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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 11, 2024 2:00pm-2:31pm GMT

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to meet its financial obligations to the alliance. and who'll be the football king of africa? hosts ivory coast is takes on former champions nigeria in the finals of the africa cup of nations. hello and welcome to our viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in the middle east, and israel's prime minister who is insisting he will press ahead with an offensive in the southern city of rafah, where more than half the territory's population has taken shelter. in an interview with abc news, he declared that israel is on the cusp of winning the war, and said they will give civilians safe passage to areas they've cleared north of rafah. international alarm is growing though, over the fate of those 1.5
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million civilians. the uk foreign secretary lord cameron says he's "deeply concerned" about the prospect of a military offensive and again called for an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out. the dutch foreign minister, hanke bruins slot, said there could be "many civilian casualties", and described the situation in rafah as "very worrying". while saudi arabia warned of "very serious repercussions" if rafah was stormed. a senior hamas official has threatened to halt the hostage exchange negotiations if israel goes ahead with its offensive in rafah. the army has continued to target the city with shelling and air strikes, which are reported to have killed more than a0 people in the last day. hamas�*s armed wing says that israeli strikes have also killed two hostages in the last four days, and seriously injured eight others. barbara plett—usher
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reports from jerusalem. the aftermath of an israeli air strike in rafah — on a home sheltering people who'd fled the war. they were told they would be safe here in the south. eight people were killed, including children. this is ines—amah. "i'm looking for my niece," she says. "she was two months old." so even here, there's dangerfrom the air, but it could get worse. israel's planning to send in troops to carry on its fight against hamas. victory is within reach. we're going to do it, we're going to get the remaining hamas terrorist battalions in rafah, which is the last bastion, but we're going to do it — and on this, i agree with the americans — we're going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population, so they can leave. and there's nowhere left to run. they're crammed up against the egyptian border,
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living under plastic, food and water in short supply. more than a million people have crowded into rafah in the last four months, but israel says it can't win the war without defeating hamas here. the united nations is unconvinced that an evacuation plan could work. that was the assessment of the un's humanitarian coordinator after a visit to gaza this week. it's very difficult to respond right now, where people are static. and people have come there because they're looking for safety. it's the last... it's the last resort for many people that have come. and do you have... do you have a contingency plan if there is, if the combat operations are extended? well, we had a contingency plan for them to arrive in rafah. that was the contingency plan we had. but now we're looking for another contingency plan, but we're struggling right now to address this contingency plan. and if there was to be an incursion into rafah, which is a massively over—populated city, it's got five times the population there was before the conflict. so everything is under pressure, we're under pressure, and the population themselves have nowhere to go. israel says people can move back north, where soldiers
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are winding up their offensive, but this is what they will find. this crisis keeps building and building. barbara plett usher, bbc news, jerusalem. live now to our correspondent, barbara plett usher injersualem. the warnings over the last week were for the israelis to make a plan before starting the latest offensive and make sure civilians have somewhere to go. you mentioned earlier the safe corridors. are those in place and working? do people have somewhere to go? well. people have somewhere to go? well, at the moment _ people have somewhere to go? well, at the moment what _ people have somewhere to go? well, at the moment what we _ people have somewhere to go? -ii at the moment what we have is an orderfrom the israeli prime minister to the military asking them to draw up a plan for evacuation alongside plans to extend the ground offensive into rafah. that seems to be a fairly direct response to the
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american president and administration which said it would not support an incursion into rafah unless there is a proper plan for safety of civilians. so now president netanyahu has said they would draw up the plan. there is no sense of right now of a timeline for either an incursion or evacuation, you just have the space for people voicing alarm what this could mean, that evacuating more than i million people who are in a fragile state would be very difficult to do as you are hearing questions about where they would go. the israelis have responded in general terms, mr netanyahu said they could go to the north where israelis have cleared things out but those are areas that have obviously been damaged quite a lot, there is a question about supplies, setting up a whole new arrangement with tents and a shortage of humanitarian supplies at
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the moment, and rafah is the main delivery point for those supplies so what would happen if it was turned into a war zone? all of those questions are surrounding this order which the israeli prime minister has made in response to the concerns expressed. made in response to the concerns “pressed-— made in response to the concerns exressed. �* . ., ., , expressed. and hamas warning any 0 eration expressed. and hamas warning any operation will _ expressed. and hamas warning any operation will undermine _ expressed. and hamas warning any operation will undermine ongoing l operation will undermine ongoing talks about a possible release of israeli hostages held in gaza. benjamin netanyahu is under a lot of pressure to make sure those hostages are released, those who are still alive. what's the reaction in israel to this planned offensive? the family members _ to this planned offensive? tue: family members of to this planned offensive? tte: family members of those to this planned offensive? tt2 family members of those still held hostage as well as people who were hostages and released in a previous deal have been quite strongly protesting and saying the priority needs to be to have a ceasefire or at least a temporary truce and pause in the fighting in order to do another hostage exchange. that is
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something on the table for a number of weeks and last week hamas came back with its response to those proposals with amendments that the israeli prime minister said were not acceptable because ultimately they would leave hamas in control of gaza and that is something israel would not agree to. the talks have not stopped and asked the string along but the back—and—forth did slow them down quite considerably and the hostage families are saying they need to be sped up rather than slowed down. mr netanyahu buzz argument is that the israeli army, if it gains and wins the war, if it puts pressure on hamas militarily, that's the way to release hostages. he is not convincing the hostage families and only one hostage rescue denise operations, but he has other pressures in his coalition with a number of very right—wing members who said they would leave the
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coalition if the war stopped and mr netanyahu himself is under pressure politically because he's being blamed for the crisis and as long as this is going on, he is focused on that. . ~ , ., let's go to the us now — and nato has hit back at comments by donald trump about the alliance, which the white house has condemned as appalling and unhinged. at a campaign rally in south carolina, mr trump said he would encourage russia to attack nato members who don't meet their financial obligations to the military alliance. nato members are supposed to spend 2% of their gdp on defence. let's take a listen to what the former us president said. nato was busted until i came along. i said, everybody�*s got to pay. they said, if we don't pay, are you still going to protect us? i said absolutely not. they couldn't believe the answer. they asked me that question, one of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, "well, sir, if we don't pay and we are attacked by russia,
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will you protect us?" i said, "you didn't pay, you're delinquent?" he said, "yes, let's say that happened." "no, i would not protect you." in fact, i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. you've got to pay. you've got to pay your bills. in the last half hour, nato has responded to those comments saying any suggestion allies will not defend each other undermines the security of all its members, including the us. it insists that any attack on nato would be met with a united and forceful response. live now to our security correspondent frank gardner. how serious lee showed the international community be taking these comments from a donald trump? on the one hand this is a typical trumpet throwaway comment, it's election year and these comments go down well with his supporters,
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saying why should america carry the bulk of the burden if you can't be bothered to defend itself. if you look at the statistics, quite a large number of countries certainly last year were not paying the 2% of gdp towards defence, they were well below that, spain, italy, france, germany, though germany has promised to change that and spend more on defence stop the real danger here is the uncertainty that trump comments and a potential cheap preacher trump presidency brings because —— trump presidency brings because —— trump presidency because if you cast back your mind two years ago with the invasion of ukraine, there was a calculation in moscow that nato and eu and west generally would not respond, that it would be pretty similar to the 2014 takeover of the crimea, that the westwood half and puff and complain but not do
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anything. that was a massive miscalculation because the west did support ukraine and gave it the tools needed to defend itself and russia's invasion largely failed. now it's been described as a stalemate but it's a catastrophic war nonetheless. so the feeling here in nato circles is this undermines the resolution or idea that should a nato country be attacked, article five of the constitution would be invoked and the entire collective us led alliance would come to its defence. undertrump led alliance would come to its defence. under trump presidency that isn't so certain. find defence. under trump presidency that isn't so certain.— isn't so certain. and if there was a trump presidency. _ isn't so certain. and if there was a trump presidency, do _ isn't so certain. and if there was a trump presidency, do you - isn't so certain. and if there was a trump presidency, do you think i trump presidency, do you think countries in nato will be thinking putting in some planning now? as to whether something like this could happen? whether something like this could ha en? , whether something like this could hauen? , ., ., , whether something like this could hauen? , . . , ., , ., happen? yes, there already lots of contingency _ happen? yes, there already lots of contingency planning _ happen? yes, there already lots of contingency planning going - happen? yes, there already lots of contingency planning going on - happen? yes, there already lots of contingency planning going on a i
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contingency planning going on a potential future contingency planning going on a potentialfuture trump contingency planning going on a potential future trump presidency especially over ukraine. they say not to worry, if he becomes president, but they are not so relaxed about it now. remember trump has said if he was president, he would end this war 24 hours. that's probably wishful thinking but the fact is he has a good personal relationship with president putin which president biden does not, to the point where he has private conversations with putin and has even contradicted the findings of his own intelligence, something which is staggering to many people in nato. it is a concern and a worry, the uncertainty will be welcomed in moscow and cause alarm in nato capitals. welcomed in moscow and cause alarm in nato capitals-— in nato capitals. thank you, good to net our in nato capitals. thank you, good to get your thoughts — in nato capitals. thank you, good to get your thoughts on _ in nato capitals. thank you, good to get your thoughts on that. _ let's speak to generaljarmo lindberg, the former finnish chief of defence, who is also curently an mp but let's focus on the defence for now.
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let's focus on the defence comments from donald trump. in your opinion, can the us withdrawal from nato? from donald trump. in your opinion, can the us withdrawalfrom nato? trio. can the us withdrawalfrom nato? no, it's a bit more — can the us withdrawal from nato? ttfr, it's a bit more difficult now when congress activated new legislation where the president personally cannot pull out from nato. so there needs to be a decision from the senate and there needs to be a new law passed. it's more difficult. more difficult it but what if he gets the support he needs? what should countries be doing to prepare for that? qt should countries be doing to prepare for that? .., , , for that? of course if he gets the su ort, for that? of course if he gets the sunport. then — for that? of course if he gets the sunport. then of _ for that? of course if he gets the support, then of course - for that? of course if he gets the support, then of course it's - support, then of course it's possible. and for nato, it's a
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challenge if he even tries to do it. and what he is pushing is in line with what he said when he was in office, that european nations need to pull their own weight and invest more than 2% of gdp into defence. fulfilment, invests more than that threshold, 2.4%. would finland be worried? forthe threshold, 2.4%. would finland be worried? for the country be putting in any kind of plan in place in case there was a donald trump presidency again? there was a donald trump presidency auain? ~ , , ., again? when thinning this year did the process— again? when thinning this year did the process to _ again? when thinning this year did the process to nato, _ again? when thinning this year did the process to nato, we _ again? when thinning this year did the process to nato, we also - again? when thinning this year did i the process to nato, we also started negotiations for defence co—operation agreement with the united states and that was signed last december so it's already in place and we are changing our
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legislation to be in place to put that agreement into effort. but i'm not sure if we would call it a plan b because it was already initiated more than a year ago.— b because it was already initiated more than a year ago. good to get our more than a year ago. good to get your thoughts- _ more than a year ago. good to get your thoughts. the _ more than a year ago. good to get your thoughts. the former - more than a year ago. good to get your thoughts. the former finish i your thoughts. the former finish chief of defence. now it's time for a look at today's sport. hello from the bbc sport centre. we start with the english premier league. and, after wins for the leaders liverpool and for manchester city on saturday, arsenal will be hoping to close the gap at the top of the premier league to two points on sunday. they're away at west ham united in the days' early game — whilst its fifth versus sixth as aston villa take on manchester united. a win for villa would put them back into the top four, which manager unai emery says they're on track for. but united manager eric ten hag says he's told his players they need to adjust their mentality.
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i'v e i've said to the team from the start of january, every i've said to the team from the start ofjanuary, every game is now i've said to the team from the start of january, every game is now final. ofjanuary, every game is now final. there's also of january, every game is now final. there's also the approach to western united, one point behind them. we have to take this challenge, see it as a final, and that will be every game from now on for us. we are already in that mode. of course we have been consistent. we have _ of course we have been consistent. we have big success in the way we are doing — we have big success in the way we are doing it— we have big success in the way we are doing it but each match is so speciai— are doing it but each match is so special and — are doing it but each match is so special and sometimes a key moment. the six nations continues — and after wins for france and england, ireland will hope to move top of the table again and make it two wins from two when they face italy.
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it's their first game back in dublin since before the world cup. last week in rome the italians pushed england hard — and coach andy farrell knows his irish side will need to be at their best. i think everyone who watched the game last week knows they will be a threat and our fans will get behind their side. first time since the world cup, and it is something the players have talked about and are excited about this week. in cricket, bad news for england, spinnerjack leach has been ruled out of the remainder of the test tour of india with a knee problem. leach suffered the injury whilst fielding in england's first test victory in hyderabad, and then missed the subsequent defeat in visa ka patnam. leach will fly home and england have no plans to call up a replacement with the third test starting in rajkot on thursday. super bowl 58 is almost here. on sunday night the kansas city chiefs face the san francisco 49ers and for the first time it's taking place under the lights of las vegas. all eyes will be on the two
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quarter—backs, patrick mahomes and brock purdy. the two—time super bowl champion payton manning says he's been impressed with both. they are both great stories, right? they both have earned the right to be here. patrick, this is getting to be kind of old hat for him. i think he books a reservation for the super bowl every year for his family. and brock has had an incredible year, he has done a greatjob, doing what kyle shanahan has asked him to do and playing great quarterback, especially down the stretch in the play—offs. that's why it's going to be two good teams in the super bowl. still 0—0 between west ham and arsenal after 15 minutes. and that's all the sport for now. now — their leader was jailed, and their party and cricket bat symbol barred from the election. but final results from pakistan show candidates allied to imran khan's pti party have emerged as the largest grouping
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in parliament. independent candidates won 101 of the 266 seats — 93 of whom are thought to be backed by the pti. the party of another former prime minister, nawaz sharif, won 75. courts have reportedly been flooded with legal challenges to the election results, after both mr khan and mr sharif claimed victory. let's get more on this with our correspondent in islamabad caroline davies. caroline, these results are long awaited but lots of legal challenges. talk us through what's happening. ? challenges. talk us through what's happening- ?_ challenges. talk us through what's haueninu. ? ., ., ., ., happening. ? from around midday on saturda , happening. ? from around midday on saturday. this — happening. ? from around midday on saturday, this seems _ happening. ? from around midday on saturday, this seems like _ happening. ? from around midday on saturday, this seems like the - saturday, this seems like the direction of travel, imran khan's backed candidates got the largest
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number of seats, and now we have the final results. we can see that's definitely the case, a 93 candidates backed by imran khan's party. this is far higher than the number of seats that the other has at 75. what happens next? the moments these aren't finalised because there will be court challenges and will not be an absolute definitive finalised total of number. that's what we will be watching now, lots of candidates from imran khan's backed pti party. they think it is vote rigging, they were ahead at certain points and suddenly something happened and the votes seem to go in the other person is weber. the authorities here deny that had happened but that is what's creating a large amount of anger on social media and when you go out to speak to people, many talk about how
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they feel this vote was rigged. earlier today, we went to a protest happening outside the election commission close to islamabad and the area was cornered off by police. we sought several hundred people from pti protesting outside peacefully. at some point the atmosphere changed between the two sides, about 1.5 hours where it's relatively calm and then tear gas was being used to disperse the crowd waiting outside. despite the fact the crowd has gone, there have been crowds in other cities protesting about this. there is a real anger here in pakistan for many people who voted. there is a lot of confusion about what will happen next as you suggested, both imran khan's pti and nawaz sharif say they will be up to form a government but exactly how they will do that and get the numbers, neither on their own have a
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majority. the other issue is where they will get the other seat from. for imran khan, they will try to challenge these cases, hopeful they can get more seats and the pml in have been clear they want to create an alliance with other. we've seen the other party today quite publicly. now it's a race about which party will be up to form a government and we don't have clarity on that yet. government and we don't have clarity on that et. ., ~' , ., government and we don't have clarity on that et. ., ,, i. ~ government and we don't have clarity on that yet-— on that yet. thank you. we will watch that _ on that yet. thank you. we will watch that closely _ on that yet. thank you. we will watch that closely and - on that yet. thank you. we will watch that closely and bring - on that yet. thank you. we will. watch that closely and bring new developments here on bbc news. now to the africa cup of nations final taking, which takes place later today — with hosts ivory coast taking on fellow former champions, nigeria. let's speak to ivory coast football fan pepe stephane who's in agboville.
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good to have you on the programme. just talk us through the atmosphere where you are at the moment. the ivory coast is hosting this year. t5 ivory coast is hosting this year. t3 a fever around here, everyone very excited about tonight's game. and excited about tonight's game. and ou clearl excited about tonight's game. and you clearly will _ excited about tonight's game. and you clearly will be watching the game today. where are you watching? how are you watching it and who are you watching it with? $5 how are you watching it and who are you watching it with?— you watching it with? as part of the organisation. _ you watching it with? as part of the organisation, we _ you watching it with? as part of the organisation, we have _ you watching it with? as part of the organisation, we have had - you watching it with? as part of the organisation, we have had a - you watching it with? as part of the organisation, we have had a lot - you watching it with? as part of the organisation, we have had a lot of i organisation, we have had a lot of sports and places called africa cup of nations villages. you have that in many cities around the country. i made a trip this morning in order to
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watch the game in my own village. a lot of people from the neighbourhood where this villages located will be doing this, people coming from villages around to watch the game. really exciting stuff. good to get you on the programme. the super bowl is taking place tonight — where the kansas city chiefs take on the san francisco 49ers. las vegas is hosting the sporting event, and fans have been pouring into the city. millions of people tune in to watch every year — all over the world. king charles has thanked everyone who has sent him messages of support after his cancer diagnosis —
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saying the kind thoughts have been a great comfort. king charles arrived at sandringham earlier, for his first church service since his cancer diagnosis was announced. he's withdrawn from public duties to undergo regular treatment for the unspecified cancer. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. those of you up early enough will have started our sunday on a very misty, murky note. but the story has improved. there's some sunshine coming through, pleasant morning across st albans in hertfordshire. but you can still see the pretty soggy puddles out there. now, there's still some rain, it's gradually easing away. this has been the story so far.
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and you see the breaks in the cloud with the sunshine developing, a few scattered showers out to the west. so as we go through the afternoon, it's a case of sunny spells and scattered showers for many of us. the showers should be fairly isolated, and in the sunshine, pleasant enough with the winds quite light. so temperatures will peak in scotland between five and nine degrees, much milder than it has been of late, 9 to 11 elsewhere. now, as we go through the rest of the night, it looks likely that those showers will tend to fade away in one or two spots. where we've got the clearer skies, temperatures will fall away. if we keep some showers going, favoured spots of southwest but up into northwest scotland and with temperatures in rural parts just expected to fall below freezing, it could be some icy surfaces around first thing. into monday, it's all about low pressure sitting up into the northwest and the wind direction swinging more round to a northwesterly, a slightly fresher source at this time of year. that means that showers will be closest to the low pressure. so scotland, northwest england,
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northern ireland, and with any elevation to the tops of the mountains, still a little bit of wintriness. but generally those temperatures 6 to 10 degrees. now, we see this little ridge of high pressure trying to keep things fine for tuesday. but at the same time, this weather front is drifting in from the southwest. so it will be a quiet start, clouding over from the southwest as we go through the day. few scattered showers to the northwest of the great glen. and by the end of the day, we'll have showery outbreaks of rain pushing across central and southern england up into wales. so cloudier, grey and wet for the end of the day. and that is going to lead us into an unsettled spell of weather as we go through the middle part of the week. the showers may well merge together for longer spells of rain, but the wind direction will change round to a south—westerly, a much milder source. and so by the middle part of the week, temperatures could be peaking into the mid—teens. unusual for this time of year. best of the drier weather
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for the start of the weekend.
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this is bbc news, the headlines: israel's prime minister insists he will press ahead with an offensive in rafah, despite growing international alarm over what will happen to more than one and a half million palestinians sheltering there.
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police in pakistan say they'll respond forcefully to illegal gatherings, as courts are flooded with vote—rigging allegations after thursday's elections. independent candidates backed byjailed former prime minister imran khan have won the most seats in parliament. nato warns against undermining security after donald trump tells a campaign rally he would �*encourage' russia to attack nato allies who do not pay their bills. the white house has condemned his comments as appalling and unhinged. and the uk housing secretary michael gove says landlords will be banned from evicting tenants for no real reason, before the uk's next general election. now on bbc news...inside museums: the museum of islamic art in doha
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as an art critic

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