Helmut Kohl: Leaders pay tribute to German reunifier in Strasbourg

World leaders are attending a ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to commemorate the life of former German chancellor Helmut Kohl - who oversaw German reunification.
Mr Kohl, who died last month, was a major driving force behind closer European integration.
Dignitaries have been paying respects at his coffin, which has been draped in the EU flag.
He will be buried in the German town of Speyer later in the day.
More than 2,000 police are on duty in Strasbourg.
Speakers include the current German and French leaders Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron as well as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, former US president Bill Clinton and former Spanish president Felipe González.
It is the first time that the European Parliament has paid tribute to a leader in such a way.
The ceremony was proposed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who was nicknamed "Junior" by Mr Kohl and who described the German after his death as "my mentor, my friend (and) the very essence of Europe".
However Germany will not hold a state funeral for Mr Kohl in Germany at the request of his widow Maike Kohl-Richter, his second wife.
That decision has been criticised by Mr Kohl's son by his first wife, Walter Kohl, who wanted a farewell ceremony near the Brandenburg Gate in the German capital Berlin, near the site of the former Berlin Wall.
Walter Kohl has described the European Parliament commemoration as "unworthy" in an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit.
BBC NEWS

Xi Jinping warns Hong Kong over sovereignty 'red line'

Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned against "impermissible" challenges to Beijing's authority over Hong Kong.
Mr Xi was speaking at the swearing-in of the territory's new leader Carrie Lam, as it marks 20 years since its handover to China from Britain.
He took part in a series of lavish events, including a flag-raising ceremony, amid tight police security.
But clashes took place between pro-democracy and pro-Beijing demonstrators close to the site. Several were held.
The visit was Mr Xi's first to the city since becoming leader in 2013 and comes three years after mass pro-democracy rallies crippled parts of the territory for months.
He oversaw the swearing in of Ms Lam, the newly-elected chief executive of the territory, along with the rest of her cabinet. She is Hong Kong's first female leader.
In a speech he said that Hong Kong needed to "improve its systems to uphold national sovereignty, security and development interests".
"Any attempt to endanger China's sovereignty and security, challenge the power of the central government... or use Hong Kong to carry out infiltration and sabotage activities against the mainland is an act that crosses the red line and is absolutely impermissible," he said.

Read more about Hong Kong since the handover:


He added that Hong Kong now enjoyed more freedom than ever before.
But while Hong Kong's Basic Law guarantees wide-ranging freedoms under the "one country, two systems" formula, Beijing's refusal to grant universal suffrage has triggered sometimes violent unrest.
In Saturday's protests, pro-democracy party Demosisto said police had arrested five of its members, and four members from the League of Social Democrats.
Among those said by the group to have been arrested was Joshua Wong, the leader of the so-called umbrella protest movement.

Slammed to the ground - Juliana Liu, BBC News, Hong Kong correspondent











It was meant to be a routine demonstration by pro-democracy protesters.
The leaders of the League of Social Democrats and Demosisto had gathered to make their way to the square in the Wanchai district where the flag-raising ceremony was taking place. They were demanding greater voting rights for Hong Kong, as well the immediate release of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
But without warning, scuffles began between the demonstrators and the police. Faces were slammed to the ground. And then pro-Beijing supporters turned up, waving flags and blaring patriotic music. Each side was shouting abuse at the other.
The tussle went on for more than an hour, with it ending only after the leaders of the pro-democracy demonstration were led away by police, who called it an illegal gathering.

In the ceremony the flags of China and Hong Kong were raised alongside one another to mark the 20-year anniversary of the city's handover of British rule.
Helicopters flew overhead as onlookers cheered at the ceremony in Golden Bauhinia Square, central Hong Kong.
On Friday, an official protest zone near the convention centre where Mr Xi was guest of honour at an anniversary banquet and variety performance was heavily patrolled, as demonstrators gathered chanting "end one-party dictatorship".


There is growing concern that the Chinese central government is undermining Hong Kong's more politically liberal traditions, despite its promise to give it a high degree of autonomy.
Democracy campaigners clashed with pro-Beijing supporters near the venue, with police separating the two sides.

Among the pro-democracy activists was Mr Wong, who earlier told demonstrators that the only person responsible for "causing a public nuisance" was "Xi Jinping".
He and 25 other activists were arrested on Wednesday for "breaking the 'public nuisance' law" after climbing into a golden sculpture of a bauhinia flower, Hong Kong's emblem.
The sculpture, which sits by the city's harbour front, was a gift from China and an iconic landmark symbolising the handover.
BBC NEWS


Simone Veil: French politician and Holocaust survivor dies

The French politician, women's rights champion and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil has died at the age of 89.
Best known in France for her instrumental role in legalising abortion in the 1970s, she went on to serve as the first president of an elected European Parliament.
Ms Veil, a liberal, later re-entered French politics, returning to the cabinet in the 1990s.
President Emmanuel Macron described her as "inspiring" and the best of France.
She became one of the 40 "immortals" of the Académie Française in 2010 - a great honour in France.
Ms Veil was France's minister of health from 1974-79, in which role she made access to contraception easier and fought a long battle to legalise abortion.
The law which did so, passed in 1975, is known as "la loi Veil".
Simon Veil became an MEP in the 1979 European elections, and she was elected as president of the parliament.
She later went on to become the leader of the liberal grouping within the parliament, and stood down as an MEP in 1993.
She again became a French minister, before being appointed to the constitutional council of France.
Born in Nice in 1927 as Simone Jacob, her whole family was arrested by the Germans in 1944.
Her father and brother were transported to eastern Europe and were never heard from again.
The teenaged Simone was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and then Bergen-Belsen with her mother and oldest sister. Her mother died shortly before liberation.
Her other sister, Denise, had joined the French Resistance and was imprisoned at Ravensbrück concentration camp.
The three sisters survived the war but the eldest, Madeleine, was killed in a car crash in the 1950s.
Ms Veil was married to the late Antoine Veil for more than 60 years and the couple had three children.
BBC NEWS

China condemns US sanctions over 'North Korea funding'

China has reacted angrily to a US decision to impose sanctions on a Chinese bank accused of laundering North Korean money.
A foreign ministry spokesman urged the US to "stop wrongful actions" to avoid harming co-operation.
The US announced the move, as well as sanctions on a Chinese shipping company and two Chinese nationals, on Thursday.
It said the blacklisting was aimed at cutting funds to North Korea's weapons programmes.
"We will follow the money and cut off the money," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a news conference.
But he said the move was not a response to Chinese inaction on North Korea, saying: "This is not directed at China, this is directed at a bank, as well as individuals and entities in China."
The UN has already imposed several rounds of sanctions on Pyongyang, but China is widely seen as the nation most able to impose economic pain on North Korea.
Washington has been pushing Beijing for tougher measures amid a series of missile tests by Pyongyang. But in a tweet earlier this month, President Donald Trump said China's actions had "not worked out".
The sanctions - announced as new South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Washington for talks with Mr Trump on security issues - mean that the Bank of Dandong will be barred from doing business in the US.
The US Treasury said it had been "a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity" and facilitated "millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea's WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and ballistic missile programmes".
Two Chinese nationals accused of creating front companies for North Korean entities and a shipping company, Dalian Global Unity Shipping, accused of smuggling luxury goods to North Korea, have also been blacklisted.
Mr Mnuchin said that the US could impose more sanctions in the future.
The sanctions came as the US announced the sale of $1.42bn (£1.09bn) worth of arms to Taiwan, the first such transaction under the Trump administration.
US arms sales to Taiwan always anger Beijing because it considers the self-governing island part of its territory. In a statement, the Chinese embassy in Washington called on the US to revoke its decision, saying China had "every right to be outraged".
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday that the US actions went "against the important spirit" of the apparently friendly meeting between Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the US president's Florida resort in April.
Earlier in the week, the US also placed China on its list of the worst offenders in human trafficking and forced labour - the first major move by the new administration over Beijing's human rights record.
BBC NEWS

Riots and looting: my memories of Asia's financial crisis

The phone call came in the middle of the night. It was my mother, frantic but trying to inject calmness into her voice.
There were riots in Jakarta, she said. The supermarket down our road had been set on fire, and people were out on the streets looting stores and ransacking homes.
It was May 1998. And Indonesia - my childhood home - was at war with itself.
It wasn't the only one.
Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia - even Japan - were all affected by the Asian financial crisis.

Eroding wealth

Almost overnight, the East Asian economic miracle was declared no more.
Growth rates contracted. Millions of families like mine saw their wealth erode over the course of a few months.
The middle class in many of these nations was decimated as housewives sold their jewellery to keep their families afloat, and mothers stormed the streets because they couldn't afford imported formula for their children.
A number of countries, including Indonesia, had to ask the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for help.

'Meant to be invincible'

My sister and I were at university in the UK when the financial crisis struck in 1997.
At the time we felt the impact keenly. Our overseas university fees, which were paid in British pounds, became vastly more expensive to a father who, until that point. had exemplified the middle-class Indonesian success story.
"No one could have seen it coming," my father tells me today as he looks back. "We were on the verge of becoming one of Asia's tiger economies. We were meant to be invincible."
But if there was thing the crisis proved, it was that Asia's Tigers were extremely vulnerable.
"It was the worst time in my career," Soedjradjad Djiwandono, Indonesia's central bank governor at the time told me.
"We almost didn't sleep for months because every day you have to deal with it. We thought we could stabilise the Indonesian rupiah. We intervened in the market, but the rupiah kept depreciating."
What Mr Djiwandono is talking about is the massive currency devaluations that happened across the region, starting with the Thai baht, and rippling across South East Asia.
There were many reasons for the crisis. But the consensus is that it was predominantly a combination of asset bubbles, high current account deficits and too much foreign-denominated debt in the banking system.
Currencies that were artificially pegged to the US dollar at a fixed and unrealistic exchange rate, and a lack of financial transparency, made these countries vulnerable to the crisis.

Lessons learned?

Today, though, most of these countries are among Asia's strongest economies. So what did they do right? And what lessons were learned to ensure that something like that never happens again?
First, getting rid of fixed exchange rates was vital. Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia all saw their semi or fixed exchange rates challenged during the crisis by currency speculators.
After the crisis these countries adopted a free-floating currency which allowed market forces to determine the value of the exchange rate, thereby taking out the incentive for speculators to step in.
Second, countries also started cleaning up banking systems. Pre-crisis, 30% of bank loans made in Indonesia were not re-payed. Nowadays it's closer to 5%.
Banking systems exposed to a high level of corporate debt in foreign currencies are vulnerable to higher and more expensive payments when those currencies fall. And sometimes when businesses can't pay back their loans - as happened during the crisis - the whole banking system collapses.
Finally, making the political and economic environment more transparent was important. Many of the countries affected had political and financial systems that were opaque and prone to crony-capitalism.
While there have been improvements - in the case of Indonesia a system of government changed from dictatorship to a democracy - there are still inherent issues within many of the countries that allow the elite to govern the way business is done.

Intolerance

It was the 1997-98 financial crisis that made me want to become a journalist - in particular a business reporter. Why had nobody warned what might happen?
The region has come a long way since then, and most economists agree that countries here are all in a much better shape to allow something like that from happening again,
Thailand is now in the grip of a military-led government. Malaysia is suffering from its own corruption scandal stemming from the Prime Minister down.
And Indonesia, where my mum called me from that night, is beset with religious intolerance issues.
Together these countries make up at least half of Asia's GDP growth. The warning signs are clear to see.
BBC NEWS

Trump travel ban comes into effect for six countries

People from six mainly Muslim countries and all refugees now face tougher US entry due to President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban.
It means people without "close" family or business relationships in the US could be denied visas and barred entry.
Lawyers took up positions at US airports, offering free advice.
But there was no sign of the chaos that affected travellers when the first version of the ban was brought in at a few hours' notice in January.
That is because the executive order does not affect people who already have valid visas or green cards.
The Department of Homeland Security said it expected "business as usual at our ports of entry".
Monday's Supreme Court ruling upheld the temporary ban, a key Trump policy.
But the judges provided a major exception, for those who have "a credible claim of a bona fide relationship" with someone in the US.
The effect is that citizens of the affected countries with a close relative in the US, such as a spouse, parent, child or sibling, will potentially be allowed in.
In a last minute change, the Trump administration extended the definition of close family to include fiancés.
However grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces are not considered to be "bona fide" relations.
The rules apply to people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, as well as to all refugees.
Moments before the ban began at 20:00 Washington time on Thursday (00:00 GMT), it emerged that the state of Hawaii had asked a federal judge for clarification.
Hawaii's attorney general has argued that the definition of "close family" is too narrow and may improperly prevent people from travelling to the US.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said it would be closely monitoring the guidance and implementation of the order.
The Supreme Court is expected to make a final decision on the ban when its next session begins in October.

Who can come in?

According to the new rules, for the next 90 days those from the six countries without a close relationship will not be able to enter the US.
IN - a parent, spouse, fiancé, child, son- or daughter-in-law, or sibling, including step- or half-siblings.
OUT - grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, in-laws, extended family and grandchildren.
Also exempt from the new rules are those with business or educational ties to the US.
However, the guidelines specifically state that the relationship must be formal, documented and not formed for the purpose of evading the order.
As well as making clear that those with valid visas and legal permanent residents are not affected, the Department of Homeland Security says dual nationals who travel on their passport from the unaffected country will also be allowed entry.
The Supreme Court also approved a 120-day ban on refugees entering the US, allowing the government to bar entry to refugee claimants who cannot prove the same ties to an American individual or entity.

The US president insisted his ban was necessary for national security and pointed to terrorist attacks in Paris, London, Brussels and Berlin as evidence.
However, critics called the policy un-American and Islamophobic, and said that this ban would not have stopped atrocities in the US perpetrated by American-born attackers.
The original ban, released on 27 January, provoked mass protests at American airports.
It included Iraq among nations whose travellers would be barred from the US, and imposed a full ban on refugees from Syria.
The president issued a revised version with a narrower scope on 6 March to overcome some of the legal problems.
The policy was left in limbo after it was struck down by federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland.
BBC NEWS

Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...