Transcripts For BBCNEWS Newsday 20170613

From our studios in singapore and london, this is Bbc World News its newsday. Glad you could join us. Its newsday. Glad you could join us. It is seven in the morning in singapore, midnight in london and seven in the evening in washington where the Us Government top lawyer has been facing tough questions about alleged russian interference in last year s elections. Jeff sessions says Clancy Colluded With Moscow were detestable lies. Allegations. Day such as these, the stage for the latest instalment of a russian saga gripping washington and destabilising the trump house. Last week we saw the testimony of james comey, fired by the president. Now the sequel. He came out counterpunching, fierce in his denial that hed held meetings with russian officials last year to discuss interfering with the president ial election. The suggestion that i participated in any collusion, that i was aware of any collusion with the russian governments to hurt this country, which i have served with honour for 35 years or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process. It is an appalling and detestable lie. The Attorney General has recused himself from the russian investigation, but he was adamant that shouldnt be misconstrued. I did not recuse myself. Im defending my honour against scurrilous and false allegations. The Democratic Senators complained he refused to discuss his conversations with president trump. I believe the American People have had it with stonewalling. I am not stonewalling. I am following the historic policies of the department ofjustice. Then tempers flared. Mr comey said there were matters, with respect of the recusal, that were problematic and he couldnt talk about them. What are they . Why dont you tell me . There are none, senator, there are none. I can tell you that for absolute certainty. So for once, the most angry words in washington didnt come from donald trump. Hed left town, seemingly in a genial mood, but he cant escape the russian cloud that hangs still over his presidency. Donald trump has made no secret of his annoyance in the past with Jeff Sessions for accusing himself from the russian investigation, which means that his deputy has been making all the key decisions. But i dare say that donald trump would have been delighted with the performance of this Attorney General in the last few hours on capitol hill, for it was the most passionate rebuttal yet we have seen to the allegations of collusion between team trump and the kremlin. Our other top story the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, has announced that north korea has released an american student who was detained eighteen months ago for stealing a Propaganda Banner. 0tto Warmbier had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labour. His parents say he is in a coma and was medically evacuated from north korea. The Department Of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from north korea, hes on his way on route home to be reunited with his family. We continue our discussions with the north korean regime, regarding the release of three other american citizens being detained. We have no comment on 0tto Warmbiers condition, out of respect to him and the family and that is the state went. Statement. The bbcs steve evans is in seoul. Why has his release come about now . The whole thing is intriguing and it is moving very very quickly. Within the last two weeks, it seems that north korea had got in touch with the United States and remember they do not have any diplomatic relationships. They said 0tto Warmbier, a 23 year old student was seriously and two doctors from the us and state Department Official went to pyongyang and Discovered Otto went to pyongyang and discovered 0tto Warmbier was in a coma. The north korean say he went into, a year ago after contracting botulism. What seems to be true is that he is ona what seems to be true is that he is on a route to the us in a medical evacuation, in a coma. How he got into that coma remains an unclear and the true state of his health, how life threatening the coma is, is unclear. It is an extraordinary situation that north korea should come to the us and say, in effect, we have a situation on our hands here and we need to sort it out. Coincidentally, absolutely coincidently i suspect, a former Basketball Player happens to be in pyongyang. It seems from the outside that the presence of the former Basketball Player, Dennis Rodman a fla m boya nt Basketball Player, Dennis Rodman a flamboyant character has nothing to do with a very delicate medical and diplomatic situation. Leaders from dup hold talks in Downing Street to finalise their support for her minority government. A deal with the Ruling Conservative Party is expected later today. We have been very clear that we want to maintaina have been very clear that we want to maintain a close relationship and Close Partnership with the eu and individual member state in the future including in the areas we have discussed this evening and are confirmed to president macron that the negotiations remain on course and will begin next week. One of chinas best known billionaires and chairman of the Insurance Group anbang, wu xiaohui is reportedly no longer in the post due to whats being called personal reasons. It comes days after the firm denied mr wu was barred from leaving china, amid an Anti Corruption campaign by president xijinping in the financial industry. The head of the uber Ride Sharing Company y says he will take indefinite leave of absence from running the company. The announcement by Travis Kalanick came ahead of the publication of an investigation into the companys ethics. The review was sparked by a former employees claims the company ignored her complaints about sexual harassment. Lets return to our top story. The testimony of the us Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions. A short while ago i spoke with our correspondent Laura Trevelyan whos been following the hearing in washington. Very frustrated with the Attorney General accusing him of obstructing the investigation into whether there was collusion between the Trunk Campaign and brush up at the Attorney General was adamant he would not discuss his private conversations with donald trump, not because the president was invoking Executive Rivage is a because he has a duty to protect those confidential conversations. Therefore we did not learn what the Attorney General talked about when it came to the firing of james comey talked about when it came to the Firing Ofjames Comey and we also did not learn anything at about the conversations between the two men but we did find out that the Attorney General said he did not meet with the Russian Ambassador or at least had a prolonged meeting with him at an event here in washington, dc last year. This is irreleva nt washington, dc last year. This is irrelevant because in his Confirmation Hearing he forgot to say he twice met the Russian Ambassador. The Attorney General said he had no recollection of any such thing. What happens next, after the testimony . You are asking an exceptionally good question. All the senators asked the Attorney General whether he would come back and give them more information and the answer seems to be maybe. The big show in town is also much at the big Senate Committee but the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller who has been appointed by the Deputy Attorney general to look into this a wider issue of collusion between russia and the Trump Campaign and a little side note on that, a friend of the president was musing last night about whether or not the president might sack the Special Counsel however that is something that is not happening at least for the moment. Over a hundred people have died in landslides in bangladesh, triggered by monsoon rains. Young children are among the dead, including three from one family. Many were killed while they slept. The authorities in the remote villages in the Chittagong Hills have warned the death toll will rise, as many affected areas remain cut off from rescue workers. Akbar hossain has the latest from dhaka. For many people this was a nightmare. Many victims buried during the night. The affected areas, including Chittagong Hills we re areas, including Chittagong Hills were caught by the landslide. The army was sent in to help with the rescue operation. Dozens of people 01 rescue operation. Dozens of people or also missing following recent rains. Translation i cannot find my house. It has been buried. I was evacuated from my home. Two of my family died and two survived. Many roads are blocked and telecommunication links and electricity have also been cut off and contact has been lost with some of the communities. There is an increase of lands lights during the rainy season. 0r increase of lands lights during the rainy season. Or a real difficulties in searching people due to the bad weather. Hundreds of residents living at the foot of the hills have been to evacuate. Translation most of the things have been locked. The people have taken children in local schools. Everyone still here has been asked to leave their houses. We will allow them to stay here until the situation improves. Traffic is also been disrupted by torrential rain in cities. At least eight people were killed last night after a cyclone. Youre watching newsday on the bbc. Still to come on the programme a diplomatic kick in the teeth for taiwan as panama cuts its 100 Year Alliance with the island in favour of china. Where movies meet the gaming world we head to la for a closer look at the industry that is now worth billions. The day the british liberated the falklands and by tonight british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. In the heart of the west german capital, this was gorbymania at its height. The crowd packed to see the man who, for them, had raised great hopes for the end of the division of europe. Michaeljackson was not guilty on all charges. The screams of the crowd testament to his popularity and theirfaith in his innocence. As long as theyll pay to go see me, ill get out there and kick em down the hill. What does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power . Its pretty neat. Feels marvellous, really. Youre watching newsday on the bbc. Im rico hizon. The headlines testifying before congress. The us Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions has described allegations that he couuded described allegations that he colluded with the kremlin as Detesta Ble Colluded with the kremlin as detestable lies. North korea has allowed an american student who fell into a coma while in prison to be flown home. And scientists in china discovered six dinosaurfossil and scientists in china discovered six dinosaur fossil beds. They are the only ones to be found in a modern urban area. The story is popular on bbc. Com across asia. Lets have a look at some of the front pages from around the world. Starting with the china daily. An establishment of diplomatic ties between beijing and panama. The Central American state has links with taiwan. There are reports that panama now recognises that there is only one china and that taiwan is pa rt only one china and that taiwan is part of chinese territory. Moving on to the japan times. On the front pages to the japan times. On the front pa g es story to the japan times. On the front pages story on Dennis Rodman, arriving in north korea. The paper says his so called Basketball Diplomacy has brought speculation that he might have some unofficial role easing tensions between washington and pyongyang. Finally, singapores Straits Times features a bigfoot all friendly between singapore and one of the worlds top teams, argentina. Despite the absence of lionel messi and other stars, the argentinians put on a massive show, beating the singaporeans 6 0 in front of 33,000 fans. As we just heard, the taiwanese government has hit back after panama severed relations with taipei and established them with beijing instead. The move by the south American Country has caused alarm in which taiwan fears other countries could follow suit, comprising its independence. Escalating tensions pose risks for both sides in what is a long term dispute. This is what could happen if china invaded taiwan. And this is how taiwans military would respond, defending its outlying island in this recent drill. This is not a real war, its just this recent drill. This is not a real war, itsjust a military drill. But the taiwanese government is trying to send a message, that the threat from china is very real. China is located on the 150 kilometres across these waters. It has more than 1000 missiles targeting taiwan. It spends more than 15 times what taiwan spends on defence. The unprecedented phone call between the taiwanese president and donald trump in december had raised the us would pay more attention to taiwans security concerns. But with the Trump Administration cosying up to beijing lately, taiwan is feeling increasingly sidelined why it only friend, with the Military Muscle to help it fend off an attack from the mainland. Unlike predecessor, the president does not accept the idea that there is only one china. Beijing defines the term as the two sides being part of one country. The discourage any move towards independence, china has been stepping up the pressure. Chinese tourists drop by more than half in her first year tourists drop by more than half in herfirst year in tourists drop by more than half in her first year in office, hurting taiwans already sluggish economy. Beijing has arrested more than 200 taiwanese from other countries for allegedly committing Telecoms Fraud against chinese citizens. The latest victim in beijings powerplay. This Human Rights Activist who has been arrested by chinese authorities. At this Rally Demonstrators are calling for his release. Beijings actions may be hurting rather than helping its cause. Translation who would wa nt to its cause. Translation who would want to be unified with a country that so horrible . I strongly support taiwan becoming independent. Critics point out the president s approach to china is not helping either. They say the current stalemate gives few opportunities for the two sides to interact and for chinese officials and ordinary people to understand democratic taiwan. If the stand off continues, neither side is expected to win. Taiwan cant afford the Lawn Drawnout lawn and drawnout impasse. Economy is dependent on mainland. For china, playing ha rd ball mainland. For china, Playing Hardball is a risky proposition if it is trying to win the hearts and minds of the taiwanese people. The Hong Kong Government plans to completely ban Ivory Trading in four years. The city has long been criticised for being a Global Centre for illegal Wildlife Trafficking and is currently one of the top Transit Centres in the world for ivory that is on its way to china. The intended ban, which will come into effect in 2021, is highly popular with conservationists. 0ur Correspondentjuliana Liu is in hong kong. What will happen in parliament . Inafew in a few hours the Hong Kong Government is going to officially presented a proposal to phase out com pletely presented a proposal to phase out completely the ivory trade in the city by 2021. We are expecting that bill to be read twice and then we may also hear the composition of the committee, bill committee, which will debate this bill before presenting it to a wider vote perhaps later on this year. So expecting just the formal presentation of that proposal today, but as you say this is something that Conservation Wildlife groups have been waiting years for. Theyve been lobbying the Hong Kong Government for years to ban this trade in hong kong completely. As you say theres a lot of public support for it and the outgoing chief executive cy leung made this announcement during his Policy Speech in a real surprise move last year and certainly the public and Conservation Groups hope that this bill is approved by Parliament Later this year. Why not institute this this year. Why not institute this this year . Of a still have to wait another four years, until 2021 . Another four years, until 2021 . Thats right, certainly there is some controversy over that phase ban. Certainly groups by wwf, the World Wildlife fund, believe this ban could happen within two years or even less. At the Hong Kong Government wants to start something thats a bit more phased. This has been controversial. Certainly at the moment Conservation Groups are focused on getting this current bill passed because they believe it will doa passed because they believe it will do a lot in terms of stemming the illegal ivory trade. As you know, hong kong has the worlds it is the Retail Market in legal ivory. About 30,000 pieces for sale at any time. We also know this is a centre for the illegal trade and from about 2000 2013 about 33 the illegal trade and from about 2000 2013 about 33 tons of ivory was confiscated by hong kong customs and the theory is that right now the legal trade actually mask the illegal trade, so once this trade is banned for good they believe it will really help the antipoaching efforts in africa, which are killing 100 elephants a day. Hong kong will be following the us and china, who have already banned the ivory trade. Thank you very much for the update. Thousands have gathered in la where they will gather to discover the latest titles and technology. Thats at electronic entertainment expo. We have a look at the industry. Now everyone please enjoy the ride. It looks and sounds like a hollywood premiere, but this is the launch of spiderman, the latest block of the game for the sony playstation. It was unveiled in front of thousands of plans ahead of e3, the biggest gaming event in the calendar. There was no new hardware from the company, as a more powerful version of its playstation was launched last year. As well as spiderman we also saw several new Virtual Reality titles. Sonys rival microsoft announced the xbox1x, a more powerful version. It will improve the visuals of its games but not much else and it comes in at £1149, twice the price of the existing model. It is about giving gamers choice. We both know theres a certain customer that was the best in everything, which is why we designed xbox1x. How many offers customers do you have . In the Gaming Community there is a large section of those customers. But giving them a choice is important. We have value across the whole line. This glamorous events cater to the hard core mind but for the more casual gamers among us this expensive upgrades may not be worth it. Its not necessary to buy these boxes. You wont lose out on any gains because they work on both the lower end and higher end. It wont do anything massively different but its good to know you are doing your gaming in the best way possible. 0nce gaming in the best way possible. Once the show floor is fully open later this week we will begin to see if the new games can live up to the hype. Will they continue to fuel what has grown into a £70 billion industry . Videogames as with vans to these days my son was much more than me. Are days my son was much more than me. N are so days my son was much more than me. Are so advanced. You have been watching newsday. Stay with us. All eyes are on the Federal Reserve as they continue to meet on whether or not to raise us interest rates. More on that in a few moments. A reminder of our top story. Jeff sessions, the Attorney General, has beenin sessions, the Attorney General, has been ina sessions, the Attorney General, has been in a Senate Hearing today, answering questions about whether or not he colluded with moscow during the us president ial election. He says those claims were detestable lives. More a matter of course on the bbc website. Before we go, these pictures are from a foot or Friendly Match between england and france, played in paris on tuesday evening. And an emotional tribute was paid to the victims of the recent Terror Attacks in both countries. Both leaders were there. France beat england three goals to two. The middle of the week is going to bring a peak in the temperatures. You could describe it as very warm across many parts of the country, especially across southern areas of england and wales, you could describe it as hot. Some sunny spells around, but thats not quite the case everywhere because on a Satellite Picture you can see the cloud thats been rolling in from the atlantic. This will be clipping into Northern Ireland and western scotland. Here there will be more cloud through the day and it will be breezy. Some slashes of rain at times, especially to the far north west. You could be the odd shower in the afternoon in england and wales. Further south, shower in the afternoon in england and wales. Furthersouth, long spells of sunshine and thats where we will have the highest temperatures. For the middle part of wednesday could be the odd shower of over northern england, but 2a degrees in leads and manchester. Lots of sunshine towards the south east. Up to 27 28. Always little bit cooler towards the coast. We could have 18 degrees in plymouth. Fine and sunny across the South West Of England and much of wales. There could be the odd shower, especially over high ground. The vast majority staying dry. Cooler towards the coast. For Northern Ireland there will be more cloud. The day is by no means a washout. A lot of dry weather, many patchy rain into the north west. More rain in the northern and western parts of scotland. For Eastern Scotland there should be some sunshine and a fair degree of warmth. Through wednesday night it will turn quite muggy across eastern areas. Humid air still in place. 0ut west at change. The rain working through Northern Ireland and into scotland, wales. This is associated with a cold front and as that moves from the west on thursday it will start to introduce cooler and fresh aironce again. Start to introduce cooler and fresh air once again. Still a pretty warm day in east anglia and the south east, with Humidity Holding on. The Weather Front continues to move eastwards and will sweep the real heat and humidity away. Temperatures in most places on thursday afternoon about 16 19 degrees. There will be sunshine, but there will also be hefty showers in parts of the north west. Some showers again on friday, especially in parts of wales, Northern Ireland, western scotland. Brighter weather further east. Up to 23 degrees in the south east and into the weekend it looks like the heat and humidity will return in the south. Always cooler further north, with a little bit of rain. Im babita sharma, with Bbc World News. The us Attorney General has described allegations that he colluded with the kremlin as detestable lies. Jeff sessions told the Senate Intelligence committee hed had no meetings with russian officials about mr trumps election campaign. A us student is being flown home after being released by north korea. 0tto Warmbier who was sentenced to 15 years hard labour for stealing a Propaganda Banner is travelling on a medical evacuation flight. And this video is trending on bbc. Com scientists in china have discovered six dinosaurfossil beds in the North Eastern city of yanji. Theyre the only ones to be found in a modern urban area. That story is popular on bbc. Com across asia. Stay with Bbc World News. Now on bbc news its time for hardtalk