17/06/2017 World News Today

British Prime Minister Theresa May says

support for people caught up in London's Grenfell Tower disaster

58 people are missing and now presumed dead.

That number may increase, but I really hope it will not.

A mistrial - that's the ruling in the sexual assault case

We can never underestimate the blinding power of celebrity, but

justice will come. Also in the programme,

all the sport, including the latest from the third round of the US

Open golf. Police say 58 people are now

presumed to have died in the fire at Grenfell Tower

in West London. They've also said that the death

toll is again likely to rise. She has faced criticism

over her role in the tragedy, but today, Theresa May met victims

of the fire at Downing Street amid criticism of the government's

handling of the tragedy. The Prime Minister has released a

statement acknowledging what many local people have been saying for

days, that the response was not good enough.

This report is from our correspondent, Jeremy Cooke.

In the midsummer heat, Grenfell Tower casts a long shadow.

A new dark reality on the London skyline,

with the power to shock, and to move.

A sight which stops you in your tracks.

Everyone's busy talking, but yet you can just feel a silence.

Four days on from disaster, and with every

Sadly, at this time, there are 58 people who we were told...

We have been told were in Grenfell Tower on

the night, that are missing, and therefore sadly I have to assume

The investigations into how this happened will be complex and

lengthy, but the residents' association for Grenfell Tower and

the surrounding blocks is already calling for the Council and its

management agency to be suspended from their

Andrea Newton says the community felt ignored before

the tragedy, neglected since, with no access to basic information.

What are they getting next, where will they move,

These are fundamental questions, and we are days after this disaster.

Today the residents brought those frustrations to

Downing Street, asking for more help on the ground.

And there have been reassurances from ministers.

There is now from today on the ground

a central operation precisely to answer all those, you know,

perfectly reasonable questions that people have in these

A perfectly clear message but still, on the street,

What we are seeing here is an aid effort run by local people.

We are told there will be a more official

response to what has happened, but on the ground, there is very

little evidence of that. Amanda, you are doing all you can.

Have you seen any Government people, local council people?

No, I haven't. I haven't seen anyone at all.

We have been here since the morning and have not

The only Government or council vehicles I have seen are the

refuse lorries, coming up and down the street.

The pain here is plain to see, and the community strength too,

and the determination to come together and to overcome.

Jeremy Cooke, BBC News, North Kensington.

In the last few hours, the Prime Minister has

It said - "The response of the emergency services, NHS, and the

But frankly, the support on the ground

for families who needed help or basic information in the initial

hours after this appalling disaster was not good enough.

There have been huge frustrations that people do not

know who to talk to, that they can't get through on the council hotlines.

Earlier, I spoke to our political correspondent, Alex Forsyth, and

began by asking her about whether the Prime Minister's statement

There has been anger, and a lot of frustration from some

members of the local community at what they see

as an inadequate response to what has

happened, not just from the

Government but also from the local authority, Kensington and Chelsea

Theresa May was personally criticised for not

meeting residents and victims affected by this incident soon

In the past few days, she visited a hospital yesterday, and

today she hosted this meeting in Downing Street.

I am told that these actions she has now come out with a

direct response to what she has been hearing from people on the ground.

which is why we have seen the Prime Minister announced

that ?5 million emergency fund, which will start to be distributed

That is for basic things like food, travel money.

She has renewed the commitment to rehouse

people within three weeks, in the local

area if they want to, or as

She has also talked about people on the

ground in high viz jackets so that people

have a point of contact, and

the Prime Minister taking personal sponsor

ability to ensure that the

findings from the public enquiry into this incident are acted upon.

Theresa May is trying to reassure people that the Government is doing

what it can after it has had such criticism for its response so far.

The message from the Government now is that they are trying to listen to

the local community and do what they need. More than three days on from

this fire, there seems to be little evidence that there is help on the

ground for people who need it. Only this morning, we were still here and

reports from people they are saying that the effort had been driven by

the community rather than any of the authorities. That is what Theresa

May is trying to address. She listened to that from residents in

the meeting at Downing Street today which is why she came up with these

specific actions. Damian Green, the first Secretary of State in the UK,

to all intents and purposes, the Deputy Prime Minister, he said in an

interview this morning that that help on the ground would start from

today. There is a recognition that it does not been there to this

point. The Government is saying they are acting on this now, they are

acting on this and he will now see a difference. What remains to be seen

is whether or not that now appears on the ground and whether or not

that will satisfy residents in Kensington who feel that so far they

have not had the support they need. The Government is trying to get on

the front foot but still having to convince the community.

The Queen has observed a minute's silence at the Trooping the Colour

parade in memory of all those who died in Grenfell Tower

and in the recent bombings in Manchester and London.

Earlier, she issued an unprecedented statement

- on what is her official birthday - in which she said it was

"difficult to escape the very sombre national mood".

Our Royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell, reports.

On a day intended for celebration, the Queen led the nation in sorrow.

Before leaving Buckingham Palace for Horse Guards, she stood with the

Duke of Edinburgh for a minute's silence.

A moment of reflection, joined by the footguards on the

parade ground and the cavalry at the palace gates -

in remembrance of those lost at Grenfell Tower, and in

the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester.

Yesterday she'd visited the scene of the fire at Grenfell Tower

and met some of those who have lost friends and neighbours.

It had clearly made a deep impression.

In her statement she said, "I have been profoundly struck

by the immediate inclination of people throughout the country

to offer comfort and support to those in desperate need."

The footguards marched and trooped the colour of the Irish Guards,

and the Royal Family appeared on the palace balcony,

where Prince George, as usual, stole the show,

gazing down at the crowds, and then as the RAF fly-past appeared,

This was a year when the head of state reflected the country's

Nicholas Witchell, BBC News, at Buckingham Palace.

A judge in the United States has declared a mis-trial in the sexual

assault case against entertainer Bill Cosby.

The jury failed to reach a consensus on all three counts,

after more than 50 hours of deliberations.

The prosecution says it will seek a retrial.

The 79-year-old actor had denied drugging and sexually

assaulting a woman at his home 13 years ago.

Our North America correspondent, Aleem Maqbool, reports.

After so many accused him of being a calculating sexual predator,

Bill Cosby is free now to go home from court.

The jury didn't acquit him, but they could not unanimously

We came here looking for an acquittal, but like that

Rolling Stones says, you don't always get what you want -

God bless you all, and happy Father's Day.

The mistrial was celebrated like a victory by Cosby's supporters.

What do you say to the 60 women came forward and accused him...

Back in his heyday, Bill Cosby was the most prominent

African-American, the highest-paid actor, and undoubtedly

Of the dozens of women who came forward saying

he sexually assaulted them, most couldn't go to trial

because it was so long since the alleged incidents took place.

One case was heard in court, though, brought by Andrea Constand,

a former university employee who claims that in 2004 he drugged

All of the jurors were not convinced.

For now, Bill Cosby walks free, but there is the prospect

he is going to be retried, and there is no question

that in spite of this result his reputation as something

of an American father figure has now been tarnished.

Let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.

The Government of the Philippines says more than 300 people are known

to have been killed in the battle against Islamist

President Rodrigo Duterte says the presence of fighters

from the so-called Islamic state had made it a brutal conflict.

Police in Paris have arrested a man who's suspected of attacking

a prominent centre-right candidate while she was campaigning for

The former environment minister, was left unconscious for several

minutes on Thursday after a man grabbed her election pamphlets

and thrust them in her face, knocking her to the ground.

More than 100,000 events occurred across the UK

to remember the Labour MP, Jo Cox, who was murdered a year ago.

Her husband said she would be "incredibly humbled" by the events

The Great Get Together was based on the message in Mrs Cox's

"we have more in common than that which divides us".

An Egyptian court has recommended the death penalty for 30 people

convicted of involvement in the killing of the country's

Hisham Barakat died in a car bomb attack two years ago.

The country's religious authorities will now decide whether to confirm

the death sentences passed by the court.

Our middle east regional editor, Alan Johnston, reports.

A judge recommended the death penalty for

all those charged, and now the religious

authorities will be asked to approve the verdict.

It was handed down for the killing of

He was appointed as Egypt's most senior

prosecutor at a time of extraordinary tension, back in 2013.

There were mass protests in the streets of Cairo by supporters of

the ousted Muslim Brotherhood- backed president, Mohamed Morsi.

This dissent was crushed, and in his judicial capacity,

Hisham Barakat was involved in prosecuting thousands of

Islamists. He would have been loathed

by opponents of the ruling establishment.

This is where Mr Barakat's enemies killed him.

He was the highest-ranking Egyptian Government official to be

assassinated by militants in recent years.

The authorities blamed his killing on the Muslim Brotherhood

Both groups denied being responsible.

Stay with us on BBC World News, still to come -

More on the aftermath of London's deadly fire -

we'll hear from someone who is helping with

the volunteer effort - and who is calling for calm

British Prime Minister Theresa May says support for people caught up

in London's Grenfell Tower disaster "wasn't good enough".

58 are missing and now presumed dead.

My colleague Ben Brown has spent the day in Kensington just

next to Grenfell Tower, where local people are helping

one another cope with the effects of the fire.

He spoke to one of them, Swarzy Macaly, a volunteer who's

helping with the emergency effort and asked her how things were going.

It is going really well. Volunteers are in high spirits and doing

everything they can to put everything into storage. But I just

wanted to touch upon your point where we are calling for people to

become, and there are loads of peace ceremony is being conducted, and

just a few words, we want to be peacemakers acres there is enough

grief and we do not want that to be confused by that your kindness is

taken forward this. This is an atrocity that should not have

happened but we want to respond in love so that those who are grieving

feel loved by the community. To you understand the anger you have seen

in the last day or so? Definitely, and there needs to be answers, there

needs to be a response to that, but if you are just here at this scene,

so many people are grieving and weeping that I do not think lashing

out... The news and the press do a great job, but yesterday was not a

true reflection of what happened. I was at a church and all we did all

day was boxed up thousands of boxes to send for storage, and all over

the news is riots and kicking down doors. That is not a true

reflection. If you are on the ground, you know what the community

spirit is, and it is in the hands of the press to show a balanced view.

Yes, people are angry, but also people are loving. We have been

trying to showing credible effort from the community to deliver aid,

to bring in aid, you have got enough supplies no. We have got too many

supplies now! We want to see a massive thank you to van drivers,

people opening up storage and homes. I would love to get a conversation

going between storage and donation centres because I have not seen any

council members, and we are doing this very organically, but we are

doing our best to lead a community, but we are still morning very much.

That is one of the issues, we have heard that people are still sleeping

on floors, people who have been made homeless, and also this Government

task force, which has been created, is supposed to be on the ground

today. Have you seen any evidence that? Note, but there is a lot of

talk of community, people saying that we are in the richest borough,

people could just purchase a block and house people. It is not as

straightforward as that, but people on the ground are thinking, why, it

is not just happen? We just want things to get done. A few days after

this disaster, it is such a difficult time, the grief is still

so raw, because not everybody knows what happened to their loved ones in

that building. Yes, and one of the ladies who was really grieving, and

the grief is understandable, we are not saying you cannot grieve,

because of course you see all the information going out, but actually,

I would like to encourage people to have people in grief. People are

very end in need of a hug and consolation, so a bottle of water

and a hug, and in well. One very passionate volunteer helping the

victims of the Grenfell Tower fire disaster.

Seven US crew members are missing after an American warship collided

with a Philippine container ship off the East coast of Japan.

The USS Fitzgerald, which has now arrived back at port,

crashed into the Phillipine vessel in the middle of the night.

It was heading for the nearby port of Yo-koss-ka under its own power.

It's believed that the ship's commanding officer is

People have been evacuated for treatment. It looks like it was an

outsider attack. An Afghan soldier was killed and another was wounded.

A few days ago, we had a similar incident, three American soldiers

were killed in the eastern part of the country. Mostly such attacks are

claimed by the Taliban and the claim is that they are infiltrators. Our

people, who make their way into the Army and wait for an occasion or

opportunity to carry out such attacks, and at times they are

normal soldiers who, for whatever reason, reasons can vary, turn their

gun at their American partners. They are either influenced by the Taliban

ideology or for other reasons. Lets get some sport for you now.

Charlie Hoffman leads the leaderboard at the U.S. Open. Tommy

Fleetwood and Rickie Fowler are both still in contention. Brooks cocker

and Justin Thomas are also there. Leigh Halfpenny kicked the British

and Irish Lions into a half-time lead, the Lions forwards dominating

the second half, and a penalty try saw them take the Maori all Blacks

apart any scrum. It had been a mixed tour for the Lions before the alive

the -- arrived here. To beat a side like the Maori All Blacks was a big

statement. The forward pack was excellent, the driving force behind

dominating and defeating the Maori. Sam Warburton, the tour captain, is

not guaranteed a starting place in the first test due to the

performance of other players. Leigh Halfpenny put in a flawless

performance and looks certain to take a number 15 jersey against the

All Blacks. Before that, the Lions will travel to Hamilton where they

will take on the Chiefs. The court has been criticised for some of the

players he brought in to boost his squad, Colin in players from Wales

and Scotland who have been touring in Australasia and overlooked

England players in Argentina. Eddie Jones has criticised that decision

because he has picked players not on merit, but on geography. Defending

champions have hammered. The final is expected to be watched by more

than 1 million people. -- 1 billion people.

You can never tell how the team. The tournament. Some teams might not

have the best start but will come back, which Pakistan has done. I do

not think we have exceeded expectations. We came here with the

firm opinion that we wanted to come here and when it, and that has been

our chat all the time. It has been used numerous times. We wanted to

get to London, and now we have done that we want to go one step further.

This is part of being an Indian cricketer. You have to find a way to

deal with that, you cannot ignore it and find a balance. That is the

sport from now.