14/07/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today. I'm Kasia Madera.

France pauses to remember the horrific truck attack a year ago

in Nice, in which more than 80 people were killed as they

Just a few hours ago, he was playing host to Donald Trump -

President Macron promised nothing will break the countries' alliance.

A man with a knife has attacked foreign tourists

Two people have been killed and several others wounded.

Well, they wanted their wedding dance to be knock-out.

The couple whose Dirty Dancing routine didn't

Hello and welcome to World News Today.

The French President Emmanuel Macron is attending a ceremony in Nice

to commemorate the victims of last year's Bastille Day terror attack,

Mr Macron is expected to have a private meeting

with victims' families and survivors later.

In the evening, there is a concert and a candelit vigil.

Earlier, Mr Macron hosted President Donald Trump in Paris,

at a military parade marking France's national day

and the hundredth anniversary of the Americans' entry

APPLAUSE Today's events were not about the

ties between men but between nations.

Even so, the growing personal alliance between Donald

Trump and Emmanuel Macron was on display.

They were joined as symbols of their two nations by Armed Forces

from both America and France, beginning with a fly-past from

There are soldiers led the parade together, in

tribute to America's role in World War I.

The US is an ally of theirs, sometimes you don't think so but

France is there for us and we are there for them.

president and we are proud to have him here.

Speaking to crowds in central Paris, Emmanuel Macron

thanked the US for the choice it had made a century ago, and said that

France and America would never be divided.

The France of today was one of two, with a military band playing music

The changing culture here is mirrored by changing

The security threats have changed over

the past few years, repeated terror attacks

have refocused attention on

safety at home and the values that France has chosen to protect.

The ceremony ended with a military band

playing the city anthem of Nice, scene of the last major terror

attack in the country one-year ago today.

Tributes were laid in Nice to the 86 people who died in the attack

This afternoon, President Macron flew from Paris, to join

The debate still hangs over this country as it

Anne-Elisabeth Moutet is a political commentator

Of course, this has been a difficult day for France, but also at the

beginning of the day, we saw that huge military parade and this

reaffirmation of the relationship between France and the United

States. It got off to a bumpy start between Emmanuel Macron and Donald

Trump. What do you make of it today? Today they were each serving the

other's interests. That was a win, win situation in so many ways.

Donald Trump is under a great deal of scrutiny and criticism in

America. He has lots of awkward questions being asked even in the

press conference yesterday in Paris about his family's ties to rush.

Looking presidential and being greeted in Paris about President

Emmanuel Macron and having this whole trip in Europe with this

important speech that he made, that was relieving the pressure of it. In

terms of Emmanuel Macron, he is making the point that the diplomatic

point centre of Europe is no France. His wife came yesterday morning and

they had talks. Two weeks ago, the received Vladimir Putin at

Versailles. Now he has Donald Trump next to him. You have this idea that

especially since Britain has left the European Union, France is the

major nuclear power, major military power is bidding for Europe. Of

course, we saw the vulnerability of fans as well. That horrific attack

that happened exactly one year ago. The commemorations taking place.

This shocked the city to the heart of France itself. That is...

Certainly, it's important, but it's also something that is bringing the

French together, rather than spotting them apart. The fact that

President Emmanuel Macron gives such important to this whole event was

one way of bringing the French together. At the same time,... I

would say that it in many ways was important. The other thing is that

unfortunately France as a European nation, as much as we have in

Britain shown, we are in the same situation. It brings our comment

destiny and threat together more than anything else I should say.

Political commentator and columnist at the Telegraph, thank you very

much for sharing your thoughts. We hope that President Trump at that

whirlwind trip across Europe and he is now on his way back home but he

is facing a barrage of questions about his son. That is because of

new revelations that a former Soviet spy was in the room when Donald

Trump Junior met a Russian lawyer during last year's presidential

campaign. Lots to discuss. It seems like the story is changing

everything a day. Where are we now? When Mr Brooke, the meeting was

supposed to be about adoption. Whether or not Americans could adopt

Russian babies. That is what Donald Trump Junior said. As the days wore

on, the story started shifting. The New York Times kept finding out

more. When it became clear that they were going to publish another story

revealing that in fact the whole pub point of the meeting was to find

dirt on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump skip to the New York Times and

published the e-mail exchange that he had with this Russian lawyer or

at least the prison is that of the meeting. Now, it transpires that

another person was in the room and this person is a US citizen, but

Russian born and had ties to the Russian intelligence. The plot

thickens, it becomes more and more murky. The big question of all is,

how much did Donald Trump, the president of the United States, know

about this meeting and did it constitute any form of collusion or

was it as the trumps are trying to say, just simply a run of the mill

meeting to find out what they could about the opposition? Obviously,

there are so many questions. The Democrats are continuously applying

pressure on the companies to in, but so I know the Republicans

increasingly. This is the big problem for the Trump

administration, because as all this is unfolding, you have the Senate

hold-up on Capitol Hill trying to work through the highly contentious

health reform bill. The Senate leader has already told them they

cannot go on their education and the sort this out. That is what they

want to be focusing on. In the meantime, all this suspicion and

speculation about Russia continues to engulf the White House, which

means that Donald Trump isn't giving any guidance to legislation such as

the health care reform. It's a massive, massive distraction. The

Republicans have had to deal with this ever since he took office and

we are becoming sick and tired of it. The issue is, at what point do

they break ranks and say, enough is enough. I wonder if Donald Trump is

looking forward to coming back home. As always, thank you very much for

the time being. Another attack on a tourist resort in Egypt.

Two foreign women have been killed and four others wounded in an attack

on a coastal resort by a man armed with a knife.

The attack took place at the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

The authorities say the two killed were German -

intial reports had identified them as Ukrainian.

The latest reports say two of the wounded are Czech nationals.

Authorities say the assailant has been arrested.

What we know so far is that two ladies were killed.

According to the governor of the Red Sea, they were

I mean, they were not coming for a short visit, but

We also know that four others have been wounded

and they have already been admitted to a nearby hospital,

where they are receiving treatment for their wounds.

According to the Ministry of interior, the attacker managed to

sneak into the holiday resort through swimming from a nearby

He stabbed six ladies before he got arrested, and he is

currently being interrogated by police authorities.

This is the second incident to happen in

Last year, in January 2016, a couple of attackers managed

At that time, these attackers were said to

Up till now, we did not know what the motivations

behind these attacks are, but they will definitely raise questions

about how tight the security measures put in place at such an

And the big question will be about the

impact that this will have on the tourism industry

in Egypt as a whole, which is already struggling.

Two Israeli police officers have been killed in a shooting

Police say three attackers, all of them Arab-Israelis,

were shot dead after fleeing to a nearby sensitive holy site.

After the attack, the Israeli authorities took the rare step

of closing the al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers.

In the grounds of one of Jerusalem's holiest sites, Israeli police

pursue three men fleeing after shooting as their officers outside.

There is a hail of gunfire and the attackers are killed

in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a place that is

known to Jews as Temple Mount and the regular flash point in the

Ambulances rushed the injured to hospital, but to the

The attackers were all found to be Arab

It was just inside this gate that the shooting

Now Israeli police have locked down the area.

Normally, big crowds of Palestinian worshippers would be heading inside

to the al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers.

But today, in a very unusual step, the compound is being closed.

With police posted at every entrance to the Old City, the police

say that red lines have been crossed.

We'll have to consider all the security arrangements taking

place on the Temple Mount, because we are in charge

and we want to take care of the security of everyone

who's coming to pray here, who's coming to visit.

I repeat again and again, we are calling everyone and

The Palestinian president did condemn

While the Islamist group Hamas praised it.

Meanwhile, as Palestinians were stopped from

heading to the mosque to pray, tempers flavoured.

The people who make the incident were killed.

If the mosque will not be open, we are going to have more

It is 50 years since Israel captured and occupied the Old

The concern now is that this attack could be a spark

Here in London, two teenagers have been arrested after a series of acid

Five people had acid thrown in their faces,

One is said to have life-changing injuries.

The attacks were carried out at five separate locations

in east London, within the space of less than 90 minutes.

This report, from our home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford,

contains some disturbing images from the start.

In the aftermath of an acid attack last night...

Police officers desperately trying to reduce the burning

John Moody watched the whole thing from the window of his flat.

And one of the officers said to him, quite firmly,

"I'm going to pour this into your eyes, keep your eyes open."

The guy did exactly what he was told, because

They were just dousing his head and his entire body with water,

The attack on a 32-year-old moped driver here turned out to be

the first of five over the next hour and a quarter,

all involving acid being thrown at the victim.

At every crime scene, the target had been driving a moped.

was left with life-changing injuries because of the acid used.

The Prime Minister said the attacks were horrific.

Police have arrested a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old.

National statistics for acid attacks are hard to come by but in London,

they have risen from 129, two years ago, to 224, last year,

and by April this year, there has already been another 66.

One of the most high profile recent attacks was last month,

when 21-year-old Resham Khan and her cousin, Jameel Muhktar,

were targeted while sitting in their car at a traffic light.

We are concerned because the numbers appear to be going up.

we will enforce the law as we can,

and we are working with the Home Office to see

Stephen Timms is one of the MPs in east London

where the problem is most acute, he has been campaigning for a change

in the law and will lead a debate on acid attacks next week.

I would like the Minister to confirm on Monday that the possession

of acid will be an offence in future in exactly the same way that

possession of a knife is an offence today.

I would like the law to be changed so that sulphuric acid will only be

It seems that some criminals are using the laxer rules on acids

to avoid the tough laws on carrying a knife.

The Home Office has promised to take action but changes

China is under growing pressure to release the widow

of the Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, who died

of liver cancer under police watch on Thursday.

He'd taken part in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989

and was jailed after calling for political reform and greater

His widow Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since 2010.

But China has rejected international criticism, saying the case

But on Thursday, he died in police custody

with his wife at his hospital bedside.

These pictures were only recently released after criticism of

the Chinese authorities for blocking his medical treatment

Whilst the world mourned his death, there are growing

concerns for his wife, Liu Xia, who has been

under house arrest for the

Liu Xiaobo's course was set in 1989, during the democracy protest.

Over the following years, he spent

much of his life in and out of prison for trying to secure greater

I think that over the long term, there

is absolutely no doubt that his legacy will be important.

He had the courage to stand alone, confronting

one of the most powerful governments on earth.

In 2010, he won the Nobel Peace Prize, but he was soon back

The empty chair becoming a banned expression

Chinese censorship is formidable, and few here know

TRANSLATION: We know relatively little about him, so there is no way

I can really give a comment on what he said.

Reaction and criticism from around the world has been pouring

in, much to the consternation of Chinese authorities.

The Chinese mistreated him in prison,

We would hope that they would have allowed

him to leave the country to receive a medical care.

But China has rejected international criticism, saying the

case is an internal affair and foreign countries are in no position

Attention has now turned to his widow, Liu Xia's fate.

There is a growing chorus of international voices,

including the Nobel committee, calling on Chinese authorities to

allow her to leave the country should she want to.

For her supporters, their top priority is to

Please, do not fail again to save Liu Xia.

I urge the world leaders, suspend all official interactions

with Chinese Government until Liu Xia is saved.

Liu Xiaobo once warned, if you want to enter hell,

Over the past 20 years, China has moved from the margins

of the world economy to a trading superpower.

It's planning to finance and build a trillion dollar rail route

This week our China Editor, Carrie Gracie has been

following that 11,000 kilometre route from China to the UK.

Now here is the question, shall we have jam first

Lessons in the British tradition of afternoon tea from a Chinese

She plans to take her pitch from an Essex

A communist state, perhaps, but one with a

healthy appetite for the rituals of the British ruling class.

Her jam is with berries straight from

China's consumer is getting choosy about food quality.

A huge market, but hard to stand out.

I think mostly at the beginning of the journey,

The Chinese are a curious country ought to raise consumers,

Another challenge, to cut the time from

British strawberry farm to Chinese tea table.

She is hoping new transport routes will help.

engineering, now it's China's great age of the railway.

Carrying UK hopes for post-Brexit markets.

From the British end of the New Silk Road

Three weeks later, and those British kids from the

train are on display at a Chinese trade fair.

It's a local stir-fry which captures the crowd.

British companies can benefit from China.

Peter Bud surveys landmarks his firm has helped put on the Beijing map.

China's promised billions to build across 60 countries.

And he worries UK companies are slow to seize the moment.

There is the degree of cynicism about China as the market.

A lot of them have had experiences way back in the past and they don't

It is quite upsetting, actually, sometimes.

There is more opportunity here than we are actually taking.

The ancient Silk Road was about following opportunity.

Back then, it was driven by private traders from

The new version is Chinese state money and muscle.

If it succeeds, it will make China a superpower again.

Even mightier, perhaps, than the empires of old.

But if it fails, it leaves a legacy of bad blood,

which poisons China's future and taints even the grandeur

You can see much more on her journey across the New Silk Road in Our

World next week. For many couples planning

to get married, the first dance is a key event -

and a chance to make a big For one couple here in the UK,

that meant trying to recreate the scene from the classic 1980s

film, Dirty Dancing - the one you can see

in the screen behind me. The move is in Dirty Dancing doesn't

get much more romantic than that. I think it is just Patrick Swayze, he

has got it all. And he may not be Patrick Swayze, but Sharon wanted

his moves at their forthcoming wedding dance. Just thought it would

be something different. Everybody has a slow dance. Without we would

jazz it up little bit. Their first chance to practice, the beer garden

in Weston. We had a couple of drinks and then our niece and nephew got up

and they did it and Sharon turned around and said that would be a good

idea for us to get a bit of practice in. This is the move they tried to

recreate. You had your hands on my hips ready

to lift. I did manage it and then the next thing we knew, we were flat

out on the floor. I was unconscious and you were struggling to catch a

breath. An ambulance and rapid response vehicle were called. I

think I got knocked out and went back with my head. I think that is

how I rendered myself unconscious. They had had a CT scan. They could

be on an ECG as well, because about six years ago I had a mild heart

attack. They were just being careful. Over six hours later, they

were both discharged. The wedding is set for October next year. The

choice of bands has been given a rethink. We will just have a smooch

I think. I love them for actually doing that interview. Good luck to

them. I hope they have a fantastic wedding. Thank you for watching.