Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:11Live from London. This is BBC
00:00:13News. In a warning to Russia, Nato's Nato's top military commander says
00:00:17says the alliance would block blunt
00:00:19blunt and break any attack on its
00:00:21its members as fears grow over the
00:00:23the threat from Moscow. Meantime, Meantime, Ukraine's President Volodymyr
00:00:27Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia hit hit a power plant in Ukraine immediately
00:00:30immediately after Donald Trump announced announced what he called an energy
00:00:34energy ceasefire. It was clear that
00:00:37that Putin does not read Truth Social
00:00:42Social and his cheeky drones follow
00:00:43follow a different set of instructions.
00:00:47instructions. Saudi officials say say one person has been killed and
00:00:50and nearly a dozen others injured injured in the latest attack on Riyadh's
00:00:54Riyadh's international airport by by the Iran backed Houthi group in
00:00:57in Yemen. Thousands of people march
00:01:00march in Delhi. These are live pictures
00:01:02pictures coming to us from the capital capital calling for the electoral
00:01:05electoral commission. Head to quit quit over names being removed from
00:01:08from voter lists. And as America's
00:01:12America's mid-term elections loom, loom, a special report into why data
00:01:15data centres powering the AI boom
00:01:17boom are becoming a political flashpoint.
00:01:29flashpoint. Hello, I'm Annita McVeigh
00:01:31McVeigh and welcome to BBC News Now.
00:01:34Now. Nato's top commander has bluntly bluntly warned Russia that his forces
00:01:38forces could destroy anything and and everything involved in a potential
00:01:41potential attack if Moscow chose chose to launch an assault on Alliance
00:01:45Alliance territory. Speaking in the
00:01:46the last hour at the Warsaw Security Security Forum, Alexis Green said
00:01:50said Nato was first and foremost foremost a defensive alliance. But
00:01:53But he said it would block blunt
00:01:55blunt and break any attack against against a member state, adding that
00:01:58that the alliance could deal with with more than one conflict at a
00:02:02a time. We had a very useful from
00:02:05from a military observation standpoint.
00:02:08standpoint. Look at this when we we had conflict ongoing in the Middle
00:02:11Middle East at the same time as the the conflict in Ukraine, and it gave
00:02:13gave us real insight on what the the stresses on our warfighting system
00:02:17system would be and how we needed needed to adapt it. So some of the
00:02:19the things in the theory of victory, victory, like depending on large large amounts of affordable mass
00:02:23mass to pair with our high end precision precision weapons, are part of the the things that we've learned here
00:02:27here that we are going to need to to use kind of a high, low mix of
00:02:30of capabilities in order to achieve achieve the things that we need to
00:02:33to do. And Nato Supreme Allied Commander
00:02:35Commander for Europe also gave this this warning to Russia. Whenever
00:02:39Whenever the nation that's come under under attack is ready and has met
00:02:42met their legal requirements to attribute attribute the attack. We ought to
00:02:45to do that. That lets the Russians Russians know a that we're onto them.
00:02:48them. It lets them know that their their network wasn't as unattributable unattributable as they thought it
00:02:51it was. They think they can get away away with this because we won't be be able to figure out who it is.
00:02:55is. We ought to tell them. We can can figure out who it is. The second second thing that I mentioned is
00:02:59is one of the main objectives is is to break the West's will to continue
00:03:02continue flowing support to Ukraine.
00:03:04Ukraine. So one of the best responses responses is to prove that false
00:03:08false to them. And when they come come in, when one of these attack
00:03:11attack happens, respond by increasing increasing your contributions to to the Perl programme or respond
00:03:15respond with a donation of air defence defence interceptors and show that
00:03:18that the Russian premise for their their activity is false and you're
00:03:21you're only strengthening our resolve. resolve. Meanwhile, on the ground
00:03:24ground in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia hit
00:03:27hit a power plant in Ukraine immediately immediately after Donald Trump announced
00:03:30announced what he called an energy energy ceasefire. There were also
00:03:33also deadly strikes on Kharkiv, the
00:03:36the country's second largest city, city, while the Ukrainian president
00:03:39president said he is willing to back back the energy truce, the Kremlin's
00:03:42Kremlin's response was less positive. positive. Russia said it would only
00:03:45only back a one day ceasefire the
00:03:47the day Ukraine holds elections. elections. President Zelensky appealed
00:03:50appealed to the US in his speech
00:03:52speech at the Warsaw Security Forum.
00:03:55Forum. And with us now in the studio studio is Francis GA from BBC Monitoring's
00:03:59Monitoring's Russia team. Francis, Francis, hello to you. It may be
00:04:02be too soon to hear any response response from Russia to what the
00:04:06the general had to say in Warsaw. Warsaw. Have you had anything have
00:04:09have you seen anything so far in in terms of commentary on that coming
00:04:12coming out of Russia? Well, no, it's it's too soon, as you say. But I
00:04:16I think what we can expect to hear hear is pretty predictable. We heard
00:04:19heard Putin last week in a major
00:04:22major speech and question and answer answer session in Moscow talking
00:04:25talking about the threat from the
00:04:26the West to Kaliningrad in particular. particular. And he said, well, you
00:04:30you know, we have no intention of of attacking anyone in Europe, but
00:04:34but we will use all means at our our disposal to defend ourselves. ourselves. And I think this is the
00:04:38the line we can expect to hear that that Russia has no intention of attacking
00:04:41attacking anyone. This is something something Putin and other senior
00:04:43senior officials have repeated time time after time. Of course, you look
00:04:46look at Ukraine and the evidence
00:04:49evidence is to the contrary. But
00:04:52But Russia will continue to deny
00:04:54deny this. You know, as long as these
00:04:58these accusations keep coming Moscow's Moscow's way. And the general was
00:05:01was also talking not only about any
00:05:04any territorial attack, but also also about hybrid attacks as well.
00:05:06well. And there have been lots of of warnings from European leaders
00:05:09leaders from all over Europe about about the threat from Russia in terms
00:05:12terms of these hybrid hybrid attacks, attacks, such as cyber attacks. So
00:05:15So do you think we're going to see see any further response or will
00:05:18will will Moscow try to play this this down and remain pretty, pretty
00:05:21pretty quiet about all of this? Indeed Indeed you're right. These accusations
00:05:25accusations are really ramping up up from across Europe that Moscow
00:05:28Moscow is engaging in this kind of
00:05:30of covert activity against various various European states. But the
00:05:34the Kremlin has continued to deny deny any involvement in this. And
00:05:36And of course, I think this is part part of the reason why it's engaging
00:05:40engaging in these kinds of methods methods against the West is that
00:05:43that it allows it to distance itself
00:05:45itself and pretend that it has no no link to what's happening. And
00:05:49And then, of course, if we look at at those who are being accused of
00:05:52of carrying out these sabotage attacks,
00:05:55attacks, they are, you know, so-called
00:05:58so-called kind of. You know, low low level criminals and people that
00:06:01that the Kremlin is is recruiting recruiting via social media that
00:06:04that don't have any direct link to to the Kremlin but are enabling it
00:06:08it to carry out these methods. And And Frances, I know there has been
00:06:12been a response from the Kremlin, Kremlin, however, to President Trump's
00:06:15Trump's rather surprising, according according to President Zelensky and
00:06:17and probably to the Kremlin as well. well. Announcement of an energy cease
00:06:21cease fire. What have you heard? heard? Well, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin
00:06:24Kremlin spokesman today in his daily
00:06:27daily press conference with media
00:06:29media in Moscow, said that contacts contacts were ongoing. He refused
00:06:32refused to be drawn on whether any any kind of agreement had been reached.
00:06:36reached. It's also unclear whether whether this would extend merely
00:06:38merely to oil refineries or to all all kinds of energy infrastructure,
00:06:42infrastructure, and that detail is is important because Ukraine only only has a couple of oil refineries,
00:06:46refineries, both of which haven't haven't been operating for some time
00:06:49time now because of the war, whereas whereas of course, Russia, we know,
00:06:51know, has lots of them that are vulnerable
00:06:54vulnerable to these kind of attacks attacks and where Moscow has been
00:06:57been hurting Ukraine has been other other kinds of energy infrastructure,
00:07:00infrastructure, such as power stations. stations. We know overnight one in
00:07:04in Kharkiv was, was struck, for example. example. And in the past this is
00:07:07is of course not the first time that that Donald Trump has announced such
00:07:10such an initiative. In the past, past, the Kremlin has been quite
00:07:13quite reserved. It said. This is is a good idea. Back in September
00:07:16September it said this but then nothing nothing really much came of it. And
00:07:19And I think as we go into the winter, winter, the Kremlin knows that this
00:07:22this is the time when it can really really make Ukraine feel the pain
00:07:24pain and it's not really in its interests interests to stop these strikes.
00:07:28strikes. The only thing is that the the Kremlin wants to keep Donald
00:07:31Donald Trump onside, and so it's it's unlikely to publicly come out
00:07:34out and criticise the initiative. initiative. OK, Frances, thank you
00:07:36you very much for that. Frances Scar
00:07:38Scar from BBC Monitoring's Russia
00:07:40Russia team. And let's go now to
00:07:43to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Our
00:07:46Our correspondent Dan Johnson is is there for us. Dan, I'm sure you've
00:07:49you've been listening to everything everything that President Zelensky
00:07:51Zelensky has had to say in his address
00:07:54address to the Warsaw Security Forum.
00:07:56Forum. You know, he's obviously looking
00:07:58looking for Russia to join him in
00:08:00in an energy cease fire, which he he called a surprise, a surprise
00:08:04surprise announcement from President President Trump. But does he really really hold out any hope that that
00:08:08that will happen? There is suspicion.
00:08:13suspicion. There is doubt that this this will actually bear fruit, that
00:08:16that it will hold in reality. But But that is what Ukrainians are hoping
00:08:20hoping because they need this so so much. They've already felt the
00:08:22the impact of power cuts here over over the past week or ten days. Some
00:08:26Some of that's been scheduled to
00:08:27to try to preserve energy. Some of
00:08:30of it has been genuine interruptions interruptions to the power supply,
00:08:33supply, which has left people in in the dark increasingly cold, some
00:08:36some of them without water because because they need electricity to
00:08:39to pump that water to the top of of their tower blocks to get it to
00:08:42to their homes. There's also been been disruption to public transport. transport. The metro trains have
00:08:46have come to a halt at times. The The trolley buses have had to be
00:08:50be dragged back to the depot by tow tow trucks because they've run short
00:08:53short of power. So everyone in Ukraine Ukraine knows how difficult the winter
00:08:57winter months could have been if
00:08:59if Russia continued attacking their their energy infrastructure. They've
00:09:02They've already felt the start of of that impact, but they are doubtful
00:09:06doubtful that this will hold in reality reality because there's been no official
00:09:09official confirmation from the Kremlin Kremlin that they've agreed to this. this. The only comment from Dmitry
00:09:13Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson there, there, was that they had nothing nothing to say on it for now and
00:09:17and that Russia was working towards
00:09:18towards a lasting peace, not just just a ceasefire. Donald Trump also
00:09:22also announced something like this this around a month ago, saying that
00:09:24that both sides had agreed to stop stop hitting each other's energy
00:09:28energy infrastructure, only for Russia Russia to continue. So all sorts
00:09:30sorts of challenges and ways in which which this may not work, but I think
00:09:33think President Zelensky has seen seen a chance to seize the initiative
00:09:36initiative to look like the good good guy, to say that he's playing
00:09:39playing fair and prepared to abide abide by the terms of this deal that
00:09:43that Donald Trump has announced, announced, if not actually negotiated,
00:09:45negotiated, in hope that it will will make life easier for Ukrainians
00:09:49Ukrainians through the forthcoming forthcoming winter and that potentially, potentially, he said, it could lead
00:09:53lead to a de-escalation in the war. war. OK, Dan, thank you very much
00:09:56much for that. Dan Johnson in Kyiv. Kyiv. And let's cross to our correspondent
00:10:00correspondent Daniel Bush in Washington. Washington. Daniel, good to see you
00:10:02you as well. It was interesting listening listening to President Zelensky's
00:10:05Zelensky's speech. He was addressing addressing the audience there in
00:10:08in Warsaw, but he was clearly very
00:10:10very much talking to the US audience audience as well, saying, you know,
00:10:13know, I know it's early there, but but some people get up early essentially essentially saying, listen to me
00:10:17me and I'm looking at my notes. He He said. Europe is not the one making
00:10:20making everything more difficult. difficult. We need American pressure
00:10:22pressure on Russia, not sanctions sanctions relief, real pressure.
00:10:26pressure. What are the chances that that President Trump is going to
00:10:28to respond to that? Daniel? Well,
00:10:32Well, probably not very high. We We did see President Trump over the
00:10:35the weekend criticising Zelensky, Zelensky, saying that Ukraine needed needed a new leader to negotiate
00:10:39negotiate a deal. This is not a president
00:10:42president who has at times been willing willing to hear out Zelensky, often
00:10:45often blaming the Ukrainian president president for the war for an inability
00:10:49inability to reach a deal here. And
00:10:51And this was an effort by President President Zelensky to target Americans
00:10:55Americans and say at a moment where where President Trump is blaming
00:10:58blaming Ukraine for high diesel prices, prices, let's look at the bigger
00:11:01bigger picture here. The war in Iraq Iraq has driven up gas and diesel
00:11:04diesel prices. And for President President Trump's part, he is making
00:11:07making an effort here to cast a wide
00:11:09wide net of blame, if you will, to
00:11:11to try and tell American voters that
00:11:13that there are a lot of reasons why why gas prices are high. They're They're not his fault. They'll come
00:11:17come down soon. We've heard that that rhetoric often in this. In fact,
00:11:20fact, this cease fire and the deal deal that President Trump announced announced Friday with President Putin
00:11:24Putin to import Russian diesel is
00:11:26is all aimed at assuaging those concerns
00:11:28concerns from voters just a couple couple of weeks before the election.
00:11:31election. Will it work? Unclear. Unclear. Energy experts say that
00:11:34that gas and diesel prices won't won't likely come down, even with
00:11:37with new Russian oil. Russian diesel diesel flooding the US market won't
00:11:41won't come down before the mid-term mid-term elections, so President President Trump is grasping at straws
00:11:45straws here, trying to find some
00:11:46some way to argue to Americans to
00:11:49to keep Republicans in power, to
00:11:51to not worry about rising gas prices.
00:11:53prices. But polls show that Americans Americans are certainly very concerned
00:11:57concerned about that issue. And whether whether or not President Zelensky's
00:11:59Zelensky's message to them, to Americans Americans telling him to wake up
00:12:03up and look at what is happening happening will resonate is unclear.
00:12:07unclear. OK. Daniel Bush in Washington, Washington, thank you very much.
00:12:10much. And joining us now is Alexander Alexander al-Sharaa. He is the former
00:12:14former adviser to the Ministry of of Defence in Ukraine and is now
00:12:17now executive director of the centre
00:12:19centre for Defence Strategies. Alexander,
00:12:22Alexander, welcome to the programme. programme. And I'm guessing you are
00:12:25are not feeling an energy cease fire
00:12:26fire in Ukraine right now. Well,
00:12:30Well, yes for sure. Yesterday the the Russians targeted one of the
00:12:34the water pumping stations in Kyiv. Kyiv. So for the half of the day
00:12:37day they didn't have running water
00:12:39water in my apartment. And for several
00:12:42several weeks we have power cuts.
00:12:44cuts. We don't have electricity for
00:12:46for 3 or 4 hours a day. And the metro
00:12:52metro operation is disrupted. So So we need to find a way how to get.
00:12:56get. I live actually on the left left bank of the river, so I use
00:13:00use electric scooter to get to the
00:13:02the downtown to bypass the public public administration transportation.
00:13:06transportation. So yes, the Russians
00:13:09Russians are not stopping attacking attacking us for the simple reason
00:13:12reason they scale up production of of their missiles and drones. And
00:13:16And given that Mr Trump wasted huge huge amount of Patriot interceptors
00:13:19interceptors in Iran and is not providing providing Ukraine with any Patriot
00:13:23Patriot interceptors any more, the the Russians are able to use their
00:13:26their ballistic missiles to destroy destroy our critical infrastructure.
00:13:29infrastructure. And the most important important Putin. See Trump is an
00:13:33an ally to undermine the defence defence of Ukraine and try to solve
00:13:37solve the discord between the Europeans Europeans and Americans. And we know
00:13:41know that President Zelensky continues
00:13:43continues to develop his relationship, relationship, strong relationships
00:13:46relationships with allies in Europe Europe who are building up their
00:13:50their defence capabilities to help
00:13:52help Ukraine. But in that speech speech to the Warsaw security for
00:13:55for him, we for him, we saw him make
00:13:58make really direct appeals to America, America, to President Trump to put
00:14:01put real pressure, as he put it on
00:14:04on Russia. But so long as the diesel
00:14:06diesel deal between Russia and the
00:14:08the US is in place in advance of
00:14:11of the mid-term elections in America
00:14:13America in November, it seems unlikely unlikely that America is going to
00:14:16to do more on that. Would you agree?
00:14:20agree? Oh yes, I would agree. Since Since the beginning of this second
00:14:23second term of office, Mr Trump, Trump, he instructed his diplomats
00:14:27diplomats not to support even the
00:14:29the United Nations General Assembly Assembly resolution supporting Ukraine.
00:14:33Ukraine. The United States Permanent Permanent Representative abstained
00:14:36abstained from all those resolutions. resolutions. And we've seen how this
00:14:39this administration is trying to
00:14:42to erode the overall Western sanctions
00:14:44sanctions regime against Russia. Russia. And I believe there are some
00:14:47some shady deals being negotiated.
00:14:50negotiated. While Mr Kushner and
00:14:51and Witkoff are in Moscow, like selling
00:14:55selling assets of the Russian energy
00:14:57energy giant Lukoil to the American
00:15:01American owners close to the Trump Trump circle. So I believe that,
00:15:03that, you know, he is trying to make
00:15:05make a deal between Putin and himself
00:15:10himself enriching his circle and and disregard with the interests
00:15:13interests of Europe and that of Europe, Europe, because for obvious reasons,
00:15:17reasons, the fate of Ukraine and
00:15:19and how this war will end will shape
00:15:22shape the future security and prosperity prosperity of the continent. OK,
00:15:26OK, Alexander, thank you very much
00:15:30much for joining us. And we are back back after this short break. Do stay stay with us around the world and
00:15:35and across the UK.
00:16:37social media has shaped the story. story. It's all on The Media Show
00:16:41Show on BBC News. Now to one of the
00:16:48the day's other main stories. Yemen's Yemen's Houthi rebels have renewed
00:16:51renewed their warnings against using using airports in Saudi Arabia. It
00:16:54It comes after two deadly strikes strikes on Riyadh's main international
00:16:58international airport in as many many days. Saudi officials say one
00:17:01one person was killed and 11 wounded
00:17:03wounded in an attack on King Khalid
00:17:05Khalid International Airport on Sunday, Sunday, the day before 13 people
00:17:09people were killed and more than than 300 injured in a missile strike.
00:17:13strike. The deadliest attack on Saudi Saudi soil in more than a decade.
00:17:16decade. The Houthis, who are backed backed by Iran, say they are targeting
00:17:20targeting Saudi Arabia over its support support for government forces in
00:17:23in Yemen's civil war. Muhammad Ali
00:17:26Ali Harris is the foreign editor editor of The National in Abu Dhabi.
00:17:28Dhabi. I asked him what these attacks
00:17:30attacks mean for Saudi Arabia. Well,
00:17:33Well, this is certainly turning into into a defining moment in the history
00:17:36history of Saudi Arabia and probably
00:17:38probably a turning point in GCC relations relations to the attack that killed
00:17:42killed 13 people on Saturday is the
00:17:45the biggest attack in Saudi Arabia Arabia since more than a decade when
00:17:48when Isis was claiming bombings in
00:17:50in the kingdom. It is also the largest
00:17:52largest attack by a foreign power power in from a foreign country against
00:17:56against Saudi Arabia. So there is is definitely a lot of pressure on
00:17:59on the Saudi crown prince, on the the Saudi government and on the Saudi
00:18:02Saudi army too. We've heard the Saudis
00:18:05Saudis speak up today and explain explain that Saudi Arabia is a very
00:18:08very vast country and you cannot cannot defend against every missile
00:18:12missile and every drone. And so even even if you protect the borders,
00:18:16borders, there are missiles that that cannot be intercepted at some
00:18:19some time. So the pressure is growing.
00:18:23growing. And as the attacks multiply, multiply, we will see more reaction
00:18:26reaction from the Saudis. And we we are expecting more action in Yemen.
00:18:29Yemen. They have started to claim
00:18:33claim operations against the Houthis. Houthis. Dozens of operations on on daily basis. But maybe in the
00:18:36the next few hours or the next few few days, we'll see more surgical
00:18:39surgical operations. The pressure pressure is growing. You say is the
00:18:43the Houthis confidence also growing?
00:18:45growing? Oh. Absolutely. Causing
00:18:48Causing a massive casualty incident
00:18:51incident in Saudi Arabia, forcing
00:18:53forcing the airport to close, attacking attacking other airports and oil
00:18:57oil facilities. This is definitely definitely something that the Houthis
00:19:00Houthis were seeking and wanted to to happen. But it's not only Houthis
00:19:04Houthis that are gaining from this, this, it's also Iran because the
00:19:07the Houthis, as you mentioned at at the beginning, are backed by Iran.
00:19:10Iran. They are Iranian proxy. And
00:19:13And they when they escalate every every time Iran felt pressure from
00:19:16from the US or felt that there is
00:19:18is a war resuming, resuming, the the Houthis escalated more against
00:19:22against the Saudi, which is a major major US ally. So it's not only the
00:19:26the Houthis, but it's only Iran benefiting benefiting and putting more pressure
00:19:29pressure on the US through Saudi Saudi Arabia. What are the implications
00:19:32implications for Saudi's neighbours,
00:19:34neighbours, the wider region? Well,
00:19:36Well, this is like I said at the the beginning, it's some could be
00:19:39be a major turning point also for
00:19:41for GCC relations and for other countries. countries. We've heard the Emiratis
00:19:45Emiratis say today that Anwar Gargash Gargash that this attack on Saudi
00:19:48Saudi Arabia means that the UAE and and other Gulf countries are being
00:19:52being attacked, too, because the the security of Saudi Arabia is very
00:19:55very tightly related and linked to to the security of other countries
00:19:59countries in the region. We've also also heard the Saudis say a few days
00:20:03days ago that the security of the
00:20:05the Gulf is one security and cannot
00:20:08cannot be divided. So we'll definitely definitely see more action from a
00:20:12a joint action from the GCC leaders
00:20:15leaders and GCC countries. There
00:20:17There is a GCC Gulf mechanism that
00:20:22that requires or that indicates that that GCC countries have to act together.
00:20:25together. It has been activated twice twice before, once in Kuwait during
00:20:29during the Gulf War and once in Bahrain
00:20:31Bahrain when there were protests.
00:20:34protests. So will we see the Saudis
00:20:36Saudis asking for this mechanism mechanism to be activated again?
00:20:39again? It's yet to be seen, but the
00:20:41the pattern and the path is that
00:20:43that we're seeing more more push
00:20:46push towards a collective GCC reaction.
00:20:48reaction. Mohamed Ali Ash-har Quraishi Quraishi Thousands of protesters
00:20:51protesters led by India's main opposition, opposition, the Congress Party, have
00:20:55have been marching in Delhi towards towards the Supreme Court. They're They're demanding the resignation
00:20:59resignation of the chief election election commissioner after the removal
00:21:01removal of millions of names from from voter lists. This comes after
00:21:05after several protesters were detained, detained, then released this weekend,
00:21:08weekend, including the leaders of of the Gen Z movement, the Cockroach
00:21:12Cockroach Janta Party. Our reporter reporter Jugal Purohit was at the
00:21:16the march in Delhi. For days now,
00:21:19now, protesters have been trying trying to make themselves seen and
00:21:22and heard in India's national capital.
00:21:25capital. However, what we are seeing seeing today is unlike what we've
00:21:28we've seen on any other day. Look
00:21:31Look behind me from this side there
00:21:34there is a huge crowd coming being
00:21:36being led by India's opposition leader
00:21:39leader Rahul Gandhi and several other
00:21:43other parliamentarians from this
00:21:45this side and this side, they are
00:21:48are merging onto this main carriageway. carriageway. As I said, it hasn't
00:21:52hasn't been as big in the last several
00:21:54several days. The plan is to march
00:21:56march from here to the Supreme Court
00:21:58Court of India, and the idea is to
00:22:02to press for the resignation of India's
00:22:05India's Chief Election Commissioner Commissioner and initiate a slew
00:22:08slew of electoral reforms. Now the
00:22:10the government says that this area
00:22:13area is, is is there's a notification notification which prevents the assembly
00:22:16assembly of more than four people
00:22:19people at any place in this vicinity.
00:22:20vicinity. But as you can see that
00:22:24that particular piece of law has has been breached and the police
00:22:27police is moving in, as you can see,
00:22:29see, because there's also a huge huge police deployment and now they're
00:22:33they're moving in to try and make
00:22:36make sure that the protests remain remain confined to this spot. OK,
00:22:39OK, let's speak to Isha Dutta Lahiri
00:22:42Lahiri in Delhi. Isha, tell us more
00:22:45more about the background to these
00:22:46these protests. First of all. Well,
00:22:50Well, at the heart of these protests
00:22:53protests is an exercise to periodically
00:22:55periodically revise India's electoral electoral voter list, known as the
00:22:59the Special Intensive Revision or
00:23:01or SIR. Now this entire exercise
00:23:05exercise has been at the centre of of a lot of controversy since it
00:23:09it was announced. So critics say
00:23:11say that it is unfair to poorer sections sections of society and migrants
00:23:14migrants who do not have the documentation
00:23:17documentation required by the SIR SIR process to prove themselves.
00:23:20themselves. Eligible voters. People
00:23:22People also say that this entire entire exercise has been carried
00:23:26carried out in an extremely hurried hurried manner in election going
00:23:30going states and India's opposition opposition specifically has alleged
00:23:33alleged that voter lists are being
00:23:36being manipulated to help India's India's ruling party, the Bharatiya Bharatiya Janata Party. Now, all
00:23:40all of these allegations have of of course been denied by both the
00:23:43the BJP government and the Election
00:23:46Election Commission. But it is in in this context that an investigation
00:23:49investigation by Indian newspaper newspaper Indian Express, which comes
00:23:53comes in which says that certain certain decisions regarding this
00:23:57this key exercise were taken unilaterally
00:24:00unilaterally by India's Chief Election Election Commissioner, Ganesh Kumar,
00:24:04Kumar, in spite of objections by
00:24:06by his fellow election commissioners. commissioners. Now this has created
00:24:09created an uproar in the country country and many are alleging that
00:24:13that Ganesh Kumar is directly responsible
00:24:17responsible for about 130 million
00:24:19million people who have been left
00:24:21left off the new voters list. And
00:24:24And that is why the youth in the the country, as well as the opposition
00:24:28opposition opposition parties, have have come out on the streets demanding
00:24:31demanding his resignation. And I I note that the Chief Justice has
00:24:35has told reporters that he declined
00:24:37declined a meeting with opposition
00:24:40opposition lawmakers without giving giving specific reasons why. But
00:24:42But is there any sign of a resolution
00:24:44resolution to all of this? Well,
00:24:47Well, we must remember that this
00:24:50this is the second such mass protest protest against the BJP dispensation
00:24:54dispensation in India in a very short short period of time. The last time
00:24:58time such a protest happened just just a few months ago, called by
00:25:01by the called by India's newest pressure
00:25:04pressure group youth pressure group group the Cockroach Janta Party.
00:25:06Party. It led to the resignation resignation of India's education
00:25:10education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Pradhan, who was a very key leader
00:25:14leader in the BJP ecosystem and in
00:25:15in Mr Modi's cabinet. Now we have
00:25:18have seen that over the past few
00:25:21few days the government has responded responded with a massive crackdown
00:25:25crackdown on these protests. There There is unprecedented security cover
00:25:28cover in Delhi and the government, government, for this reason will
00:25:31will be watching the protests closely. closely. But there has been no signs
00:25:35signs of a dialogue between the government government and the protesters. So
00:25:39So there is no evidence sign of a
00:25:40a resolution any time soon. OK. Isha
00:25:44Isha Lahiri in Delhi, thank you very
00:25:45very much. And let's just show you
00:25:49you those continuing scenes from
00:25:51from Delhi with thousands of protesters, protesters, thousands of military
00:25:55military on the streets, barricades barricades on the streets as well.
00:25:58well. But that protest movement showing
00:26:00showing no signs of abating over
00:26:02over this issue, much more to come come here on News
00:29:39people. For the latest, follow us us on the President's path here.
00:29:43here. On BBC News. MUSIC
00:29:55MUSIC Broaden Broaden your horizons. If this is is what being a 21st century nomad
00:29:57nomad is all about, sign me up. And And deepen your understanding. If
00:30:01If something starts changing here here we see the change all over the
00:30:04the world. The Travel Show on BBC
00:30:08BBC News. These are the latest headlines
00:30:17headlines from BBC News. In a warning warning to Russia, Nato's top military
00:30:20military commander says it would would block blunt and break any attack
00:30:24attack on its members as fears grow
00:30:25grow over the threat from Moscow. Moscow. Ukraine's President Zelensky
00:30:29Zelensky has accused Russia of striking striking power plants immediately immediately after President Trump
00:30:33Trump announced what he called an an energy ceasefire overnight between
00:30:37between Kyiv and Moscow. Houthi fighters fighters in Yemen have continued
00:30:41continued to fire missiles towards towards Saudi Arabia after three
00:30:44three deadly attacks on Riyadh airport airport in the past few days, Saudi
00:30:48Saudi officials say. Air defences defences have intercepted and destroyed
00:30:51destroyed a ballistic missile aimed aimed towards a city in the southwest.
00:30:55southwest. Thousands of people are are marching in Delhi as they call
00:30:58call for the electoral commission. commission. Head to quit over names
00:31:01names being removed from voter lists.
00:31:04lists. And the Nobel Prize for economics economics has been awarded to two
00:31:07two Americans, Robert E Hall and and Michael Woodford, for their work
00:31:11work in macroeconomic stabilisation. stabilisation. The Swedish Academy Academy said they'd helped the world
00:31:15world respond to supply shocks and
00:31:17and economic downturns. Hello, I'm
00:31:26I'm Annita McVeigh, and let's just just tell you a little bit more about about this year's Nobel Prize for
00:31:30for economics, which has been awarded awarded to two American economists,
00:31:34economists, Robert E Hall and Michael Michael Woodford won the award for
00:31:37for their work in the microeconomic
00:31:40microeconomic foundations of Macroeconomic Macroeconomic stabilisation. And And essentially their work looks
00:31:44looks at how monetary policy can can be used to stop fluctuations
00:31:47fluctuations in economies to bring bring more stability. Meanwhile,
00:31:51Meanwhile, this year's Nobel Peace
00:31:53Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay has
00:31:55has told BBC News that international international law will survive despite
00:31:59despite criticism coming from several several countries including the US..
00:32:02US.. The Trump administration has has imposed sanctions on the International
00:32:06International Criminal Court, which
00:32:07which it views as a rogue institution. institution. Speaking to Rebecca
00:32:11Rebecca Kesby on the BBC World Service,
00:32:13Service, Navi Pillay defended international international law and described her
00:32:16her shock at winning the Nobel Peace
00:32:18Peace Prize. Surprise is a mild word.
00:32:22word. I was completely taken by shock
00:32:25shock because I was in the courtroom courtroom there in Nuremberg. We
00:32:28We all either switched off our phone
00:32:30phone or we had no internet connection.
00:32:33connection. I now know that the Nobel
00:32:36Nobel Committee was desperately trying trying to get me. And then they phoned
00:32:39phoned my brother in Durban who also
00:32:42also handles my affairs. Guess what?
00:32:44what? A once in a lifetime huge dental
00:32:47dental appointment. So you see. And
00:32:50And so he couldn't help either because because the only thing he could do
00:32:53do is phone me. So it was a bit chaotic.
00:32:56chaotic. Do you believe international
00:32:57international law now is under political
00:33:00political threat? Why is that important?
00:33:03important? I do believe it's under
00:33:06under threat because judges and the
00:33:08the prosecutors at the International International Criminal Court have
00:33:12have been sanctioned. All the staff
00:33:14staff are on tenterhooks about whether whether they can continue working.
00:33:17working. It affects their entire entire lives. They can't use their
00:33:21their credit cards because the Dominion
00:33:24Dominion servers are all based in
00:33:26in the US. It has wide widespread
00:33:30widespread repercussions, but mainly mainly on the judicial work. This
00:33:32This is an independent court. Judges
00:33:35Judges in any country should not
00:33:37not be punished for the judicial
00:33:40judicial orders they deliver. And
00:33:42And Rebecca, because I regard this
00:33:44this as so alarming, my priority priority is after this interview
00:33:48interview and several others, I'm I'm going straight to the International
00:33:51International Criminal Court because because the staff invited to come
00:33:55come and address them. So I prioritise
00:33:58prioritise that because it's such
00:33:59such an area of anxiety by one government
00:34:04government headed by by Trump. Hours Hours after it was announced that
00:34:08that you won this prize and we don't don't know if it's connected, the
00:34:12the US Secretary of State, Marco Marco Rubio, took aim directly at
00:34:16at the International Criminal Court, Court, where you have been a judge.
00:34:19judge. He said he wants to cripple cripple it. He said either the ICC
00:34:23ICC will end its threats or we will
00:34:26will end the ICC. He said that American
00:34:29American and Israeli people had had
00:34:32had been unfairly targeted by the
00:34:34the ICC. What do you make of his his comments? I think they're shocking
00:34:37shocking comments. They're totally
00:34:40totally unacceptable for one state
00:34:42state to go and attack a court that
00:34:44that is supported by a majority of
00:34:48of states, 124 counting. Which states?
00:34:51states? Which member states create,
00:34:53create, you know, help to support
00:34:55support this court. So firstly it's
00:34:58it's a single state that is taking
00:35:00taking this action with great hypocrisy.
00:35:03hypocrisy. Of course they want the
00:35:05the court there to go after the person
00:35:08person they want to go after. And
00:35:10And that is Putin. They support the
00:35:13the indictment and warrant against against President Putin. But they
00:35:17they say hands off Israel. International
00:35:20International law is not there to to be manipulated to favour your
00:35:24your friends and condemn those who who don't like. You winning the Nobel
00:35:28Nobel Peace Prize has triggered a
00:35:30a furious response from the Israeli
00:35:33Israeli Foreign Ministry, which on
00:35:35on Friday said, and I'm quoting awarding
00:35:38awarding Pele the Nobel Peace Prize
00:35:40Prize isn't a recognition of justice.
00:35:42justice. It's a grotesque weaponization
00:35:44weaponization of an award to legitimise
00:35:47legitimise anti-Israel hatred and and prejudice. And it goes on to
00:35:51to say Joseph Goebbels is certainly
00:35:54certainly applauding from hell. What What what's your response to those
00:35:58those accusations? These really government
00:36:00government used to like me. We had had a good relationship. When I was
00:36:04was High Commissioner for Human Rights,
00:36:07Rights, they turned against me. As
00:36:10As soon as we produce our reports
00:36:13reports in my capacity as chair of
00:36:17of the UN Commission into Palestine
00:36:20Palestine and Israel. So you could
00:36:22could see it's the reporting and
00:36:24and exposure of what's going on in
00:36:27in this conflicted area is what troubles troubles them. You said international
00:36:31international law is under attack.
00:36:32attack. Do you believe it can and
00:36:36and will survive? And what if it it doesn't? It will survive. So I
00:36:40I don't even want to speculate. What
00:36:42What if it does? And maybe for a
00:36:44a few months the sanctions will hurt
00:36:46hurt the court. You know, I know
00:36:49know some of the judges and the prosecutor,
00:36:52prosecutor, senior prosecutors there
00:36:55there people working in, in these these courts are thoroughly dedicated
00:36:59dedicated and committed. I know that
00:37:01that they will pursue their work
00:37:05work impartially and as and as long long as they could work, they will
00:37:08will continue. So there's no question question of this court coming to
00:37:11to an end despite any attempts to
00:37:14to stifle it. Nobel Peace Prize winner
00:37:17winner Navi Pillay, speaking to the
00:37:21the BBC as America's mid-term elections elections approach, the data centres
00:37:25centres powering the AI boom are are becoming a political flashpoint.
00:37:28flashpoint. A new proposal in Washington Washington would require them to
00:37:31to cover the additional electricity electricity infrastructure costs
00:37:34costs they create. President Trump Trump champions their expansion,
00:37:38expansion, but Arizona's Attorney Attorney General has called for a
00:37:40a pause on new approvals. Our North North America correspondent Shaimaa
00:37:44Shaimaa Khalil has been hearing what what it means to live alongside these
00:37:48these giant facilities. Get off it.
00:37:50it. Put people over profit. A backlash backlash to the data centre boom
00:37:54boom is happening across America.
00:37:57America. And. Here in Arizona, protesters
00:38:00protesters are fighting against upcoming upcoming expansions. The point of
00:38:04of technology is to make things more more efficient, not to coat the earth
00:38:08earth in rapidly depreciating chips chips that heat, you know, neighbourhoods.
00:38:12neighbourhoods. We can't have another another data centre. We don't have
00:38:14have enough water as it is. This
00:38:17This is what America's AI ambitions
00:38:18ambitions look like. President Trump
00:38:21Trump says any slowdown means losing losing to China. At first glance,
00:38:24glance, this looks like an ordinary ordinary suburban neighbourhood.
00:38:27neighbourhood. That is, until huge huge data centres started sprawling
00:38:30sprawling around. And in a place
00:38:33place like Arizona, already struggling struggling with soaring temperatures
00:38:36temperatures and drought, people people here worry about what that that will mean more pressure on the
00:38:40the power grid, potentially higher higher bills, more demand on scarce
00:38:44scarce water. We love our house but
00:38:48but if we had known that was going going in, we never would have bought
00:38:52bought here. It's enough to make
00:38:54make the difference between a pleasant
00:38:58pleasant lifestyle and wondering wondering how much noise is going
00:39:02going to be coming up and what's
00:39:05what's next. This is essentially
00:39:07essentially a data logger. A noise
00:39:10noise isn't the only concern. Scientists Scientists say the data centres are
00:39:13are making scorching Arizona even even hotter. Driving around this
00:39:17this neighbourhood. What worries
00:39:19worries you about its proximity to
00:39:21to that data centre? The residents
00:39:24residents here are all going to feel
00:39:27feel a couple of degree Fahrenheit
00:39:29Fahrenheit warming on a typical day,
00:39:31day, and that will translate to higher higher energy costs for them. Running
00:39:35Running air conditioners probably
00:39:37probably higher landscape water use use costs. Reporter but some residents
00:39:41residents see these facilities as as part of the technology they already already rely on. I don't think it's
00:39:45it's a problem and I'm kind of excited. excited. I just recently bought a
00:39:48a Tesla with full Self-Driving, and
00:39:50and I know that uses a lot of data data and it's awesome. So I don't
00:39:54don't have a problem with it. We We need that water. And if. It's
00:39:57It's not there, how do we farm? But
00:39:59But Nancy Caywood worries about what what gets left behind. Her family
00:40:03family has farmed this land since
00:40:05since 1930. Drought is making that that harder now, but she says she's
00:40:09she's refused offers to sell to data data centre developers. Knowing my
00:40:12my granddad worked so hard to for for this farm, just not having it
00:40:16it here would just be. It would be
00:40:19be hard. What do you say to President
00:40:20President Trump because he's a big
00:40:23big advocate of data centres. He He can't eat data centres, can't
00:40:27can't eat them. They're not going going to provide food for you. As
00:40:29As voters head to the polls in November,
00:40:32November, many issues will weigh weigh heavily on their minds. Among
00:40:35Among them, the expansion of AI, AI, changing their lives and the
00:40:39the landscape around them. Shaimaa
00:40:42Shaimaa Khalil, BBC News, Arizona. Arizona. Around the world and across
00:40:45across the UK. This is BBC News.
00:41:50people. For the latest, follow us us on the President's path here on
00:41:52on BBC. News. Let's return to our
00:41:59our top story now. Nato Supreme allied
00:42:02allied Commander Europe says the the alliance will ensure that any
00:42:05any attack on its members will prove
00:42:07prove utterly futile. US General General Alexis Grynkewich said the
00:42:11the alliance would block blunt and
00:42:13and break any attack on its members. members. Whatever the enemy objectives,
00:42:17objectives, he said the alliance alliance should set out red lines
00:42:20lines to Russia over its hybrid attacks.
00:42:23attacks. Well, our BBC Monitoring Monitoring chief analyst Vitaly Shevchenko Shevchenko was with me in the studio
00:42:27studio and highlighted his key takeaways takeaways from that speech at the
00:42:31the Warsaw Security Forum. He spent
00:42:35spent a lot of time bigging up Nato's
00:42:38Nato's capabilities and clearly he
00:42:40he was trying to send out the message
00:42:44message that, you know, we mean it,
00:42:45it, we're serious and we are capable.
00:42:49capable. However, my view is that
00:42:52that there's one point where Russia's
00:42:54Russia's and Nato's interests coincide
00:42:58coincide and that point lies in the
00:43:01the aspiration that these huge capabilities
00:43:04capabilities that Nato has are never
00:43:07never actually used. Russia is quite
00:43:10quite well. I think they know that
00:43:13that they will stand very little
00:43:15little chance of defeating this alliance,
00:43:17alliance, especially now that Russia
00:43:20Russia is bogged down in Ukraine
00:43:22Ukraine for Nato going to war, hot
00:43:27hot war with Russia is going to be
00:43:30be a costly decision in more ways
00:43:32ways than one, not just money, but
00:43:36but very, very likely deaths of its
00:43:39its soldiers. So this is clearly clearly what they want to avoid.
00:43:43avoid. So no surprise that the general general described his theory of victory
00:43:47victory as a vision. First of all, all, of deterrence and then defence.
00:43:51defence. And yet you say that both
00:43:52both Russia and Nato want to avoid
00:43:55avoid boots on the ground. That sort sort of situation. But I suppose suppose one of the big questions
00:43:59questions for European leaders who've who've talked a lot about hybrid
00:44:03hybrid threats from Russia is how how far Nato is prepared to go in
00:44:06in terms of dealing with those hybrid hybrid threats. And one big question
00:44:09question that occurred to me as I
00:44:10I was listening to the general Vitali,
00:44:13Vitali, is to what extent does Nato's
00:44:16Nato's military plans, Nato's military
00:44:19military strategy chime with how how far the United States, which
00:44:22which of course has Nato's biggest
00:44:25biggest army, is prepared to engage engage in this strategy? Well, exactly.
00:44:28exactly. I found it notable that that the general used the phrase,
00:44:31phrase, and I quote that the Alliance
00:44:34Alliance will want to deny the ability
00:44:37ability to seize and hold our territory.
00:44:40territory. And as we will know, it's it's not just about the actual territory
00:44:44territory these days. It's about about undermining the very fabric
00:44:48fabric that holds democracies together.
00:44:51together. So people listening to
00:44:53to his speech would only hope that
00:44:56that the alliance has plans to defeat
00:44:59defeat the enemy's plans to undermine undermine their democracies. When
00:45:03When it comes to how committed Washington
00:45:08Washington is these days to the alliance
00:45:10alliance he sought to assuage those
00:45:12those concerns that it's not by saying
00:45:14saying that nobody should question
00:45:17question that commitment, but past
00:45:19past history, recent history of relations relations between the alliance and
00:45:23and Donald Trump. I think it justifies
00:45:26justifies those questions. Let's
00:45:27Let's talk a bit about then the energy
00:45:30energy cease fire, the surprise energy
00:45:32energy cease fire announced by President President Trump at the weekend. Earlier
00:45:36Earlier in Warsaw, President Zelensky Zelensky was speaking. He appeared
00:45:39appeared to throw down the gauntlet gauntlet effectively to Russia, saying,
00:45:43saying, you know, Ukraine will sign sign up to this. Russia needs to.
00:45:47to. And if it doesn't, America needs needs to deal with that. That seemed
00:45:49seemed to be the underlying thread
00:45:51thread in what he was saying. What
00:45:53What response has there been from
00:45:55from the Kremlin? Vitali? Noncommittal.
00:45:59Noncommittal. It's very important
00:46:00important to note that neither Russia Russia nor Ukraine have actually
00:46:04actually said that this cease fire
00:46:07fire is is happening. The Kremlin Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov,
00:46:10Peskov, was asked about the alleged
00:46:13alleged cease fire this morning and
00:46:16and he said that and I quote context context continue. And if we have
00:46:19have anything to say on the subject,
00:46:21subject, we will. Which again raises
00:46:23raises doubts in my mind that this
00:46:25this is actually going ahead. And
00:46:29And also it's worth remembering that
00:46:31that the past four and a half years,
00:46:33years, in fact, more than a decade
00:46:36decade of this conflict between Russia
00:46:37Russia and Ukraine is littered with
00:46:40with failed ceasefires, ceasefires
00:46:42ceasefires that failed even before
00:46:44before they started. So personally,
00:46:47personally, I have huge doubts that
00:46:48that this will result in any decrease
00:46:51decrease in attacks in Ukraine on
00:46:54on energy or anything else at all.
00:46:56all. Yeah, we've got about a minute
00:46:58minute left on this conversation.
00:47:01conversation. Vitali, in terms of of this energy cease fire, do you
00:47:04you think Russia will feel compelled
00:47:07compelled to do anything more so
00:47:10so long as this diesel deal between
00:47:11between the US and Russia stays in
00:47:14in place? I don't think so. It's
00:47:18It's not crucial to Putin that this
00:47:22this amount of diesel gets delivered delivered or sold at all. He will
00:47:26will still have buyers from China
00:47:29China and India. And we have to remember
00:47:32remember that Russia was not exporting
00:47:35exporting any diesel to begin with.
00:47:37with. It banned diesel exports because
00:47:39because it wants it itself. So from
00:47:42from the point of view of the Kremlin,
00:47:43Kremlin, I think it's political rather
00:47:47rather than economic signalling that
00:47:50that Putin is back in from the cold. cold. He's not isolated and getting
00:47:54getting an extra cash as well. That
00:47:56That helps to. Vitaly Shevchenko,
00:48:00Shevchenko, a BBC investigation has has revealed that the world's biggest
00:48:03biggest accountancy firm helped falsify falsify documents that allowed the
00:48:06the former Chelsea Football Club Club owner Roman Abramovich to hide
00:48:10hide his wealth and evade tax. BBC BBC Panorama has uncovered hundreds
00:48:14hundreds of documents that were backdated backdated by the Russian billionaires
00:48:18billionaires advisers. Many were were drawn up with the help of Deloitte.
00:48:21Deloitte. Roman Abramovich denies denies any wrongdoing. Deloitte says
00:48:24says it complies with applicable
00:48:26applicable laws. Richard Bilton reports.
00:48:31reports. Things have changed for for Roman Abramovich. He has been
00:48:34been sanctioned because of his links links to Vladimir Putin. He's been
00:48:37been forced to sell his beloved Chelsea
00:48:41Chelsea and now revelations from from inside his financial empire.
00:48:44empire. If you want to understand understand Roman Abramovich, follow
00:48:48follow the money. This is Cyprus,
00:48:51Cyprus, home to a web of companies
00:48:52companies that were holding his wealth
00:48:56wealth working with the Bureau of
00:48:58of Investigative Journalism. Panorama Panorama has been investigating a
00:49:02a data leak which shows the lengths
00:49:05lengths some of his Cypriot advisers advisers went to hide his billions.
00:49:08billions. They falsified and backdated backdated hundreds of documents.
00:49:12documents. It is trying to cover
00:49:15cover up something. And what we appear
00:49:17appear to have here is a fiddle factory
00:49:19factory in a fiddle factory. You You fiddle the transactions, you
00:49:23you backdate them and that is what
00:49:25what appears to have been happening
00:49:27happening here regularly. In 2003,
00:49:302003, one of Roman Abramovich's Cypriot
00:49:33Cypriot companies called Kravin Investments, Investments, had almost $2 billion
00:49:37billion of his money in the bank.
00:49:40bank. Deloitte confirms certain changes changes will have to be made to the
00:49:44the accounts. That's Deloitte apparently
00:49:47apparently advising on falsifying falsifying financial records by backdating
00:49:50backdating them. The evidence suggests
00:49:53suggests it allowed Mr Abramovich
00:49:54Abramovich to evade millions in tax.
00:49:57tax. It's a. Straightforward and
00:50:03and blatant move to protect from
00:50:08from legitimate taxation assets which which should otherwise have been
00:50:12been subject to tax. So it's tax tax evasion. Yeah. Straightforward.
00:50:16Straightforward. And how serious serious is that? Well, again, if
00:50:19if it happened in England and it it was in the millions His Majesty's
00:50:22Majesty's Revenue and Customs would
00:50:24would be thinking about a prosecution.
00:50:27prosecution. Roman Abramovich's lawyers
00:50:29lawyers say he denies he evaded tax
00:50:31tax or concealed his fortune. They
00:50:34They say he was not involved in the the day to day operation of the companies
00:50:38companies and Panorama has provided provided no evidence that he knew
00:50:42knew of authorised or directed the
00:50:45the falsification or backdating of
00:50:47of any documents. Deloitte Cyprus
00:50:49Cyprus says it's unable to comment comment Because the documents are
00:50:53are more than 20 years old are no
00:50:55no longer accessible. Richard Bilton,
00:50:57Bilton, BBC News. And you're watching watching news now. Do stay with us
00:51:01us here on BBC News.
00:51:14MUSIC
00:51:24With its cold climate and lava field
00:51:27field landscapes, Iceland is a remote
00:51:29remote island sitting just below below the Arctic Circle. Farmland
00:51:33Farmland is limited here, but the
00:51:35the country has an abundance of heat,
00:51:39heat, water and clean electricity.
00:51:42electricity. And here in Keflavik Keflavik we're seeing how agritech
00:51:46agritech is turning that into an
00:51:48an advantage. This is a growing room.
00:51:52room. We are growing Japanese strawberry.
00:51:54strawberry. Wow. There's so many.
00:51:57many. When you think of Iceland's Iceland's northern climes, strawberries
00:52:00strawberries probably aren't the the first crop that spring to mind.
00:52:03mind. But down here, more than 5000
00:52:065000 plants are growing. Two years
00:52:08years ago, Ken quit his IT industry industry job and came to Iceland
00:52:12Iceland to set up this indoor farm.
00:52:15farm. I think Iceland is the best
00:52:16best place to grow Japanese strawberry strawberry and apart from Japan.
00:52:20Japan. So I decided to move here.
00:52:22here. The premium fruit is sold through
00:52:25through an online shop to local buyers buyers and restaurants. This one
00:52:28one is the best. Oh, that's a big
00:52:30big one. That looks delicious. Out
00:52:33Out of know why is a good texture.
00:52:36texture. It's a very beautiful. Oh,
00:52:39Oh, it's very sweet. Here, a new
00:52:41new wave of modern day farmers are
00:52:44are harnessing the country's plentiful,
00:52:46plentiful, cheap and clean electricity
00:52:48electricity to grow fruits and vegetables.
00:52:52vegetables. That's important because because facilities like this are
00:52:57are also energy intensive. Indoor
00:52:58Indoor farm use a lot of electricity.
00:53:01electricity. Iceland can provide provide natural energy from geothermal.
00:53:05geothermal. And then Icelandic water
00:53:07water is very pure. Meanwhile, Iceland's
00:53:10Iceland's renewable energy and cool cool climate has attracted another
00:53:13another industry. Data centres and
00:53:17and this Start-Up has an innovation
00:53:19innovation that's quite literally literally out of the box, capturing
00:53:22capturing waste heat from data and
00:53:25and turning it into dinner. So welcome
00:53:28welcome to the pod. The recovered recovered heat is channelled to food
00:53:31food growing pods converted from from shipping containers. Here we
00:53:34we try with microgreens because they're
00:53:37they're super efficient. After carrying
00:53:39carrying out trials at a data centre, centre, this demonstration unit has
00:53:42has now been set up in a business
00:53:45business park to run test simulations. simulations. We connect directly
00:53:48directly to the exhaust from the the data centre. The heat is coming coming through that wall. Everything
00:53:52Everything is happening behind this
00:53:54this wall to mix the air and making making sure we have a homogeneous
00:53:58homogeneous temperature all around around the pod. The idea is to tackle
00:54:01tackle two issues in one go. 80% 80% of our fresh fruits and vegetables
00:54:05vegetables are imported. This is is a huge carbon footprint for the the island and also the variety of
00:54:09of fruits and vegetables you can
00:54:11can get is limited. Less than 20km
00:54:1520km from this geothermal plant, plant, indoor growing systems have
00:54:18have been taken to another level.
00:54:22level. So here we have the green green face. So everything is green.
00:54:26green. This dazzling display is part part of an aquaculture facility where
00:54:30where Icelandic firm Al-khalaf is
00:54:33is cultivating microalgae. We are are growing the algae from just small
00:54:36small flasks up to the big reactors. reactors. You can see here. Each
00:54:40Each reactor you see is 10,000l. 10,000l. The light is helping the
00:54:44the algae photosynthesise the more more light we can get, the more the
00:54:47the algae will grow. The algae is
00:54:50is fed CO2 and releases oxygen while
00:54:53while lighting pH and temperature
00:54:55temperature are all tightly controlled. controlled. After removing the water
00:54:59water and drying the algae, they
00:55:01they produce a compound used in dietary dietary supplements. We have to break
00:55:05break the cells apart to release release the xanthin, and that goes
00:55:08goes into making an oil like a resin. resin. We then sell on to other companies
00:55:12companies that make small capsules. capsules. And so in a country where
00:55:16where the climate limits what can can be grown, innovators have found
00:55:19found new ways to produce.
00:59:06I was here at the very first protest, the Cockroach Janta Party
00:59:10Party had organised about a month
00:59:12month ago, and this is so much bigger. bigger. I've been driving towards
00:59:16towards the site of this wildfire, wildfire, but we've just stopped stopped at the side of the road here
00:59:19here because of what we saw out the the window. This man has been pulled
00:59:23pulled out successfully. It's taken taken a mammoth mammoth rescue effort.
00:59:26effort. This morning. You get very very little sense of the terrible terrible scenes that were witnessed
00:59:30witnessed here last night. There
00:59:32There when the story breaks. BBC
00:59:36BBC News.
01:00:10Live from London. This is BBC
01:00:13News. In a warning to Russia, Nato's Nato's top military commander says
01:00:17says the alliance would block blunt
01:00:19blunt and break any attack on its
01:00:21its members as fears grow over the
01:00:23the threat from Moscow. Ukraine's Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky
01:00:26Zelensky says Russia hit a power power plant in Ukraine immediately
01:00:29immediately after Donald Trump announced announced what he called an energy
01:00:32energy ceasefire. It was clear that
01:00:36that Putin does not read Truth Social
01:00:42Social and his cheeky drones follow
01:00:43follow a different set of instructions.
01:00:46instructions. The comedian and actor actor Russell Brand has appeared appeared in court for the start of
01:00:50of his trial on charges of rape and
01:00:53and sexual assault. He denies the
01:00:54the charges. Flights remain suspended
01:00:57suspended at Saudi Arabia's main main international airport after