Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:10Live from London. This is BBC
00:00:13News. Fifa says its boss Gianni Infantino
00:00:17Infantino strongly denies claims claims that Uefa paid off a woman
00:00:20woman described as his lover when
00:00:21when he was head of European football's
00:00:24football's governing body. At least least three people, including a child,
00:00:27child, have been killed in overnight overnight Russian attacks near the
00:00:30the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Oman
00:00:33Oman and Iran have said their negotiations negotiations over new arrangements
00:00:36arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz Hormuz have been positive and constructive.
00:00:39constructive. As another ship is
00:00:41is reportedly struck in the waterway,
00:00:44waterway, Spain imposes border controls controls against Italy as a row over
00:00:47over immigration grows. Washington
00:00:51Washington pledges $1 billion in in security assistance to Colombia
00:00:55Colombia after Abelardo de la Espriella Espriella is sworn in as president, president, promising a hard line
00:00:58line approach to drugs and crime.
00:01:01crime. The US Senate has confirmed confirmed President Trump's former
00:01:04former lawyer Todd Blanche, as the the new Attorney General, despite
00:01:07despite concerns about the independence
00:01:09independence of the Justice Department.
00:01:20Department. Hello, I'm Samantha Simmonds, Simmonds, European football's governing governing body. Uefa has confirmed
00:01:24confirmed that a payment was made
00:01:26made to a departing member of staff
00:01:28staff in 2016, after the Daily Telegraph Telegraph reported that the woman
00:01:31woman was Gianni Infantino's lover lover at the time. The current Fifa
00:01:35Fifa boss was UEFA's general secretary. secretary. Uefa says the payment,
00:01:38payment, which also included covering covering the fees for a course at
00:01:41at a business school, met its rules rules at the time, but they have
00:01:45have since been tightened. Leigh
00:01:47Leigh Milner reports. Gianni Infantino
00:01:51Infantino was already under pressure pressure over his future as Fifa
00:01:53Fifa president. Now he's facing fresh
00:01:56fresh questions over claims a woman woman he allegedly had an affair
00:01:59affair with was given a six figure figure severance payment by Uefa.
00:02:03Uefa. The Daily Telegraph says the the alleged relationship happened
00:02:06happened while Infantino, who is
00:02:08is married, was UEFA's general secretary. secretary. He strongly denies it.
00:02:12it. His spokesman told the paper
00:02:14paper the claims are categorically
00:02:16categorically untrue and says there there was never a complaint about
00:02:19about his behaviour. In a statement, statement, Uefa said it was aware
00:02:23aware of the allegations and can can confirm a departure payment was
00:02:26was made to the individual in question, question, coupled with the payment
00:02:30payment of fees for an MBA course course at a local business school.
00:02:33school. The payment was in line with with the regulations that existed
00:02:37existed for departing staff at the
00:02:38the time. This comes after calls
00:02:41calls for Infantino to resign over over a completely separate controversy.
00:02:45controversy. He wanted to sell stakes stakes in the World Cup to private
00:02:49private investors. That caused a a huge backlash and the plan was
00:02:53was eventually dropped. Gianni Infantino Infantino has since apologised for
00:02:56for what he called errors, but he
00:02:59he hasn't stepped down. He's been
00:03:01been busy trying to strengthen his his relationships with officials
00:03:04officials and politicians who back back him, like here in Colombia.
00:03:07Colombia. He's had the support from from senior figures at Fifa and from
00:03:11from football authorities in Africa Africa and South America. But with
00:03:15with his future still in question,
00:03:16question, the BBC's South America America correspondent Ione Wells
00:03:19Wells later asked him if he would
00:03:21would step down. Infantino Will you
00:03:24you resign after your plan to sell sell off part of Fifa failed? A word
00:03:27word for BBC News. What is your response
00:03:29response to Europe? Who say they'll
00:03:31they'll boycott the World Cup? Infantino.
00:03:35Infantino. For now he remains in in the job. But these latest claims
00:03:39claims mean the questions around
00:03:40around his future aren't going away.
00:03:43away. Leigh Milner BBC News. Well,
00:03:46Well, let's speak to Henry Winter Winter now. He's a football journalist
00:03:49journalist who has been following following the Infantino saga. Henry,
00:03:52Henry, welcome to you. It really really is a saga. It's been going going on for a few weeks now. And
00:03:56And where does these latest revelations revelations leave his position, do
00:04:00do you think. Hi, Samantha. Well,
00:04:02Well, he strongly denies them. As
00:04:04As he pointed out in the Fifa statement
00:04:07statement last night. And we have
00:04:09have to start with that. But what
00:04:12what it is is the pressure is ramping
00:04:14ramping up and whether the people people within Fifa, I mean not everyone
00:04:18everyone in Fifa, which is an organisation organisation of 960 people and obviously
00:04:22obviously there are people at the the top, whether it's the Fifa Council Council or members of the management
00:04:26management board who will have their their own views on him as an individual
00:04:29individual and also the plan as you you highlight the World Cup sell
00:04:32sell off plan, and they will have
00:04:34have issues with that. So the pressure
00:04:37pressure will ratchet up and it will will come externally from the media,
00:04:41media, it will come from Uefa and and it will come from within. And
00:04:44And it's just a question of how much
00:04:46much pressure and scrutiny he is is himself is prepared to take or
00:04:50or whether he just says no, enough enough is enough and walk away. I
00:04:53I mean, so far he's shown little
00:04:56little inclination of that, but these these headlines, which obviously obviously he strongly denies, can't
00:05:00can't be easy to live with. To what what extent do you think he has managed
00:05:03managed to shore up support? Because Because we have had various countries
00:05:06countries like Mexico, like Argentina Argentina saying they support him.
00:05:09him. How important is that? Well, Well, it was no surprise when he
00:05:13he went for his crisis meeting. It
00:05:15It was in Rabat, Morocco, in Africa,
00:05:17Africa, which is the heartland of of his support. 54 member associations
00:05:21associations of CAF. That's a quarter quarter of the 211 member associations
00:05:25associations of Fifa. So very important. important. You know, he does have
00:05:28have support around the world and and there was support in certain
00:05:31certain parts for this plan of his
00:05:35his because $40 million is a lot
00:05:36lot of money to quite a few national national associations throughout
00:05:40throughout the world, less so in in Europe, which obviously got the
00:05:43the Wealthy League's wealthier countries. countries. But yeah, I mean, there
00:05:47there absolutely is support for him. him. But the clock is ticking because
00:05:51because we're now within four weeks weeks of the first Fifa tournament,
00:05:55tournament, which is the women's
00:05:56women's under 20s in Poland. And
00:05:59And obviously there is this Uefa,
00:06:01Uefa, this European threat of withdrawing
00:06:03withdrawing if effectively he doesn't doesn't go. So what is going to happen,
00:06:07happen, do you think in all likelihood
00:06:10likelihood with that threat, will will Uefa follow through? How do
00:06:13do you predict a saga? I mean it's it's you know it's a giant slalom.
00:06:17slalom. It zigzags each way every
00:06:18every day. Statements, counter statements,
00:06:21statements, headlines stories more more scrutiny, more pressure. I mean,
00:06:24mean, you wait for a very much standing standing firm on this. I think it's
00:06:28it's going to be the crunch over over the under 20s. And then of course
00:06:31course we move into the Women's World World Cup qualifiers in October.
00:06:35October. The senior Lionesses will
00:06:37will be playing in that. So I think think when it actually starts hitting
00:06:40hitting the sport, I think people people within Fifa may just have
00:06:43have a quiet word and say Johnny, Johnny, time to go. We will see won't
00:06:46won't we? As you say, the clock is is ticking. Henry Winter. Thank you.
00:06:50you. Pleasure. To Ukraine now. And
00:06:53And three people, including a child, child, have been killed overnight overnight in Russian attacks near
00:06:57near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Kyiv. It happened in the east of
00:07:00of the city. And witnesses say residential residential buildings and a fuel
00:07:03fuel tank were hit. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Ukraine's military said its drone
00:07:06drone struck two Russian oil refineries refineries as part of a long running
00:07:10running strategy to disrupt Russia's Russia's oil production, which it it says are being used to finance
00:07:14finance its war in Ukraine from Kyiv.
00:07:16Kyiv. Dan Johnson sent this report.
00:07:20report. This is the level of destruction destruction Russian drones are inflicting
00:07:24inflicting on Ukrainian family homes. homes. They struck after midnight
00:07:27midnight here, taking the lives of
00:07:28of a three-year-old boy and his grandparents,
00:07:32grandparents, his brother and their their parents were injured, along
00:07:35along with a neighbour who tried
00:07:36tried to save them. Ukrainian prosecutors prosecutors say this could amount
00:07:40amount to a war crime. Svetlana lives
00:07:44lives next door. My husband rushed
00:07:46rushed to get water to put out the the fire, but that didn't help. The
00:07:50The neighbours rushed out trying trying to rescue a small child but
00:07:53but they couldn't find the child.
00:07:59child. This is where the sacrifices sacrifices of Ukrainian soldiers
00:08:03soldiers are commemorated. But recent recent strikes have highlighted the
00:08:05the ongoing risk to ordinary people people because Ukraine says it just
00:08:09just doesn't have what it needs to
00:08:11to defend its skies. The other key key priority here is pushing for
00:08:15for tougher sanctions against Russia.
00:08:20Russia. And so President Zelensky
00:08:21Zelensky is for the first time visiting
00:08:24visiting Serbia, a traditional Russian Russian ally, one of the few countries
00:08:27countries not to impose sanctions.
00:08:30sanctions. In a time of war, we value
00:08:33value and are deeply grateful for for the help Ukraine receives from
00:08:35from other countries and other nations.
00:08:39nations. Ukraine has again been targeting targeting Russian oil facilities
00:08:42facilities in the latest round of of attacks. Both sides have exchanged
00:08:46exchanged in this increasingly dangerous dangerous phase of the war. Don Johnson,
00:08:50Johnson, BBC News Kyiv. Oman has
00:08:53has joined Iran in saying that their their negotiations over new arrangements
00:08:56arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz
00:08:58Hormuz have been positive and constructive. constructive. But the Omani foreign
00:09:01foreign Ministry warned against attacks attacks on ships passing through through the waterway, saying that
00:09:05that they not only broke international international law but threatened
00:09:08threatened the security of the region. region. Iran has continued to fire
00:09:11fire at vessels using a different different route from the one it is
00:09:14is authorised. It's authorised even even as it's been negotiating with
00:09:18with Oman. Well, with me now is Siavash Siavash Ardalan from BBC Persian.
00:09:21Persian. Siavash, welcome to you. you. Exactly a week ago we were talking talking about this very thing and
00:09:25and thinking that a deal had been been done or there were suggestions suggestions that there had been a
00:09:28a week on. Are we any closer? And
00:09:30And if so, do we know the exact details?
00:09:33details? We don't. In fact, Iranians, Iranians, in all fairness, had said
00:09:36said that the talks are close to to completion and it was the way
00:09:39way the US had construed and presented presented these talks as if everything
00:09:43everything is now resolved. That's That's why Donald Trump is holding holding back the Strait of Hormuz
00:09:47Hormuz will be open and so on. That That gave that sense of urgency or
00:09:50or as if something imminent was about
00:09:52about to happen. Now both Iran and
00:09:55and Oman have confirmed these talks talks are taking place. These talks
00:09:58talks have been positive and they they are probably close to completion.
00:10:01completion. But it's just how the the US will respond to this. What
00:10:04What the Iranians want is that the
00:10:06the US goes back to that memorandum memorandum of understanding, which,
00:10:10which, as you remember, was very
00:10:12very favourable to Iran. Iran then
00:10:14then alleged that the US reneged reneged on those promises and attacked
00:10:18attacked Iran again. So what Iran
00:10:19Iran is asking is not just a return
00:10:22return to that MOU, but also a more
00:10:25more a higher figure in terms of of the compensation that it's asking
00:10:29asking for initially at the time
00:10:30time of the ceasefire, Iran had asked asked for $300 billion for the war
00:10:34war reconstruction, and that was was supposed to come through a reconstruction reconstruction fund that different
00:10:38different countries in the region region would contribute towards. towards. They haven't given a figure,
00:10:42figure, but when they say compensation, compensation, they're probably talking talking about the damage inflicted
00:10:46inflicted on Iran after that cease
00:10:48cease fire broke and the US started started carrying out those massive
00:10:52massive attacks on Iran's civilian
00:10:55civilian infrastructure as well as as military targets. Meanwhile, shipping
00:10:59shipping still at a standstill through through the Strait of Hormuz and
00:11:01and pretty much and this these talks
00:11:04talks don't address the wider issues issues that the US and Israel went
00:11:07went to war with Iran in the first first place about. Yeah, those issues
00:11:11issues were in that memorandum of of understanding. So including the
00:11:14the Strait of Hormuz. So Iran is
00:11:17is now with Oman. It's reached at at least as far as the Strait of
00:11:21of Hormuz is concerned, the kind kind of arrangements they want to
00:11:24to have if the US accepts these arrangements,
00:11:26arrangements, then at least the issue issue of the Strait of Hormuz will
00:11:29will be solved. It will be open. open. But I really doubt that Iran
00:11:32Iran would accept this before the the US lifts that naval blockade,
00:11:36blockade, which would then allow allow Iran also to start trading
00:11:39trading with the world and getting getting some income. And then the
00:11:42the issues of sanctions relief and and the nuclear issue. And of course,
00:11:46course, the unfreezing of Iranian Iranian assets, which itself amounts
00:11:48amounts to tens of billions of dollars.
00:11:50dollars. OK. Thank you to Spain now,
00:11:54now, which has brought in border border checks on people travelling travelling from Italy, escalating
00:11:58escalating a migration row between
00:11:59between the two EU countries. Madrid's Madrid's month long suspension applies
00:12:03applies not just to citizens of third third countries arriving from Italy,
00:12:06Italy, but also to Italians themselves.
00:12:09themselves. Spain was angered by by Italy's response to last week's
00:12:11week's sudden influx of tens of thousands thousands of would be migrants into
00:12:15into the Spanish territory of Ceuta
00:12:17Ceuta on Morocco's coast. Italy promptly
00:12:19promptly imposed border restrictions restrictions on third country travellers
00:12:22travellers from Spain, which will will last until at least mid-August.
00:12:26mid-August. Let's go live to Rome Rome in our Europe, correspondent correspondent Sarah Rainsford. And
00:12:29And it's quite the diplomatic row row which is impacting on ordinary
00:12:32ordinary people now, isn't it, Sara?
00:12:35Sara? Yeah that's right. This began, began, as you said just over a week
00:12:38week ago, and it's definitely escalated
00:12:41escalated overnight with Spain retaliating
00:12:43retaliating for the Italian restrictions.
00:12:45restrictions. The measures themselves
00:12:48themselves involve essentially passengers passengers who are arriving into
00:12:52into Spain from Italy being met from from planes and from boats. If there
00:12:56there are any cruise liners by extra extra police officers now they're
00:12:59they're being met at the terminal terminal before they reach the terminal
00:13:03terminal itself, rather than being being taken to passport control. control. But there are now spots
00:13:06spots checks being carried out. I I understand from the Spanish police
00:13:10police that they're inspecting around around about 10% of the passengers passengers on every flight coming
00:13:14coming in, but we're talking about about dozens of flights, I think think around about 200 flights from
00:13:18from Italy to Spain today alone. alone. We are at the height of tourist
00:13:20tourist season, of course. So this this is happening, this diplomatic
00:13:24diplomatic escalation, if you like, like, right? When there is the largest
00:13:28largest passenger flow between the the two countries and of course, course, passengers from Spain coming
00:13:31coming to Italy are facing similar similar checks here. And so where
00:13:35where is this likely to go at the the moment it's for a month. And
00:13:39And is the suggestion is the thinking
00:13:41thinking that will be it. It. Well
00:13:44Well yeah. I mean there's a debate debate going on a political fight
00:13:48fight in public. I'm not quite sure sure what negotiations going on behind behind the scenes, but certainly
00:13:52certainly this step taken by Spain Spain came because it gave Italy
00:13:55Italy an ultimatum. It said, look, look, lift the measures that you've you've implemented. They are politically
00:13:59politically motivated. It is scare scare mongering. There is no security
00:14:03security threat to Italy from the the fact that tens of thousands of
00:14:07of Moroccan primarily migrants, entered entered Ceuta because they've almost
00:14:10almost all of them gone back. And And anyway, none of them reached reached the European mainland. So
00:14:14So Spain was furious at the Italian Italian reaction and it has now retaliated
00:14:18retaliated because Italy said it it wouldn't accept ultimatums, it
00:14:20it wouldn't change its position and and that the measures in Italy will
00:14:23will stay in place for at least a a couple of weeks. So there's a big
00:14:27big debate over how long the two two sides will keep this up. Certainly
00:14:31Certainly Italy is pointing to social social media rumours suggesting there
00:14:34there may be another surge of migrants
00:14:37migrants trying to swim into Ceuta Ceuta on the 15th of August. And
00:14:40And Italy is pointing to that saying, saying, look, the security threat, threat, the terror threat they're
00:14:44they're saying is severe at the moment. moment. So we're going to keep the
00:14:47the measures in place. Spain is simply simply saying this is all politics
00:14:50politics and we will retaliate. So So long as Italy continues to implement
00:14:54implement these restrictions. So So who knows where this will go. go. But certainly I think it does
00:14:58does point to a real serious rift rift at the heart of Europe, frankly,
00:15:02frankly, about how illegal migration migration is dealt with very different
00:15:05different positions from the left left and the right of politics here here on the continent. OK. Sarah
00:15:09Sarah Rainsford. Thank you. And staying
00:15:12staying with Spain, hundreds of people people protested in the island of
00:15:15of Mallorca against mass tourism tourism in the Balearic Islands.
00:15:19Islands. Protesters said locals are are finding it increasingly difficult
00:15:22difficult to access housing and that that mass tourism is forcing traditional
00:15:25traditional businesses to close. close. Spain is the world's second second most visited country after
00:15:29after France and welcomed more than than 96 million tourists last year,
00:15:33year, the government estimates that that tourists will contribute $73
00:15:37$73 billion to the economy this summer.
00:15:39summer. That's up 10% from the same same period last year, reinforcing
00:15:42reinforcing tourism's role as a key
00:15:44key driver of Spain's economic growth.
00:15:48growth. The United States has pledged pledged $1 billion in security assistance
00:15:52assistance to Colombia after the
00:15:53the inauguration of its new right right wing president, Abelardo de
00:15:57de la Espriella. In his fiery maiden
00:15:59maiden speech, Mr de la Espriella Espriella pledged to crush armed
00:16:03armed insurgents, rebuild the country
00:16:05country and defend democracy by reason
00:16:07reason or by force. Colombia has has significant natural resources,
00:16:11resources, including substantial substantial oil reserves, but is
00:16:13is also home to violent drug trafficking trafficking organisations and is
00:16:17is the world's leading producer of of cocaine. Colombia's new president
00:16:20president is seen as an ally of President President Trump and has pledged to
00:16:24to be forceful and decisive against against crime. Our global affairs
00:16:27affairs reporter Mimi Swaby is with with me now. Welcome to you. Tell
00:16:30Tell us a little bit more about the the new president and what he's pledged
00:16:33pledged to do. In his opening speech,
00:16:36speech, his maiden speech made at at a military base near Cali. He
00:16:39He had some very fiery rhetoric, rhetoric, all centring around his
00:16:43his all out war to relentlessly defeat
00:16:46defeat so-called narco terrorism. terrorism. Now, Abelardo de la Espriella
00:16:49Espriella was a very successful ex-lawyer
00:16:53ex-lawyer who actually defended drug drug trafficking paramilitaries before
00:16:56before he entered politics. Now he's
00:16:59he's vowed a very sharp break with with his leftist predecessor, Gustavo
00:17:03Gustavo Petro, replacing peace talks
00:17:06talks with relentlessly crushing crushing armed insurgents, rebuilding rebuilding the country and really
00:17:09really overhauling the state with with lots of changes in place. It'll
00:17:13It'll be interesting to see how many
00:17:16many of these very kind of Iron Fist
00:17:17Fist policies he's able to push through
00:17:20through some he can push through
00:17:22through a via decree, but many of of his proposals will require backing
00:17:26backing from a divided Congress in in Colombia. So they will perhaps
00:17:29perhaps have to be watered down to to be pushed through. He is really
00:17:33really come onto the stage, though,
00:17:35though, with very strong warnings
00:17:37warnings to armed groups in the area.
00:17:40area. Interestingly, he had his oath oath office in Cali, not Bogota.
00:17:44Bogota. Now Cali is an area where
00:17:46where illegal armed groups have a
00:17:48a lot of influence. It's a very volatile volatile area, he said in this speech
00:17:52speech as well and reiterated today today on social media that Colombia
00:17:55Colombia is entering a new era the
00:17:58the era of a tiger. Now he's given given himself a very much a self-appointed self-appointed nickname, referring
00:18:01referring to himself as a tiger. tiger. And he said that the state
00:18:04state is going to use forceful, forceful forceful and decisive action against
00:18:08against crime. He's seen images shared shared throughout this campaign of
00:18:12of a fanged tiger himself as that that tiger. And he warned that the
00:18:15the tiger knows how to bite. So some
00:18:18some very clear warnings to armed armed groups and a very strong approach,
00:18:22approach, which we really heard in in that speech. And the US, meanwhile,
00:18:26meanwhile, has pledged $1 billion billion in security assistance to
00:18:29to Colombia. Is that about fighting
00:18:30fighting the drug war that. $1 billion
00:18:34billion billion in security assistance assistance will partly go to fighting
00:18:37fighting drugs? They are very mainly
00:18:40mainly produced in Colombia before before heading through other countries
00:18:42countries to the US. So it will really
00:18:44really target the production as well well as the transportation, but it
00:18:48it will also target things as illegal
00:18:50illegal immigration. And we saw that
00:18:52that from the White House saying saying this package, this funding
00:18:56funding will help closer co-ordination co-ordination on border security.
00:18:59security. They've also said things
00:19:02things like pro growth agenda, which
00:19:04which this is something they've called called this new administration's
00:19:07administration's outlook is going going to be very useful with trade
00:19:10trade going forward. So it's not
00:19:12not just a alliance very strong alliance
00:19:15alliance on drug trafficking, narco narco terrorism as they call it,
00:19:18it, or armed groups. But it'll also also be on things like illegal immigration
00:19:21immigration and then positive things things like trade. But President
00:19:24President Trump has been a strong
00:19:27strong enforcer, endorser of de la
00:19:30la Espriella from the moment he stepped stepped onto the podium vying for
00:19:33for this presidency. And that seems, seems, though it will continue in
00:19:36in a very large sum of money. Day
00:19:38Day one as he takes on this new job.
00:19:40job. OK, Mimi, thank you. The authorities
00:19:44authorities in Thailand say a 12-year-old 12-year-old girl has died from her
00:19:47her injuries following a mass shooting shooting at a school on Friday. She
00:19:50She is the first child confirmed confirmed to have died in the shooting
00:19:53shooting near Bangkok. Eight people, people, including five teachers, teachers, were killed when a 14-year-old
00:19:5714-year-old boy shot two of his grandparents grandparents and then opened fire
00:20:00fire at his school before taking
00:20:02taking his own life. An overnight
00:20:06overnight sitting of the Republican Republican controlled US Senate has has narrowly approved President Trump's
00:20:10Trump's former lawyer, Todd Blanche, Blanche, as Attorney General. Mr
00:20:14Mr Blanche, who has been acting Attorney Attorney General since April, was
00:20:17was approved by 50 votes to 49 after
00:20:20after several Republican senators senators relented following weeks
00:20:23weeks of uncertainty. Democrats, Democrats, who unanimously, unanimously
00:20:26unanimously opposed his appointment, appointment, have questioned if he's he's the right fit for the role,
00:20:30role, particularly with his ties ties to President Trump. There was
00:20:33was this exchange in particular during during his Senate hearing in July
00:20:36July that appeared to underscore underscore those concerns. Are you
00:20:40you and President Trump friends? friends? I'm his lawyer. Was his
00:20:44his lawyer, and now I'm the deputy deputy Attorney General. So I met
00:20:47met him as his criminal defence attorney. attorney. I'm not sure there's very
00:20:50very many people who have ever had had a criminal defence attorney who
00:20:54who calls that person their friend.
00:20:57friend. I now have a well, let me.
00:20:59me. Put it this way. Are you enemies? enemies? No, we're not enemies at
00:21:02at all. No. I go live to Washington Washington and join our White House
00:21:06House reporter Bernd Debusmann. Hi, Hi, Ben. Good to see you. Tell us us a bit more about who Todd Blanche
00:21:10Blanche is and why there's been so
00:21:12so much controversy over his appointment.
00:21:16appointment. Well, I think more than than anything, his proximity with
00:21:19with President Trump over the years years as his personal attorney had
00:21:21had led to some concern even among among Senate Republicans. But much
00:21:25much more recently, there was a lot
00:21:27lot of questions about how Mr Blanche
00:21:31Blanche handled the $1.8 billion billion anti weaponization fund that that the administration said would
00:21:34would be used to compensate alleged
00:21:37alleged victims of judicial persecution persecution in previous administrations,
00:21:41administrations, as well as his handling handling of the Epstein files. And
00:21:44And I think collectively, even among among some of President Trump's political
00:21:48political allies, those two things things really did raise a lot of
00:21:51of alarm. And that's what led to
00:21:52to this very, very razor thin vote.
00:21:55vote. The man who actually cast the the deciding vote, Bill Cassidy,
00:21:59Cassidy, is a frequent critic of
00:22:01of President Trump's. But he said said that he just wasn't sure that
00:22:05that if President Trump would end end up nominating someone who he
00:22:08he sees as a worst option. So I think
00:22:10think even there, you saw quite a a lot of even though the vote was
00:22:14was successful, you saw quite a lot lot of dissent from within the Republican
00:22:17Republican Party before the vote vote took place. And tell us a little
00:22:20little bit more about the role of
00:22:21of Attorney General, what it means
00:22:24means and what his appointment could
00:22:26could mean legally in the country.
00:22:29country. Well, he's very much the
00:22:32the become now the top law enforcement enforcement officer in the United
00:22:35United States. It's an enormously
00:22:37enormously influential position overseeing overseeing the really vast Department
00:22:41Department of Justice and all the the investigations that it carries
00:22:43carries out. And that's part of the
00:22:46the concern many Democrats had pointed pointed to him and said that they
00:22:50they were concerned that he would
00:22:52would essentially serve as the tool
00:22:55tool of the Trump administration administration to go after perceived
00:22:58perceived political opponents in
00:22:59in the future. But it is a very important
00:23:02important role in which he does oversee
00:23:05oversee essentially the entire federal federal law enforcement bureaucracy.
00:23:09bureaucracy. And how long will he
00:23:10he be in that role for? Well, at
00:23:14at the very least until there's if if there's another administration,
00:23:18administration, then it would be be up to them to nominate a new one.
00:23:21one. So for at least the next two two and a half years or so, and then
00:23:25then depending on who comes to the the White House following the 2020
00:23:292020 election, it may well be that that there is a different Attorney
00:23:32Attorney General. It's a position position that comes and goes most
00:23:35most often with changes in administration.
00:23:37administration. OK, Ben. Thank you.
00:23:40you. Jorge Messi, the father of football football star Lionel Messi, died
00:23:44died on Friday night at the age of of 68. His family say he died at
00:23:48at a medical clinic in the Argentine Argentine city of Rosario after a
00:23:51a long illness. Jorge closely accompany
00:23:53accompany his son Lionel throughout throughout his career, beginning
00:23:56beginning with his early years at at Barcelona, he acted as a crucial
00:24:00crucial pillar of support and for
00:24:01for several years served as his representative.
00:24:06representative. An iconic piece of of football World Cup history is
00:24:09is going up for auction. The ball
00:24:12ball that Diego Maradona used to
00:24:14to score his infamous Hand of God
00:24:17God goal during Argentina's win over
00:24:19over England in the 1986 World Cup,
00:24:21Cup, has gone on display ahead of of the sale later this month. It's
00:24:25It's expected to sell for around
00:24:29around $10 million. I think it's
00:24:31it's easily the most historic ball
00:24:34ball in the realm of soccer. The
00:24:37The goal, the both of the goals scored
00:24:40scored are just so iconic, so memorable.
00:24:44memorable. The ball was kept by the
00:24:46the head official from that match
00:24:48match and it stayed in his possession possession for several decades. And
00:24:52And in recent years it was sold to
00:24:55to a private collector. And we are
00:24:57are representing that collector here
00:24:59here in this auction. As one expensive expensive football. Now the biggest
00:25:03biggest celebration of Irish music music and culture in the world has
00:25:06has been taking place in Northern Northern Ireland. The Fleadh Festival
00:25:09Festival is being held in Belfast Belfast for the first time. Nearly
00:25:13Nearly a million people are expected expected to attend the event, which
00:25:15which is projected to give the city
00:25:19city a £53 million economic boost.
00:25:23boost. Now let's leave you with these these pictures of a rather unusual
00:25:27unusual marketing stunt a man has has taken up temporary residence
00:25:31residence inside a living room built built into a billboard in Los Angeles.
00:25:34Angeles. It's part of a promotional promotional campaign for Netflix's
00:25:37Netflix's new sci-fi thriller The The Last House. The film follows
00:25:41follows a family of four who suddenly
00:25:43suddenly find themselves sealed inside inside their home with no way out.
00:25:47out. That really is most people's people's idea of a nightmare, isn't
00:25:50isn't it? Do stay with us here on
00:25:51on BBC News. Thanks for watching.
00:29:55latest news wherever you are. Business
00:29:56Business on BBC News. Make the connection.
00:30:07connection. MUSIC MUSIC
00:30:12This is BBC News. The headlines. Fifa says its boss Gianni
00:30:16Gianni Infantino strongly denies denies claims that Uefa paid off
00:30:20off a woman described as his lover lover when he was head of European
00:30:23European football's governing body. body. At least three people, including
00:30:26including a child, have been killed killed in overnight Russian attacks attacks near the Ukrainian capital,
00:30:30capital, Kyiv. Moscow has significantly significantly upped its attacks on
00:30:33on the Ukrainian capital in recent recent months. Police are appealing
00:30:37appealing for anyone who believes believes they may have been a victim
00:30:39victim of the convicted sex offender offender and murderer, Simon Levy
00:30:43Levy to come forward. Counter-Terrorism Counter-Terrorism police are investigating
00:30:47investigating the death of former former MP Ann Widdecombe have reopened
00:30:50reopened an inquiry into a report report of an attempted burglary at
00:30:53at a London address in April last
00:30:56last year, and it's the largest celebration celebration of Irish music and culture culture in