Trump: US will be Iran's 'worst nightmare' if there's no peace plan

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Hello and welcome to NewsHour Live from the BBC World Service in London. I'm Rebecca Kesby.

Today, President Trump repeated his claim that Iran is, quote, begging to make a deal now that they

are, in his words, militarily obliterated. His comments made at a cabinet meeting came as the

Iranian news agency Tuss Nim, which is affiliated with the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,

reports that Tehran has responded to the US's reported 15-point peace plan,

though for days Iran has denied that any negotiations as such are taking place,

which airing the session President Trump had this to say about the Iranians.

They are begging to make a deal now me. They're begging to make a deal. They're not fools. They're

very smart, actually, in a certain way, and they're great negotiators. I say they're

lousy fighters, but they're great negotiators. Well, the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says

the military campaign so far is a pure American success, but Iranian missiles have continued to

land in the region, and US ground forces are still en route to the Gulf. We'll look at the

military situation in a moment. First, let's focus on the diplomacy, and we're joined live now

by Chief International Correspondent, Lise Du Sett, who's in the studio. Lise, first of all,

what do we know about this 15-point plan and the response, and is it any different to what they

were talking about before the war erupted? Yes, there is a suggestion that this so-called 15-point

plan is actually a rehashing of a plan as way back as May 2025, and that was before the June

War, the June, 12-day war in June, and then since then we've had another war. There was a 15-point

plan that was released. It's not clear whether it was the actual one, because actually at least one

of the items was repeated twice about the Boucher nuclear power plant. But from what we understand,

if that is the plan, it is a surrender document, and it's absolutely maximalist demands

of the United States, and one has to assume of Israel as well. Possibly some input from

Arab Gulf states, and Iran simply cannot accept it. And similarly, Iran's fine foreign plan

is one that the United States cannot accept, and it is in the manner of negotiations

that you do start off with maximalist positions. But at this point in this war, it underlines

just how vast the gaps are and how deep the misunderstanding is, not to mention the depth of

mistrust. So there's been confusion all week as to whether these talks were happening and how

they were happening, whether the Pakistanis may be involved. In the past few minutes, we've had

another truth social media post by President Trump saying that the pause in the period of energy

plant destruction is now going to be 10 days from now April the 6th. He's saying, and he's talking

about how well this is going, and that it's not being reported properly by the fake news media,

he said, what do we read into those comments? Both sides say the other side has been defeated.

Both sides say the other side is desperate for a deal. And President Trump uses the form,

they're begging me for a deal. Now, as you say, he's just come out and said, and I'll read as per

Iranian government request, in other words, they're desperate for a deal. So they have asked for

an extension, and he has agreed because he says, despite what the media is saying, that in fact,

these talks are going very well. So it's for another 10 days, which will take it to April the 6th.

What is good about this is whether you, there is a disagreement as to whether or not this is

really talks, messages are certainly being passed. But what is important is that a channel has been

opened, and they're giving time for proposals to be swapped back and forth. And we, from what we

understand, these indirect talks are going largely through Pakistan, through the Army Chief,

Field Marshal Assumounir, who has cultivated a very close tie, very close ties with President

Trump. And it seems he also knows Mohamed Baghraq Ali Bahf, the, who we understand the speaker

of the parliament, who also held top roles in the security establishment in Iran, who is the

person when President says we're talking to a top official. Good to see you. Thank you so much

for the latest there. That's our Chief International Correspondent Lee's due set.

Well, the Pentagon has confirmed that around 2000 soldiers from the Army's 82nd Airborne

Division are on their way to the Gulf. That's on top of four and a half thousand Marines expected

to arrive there. And does that make some kind of U.S. land incursion in Iran inevitable,

or at least possible, probable at this point? It's a question I put to Brian Clark,

senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former senior U.S. naval officer.

I think that there is a likelihood of a ground incursion. I think one of the challenges

the U.S. faces is opening up the straight-ahour moves. It will be extremely difficult,

unless you could put boots on the ground to go secure locations along the coastline,

because of the number of places you can hide drones and weapons along the Iranian coast

means that you're going to have to search house to house and be ready to respond whenever

those threats come out. Unless they can get the Iranians to agree to some

secession of hostilities, the U.S. will have to put some kind of troops out there to maybe

secure those locations. And I think the bigger threat is going to be use of weapons against U.S.

troops once they get ashore. And so, I mean, if you were still serving,

how confident would you be about the planning behind any potential land incursion? Because,

I mean, we've already heard from President Trump. He says nobody was anticipating Iran would

respond in the way that they have. He seems to have been surprised by the way things have happened.

Yeah, and all the wargaming, and we've done several wargames. I mean, we've done wargames that

Hudson Institute, and I've also done wargames when I was in the Navy on Iranian scenarios. And

they all involved eventually, the Iranians closing the straight-of-her moves. So this was a

foreseen circumstance. I just may not be that the current team maybe didn't raise that to

the president as something that was likely to happen. But in all the wargaming I've done,

this is where they end up going, as they eventually closed the straight.

Is that credible, though? I mean, is it credible that his advisors wouldn't have told him that

this was a possibility? They may not have made it clear that it was a high potential. They may

have downplayed it potentially, thinking that the Iranians would be cowed, like they were

in previous strike operations. They'd pay back down a couple of previous times. They may have

thought they would back down again this time. But when you are on operations in uniform and you're

carrying out a campaign such as this, how important is the language coming from the leaders?

Because we've also been hearing from the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who repeatedly says

no mercy will be shown to the enemy. He talks about stupid rules of engagement,

which has got many people quite worried because that doesn't sound particularly American.

You know, Americans take prisoners. But we know that when that warship was sunk,

rise at the beginning of the war, it's thought that American servicemen allowed those Iranians

to drown. There was no attempt to try and rescue any survivors.

There's a separation between the rhetoric you hear at the political level and how the

uniform people actually operate. Because the military still retains a pretty strong

targeting system to try to avoid hitting civilian targets and making sure they're minimizing

casualties, that's still in place. I mean, all that is sort of baked into a lot of the way that

the military does things at the uniform level. So I think a lot of times this rhetoric that you hear

at the political level is disconnected maybe from how the military folks are actually operating.

But I think there are certain circumstances where it does play out like, for example, that submarine

attack on the ship where it's sort of a political decision whether you go and try to rescue survivors.

And clearly, the ship was prevented from doing that. So in some cases, this political rhetoric does

break that pass over that gap. But most of the time, it doesn't.

But doesn't that actually put American servicemen potentially in a difficult position because you've

got Emma flying over hostile territory, you know, could easily be shot down by the enemy and end

up behind enemy lines. And if they're hearing all, you know, stupid rules of engagement, no mercy

from the leaders of the United States, what's to stop the Iranians from having the same policy?

Right. I mean, that's always the challenge and that's in the past why we haven't had leaders

convey those kinds of sentiments is because we're concerned that the enemy would start applying

that same idea in his own operation. So that's traditionally been why you haven't heard that kind

of rhetoric out of the political leadership. But also, I think, to a certain degree, you kind of

expect that in this case, enemy forces might be fairly aggressive in other kind of treat prisoners

just because of the way this war is played out. Attacking civilian power plants technically would

contravene the Geneva conventions, wouldn't it? Correct. Yeah, it would. So any service personnel

ordered to make those strikes, doesn't that put them in a difficult position and potentially a

one where they could be liable for war crimes? It depends on which power plants you hit. I mean,

it gets into a lot of intricacies regarding what those power plants are used for. For example,

in past wars, countries have attack power plants because those power plants might be supporting

a war industry. So there are times when attacking civilian energy infrastructure might be a

valid set of targets because they're militarily relevant. That's the that's the question you

would get into is are they attacking civilian energy infrastructure independently of its military

value? Or are they doing it as part of a larger military operation? That's Brian Clark from the Hudson

Institute, former senior US naval officer. Well, footage and interviews obtained by the BBC

do give us an insight into the experience of Iranians living through this war as the BBC's

Fergal Keen reports.

A man feels the shock waves of missiles striking nearby. From his balcony, he sees the

tracer fire bright red against the dark blue of the night sky, another night under fire into Iran.

It is a city of fitful sleep where the barking of dogs signals approaching destruction.

We've been able to obtain testimony from several ordinary Iranians in different parts of the

country. To protect them from official retaliation, we've changed their names and used other voices

to speak their words. I'm afraid that one day the war will end and something good will not have

happened. Mariam is an artist who's long struggled with the lack of freedom as a woman and a painter,

but she's decided to stay despite the dangers of war. Some of my friends left Iran.

I stayed to see what will happen. I didn't want to go far away. I wanted to stay here,

observe and if I can build something can produce something. The problems I have are the same

problems as all people. Basic needs. I cannot provide them.

Each morning brings a ritual of grim transformation. Not just security bases,

but homes, shops, offices in rubble. Streets filled with shards of steel.

Weary civilians cleaning up the mess made in a war they did not choose.

Pro regime demonstrations, portraying a united nation are the only ones allowed.

Any dissenters would be swiftly silenced. But at home, with family, with friends they trust,

those who oppose the regime are willing to share their feelings.

My father, who until 20 years ago would have given his life a harmony,

after his death brought sweets home to celebrate.

This man, we're calling him Mahmoud, is furious with what's happening to his country.

They are a group of savages with masks, chanting with loudspeakers, guns and vehicles,

constantly moving through the streets, shouting. And everyone is at home, worried, afraid.

With satellite signals full of noise and disruption and no internet, they've blocked the roads,

they intimidate every car they see and behave however they want.

That report using testimony and footage from inside a ran put together by the BBC's

Furgle King then.

Still to come, the UK government is considering asking foreign tourists to pay for

entry into British museums and galleries to improve funding for the arts. But is it a good idea?

I believe there is a sense of, you know, charging tourists because like, it's not for free.

People have to understand that everything has its price and people have to do it their bit.

But not to high, I believe.

Would you pay to come here?

Yes, because in Germany you have to pay for everything, for every gallery, for every museum.

So we will come to pay.

More on that to come and our headlines this, our Iranian media says a response has been sent

over Donald Trump's proposal to end his war as the US president extends his pause on strikes

targeting Iranian energy sites.

This is Rebecca Kesby with News Hour Live from the BBC.

Next we head to Cuba in the grip of a nationwide cute energy crisis.

There are rolling blackouts so severe.

Even hospitals are struggling to provide basic emergency and intensive care services.

UN Chief Antonio Guterres has warned of a humanitarian collapse if the situation continues.

The energy crisis has been caused by a near total US blockade on oil reaching the island.

It follows the US attack on Venezuela in January.

And Cuba has been totally dependent on Venezuelan oil for years.

Now, the president of Cuba says that 94-year-old Raul Castro, former leader and brother of Fidel,

is involved in talks with the US to try to break the deadlock.

So will it work?

Rory Nichol is a journalist with the Guardian and I asked him how significant Mr Castro's involvement might be.

It's interesting that the Castro is right at the middle of these discussions

because for a lot of Cubans in Miami, the Castro's are anathema and they want them gone.

At the moment, we don't know that much more about them.

Except there is the option of an economic style deal that would leave the authorities here

broadly in place as rumours that they would like to the president who's called Miguel

Diaz Canal. It's not a Castro.

They were hoping that he might step down.

The Americans are certainly hoping that.

But it does seem if Raul's involved then the hope is that there's some sort of economic deal that can be done.

I mean, he is retired now, isn't he? He's 94.

But what kind of power or influence does he still have in the country?

Huge, absolutely huge. It's been interesting over the last few weeks,

watching various Castro's come to the fore.

And it does seem very much that they are still holding a great deal of the levers of power in the country.

And is anyone talking about regime change?

As we know, Mr. Trump does like that idea in other countries.

Clearly, Donald Trump wants to do a deal in Cuba that sees the transition to at least a more liberal economy.

And he does seem to be prepared to countenance the Castro's still in power.

That will be a very bitter pill for Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State,

to swallow because he has the son of Cuban immigrants.

He has really committed much of his career to trying to dislodge the Castro's.

And certainly, it will be appalling for the Cubans in Miami.

They're all set to have huge parties if the Castro's full.

And Rory, just in terms of how badly affected ordinary people are,

I mean, we've heard that there have been some sort of protests

as people have been worried about the cost of fuel, whatever fuel there is.

What are the conditions like?

What resources there are have been directed in large part towards the hospitals

to try and maintain at least some semblance of healthcare.

The situation is very odd in that there's not much transport,

but there's food.

If you can afford it, there is a big change between the rich and the poor now.

But what I'm really noticing is the level of anxiety amongst the population is just off the scale now.

Nobody knows what the future holds.

Is it going to be a transfer to more liberal economies still under the Castro's?

Or is it going to be a situation that we go into the summer when it gets very hot?

And that we protest and what that might mean.

Of the ordinary Cubans you've managed to speak to so far,

what are they telling you about how they're surviving?

But if you've got money from abroad, you can go and shop.

If you don't have money from abroad and if you're one of the sort of 50% of the population

that is employed by the state, you're really, really in trouble.

I take my small son to kindergarten and you used to never see beggars

and just on the street outside his kindergarten I get asked for money

by three people the other day in less than five minutes.

Often those people that you're asking for money are very elderly people

trying to maintain their dignity.

They'll often offer you something from their house.

It's awful because these are the people that built the revolution.

They've got an enormous amount of dignity and their desperate.

Journalist Rory Nichol in Cuba there.

Now the stages of life bring different challenges,

experiences and needs and in society we all have to live together whichever

life stage we're at. Could we be doing that better?

Well a new exhibition here in London explores experiences and perceptions of

human aging all the way from adolescence to older age.

They do it through art, science and popular culture.

It's called The Coming of Age and opens at the Welcome Collection in London.

My colleague Jane Hill was shown around by the curator,

Shamita Sharma Charja and began by looking at some beautiful objects from Japan.

The very first objects when you enter the exhibition are a pair of silversake cups

and they're a kind of object that are given to people in Japan in the year that they turn 100.

Now when this practice first started in 1963 only 153 cups were given out that year

but by 2014 over 29,000 cups were supposed to be given out in that year alone

at the cost of about 1.2 million pounds in the Japanese government.

So the scheme was stopped and there was a public outcry so then they reinstated it using a smaller

nickel alternative. Let's walk around sadly we can't look at every single thing in a fairly

sizable exhibition but explain what we're looking at here because it looks to me like a very thin

bone, almost like a cane. So we're looking at Charles Darwin's walking stick

and on the top is a skull with bright green eyes. Charles Darwin used to call this his

walking maturi or memento mori meaning it was a reminder that one day we all must die.

This walking stick is next to a contemporary artwork by an artist called Daphne Wright

and it's of a Zimmer frame and the Zimmer frame is actually kind of paired all the way back to

its core and covered with unfair play so it looks incredibly vulnerable. I just thought it was

really interesting that in the 19th century Charles Darwin's walking stick was like a symbol of

erudition whereas Zimmer frame today is not seen in the same way. So we're looking at a very

unusual artwork here. So this is a ceramic series called Wild Apple's by the artist Serena

So we're walking into a circular space and all around a scattered apples and in and amongst

the apples there are three roughly hune kind of tree trunks that are top of which are three

ceramic figures. Serena. All women. All women. Yes so Serena really was looking at experiences

of menopause. Serena was very interested in the type of object that we have in our collection

here at welcome called the anatomical venuses which were the 16th century teaching tools that were

used to teach men about women's bodies and so Serena was really turning that medicalised male

gaze on its head and her figures are standing up and they are bearing their lived experiences of

their bodies. Well we started with the beautiful Japanese sarkeballs and as we come to the end of

the exhibition something else I can tell clearly from Japan what is this? That's right so we're

looking at a display of objects from the restaurant of mistaken orders which is a social enterprise

in Japan where all of the floor stuff of this restaurant have dementia. So I think the idea is

about embracing imperfection so you can see in the logo of the restaurant this is the English

version of it it says restaurant and mistaken orders and the K is on its side but the idea is

that you know Japan is this country that is kind of famed for its precision and attitudes towards

work and actually thinking maybe not everything has to be perfect and it's about fostering understanding.

What would you like people to take away at the end of this exhibition? What are your thoughts

about aging? How we all view older people? Do we value older people in their experience enough?

Is it throwing up those sort of questions? What I would really like for this exhibition is for

people to come away kind of just thinking about their own experiences and reflections on aging

throughout their life course from you know kind of adolescence to middle age and becoming older

but also kind of having a really realistic view of age and seeing that there are challenges and

benefits to each stage of life. Shamita Sharma Charja they're speaking to the BBC's Jane Hill the

coming of age opening at the Welcome Collection in London. At Amika Insurance we know it's not just

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welcome back to news hour the war in the Gulf is already having an economic impact across Asia

the Philippines has declared a state of emergency over the fuel crisis but other countries are also

hit by the knock on high prices across their economies will bane has been speaking to businesses

in the region if gas prices continue to rise and may start driving a tuk tuk and working construction

instead that will be better since I'm not making any income the war in Iran may only be weak

but it's already shifting the economic reality for workers right across Asia whether they be

driving a tuk tuk in Cambodia or reading the news in Thailand we're reading the news we always

have to wear suits and ties so I discuss with the net team that we could set an example and

corporate with the government so we started a program and took off our suits sending a signal

to the puppet that does could help yes the sky high cost of energy sparked by the war is having

unusual consequences with even office attire seemingly being sacrificed that newsreader on

Thailand's main public broadcaster was responding to recommendations from the government there to tie

citizens to try and save energy that included not turning the air conditioning down below 26 or 27

degrees Celsius and as a result well they didn't want sticky workers in their suits and hope

the newsreaders could set a trend for a more casual look it's just one of the ways many countries

across Asia have been responding to the energy crisis to why our Asia's economy so exposed

Doris Lu is an economist based in Malaysia

84% of oil that bus through the street of hormones goes to Asia

83% of LNG that bus through hormones goes to Asia so in the sense Asia is very energy

dependence and so suddenly Asia countries find themselves out of these sources

the effective blockade on the straight of hormones isn't just causing supply disruptions and

shortages of oil and gas the shocks flowed all the way through to the price of Vietnam's national

dish the noodle soup beef foe that's according to this restaurant owner in Ho Chi Minh City

not only beef but prices for every ingredient for fernodore like vegetable, lemon,

acesterole have increased since the petrol price so in my restaurant it costs just 30 000

Vietnamese don't but bolder for but I'm planning to increase the price to 35 000 Vietnamese don't

but bold in the coming day. Malaysia is often referred to as the workshop of the world with many

of the world's biggest exporting nations calling the continent home as a result any shock in terms

of input costs there could have far reaching ramifications Moody and Rubel is the owner and

regional managing director at Denim expert limited a garment manufacturer in Chidagon Bangladesh

It is a total supply chain disaster right basically the price will increase for everyone around

the world than every product of the world more or less I believe so. That report by Will

Bain there speaking to businesses across the Asia region and you can hear more on his report

on business daily you can get the podcast just do a search for business daily wherever you get your

podcasts

you're listening to news our live from the BBC on Rebecca Kesby next let's head to New York

because the former president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores have been appearing

in court there they were seized by US forces in January and now stand accused of a variety of drug

trafficking charges Mr. Maduro has been denied access to Venezuelan government funds to pay his

legal fees which his lawyers say is a violation of his constitutional rights well there've been

some scuffles but lots of protesters outside the court house pro and anti Maduro protesters gathered

there well this is what some of Mr. Maduro supporters had to say outside the court

we expect that the United States if it's true justice exists there's a trial that leads to the

freedom of president mature because that kidnapping harmed the main principles of rule of law

and we want justice well on North America correspondent Nedta Feek has been outside the court

and I asked her about the charges Mr. Maduro is facing Nicholas Maduro is charged with

narco terrorism and drug trafficking here in the federal court in New York and essentially

they accuse him of this conspiracy to work with groups that the United States has designated

terrorist groups like the FARC in Columbia and working with them to import cocaine into the

United States and this original indictment actually dates back to 2020 and so this has been the

justification in which the United States says they seized Nicholas Maduro and his wife and brought

them here to the United States to face those charges and I can also note that his son and a

current sitting minister of justice and interior are also defendants in that case so in terms of

his defense team what are they saying and can you tell us more about how he's been denied access

to the government funds to pay the legal fees is he going to struggle to pay them now well this

was really the majority of what this hearing today was about this 90 minute hearing because before

both sides can get to even weightier issues in this complex legal case Nicholas Maduro's lawyers say

they have to be paid and they say that it is his constitutional right to be able to not just have

a lawyer because there are court appointed lawyers but to have a lawyer of his choosing and

really it was interesting to hear the judge essentially agree with the defense on that point

because prosecutors said that sanctions barred the Venezuelan government from being able to

basically bankroll his legal fees and they said those sanctions were based on national security

concerns but the judge said actually the fact that the defendants are now in federal detention

means they pose no additional threat and there's also the situation where the U.S. government is now

working with Venezuela's government selling oil he pointed out that the Strait of Hormuz even makes

that more of a concern at the moment with the two countries cooperating even further so here the

judge said actually the paramount issue is the right to defense and so he asked the government for

suggestions on how to remedy that if he rules interesting stuff and I mentioned there's quite a

lot of people outside the court and we understand they're both pro and anti Maduro protesters what

can you tell us about the mood there yeah that's right we saw that in January as well for the

Maduro's first court hearing and it was really interesting to me that inside it was actually

much more subdued the atmosphere last time Maduro yelled out that he had been kidnapped that he

was the president of Venezuela today he didn't speak he was very quiet his appearance hadn't

changed much but outside of the courthouse was where there was some real drama you have Venezuelans

who are happy they say that he is facing justice they are against Maduro and they were playing

loud celebratory music trying to drown out a separate crowd that said that they were there

protesting against U.S. imperialism and they won in Maduro freed and at one point a few punches

were thrown at one of the men that came from the anti Maduro side to the pro Maduro side so you

can just see how the emotions are still high around this case that's the BBC's net attack fake

outside the court earlier well since Nicolas Maduro was seized by U.S. forces Venezuela's government

has been working with Washington opening up oil and mining sectors to for an investment and

releasing some political prisoners but beyond all the political shifts how much has actually

changed for Venezuelans our South America correspondent Ioni Wells reports from coastal communities

in northeastern Venezuela the off the coast of sucre one of Venezuela's poorest states is where

the U.S. military action against Venezuela started these strikes on small alleged drugs muggling

boats now responsible for killing more than 150 people started months before the U.S. special forces

raid on Caracas and the seizure of Nicolas Maduro now with Maduro appearing in court in New York the

U.S. and Venezuela say change is coming but here in sucre then one believe it

here in the coastal town of Whirrier many families tell me their relatives were killed in the

boat strikes well morning I got up as usual thinking he was fishing I found out that news on

social media Dianis Noriega a mother of five tells me her husband Luis was one of them

it's cool the kids were telling my daughter that her dead was blown up on a boat she fell into

depression the U.S. claim those on board were narco terrorists but hasn't yet offered evidence

Dianis tells a different story poverty pushing ordinary fishermen to take these jobs

poverty she says the military action can't bomb away since Maduro's arrest there are already

some tangible changes in the nation's capital Caracas but the release of some political prisoners

hezuz Armas who worked on the opposition's last election campaign was detained for 10 months

before his release in February they told me they used plastic bags and put these plastic bags

all over my face in January 3rd was a really big step it's not enough we want the investment of

the U.S. we want the investment of the international companies and we want democracy now

here on the coast jobs are scarce and shortages are common

cues of cars stretched from miles in the capital Kuma now waiting for fuel and people have had no

water for two weeks not even for flushing the toilet in the fishing town of Waka the first

delivery of cooking gas since December has just arrived in the world's most oil-rich nation

this fishermen Pablo Marín can barely afford fuel average salaries are less than $200 a month

and yearly inflation of nearly 500 percent last year makes his earnings in Venezuela's currency

worthless 10 years ago money had value now you're paid in cash and it's worth nothing

in another country in Ecuador a family could make 500 dollars catching 100 kilograms of fish

pay for fuel and still have enough leftover for food here if you catch 100 kilograms of fish

you would have to find another 100 to cover your expenses so you're left with nothing

just off the coast here the oil company shell has signed deals with the U.S. and Venezuelan

governments for a huge new gas project since Maduro's arrest Jumarri Martinez a resident from

a local family of fishermen has hopes the local area will benefit it's unclear whether these

offshore projects will employ local workers will lead to investment onshore we're hoping for

a new change a new improvement new projects and that new opportunities will be offered to the

fishermen to the Venezuelan people as a whole this part of Venezuela in superfield feels miles away

from the political bubble of Caracas with all the torque of new mining and oil deals that

poverty the economic crisis destitution are all very embedded in this part of the country

and even with the talk of new foreign investments quite literally on the horizon here prospects of

real change for people still feels very distant I only was reporting from Venezuela well here

in the UK general entry into museums and art galleries is completely free for everyone and

has been for the past 25 years you only have to pay for some special exhibitions but now the

government is considering charging foreign tourists and entry fee they say to help fund the

arts in the country the British Museum here in London gets around six and a half million visitors

a year so we asked some of them what they made of these new plans I believe there is a sense of

you know charging tourists because like it's not for free people have to understand that

everything has its price and people have to do it their bit but not too high I believe

would you pay to come here yes because in Germany you have to pay for everything

for every gallery for every museum so we we will come to pay so what does all this mean for

the museums I spoke to Karen Hinsboe interim director at the tape galleries is this a good idea

this particular suggestion would not be my way to go for for tape for instance we actually did

do some calculations a little while back and it would not be a financial benefit for us at all

it would actually be a loss because of the added spending from the visitors they give donations

they buy coffee they buy the catalogs etc etc so there's an additional have spent for each

visitors and since we have such high numbers at tape the overall result would be a loss and then

I think obviously you also have to consider that the museums they are actually also a reason for

tourists to come in the first place and does it matter how much people are charged I mean if it

was a fairly reasonable amount do you think that would still put people off even going to the museums

it's still a barrier there's something with the free entrance that may get so open and so accessible

and so accommodating so even a modest fee would reduce number significantly right I mean this

is a problem that many countries across the world have to grapple with and other countries they

maybe have one fee for local people one fee for foreign tourists some allow students to get

in free I think the French art galleries allow artists to get in free I mean is there something

that could be done around that yes of course that it's also just enough for levee of a tourist

levee and if you invite that in the UK that's been done in several other countries and cities

around the world and it's in Europe at least and that seems to work quite well and if you ring

fence that for the museum that that would be quite a significant contribution but I think I would

also maybe reverse this this argument because it's very financial but there's something

in granting everyone free access the UK has some of the best collections in the world

and the thought of just like having complete free access to them to the cultural inheritance

to like the DNA of the UK I think that's such a glorious thought and also I've been working in

in other countries and I've been working in Oslo and in Copenhagen and and and it's looked upon

with admiration yes but some might argue that it is a bit of a luxury at the moment given the

financial situation of the UK at the moment and it wasn't always the case that museums in Britain

were free I mean I think it came in fairly recently back in 2001 under the last

Labour government and before that people were paying to get into museums and art galleries

but what it did result in it was so many more people went to see the UK collections

and also I'm not sure about the financial benefit overall I'm not sure it's not the only museum

at all that would not benefit from this financially and we also have to remember when the

tourists come they do also spend in other places so they's quite a significant I don't know

financial ecosystem around all of this as Karin Hinsbo their interim director at the

Tate galleries all of which are very good speaking to me about the proposal to start

charging foreign tourists and entry fee

this is Rebecca Kesby with News Hour Live from the BBC now the International Olympic Committee has

introduced a blanket ban on transgender women taking part in any female categories across all

sports it follows various controversies in Olympic sports not least the women's boxing event at

Paris Games in 2024 where some competitors protested in the ring making double X signs with

their hands and arms after reports that two people taking part had previously failed agenda eligibility

well now the IOC says it's bringing in one-off gene screening tests which will be used to

determine eligibility for all athletes his IOC president Kirsty Coventry speaking earlier

today today we the International Olympic Committee have published a policy on the protection

of the female category I understand that this is very sensitive topic as a former athlete I

passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition the policy

that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the

best interests of athletes at its heart the scientific evidence is very clear male chromosomes

give performance advantages in sports that rely on strength power or endurance at the Olympic

Games even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat so it's

absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category

well for more details I spoke to Tarek Punger global sports correspondent at the New York Times

and first he explained how this test would work the test the IOC says is pretty straight forward

it's cheek swab or a blood test really and it'll be it'll be a one-off test and that will

determine whether athletes can compete in the female category right so it lasts for a lifetime

and it determines whether there's any why chromosome as part of somebody's blood makeup I think

is how it works that's right yeah absolutely yeah okay so this is a little bit of clarity then

because it doesn't stop trans athletes taking part in the Olympics I think they're still eligible

to take part in whichever categories they chromosomely would be allowed to take part in

but it does kind of get rid of this idea of testosterone levels which was a thing for a while

yeah this is this is a really big deal because really the kind of controversy and all the debates

were about the female category you're right to say it doesn't stop transgender athletes from

competing in sport they can compete in the male category or in some cases in the mixed category

because you also have those at the Olympics but the the hot potatoes always been the women's

category and this has come under Kirsty Coventry who was elected as the first woman to lead the IOC

last year and she made protecting the female category a big part of her platform then and reiterated

that today in a news conference afterwards so it is it is in a sense anyone with a why chromosome

in the most broad sense can no longer compete in women's sport at the Olympics and this also

includes athletes like Caster Cemenia these are the so-called DSD athletes differences in sexual

development who appear to have a blanket ban here with with a very narrow exception so yeah it's

a big day yes there are some very rare cases where some people may have xy chromosomes and may

not be aware of it for much of their their childhood I think that's where Caster Cemenia's case

came in there but it's also a point of clarity because there have been sports within the Olympic

family that have had different rules for competing I think cycling made a ruling some years ago

swimming as well but this I guess unifies everybody at the Olympics yeah it does and it also is

part of you know the broader debate here and on gender and sex that has been taking place in the

last I don't know five years that has become quite tribal in its nature and here is the IOC now

taking a lead where it comes to sport people have been asking them to do that and you're

quite right in that other sports have already had rulings on this I would say that the kind of

first mover in this space in terms of a big sport was trekking field athletics they were very very

categoric with their latest policy last year in which it's this it's this cheek swab test or a

blood test and the white chromosome effectively is is banned from women's sport so here you have

the IOC almost following its its lead and the cursory commentary the IOC president did thank those

other sports for participating in what they have done with their own policy however there are big

question marks about this the IOC has insisted this is science led but hasn't produced any of the

science that has led to this decision or told us which medical experts they have used for this

process that's taric punger their global sports correspondence at the New York Times

finally capybaras are the world's largest rodents in reality they look like very cute giant guinea pigs

they also love water and this is what they sound like

so they are native to South America but now the hunt is on in southern England because a capybara

has escaped from Marwell Zoo in Hampshire Samber made a break for it nine days ago leaving behind

her South American compatriot tango local people are being asked to keep a lookout for Samber and

Laura Reed chief executive of Marwell Zoo is hoping to tempt her back we have got an area of land

surrounding the itch and river in Hampshire where we believe she might be hiding out and this area

is not only private land but it's also not that far from Southampton Airport so we want to get

thermal drains up we've got a drone pilot going out tonight quite late from 11pm just to scan

another area so they've got thermal imaging on the drone and then they can hone in and see if they

can see anything but obviously in the dark we are just dependent on the thermal so it's very

difficult though because the shape and size of a capybara is very similar to the shape and size

of a munch up deer and we have a lot of those in Hampshire in this particular area so it's a process

of elimination obviously we had the footage from Sunday and a sighting on Monday so she's got food

she's got shelter she's by the water we you know certainly she was and we don't see any reason

why she would have strayed away from water now she's found it because that's where they feel safe

and secure and she has no natural predators so there's no reason for us to believe that

harm would have befalled her so we are still remaining optimistic and we are still

being everything into our efforts to find her. Laura Reed there and Samber still on the loose I'm told

they are vegetarian and pose absolutely no threat to locals no doubt lots of people are down by the

river having a good look for Samber in case they can find her that's it for this edition of

News Hour from me and the whole team in London thanks for joining us.

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