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tv   BBC News Now  BBC News  February 19, 2024 2:00pm-2:31pm GMT

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here in the uk, headteachers receive new guidance to try and stop pupils using mobile phones at school. hello, welcome to bbc news now. we will we will start we will start with we will start with the we will start with the main we will start with the main developments after the death of alexei navalny. his widow yulia is in brussels, invited tojoin brussels, invited to join the meeting there. she did not see any words beforehand, but we have now heard a bit of reaction on social media from european council president. he says, "we express the eu's deepest condolences to yulia. vladimir putin will be heard accountable for the death of alexi
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alexei, russia is not putin, put in is not rush, we will continue russia's civil society and independent media. —— putin is not russia. she released this message in russian and will hear at all any moment. i willjust say one liner she said here. she said, "we know exactly why putin killed alexei killed putin three days ago, we will tell you soon. let's get the latest from russia itself. alexei navalny�*s mother and legal team are at the prison where he was being held and released a statement. his mother and lawyers arrived at the morgue earlier in the morning and were not allowed to go in. one of the lawyers was literally pushed out. when the staff was asked if alexei because nobody was there. we will get a further update from
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moscow a bit later. there has also been reaction from the kremlin. we will bring you that any moment. first, let's take a listen to alexei navalny�*s widow yulia in that social media post. translation: three days ago, vladimir putin killed my - husband, alexei navalny. putin killed the father of my children. putin took away the dearest thing i had, the closest and most beloved person. but putin also took navalny from you. somewhere in a colony in the far north, above the arctic circle in the eternal winter, putin killed notjust a man, alexei navalny — together with him, he wanted to kill our hopes, ourfreedom, our future, to destroy and nullified the best proof that russia can be different, that we are strong, that we are brave, that we believe and desperately fight
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and want to live differently. that was just part of the message, it is a couple of minutes long. her final words in the message were, i am not afraid, don't you be afraid. a little earlier, spoke to her russia editor steve rosenberg, who is in moscow. well, we don't know very much more, do we, about the circumstances of mr navalny�*s death, the cause of his death. as far as the authorities are concerned, an investigation is ongoing. mr navalny�*s mother still unable to claim his body, being given the runaround, it seems, on the arctic circle. as for yulia navalny�*s video, those eight minutes, quite dramatic video — this is somebody who has always been, always shunned the limelight, has always been
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in the wings supporting her husband, never showed any desire really to get involved in politics, but you could sense in those eight minutes the anger, the fury and the hatred for those people that yulia navalny believes killed her husband. and so she has vowed to continue the work of her husband. what will be interesting, i think, is can yulia navalny be the figure that unites the rather divided russian opposition in exile? after mr navalny�*s death, she has the possibility of doing that. but even if she does that, what influence will that have on the situation here in russia? you get the feeling that vladimir putin feels confident. all kinds of repressive laws have been passed in recent...in the last couple of years to crack down on dissent, to stop people publicly criticising the authorities, publicly protesting against the authorities, and i think it's clear that the authorities are using fear
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to make sure that people don't come onto the streets to protest. and steve, what do you make of the kremlin�*s response so far? as expected. as expected — whenever the kremlin is accused of something, the kremlin points a finger back and accuses those accusing it. so it was to be expected that the kremlin would criticise accusations by western leaders that the russian authorities are behind the death of alexei navalny, and also to be expected that the kremlin spokesman wouldn't add anything else. he was asked by a reporter, "why is it that president putin himself hasn't commented about the death of alexei navalny?" he said, "i have nothing more to add". and for now, the russian authorities are not adding anything else about the circumstances of mr navalny�*s death.
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thank you to steve rosenberg, russia editor there with the latest in moscow. as we get any reaction from brussels, we will of course bring that to you. israel has given the first indication of when its forces might launch a ground offensive against rafah in southern gaza. a minister in the israeli war cabinet, benny gantz, said the assault would begin in three weeks unless hamas released all hostages. that's like taking a look at the live pictures we have from the region. it has all come as the nats won't run gaza health ministry says more than 20 29,000 palestinians have been killed and over 69,000 injured in israeli strikes on the gaza strip. rafah is currently overcrowded with at least 1.4 million palestinians sheltering there, after being made to move away from northern and central parts of gaza. mr gantz, a former defence minister in the israeli government, said the message was clear.
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if by ramadan hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere — to include rafah area. we will do so in coordinated manner, facilitating the evacuation of civilians, in dialogue with our american and egyptian partners to minimize the civilian casualties as much as possible. our correspondentjenny hill gave us this update from jerusalem. we have now an idea of when the men attacked, but crucially they have not disclosed their plan for making sure the more than i million palestinian citizens in rafah city can be moved out of harms way. israel has promised that civilians will be able to leave before any ground invasion there, but they have not given any details and that is what is really troubling aid agencies and foreign governments
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alike. we have seen in recent days growing international pressure on benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister to rethink his strategy in rafah. he wants to go in because he said it is the last stronghold of an as ride, there are battalions of fighters, he said still holed up in the city and over the weekend he has repeatedly insisted that he intends to continue with this plan for the ground offensive regardless of what many around the world are saying to him. and among those people are israel's closest ally, the us, presidentjoao biden has spoken in recent days urging mr netanyahu to rethink that strategy —— presidentjoe biden. it seems as will is determined to go ahead which is focusing replied on those civilians in rafah city. many have been displaced several times and you may remember when israel
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began this war in response to the proper seven attacks told civilians to get out of gaza city and khan younis as the offensive they are continued —— to the october 7th attacks. if you look at pictures coming out of rafah, you can see some are living right up against the southern border and against the wall that separates them from egypt. where will they go? some have tried to leave already, heading north of rafah, but that sends them into open ground where there are no facilities according to aid agencies. going further north is difficult because there is fighting and many homes have been destroyed, unexploded ordinance according to a lot of experts and they could try crossing into egypt, but the borderers close to them. although we have seen reports in days that egypt might be building some kind of walled enclosure right up against that border. some suspect it may be a
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kind of facility of people come flooding across the border although the egyptian authorities say they are not making any such preparations. thank you to jenny for that. thank you tojenny for that. earlier i spoke to a senior palestine analyst who told me her view. the indications will be catastrophic _ told me her view. the indications will be catastrophic in _ told me her view. the indications will be catastrophic in terms - told me her view. the indications will be catastrophic in terms of. told me her view. the indications will be catastrophic in terms of a | will be catastrophic in terms of a humanitarian crisis, there are 1.4 million are sheltering in rafah compared to the 300,000 of its population prior to october 7th. where are those people going to go? there was a logistics have simply not been mentioned let alone well thought out. israel is claiming rafah represents the last bastion of a hamas and its four military battalions, but it has yet to qualify that claim that even military experts are disputing. just
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in the longer term, if we look forward, where do you think things stand now? this is ultimately a war of attrition. we have known that much since its outset and that has become normal, and ultimately this is as long as both sides can hold out —— along both sides can hold out. things do not look like they are going to... there is no indication that israel is willing to de—escalate at any point now. netanyahu has already come out and said at the time when he had rejected hamas hundred and 35 day pause that this is about achieving total military victory and even with the potential of claiming if hamas could release the hostages by the time ramadan approaches, that is not a guarantee that we will not see an invasion of rafah, people have been warning it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. hamas looks
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like it still has not been dislodged and israel has failed to qualify its military objective and hamas's military objective and hamas's military capabilities have not been affected by the military campaign so far so it is a case of how long both sides can hold out.— sides can hold out. thank you for that. an english channel migrant who piloted a dinghy, four of whose passengers drowned, has been found guilty of their manslaughter after two trials. ibrahima bah, who is from senegal, was convicted by a majority of ten to two at canterbury crown court. dominic casciani reports. a light in the dark. cries in the distance. the early hours of december 2022, a fishing boat in the english channel discovers a sinking migrants' dinghy. men swim for their lives. 39 saved. at least four drowned. this man in the blue coat, ibrahima bah, accused of their manslaughter.
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he agreed to pilot the inflatable to england. over two trials, prosecutors said he was criminally responsible for the deaths. when it began taking on water, he could have taken the dinghy back to france. one of the survivors from that night told the bbc everyone feared they would drown. people stood up inside the boat and then the boat collapsed. i don't know whether he is a smuggler, a refugee, asylum seeker, but he helped us and he saved us. i don't know what to say. he was speeding the boat in order to get closer to the fishing boat, and also turned or swerved the boat in a way that helped us. and this is why the crossings are so dangerous. this boat is a similar size and construction the one that ibrahima bah was in. the border force have got it out to show us and filled it
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with the items they find, typically, in every rescue. you've got buoyancy aids, used on canoes on lakes and rivers, totally unsuitable for the job. you've got fuel bottles. you've got foot pumps. and look at this, the construction. it's basically a bouncy castle. and that's why they say these are a death trap. jurors were told smugglers had offered ibrahima bah a free seat in return for the piloting, so prosecutors argued the deaths occurred as part of a criminal enterprise, the senegalese man was responsible for everyone's safety and could have foreseen the tragedy. but bah said he had no choice — the smugglers threatened to kill him when he had second thoughts. this manslaughter trial has been unprecedented. more than 140 other people have been prosecuted for piloting boats since 2022 — boats that have brought 30,000 men, women and children on dangerousjourneys. a trade the government is under huge political pressure to stop. around the world and across the uk,
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this is bbc news. let's ta ke let's take a look at some other stories making use now. international shipping experts have confirmed a strike on a british ship by yemen's iran backed ho rebels. the crew were reported to have abandoned the vessel and there are not reported to be any injuries —— iran backed houthi rebels. emergency services were called to a river late on sunday afternoon after a boy fell into the river but have been unable to find him, who was with family at the time. the business secretary kemi badenoch will make a statement to mps after accusing the former chair of the post office of misrepresenting the circumstances of his departure. it follows a newspaper interview in which henry staunton claims he was told by
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senior civil servant to soul compensation payments for victims of the post the scandal. —— stall compensation payments. you're alive with bbc news. ——you're live with bbc news. a 42—year—old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after three children were found dead at a property in bristol. avon and somerset police made the discovery when officers attended a "concern for welfare" call in the early hours of sunday morning. the arrested woman is in police custody in hospital. police gave an update. i'd like to start by saying that this is a terrible and deeply distressing tragedy in which three young children have lost their lives. our thoughts are very much with the children's loved ones who are going through an horrendous ordeal. we were first called by a member of the public who was concerned for the welfare of the occupants early on sunday, the 18th of february. officers arrived at about 12:40am and found three children whose lives could not be saved.
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forensic postmortem examinations will now be carried out on the children to establish the cause of death. and it is important that we don't give further detail on this until the proper processes have been carried out. the postmortem examinations are not likely to be completed until the middle to the end of this week at the earliest. formal identification has not yet taken place, but we believe the victims are a boy aged seven, a girl of three and a ten—month—old boy. their next of kin have been informed and are being given all of the help and support that they need by specialist family liaison officers. a 42—year—old woman was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital due to injuries that she had sustained. her condition is not life threatening, and she remains in police custody at this time.
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conjoined twins were born in senechal and were expected to survive for just a few days but were moved to london for treatment at great ormond street hospital. since then, they have defied all odds, recently celebrating their seventh birthday. the co and has their story. what is it now? marieme and ndeye enjoying playing with their friends at mount stuart primary. theirfather always hoped they'd go to mainstream school. it's a way for me to show that they are part of society. this is what i wanted — they don't have to hide from anybody. to see kids, to play with them, to laugh with them, to make friends, to develop as individuals. they don't have to hide from anybody. they're really kind to us and they're really nice to play with. that's why they're stuck together — because they really love each other.
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they may show anybody, but the girls are two very different characters. marieme is very quiet, very reserved, introverted personality. it's completely different from ndeye. she's very independent. she wants to be in charge of everything. when they were born, doctors in senegal didn't expect them to live more than a few days. they thought separation was their best hope of survival. but when the girls arrived in the uk it was discovered that marieme's heart was too weak for the complex surgery and the decision was made not to separate them. i can't allow myself to choose who will live, who will die now. let the doctor listen to your heart. marieme and ndeye share one pair of legs, one pelvis, and each has a spinal—cord and heart. they have regular checkups at the children's hospital for wales. what you can clearly see here are two spines. so this is illustrating the approximate place
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of where they are joined. what does everybody say when you're in the standing frame, girls? oh, you look tall! now the girls continue to surprise everyone around them. at school they to spend time in a standing frame to get them used to being upright in the hope that one day they may walk. we're going to live. how long, i don't know, i don't want to know now. i don't want to know. ijust concentrate on the present and celebrating life. we have been talking about new government guidance issued to head teachers in england aimed at stopping children from using mobile phones in schools. although the advice has been welcomed by some, there are questions over how much of a difference the guidance will make. the education minister, gillian keegan, shared her thoughts on the new guidance. i think, to be honest,
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that this will be successful because where it has been successful, you can see, and many people say, the improvement in behaviour, the improvement in performance, the improvements in the whole school culture is really tangible. so i think many, many head teachers want to do this and this helps empower them to do it. and we're not the first country in the world, other countries have done this as well, but what we want to do is be consistent and ensure consistency across our schools and reset that social norm. but geoff barton from the association of school and college leaders said the government should be focusing on other, more urgent, situations facing schools. i think there is a little bit of a sense of deja vu all over again of a government that wants to seem like it's saying something powerful but largely if it wants to say something powerful, could they do it on the things that matter? funding, special needs, the need for us to stop crumbling schools? all of those things are the big issues for parents, rather than something about mobile phones
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in schools yet again. next, it was a big night for oppenheimer at the baftas, winning seven awards, including best film, director and leading actor, cillian murphy. the biggest grossing movie of last year, barbie, did not get any love in the end, five nominations but came away with nothing. our culture editor was at the ceremony. last night london was a who's who of the film world, britain and america united to celebrate movies with the irish out in force. all in front of the world's photographers and the president of bafta, the prince of wales. cheering it is no exaggeration to say this room has in it the greatest actors in the world. inside the royal festival hall, master of ceremonies david tennant got down to business. right, let's give out some baftas!
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best actress went to emma stone for poor things, the frankenstein—style fantasy walked away with five awards in all. i reallyjust want to thank my mum as she is the best person i know in the whole world and she inspires me every single day. and stone beat amongst others margot robbie. barbie, the biggest grossing movie of the year, was entirely snubbed at the baftas. bradley cooper's maestro and martin scorsese's killers of the flower moon also walked away with nothing. the zone of interest. instead a british film in german about the holocaust triumphed. the zone of interest picked up three awards — best sound, outstanding british film and film not in english. the award for rising star went to mia mckenna—bruce whose performance in how to have sex has won so much praise. to kind of get to do the thing that i love most in the whole entire world would be like, "yeah, that's kind of cool." world ——and people be like, "yeah, that's kind of cool." it's amazing. cillian murphy for oppenheimer. murphy's acclaimed director
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christopher nolan had never won a bafta. oppenheimer, his film about the father of the atomic bomb, now has seven. cillian murphy as best actor, robert downeyjunior as best supporting actor and nolan himself best director. this is an incredible honour being back home getting this from bafta in the festival hall where my mum and dad used to drag me to make me have some culture. michaelj fox, diagnosed with parkinson's disease 30 years ago, got a standing ovation. a movie can change your day, it can change your outlook, it can even change your life. in a surprise appearance he handed out the biggest award, best film. oppenheimer. oppenheimer�*s night to celebrate, and it mayjust be repeated at the oscars in three weeks. katie razzall, bbc news. just want to mark your card for what is coming up, alexei navalny�*s widow yulia is in brussels meeting politicians there, this is herfrom a couple of hours ago. when the meetings break up, we will wait to
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see if we hearfrom her any of meetings break up, we will wait to see if we hear from her any of the politicians involved. stay with us for all the latest updates here. for the moment, and lewis vaughanjones, this is bbc news. goodbye. hello there. we're starting the new week off on a fine note. in fact, a ridge of high pressure bringing quite a lot of dry and sunny weather to our shores. another mild day to come, maybe not quite as mild as what we had over the weekend, particularly across northern and western areas. it's here where we will see more of a breeze through the afternoon, a little bit of cloud here and there, maybe just one or two showers, as well. elsewhere, variable cloud, but a lot of sunshine around, feeling quite pleasant, with lighter winds in the south. up to 13 or 14 degrees again across the south—east, nine to 11 or 12 further north. through this evening we see the first front move into scotland. that will bring thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain, a strengthening breeze.
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then, by the end of the night, this next front will arrive across the north—west of the country. that will bring more substantial rain here. more cloud around generally across western areas and more of a breeze too. it's the east and the south—east, which will see the lowest temperatures under the clearer skies, low single digits there, whereas temperatures will be rising a little bit further north and west then, by the end of the night, this next front will arrive temperatures under the clearer skies, low single digits there, whereas temperatures will be rising a little bit further north and west as this weather front arrives. tuesday, then, looks a bit breezier generally. the isobars are closer together and we'll have this weather front spreading southwards across scotland and northern ireland. into the afternoon it will be pushing southwards across england and wales. skies brighten up behind it, but there will be some heavy, blustery showers, maybe some snow on the hills above 300 metres. some hail and thunder mixed in too. ahead of it, rather cloudy skies, but again mild. up to 14 degrees here, a little bit fresher, further north and west behind the weather front. then, as we move through tuesday night into wednesday, we see a more substantial area of low pressure hurtle in off the atlantic. that is going to bring a pretty wet and windy day for many of us on wednesday. the heaviest of the rain
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will be pushing through during the morning period. strong winds, as well. gales across northern areas, windy around the irish sea coast, but it does brighten up into the afternoon. most of the rain clears through into the north sea. we'll see some scattered, blustery showers across northern and western areas. again, pretty mild for the time of year at 11 to 13 degrees. but the mild air doesn't last. from thursday onwards we open the floodgates to more arctic airflow. it will be turning cooler for all areas. low pressure always nearby, so it will stay relatively windy. in fact, we could see gales at times into next weekend. it will be showery at times, some sunshine, but we'll all notice it feeling a little bit cooler.
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this tv will be perfect for you. powered up! currys shares surge — as a takeover battle looms for the uk electrical retailer. plus frying high! could used cooking oil be the miracle ingredient for greener air travel? welcome to world business report. we start with uk electrical store chain currys — its shares have surged as much as 38% this morning, on hopes of a takeover battle
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for the struggling firm. over the weekend, currys said it had rejected an offer by us—based investors elliott and, early on monday, chinese online retailer jd.com confirmed it's also considering making a bid. currys has about a quarter of the market for electrical goods here in the uk — as well as businesses abroad. but it has been suffering amid the cost of living crisis that has seen consumers put off buying "big ticket" items. and, of course, it has faced cut—throat competition from online rivals. let's speak to retail expert kate hardcastle. always good to see you. why would anyone be interested in a uk high street retailer of electrical goods when we know that online tend to do these things much quicker and cheaper? i these things much quicker and chea er? ~ these things much quicker and cheaer? ~ , ., these things much quicker and chea er? ~ , ., ., cheaper? i think you are right. certainly a _ cheaper? i think you are right. certainly a challenging - cheaper? i think you are right. certainly a challenging time i cheaper? i think you are right. | certainly a challenging time for resale still, i do know that branson have a high street presence really have a high street presence really have to invest in one of two roads,
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which is do they look at

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