Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:13Live from London. This is BBC
00:00:16News. More scrutiny on Fifa president
00:00:19president Gianni Infantino as allegations allegations emerge in the Daily Telegraph
00:00:22Telegraph that a woman he had an an alleged relationship with was was given a six figure severance
00:00:26severance payment while he was general general secretary of Uefa. Fifa say
00:00:30say the story is categorically untrue.
00:00:34untrue. At least three people, including including a child, have been killed
00:00:37killed in overnight Russian attacks
00:00:39attacks near the Ukrainian capital
00:00:41capital Kyiv, in an exclusive interview interview with BBC Newsnight, Hunter
00:00:45Hunter Biden says his pardon was was not good for America nor his
00:00:48his father's legacy and it's the
00:00:52the biggest celebration of Irish Irish music and culture in the world.
00:00:55world. Belfast hosts the Fleadh Festival
00:00:57Festival for the first time. Thanks
00:01:09Thanks for joining us. I'm Luxmy Luxmy Gopal there's yet more pressure
00:01:12pressure on Fifa president Gianni Gianni Infantino after the Daily
00:01:16Daily Telegraph newspaper reported reported claims that his alleged
00:01:19alleged lover was given a severance
00:01:21severance payment by Uefa when he
00:01:23he was their general secretary. European European football's governing body
00:01:26body has confirmed payment was made made to the woman. The BBC has contacted
00:01:30contacted Fifa and Infantino for for comment, but the Fifa boss told
00:01:33told the paper he strongly denies
00:01:36denies these categorically untrue untrue allegations. BBC sport's Mike
00:01:39Mike Bushell has more details. The The allegations date back to when
00:01:42when he was general secretary of
00:01:43of Uefa between the years of 2009
00:01:472009 to 2016, and there has been
00:01:48been the reaction to this with Uefa. Uefa. Given that statement. I'll
00:01:52I'll read more of that now actually, actually, because we are aware of
00:01:54of the allegations and can confirm confirm a departure payment was made
00:01:58made to the individual in question. question. Uefa. Uefa says coupled
00:02:01coupled with the payment of fees fees for an MBA course at a local
00:02:04local business school, Uefa go on on to say the payment was in line
00:02:07line with the regulations that existed existed for departing staff at the
00:02:10the time. Such regulations have been been tightened since 2016 and the
00:02:13the current staff regulations, which which apply to all Uefa employees
00:02:16employees at whatever level, reflect
00:02:18reflect those found in a modern high
00:02:21high profile organisation. Now, in in a Fifa statement to The Telegraph,
00:02:24Telegraph, as you were saying, they've they've completely denied all the
00:02:28the allegations. I'll read that to to you as well. Fifa president Gianni Gianni Infantino strongly denies
00:02:31denies these allegations. They are
00:02:34are categorically untrue. No employee
00:02:36employee at Uefa or Fifa has ever
00:02:39ever raised a complaint regarding regarding Mr Infantino's behaviour.
00:02:43behaviour. So strong denial from from Fifa and of course this comes comes against the backdrop where
00:02:46where he's trying to shore up support support around the world following following his apology for the doomed
00:02:50doomed proposal to sell off a stake stake in the World Cup to a private
00:02:54private investment firm. At the moment moment he seems to have enough support support around the world, certainly
00:02:58certainly not in Uefa, in Europe Europe but around the world to survive
00:03:01survive any sort of vote to oust oust him. At the moment. BBC sports
00:03:05sports Mike Bushell there well, Gianni Gianni Infantino is in Colombia where
00:03:09where he has attended the inauguration inauguration of the new president.
00:03:12president. The BBC caught up with with Mr Infantino as he was attending attending a meeting with the head
00:03:16head of South America's Football
00:03:18Football Confederation as Ione Wells
00:03:21Wells explains the events of the the inauguration have wrapped up
00:03:24up here in Cali, in the south of
00:03:27of Colombia and unsurprisingly, Jenny Jenny Hill Infantino did not answer answer any of the questions that
00:03:30that I tried to pose to him when
00:03:32when I saw him entering and leaving
00:03:34leaving that event where he was attending attending the inauguration of Colombia's
00:03:38Colombia's new president, Abelardo Abelardo de la Espriella Infantino.
00:03:42Infantino. Will you resign after after your plan to sell off part
00:03:44part of Fifa failed? A word for BBC
00:03:47BBC News. What is your response to to Europe? Who say they will boycott
00:03:51boycott the World Cup? Infantino. Infantino. I asked him whether he
00:03:53he would resign given his plan to to sell off parts of Fifa failed.
00:03:56failed. I asked him what his response response was to Europe, saying it
00:03:59it could boycott the World Cup given
00:04:02given Uefa doesn't have faith in in his leadership. I asked him whether,
00:04:05whether, as countries like Jordan
00:04:07Jordan have claimed, he has been been financially blackmailing some some countries to support him and
00:04:11and whether in fact he is here in
00:04:13in South America to try to shore
00:04:15shore up support for his presidency. presidency. I think many will see
00:04:18see this visit of his as essentially essentially an attempt to try and
00:04:21and get more countries on his side side to try and get every single
00:04:25single vote he can from countries countries that might still support
00:04:29support him ahead of that crucial crucial election next year to determine
00:04:32determine the next Fifa president. president. I think some could say
00:04:36say that as a result, this trip has has been somewhat of a success in
00:04:40in that regard, given that he met
00:04:42met with not just grassroots football
00:04:45football associations but also with with the federation. The Colombian Colombian Football Federation and
00:04:49and also, crucially, the President President of Conmebol, which is the
00:04:51the governing body of football in
00:04:53in South America. The President spoke
00:04:56spoke to us afterwards and seemed
00:04:57seemed to suggest that Conmebol did
00:05:01did support Infantino continued to
00:05:03to support him and in fact, the only only question, the only answer that
00:05:06that I received from Infantino was
00:05:08was very simply in his words I love
00:05:11love Colombia. Gianni Infantino, Infantino, could you just give us
00:05:14us one answer for BBC News? What's
00:05:16What's your view? That being said,
00:05:19said, just because he may have the the support of some governing bodies
00:05:22bodies and figures here, this scandal scandal certainly hasn't gone away
00:05:25away and he will continue to face face these questions. I think wherever
00:05:29wherever he goes next. Our correspondent correspondent Ione Wells there and
00:05:32and we'll have more shortly on Colombia's Colombia's new right wing president,
00:05:35president, who has broken with tradition tradition by being sworn in not in
00:05:38in the capital Bogota, but in Cali Cali in the country's volatile south-west
00:05:42south-west that has long been on on the front line of the government's government's conflict with armed
00:05:45armed groups. So we'll come to that that in a moment. But first, Paolo
00:05:48Paolo Del Rosario is a sports journalist journalist in Manilla, and he gave
00:05:51gave us his analysis of Mr Infantino's Infantino's precarious position.
00:05:55position. He is trying to garner garner more support for the upcoming
00:05:59upcoming elections. This is going going to be one of the moments where
00:06:02where in he will try to regain a
00:06:04a bit of the a bit of the support support that he had prior to the
00:06:08the World Cup where he said he had
00:06:10had around 200 member associations associations backing his presidency. presidency. Obviously that has changed
00:06:14changed with the FFA proposal, so so it feels like what we are seeing
00:06:17seeing right now from Gianni Infantino Infantino is him trying to garner
00:06:20garner support yet again to block block off any potential candidates
00:06:24candidates for the upcoming presidential presidential race. At the moment, moment, there is no one candidate
00:06:27candidate that has come up. Of course course there have been reports saying
00:06:30saying that Concacaf Victor Montagliani Montagliani is a candidate but then
00:06:34then nothing yet has been brought brought forward. The interesting
00:06:37interesting part about any opposition opposition that will come up against
00:06:40against Gianni Infantino is that
00:06:43that he cannot fracture the vote vote of the opposition to Gianni
00:06:46Gianni Infantino because if he does, does, Gianni will win anyway. So
00:06:49So the question now is which candidate
00:06:52candidate will be backed by all of of the all of those opposing Gianni
00:06:56Gianni Infantino? And I got to tell
00:06:57tell you, there are a lot of federations, federations, a lot of member associations
00:07:01associations who still backed Gianni Gianni Infantino despite the scandal
00:07:04scandal that we've seen so far. Paolo
00:07:07Paolo Del Rosario sports journalist journalist there. Now let's turn
00:07:10turn to Ukraine, where there's been been another night of Russian attacks.
00:07:13attacks. At least three people, including including a child, were killed on
00:07:17on the outskirts of Kyiv. Three more
00:07:19more were injured. Falling debris, debris, damaged apartment buildings
00:07:22buildings and cars while a fire broke broke out at a separate building.
00:07:26building. Meanwhile, Ukraine's president president is making his first official
00:07:29official visit to Serbia today. It's It's one of the few European countries
00:07:32countries to maintain close ties
00:07:34ties with Russia and President Zelensky Zelensky is due to discuss economic
00:07:38economic and security issues with with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar
00:07:42Aleksandar Vucic at the presidential presidential palace. Mr Vucic has
00:07:44has repeatedly refused to sanction sanction Moscow following Russia's
00:07:48Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine
00:07:50Ukraine in 2022, but has also supplied supplied non-military aid to Kyiv.
00:07:54Kyiv. Well, let's go live to Kyiv Kyiv now and to our Ukraine correspondent
00:07:58correspondent Dan Johnson. Dan, let's let's start first of all, with the
00:08:01the attacks that have been stepping stepping up recently. Give us the
00:08:05the latest on the attacks that have
00:08:06have happened overnight. Yes. Strikes
00:08:11Strikes both ways in this conflict conflict have been intensifying over
00:08:14over the past days and weeks. And
00:08:17And there was another exchange of
00:08:19of missiles last night. We know Ukraine Ukraine has targeted another oil
00:08:23oil refinery deep into Russian territory, territory, but there were Russian
00:08:25Russian missiles also heading to
00:08:28to the outskirts of Kyiv last night, night, as well as drone attacks.
00:08:31attacks. And that's how that house house was hit on the edge of the
00:08:34the capital. We know that it was was one family that was affected affected there. Three members of
00:08:37of that family killed, including including a three-year-old child.
00:08:40child. Another three members of the
00:08:43the family and another child injured.
00:08:44injured. So that shows you the impact
00:08:47impact and the risk that there is is around this city across the country
00:08:51country for Ukrainian civilians. civilians. But the missile strikes
00:08:54strikes last night, Russia says were
00:08:57were targeting a Ukrainian missile missile factory. One of the plants
00:09:01plants that is used to develop Ukraine's
00:09:04Ukraine's own long-range missiles missiles to strike Russia. The Ukrainians
00:09:07Ukrainians have not confirmed that.
00:09:08that. They say it was a construction
00:09:11construction plant, a tarmac facility facility that was actually hit. So
00:09:14So we'll have to wait for some more
00:09:17more detail on exactly what the truth truth of that is, whether we'll find
00:09:20find out exactly what the Russians Russians are claiming is true or
00:09:23or not. They've also hit ships off
00:09:25off the coast of Odesa, cargo ships ships that the Russians say were
00:09:29were being used to also convey military
00:09:31military equipment. Ukrainians deny deny that, saying that that port
00:09:34port is only used to ship grain and
00:09:37and other items for civilian use. use. So once again, it underlines
00:09:40underlines the risk that the Russian
00:09:44Russian missiles in particular are are posing to people right across
00:09:47across Ukraine because this country country simply doesn't have enough
00:09:49enough of the interceptors to keep keep its skies safe. The President
00:09:52President has repeated his message message throughout this week that
00:09:55that without more US made Patriot
00:09:57Patriot missile interceptors, the
00:09:59the Ukrainian air defences simply simply cannot protect the skies above
00:10:03above Ukraine. And Dan, if we turn turn now to the Ukrainian president's
00:10:07president's visit to Serbia, what
00:10:09what does Mr Zelensky hope to get
00:10:12get out of that visit, given Serbia's
00:10:14Serbia's strong ties with Russia?
00:10:18Russia? Yeah, this is significant. significant. It's the first time time Volodymyr Zelensky has been
00:10:21been to Serbia, a country that has has long standing links to Russia
00:10:25Russia and has refused to join in
00:10:28in European sanctions on Russia.
00:10:31Russia. He hasn't stated exactly exactly what he's hoping to get from
00:10:33from this visit, but he said these these would be important negotiations.
00:10:37negotiations. He's having two days days there talking to the President
00:10:40President and the Prime Minister, Minister, and he'll be hoping that
00:10:43that this could be perhaps a first first step towards a softening in
00:10:47in Serbia's position. Serbia has has said that it wants to join the
00:10:50the EU and knows that it won't be be allowed to do that while ever
00:10:53ever it is so closely linked to Russia,
00:10:56Russia, it has. Serbia already provided
00:10:57provided some aid to Ukraine and
00:11:00and promised to help refund and rebuild rebuild this country if and when
00:11:04when the war ends. In terms of concrete concrete outcomes, it's not clear
00:11:07clear exactly what President Zelensky Zelensky is hoping to get, he said. said. They'll be talking through
00:11:11through security issues, talking talking about relationships with
00:11:14with the European Union and talking talking over economic ties as well.
00:11:17well. But certainly it's a significant significant moment that he is on
00:11:20on Serbian soil conducting such high
00:11:22high level talks, and he'll be hoping hoping one of his aides said that
00:11:26that this was a slap in the face face to Russia, just a simple fact
00:11:28fact that he is there having such such high level discussions. Dan,
00:11:31Dan, thank you for that update. Dan Dan Johnson, our correspondent in
00:11:34in Kyiv there. And we were mentioning mentioning sanctions against Russia
00:11:38Russia there and sticking with that that subject, the US Senate has passed
00:11:41passed a sanctions bill against Russia, Russia, long championed by the late
00:11:45late Senator Lindsey Graham. The The legislation targets major buyers
00:11:48buyers of Russian oil and imposes
00:11:50imposes additional sanctions on Russian Russian leaders and oligarchs. The
00:11:53The measure will go to the House
00:11:55House in September, where it may may face some resistance. Lindsey
00:11:59Lindsey Graham's sister, South Carolina Carolina Republican Senator Darline
00:12:02Darline Graham and Richard Blumenthal, Blumenthal, the Democratic senator
00:12:06senator from Connecticut, were among among the lawmakers voicing support
00:12:09support for the bill. An emotional
00:12:11emotional day in a very exciting
00:12:13exciting day for me. Russia has waged
00:12:16waged war against Ukraine for far far too long, and this bill assists
00:12:19assists President Trump and his noble noble efforts to bring it to a close.
00:12:23close. This legislation was deeply deeply important to my brother Lindsey,
00:12:27Lindsey, and I am grateful that this
00:12:29this bill has achieved such a wide
00:12:31wide coalition of support. He believed believed that this was the most consequential
00:12:35consequential piece of legislation legislation that he had ever led.
00:12:39led. Vladimir Putin is watching in in Moscow. I'd like to thank Lindsey
00:12:43Lindsey Graham is watching as well well and proud of what we've done,
00:12:46done, because today we send a message
00:12:48message to Vladimir Putin you will
00:12:51will not win this war. Time to come
00:12:54come to the table for peace. Your
00:12:57Your economy already on its heels
00:13:01heels is going to be throttled, even
00:13:02even decimated. Well, Daniel Treisman, Treisman, the director of UCLA's
00:13:06UCLA's centre for European and Russian Russian Studies, told us how significant
00:13:09significant the passing of the sanctions sanctions bill in the US really was.
00:13:12was. Well, it shows that the only only real obstacle in the past was
00:13:17was the President and his supporters.
00:13:19supporters. Now the President is
00:13:21is on board with the bill. It includes
00:13:24includes also sanctions against Iran,
00:13:26Iran, which are very much a priority priority for President Trump at the
00:13:29the moment. But he's agreed to the
00:13:33the current version of the bill,
00:13:34bill, which has been watered down down somewhat from the starting version
00:13:38version that Lindsey Graham championed
00:13:41championed in which they were going
00:13:43going to be 500% tariffs on any country
00:13:46country that bought oil from Russia.
00:13:50Russia. Now up to 100% tariffs. And
00:13:53And at the President's discretion, discretion, he has the ability to
00:13:56to waive the sanctions if he believes
00:13:58believes it's in the national interest interest and national security interest.
00:14:02interest. So it's a significant step, step, assuming that the House passes
00:14:06passes it, as seems likely in a month
00:14:09month or so. But it's not totally
00:14:13totally unexpected at this point. point. Daniel Treisman there. Spain
00:14:17Spain has brought in border controls controls for all travellers arriving
00:14:21arriving from Italy amid a rare row row between the two EU and Nato member
00:14:25member states over the issue of immigration. immigration. Madrid's month long
00:14:28long suspension applies not just just to citizens of third countries
00:14:31countries arriving from Italy, but but also to Italians themselves.
00:14:34themselves. Spain was angered by by Italy's response to last week's
00:14:37week's sudden influx of tens of thousands thousands of would be migrants into
00:14:41into the Spanish territory of Ceuta
00:14:43Ceuta on Morocco's coast. Italy then
00:14:45then promptly imposed border restrictions restrictions on third country travellers
00:14:48travellers from Spain, which will
00:14:50will last at least until mid-August.
00:14:54mid-August. Thailand's Prime Minister Minister has promised to introduce introduce new firearm controls after
00:14:58after a mass school shooting in which
00:15:00which a teenage boy killed seven seven people before taking his own
00:15:04own life. Police say the 14-year-old 14-year-old killed two of his grandparents,
00:15:08grandparents, with whom he was living living before moving to the school,
00:15:11school, where he shot dead five teachers. teachers. The Prime Minister said
00:15:14said his actions suggested the attack
00:15:16attack was well prepared with clear clear steps and goals. Investigations
00:15:20Investigations are continuing into into the motive for the attack, which
00:15:22which took place near Bangkok. The
00:15:26The United States has pledged $1 $1 billion in security assistance
00:15:30assistance to Colombia after the
00:15:32the inauguration of its new right right wing president, Abelardo de
00:15:35de la Espriella. In his fiery maiden
00:15:37maiden speech, Mr de la Espriella Espriella pledged to crush armed
00:15:41armed insurgents, rebuild the country
00:15:43country and defend democracy by reason
00:15:46reason or by force. Colombia has
00:15:49has significant natural resources, resources, including substantial substantial oil reserves, but it's
00:15:52it's also home to violent drug trafficking trafficking organisations and is
00:15:56is the world's leading producer of of cocaine. Colombia's new president
00:15:59president is seen as an ally of President President Trump and has pledged to
00:16:03to be forceful and decisive against against crime. With more on this,
00:16:06this, let's speak to Doctor Johanna
00:16:08Johanna Amaya pounds, who's a senior senior lecturer in international
00:16:12international relations and politics politics at Liverpool John Moores Moores University. Thank you for
00:16:15for being with us, Johanna. How much much do you think this new president
00:16:18president will be able to tackle tackle the challenges that face him
00:16:22him compared to his predecessor? Well
00:16:25predecessor? Well President Abelardo
00:16:28Abelardo de la Espriella has promised
00:16:31promised security chips and iron
00:16:33iron fist policy aiming to tackle
00:16:36tackle a fragmented landscape of
00:16:39of violence around the country. However,
00:16:41However, he faces several challenges.
00:16:45challenges. First, in a conflict
00:16:46conflict which is extremely local
00:16:49local civilians and armed groups
00:16:51groups are intertwined. So a highly
00:16:54highly militarised strategy can create
00:16:56create serious risks exposing civilian
00:16:58civilian populations to greater violence.
00:17:01violence. Second, Colombia has tried
00:17:03tried military solutions in the past past without significant success,
00:17:07success, and this is because armed armed groups are fragmented and they
00:17:11they adapt. They move geographically geographically and can of course
00:17:14course diversify their criminal economies.
00:17:17economies. And third, de la Espriella Espriella will face institutional
00:17:20institutional constraints. He's a
00:17:22a political outsider who. So he needs
00:17:25needs to increase under the capacity
00:17:26capacity to build coalitions. And
00:17:30And of course, he is aiming to dismantle
00:17:35dismantle the 2016 peace agreement.
00:17:37agreement. But he faced constitutional, constitutional, legal and political
00:17:40political constraints given the opposition
00:17:43opposition and the highly polarised polarised political environment.
00:17:45environment. Yeah. And if you think
00:17:48think perhaps his a more militaristic militaristic approach won't work
00:17:51work in tackling the violence or
00:17:53or the criminal violence. The issue issue is his predecessor's approach
00:17:57approach didn't work either. So do do you think there's any president
00:18:00president who can come along and and actually tackle the fundamental
00:18:03fundamental underlying issues of
00:18:04of the country? That's a very good
00:18:07good question. The predecessor aim
00:18:09aim to deliver a total strategy total
00:18:12total peace strategy approach focused focused on negotiations with armed
00:18:16armed actors. And it was overly ambitious.
00:18:20ambitious. It produced limited results
00:18:22results and precisely de la Espriella Espriella built his campaign promoting
00:18:26promoting this strategy as a failure.
00:18:29failure. But the government before
00:18:31before managed to dismantle the main
00:18:34main rebel group in the country, country, the former FARC, through
00:18:38through negotiation strategies. But
00:18:39But at the same time using state
00:18:42state capacity to keep territorial
00:18:43territorial control. So the new government
00:18:47government need to balance those
00:18:50those two strategies managing not
00:18:54not just purely military strategy
00:18:56strategy to tackle criminality because
00:18:58because criminality is very fragmented,
00:19:01fragmented, but also the possibility
00:19:03possibility to open the doors for
00:19:07for voluntary demobilisation. And
00:19:09And he has closed the door for dialogues.
00:19:12dialogues. But at least build dialogues dialogues within with the opposition.
00:19:15opposition. And Joanna, this is another
00:19:17another right wing leader in Latin Latin America. We've seen right wing
00:19:21wing leaders winning elections recently recently in Peru, Chile, Ecuador,
00:19:23Ecuador, I mean, albeit he only defeated defeated the left wing candidate
00:19:27candidate by one percentage point. point. Why do you think there's been been this success of right wing leaders
00:19:31leaders in Latin America? Well, there
00:19:35there are different factors driving driving these results. Of course,
00:19:38course, the influence of the United
00:19:41United States is a highly important important here the securitisation
00:19:44securitisation of the region and and the hemisphere, given the United
00:19:48United States power is quite important
00:19:50important here. Second, there are
00:19:52are different dynamics related to
00:19:55to regional debates around migration,
00:19:58migration, security and as you have have mentioned before, coca production
00:20:02production has increased to historical
00:20:05historical levels of more than 250
00:20:08250 000 hectares with increasing
00:20:11increasing in violence levels. So
00:20:15So security was fundamental to the
00:20:17the appeal of de la Espriella but
00:20:20but also other regional level leaders
00:20:25leaders are supporting iron fist
00:20:27fist measures in order to, to fight
00:20:31fight the rise of criminal organisations. organisations. Well, thank you so
00:20:34so much for that analysis, doctor. doctor. Johanna Amaya, Pants thank
00:20:38thank you. Thank you for having me.
00:20:41me. Well let's get some of the day's day's other news now at least ten
00:20:45ten people have been killed in a a Houthi attack on the Yemeni city
00:20:48city of Marib. It comes a day after after dozens of Yemeni government government troops were killed in
00:20:52in Houthi strikes on military camps
00:20:54camps in Ma'rib and Hadramout province.
00:20:57province. Tensions have mounted since since the Houthis announced a naval
00:21:00naval blockade in the Red Sea. More
00:21:04More than 180 000 households and and businesses in Puerto Rico are
00:21:07are rationing water, with the island island in the grips of a severe drought,
00:21:10drought, the governor of Puerto Rico Rico said. This situation is out
00:21:14out of our hands and blamed the water water shortages on climate conditions.
00:21:17conditions. July was the driest month month since record keeping began
00:21:21began back in 1899. One of the biggest biggest criminal networks smuggling
00:21:24smuggling drugs and people in the the western Mediterranean has been
00:21:27been dismantled, Europol said 78 78 people were arrested in Spain
00:21:31Spain and Algeria in a bust of the the network that is also linked to
00:21:34to other criminal activities, including including violent robberies, extortion,
00:21:38extortion, illegal detentions and
00:21:39and money laundering. The biggest
00:21:44biggest celebration of Irish music music and culture in the world has has been taking place in Northern
00:21:48Northern Ireland. The Fleadh Festival Festival is being held in Belfast
00:21:51Belfast for the first time. Nearly Nearly a million people are expected expected to attend the event, which
00:21:54which is projected to give the city
00:21:57city a £53 million economic boost. boost. Sara Girvan has been along
00:22:00along to find out more. On every
00:22:05every street of Belfast city centre,
00:22:08centre, on every corner, in every
00:22:11every nook and cranny, there's music.
00:22:14music. There have been 200 events events this week, sessions, concerts
00:22:17concerts and competitions with more more than 20,000 musicians taking
00:22:21taking part. The Fleadh in a heron
00:22:24heron or music festival of Ireland
00:22:26Ireland is the world's largest celebration celebration of traditional Irish
00:22:30Irish music and culture. People come come from all over this island and
00:22:34and all over the globe to perform,
00:22:36perform, to compete or simply to
00:22:38to watch, listen and enjoy. Early
00:22:40Early estimates put visitor numbers
00:22:43numbers at 800,000 and a boost to
00:22:45to Northern Ireland's economy at
00:22:48at more than £50 million. But it's it's thought those figures have now
00:22:51now been surpassed. And while the
00:22:55the Fleadh doesn't finish until tomorrow,
00:22:58tomorrow, thoughts are already turning turning to the event's legacy. There's
00:23:01There's so many places who take the the Fleadh on. It's a flash in the
00:23:04the pan. The music goes for about about 6 or 7 months or maybe a year
00:23:07year after it, and fizzles out again.
00:23:10again. Where are city was already
00:23:13already a huge area for traditional traditional music. Anything that
00:23:17that involves arch brings people
00:23:18people together. More of it. Please.
00:23:25Please. Issues around culture and
00:23:27and identity can be divisive in Northern Northern Ireland. Organisers of this
00:23:31this year's Fleadh have worked with with communities to make sure the
00:23:34the event welcomed all traditions. traditions. We caught up with a loyalist
00:23:38loyalist marching band rehearsing rehearsing for their showcase. Fleadh
00:23:41Fleadh performance. Wow, we are we
00:23:43we really going to do this? What's What's people going to think? You
00:23:47You know? And those are the questions questions that go through your head
00:23:49head and you're thinking as our community
00:23:52community going to be against. But But surprisingly, a lot of people
00:23:56people have said, fantastic, great great to see us out. You know, go go for it, you know, and that's what
00:23:59what we're doing. It's a journey. journey. It's new territory for Belfast
00:24:03Belfast and our aim is to try and and break down negative stereotypes stereotypes around the loyalist community
00:24:06community and what our culture and and traditions look like. And the the only way by doing that is by
00:24:10by participating in it. For many,
00:24:14many, the Fleadh has been a family
00:24:17family affair, especially when it it comes to busking. I think it's
00:24:20it's just a bit of fun. Like it's it's nice to have something to do
00:24:23do on the side like other than school school and all, and it's fun to have
00:24:26have friends and all and go play play music in pubs and all the people.
00:24:29people. I could hear all the music
00:24:30music when I go around and it sounds
00:24:35sounds very good. These students
00:24:38students have been studying music, music, Irish language and poetry
00:24:41poetry all week ahead of their performance. performance. Together, some pupils
00:24:45pupils travelled from America just
00:24:47just for the Fleadh. This is definitely definitely the biggest session I've
00:24:50I've been to. It was nice to play play with as much people. I have
00:24:54have been very lucky to make a career career out of it and to make a living
00:24:57living out of it and to be based based in America, teaching music
00:25:00music and playing music. It's. It's It's such an honour for me to be
00:25:03be able to share my culture so broadly, broadly, and it's such a thrill to
00:25:06to have so many of the kids over over with us. This week. I like traditional
00:25:09traditional Irish music because it
00:25:11it helps me like connect to Ireland
00:25:14Ireland and it connects to people people around me and it always just
00:25:17just makes me feel really nice and
00:25:20and fuzzy on the inside. And for for those who've enjoyed all the
00:25:23the fun of the Fleadh, well, they they don't have to wait too long
00:25:26long for the next one because it's
00:25:28it's back in Belfast next year. Sara
00:25:31Sara Girvan, BBC News. Now it's time
00:25:35time to take you live to Serbia's Serbia's capital Belgrade, where
00:25:38where the red carpet is out for Ukrainian
00:25:41Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky. And it's a significant
00:25:44significant visit because this is is President Zelensky's first visit
00:25:48visit to Serbia, the country being
00:25:50being a Russian ally and Serbia has
00:25:54has opposed sanctions on Russia. Russia. But it has also provided
00:25:58provided aid to Ukraine. So there's
00:26:00there's a bit of a balancing act
00:26:02act there between its alliances with with the EU and with Russia. We'll
00:26:06We'll bring you
00:27:37some parts of Iraq.
00:29:56online at bbc.com/business to get get the latest news wherever you
00:29:58you are. Business on BBC News. Make
00:30:02Make the connection. MUSIC
00:30:08MUSIC
00:30:16This is BBC News. I'm Luxmy Gopal. Your headlines. More scrutiny
00:30:20scrutiny on Fifa president Gianni Gianni Infantino as allegations emerge
00:30:23emerge in the Daily Telegraph that that a woman he had an alleged relationship
00:30:27relationship with was given a six six figure severance payment while
00:30:30while he was general secretary of
00:30:31of Uefa. Fifa say the story is categorically
00:30:34categorically untrue. At least three three people, including a child,
00:30:37child, have been killed in overnight overnight Russian attacks near the
00:30:40the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. In an
00:30:43an exclusive interview with BBC Newsnight, Newsnight, Hunter Biden says his
00:30:47his pardon was not good for America
00:30:50America or his father's legacy. And And two Metropolitan Police officers
00:30:54officers are being investigated by by a watchdog over alleged failures
00:30:57failures in their handling of a serial serial sex offender who murdered
00:31:00murdered two women. Well, let's start
00:31:06start with the news that the son son of Joe Biden, former US President,
00:31:10President, has told the BBC he feels
00:31:12feels like the most privileged person person there could be after receiving
00:31:16receiving a presidential pardon from from his father towards the end of
00:31:18of his term in office. In an interview interview with BBC Newsnight, Hunter
00:31:21Hunter Biden defended the decision decision which covered his federal
00:31:25federal gun conviction a tax case
00:31:26case he pled guilty to and any federal
00:31:29federal offences committed between between 2014 and 2024. He was speaking
00:31:33speaking to Newsnight's Paddy O'Connell, O'Connell, who began by asking him
00:31:35him about his use of crack cocaine cocaine during his years of addiction
00:31:39addiction and how often he was using
00:31:40using it. At one point every 15 minutes
00:31:43minutes or so and I wouldn't sleep
00:31:46sleep for days, it was it was hell
00:31:49hell on earth and I. There's nothing
00:31:52nothing glamourous about it. And
00:31:55And it was the all consuming and
00:31:58and the truth of the matter is, is is that the thing that threatened
00:32:01threatened my health was more the
00:32:04the alcohol than the crack cocaine
00:32:07cocaine as well as smoking at that that the time that that kind of two
00:32:10two year period of time is I was
00:32:13was drinking what we call a handle handle of almost a gallon of vodka
00:32:15vodka a day. And that in and of itself,
00:32:18itself, the way in which that impacts
00:32:21impacts your body is just absolutely absolutely devastating. And it's
00:32:24it's the hardest thing to come off
00:32:25off of. You can it's the one drug
00:32:29drug other than benzodiazepams that that you can die from withdrawing
00:32:32withdrawing from. And so it took
00:32:33took a lot of care to get myself
00:32:37myself out of that loop. And the the thing is, the trauma in the Biden
00:32:40Biden family is really horrific to
00:32:43to read about the loss that's that's
00:32:45that's been surrounded in violent
00:32:47violent car crashes and so on. And
00:32:50And but I wonder if you agree you
00:32:52you created trauma and how has your
00:32:56your fall and rise impacted your your relationship with your family
00:32:59family and your father? Ultimately,
00:33:01Ultimately, it's a it's a community community disease. It's a family
00:33:04family disease. First, it impacts impacts everyone around you and really
00:33:08really significant ways. And the the biggest trauma was to my family,
00:33:12family, to my three older daughters
00:33:14daughters that are that were in their their late teens, early 20s at the
00:33:17the time that I went through the the worst of it. And, you know, I
00:33:21I was very present as a parent in
00:33:23in their lives from the time they they were born. And after my brother
00:33:27brother died, who were they? Very Very close to? My whole world fell
00:33:29fell apart. And I fell into this this addiction. And I did probably
00:33:33probably the worst thing that I could
00:33:35could do to them, which was not be be present, not be there for them,
00:33:39them, not be there for their grief, grief, not be there to guide them
00:33:43them through the trauma that they they were experiencing. That's the
00:33:46the greatest trauma. I just wonder wonder if I could be blunt and ask
00:33:50ask you if your own fall precipitated
00:33:53precipitated more decline in your your dad. He must have feared he
00:33:55he was going to lose another son. son. This is a very difficult thing
00:33:59thing to talk to you about. But do
00:34:01do you think you made life worse
00:34:03worse and the health worse for Joe
00:34:07Joe Biden? Of course I did. That's That's what addiction does. You know,
00:34:11know, I think that most people would
00:34:13would sit here and try to you know,
00:34:16know, run from that question or be be offended by it. But absolutely
00:34:20absolutely not just in my dad, but
00:34:21but in my mum and my aunts and uncles
00:34:25uncles to my children, to my relationships relationships down the line, but
00:34:28but in particular to my dad who never
00:34:30never let go. And even through that,
00:34:34that, even with the knowledge of
00:34:37of that, he never, ever, ever let
00:34:40let me go. He always left the door
00:34:42door open. And I always say to people
00:34:45people that unconditional love doesn't doesn't mean love without consequences.
00:34:49consequences. It doesn't mean love love without accountability. My dad
00:34:52dad never let me off the hook, but
00:34:53but what my dad did was always make
00:34:56make it clear that when I was ready
00:34:59ready to come back, the door was was open and that he loved me just
00:35:02just as much no matter what and what
00:35:05what my dad did when I fell down
00:35:07down this well of despair is he shined
00:35:10shined a light down and help guide
00:35:13guide me out. And that's a beautiful
00:35:15beautiful thing. But it's not without without its cost. And the cost is
00:35:19is that it never goes away. That
00:35:21That stress. This is why you are
00:35:25are a recovery advocate, Hunter Biden. Biden. But you are also from a very
00:35:28very public family. And I wonder
00:35:31wonder if your loyalty to your father father and the way he treated you
00:35:35you meant that you felt the need
00:35:37need to reward him with unconditional
00:35:40unconditional loyalty. And maybe
00:35:42maybe you allowed him to run for
00:35:46for president when he should not not in a normal family, you take
00:35:48take the keys to the car away from
00:35:50from dad after a difficult conversation conversation and in your family,
00:35:53family, maybe Hunter Biden, you allowed allowed yourself to allow your dad
00:35:57dad to run when he should not, which
00:35:59which is the widely held view in
00:36:01in the Democratic Party now. Patty,
00:36:06Patty, I love you, but you have to
00:36:09to let me tell you something. The The idea that I allow or disallow
00:36:12disallow my father to do anything
00:36:14anything to this very day is laughable
00:36:16laughable to me, but it's an appropriate appropriate question and I understand understand what you're trying to
00:36:20to say. But here's the truth is that
00:36:23that I support my dad in whatever whatever decision that he makes because
00:36:26because I know that my dad always
00:36:29always makes his decisions as first, first, what the impact on his family
00:36:32family would be. And second, and and just as important, equally as
00:36:36as important, the impact on the American
00:36:38American people. And that's why he
00:36:41he alone made every single decision
00:36:44decision about his politics, about about his future and about what he
00:36:47he would do on behalf of the American
00:36:49American people. Joe Biden made all
00:36:52all the decisions. There was no taking
00:36:53taking the keys away from a president
00:36:56president that had done more for for the American people in a in a
00:36:59a four year period of time than any any single one of his predecessors
00:37:03predecessors had since FDR. Watching
00:37:06Watching the 2024 presidential debate.
00:37:09debate. Where were you, Hunter, when when your father failed to complete
00:37:13complete a sentence on prime time
00:37:17time television during a presidential presidential election campaign? Where
00:37:19Where were you watching that. Total
00:37:22Total initiative relative to what
00:37:23what we can do with more Border Patrol
00:37:26Patrol and more asylum officers? officers? President Trump, I really really don't know what he said at
00:37:30at the end of that sentence. I don't don't think he knows what he said said either. Look. I wasn't alone.
00:37:34alone. I was at my house in here here in California and I was watching
00:37:38watching and I always like to if if I'm not with him, to be able to
00:37:41to watch alone. And so I was alone
00:37:44alone in a room with the TV and I
00:37:46I was watching it. And like everybody everybody else, I was shocked. I
00:37:50I could tell as soon as my father father came out that something was
00:37:53was wrong. I've never seen him with
00:37:56with a kind of the hundred yard stare
00:38:00stare that he had and you know, everybody
00:38:03everybody has their questions, you you know, of. But the reason that
00:38:06that we know about that is not because
00:38:08because Joe Biden wasn't on TV or
00:38:11or in public a million and a half
00:38:14half times before and after. The The reason that was so shocking is
00:38:18is because it had never happened happened before, and it hasn't happened
00:38:20happened since. And so I can't necessarily
00:38:24necessarily explain it. I have theories theories about it. I have theories
00:38:27theories about the fact that he had had travelled as much as he did.
00:38:29did. I also know that he obviously obviously had cancer, whether it
00:38:33it impacted him or not, he had by
00:38:36by nine months later he was diagnosed diagnosed with stage four prostate
00:38:38prostate cancer and stage four metastatic
00:38:40metastatic bone cancer, none of which
00:38:43which we knew. But my reaction to to it was that I was as shocked,
00:38:46shocked, I think, as anyone who knew knew Joe Biden was. What were the
00:38:50the discussions in your family leading leading to Joe Biden's decision to
00:38:54to withdraw in favour of Kamala Harris? Harris? The fact of the matter is,
00:38:58is, is that the Democratic Party Party or the no. One no one could
00:39:02could have taken the nomination away away from my dad. He could have gone
00:39:05gone on to the convention. But I
00:39:07I think that he saw that the American American people and particularly
00:39:11particularly the Democratic Party, Party, were ready to pass the torch.
00:39:14torch. And he passed the torch in in an enormous war chest to Kamala
00:39:18Kamala Harris, the only person that that obviously he would do that his
00:39:21his Vice President. And then she she had 107 days to make the case
00:39:25case that they had been making all all along against someone who had
00:39:29had been convicted of 34 felonies.
00:39:32felonies. And somehow we failed to to do that. Yeah. But in the book
00:39:36book Original Sin, this is called called a cover up. It has been said
00:39:39said that Democrats and family members. members. Who wrote that book. Well,
00:39:43Well, it's co-authored by two. Who Who wrote that book. Jake Tapper.
00:39:47Tapper. I don't. I yeah. Oh, that.
00:39:49that. Yeah. OK. That book. Yeah. Yeah. What are the sources? He's
00:39:53He's the CNN anchor who's spoken spoken to secretaries who were in
00:39:56in the cabinet who were in the White White House. That's how he sources
00:39:59sources the book. You can ask me me these questions, of course. And
00:40:02And but let's not use a unsourced
00:40:06unsourced book that was written to
00:40:09to in my opinion, as a cash grab
00:40:11grab by by someone who I think is
00:40:14is a very poor job. But all I know
00:40:15know is this even in that book, Patty,
00:40:19Patty, no one no one says that Joe
00:40:22Joe Biden didn't make every single single decision of his presidency
00:40:24presidency and that he was incredibly incredibly capable and that he did
00:40:27did an amazing job as President of
00:40:30of the United States. So here's another another of his own decisions, which
00:40:34which is attracting controversy as as well, which is a pardon for his
00:40:37his son. For you, Hunter. And it
00:40:40it does lead to critics saying that that this is a problem in the American
00:40:44American system. It looks like a a favour to the family, which is
00:40:48is another word that for critics, critics, for a corruption which you've
00:40:51you've criticised the Trump administration administration for, do you think
00:40:54think that he went too far as a dad
00:40:57dad in issuing a pardon to you? Well,
00:41:02Well, here's what all I know is that
00:41:05that I. I am a I'm a I am the most
00:41:11most privileged person as it relates relates to that that there could
00:41:14could possibly be. I was one of one.
00:41:17one. And I'm eternally grateful for for it. I am eternally grateful for
00:41:21for it because I think that Donald
00:41:22Donald Trump has proven to be exactly
00:41:25exactly who my dad thought he was was going to be. As it relates to
00:41:29to the revenge and retribution that that he would seek on his political
00:41:33political enemies, he spent in the the first 100 days alone. He mentioned
00:41:36mentioned or criticised my dad or
00:41:38or me six times a day. And if I was
00:41:42was in a in the Federal Bureau of
00:41:46of Probation or God forbid, in a
00:41:50a in a prison, then I think that that he would have had a hold on
00:41:53on my family that was that would
00:41:55would make it not just unbearable,
00:41:58unbearable, but incredibly unjust unjust and unfair. And that's the
00:42:01the decision that my dad made. Now
00:42:03Now here's the real answer to your your question, though. What you're
00:42:06you're saying. Was it good for our our Constitution? Was it good for
00:42:10for the American people? Was it good good for my dad's legacy? No. On
00:42:12On all counts. It was it was not
00:42:16not it was. It's something that is
00:42:19is easily criticised and for good
00:42:21good reason. And I can't pretend
00:42:24pretend otherwise. All I know is is that I'm grateful that he did
00:42:27did it for me. And all I can say say to anybody out there is that.
00:42:31that. What would you have thought thought of my dad if he did not do
00:42:33do that for me and left me to the
00:42:37the whims of Donald Trump? What would
00:42:39would you think of a dad that would
00:42:42would say, I'll put you in a prison prison controlled by a guy who's
00:42:46who's made it clear that he's willing willing to do just about anything
00:42:50anything to get his way for himself.
00:42:53himself. And so but no, you're right,
00:42:55right, Patty, it is a it's not fair.
00:42:59fair. I'm the only one in the world world that could have gotten what
00:43:02what I got from the only person in in the world who could give it my
00:43:05my father. Did you have that conversation
00:43:08conversation with him using similar similar words that you've shared
00:43:11shared with me just now? Yes. Yeah.
00:43:17Yeah. After we were very, very, very very clear and I want people to understand
00:43:21understand this is that when I say say that my dad and I did not talk
00:43:24talk about a pardon is because of of the fact that there is no way
00:43:28way that you can have those kinds kinds of discussions that would not
00:43:31not become public by virtue of somebody
00:43:34somebody that with the ability to to subpoena him, putting you under
00:43:36under oath asking that we did not not have that discussion until he
00:43:39he granted me the pardon. I know know why he made the decision now
00:43:43now because he's talked about it. it. He's talked about it publicly publicly and we've talked about it
00:43:46it as a family. And the for all the the reasons that I just told you
00:43:50you in. Your drive to share the recovery
00:43:53recovery story, it's a religious religious fervour you have. It's
00:43:57It's taking you into some very unusual unusual spaces with people that you
00:44:01you don't necessarily see eye to to eye with politically. For instance,
00:44:05instance, Nick Fuentes, who was saying
00:44:07saying once he loved Hitler, Candace Candace Owens we're ruled by satanic
00:44:11satanic paedophiles who work for
00:44:12for Israel. And you chosen to be
00:44:16be interviewed by those people because because of the powerful feeling you
00:44:19you have about getting your message message out. Do you think that that
00:44:22that was probably a bridge too far? far? Hunter Biden what I wanted to
00:44:26to do is I wanted to sit down with
00:44:28with each one of them to understand
00:44:30understand them, to understand what
00:44:32what it is that makes them so popular
00:44:35popular and to understand what it it is about them that is human, that
00:44:38that I could find common ground with.
00:44:42with. And you know, sometimes I may may get it wrong and sometimes I
00:44:44I may not push back as much as other other people would want me to. But
00:44:48But I don't think that we have to to stop being afraid to talk to each
00:44:51each other and live and just remain remain in our own silos and, you
00:44:55you know, shouting to the echo chamber,
00:44:57chamber, I think that we have to
00:44:59to have the guts to sit in front front of people and say the things
00:45:03things that we believe and see if if they hold any space for them in
00:45:07in their heart. And I found in each each one that there is. And so I'm
00:45:10I'm going to keep doing it. I asked asked you if I could end by talking
00:45:14talking about your father's health. health. Jill has given some public
00:45:18public comments that he has prostate
00:45:21prostate and bone cancer and will
00:45:23will forever live with cancer. How
00:45:26How has the family taken this diagnosis?
00:45:29diagnosis? It's really tough, Patty.
00:45:30Patty. That's the real answer. My
00:45:36My dad and our family excuse me.
00:45:43me. My dad is. And to this day and
00:45:47and remains the centre of our family,
00:45:50family, not just because he of who
00:45:52who he is as the public person, but
00:45:56but completely because of who he
00:45:57he is to each one of us down to his
00:46:02his grandchildren and his great grandchildren,
00:46:05grandchildren, his great grandchild
00:46:07grandchild he is. He is our rock.
00:46:10rock. He has been there for each
00:46:12each one of us and in, in a way that
00:46:15that is hard for me to even possibly possibly articulate and explain.
00:46:19explain. And whatever you think about about his politics or the decisions
00:46:22decisions that he made, I can tell tell you this he's the best father,
00:46:25father, the best husband, the best best grandfather of anyone that I've
00:46:29I've ever read about, heard about
00:46:31about or even seen in a movie. He
00:46:33He is. And so it's really hard, Patty
00:46:36Patty and it's really sad to watch
00:46:39watch and it's really the only thing thing that I say about my dad, about
00:46:43about his health right now is I wish
00:46:45wish he would complain more because
00:46:47because it's not good. The cancer
00:46:49cancer has spread. Metastasised into
00:46:51into his bones and further, it's
00:46:54it's very painful and it's very debilitating
00:46:58debilitating in many respects. But But he's still out there. He's still
00:47:01still doing his thing that he so
00:47:04so believes in this country. And And as long as he's alive, I promise
00:47:07promise you he's going to continue continue to fight. We have touched
00:47:10touched on the highs and lows of
00:47:12of the Biden family. Very soaring
00:47:14soaring highs and very deep lows.
00:47:17lows. Do you have any idea of what
00:47:19what Joe Biden is most proud of?
00:47:24of? His family. Hunter Biden, thank
00:47:27thank you for talking to Newsnight.
00:47:30Newsnight. Thanks, Patty. Appreciate
00:47:33Appreciate it. Hunter Biden, a son son of former President Joe Biden,
00:47:36Biden, of course, speaking to Paddy Paddy O'Connell from Newsnight. Some
00:47:40Some breaking news to bring you now now from the past few minutes in
00:47:43in the US, the Senate confirmed Todd
00:47:46Todd Blanche as Attorney General General following a weeks long struggle
00:47:49struggle with a handful of wary Republicans.
00:47:52Republicans. The Senate voted 50 50 to 49 to approve him. Blanche.
00:47:56Blanche. President Donald Trump's Trump's former personal attorney
00:47:58attorney has been serving as acting acting Attorney General since April.
00:48:02April. There has been controversy controversy around his nomination, nomination, though, with questions
00:48:05questions about potential conflicts conflicts of interest from representing
00:48:08representing President Trump as well
00:48:10well as his role in the creation
00:48:12creation of a $1.8 billion anti weaponization
00:48:15weaponization fund. Now, in the UK,
00:48:19UK, more victims of the serial sex sex offender Simon Levy are being
00:48:23being urged to come forward after after the Crown Prosecution Service
00:48:26Service and the Metropolitan Police Police admit they failed in their
00:48:28their handling of the case. The 40-year-old 40-year-old was on bail and being
00:48:32being monitored by officers when when he committed a violent rape,
00:48:34rape, and then went on to murder murder two other women in London
00:48:38London last year. Levy was already already known to police but was downgraded
00:48:42downgraded to a medium risk offender offender just before he carried out
00:48:44out the attacks. Our investigations investigations correspondent Daniel
00:48:47Daniel de Simone has this report. report. You're under arrest on suspicion
00:48:50suspicion of murder. OK. You do not not have to say anything. A convicted
00:48:54convicted sex offender being arrested arrested last year by the Met Police
00:48:58Police for a murder he had committed.
00:49:01committed. But he was released without
00:49:02without charge and went on to kill
00:49:05kill again. The two women he murdered
00:49:09murdered were Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo Valencia-Trujillo and Sheryl Wilkins,
00:49:13Wilkins, the families stood behind
00:49:14behind the detective who successfully successfully investigated Levy. We
00:49:18We are appealing to anyone who has has yet to report offences relating
00:49:22relating to Levy to come forward
00:49:25forward reporting rape or sexual sexual assault is daunting. Many Many victims survivors will have
00:49:29have concerns about speaking to the
00:49:30the police, but we want to be clear
00:49:33clear that our priority is their
00:49:36their safety. Failures by police, police, prosecutors and the courts
00:49:39courts left levy free to kill, rape
00:49:41rape and sexual assault. Women in
00:49:44in London, Simon Levy was a registered registered sex offender under active
00:49:48active risk management by the Met Met Police, but he was downgraded
00:49:51downgraded as a risk to women before
00:49:54before the murders. There were key key moments to assess the harm that
00:49:57that this man posed to women by every every justice agency, yet critical
00:50:01critical opportunities to intervene intervene were missed despite him him being a known offender against
00:50:05against women. And now we need we
00:50:07we need answers. Levy sexually assaulted
00:50:10assaulted women at random on busy busy tubes and trains. This woman
00:50:14woman was among the last to be assaulted. assaulted. What was worse than even
00:50:18even the physical assault was finding finding out afterwards that there's there's loads more women and then
00:50:22then finding out he's actually on on bail whilst he's done these things
00:50:25things and that he's raped and murdered murdered women. While carrying out
00:50:28out the train assaults. Levy also
00:50:31also prowled London, targeting vulnerable
00:50:32vulnerable women. He murdered Carmenza
00:50:36Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, a beloved beloved grandmother from Colombia,
00:50:39Colombia, in March last year. He
00:50:41He did so in this derelict block
00:50:43block of flats. Levy's DNA was on
00:50:47on Carmenza. He was arrested but
00:50:51but released. You have been forensically forensically identified as a suspect suspect in the murder of Carmenza
00:50:54Carmenza Trujillo. Because the cause cause of death was unclear. The Met
00:50:58Met failed to actually class it as
00:51:01as a murder. There wasn't a full
00:51:04full investigation, Levy was left left free to kill Sheryl Wilkins
00:51:08Wilkins last summer, he found Sheryl Sheryl on the street, took her behind
00:51:12behind a wall in a car park emerging
00:51:15emerging after he'd murdered her.
00:51:18her. In the Met, finally understood understood the danger posed by Levy.
00:51:21Levy. You're under arrest on suspicion suspicion of murder. OK. What? He'd
00:51:25He'd killed two women and attacked attacked 12 others before the Met
00:51:28Met took him off the streets. So So there were opportunities here,
00:51:32here, I think, to save some of the the victims from their fate. But
00:51:36But Sheryl, I mean, Sheryl, who was was murdered second, she was the
00:51:39the last victim in time of all of of the victims whose cases come to
00:51:42to court, her life could have been
00:51:44been saved. I think so. Carmenza
00:51:47Carmenza and Sheryl were failed by
00:51:49by the system. Murdered by a man
00:51:51man who should never have been free
00:51:53free to harm them. Daniel de Simone,
00:51:56Simone, BBC News. And you can read read more about the conviction of
00:51:59of Simon Levy on the BBC News website.
00:52:02website. President Trump has given given a furious response to a US
00:52:06US appeals court ruling ordering ordering him to stop the construction
00:52:10construction of a $400 million ballroom ballroom at the White House. Mr Trump
00:52:13Trump said the ruling, taken by two two Democrat appointed judges on
00:52:16on the three member court, was politically politically biassed and a national
00:52:20national disgrace. He said he would would take the case to the Supreme Supreme Court. Last year Mr Trump
00:52:24Trump demolished the historic East East Wing of the White House to make make way for the planned ballroom.
00:52:27ballroom. The court said such a massive massive overhaul should have had
00:52:30had the explicit consent of Congress.
00:52:32Congress. Sarah Smith has more from
00:52:35from Washington. Donald Trump still still essentially thinks and behaves
00:52:39behaves like the property developer developer he used to be. One does does one thing. Three months ago,
00:52:42ago, he was proud to show off the the construction site where the East
00:52:45East Wing previously stood. Its sudden
00:52:50sudden demolition last year shocked shocked many and sparked a lawsuit
00:52:53lawsuit aimed at stopping him building building his massive new ballroom.
00:52:56ballroom. Today he's been told he he does not have the authority to
00:52:59to dramatically alter this historic historic landmark. The ballroom has
00:53:03has become something of an obsession obsession for President Trump. He
00:53:06He carries pictures of how he wants
00:53:08wants it to look on Air Force One. A lot of people are giving it
00:53:11it really good reviews. Some are are giving it reviews without even even seeing the building because
00:53:14because this just came out. After After a gunman caused them to be
00:53:17be evacuated from the White House House Correspondents Dinner in April.
00:53:20April. He argued that showed the the need for a secure ballroom. It's
00:53:24It's drone proof. It's bullet-proof bullet-proof glass. We need the ballroom. ballroom. That's why Secret Service.
00:53:27Service. That's why the military military are demanding. It today, today, he complained on social media,
00:53:31media, the military and Secret Service Service are viewing this horrendous,
00:53:35horrendous, politically motivated motivated and unlawful ruling as
00:53:38as a national security threat. There There is a state of the art military
00:53:42military bunker being built underneath underneath the ballroom. Work on
00:53:44on that is allowed to continue. You You can see building work is still
00:53:48still going on in the ballroom today today with these cranes that are
00:53:51are operating above the White House. House. And President Trump's got
00:53:53got two weeks in which he can carry carry on while he appeals to the
00:53:57the Supreme Court, hoping they will will rule that he can finish the
00:54:00the construction. If that fails, fails, though, he can go to Congress Congress and ask them to vote to
00:54:04to give him the authority to finish finish the ballroom. But it's far
00:54:07far from certain that he would actually actually win that vote. There is
00:54:11is some mystery about what's going going on behind the scenes with the
00:54:15the funding for this project. President President Trump has raised hundreds
00:54:18hundreds of millions of dollars from from private donors, but won't tell tell us how much they've given or
00:54:22or what he may have promised them
00:54:23them in return. Oh, that's so great.
00:54:28great. The disastrous refurbishment refurbishment of Washington's reflecting
00:54:30reflecting pool has become a deeply deeply embarrassing flop for Donald
00:54:34Donald Trump. Now he has to ask the the courts or Congress to let him
00:54:38him complete his renovation of the
00:54:39the most famous house in America,
00:54:42America, Sarah Smith, BBC News Washington. Washington. Now to the lengths that
00:54:45that marketing executives will go go to grab our attention. Have a
00:54:49a look at this stunt. A man has taken taken up temporary residence in a
00:54:52a living room built into a billboard billboard in Los Angeles. It's part
00:54:56part of a promo campaign for Netflix's
00:54:58Netflix's new sci-fi thriller The The Last House. The film follows
00:55:01follows a family of four who suddenly suddenly find themselves sealed inside
00:55:05inside their home with no way out
00:55:09out and an iconic piece of football. football. World Cup history is going
00:55:13going up for auction. The ball that that Diego Maradona used to score
00:55:16score his infamous Hand of God goal
00:55:19goal during Argentina's win over over England in the 1986 World Cup
00:55:22Cup has gone on display ahead of of the sale later this month. It's
00:55:26It's in good condition, isn't it?
00:55:27it? It's expected to sell for around
00:55:31around $10 million. If you've got.
00:55:32got. I think it's easily the most
00:55:36most historic ball in the realm of
00:55:38of soccer. The goal, the both of
00:55:42of the goals scored are just so iconic,
00:55:45iconic, so memorable. The ball was
00:55:48was kept by the head official from from that match and it stayed in
00:55:52in his possession for several decades.
00:55:54decades. And in recent years it was
00:55:57was sold to a private collector. collector. And we are representing
00:56:01representing that collector here here in this auction. Could be yours
00:56:04yours for a mere $10 million.
00:56:06Stay with us here
00:59:57MUSIC
01:00:13Live from London. This is BBC
01:00:15News. More scrutiny on Fifa president
01:00:18president Gianni Infantino as allegations allegations emerge in the Daily Telegraph
01:00:21Telegraph that a woman he had an an alleged relationship with was
01:00:24was given a six figure severance severance payment while he was general
01:00:28general secretary of Uefa. Fifa says says the story is categorically untrue.
01:00:32untrue. At least three people, including including a child, have been killed
01:00:35killed in overnight Russian attacks attacks near the Ukrainian capital
01:00:38capital Kyiv. The attacks come as
01:00:40as President Zelensky is visiting visiting Serbia, a traditional ally
01:00:44ally of Russia, as he seeks to bolster bolster support for Ukraine's war
01:00:47war effort. Counter-Terrorism police police looking into the death of
01:00:51of former MP Ann Widdecombe say they've they've reopened an investigation
01:00:54investigation into an attempted burglary
01:00:56burglary in London last year. Spain Spain imposes border