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tv   BBC News  BBC News  December 16, 2023 9:00pm-9:31pm GMT

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live from london. this is bbc news. families of israeli hostages hold a rally in tel aviv to urge the government to do more to release them. benjamin netanyahu says military pressure will free them, but hints of possible talks. translation: continued | military pressure will bring to the release of all the hostages and the assumption of entering in the assumption of entering negotiations is based on this pressure. without this pressure, we have nothing. the funeral is held for an aljazeera camera operator who has been killed in gaza by an israeli air strike. the missing british boy who was found in france six years after he went missing is expected to travel back to the uk shortly. luton�*s premier league football match at bournemouth is abandoned after their captain tom lockyer collapses on the pitch. he is in a stable condition. and pop star olly alexander will represent the united kingdom at next year's eurovision song
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contest in sweden. hello, i'm tanya beckett. benjamin netanyahu has said his country is in a war for its existence, which it would continue, despite what he called the �*heavy price�* paid by israel. he was speaking after the israeli army shot dead three hostages in gaza by mistake. an israeli soldier opened fire on the men as they emerged from a building in the suburbs of gaza city, holding a white flag. an official investigation said the shots were fired in breach of the army's rules of engagement. alon shamriz, yotam haim and samer el—talalka were killed in the north of the territory. mr netanyahu called the incident a disaster which broke his heart. he said the troops in gaza were risking their own lives as they tried to rescue hostages,
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and warned the military operation was necessary to force hamas to free them. but hinted at possible talks. translation: since the tragedy occurred yesterday, _ i am haunted by one thought — what would have happened if only something would have been different? and i'm certain that this kind of thinking is something that you all share with me. we were so close to embracing them now, but unfortunately, we cannot turn back the clock. anybody who's ever been involved in combat knows that the distance between victory and disaster is ever so slim. we will draw the lessons, we will implement the lessons, and we will remain relentless in our military and diplomatic efforts to bring back all of the hostages home safely. with all the terrible sadness, let me clarify that the military pressure is necessary both for bringing back the hostages
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and to achieve victory. without the military operation, we would not have been able to bring an outline that brought to the release of over 100 hostages and continued military pressure will bring to the release of all the hostages. the assumption of entering negotiations is based on this pressure. without this pressure, we have nothing. benjamin netanyahu there. with more on the reaction to the hostage's deaths, here's our correspondent hugo bachega. for the families of the hostages who remain in gaza, it's an agonising wait made worse by a tragic mistake. the israeli military has given new details about how three israeli captives were shot dead by its own soldiers. yotam haim, alon shamriz and samer el—talalqa emerged shirtless from a building carrying a makeshift white flag.
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one of the soldiers misidentified them as a threat and opened fired. two were killed instantly. a third, injured, returned to the building and was later killed. it's clear that we don't want to kill our hostages if we find them. it's clear that this was a tragic, tragic error by our forces and we have to do our own checking to make sure, do the maximum that it won't re—occur. for weeks, relatives and friends of the hostages have been gathering here in tel aviv in what is now known as hostages square. this place has become a symbol of the agonising wait of the families. many are angry with the government. freeing the hostages should be the main priority, they say. but their protests haven't been able to stop the israeli military offensive in gaza. the families say time is running out. translation: we must reach a deal for the release of all hostages now. i
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we're in a kind of russian roulette. every day, we don't know which of the families of the hostages will get a knock on the door with horrible news. gaza, too, is mourning its dead. this was the funeral for samer abudaqa, a well—known palestinian cameraman who worked for the aljazeera network and was killed in an israeli drone strike. he's a compassionate soul. he is very dedicated to bringing the coverage to the world. - | he had the opportunity, by the way, | to emigrate to belgium, to brussels, where his family is now residing. but he refused. he said, "gaza's story is my story." in tel aviv tonight, the vigil continues. prime minister benjamin netanyahu is under pressure. israel says it needs more time to eliminate hamas and that only military force will
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bring back the hostages. but many here disagree. hugo bachega, bbc news, tel aviv. as we've been hearing, the funeral has been held for one of aljazeera's camera operators who has been killed in the south of gaza. aljazeera says it will refer the case to the international criminal court. the committee to protectjournalists says at least 64 journalists and media workers have now been killed since october when israel began its war on hamas. but some estimates put the number higher. carlos martinez de la serna, the programme director for the committee to protectjournalists, has told be earlier about the dangers for the journalists covering israel—gaza war. the gaza war is the has been the most dangerous conflict for journalists cpa has ever documented. we've been keeping records systematically since 1992. we have documented so far more than 60 journalists
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killed in the conflict. and our team is looking into 100 reports ofjournalists killed, but also to convey a sense of how difficult situation for journalists on the ground, ofjournalists being victims of violence, of arrests, of not being able to communicate due to blackouts and many other issues and problems you're facing. but why are these problems so particularly acute in this conflict? the nature of the conflict, i guess, is one of the reasons. but besides all the details and all the reasons we want to point to, i think we need to change the the i think we need to change the kind of framing regardless of the circumstances. journalists are civilians need to be protected. need to be protected, and this is not happening in any
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sense in this conflict. so, what we are seeing is one of the most dangerous conflict forjournalists we've ever documented, withjournalists bearing the brunt of these attacks, most of them palestinian journalists who are the only source we have, the only witness we have on the ground to bear witness to what's happening. so it's an exceptional situation that are putting palestinian journalists in one of the most extreme situations we have ever documented. what can you tell us about the circumstances surrounding the death of the aljazeera camera operator? unfortunately, the circumstances around the killing exemplifies the challenges. so, aljazeera cameraman samer abudaqa, went just today with aljazeera correspondent to document the aftermath of a strike
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in southern gaza. in southern gaza, if i'm correct. during that, there was a strike or through a drone. according to aljazeera, it was an israeli israeli drone that resulted in the killing of samer and other people wounded. now, let's take a pause. samer has his family in brussels, as you have already reported. all family has been killed recently. those are the people who are really bearing witness to what's happening on the ground. they were doing theirjobs and they were killed. the dangers, as you, of course, have already highlighted, is that this conflict does not get the coverage it needs. i don't think so—called western nations are understanding the impact this is having.
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and forjournalists — not only or palestinian journalists, butjournalists outside or in the region — the grief they feel, how they feel abandoned and how these have huge implications for today and for the future. we are working relentless to raise this point to the us, to other countries, to anyone who can might have some influence in helping protect journalists on the ground. but honestly, i don't think it's understood all the implications. understood all the implications and how untenable is the current situation for journalists on the ground and how can this cannot keep happening. the death of the aljazeera camera operator. the us navy says it's shot down 14 attack drones over the red sea, believed to have been launched by yemen's iran—backed houthi rebels. the defence secretary, grant shapps, said the royal navy's hms diamond destroyer also shot down a drone in the red sea, which was targetting merchant ships. for some more analysis on this,
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i spoke with rear admiral dr chris parry. he's a former royal navy warfare officer, strategic forecaster and a writer. well, what the houthis are trying to do from yemen is intervene in the crisis in israel and gaza and try and do their bit. obviously, they're being backed by iran because these drones are coming from iran originally. so, for their own reasons in the local area and also in support of obviously what's going on in gaza, they're trying to do their bit, as i said. unfortunately, it's leading to indiscriminate attacks on international shipping and quite innocent shipping as well. and what's happened is the navy of the free world have intervened to say, you don't do that at sea. and the us, of course, has significant assets in the region, so it's able to do that? oh, yes. i mean, the united states navy has a carrier battle group sitting in the gulf of oman,
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one of its destroyers, the carney, has come round and is operating in the red sea. the french indeed shot down one two or three days ago. the french ship languedoc shot down a drone, and now hms diamond has done the same. and one of the things we have to bear in mind is that peace doesn't keep itself at sea unless you're there patrolling all the time and making sure the bad guys aren't actually interfering with international shipping. they will do it. is it an important aspect to this conflict in yemen and the role, of course, of the houthis there because of its position adjacent to the red sea? so, we're just going to show a map, i think, and to make that point that this is a very important trade artery, isn't it? yeah, i mean, it's what is known as a choke point. so are the straits of hormuz. now, one of the things i've been saying in a book for some years now is the sea is the physical equivalent of the world wide web.
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and every now and then, if you get people interfering in these vital trade arteries, it'll have the same effect as having a sort of cyber attack on the internet. what brings that closer together, of course, is most of the cables that carry the internet go under the sea. so, if we want to be involved in globalisation, if we want to protect the international rules—based system, then we have to enforce the law at sea. and if i can take the analogy further, people like the houthis, the somali pirates, even some of the great powers like russia and china trying to interfere with the freedom of the seas are a bit like malware in your computer system. they'll completely sort of interfere with what you're trying to do. so, what we have to do in these situations is say, look, if we believe in the freedom of the seas, we have to protect its use for those that wish to go about, as we used to say,
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their lawful occasions. now it's time for a look at today's sport with jane dougall. we start at bournemouth, where luton town captain tom lockyer collapsed midway through the second half of their premier league game after suffering a cardiac arrest. both sets of players were taken off the pitch whilst lockyer received medical treatment, the game later abandoned with the score 1—1. lockyer is now in a stable condition in hospital. all of our thoughts are with tom and his family and his friends. this game was abandoned afterjust over an hour when tom lockyer off the ball collapsed onto his knees and then onto his front. the bournemouth midfielder came over to check is ok. the team sprinted on the pitch, including manager rob edwards. he was treated for about 15 minutes. they got him onto a structure and then down the tunnel and off to
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hospital. he is receiving treatment right now in hospital. the game was then abandoned for obvious reasons with the score at 1—1. the players came out, they did a lap at the pitch, supporters stunned into silence it for a good 15 minutes, but applauded warmly as the luton player and the bournemouth players and staff did a lap. rob edwards was in floods of tears. it's been a horrible afternoon and now all we can do is sit and wait and hope and pray that tom lockyer is ok. luton town have released a statement saying:
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elsewhere in the english premier league on saturday, manchester city were held to a 2—2 draw by crystal palace, thanks to michael olise's 95th—minute penalty. lewis miley became newcastle's youngest premier league goalscorer as the magpies bounced back with a win over ten—man fulham, while chelsea beat sheffield united 2—0 at stamford bridge. cole palmer and nicolas jackson with the goals. everton beat burnley 2—0. sean dyche getting a win at his old club. in la liga, celta vigo have beaten granada i—0, jorgen strand—larsen with the goal. athletic bilbao beat atletico madrid 2—0. it finished 3—0 to getafe at sevilla. barcelona have kicked off at valencia, where it's 0—0. —— currently i— 02 barcelona. england have beaten the west indies by seven wickets
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in a thrilling end to the third twenty20 international in grenada. captain jos buttler got his half century, but it was phil salt�*s stunning 109 off 56 balls, which helped england chase their target of 223. harry brook then hit 31 off seven balls to get over the line for the victory. harry brook then hit 31 off seven balls to get over the line for the victory. west indies now lead five—match series 2—1. australia's men are in a commanding position in their first test against pakistan in perth. nathan lyon took 3—66 — he's now on 499 test wickets — with pakistan bowled out for 271 on day three. the aussies will resume on sunday on 811—2, that's a lead of 300 runs. golf and south africa's louis oosthuizen is on course to make it back—to—back wins on the dp world tour. he leads the mauritius open by a shot heading into the final round. oosthuizen made three eagles in a third round seven under par 65, to take him clear of compatriot
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jacques de villiers. oosthuizen may have a slight advantage as he helped design the course layout at the heritage golf club. i'm sure that's not the only reason why! more details on all those stories on the bbc sport website, but that's it for now. jane, thanks very much indeed. a british teenager who was missing for six years is on his way home. alex batty, who is now 17, disappeared on a family holiday to spain with his mother and grandfather in 2017. he was found on wednesday morning by a motorist who saw him walking through the rain near toulouse. a local resident said the teenager had been living in la bastide on and off over the past two years. french authorities said he ran away from his mother because she wanted to take him to finland. his grandmother, susan curuana, who is his legal guardian, says she can't wait to see him. lorna gordon reports.
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this is the secluded guest house where alex batty is thought to have lived with his grandfather for the last two years. off the beaten track, high in the foothills of the french pyrenees. it is the home and community that he left for good last week. now 17, alex disappeared while on a family holiday to spain with his mother and grandfather in 2017. neither adult have parental guardianship of the teenager. he told the authorities he had spent the last few years on the move from country to country. alex had left his home in the north of england to go to marbella on holiday with his mother and grandfather. it was in malaga a week later that he was last seen on the day they were due home. alex's grandmother, his legal guardian, said she'd believed he'd been taken to morocco to live with a spiritual community. the french police said he could have been there for around two years before moving to spain, and then finally coming to france
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and living with a travelling community in the mountains. the teenager reappeared after he was picked up by a motorist in the early hours of wednesday morning. the driver took him to the police for safety. alex told them his mum had wanted to move to finland and he had had enough of his nomadic lifestyle. he also told them that his grandfather had died around six months ago. but speaking to locals today, the bbc was told by three people that, in fact, his grandfather had been seen alive at the guest house here where they'd been staying as recently as last week. tonight, alex batty is on his way back to england, where he will be reunited with his grandmother — the authorities left trying to piece together who he's been with, why he left and how they managed to evade the search for him for so long.
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lorna gordon, bbc news, in the french pyrenees. a vatican court has convicted pope francis�* former adviser to five and a half years in jail for financial crimes, at the end of a historic trial. angelo becciu, who was once considered a possible future pontiff, had strongly denied charges that included embezzlement and abuse of office. emily brown reports. well, it's being called italy's trial of the century, and that's because this is the most senior vatican official ever to be charged with financial crimes. the vatican court has sentenced italian cardinal angelo becciu to five years and six months injail. the 75—year—old is a former adviser to pope francis and is the most senior clergyman to face a vatican criminal court. at the heart of the trial was a 350 million euro purchase of a property in london, 60 sloane avenue, which used to be a harrods warehouse, bought with church money. but it incurred a huge loss
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and ended up costing the vatican tens of millions of euros. the trial, which began more than two years ago, has shone a light on the holy see's finances and has been seen widely pope francis gave the vatican's civilian courts the power to trial cardinals and bishops, where previously they were judged by a court presided over by cardinals. angelo becciu abruptly resigned in september, 2020 after being informed of an investigation against him. angelo becciu and nine other defendants had strongly denied charges that included embezzlement and abuse of office. the panel of three layjudges met just a few hours ago before retiring ahead of their verdict. and this brings an end to an historic trial of a once—powerful italian cardinal. thank you very much. in the last hour, it's been revealed that pop star olly alexander will represent
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the united kingdom at next year's eurovision song contest in sweden. it was announced at the final of the entertainment show strictly come dancing. i can exclusively reveal i will be representing the uk yes, i can exclusively reveal i will be representing the uk at the eurovision song contest... cheering and applause our culture reporter noor nanji is in the newsroom. tell us more about the eurovision song contest. fix, tell us more about the eurovision song contest-— tell us more about the eurovision song contest. a lot of excitement, and that was _ song contest. a lot of excitement, and that was just _ song contest. a lot of excitement, and that was just announced - song contest. a lot of excitement, and that wasjust announced at - song contest. a lot of excitement, | and that wasjust announced at the and that was just announced at the strictly come dancing final, which ended about 20 minutes ago. this is the former years and years front men who will be hoping to prove on the uk's disappointing performance at eurovision. he was well—known across europe. he's also a bafta nominated he's played the lead role in the
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channel 4 trauma it's a sin. he at the time said he was an absolute honour and he was really looking forward to taking part. find honour and he was really looking forward to taking part.— forward to taking part. and this announcement _ forward to taking part. and this announcement took _ forward to taking part. and this announcement took place - forward to taking part. and this announcement took place at. forward to taking part. and this | announcement took place at the finale of the strictly come dancing competition, as it were. if you haven't watched it and you are watching me now, you may want to look away. watching me now, you may want to look awa . ., , ., ., , ., look away. lots of lamb and glitter. onl one look away. lots of lamb and glitter. only one pair _ look away. lots of lamb and glitter. only one pair could _ look away. lots of lamb and glitter. only one pair could win _ look away. lots of lamb and glitter. only one pair could win -- - look away. lots of lamb and glitter. only one pair could win -- glam - look away. lots of lamb and glitter. | only one pair could win -- glam and only one pair could win —— glam and glitter. i'lljust tell only one pair could win —— glam and glitter. i'll just tell you only one pair could win —— glam and glitter. i'lljust tell you about the show first. we had three finalists who got to the final round, and they were the youngest finalists to get to this point in all of the show�*s history. first up was ellie leash, only 22. she used to be in coronation street. she was dancing a couple of routines. they
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were also facing stiff competition from the likes of leighton williams and his dance partner nikita. they were doing and argentina tango in a quickstep routine, and they got full marks from the judges twice. also in the mix was eastenders start bobby breezier. he performs a very moving tribute again to his mother, who passed away when he was just four years old. as you say, only one couple could win, and so as i say, if you don't want to know, please look away now. but we can reveal that the winner of strictly come dancing this year was ellie leach after a show full of twist and turns. . , . after a show full of twist and turns. ., , ., ., turns. literally and on the dance floor, it is _ turns. literally and on the dance floor, it is really _ turns. literally and on the dance floor, it is really very, _ turns. literally and on the dance floor, it is really very, very - floor, it is really very, very exciting. and full of colour. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. do stay with us. this is bbc news.
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hello there, good evening. it's been cloudy, breezy and mild across the uk today. a lot of dry weather, but some heavy rain piling into western areas of scotland. further south, across northern england and the midlands, there has been some sunshine, a very pretty end of the day here with red skies, with sunset. the mild air coming in on the south—westerly winds, and it's really quite brisk. it's blustery towards the north—western facing coast, and that wind is driving in further rain overnight tonight across western scotland. the rainfall totals will really start to stack up. in fact, some spots, particularly for western slopes of the highlands, by the time we get to the end of the day on sunday, could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall. there's a met office amber weather warning in force across western scotland for heavy rain from argyll and bute stretching as far north as sutherland. there could possibly be some landslips, most likely across the south highlands and argyll. and the rain just continues overnight tonight,
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it sinks a little further southwards. it's still dry for eastern scotland. a few breaks in the cloud, too, for south—east england, and here, temperatures could dip back to 8 celsius. but these are the sorts of values that we'll be seeing by day at this time of year, so another very mild start to sunday morning. and the rain isjust going to be relentless as we head through sunday across western scotland. again, just being driven in on this brisk south—westerly wind, it pushes further southwards into northern ireland and perhaps north—west england as we go through to the end of the day. some breaks in the cloud to the lea of high ground east of the pennines and across north east wales, possibly to some breaks and across north—east wales, possibly, too, some breaks across southeast england. it's very mild still for the time of year, temperatures well above the seasonal average, but turning colder as that rain clears scotland through the day on monday. some more rain edging into western scotland, and we look towards the south on tuesday to find this weather front just moving further eastwards and it's likely to reinvigorate. so a lot of that rain pepping up —
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a very wet day across england and wales through tuesday. and there could be some wintry showers further north across scotland, much of northern england staying largely dry. and there could be some wintry showers further north across scotland, much of northern england staying largely dry. so, here's the outlook as we head through the week — things are still likely to change. it will turn milder again through the middle part of the week and then colder again from the north as we head towards the end of the week. a lot of uncertainty as to how far south that colder air is likely to get, so do keep an eye on the forecast. bye— bye.
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this is bbc news, the headlines: families of israeli hostages hold a rally in tel aviv to urge the government to do more to release them. benjamin netanyahu says military pressure will free them but hints of possible talks. families of the hostages hold a rally in tel aviv to urge the israeli government to resume negotiations with hamas — the missing british boy, who was found in france six years after he went missing, has arrived back in the uk. luton�*s premier league football match at bournemouth is abandoned after their captain tom lockyer collapses on the pitch. he is in a stable condition. pop star olly alexander will represent the united kingdom at next year's eurovision song contest in sweden.

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