in the recent times has been moving very quickly and sort of cat and mouse type of operation in hong kong. Somehowi cat and mouse type of operation in hong kong. Somehow i look at this footage as harrowing as they are, this cannot last. Certainly from beijings point of view, somehow it needs to come to an end. How thats going to end is anyones guess but more and more likely we are looking at much more heavy handed approach from Hong Kong Government and possibly intervention from the beijing government. Diane, thank you very much for coming in to talk to us about the situation in hong kong. Sudans military council is about to sign a power sharing deal with the countrys civilian alliance, aimed at ending months of pro democracy protests and violent repression. The deal establishes a Sovereign Council of military and civilian leaders, that will govern the country for a transitional period ofjust over three years before elections. The signing will take place at a ceremony being held around now in the capital khartoum. Zeinab badawi is there for us. Youve had an interesting interview with the strong of politics . youve had an interesting interview with the strong of politics . I am under very strong sun on the banks of the river nile. 0n under very strong sun on the banks of the river nile. On that ceremony, i was there just short time ago in the hall where it should have started about 15 or 20 minutes ago. I believe it is a little bit behind. There was a real carnival atmosphere, a mood of celebration because as you say, this is a landmark Historic Deal that sets out a blueprint that should return sudan to civilian rule. An interesting agreement because the first 21 months it leaves the military still in the driving seat but the next 18 months after that, the civilians are really the ones who are more in control. Although the civilian alliance is very happy this is being agreed today, they are also vigilant because they want to make sure that the military adhere to this agreement, and thats what i asked the general who was described as the most powerful person in sudan as to whether he could sate the military would do that. This is what he had to say. Translation in accordance with the agreement, we will stick to every single letter weve agreed on. Secondly, even without the agreement we have to work in this direction because it is in the countrys interest. It is not in our own interest. Therefore we have to carry out the agreement, stick to it and support it. Now, as he said, the general is a rather controversial figure, and this is his first interview with the western media. His first account of what happened on during the third during the massacre of the civilian protesters and his Rapid Support forces were accused of carrying out the attack. Something he denied categorically. This is what makes him so controversial, because he leads this heavily armed and well equipped force. He is extremely rich, people say he controls the most profitable gold mines in sudan. He has also accused of sending mercenaries to fight in yemen alongside the saudi led coalition. He refuted those points in the interview, saying there was a Smear Campaign against him and he wanted to set the record straight with me. If you want to hear what he said, he will have to watch that interview on hard talk, wont you . I always do i always watch it either on bbc leaves or iplayer. 0ne question, you were in sudan a few months ago and you have watched how these protests have developed. Do you get a sense that there is much confidence in this process is among the people you talk to outside those who have reached the agreement . There seems to be some doubt over whether the military will ever truly relinquish power . Very certainly, that doubt. There can be no doubt that people are happy about what is happening today. I was happy about what is happening today. Iwas in happy about what is happening today. I was in the hall and i got a sense of the mood amongst the ordinary sudanese as well as the journalists. There is vigilance but in a sense they are giving the military the benefit of the doubt at the moment. Ijust want benefit of the doubt at the moment. I just want to say one thing about the agreement which is, a lot of emphasis has been put in the media on the urban elite, particularly in the capital khartoum. What is of great importance is there are still areas of conflict and they are saying, dont just focus areas of conflict and they are saying, dontjust focus on democratisation, we need peace and peace and democratisation must go hand in glove. We also want a place in the new sudan. By in the new sudan. By the banks of the nile. Thanks very much for being with us today. The hollywood star, peter fonda, has died at his home in los angeles. He was 79 and had been suffering from from lung cancer. The actor was best known for the 1969 film easy rider, which he co wrote and produced. 0ur correspondent, peter bowes, takes a look back at his career. Easy rider, the counterculture classic. The open road, sex, drugs and rock and roll. The film was written, produced by and starred peter fonda, along with Dennis Hopper, playing a pair of long haired bikers travelling through the American South west and deep south. It touched a nerve with the countrys youth and captured the mood of the times. It also spawned a new era in film making, focused on younger generations. It earned peter fonda an oscar nomination for best original screenplay, and catapulted him to stardom in hollywood. Later in his career he was nominated for best actor in the 1997 drama ulees gold, in which he played a florida beekeeper. He won a golden globe for the film. Peter fonda was part of hollywood royalty, the son of the actor henry fonda and younger brother ofjane fonda. Like his father, he was honoured with a star on hollywoods walk of fame. A lasting tribute to the actor, and as news emerged of his death, a place for his fans to remember their hero. In a statement peter fondas family said they were mourning the loss of a sweet and gracious man who had an indomitable spirit and love of life. Jane fonda said he was her sweet hearted baby brother and went out laughing. Earlier i spoke to la based Showbiz Reporter gayl murphy about peter fonda and the legacy hes left behind. He had a fantastic career, six decades long. He was one of the good guys. I was talking to somebody earlier about what his legacy might be. I dont think i ever heard anyone trash talk peter fonda. They might have talked about what he was doing or who he was hanging out with or maybe he wasnt getting enough work, maybe he was getting too much work but at the end of the day, none of it was personal. He escaped hollywood a good guy, and i think that thats really part of his legacy. Of course, other than the professional part of it where he took the 1969 counterculture world by storm for his role in easy rider. He starred as wyatt opposite Dennis Hoppers billy in a very Game Changing film. It launched Jack Nicholsons career as well. A big film for so many reasons and still highly regarded to this day. You say he was a nice guy but he was quite honest when he was interviewed by the bbc a few years ago about the falling out with Dennis Hopper about the film, and Dennis Hopper seems to have come to resent peter fonda. I cant imagine why. But you never know. You know, this film was a platform. His star power exploded in 1969. The film celebrated its 50th anniversary this year and, oh, by the way, this weekend is the 50th anniversary of woodstock, which embody the lifestyle of its audience and, you know, i mean, what a coincidence that is. Critics called it one of the rallying points of the late 60s, a buddy picture that celebrated sex, drugs, rock and roll. Now its time for a look at the weather. In western scotland and northern ireland, frequent showers and rumbles of thunder with strong winds around the coast gusting to around 50 miles an hour. For the vast majority of the uk, better than yesterday. Here is yesterdays weather front moving away towards eastern parts of europe. We still have a scattering of showers. Most of them in the west and more especially in the north west here. Top temperature today around the low 20s. This evening, clear skies across england and wales but later in the night there should be some rain across the south of the country. It may end up a pretty wet night. Still a breezy day in the north tomorrow with further showers but once again across england and wales the weather is not looking bad at all and wales the weather is not looking bad at alland our wales the weather is not looking bad at all and our top temperature tomorrow in the low 20s. Goodbye. Hello this is bbc news with shaun ley. The headlines ten men, aged between 13 and 30 are being questioned on suspicion of murdering pc Andrew Harper in berkshire. Pro democracy protesters take to the streets of hong kong once more theyve been supported by thousands of teachers. Meanwhile, chinese troops have put on a show of military strength in the border city of shenzhen. Sudans Ruling Military Council is preparing to sign a power sharing deal with the civilian opposition, following months of protests. Time for a round up of your sport now. Heres gavin. I wonder what he can tell us about the cricket and the rugby. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. England have a wicket at lords, in their attempts to bowl australia out, in the 2nd ashes test. Australia now 134 5 in the first session of day four. Stuart broad getting his third australian wicket. This time matthew wade, going for 6. Steve smith is still in, though england trying to cause as much damage as possible, after rain forced most of yesterdays play to be abandoned. Updates on the bbc website on that one. The first of the days premier League Matches is about to kick off its arsenal against Burnley David Luiz and Dani Ceballos are making their full debuts for arsenal, but mezut 0zil is still absent. Burnleys line up is the same 11 that started last