23/06/2017 World News Today

The British Prime Minister Theresa May has been told her offer for EU

citizens in the UK falls "below expectations".

My first impression is that the UK's first offer is below

our expectations, and it risks worsening the situation of citizens.

The London Grenfell Tower fire - police say the cladding

and insulation has failed safety tests and charges may follow.

We are looking at every criminal offence, from manslaughter onwards.

Reports from Turkey say five people have died

after being electrocuted at a water park.

"Time to shut down Al Jazeera," say Gulf countries, upping the stakes

in their row with Qatar, the owner of the broadcast network.

European leaders have criticised the offer to EU

citizens living in the UK from the British Prime Minister

Theresa May after the start of Brexit talks in Brussels.

It's exactly a year since the referendum vote, which has

unleashed a degree of political turmoil here.

The British Prime Minister is now weakened with a minority Government

Ros Atkins is outside the EU Commission in Brussels for us.

Not that all a warm reception for Theresa May's initial proposals. It

is interesting that despite the fact that the EU and the UK say this is

an absolute priority to sort out the issue of EU citizens in the UK, UK

citizens in the rest of the EU, the response this morning from EU

leaders from what Theresa May had to say was decidedly, OK, that is a

starting point, but nothing more. It is as being some riveting days to

see how the EEC about its future with the UK and seeing how it

handles the presence of Theresa May and her colleagues from the UK

Government. Let's bring ourselves up-to-date. Here is a latest report

from Laura Kuenssberg. Goodbye to the flag,

goodbye to this town. A year ago today, Britain

decided this place would be But what the picture outside

will look like for millions who have made their lives around

the continent is now We have set out what I believe

is a serious offer, a fair offer that will give the reassurance to EU

citizens living in the UK. One-to-one attempts

to sell her plans. But citizens who have lived

in the UK for five years can remain for good,

and until we leave the EU, But her EU rivals have

plenty of questions. What about Spaniards now in the UK

with family abroad, or anyone else? Is the cut-off date

when the Brexit process started? Or the moment when

we actually leave? Not until Monday will

ministers at home be ready Are you getting a clear idea

of the kind of Brexit We want to be sure that the rights

of citizens are protected. Could be a lot of our citizens not

covered with Mrs May's proposal. She might not have gone far enough

here, but for many at home, It gives 3 million EU

citizens in the UK certainty about the future of their lives,

and we want the same certainty for the more than 1 million UK

citizens who are living You have always said voters gave

politicians a clear instruction to control immigration,

but under your plans, for nearly another two years,

as many Europeans as they For many voters, do you think

that will really sound What voters voted for

when they voted to leave the European Union was to ensure

that outside the European Union, the United Kingdom could establish

our own rules on migration, on movement of people

from the EU into the UK. Away from home, there is relief that

at last the UK TRANSLATION: It is a good

beginning, but not a breakthrough. We have understood the UK

does not want They, just as they left together,

will decide together with the rest My first impression is that the UK's

offer is below our expectations and that it risks worsening

the situation of citizens. Reservations shared

by the opposition, who in contrast, their leader is loving his time

in the sun. We should not be

negotiating about this. What we should be doing

is unilaterally saying, as Labour has said from day one

after the referendum, that all the EU nationals should be

given permanent residents' rights. Concerns over these proposals

reflect Theresa May's 3-way bind, a united opposing frontier

in Brussels, clashing expectations among the public

at home and at her back inside her own party, different

strands of thinking and demands. And even a leader at the peak

of their powers would struggle Prime Minister, have your

proposals gone far enough? Relieved perhaps to be leaving,

but believed perhaps due to be away But governing is doing,

not just fending off enemies. Theresa May, at least today,

has been doing that. Laura Kuenssberg,

BBC News, Brussels. Exit has not been the only subject

discussed. There has also been talks on the economy, defence and

migration. Let's pick up on that issue with Catherine Woollard who is

the secretary here. Thank you for joining us. There is a lot of

dealing with this at the source, can you explain to our viewers how this

is meant to work. That is about tackling the root causes of forced

displacement, there are more people forcibly displaced than any point in

history and tackling the causes about, be it conflict and other

reasons, is the only way in the long-term to tackle displacement.

You can imagine a story where this may work in 15 years or 20 years.

Can it make a difference in the much shorter term? There are measures to

be taken immediately in terms of offering opportunities, investment,

development for people so they have some prospects where they are, and

measures such as bringing conflicts to Anand. -- bringing conflicts to

Anand. Talking to the Austrian Chancellor, he is third he is not

happy about the fact there is still not an agreement over the EU over

where migrants go when they come here. One part of the solution we

believe to be essential is an agreement among the member states on

solidarity, meaning a collective response. The numbers of people

arriving and numbers that Europe could manage, but it can only manage

them collectively. At some EU summits, they talk about unity, but

it is elusive? We cannot give up. Problems take time, and I think the

alternative suggesting blocking access within Europe is a short-term

fix, and it will not work in the long-term. There is an argument that

a simple block such as the deal struck with Turkey is more effective

than the long-term investment ideas than we have seen promoted recently.

We can see the appeal of these and the agreement such as the ones with

Turkey. I think they are very dangerous for the youth. It was the

EU at the mercy of the counterparts in those agreements, so all that is

needed to create a crisis in Europe is for those countries, Turkey, as

you mention, to release people. The power lies with them. Another issue

is the risk countries follow suit and block access to protection. Mind

scent of refugees are not in Europe. They are in the same, rather fragile

countries such as Kenya, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey itself. It is a risk

that those countries refuse to continue hosting refugees and they

are forced out. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. The EU summit has

come to the end. All of the leaders from across the EU have gone back to

their respective countries, but while they may be going away from

borstals, the issues of Brexit negotiations are not going anywhere

at all. No, it is very much in flux. Thank

you very much. This one will run and run, I think!

Police in Britain say that a fire at a London tower block in which 79

people were killed was started in a fridge freezer.

Officials also say that outside cladding and insulation

on the building had failed safety tests.

Our world affairs correspondent Richard Galpin has more.

In the first horrifying minutes of the disaster,

a resident of Grenfell Tower escapes and looks back at

A rapidly spreading inferno, which police today confirmed had its

origin in a kitchen of a flat slowdown in the tower.

It began, they said, with a Hotpoint fridge

Witnesses say flames escaped through the window,

where they began to race up and across the outside of the building.

Which is why the focus right from the start has been

on what was added to the tower during its refurbishment.

Aluminium cladding and foam insulation.

And right from the start, police wanted to know how

Preliminary tests on the insulation samples collected from Grenfell

Tower showed that they combusted soon after the tests started.

The initial test on the cladding tiles

Such are our safety concerns on the outcome of those tests,

we have shared our data with the Department

The cladding and insulation simply should not have burned so quickly.

Instead of a fire which devoured the tower, the damage should have

been little more than this - a fire in Camden in 2012,

So the police test have thrown up a string of questions.

The materials used are under suspicion.

But was the design of the refurbishment also to blame?

Did the work completed last year breach

And are the laws governing building standards

Police are seizing documents from the companies that managed and

And they will consider potential criminal

charges, breaches of health and safety, or even corporate

For several decades now, councils have been

putting up cladding to improve the look and insulation

Now in what amounts to a crisis for that strategy, some of

In Islington, initially for testing, but next week

Everyone in the block is thinking if you live in a tower

Especially now that it's in our cladding.

It makes you feel quite tearful, actually.

So far it's affecting high-rise residence in nine council area.

All we want is some strong reassurance.

There's a lot of, shall we say, stressed people at this

In Wandsworth, where this fire broke out in 2010,

100 tower blocks are to be fitted with sprinklers.

But there is grim, unfinished business back

Everyone's been accounted for in this flat, but

the police need help to ensure that they have

Their message today - if you know someone

that was there for whatever reason, we need to know.

We have some breaking news now from Turkey where it seems there has

been a terrible incident at a water park in Sakarya,

It's thought three children, and two adults who tried to rescue

Ozge Ozdemir joins me from the Turkish Service.

What do we know about what has happened? Two children, while they

were swimming in the pool, there was this electricity, and the owners of

the pool and his son, Jay jumped into the pool to save the kids.

Unfortunately, five of them have died. There were a couple of other

people who were trying to help them. They were also trying to jump in the

pool, but they understood there was electricity in the pool, so they got

some minor injuries. Unfortunately, five people have died. We do not

want to speculate about exactly what has happened. It is tragic,

obviously. Do we have any idea about the safety precautions that were in

place, or the safety record generally? One of the biggest news

agencies in Turkey are reporting that there were some cables around

the pool, I guess there were some restoration going on, so

unfortunately right now we do not know the real reason, but the

speculation is there were some cables, so that was one of the

reasons. But those sort of accidents, for example in social

media, they are talking about the neglect in that area. Maybe not that

kind of an accident, but we know that there were some accidents at

fun fairs, some children also died because of the precautions were not

taken so seriously. So there are accidents we can talk about like

that in Turkey. Thank you very much indeed.

The White House has said that President Trump has no intention

of getting rid of special prosecutor Robert Mueller.

Mr Mueller is leading the investigations

into alleged Russian interference in the presidential election.

He was appointed after Mr Trump fired

the Director of the FBI, James Comey.

In an interview with Fox News, the President had said he thinks

the relationship between the two men might be an issue.

They are very, very good friends with Comey,

which is very bothersome, but he is also...

But there has been no collusion, no obstruction and virtually

The stakes in the diplomatic stand- off between Saudi Arabia

and its allies and neighbouring Qatar have risen dramatically.

The Saudis, backed by Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt have issued a list

of 13 demands they say Qatar must meet within the next ten days.

This includes closing the broadcaster Al Jazeera,

closing a Turkish military base, and ending support for

the Muslim Brotherhood and a host of armed Islamist groups.

It is the worst political crisis in the Gulf region for decades.

Now Qatar has been given just ten days to comply

with a list of demands, if the blockades are to be lifted.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain

accused the Gulf state of funding terrorist groups

According to a leaked document, Qatar has been asked to curb

diplomatic and trade relations with Iran.

Another demand is the closure of a Turkish military base,

something Ankara says it is unwilling to do.

the network is one of the most widely watched Arabic channels.

According to the list of demands, Qatar must shut down the channel

That presumably would include its English network, too.

Qatar has been subject to more than two weeks

of unprecedented diplomatic and economic sanctions.

Earlier this week, the US State Department expressed

its frustration over the stand-off, saying Qatar's neighbours needed

to set out a series of what it called

"reasonable and actionable conditions for lifting them".

Now that it has been more than two weeks since the embargo was started,

we are mystified that the Gulf states have not released

to the public, not to the Qataris, the details about the claims

So, the list has been made public, but we are still waiting

for a response from the government in Doha.

However, it does include demands that Qatar's already insisted it

Qatari-funded media network Al Jazeera has hit back at Arab

states' calls for it to be closed down.

Jamal Elshayyal is a senior journalist and a spokesman

Thank you for joining us. Are you worried that you will be closed? Not

at all. We have grown accustomed to this pressure that has been exerted

on us ever since the inception of Al Jazeera more than 20 years ago. We

are one of the first independent news networks in the Arab world, and

as a result, because we continue to street truth to power, because we

provide information to the citizens, not only of the Arab world but of

the entire globe, there are governments who have probably the

worst track record of human rights, the worst track record of respecting

freedom of the expression and information and all other human

rights, really, they insist on cracking down on us. We have grown

accustomed to that. We will continue in our message. That is clear- to

bring quality information and news to our viewers wherever they may be.

This is a right in the human... And it is something that we hold sacred,

regardless of other political developments happening. Those are

four different countries to do deal between themselves. As Al Jazeera,

as journalists, our message is clear, we hold its sacred, and it is

the message we will continue regardless of what has happened.

Have you reported the criticisms of Qatar, made by many, that it has

funded militant groups from sunny sites? We have reported news

whenever it has happened. I myself have done reports on the pool

treatment of migrant workers in Qatar and the need for the

Government to improve those conditions. However, accusations

that continue to be broadcast on different networks are published in

different outlets of Qatar funding groups, without any sort of evidence

whatsoever from a journalistic perspective are meaningless. It is

the duty of institutions and journalist to ensure that they do

not just pedal out propaganda that is being pushed by asserting Gulf

countries that have been exposed and leaked e-mails of the impassively in

Washington and other institutions they have bought out or achieve

correspondence that we have seen from the Wall Street Journal is in

the last 24 hours that we should not pedal out that propaganda. Here are

some of our internationally recognised awards. This is for

example, the Peabody award. This is the Royal Society award. This is a

network that is acknowledged by all the major institutions, by all of

our viewers as providing quality information and quality news. I

appreciate you wanting to get that information out. Thank you so much.

Only a few hours to go now before the first Test match

between the British and Irish Lions and New Zealand in Auckland.

The bookies make the All Blacks firm favourites for the game,

but many analysts think it will be tight, with the set piece

The All Blacks also have a formidable record

at Eden Park and haven't lost there in over 20 years.

Auckland is undergoing a transformation. The Lions are coming

and a trickle has become a flood. Everyday, it is getting easier. We

are like minions walking around here with the red tops on. I hope it is

3-0 to the Lions, but I think it will be tough. You do not beat the

all Blacks at Eden Park. You might have more chance, but I doubt it.

After a few weeks of getting to know each other, the Lions must now face

the toughest test. Warren Gatland has named an attacking side against

the world champions based on form, reputation. It will be captained by

Peter O'Mahony, who could not even get in the Ireland team six weeks

ago. I am not sure if anybody could say they envisaged their son leaving

lions. You hope you make the under 12 team and hope he makes the school

team, and each time, the you have do wonder if that the level. It was

quiet a meteoric rise for Peter. This is where it all begins

tomorrow, Eden Park, which is a fortress for the all Blacks they

have not lost yet since 1994 before some of the current players were

even born. History is against the Lions. This was the last time they

tasted success in New Zealand, back in 1971. It had a profound effect on

the Lions' Kiwi coach. I thought rugby was invented in New Zealand. I

did not think the all Blacks could be beaten, so I did have an impact

on me in 1971 when the Lions beat the all Blacks. That was the first

time I realised the game was played in other parts of the world as well.

Rugby and the all Blacks are revered in New Zealand, but by the end of

this too, the Lions hope to have made their mark.

The population of Somerset in Southern England will soar this

weekend, as the 35th Glastonbury festival gets into full swing.

Here's our entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba.

The festival began with a minute's silence.

Musicians and fans remembering those who died at Grenfell Towers

and in the terror attacks in London and Manchester.

Recent events mean already significant security here has

As thousands of people have come come into the festival,

Across the festival site, random checks as well as a police

The organisers try to make sure festivalgoers feel safe

People here feel they've got the balance just about right.

Looking after each other, so I'm sure we'll all be fine.

Although there was a bit more security and a bit more time

getting through the gates, it's for a really good reason

and I think everyone is just having a great time and behaving really

well and everyone is being so kind to each other.

None of it seems to have taken away from the reason, of course,

With performances now happening across the site and, of course,

Glastonbury is a festival that's not just about music.

Hundreds of people have marked the start of the event by coming

Many people leave here with powerful memories,

but few can say there's are as special as this.

Dan surprising his girlfriend, Emily, with an onstage

Just to remind you of the breaking news. President Trump apparently has

no intention of sacking Robert Mueller. Mauro of course coming up

in BBC News. Thank you for watching. Good evening. The weather through

the weekend looks a little bit nest. Fairly breezy at times.