30/06/2017 World News Today

Marriage for all - Germany legalise same-sex unions,

bringing it in line with most other European countries, although Angela

The council leader responsible for Grenfell Tower in London in which 80

people died in a fire has resigned. Nicholas Paget-Brown was criticised

for his response to this disaster. And those accused on Twitter by

President Donald Trump have accused him of lying, and suggest that the

White House tried to blackmail them. She changed the lives

of many women in France - Simone Veil, the Holocaust survivor

who became a politician, Hello and welcome

to World News Today. Germany has legalised

same-sex marriage - a move that brings it in line

with most other European countries. Members of Parliament voted

in favour, after the German chancellor Angela Merkel

changed her position to allow a free vote on gay marriage -

though she herself Here, it's called

"marriage for all." The new law means

same-sex couples will TRANSLATION: It's

a historic day for Germany. Today thousands of same-sex

partnerships have been The two-class system

in love has been abolished. Jubilation too inside

the German parliament. The political left

has fought for years to bring this legislation,

but Angela Merkel has always opposed During this interview she appeared

to soften her stance. She'd met, she said,

a lesbian couple who'd The inspired a change

of heart, and a free vote for Mrs Merkel's Conservative MPs,

though she herself TRANSLATION: It's been a long,

intense and emotional debate. For me personally too,

which is why I hope that today's fought not only brings respect

for both sides of the debate, Angela Merkel may have rejected

the proposition at the ballot box, but she will go down in history

as the Chancellor who introduced By voting against the bill,

Mrs Merkel is appealing to the more conservative of her electorate,

but by in effect letting it happen she's appeasing potential coalition

partners of the future, and she's cementing that

reputation as Europe's For now - celebrations,

though the law may yet be challenged What's widely held as a victory

for equal rights is also seen by many here is a political

success story too. Social media timelines are full

of rainbow colours today as Twitter users celebrate Germany's decision

to legalise same-sex marriage. The hashtag #EheFuerAlle -

marriage for all - began trending worldwide

within hours of the announcement, One Twitter user posted: "Germany

legalized same sex marriage. I am proud of Germany

for the first time." Another posted: "I might be crying

some happy tears right now, marriage equality in

Germany is everything I've So those stories very much

dominating the social media agenda. Here in the UK, the leader of

Kensington and Chelsea Council, the borough where the Grenfell Tower

tragedy happened, has resigned. Nicholas Paget-Brown said he had to

accept responsibility for his role in the fire, and in public for the

fact that he tried to ban the media and journalists from a council

meeting last night. The BBC has obtained documents

that show that cheaper less fire resistant cladding

was chosen for the London tower block in which 80 people

are believed to have died. There is no suggestion however

a deliberate decision Kensington and Chelsea Council says

safety would not have been compromised in order

to manage budgets. Our home affairs correspondent

Tom Symonds has more. Were you pressured by

Number 10 to resign? The leader of the council

criticised for failing to cope with the crisis in his backyard,

could not hold on. CHANTING: We want justice,

we want justice! Last week his council

offices were invaded. Last night he couldn't even

hold a council meeting. In particular my decision to accept

legal advice that I should not compromise the public inquiry

by having an open discussion in public yesterday has itself

become a political story, and it cannot be right that this

should have become the focus of attention when so many are dead

or still unaccounted for. Investigations by the BBC

and the Times newspaper into the decisions made

when the council refurbished Grenfell Tower added

to the pressure. The big change - the addition

of aluminium cladding panels We've been investigating that

refurbishment and whether it played a part in the tragedy

that was to follow. This development in North London

includes cladding made not Documents passed to the BBC revealed

that the zinc panels were originally In 2012 the architects'

designs show this clearly - residents were told it

would be zinc. But there was pressure

from the council on contractors By 2015 they were given amendments

to the original tender and told to fit aluminium composite

panel, which is cheaper. So did the change make

a difference to fire safety? Well, this panel is similar

to the ones eventually used. It's an aluminium sandwich

with a plastic filling The original zinc panels

were marketed as capable Both panels have the same safety

rating under European tests. So on current evidence,

it's not clear the change However, even the fact

there was pressure to cut costs has infuriated those affected

by the fire. Those affected and the wider

community are utterly sick of this lack of value ascribed to human

beings who pay their council tax, Meanwhile, cladding from 149

tower blocks has now The whole process has been

criticised as pointless because only the cladding is being tested,

and not for example It is critical to do

the screening tests, just to see whether there is a risk

or not, to see whether the buildings Many of them do, and the question

now is what can we do about it, and are there other risks

or materials we need to consider. There is an immediate

crisis to deal with, an ongoing police investigation,

a public inquiry, again today President Trump has said that years

of strategic patience with North Korea have failed

and are now over. At a joint press conference

at the White House with South Korea's president,

Moon Jae-in, both leaders agreed that a stern response

was needed in order to curb Here's what President Trump

said a short time ago. The era of strategic patience with

the North Korean regime has failed. Many years, and it has failed. And,

frankly, that patients is over. We are working closely with South Korea

and Japan as well as partners around the world on a range of diplomatic

Security and economic measures, to protect our allies and our own

citizens from this menace known as North Korea.

A short time ago, our correspondent in Washington, Barbara Plett Usher,

spoke about both countries' approach to resolving tensions

Yes, they come at this from different approaches, but I think

they stress what they have in common. Donald Trump spoke about

running out of patience, after he condemned the death of the American

student who came back from North Korea recently and passed away,

setting the tone for how the Americans are feeling about North

Korea, and then he repeated relay the US position, saying that he

called on all countries in the region, of course South Korea, but

referencing China as well, I'm sure, to implement tough sanctions against

North Korea to get it to change its mind and pursue a path of peace, he

said, but he also hinted that the possibility of a military response,

saying "We will always defend ourselves and our allies." Because

there is a strategic alliance. President Moon Jae-in very much but

his comments in the context of close coordination with the Americans, and

he is just leaving the White House now. You can see the car behind me.

He did manage to get in his line of engagement, which he said, "We will

pursue sanctions and the dialogue in a phased and comprehensive manner."

He very much put that in the context of working closely with the United

States and having a strong defence posture, as you were

hearing there, so I think they got in lines about their different

approaches, but as I said he very much came out sounding like they

were on the same page, working together. That was Barbara

Plett-Usher in Washington, and we are going to stay in the USA.

Two TV presenters attacked on Twitter by President Donald Trump

have accused him of lying and suggested the White House

Meeka Brezinski and Joe Scarborough, the hosts of MSNBC Morning Joe said

they were warned a tabloid would run a negative story on them

unless they said sorry for their coverage of Mr Trump.

Joe Scarborough spoke about the subject on the show.

He had a call that, "Hey, the National Enquirer

is going to run a negative story against you guys," and it

was Donald is friends - the president is friends -

with a guy that runs the National Enquirer,

and they said, "If you call the President up, and you apologise

for your coverage, then he will pick up the phone,

I had, I will just say, three people at the very top

of the administration calling me, and the response was,

That was Joe Scarborough on their Morning Show. Jane joins us from

Washington. This is not as light-hearted as what we spoke about

before, quite sinister, isn't it? It is coming very bizarre and murky

recently, these allegations that the president is abusing his power,

because the inference is he tried to blackmail these two television

presenters, to tone down their criticism, in return for him getting

a story by the National Enquirer, which is a sort of gossip mongering

tabloid magazine you would normally pick up at the checkout of a

supermarket, into spiking a story about their affair. They are getting

married now, but their relationship, and Donald Trump has in return this

morning said that actually that didn't happen, and that Joe

Scarborough, the host, called him to have the story spiked, and that he

said no. So, Kasia, we're back to this inevitable Donald Trump said

this, somebody else said that, and so it goes. But the bottom line is

of course it raises all these questions about what is the

president of the United States is doing carrying out a row over

Twitter with television personalities when he should be

trying to get Congress to vote on health care reforms? Hasn't he been

told so many times to stop tweeting and yet he continues to ignore all

of that advice, and also the inference here he has some kind of

editorial control the National Enquirer? That is murky stuff. Well,

he is friends with the person who runs the National Enquirer, but

again Donald Trump says that is not the sequence of events. That he did

not call, or any of the staff, cold Joe Scarborough, to beg, to get Joe

to beg the president to intervene on this. He said it just didn't happen,

and Joe Scarborough has tweeted and said it did. Where do you go from

here? And, Kasia, it always sounds murky, sounds like there is

something at the bottom of this, but there is a pattern. It comes down to

an argument, a very public and distracting row, and then you are

back to the he said, she said, and it really is resolved. Oh, my

goodness, Jane. Thanks for outlining all of that for us, Jane from

Washington. I am sure we will speak to you again about this. Let's turn

to France where the leader of the far right, Marine Le Pen, has been

placed under formal investigation over an alleged European Parliament

funding scandal. Prosecutors suspect that her party

took money officially earmarked for staff at the European Parliament

and diverted it for Ms Le Pen has denied any

wrongdoing, and calls the case Our correspondent in Brussels,

Damian Grammaticas, told me more. This is covering a period

of about six years during the time which Marine Le Pen has been

a member of the European Parliament, It's worth saying that this

not only covers her, this investigation, but 16 other

MEPs from her National Front party as well, and the claim originally

from European Parliament fraud investigators was that money given

to the National Front party, specifically to be used to pay

for European Parliament assistance, for party staff working

in the parliament, was actually being used to pay for personal staff

on Miss Le Pen's campaign, well, her chief of staff,

her bodyguard, so national officials who should be nothing to do

with the European Parliament. What we have got today is the French

investigating magistrate in France, who are now following up those

allegations, who have formally placed Miss Le Pen investigation,

and she will contest these charges, but the investigating magistrate

want to see if there was an overall scheme by the National Front party,

because they are looking at something like, we understand,

40 individuals whose salaries may have been paid this way,

money from the European Parliament being diverted or used

for other stuff. That was Damian Grammaticas in

Brussels for us. Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news. The first people to face criminal

charges in connection with the Fukushima nuclear disaster

in Japan six years ago One of the accused,

power company chief, Tsunehisa Katsumata,

said the earthquake and tsunami wave that severely damaged the nuclear

plant were impossible to predict. Around 60 migrants are feared

drowned after their boat sank Around 80 survivors were brought

to the Italian port of Brindisi, where they told aid workers

about the disaster. On Wednesday a senior EU official

said the scale of migration across the Mediterranean

is untenable, with around 10,000 people reported to have

attempted the journey Tennis star Venus Williams has been

accused of causing a car crash that led to the death of a passenger

in another vehicle, The former world number

one was driving her car in Florida when the accident

happened at crossroads. A 78-year-old man suffered injuries

and died two weeks later. China's president Xi Jinping has

been enjoying another day of celebrations in Hong Kong,

to mark 20 years since the territory China's government has

repeated its view that a treaty between China and Britain

which governed the terms of Hong Kong's handover no longer

had practical significance. But the British Foreign Office said

the agreement was as valid today as it was when it signed

over 30 years ago. President Xi's visit has

been filled with parades The BBC's Stephen McDonell

reports from Hong Kong. The President of China,

Xi Jinping, started the day with a troop inspection

at the People's Liberation Army Since this former British colony

was returned to China two decades ago, the military has kept a pretty

low profile here and is only on show The city itself is also

being dressed up for the 20th anniversary, with light shows

and performances planned. Strong development in the future

is one of the key messages being In 1997, Hong Kong was handed

back to the mainland, along with guarantees

of an independent judiciary, free Yes, this would be part of China

but under the banner of one country, two systems, it would be a region

with special privileges. Yet the last British governor says

he now worried that Beijing is not The mood has got much more sour

in the last few years because while President Xi Jinping

has been in office, just as there has been a crackdown

on dissidents on mainland China, so the Chinese have been

increasing their grip A failure to introduce promised

democratic elections for Hong Kong's leader brought hundreds of thousands

of protesters into the streets three And more demonstrations

are planned for this weekend, It would be a mistake to think

that the bulk of this city's dissent On this 20th anniversary,

if the opinion polls are to be believed, most people in Hong Kong

still want to be part of China as long as their

freedoms are guaranteed. But wherever President Xi is,

there will be no talk Instead, he told a banquet

with hundreds of selected guests that he remained confident

in this city. Steven McDonnell,

BBC News, Hong Kong. It backed a little earlier we

brought you the news of the legislation to approve same-sex

marriage in Germany, well there is more news from Germany.

Legislation on online hate crimes. They have increased by 300% in the

last three years. The respected French politician

and Auschwitz survivor who wrote France's abortion laws,

has died at the age of 89. Simone Veil was best known

for her instrumental role in legalising abortion in the 1970s,

and went on to serve as the first president of an elected

European parliament. Her death was confirmed by president

Macron, who called her life The French public were also

paying her tributes. It makes me think

about the abortion laws. I can't remember which year,

but it was a very big I benefited from her abortion

legislation, and at the time She was one of the first to push

for independent women, to get involved in politics

despite having suffered enormously, Earlier I spoke to the Economist

bureau chief Sophie Pedder in Paris, about Simone Veil's legacy and how

she was a woman ahead of her time. When you look at what she was

campaigning for in the 1970s, as the Health Minister, she argued in

parliament for the legalisation of abortion. She was really taking on a

very conservative male establishment, and if you look at

her speech in the French parliament, she was a woman in front of mainly

male audience, and with just nine female deputies at the time, and I

think she wanted to bring France into the modern era, make it a more

socially liberal society. It came after the 1968 student uprising,

when there was an uprising against a much more conservative culture, and

she wanted to really modernise France, you know, in a way that was

ahead of her time. Absolutely a head of her time. Before that, she was

ahead of her time. Absolutely a head distinguished magistrate, she looked

into abortion, she was on the administrative Council of French

radio and television. She even tried to lead a campaign against smoking

in France. It is fascinating to hear of her achievements. Yes, she was a

very accomplished woman in breaking barriers, in terms of the schools

she went to, the profession she chose as a lawyer, all the way to

her life she was really breaking that glass ceiling and doing it on

the of other French people, but in a way she was more than that. She was

also a kind of moral compass for France. She was an Auschwitz

survivor, and that experience stayed with her obviously all through her

life, and she spent a lot of time campaigning, writing, speaking,

about both her experience and how France needed to confront that, its

own role in that, so I think she was really a sort of moral died, in a

way, for a nation in some difficult times -- a real moral guide. Yes,

and both her parents and her brother died in the Holocaust, and she never

removed the tattoo from her arm, it had such an impact on her. Yes, she

made that decision, and she explained why she decided to keep

it. It was under her sleeves are not always visible. She was actually

quite a conservative dresser, but nevertheless she kept it there and

she wanted it to be a reminder that, you know, that was her past, and she

had gone through what she had gone through. It was extremely difficult

for her to come to terms with it but she felt it was an important symbol

to remind people of what she had gone through, but also of France's

role in that. And that led her to never really understand how

countries could have animosity against each other. I guess she was

quite visionary. She was pro-Europe. Yes, and she was a member of the

European Parliament, elected, in fact the president of the European

Parliament. She was passionately pro-European. She campaigned when

France had a referendum in 2005, she campaigned for the draft European

constitution, so she was really kind of committed to Europe, all to her

career as well, as, you know, guided both by her own personal experiences

but by the war between countries that she wanted never to happen

again. The Economist's Sophie Peder they're speaking to me about the

legacy of Simone Veil, who has passed away.

Before we go, news of a return home for a rare sea

This turtle had been found washed up on a beach on the island

It's being taken to Gran Canaria where she's expected to be set free.

The animal, nicknamed Menai, is an Olive Ridley turtle,

which are usually found in warmer waters near the equator.

It is the first such turtle to have been reported in UK waters

since records began almost 200 years ago.

Don't forget you can get in touch with me and some

Good evening. The weekend is upon us and driver the