Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC 20240704 : vimarsana.com

Steve rosenberg, is in moscow with more. Russias democracy is the best in the world, the kremlin says. And at Polling Station 38 in moscow, we found a choice of candidates and plenty of voters. Democracy in action, right . Not quite. Realistically, only one man can win this. Vladimir putin the man whos been on russias political stage for the last quarter of a century. Vladimir putin faces no serious challenger. His fiercest rivals are in exile or in prison. Not that this woman, whose son is fighting in ukraine, wants any change at the top. Of course i voted for putin, she says. I trust him. But not everyone who came out today was actually voting. This, one of a string of attacks on Polling Stations across russia. They are unprecedented. After chaotic scenes here. An arsonist is detained. And green ink poured into a ballot box. The authorities called the attackers scum. Some voters were greeted with a show. Well, its one way to bang the drum for russian elections. There is voting, too, in parts of ukraine, which are under Russian Occupation what russia calls its new territories. The Ukrainian Government called the election here illegal. Polls close on sunday night. Expect a putin landslide. Unpredictability is very much a feature of life now in russia, but that does not apply to elections. The political system here is built around one man Vladimir Putin and the kremlin tightly controls that system, including elections. So mr putins re election is not in doubt. And neither is the message the kremlin will be sending after this. That Vladimir Putin has the full support of his people. Steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. Leaders of germany, france, and poland met in berlin to ease tensions over support for ukraine. The french president , emmanuel macron, called on kyiv� s allies not be cowards, and said he would not rule out deploying western troops on the ground in ukraine. That suggestion was rejected by the german chancellor, olaf scholz. Now, european allies have agreed a mechanism to supply kyiv with long range artillery. A shortage of weapons including ammunition, has been blamed for russian advances in the war. Mr macron detailed why the eus support of ukraine is so important. Translation it is our future, our security which is at stake in ukraine. We are doing this out of solidarity for the people of ukraine, whose territorial integrity is being threatened. We are doing this to defend international law. We are doing it because the security of europeans and of earth is at stake in ukraine. It is with this determination that we want to oppose the War Of Aggression launched by russia. Meanwhile, russia and ukraine continue to Exchange Fire in the battlefield. Officials in the ukrainian city of odesa say, at least 20 people were killed in a double Missile Attack on a residential area. More than 70 people were wounded. Earlier, the kremlin said ukraine carried out attacks in the region of belgorod in southern russia, and accused kyiv of attempting to disrupt russias president ial election. Our correspondent Sarah Rainsford is in kyiv with the latest. This is the deadliest attack in some time on odesa. And it is the details that are particularly grim, because ukrainian officials are saying two missiles were fired by russia from Crimea The First One landed on the city, and it was when emergency teams rushed to the spot that a second missile was fired from crimea and hit exactly the same place. Now we know that a medic was killed, a young firefighter was also amongst those killed and injured. Many dozens of people are in hospital. Now we are being told that those missiles were fired from crimea we are saying we dont know exactly what russia was targeting, but we do know there were some interior Ministry Staff amongst the casualties. Now president zelensky has called this a vile attack, saying ukraines military will respond, but i think it is a stark reminder of what that vote in russia means for here in ukraine. Because of course, more Vladimir Putin in the kremlin means more war here in ukraine, more Missile Attacks, and more days like today in odesa, with dozens dead and injured. Sarah rainsford they are, reporting in kid. Reporting in kyiv. And we will have much more on whats at stake in the russian elections and the war in ukraine coming up, so do stay tuned for our Special Report at the top of the next hour. But turning now to the middle east the white house says they are cautiously optimistic after a new truce proposal from hamas. The us says that it is within the bounds of a deal they have been working on for the last few months. Israels Prime Minister has downplayed any chances of a truce in gaza, however saying that hamas is making unrealistic demands. Despite that, an israeli team is heading to qatar for new talks about a possible ceasefire and hostage deal. Meanwhile, mr netanyahus office has approved a plan for an offensive against hamas in gazas crowded rafah city where almost 1. 5 million palestinians are currently sheltering. Israel says they are preparing to evacuate people to other parts of gaza. It comes amid emerging signs of discontent within the Biden Administration about a lack of progress towards a resolution between the two sides. Us Secretary Of State Antony Blinken said the United States needs to see a clear plan for israels proposed assault on rafah, including how civilians will be moved out harms way. And on friday, President Biden praised a speech made by Us Senate Leader Chuck Schumer in which he said the israeli Prime Minister was a threat to peace and called for new elections. Any comment on the senator schumers Speech On Israel yesterday . Senator schumer contacted my staff, my senior staff he was going to make that speech, and im not going to elaborate on his speech. He made a good speech, and i think he expressed a serious concern shared not only by him, but by many americans. Mr netanyahus government has sharply dismissed the comments made by senator schumer. Meanwhile, aid agencies are continuing to sound the alarm over the humanitarian situation in gaza. A ship carrying Food Supplies for gaza has arrived and is now waiting off the coast. Its a test run for what is hoped will become a new route to get aid into the territory. The bbc� s mark lowen is injerusalem with more. Now, a Military Incursion into rafah would of course be very risky, given the number of civilians sheltering there, and also would further incur the wrath of israels western allies like the us President Biden said just a week or so ago that an Israeli Military incursion into rafah would be a red line, and today, Secretary Of State Antony Blinken said the us has not yet received israels plan for rafah. So it does seem as if an incursion is imminent, but that is still the state of detention with the israeli government. Now with aid, the ship carrying 200 tonnes of aid that has come from cyprus has now started to off load that aid into gaza, on a little smaller ships that are taking it towards gaza. It is unclear exactly how it will be distributed on the ground, and in a sign ofjust how risky that is, there was again another fatal incident on wednesday in which 21 People Killed in an Aid Distribution Point in gaza city hamas has said it was israeli troops who opened fire, israel has said it has investigated and its troops were not to blame, it has blamed armed palestinian men for those deaths. But it shows once again how perilous and disorderly these Aid Distribution Points can be in a place with civil order has broken down, and where, frankly, in the sixth month of war, there is no credible local authority present. Us Secretary Of State Antony Blinken says most of the parties for haitis Transitional Council have named their representatives, but a couple have yet to do so. The news comes as the carribbean nation continues to face a political and humanitarian crisis. Heavily armed gangs have taken over much of the capital. Violence in the region was initially quieter following former Prime Minister ariel henrys announcement that he would step down on monday. But violence appeared to be flaring up again as of wednesday. The United Nations estimates that more than 360,000 people are internally displaced. Talks are still under way to try to establish a Transitional Council but gang leaders warned they may not accept any new leadership. On friday, Secretary Blinken told reporters about the progress being made. What weve seen over the last 2a hours is there are seven seats on this Transitional Council, and most of the parties or stakeholders that were given a seat have actually named their representative to the council. There are a couple that still havent, so thats a work in progress. But weve seen that move forward. Our Central America and carribbean correspondent, will grant, was recently allowed access into the country and sent this report. After a couple get a few days at the border, we are now among the First International journalists to make it into haiti since the current wave of violence began stop and weve come, we were driven to the coastal city of cap haitian. Now haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and this Current Crisis is creating so much more humanitarian need and what was already an extremely complex picture. Some statistics lay outjust how difficult and grim that picture is 360,000 people are internally displaced in haiti at present, some 3000 women due to give birth may receive up silly no Maternity Care whatsoever with so many hospitals close, particularly in the capital Port Au Prince. Now the government has promised millions more in aid and in truth, some is now trickling in, some aid has made it into the country. Yet it is nowhere near sufficient to cope with the scale of this emergency. In the scale of this emergency. In the political realm, the Transitional Council has been agreed however the gangs that controlled the capital Port Au Prince dont recognise the council and have threatened its members in very, very stark language. So haiti remains stuck in a complex and dangerous situation, and the civilian population caught between the politicians and the gangs. As the unrest in haiti continues, a boat carryng 25 migrants from the island was intercepted by Florida State law enforcement. The boat was stopped near the Sebastian Inlet in brevard county, florida on february 29th. Florida fish and wildlife released a statement saying the boat was quote carrying 25 individuals, including five unaccompanied children. Officers also discovered firearms, night vision gearand drugs aboard. When briefing the public, Florida Governor ron desantis said the migrants were turned over to the Us Coast Guard for deportation. After months of hearings, a georgia judge ruled that the lead prosecutor in Donald Trumps Election Interference Proceedings can remain on the case. Fani willis status as lead prosecutor was in question after it was revealed she had a personal relationship with nathan wade, a Special Counsel she hired for the case. Romantic relationship. But, while ms willis can continue her prosecution of the former president , thejudge also ruled that she or mr wade would have to leave the case. Hours after that ruling, mr wade resigned. Mr trump had tried to disqualify ms willis, arguing her relationship with her Special Counsel compromised the trial. Thejudge disagreed, but said it did create an appearance of impropriety. The judge also said ms willis the Fulton County District Attorney commited a tremendous lapse in judgment by engaging in an affair with mr wade. I spoke about all of these develpoments with tamar hallerman, a Senior Reporter from the Atlanta Journal constitution. She covers the Fulton County investigation into whether former President Trump or his allies criminally interfered in georgias 2020 elections. Tamar, first of all, i want to get your thoughts on the judges ruling today. Judge mcafee basically split the baby with this ruling. On the one hand, he said that there was no actual Conflict Of Interest that warranted removing Da Fani Willis from the case but he put the ball in her court and said, either you can stay on this case, or nathan wade, your Special Prosecutor whos led this trump case, who you were in a romantic relationship with, or he stays. So he left the choice up to her to decide, he said there was an appearance of impropriety which is what required a move like that and within a couple hours, nathan wade tendered his letter of resignation, which Da Fani Willis excepted. So, so far, things will keep moving ahead. Theres still a question of whether the defence will appeal, which could delay things in this case but it seems like this nightmare over the last two months, where all sorts of salacious allegations about the District Attorney, all over the headlines nationally watched hearings, that appears to be up behind her. So what impact do you think this will actually have on this case . Well, for starters, nathan wade, the Special Prosecutor, was really the one leading this case behind the scenes. He was seen as kind of the organiser in chief, the quarterback who was keeping track of all the different prongs of this case. So he will now be gone, there will be a question of who will replace him . Will the Da Elevate Somebody already within her team of about a dozen who are working on this case, or will she look maybe to the outside to try and find somebody . Or maybe she decides to just keep everybody whos on it and have them keep going as they were before. So we will have to wait and see on that. What about the timing of when a trial could go forward . Does this mean that we could see this trial get pushed even further into the future . Timing has been a major question in this case. Prosecutors before this Big Disqualification Saga wanted to begin the trial, or at least begin Jury Selection in august but even back then, that was seen as highly unlikely, given Donald Trumps very full legal calendar as well as the elections here in the fall. Weve lost pretty much two months to all this fighting over the disqualification motion, and there a question if the defence is to appeal this ruling. It is possible that things could be paused as that appeal plays out, so welljust have to and see. There are also delays in these other three criminal cases involving the former president , so its possible that because of delays in those cases, that could lead to a delay in this case as well. There are just too many uncertain factors to really determine at this point, but it really is looking less and less likely that we will see a trial again before the election or the end of the year. It is so complex, isnt it . Where do you think this all leaves donald trump and his allies in georgia, but also looking at this legal calendar . Sure, well on the one hand, this is not the outcome that they wanted they did not want fani willis to be staying in this position but she certainly is wounded, theres all this damaging personal information that is out there in the public domain, that the das critics plan to use at every twist and turn in all of this. Youve seen the former President Use a lot of this information in his Campaign Rallies he wasjust in North Georgia last weekend and, as he was talking about the da and nathan wade, thousands in the crowd were laughing and booing. So its a rallying cry for him, and we even saw today him sending out fundraising appeals based on todays ruling. So it is something that no matter what will be used by her republican critics