Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:13Live from Washington. This is
00:00:15BBC News. Tehran and Washington exchanged
00:00:18exchanged new warnings as their months
00:00:20months long stalemate threatens to
00:00:22to spiral back into open conflict. conflict. Ukraine attacks Moscow
00:00:26Moscow with hundreds of drones hitting
00:00:28hitting a major oil facility and
00:00:30and apartment blocks. And Germany's Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz
00:00:33Merz calls state election results results a disaster, but insists that
00:00:37that he'll stay on. Helena Humphrey.
00:00:48Humphrey. Good to have you with us. us. Iran says that it's received
00:00:52received indications that the United United States is preparing to resume resume military operations against
00:00:56against it. Tehran gave no basis basis for that assessment, but said
00:00:59said that any American attack would would trigger retaliation on the
00:01:02the US side, President Trump told told Fox News that Iran's leader
00:01:05leader should make a deal, quote, quote, rot economically or be wiped
00:01:09wiped out. It's not the first time time that Trump has threatened severe
00:01:12severe action against Iran, but it it does come at a time of heightened
00:01:16heightened tension in the wider Middle Middle East. The US State Department
00:01:20Department warned that fighting between
00:01:21between Saudi Arabia and Iran backed backed Houthis could escalate rapidly
00:01:25rapidly after a missile attack targeted targeted Riyadh for the first time
00:01:28time since the Yemen conflict resumed. resumed. The Houthis say Saudi Arabia
00:01:32Arabia has carried out 28 strikes
00:01:34strikes against them in the past
00:01:37past 24 hours, the latest exchanges exchanges follow rapid Houthi advances
00:01:41advances in southwest Yemen, taking taking the strategic port of Mokha
00:01:44Mokha and strengthening their ability
00:01:46ability to pressure the Bab al-Mandab al-Mandab Strait. However, the Houthi
00:01:49Houthi leadership has looked to reassure reassure the United States that it
00:01:52it will not close the waterway and
00:01:54and only target Saudi assets. Recently,
00:01:57Recently, there was an American communication communication through the Omani mediator.
00:02:01mediator. If we would target America America in Bab al-Mandab, we confirm
00:02:04confirm that we will not target America America or any other country in the
00:02:07the strait with the sole exception exception of the Saudi enemy. Well,
00:02:11Well, the threat of renewed hostilities hostilities between Tehran and Washington
00:02:14Washington comes as new data reveals reveals the damage that the Iranian
00:02:18Iranian economy has suffered since since the war began. Figures from
00:02:21from the Statistical Centre of Iran Iran show the country's gross national
00:02:25national product dropped by 10.1%
00:02:2810.1% compared to the same period
00:02:29period last year amid crippling international international sanctions. Let's get
00:02:33get some analysis now from Iranian Iranian journalist and senior fellow
00:02:35fellow at the centre for International International Policy, Negar Mortazavi.
00:02:39Mortazavi. Always good to have you you on the programme. So let's just
00:02:42just begin by taking a look at these these official figures from Iran
00:02:45Iran showing that the economy is is in deep recession as the effects
00:02:48effects of the war with the US and and Israel take hold. What does that
00:02:52that mean for the people in
00:02:56Iran? Thank you for having me, Will. Will. The economy has been in a very
00:02:58very bad shape. Inflation is high high and it's growing. And when we
00:03:02we speak to people on the ground, ground, it's something that's felt
00:03:06felt in daily life. But there's also also an understanding that this is
00:03:09is war time. So the expectations expectations for the economy are
00:03:13are not very high. But nevertheless nevertheless it's average Iranians
00:03:16Iranians who are paying the price.
00:03:18price. But this hasn't translated translated into policy change in
00:03:21in Tehran. Iran has been under economic
00:03:24economic pressure from severe US US sanctions for years and years,
00:03:27years, and it's never led to any any form of policy change. But nevertheless,
00:03:31nevertheless, the economic situation situation with the blockade, with
00:03:34with the new pressure from sanctions
00:03:36sanctions from the US has is gradually
00:03:39gradually increasing. And the average
00:03:40average Iranian on the ground is
00:03:43is really feeling the impact of that
00:03:45that in everyday life, in their necessities. necessities. There's now reports
00:03:48reports of shortage of some medicine.
00:03:51medicine. So it's pretty dire. You
00:03:53You say that there is somewhat of
00:03:55of an understanding that this is is a wartime economy with economic
00:03:59economic pain, but is there a point point at which that that economic
00:04:02economic pain perhaps does become become too much and does see the
00:04:06the regime back at the negotiating negotiating table, even if they have
00:04:10have managed to withstand sanctions? sanctions? Well, since the beginning
00:04:12beginning of the Islamic
00:04:16Republic. So the economic pain is is felt by the government also indirectly
00:04:20indirectly from the population, but but it doesn't produce the kind of
00:04:23of surrender or capitulation that that President Trump seems to be
00:04:26be expecting right now. It's different different if there's a door open
00:04:30open to diplomacy. I'll bring an an example of the Obama era. There
00:04:32There was a very clear path to diplomacy
00:04:35diplomacy with actual resolution
00:04:38resolution and meaningful and serious serious approaches from the US that
00:04:41that led to sanctions relief in exchange exchange for the concessions that
00:04:44that Iran made back then on the nuclear nuclear programme. Tehran is ready
00:04:47ready for that. They've been prepared prepared to end the war since it
00:04:51it began. They did that memorandum memorandum of understanding. They
00:04:53They signed that memorandum of understanding, understanding, hoping that it would
00:04:57would roll back the war and essentially essentially bring economic benefits.
00:05:00benefits. But the way President Trump
00:05:02Trump is approaching it is is essentially
00:05:05essentially producing the opposite opposite more resistance and less
00:05:08less of that policy change and willingness. willingness. So the Iranians, I feel
00:05:12feel like, are still signalling that that they're ready for meaningful meaningful diplomacy. But if there's
00:05:16there's an actual open door and if
00:05:17if the US also commits to making making concessions and not just more
00:05:21more pressure and more pressure for for the sake of surrender from their
00:05:25their side. Well, perhaps would you you say President Trump appears ambiguous
00:05:29ambiguous in all of this? I mean, mean, he has spoken on Fox News about
00:05:33about striking a deal while at the the same time he's also spoken about
00:05:36about wiping Iran out and leaving
00:05:39leaving them to rot economically.
00:05:41economically. Where do you see this this going? Absolutely, Elena. I
00:05:45I mean, ambiguous is putting it mildly.
00:05:47mildly. I mean, the other side on on top of everything that's happened
00:05:50happened throughout the war is just just very, very confused. I mean,
00:05:53mean, for us analysts here in Washington Washington also and some even within
00:05:56within the administration or sources,
00:05:58sources, it's just very hard to predict predict because there is no prediction.
00:06:02prediction. First of all, there seems seems to be no strategy on the US
00:06:04US side. So you can't predict something something that doesn't exist. There
00:06:07There is no short-term, no long-term long-term strategy. And President
00:06:09President Trump seems to be just just moving between wanting to make
00:06:12make a deal. He signed the MOU, the the memorandum of understanding, understanding, which the Iranians
00:06:16Iranians thought it's very great great for them. And then he immediately
00:06:20immediately started it started unravelling unravelling essentially with the
00:06:23the US non-compliance. And then he
00:06:26he pushes that with combines that that with threats. Sometimes the
00:06:29the threats are real, comes with with strikes, sometimes they don't.
00:06:31don't. It just seems like a negotiation negotiation negotiating tactic. The
00:06:35The days of the week are important.
00:06:37important. He has a certain way of of threatening on Sunday nights,
00:06:41nights, just before the markets open open on Monday. And then there's
00:06:43there's a different approach in midweek midweek to try to affect the market.
00:06:47market. So it's just been very, very very not just ambiguous and confusing.
00:06:49confusing. It's also been very unpredictable
00:06:54unpredictable and unprecedented for for the US to be run like this. And
00:06:57And so this is just made that path path to diplomacy very, very difficult. difficult. I want to touch on what
00:07:01what you anticipate from Iran as as well. Do you see them looking
00:07:04looking to pressure the Houthis, Houthis, for example, to broaden
00:07:08broaden attacks on Red Sea shipping
00:07:10shipping and to escalate the war
00:07:12war regionally? Absolutely. I mean,
00:07:14mean, Tehran has launched a asymmetric asymmetric defence and they have
00:07:18have been able to open new fronts, fronts, different fronts in this
00:07:21this war, together with their allies. allies. So it's not it's an alliance,
00:07:24alliance, right, which shared interests. interests. It happened in Lebanon Lebanon with Hezbollah joining in
00:07:28in the war and then Tehran trying trying to fold in Hezbollah, that
00:07:32that ally in the peace process which which unravelled. And now with the
00:07:35the Houthis, the Houthis also saw saw an opportunity. Their fight is
00:07:38is with the with Saudi Arabia. But But they saw an opportunity to work work in alliance with Tehran and
00:07:42and for Tehran. This is a new front front to put more indirect pressure
00:07:45pressure on Washington. And we see see that they're publicly saying saying that this could be part of
00:07:49of that peace process. If there's there's a deal to be made. So two
00:07:52two major points that Tehran is signalling signalling they want an end to the
00:07:55the war across all fronts for all all of their allies, and they want
00:07:58want economic gains from this war.
00:08:01war. So it doesn't end for them in
00:08:03in worse shape economically than
00:08:05than they started before the war.
00:08:07war. OK. Negar Mortazavi, they're they're the Iranian journalist and
00:08:11and senior fellow at the centre for
00:08:14for International Policy. Thank you you very much indeed for being with
00:08:17with us. With the latest on that.
00:08:21that. Thank you. Now coming up, we'll
00:08:24we'll be talking about the very latest
00:08:27latest happening in the Russian parliamentary parliamentary elections because Ukraine
00:08:30Ukraine carried out large-scale drone drone attacks on Moscow and its surrounding
00:08:34surrounding region. The capital's capital's mayor called it the largest
00:08:36largest such attack on Moscow yet
00:08:39yet saying that 450 drones had been been directed at the city since Saturday.
00:08:43Saturday. He said that the city's city's oil refinery had been damaged.
00:08:46damaged. Video
00:08:51Damaged. Video online appears to show the facility on fire. The The regional governor said two people
00:08:54people had been killed and at least least six others injured, and the the attacks coincided with the last last day of Russia's parliamentary
00:08:58parliamentary election, in which which only pro-Kremlin parties have
00:09:01have been allowed to stand. Critics Critics dismissed the vote as neither
00:09:05neither free nor transparent, but but the Kremlin is expected to use
00:09:08use it to claim that the country country is united behind the policies
00:09:11policies of President Putin and his
00:09:13his United Russia party. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, a Ukrainian official said
00:09:16said that eight people, including including three children, were killed
00:09:19killed in Russian attacks in the
00:09:21the Kyiv and Sumy regions on Saturday.
00:09:25Saturday. Here's Caroline Hawley. Hawley. This is the dramatic moment
00:09:29moment when a drone flies towards
00:09:33towards and then strikes a warehouse.
00:09:39warehouse. And this the moment an
00:09:40an apartment building is hit for
00:09:43for Muscovites nearby. Another terrifying
00:09:46terrifying night with a wave of hundreds hundreds of drones and some missiles,
00:09:50missiles, a message delivered to
00:09:52to Moscow with fire. This oil refinery,
00:09:55refinery, just ten miles from the the Kremlin, is the capital's biggest
00:09:59biggest supplying fuel for the city
00:10:01city and Ukraine says for the Russian
00:10:04Russian military to. Ukrainian officials officials say the aim is to bring
00:10:07bring Vladimir Putin's war home.
00:10:10home. Moscow's mayor has called it it an unprecedented attack aimed
00:10:13aimed at disrupting voting in parliamentary parliamentary elections, the first
00:10:16first to be held since Russia's full-scale full-scale invasion of Ukraine in
00:10:20in 2022 and always a tightly controlled
00:10:22controlled affair. Two people were were killed in this block of flats
00:10:26flats on the outskirts of
00:10:31Moscow. I just left the building building when the explosion happened. happened. Glass went flying. People
00:10:35People started screaming and shouting.
00:10:38shouting. Both sides have been hitting hitting each other's infrastructure. infrastructure. There's been a spate
00:10:42spate of Russian attacks on Ukrainian Ukrainian petrol stations, frightening
00:10:46frightening for anyone filling up.
00:10:50up. And of course I'm scared. Everyone's Everyone's scared. We're all human
00:10:53human beings but we have to carry
00:10:55carry on living because we have nowhere
00:10:58nowhere else to go. Here in the eastern
00:11:01eastern city of Kramatorsk, a strike strike on a centre housing people
00:11:05people evacuated from the front line. line. This is a brutal war being
00:11:08being fought on different fronts.
00:11:10fronts. The human cost mounting all
00:11:12all the time. Both sides hurting
00:11:15hurting near Kyiv this afternoon, afternoon, another warehouse up in
00:11:18in flames after a Russian drone strike strike and four and a half years
00:11:22years in no end in prospect to any
00:11:25any of this Caroline Hawley, BBC
00:11:27BBC News. Ukrainian President Volodymyr
00:11:30Volodymyr Zelensky says that he and and US President Trump agreed to
00:11:33to meet in New York at the United United Nations General Assembly following
00:11:36following a phone call on Sunday. Sunday. Zelensky said that he's working
00:11:40working with the Americans on, quote, quote, serious steps for de-escalation
00:11:43de-escalation in Russia's war on on Ukraine and believes that there's
00:11:47there's diplomatic momentum. Well, Well, the high level UN general debate debate with world leaders will begin
00:11:50begin on Tuesday. We'll have special special coverage here on BBC News
00:11:53News with our chief presenter Sumi Sumi Somaskanda live in New York.
00:11:57York. Turning to Germany now, where where the country's governing party
00:12:00party suffered bruising results in in state elections, Chancellor Friedrich
00:12:04Friedrich Merz called the outcome outcome a disaster for his centre
00:12:08centre right CDU party after it lost
00:12:10lost ground in both states in northeastern northeastern Mecklenburg. Western
00:12:14Western Pomerania projections show show that the far right Alternative
00:12:17Alternative for Germany party is is on track to win the most votes
00:12:21votes and the CDU, with its worst worst ever result. Now it's still
00:12:24still unclear whether the party has has met the threshold needed to enter
00:12:28enter the state's parliament. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, in Berlin, the CDU also
00:12:32also fell behind, coming second to
00:12:34to Die Linke translated to the Left
00:12:37Left Party. It's the latest electoral
00:12:40electoral challenge to Mertz's leadership leadership after the AfD won a major
00:12:43major victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt two weeks ago, where
00:12:47where the CDU saw its vote halved. halved. Well, despite all of this,
00:12:51this, on Sunday night, Merz vowed
00:12:52vowed to stay in office and enact
00:12:55enact economic reforms. Our Berlin Berlin correspondent Jess Parker
00:12:58Parker sent this report. A nervous
00:13:01nervous wait. Then, as the exit polls
00:13:04polls pop up, a shake of the head
00:13:06head that says it all the projected
00:13:10projected results just dropped here here at the election night gathering
00:13:14gathering for Friedrich Merz, conservative conservative CDU party. There were
00:13:18were no cheers. There's no celebration.
00:13:21celebration. But the embattled leader
00:13:22leader vowed to carry on with his
00:13:25his reform agenda. IST what we have
00:13:28have to do now needs a strong spine,
00:13:32spine, steadfastness and patience. patience. I will offer that as the
00:13:34the head of the CDU and as the Chancellor.
00:13:37Chancellor. But in Berlin his party party faces losing regional power
00:13:40power while they're set for a record
00:13:42record low result in the northeastern
00:13:45northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where fishermen. fishermen. UVA says the Chancellor's
00:13:49Chancellor's thrown away people's
00:13:52people's trust. Basically, he did did not solve one thing properly,
00:13:55properly, not one, he said. We'll
00:13:57We'll solve it. But he didn't. He
00:14:00He promised it, but nothing. Germany
00:14:04Germany feels gloomy. Many are anxious anxious about immigration, the economy
00:14:07economy and the cost of living. Friedrich
00:14:10Friedrich Merz's backers may argue argue that the Chancellor has had
00:14:13had a tough time with global events events and that a lot of the problems
00:14:16problems this country's facing are are ones that he's inherited. But
00:14:19But whatever faith people had in in the Chancellor's ability to fix
00:14:23fix them is fading fast. And there's
00:14:26there's another brutal truth it's it's pretty hard to find anyone who
00:14:30who likes the guy down the road to
00:14:32to a rally in Neubrandenburg, a party
00:14:35party that Friedrich Merz wanted
00:14:36wanted to curb and fiercely Polarises
00:14:40Polarises opinion keeps getting more more popular. The anti-immigration,
00:14:44anti-immigration, Russia friendly
00:14:45friendly AfD. But on either side
00:14:48side of this divide we find little
00:14:50little love for Mr Merz. He's arrogant,
00:14:54arrogant, out of touch, not on the the same level as the general public.
00:14:57public. Yeah, he's not getting through. through. He's not reaching them.
00:15:00them. So that's why. Yeah, it's down
00:15:01down the drain for him. The Chancellor's
00:15:05Chancellor's supporters say Germany
00:15:07Germany must stay steady in an increasingly increasingly insecure world. But
00:15:10But the danger for Friedrich Merz
00:15:13Merz is he already running out of
00:15:16of time. Jessica Parker, BBC News
00:15:18News in Berlin. I'm joined live to
00:15:21to discuss all of this by Hans-Jakob
00:15:23Hans-Jakob Schindler senior director director of the Counter Extremism Extremism Project. Always good to
00:15:27to have you on the programme to unpick
00:15:30unpick these kinds of results and
00:15:32and what they mean. So do you see
00:15:34see these results more of as a rebuke
00:15:37rebuke to the CDU and Chancellor
00:15:39Chancellor Merz, or are we also seeing seeing voters increasingly attracted
00:15:43attracted by what the AfD itself itself represents? Well, I mean,
00:15:47mean, first of all, it is a historic historic event. The preliminary final
00:15:51final result just came in a couple couple of seconds ago. And the CDU,
00:15:54CDU, for the first time in its history
00:15:57history after 1949, has missed the
00:15:58the voting threshold of 5% for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. That is,
00:16:02is, of course, as the Chancellor Chancellor said, a disaster. However,
00:16:05However, it is also clear that once once again, the AfD has more than
00:16:09than doubled its result in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
00:16:12Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The SPD candidate candidate Schlesinger really performed
00:16:15performed better than in a couple couple of weeks ago. The CDU candidate
00:16:19candidate in Saxony-Anhalt. But it's
00:16:21it's clear the AfD is gaining votes
00:16:24votes because there has been too
00:16:27too much neglect of policy areas
00:16:29areas that the AfD is gathering votes
00:16:33votes on immigration, internal security.
00:16:36security. With this issue of what's what's called the firewall, the Brandmauer,
00:16:39Brandmauer, which was meant to me me only to keep the AfD away from
00:16:42from power but had been extended extended in the political discussion
00:16:45discussion to not even addressing addressing issues that the AfD is
00:16:48is raising. And that makes it very very easy for the AfD, which called
00:16:52called the alternative to present present itself as the alternative
00:16:56alternative to whatever all of the the other Democratic parties are are actually presenting. I mean,
00:16:59mean, that's the question, isn't isn't there? There's being the alternative. alternative. And then there's having
00:17:02having your policies and having to to put them into action. So just
00:17:06just talk us through some of those those keynote policies from the AfD.
00:17:09AfD. And if they can actually work.
00:17:11work. Well. And that's the sad news
00:17:14news because these policy areas have have not really been tackled by the
00:17:18the democratic spectrum of the party. party. What the AfD is offering is
00:17:22is wholly realistic. They want to to end the war in Ukraine. They want
00:17:26want to end sanctions on Ukraine, Ukraine, sanctions on Russia and
00:17:29and buy again oil. They want to extradite.
00:17:33extradite. It varies up to 25 million million people from Germany that
00:17:37that are not born German or hail
00:17:39hail from German parents. These are
00:17:41are all very realistic policies.
00:17:44policies. However, they promise a a better future going back to the
00:17:48the past. So they really famous infamous
00:17:51infamous by now slogan of the party party in Saxony-Anhalt was let's
00:17:54let's go back to the good 90s where
00:17:58where in Saxony-Anhalt unemployment unemployment was 18%. So their version
00:18:01version of the past is of course course a glorified past that never
00:18:04never existed in that way. But because because this policy issues are not
00:18:08not discussed in a serious manner manner and because we have an economic
00:18:11economic crisis, the AfD is faring faring very well. But you can also
00:18:15also see in the election in Berlin,
00:18:17Berlin, where the other end of the the political spectrum, the extreme
00:18:21extreme left, has gained a major
00:18:22major victory. Today, one of the
00:18:25the candidates of the link in Berlin Berlin today called the election
00:18:29election day an election intifada. intifada. As major problems with
00:18:33with antisemitism in the party. There There is major problems in co-operation
00:18:36co-operation with Israeli actors actors in Berlin, and this is the
00:18:38the other end of the political spectrum
00:18:42spectrum showing the democratic parties parties in the middle need to develop
00:18:45develop various different offers offers and visions of what Germany
00:18:48Germany should look like in the next
00:18:50next 15 years and stop fighting by by management issues by presenting
00:18:54presenting the same vision. I mean,
00:18:57mean, clearly the political centre
00:18:59centre is facing issues right now.
00:19:02now. Briefly, does Chancellor Merkel's Merkel's position look to be in peril?
00:19:05peril? I mean, it certainly didn't didn't improve with this result in
00:19:09in both in Berlin as well as in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
00:19:13Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the the CDU underperformed even the worst
00:19:15worst of expectations. Tonight, however, however, he had just gotten the gotten
00:19:19gotten the support a couple of days days ago from all the CDU ministers
00:19:22ministers presents. The problem is,
00:19:24is, of course, that Mr Merz has made
00:19:27made some major political mistakes mistakes in the last over a year
00:19:31year that he's in power now. But
00:19:33But changing him won't change. The
00:19:36The core issue here is that there
00:19:39there is not a vision of Germany Germany that the democratic spectrum
00:19:42spectrum of the parties are presenting
00:19:43presenting clearly enough as alternative
00:19:47alternative policies for their voters, voters, and therefore the extreme
00:19:50extreme right and to a much lesser lesser extent, the extreme left is
00:19:53is benefiting from this. Hans-Jakob Hans-Jakob Schindler senior director
00:19:56director of the Counter Extremism Extremism Project. Thanks for your
00:19:59your time. Thank you so. Much, Princess
00:20:02Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer, Spencer, has told the BBC that some
00:20:05some of his claims about the King King in his controversial new book
00:20:08book will not come as a surprise surprise to his nephews, William
00:20:11William and Harry. Earl Spencer described described an explosive phone call
00:20:14call which he said took place after after Diana's death, which ended
00:20:17ended with the then Prince of Wales Wales saying we'll forget her soon
00:20:20soon enough. A claim disputed by by the palace. The earl was speaking
00:20:24speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, a warning warning that her report contains
00:20:28contains flash photography. Diana.
00:20:31Diana. A phenomenon the most famous
00:20:33famous woman in the world. Now, nearly
00:20:36nearly 30 years after her death, death, her brother wants to tell
00:20:39tell you his version of her story. story. I'm only trying to highlight
00:20:43highlight a problem that's going going on all around the world. That's
00:20:46That's all. Earl Spencer made explosive
00:20:50explosive claims about the now king's king's attitude in the days after
00:20:54after her death. His suggestion disputed disputed by the palace that Prince
00:20:58Prince Charles claimed she would
00:20:59would be quickly forgotten. But what
00:21:02what would her sons, his nephews
00:21:05nephews make of Spencer's allegations? allegations? I don't like to talk
00:21:08talk about what I've been speaking speaking about to William and Harry,
00:21:11Harry, but this will not be a surprise surprise to them. I will tell you
00:21:14you that. These words will not be
00:21:16be a surprise to them. But what are
00:21:20are they to make of that? As human
00:21:23human beings, you're telling the
00:21:25the world their father said, don't
00:21:27don't worry, everyone will forget
00:21:31forget your dead mother. I think think you'll want. So when I wrote
00:21:34wrote this book, it was a. It's a a historical record and it's also
00:21:37also a personal memoir. His claims
00:21:39claims have caused anger at the Palace
00:21:42Palace upset and frustration. But
00:21:45But Earl Spencer even suggested he'd
00:21:47he'd kept some memories back. I know. know. This is not a threat. It's
00:21:51It's a fact. I know lots of things
00:21:55things about the King which I chose chose not to include in the book
00:21:59book because they were not relevant. relevant. Sounds a bit like a threat threat if you're saying you know
00:22:02know other things about the King King that could be damaging to him.
00:22:05him. No. Not at all a threat. It's It's just the reality. I want to
00:22:08to give the context of what I said said and what I didn't say. I'm not
00:22:12not threatening. I just the point
00:22:14point being that if I was a salacious
00:22:16salacious writer and wanted to write write that sort of thing, I have
00:22:20have plenty of other things I could could have said and really have no
00:22:22no interest in doing so. Do you believe
00:22:25believe in the monarchy? Well, I
00:22:28I believe it exists and I believe
00:22:29believe it will continue to exist
00:22:34exist and I think monarchies are are generally a when they work, they
00:22:37they work really well. I find some some of the flummery around monarchy
00:22:41monarchy quite jarring. You know,
00:22:44know, you mentioned the statement
00:22:48statement earlier, His Majesty says, says, I just don't think it's healthy
00:22:50healthy for a human being to be seen
00:22:54seen in such archaic servile terms.
00:22:56terms. So I'm a bit more I'm all
00:22:59all for monarchy, but I like a modern
00:23:01modern monarchy. Do you support this
00:23:06this monarchy and this monarch? Because Because some of the claims in your
00:23:09your book are incredibly damning
00:23:12damning of the monarch of this country, country, who also people watching
00:23:16watching will remember has been seriously
00:23:19seriously ill in this last year.
00:23:20year. The family has had illness
00:23:23illness and strife and upset and
00:23:26and division. Do you support this
00:23:29this monarchy? I do. Have a funny
00:23:32funny way of showing it. Well, I'm
00:23:36I'm not dealing with King Charles Charles as monarch in this book.
00:23:39book. This is all 30 odd years ago. ago. And what was said and done then.
00:23:43then. How much do you miss her? Well,
00:23:48Well, every day, you know, that's that's the thing with sibling loss.
00:23:51loss. You never get over it. Luckily, Luckily, I have a hugely diverse
00:23:55diverse and happy life. One of the the reasons I call this swansong
00:23:57swansong actually is because it's it's my sign off. I have been Diana's
00:24:01Diana's brother. This is my final
00:24:04final take on the situation and I
00:24:06I have a wonderful, happy life. Gorgeous
00:24:09Gorgeous children, fabulous wife wife and we live this much more normal
00:24:13normal life than this looks like.
00:24:16like. And that's my future. This
00:24:18This is my swan song too. I'm not
00:24:20not here to bang on about Diana.
00:24:23Diana. This is my final word. Celebration
00:24:26Celebration of her. And I will step step off into the sunset now and
00:24:30and not be available for comment.
00:24:34comment. This is the temple and I've I've dedicated it to Diana and there's
00:24:37there's a wonderful silhouette, very very modern. It captures her energy
00:24:41energy in the middle. Yet this will
00:24:43will not be the last word on Princess
00:24:46Princess Diana controversial in life,
00:24:49life, controversial in death. Still,
00:24:50Still, there's a fight for her legacy
00:24:54legacy rather than a restful peace.
00:24:56peace. Laura Kuenssberg. BBC News.
00:24:59News. Now to a round-up of stories stories making headlines across the
00:25:02the globe. The US says it has struck struck an alleged drug trafficking
00:25:05trafficking vessel in the Caribbean, Caribbean, killing four people. A A video posted on social media showed
00:25:09showed a huge explosion after a boat boat was hit by what appeared to
00:25:13to be a missile. The US military military did not provide evidence
00:25:15evidence that those on board were were transporting drugs. More than
00:25:19than 200 people have been killed killed in such operations since they
00:25:22they began last year. Aleema Khan,
00:25:24Khan, the sister of Pakistan's jailed jailed former Prime Minister Imran
00:25:27Imran Khan, has been arrested in in Lahore. His political party PTI
00:25:31PTI said the detention of Elinor
00:25:34Elinor Khan was illegal and called called for her immediate release. release. An official in Lahore confirmed
00:25:37confirmed the arrest to BBC Urdu
00:25:39Urdu but gave no further details. details. The PTI party is planning
00:25:43planning a demonstration next Sunday Sunday to demand that Imran Khan
00:25:47Khan be freed. He's been in detention detention for three years and was
00:25:50was sentenced last year to 14 years years in prison for corruption in
00:25:54in a case that his supporters say
00:25:57say was politically motivated. We'll We'll have more coming up at the
00:26:00the top of the hour, so do stay with
00:26:02with us here on BBC News.
00:27:35of the week.
00:29:55online at bbc.com/business to get get the latest news wherever you
00:29:57you are. Business on BBC News. Make
00:30:01Make the connection.
00:30:35Streets of Gold, Mumbai. Discover Discover the world on BBC News in
00:30:39in association with Turkish Airlines.
00:30:47Airlines. India 1.4 billion people
00:30:48people and counting. Its growth.
00:30:53growth. Seems unstoppable. I can't
00:30:54can't say no to you. Ram. I'm a businessman,
00:30:58businessman, so they may say. What What the hell are you