22/06/2013 BBC Weekend News

Edward Snowden is charged with espionage and theft by US

prosecutors. Washington demands his urgent extradition from Hong Kong,

as more leaked documents are published.

Western and Arab nations promise weapons for Syria's opposition at a

meeting in Qatar. And it's first blood to the Lions, as Australia are

beaten in a dramatic finale to the strongly urging the authorities in

Hong Kong to act soon on a request to extradite the former intelligence

analyst Edward Snowden, who faces charges of espionage and theft by

prosecutors in the United States. He fled to Hong Kong last month and

leaked details of secret surveillance programmes. Washington

says if Hong Kong doesn't act soon, it could complicate bilateral

relations. The latest documents published today by the Guardian

newspaper, suggest the British intelligence agency GCHQ, is

collecting data on hundreds of millions of e-mails and phone calls

every day. Gordon Corera has the details.

America this morning woke to news that one of its former spies had

been charged with spying. Edward Snowden who leaked secrets about our

Government's surveillance programmes is officially a fugitive. The former

US intelligence contractor had fled to Hong Kong and he is still thought

to be in hiding there. The US is now moving to extradite him on charges

under its espionage act of steeling Government secrets and communicating

them with an unauthorised person -- stealing. Without commenting on any

individual Government's application, if another jurisdiction has issued

an extradition request, the Hong Kong Government will consider it

with reference to our current laws. The latest allegations based on

Snowden's documents come in today's Guardian newspaper. It's claimed

that Britain's intelligence agency, GCHQ is mounting a huge surveillance

operation, tapping 200 of the fibre optic cables that carry global

communications. The paper claims GCHQ every day can gather up details

of millions of phone calls, e-mails and website visits. It can then hold

this for up to 30 days to sift through it all looking for anything

related to national security. But the Government insists this is

lawful as a warrant is still required to actually read the stored

communications of any British citizen. They use the most modern

technology in order to do that. The crucial question is not how much

data could they collect, but what can they get access to? Is it an

intrusion on the citizen? Government official today said the

information gathered had played a part in recent terrorist arrests,

including some linked to the 2012 London Olympics, as well as in

breaking up child exploitation networks. But that's not prevented

questions being raised. It's been suggested to me that if they collect

so much of our private information that they don't look at it, we

shouldn't feel intruded on. That is the equivalent of going into

everybody's home at night, scooping up their private papers into bin

liners and stockpiling them for 30 days and saying don't worry, I

didn't read the stuff. GCHQ says its work is lawful and authorised by

Ministers. But the documents leaked by Edward Snowden are raising

questions about the sheer scale of its work, its costs and benefits.

And what the public should know. Joining me from Washington is our

correspondent Jonny Dymond. Strong words tonight for Hong Kong

from the White House in America's attempt to prosecute Mr Snowden.

They are strong words and there is a reason for that, the White House

wants Edward Snowden back on US soil so it can prosecute him and they're

angry and embarrassed by this massive leak of information and in

Congress they're spitting. There is talk of treason charges and that's

why we have heard from an official that if Hong Kong doesn't act

swiftly it could complicate the relationship between them and the

US, that's diplomatic speak for a nasty row indeed. The problem for

the US is that extradition proceedings do not move quickly and

there's precedent in the Hong Kong - in Hong Kong for them taking years

and years if Edward Snowden is found there and if he chooses to appeal

against it. Looming over all of this is probably the most important

relationship in the world today, the US-China relationship which is

bedevilled by US suspicions that China is engaging in a massive cyber

espionage operation against US Government and US private industry.

So you have Edward Snowden, this massive leak of information, China

which is Hong Kong's master in the end, and an already tense

relationship. Edward Snowden is a flashpoint in an already difficult

relationship between the US and China. Thank you.

A decision to supply arms to Syrian rebels fighting to depose President

Bashar al-Assad has moved a step closer tonight. Foreign ministers

meeting in Qatar including William Hague and the US Secretary of State

John Kerry, have agreed to provide urgent support to opposition forces.

The Qatari Prime Minster says providing arms may be the only means

of achieving peace. From Doha, here's Aleem Maqbool. This report

contains some flash photography. The rebels in Syria are still

fighting hard, despite recent setbacks. This footage is said to

show them attacking a military vehicle. They say they have new

weapons, but need much more if they're not to be crushed by Assad's

forces. 11 friends of Syria came together today to issue what sounded

like strong statements. Saying they had agreed on providing urgent

support for the Syrian rebels. But what does that amount to? To p great

greater assistance of one kind or other, each nation making its own

decision as to what it is comfortable doing, but all

committing, all of them committing to do more to be able to help the

Syrian opposition. The details just aren't clear. Recently Washington

promised arms but hasn't said what type and that it needs more time to

decide when to send them. While the UK has been bullish in recent weeks,

David Cameron faces strong opposition to sending weapons from

his own MPs and still hasn't made a decision. If you are in the middle

of a conflict and on the receiving end of chemical weapons, of missiles

and bombs, of every kind of the sort of butchery of the Assad regime,

it's not surprising at all people would be disillusioned with almost

everything in the world. The only worse thing, though, than these

meetings happening, would be these meetings not happening. Another

diplomatic meeting in another world capital has come to an end and yet

the killing goes on unabated. Over 90,000 people have already been

killed and yet the international community still searches for

consensus on how to bring about an end to the bloodshed.

Nearly 600 people are now known to have died in flash floods in

northern India. Rescuers are trying to reach tens of thousands more who

are cut off by the rising waters, in what the government has described as

a national crisis. The early monsoon rains in India this year are

believed to be the heaviest in six decades.

The Labour leader Ed Miliband has warned that his party cannot promise

to reverse the coalition's public spending cuts, if it wins the next

general election. He said the hard reality of the nation's economic

situation had to be faced. The Conservatives said Labour could not

be trusted to stick to its promises on tax and spending. Iain Watson

reports. Ed Miliband says the coalition has

been cutting too far and too fast but today he made clear to Labour

activists that he would now accept some of Government's spending limits

if he comes to power. We won't be able to reverse the cuts, in current

day-to-day spending, unless we final-- the money from savings --

find the money from savings elsewhere or extra revenue. Labour

would still borrow or raise taxes to invest in longer term projects such

as housing. And Ed Miliband says the Government would take a different

direction to the Conservatives but he might need that hard hat when he

next meets some of his traditional supporters. Enough is enough. We are

going to fight back. At this conference of trade unionists and

left-wing activists there was disappointment that the Labour

leader wasn't promising to reverse coalition cuts. It's just putting

another edge to Cameron's austerity measures and saying it's going to do

the same thing. If he carries on with these policies me and people in

my union branch won't be wanting to vote for him, he will be undermining

his own vote. Ed Miliband knows he won't be able to please many of the

people here at an anti-cuts conference when he says the next

Labour Government must exercise financial discipline to bring the

deficit down but he knows his party isn't trusted enough with the

economy so he has to convince undecided voters that he can take

tough decisions. The Chancellor will set out his spending plans for the

future on Wednesday. The Conservatives say that Labour would

be too weak to rein in the deficit and that the coalition has taken a

more grown-up aprech to the problems the cup has -- approach to the

problems the country has been facing. With Labour accepting some

of the spending limits all the parties know that the choice at the

next election won't be whether to cut, but how?

Brazil's President has promised to respond to the concerns of the

protesters, who've staged demonstrations around the country

over the past two weeks. In a televised speech Dilma Rousseff

promised to be tougher on corruption and backed the right to peaceful

protest, but sharply condemned violence, vandalism. Alastair

Leithead reports. The demonstrations which have struck

Brazil for more than a week now show little sign of abating. Overnight in

Sao Paulo the airport was blocked for a while. People are still taking

to the streets. The President appeared on prime time TV in an

attempt to stop the momentum. She promised to spend all the country's

new oil profits on education and to bring in foreign doctors to improve

the health system. People have the right to criticise or demand a

better quality of life with passion but they have to do it peacefully.

We cannot accept a violent minority destroying public property. Freedom

of speech is presumably important to a President who was once imprisoned

and tortured under Brazil's former dictatorship. She's trying to calm

down the people. Because of the violence and everything that is

happening now. I don't know who the head of the movement is, so I don't

know what they're thinking and we have no direction because of this.

We need a leader. That's been obvious at some of the

demonstrations. People fighting amongst themselves. Tunists they're

shouting, accusing political factions of trying to take advantage

of the crowds -- opportunists. need a leadership to find the way

out of the streets, otherwise we could degenerate into more violence

and riot rioting and disengagement of people in those movements.

Protests are breaking out all over Brazil, some large, some small, some

peaceful, others violent. They're being organised locally or by social

networks. This emerging mass movement certainly has some

momentum. The President has made her move and must now wait on high alert

to see how the people react. Now all the sport.

The British and Irish Lions have a 1-0 lead in the series with

Australia after a dramatic victory in Brisbane. The Wallabies could

have won the game in the last minute, but missed a penalty as the

tourists clung on to win by 23-21. Our chief sports correspondent Dan

Roan was there. Even for one of sport's most

cherished traditions, this felt special. It's 16 years since they

had last seen their team win a series and now as Brisbane bristled,

responsibility fell to this latest pride of Lions, amid a raukous

atmosphere, this was about to live up to the hype. Australia now seized

the initiative. But then came a try that will go

down in Lions's leg end. -- legend. Australia, however, have their own

world-class winger. The hosts back in the game, thanks to a second try

of the night. Australia were also missing their kicks, however. When

Cuthbert powered over the Lions looked on course for victory.

Despite the disruption of losing four backs to injury, Australia

somehow clawed their way back to within two points. And then with

this pulsating contest on a knife-edge, Beale had a chance to

win it. He slipped, however, and the last kick of the game was a scuffed

one. The Lions had clung on and now lead the series. One of the worst

minutes of my life, I thought it was going to be over, to be honest.

Delighted with the win. A great start, but we celebrated for a bit

and after a while we realised we had to pick it up again next week and

it's only half the job done. It was tense and the Lions had to ride

their luck but they have the chance to claim their first series victory

since 1997 next weekend in Melbourne. They'll almost certainly

have to raise their game to do so. There was also high drama for

Scotland, who scored a try in the last minute to beat Italy by 30-29

in Pretoria. The hooter had already sounded when Alexander Strockosh

found space, and touched down to bring them to within a point of the

Italians. And then captain Gregg Laidlaw converted to give Scotland

victory in the final match of their South African tour.

Double Olympic Champion Mo Farah was back competing for Britain today for

the first time since his triumph at London 2012. And once again he put

on a show for his fans, powering away in the final lap to Win the

5,000 metres with ease, at the European Team Championships in

Gateshead. Britain are currently third in the standings.

A Danish driver has died after crashing in the Le Mon 24 hours race

in France. 34-year-old Allan Simonsen spun off in his Aston

Martin just 10 minutes into the race. It was the 7th time he had

taken part in the event. Aston Martin say they'll continue at Le

Mon at the request of Simonsen's family.

The final day of Royal Ascot was overshadowed by the death of the

Hardwicke Stakes winner Thomas Chippendale. The colt, trained by

Lady Cecil, collapsed after the race and was pronounced dead soon after.

The feature race of the day was the Diamond Jubilee stakes, which was

won by Lethal Force. The four-year-old, ridden by Adam Kirby,

blew away the field, beating the favourite and 2011 winner Society