bbc news

North Korea is building sections of what appears to be a wall in several places near its border with South Korea that’s according to new satellite images analyzed by BBC verify the recent activity is unusual and comes at a time of rising tensions between the two countries the images also show that land inside the demilitarized zone has been cleared which experts say could be a violation of the long-standing truce with South Korea Jake Horton is in the BBC verify Hub with more reunification between North and South Korea has seemed unlikely for years but it had been the state of goal for both countries that changed at the start of the year when the North Korean leader Kim jnun announced that his country would no longer pursue that ambition now BBC verify has obtained new satellite images which show that North Korea has become building what appears to be sections of wall near the border with South Korea which you can see highlighted here we’ve identified several structures which have been recently built which combined cover about 1 kilometer of land these barriers are near the Eastern end of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea which is known as the DMZ this is effectively a buffer zone between the two countries which are still technically at War because they never signed a peace treaty more than 70 years after the end of the Korean War now have a look at the long continuous structure in in this image which was taken earlier this month the exact date construction began is unclear due to a lack of previous high resolution imagery in the area but this image which was taken at the end of last year shows that the barrier clearly wasn’t there we have also found evidence that land has been cleared within the North Korean controlled side of the DMZ this image which was taken at the end of last year shows no land cleared now look at this image which was taken earlier this month you can see clear clearly see a strip of land has been cleared inside the North Korean controlled end of the DMZ this activity so close to that border is unusual according to experts we spoke to they say it could be for military purposes and so could go against North Korea’s long-standing truths with South Korea the South Korean military have said they are aware of the construction and are monitoring the situation closely Jake Horton from BBC verify and you can read more about that on the BBC News website and app

uh well of course President Biden has to win the election in November the White House has today uh denied the GOP allegations that he froze during that star studed fundraiser in La the New York Post reported that Barack Obama had to lead him off stage one of President Obama’s former advisers Eric Schulz put out a tweet saying this did not happen so this is a video that the post linked to let’s show it okay so you’ll see him uh waving to the crowd but then there’s a moment uh through this process where he starts to face the crowd and then Barack Obama um puts his hand on his shoulder and sort of leads him away uh from the stage uh this is the moment here that’s coming up now there are questions about what was going on here I have seen other videos where he appears to be reacting to people in the crowd but plenty have made the link to this incident at the G7 in Barry last week which again was selectively edited so in one sense he looks a bit lost he appears to be looking entirely the wrong way EX except on a longer shot that you can see he is giving I don’t know if we have that video do we have that video no we don’t I’m sorry but you some of you will have seen it this uh this this image of him uh alongside parachutist and uh looking the opposite way to the other leaders uh Maran um the White House Press team have been pushing back hard on this and again today Andrew Bates quoting NBC said independent fact Checkers have pointed out the videos while they’re undocked by artificial intelligence they tend to crumble under even basic scrutiny such as when the moments are viewed in context or wider camera angles cheap fakes he said the issue is though Biden’s age is a factor in this election and I wonder what damage the circulation of these videos orbe it they might have been edited what damage it’s doing to his campaign I think there are a few things going on here Christian first of all this is propaganda pure and simple those videos were all doctored so it made it look like something else was going on one two Republicans are all behind this right-wing Outlets that most people don’t know and un unfortunately Outlets owned by rert Murdoch are pedaling this as well the concern here is twofold one they’re trying to under to undermine Joe Biden further regarding people’s worries about his age yet it is also being used to cover up Donald Trump’s not so Stellar performance on The Campaign Trail these days where he’s having trouble at rallies stumbling over words but are those where he’s well founded Mariam because there’s a lot of people this side who look at his spe who look at his demeanor he is an 81 year old man and and the next term’s going to take him to 85 and people asked the question rightly asked the question whether he’s going to have the stamina to fulfill the role he’ll have to play and Trump just had his 78th birthday the other day so you’ve got an 81y old and a 78y old portray them both fairly can’t see a scenario where we get to the convention I mean next week will be the big test right there’s the first televised debate but you cannot see any scenario whereby the Democrats look at the polling look at him and say maybe we need to replace him no I mean first of all logistically technically it is too late the you know you have to go through the B you have to get on the ballots in 50 states you have to get the signatures in you have to go through all the the primaries I mean I can go on and on why do you think Bobby Kennedy isn’t you know and the debates and everything else he couldn’t get it done but the if both of them are covered accurately and fairly then that’s that’s your choice that is your choice and then you look they they are who they are okay first televised debate next week uh will be a big moment in this campaign we’ll of course cover it here on the context we’ll be right back after this break stay with us

hello and welcome to your election headlines I’m Rita chakrabati Labour’s W streeting has admitted that he wanted his party’s Manifesto for the general election to be more ambitious on social care reform the shadow Health secretary said that once labor gets the economy growing if it wins the election there would be more money to invest in public services including in Social care I make no bones about the fact of course on social care I would have wanted the manifesto to be more ambitious but to get policies in the manifesto you have to run the gaunet of answering two fundamental questions can we keep this promise can the country afford this promise and if the answer to either of those questions was no it’s not in the manifesto speaking to the BBC for the conservatives the transport secretary said a lot of people haven’t made their minds up yet about who to vote for Mark Harper said he believes this election offers a choice between tax cuts tax Rises he added the Tories have set out a clear program for government that is fully costed unlike West reings labor party he’s let the cat out of the bag a bit about Labor’s plans he confirmed both on your show and on one he did earlier that their Manifesto actually wasn’t the whole story it wasn’t actually a program for government it was a document to get them through the election campaign and he’s confirmed that there are spending more spending uh promises to come uh and that can mean only one thing it means more taxes the SNP leader has accused both the conservatives and labor of a conspiracy of Silence about the scale of public spending cuts to come John swinny was responding to research which says that the main UK parties need to set out more credible plans for the NHS health is a devolved matter for ministers in Edinburgh but budgets are set in Westminster the leader of the liberal Democrats has said he doesn’t believe you can sort out the Health Service unless you sort out social care SED Davy said his party had placed it at the center of their Manifesto promising free personal care for older and disabled people at home partly because of his own experience of being a carer well we’re just over halfway through this election campaign now and if you want to see how the parties are fairing in the polls there’s a dedicated tracker on our website just head over to bbc.co.uk tracker for all you need to know and those are your election headlines for Sunday the 16th of June [Music]

French president Emanuel maon has kicked off his parliamentary election campaign with a press conference outlining his campaign plans ma announced a snap election the morning after a major swing to the right in the European elections Marine Le Pen’s far-right anti-immigration party the national rally scored a dramatic Victory on Sunday winning more than double the votes for macron’s Alliance the results prompted him to dissolve parliament and call for a first round of voting at the end of the month this is why in my view the answer could not lie in changes of government or coalitions which were not possible in Parliament as the last few days have very clearly shown but in a dissolution which is the only way to clarify matters because we are at a time when our country must rise to a number of challenges and cannot be blocked by the extremes and because it is an act of confidence in our people in democracy in the Republican spirit in a national common sense in my view in this context returning to the Sovereign people is the only Republican decision well Katherine fesi is a political analyst at the European University Institute in Florence and she gave me her thoughts on macon’s justifications for his decision the way ma Justified it uh today um is essentially through two things one won by saying uh nearly 50% of people voted for extremes because he really doesn’t make much of a difference between the extreme left and and the extreme right and he said at that level of anger um if I hadn’t done anything if I had pretended that it was business as usual you would have accused me of being completely disconnected so that was his his first justification and I think his other justification um was very much um the idea that that particularly the the extreme right the led by Marine Leen think needed to be confronted uh with uh with some of his uh some of their responsibilities um he presented this very much as a an act of trust in the French people um and basically said you know we’re going to turn back to them uh and and and give give French people a say French voters a say yeah very much an appeal to the people as you say just looking at some the quotes from What was a fairly lengthy press conference talking always is talking about the dissolution of the National Assembly a test of Truth between those who choose to strengthen their own hand and those who choose to strengthen the hand of France so really appealing to the French sense of self I suppose and what France is all about very very much appealing to The Republic uh to Republican uh the Republican sentiment that uh that brings uh French people together despite all sorts of other differences this was very much about transcending differences and really you know Finding uh what what unites them in in their aspiration in their hope in their in their vision for the country and what he offered what he outlined was very much uh the idea that neither on the extreme right nor on the extreme left um would most French people find their their vision of themselves and their vision of their country realized um and therefore you know he he proposed his own Centrist Coalition of parties as the only reasonable way forward but ALS also the only aspirational way forward Katherine fesi the political analyst speaking to me a little earlier

now three Russian warships and a submarine have arrived in Cuba that suran 90 miles off the US Coast the ships will be carrying out Military exercises Cuba says it does not represent a threat to the region likewise us officials have said the drills are non-threatening though it comes as tensions are still high between the US and Russia over the war in Ukraine while hosting his Cuban counterpart in Moscow on Wednesday the Russian foreign minister Sergey lavro said Moscow was great ful to Cuba for its principled position on the situation around Ukraine now it’s important to note the Russian warships are not belief to be carrying nuclear weapons but what exactly are they doing in Cuba let’s take you to Mexico City our correspondent there is will grant and will let me put that to you what are those uh military uh ships submarines doing in that location well in essence I think there’s two very very clear messages that they’re sending the first first which is perhaps um less surprising and and and and to be expected is a sort of underscoring of the relationship between Moscow and Havana you mentioned there Sergey lavro and and and and the comments he made about uh Cuba’s position on the war in Ukraine Cuba has been a loyal Ally to Russia for decades now um and of course to the Soviet Union before then so that solidifies that relationship but of course the one that most people have focused on is the message being sent to Washington very much a message or certainly it seems of not of what meddling in one’s backyard can bring that you know that the the Caribbean is considered by Washington successive administrations for decades and decades right the way through the Cold War to be its backyard and this I think is a show of strength you’ve made it very clear and you’re right to do so that there isn’t a military threat that the United States perceived by these military exercise Cuba too at pains to make that clear as well but it is an interest in moment it’s happening at a very very interesting moment of global hostilities yes and and and whilst both sides say there is no threat here it does not represent a threat to the region I mean you’re right what it does do though it’s a threat politically it’s a threat diplomatically it’s just saying we are here and that in itself could be deemed in some cirles to be a threat not only are we here but you’ve been taking your eye off the ball when it comes to Central America the Caribbean you know that that we are solidifying and strengthening relationships in your backyard if you’re going to be doing the same in ours as it’s as it’s seen in terms of of Ukraine so yeah I important subtext it all has The Echoes of the Cold War of course the US officials were across what was going on was monitoring all of the the the activities by these warships on their way to the Caribbean but I think the fact that it’s underlining relationship with Havana and Caracus in Venezuela later on during the summer is an important step from from the Russian perspective uh will it’s good to have you there with the very latest thank you that’s will grant there joining us from Mexico City thank you

next Hungary uh will not take part in further natol efforts to coordinate security assistance and training for Ukraine it was announced at a joint news conference between the Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban and the head of NATO yen stoltenberg in Budapest Mr Orban is moscow’s closest Ally in the European Union Mr stoltenberg said Hungary had agreed not to oppose expected measures at a forthcoming NATO leader Summit in Washington including a long-term Financial pledge for Military Support to ke prime minister Orban has made it clear that Hungary Hungary will not participate in these NATO efforts and I accept this position and I’m glad that today the Prime Minister and I have agreed to modalities for hungary’s nonparticipation in NATO support to Ukraine no Hungarian Personnel will take part in these activities and and no Hungarian funds would be used to support them at the same time the Prime Minister has assured me that Hungary will not oppose these efforts enabling other allies to move forward speak to our correspondent in Western Hungary Nick Thor hi Nick so we heard things like modalities for non-involvement I think it was there from Yen stoltenberg can you put it in plain English for us what has been agreed here yeah sure in plain English basically NATO is playing a much bigger role than before until now we’ve had individual NATO uh countries supporting Ukraine in different ways with training for example with military supplies hungary’s stayed out of all of that but now with uncertainties over what happens in the United States in the election in November what’s happening in Europe now uh with France in trouble Mr President macron in trouble often debates within Europe basically NATO is stepping into the breach there and taking a much more important role in as the NATO Secretary General coordinating Military Support training and finances for Ukraine but hungary’s been blocking that Hungary says it’s a mad scheme so Mr Stenberg came to to Budapest basically seeking the guarantee he got that uh Hungary would not block those changes in um NATO’s approach to Ukraine while at the same time Mr Orban was asking for and got the guarantees that Hungary which insists it’s still a a loyal and committed member of NATO but will not be drawn into paying anything for military supplies or support for Ukraine or in any way for taking part even sending soldiers or using its military side so military or money so in a way Mr Stenberg and Mr Orban both of them got what they wanted today and just flesh out a bit Mr orban’s priorities what he was looking for what calculation is he making the calculation here is really he’s set himself up really he’s going against the whole flow of all other 31 members of nat he sees that the current involvement of both the EU and especially of NATO in supporting Ukraine is leading um Europe leading the world into a third world war basically he said that to his electorate that was his main campaigning of promise if you like or slogan in last Sunday’s European elections and so he represents himself as a man of supporting peace in Europe and says everyone else is going the wrong way of course that’s got a lot of Anger from other NATO members there’s discussion in diplomatic Circles of denying Hungary in intelligence information because Hungary is now seen very firmly really as an ally of Russia and a potential Trojan Horse within the NATO organization okay Nick thank you for that

for thousands of years it’s been one of the world’s great Mysteries just how were the Pyramids built so deep in the Egyptian desert now scientists say they have the answer they found evidence of a branch of the Nile long since dried up which they say was used to float the giant blocks needed to build the 4,000 year old structures to their destination earlier I spoke to Aiden Dodson professor of egyptology at the University of Bristol and asked him how this discovery can help us understand how the pyramids were built oh yeah it ties in very well with how we thought things were done for a while except that we’d always thought everything was being floated over during the Nile flood so we last for a couple of months a year now we know there is a branch of the Nile running close to Desert Edge that means that materials could be brought in year round which really changes our understanding of probably what the logistics are of pyramid building pointing out sorry I was just going to say would it explain how there are clusters of pyramids in different locations as well it would certain look looking at the topography it does suggest that certain areas are better from the point of view of of river access certainly and the pyramids they have a habit don’t they of of revealing little nuggets of information over the years yeah although this is something which is very much in the detail um I think it’s important to recognize that actually people talk about the mysteries of the pyramids in fact there are very few of them we know why they’re built who they built them and when they were built it’s more some little details Logistics and this is where this discovery of the the Nile Branch comes in that we actually can understand that we can they can bring in some of the materials year round rather than certain periods so it’s that kind of say of of detail of logistics which BR this does rather than resolving any sort of major Mysteries because really they aren’t really that many the the way of real Mysteries and um what will researchers now do with this information in terms of uh looking at the pyramids a new I don’t think it’s so much the pyramids we be looking at here a new it’s more the whole topography because what this discovery of this new branch is it means that Egypt looked very very different from what we thought it did we’d always thought it was a single run of the Nile with Fields either side and then the desert now we know there’s another Branch the Nile so a whole chunk of Egypt was effectively an island rather than being to the to one of the banks so I think the big issue is not so although everybody of looking at the pyramids as the big thing looking at how the landscape of Egypt is fundamentally different from what we expected it to be four thou 3 4,000 years ago I think that’s really where the future research should be aimed Professor Aiden Dodson

[Music] now I just want to bring you up to date with a statement that’s been released by Singapore Airlines uh and thus is that a flight operating from Heathrow to Singapore on the 20th of May encountered severe turbulence on Route and that the airline can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board this is a Boeing 777 300 er a total of 21 passengers and 18 crew on board the aircraft was diverted to Bangkok and it landed at 3:45 local time U but just to reiterate Singapore Airlines saying that on a flight from London Heath row to Singapore on the 20th of May there was severe turbulence on Route injuries on board and one fatality on board Singapore PO airines is saying it’s offering its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased the uh Airline goes on to say that it’s providing all possible assistance working with local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance um and are sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance uh so just to reiterate that after a severe turbulence one person has died on board a plane flying from Heath R uh to Singapore uh we’ll bring you anymore as soon as we get it