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tv   BBC News  BBC News  January 6, 2024 7:00pm-7:31pm GMT

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similar planes worldwide. an alaska airlines boeing 737 max 9 plane earlier staged an emergency landing after a section of fuselage including a panel broke off mid—air. the us secretary of state, antony blinken is back in the middle east to try and prevent the israel—gaza conflict from widening. police in london confirm they're investigating potential fraud offences in relation to the wrongful prosecution of postal staff. brazilian football legend mario zagallo — who won four world cups as a player and coach — has died aged 92. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. in the last hour, us aviation officials have ordered the temporary grounding of certain boeing
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737 max 9 aeroplanes. it follows an emergency where a panel blew out on an alaska airlines flight to california. the order impacts 171 air planes worldwide. the air alaska plane had to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage. no—one was injured. but passengers have spoken about how close those aboard came to being sucked out. simonjones reports. relief for all 177 passengers and crew on board to be back on the tarmac after a mid—air emergency. the plane forced to land with a hole in its side and a window missing. the pilot recorded earlier outlining to air traffic control the severity of the situation. yes, we are emergency. we are de—pressurised, but we do need to return back. we have 177 passengers. it happened as the plane was 35 minutes into its flight to california. i look up, and the oxygen masks were hanging from the ceiling. and then i looked to my left
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and there's this huge chunk, part of the air plane, just, like missing. there was a kid in that row who had his shirt sucked off, and his mother was holding onto him, to make sure he did not go with it. alaska airlines has temporarily grounded all 65 of its 737 max 9 aircraft to conduct inspections. the company's ceo said... boeing said a technical team was ready to support the investigation. the cruising altitude was about 16,000 feet, roughly half what an airliner would be cruising it during a flight but nonetheless they had to get the plane down safely which fortunately was done with all lives protected. the boeing 737 max was grounded in march 2019 for a year—and—a—half after two of the type crashed
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killing 346 people due to a problem with the flight control systems. the uk's civil aviation authority says it is monitoring this latest incident very closely. simon jones, bbc news. let's look at what we know about the panel which became detached from the fuselage. aviation analyst alex macheras explains how it differs from other panels on the plane. so, what we had seen in this incident is that the aircraft had departed as normal and was climbing to its cruising altitude. and just as it reached around 16,000 feet, we know that a sidewall panel... so to explain this simply, if you are sitting in an aircraft cabin, you're on the seat, the sidewall panels are on the left and right. it's basically kind of this shape, a sidewall, through the tube shape of the aircraft. that panel on the left side that houses a deactivated emergency exit door. so to the passengers, it looks like a normal sidewall panel. but for us in aviation, we know that if alaska airlines were to put
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more seats into that cabin — for example, as many seats as ryanair manage to squeeze in — they would be forced by regulators to activate another emergency exit to comply with regulations. so it's a sidewall panel that houses an emergency exit that alaska airlines does not use because it doesn't have a high—density cabin. so from the outside, it looks like a door, but from the inside, it's just a normal sidewall panel. it's that panel that at 16,000 feet ultimately triggered, or was part of, a decompression where it had blown out. and that separation of the panel leaving the aircraft, of course, triggers a decompression scenario that crew have to jump into place and into action to ensure that not only are passengers seated with their seatbelts fastened, but they are able to withstand the vacuum that then occurs. because we have had scenarios decades ago in aviation where this has happened and passengers have quite literally been sucked out of the aircraft cabin, removed from the cabin
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because of that pressure. so it's incredibly dangerous. it's not something that investigators will be downplaying. and it's a testament to the crew, of course, and the flight crew that they were able to return safely. and, of course, they were quite lucky that nobody was sat in that initial window seat right next to the panel, where it had become separated from the aircraft. and i would just add that typically in air travel, that seat is quite sought after, because it has extra legroom because typically it would house an emergency exit. so it's pretty unprecedented stuff. alex macheras there. breaking news lines from the middle east from the reuters news agency. the report that an israeli military spokesperson has said the forces there have complete dismantling hamas's military framework in northern gaza. they are also reporting, the military saying they have killed 8000 militants in
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northern gaza in the fighting there but say that some still remain. we know this is obviously a name of israel have said since the hamas attacks on israel on october the 7th that they were intent on wiping out hammers. this appears to be fairly significant if they are saying that they have completed dismantling hamas's military framework in northern gaza. we will get more analysis on that later in the programme. hezbollah says it has launched a barrage of rockets at northern israel in response to an explosion in beirut that killed a top hamas official earlier this week. the hezbollah statement said they had an air traffic control base in meron with 62 rockets. the israeli military said it had identified about a0 launches from lebanon. this is thought to be the biggest launch of rockets into northern israel so far in this
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conflict. preventing the gaza conflict. preventing the gaza conflict from spreading is a key objective of the us secretary of state antony blinken who is beginning a fresh round of diplomacy in the middle east. he's been meeting with telki's president erdogan in istanbul and also been in crete talking to greek prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis, before heading tojordan. washington's heading to jordan. washington's priorities heading tojordan. washington's priorities are to prevent the war from becoming a wider regional confrontation and to secure an increase in humanitarian aid to palestinian civilians. before mr blank and left he had this to say. —— mr antony blinken. as we have said from day one, we have an intense focus on preventing this conflict from spreading. a big part of the conversations we will have over the coming days with all of our allies and partners is looking at the steps they can take using the influence and ties that they have to do just that, to make sure that this conflict does not spread. second, we will look at what we can do to maximise the protection of civilians, maximise humanitarian assistance getting in to them and also to get
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hostages out of gaza. i spoke to dr lisel hintz — assistant professor of international relations atjohns hopkins university 7 about the significance of mr blinken�*s visit to turkey. secretary blinken has been carrying out a number of these campaign trips in order to try to quell tensions in the region to prevent the conflict spreading, to secure the release of hostages, to try to get turkey's corporation, to get turkey on board with securing hostages, with humanitarian assistance, potentially with post—conflict reconstruction efforts. there is also a number of bilateral issues on the table between turkey and the united states that were in the discussion today. but i think secretary blinken began this trip in turkey moving then on to greece, jordan and a number of other countries as a way of signalling to turkey the importance that the us places on trying again
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to get turkey on board. initially, turkey had taken a very measured response to the attacks in terms of the language that the president was using and not necessarily taking a very condemnatory tone. however, that's changed quite a bit and i think the us is very much trying to secure turkey's corporation as a key player in the region. how influential do you think he is? we will hear from him shortly. how important is turkey plasma relationship with the us how important is turkey's relationship with the us and how much influence does antony blinken have there? it is a very tense relationship, there is a number of issues that have caused quite a lot of conflict between the us and turkey, including the us�*s support of the ypg, the syrian militants that the us has armed in the war against isis, and of course, and very pertinent to this discussion, turkey's ties with the akp, the ruling justice and development party's ties with hamas.
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and so trying to get turkey to reduce those ties, to use any influence it might be able to have in order to again secure the release of hostages, to prevent the conflict from spreading, that's very much what i think secretary blinken is trying to achieve. now of course there is also this issue of the accession of sweden to nato that turkey has been blocking, so that was certainly an issue that the secretary was looking to push today, and of course turkey wanting something in exchange for that, is looking for the us government to approve the sale of f—16 fighter jets to turkey and president erdogan has explicitly linked those issues together. dr lisel hintz there.
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the eastern town of pokrovsk, it's not a big place. before the full scale invasion around 60,000 people live there. but gradually people have been returning to their homes despite officials are saying, look, it's not safe because of the constant shelling and missile attack, that it is at risk. we were there a few months ago and you certainly get a sense of how close you are to the fighting. it is where civilians and soldiers rub shoulders. nevertheless, we have this reported attack now where the russians are accused of using the types of missiles used in air defence systems where they are launched from the ground on pokrovsk and the surrounding area. several houses have been destroyed, we are told, and we are seeing rescue teams sifting through the rubble. it's a very prevalent threat for pokrovsk. last august, there was a bombardment
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which saw nine people killed around the town's main hotel and restaurant and i think this is the reality now for settlements close to the front line. so, rescue teams are going to continue trying to find anyone who may have survived. president zelensky in his evening address has said, russia needs to know that these attacks will be met with consequences. this week we have seen ukraine launch drone attacks across the border into russia in response to moscow's biggest aerial bombardment of ukraine. so he is appearing more confident in wanting to respond to the constant missile attacks that russia launches against ukraine.
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here in the uk — the chancellor, jeremy hunt, has said the government will do all it can to speed up compensation for post office branch managers who were wrongly convicted for false accounting. more than 700 post office branch managers were accused of wrongdoing after faulty software made it appear money was missing. the metropolitan police says it's investigating "potential fraud offences" arising from the wrongful prosecutions. here's our business correspondent, marc ashdown. we will look into each individual case and fight our corner. it started as a lone voice, became a chorus and eventually exposed a national scandal. more than 700 post office branch managers have spent two decades fighting to clear their names. as this week's itv drama showed, some were even wrongly sent to prison. the man who brought the first appeal welcomed the met police's decision to widen its investigation into how the prosecutions were conducted. i think the big thing here isjustice, yes, but the truth. it's like when we first brought the court cases. we wanted to establish the truth about everything and if the met investigation exposes more of the truth and what went on there, great. this all centres on the horizon it system, which the post office
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started using in 1999. it led to accusations of theft and false accounting. eventually, it emerged the system was faulty, but not before hundreds of people were prosecuted. expert witnesses from some of the trials were already under investigation for possible perjury. now, the met will consider whether fraud offences were also committed. the government said £150 million has already been paid out in compensation to more than 3,000 people, even though a public inquiry is still ongoing. what we have decided as a government is we're not going to wait until that inquiry concludes before paying out compensation. we want it...so we can do everything we can to get the compensation out quickly to the families who have been terribly wronged. in the midst of this renewed publicity, that list is growing. in the past week alone, more than 50 new potential victims have come forward. the post office said it shares the aims of the public inquiry to establish accountability and get to the truth of what went wrong. i haven't got that money and i don't know where it's gone! _
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hundreds of innocent people were jailed or financially ruined by the scandal. at least four took their own lives. those still fighting say they hope the public outcry in recent days will help to finally bring them closure and justice. marc ashdown, bbc news. staying in the uk, and a teenage boy has been charged with the murder of 16—year—old harry pitman who was stabbed to death in primrose hill in north london on new year's eve. the boy, who's also 16, has been charged with possession of an offensive weapon in addition. a metropolitan police officer has been suspended after being charged with rape. pc andrej sagaidak has been charged with two counts of rape, one count of non—fatal strangulation and one count of causing actual bodily harm. the officer was off—duty at the time of the alleged offences. parts of england are still dealing with significant flooding. more than 200 flood warnings remain in place in central
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and southern england — and the environment agency says river and groundwater levels remain high. let's just take a moment to share some of the images from the today's flooding. here in essex, a family had to be rescued from their car by inflatable boat, after the vehicle became stuck in the water. this drone footage filmed near newark in nottinghamshire gives an idea of how widely spread the flooding is. the local mp, robertjenrick, said the scene was �*biblical�* in extent — and the flooding was the worst the area had experienced for more than two decades. and this was the damage caused when the river trent reached its highest level on record — at the torksey lock caravan park, near lincoln. electricity and drainage have been cut — and almost half of the caravans on the site have been affected. it was all right one day, then itjust zoomed up, it covered everything. i think we've got about an inch to go before it comes into our caravan and we are three rows back from the very bottom ones. so when high tide comes again i reckon
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we are going to get swamped. earlier, i spoke tojoe cuthbertson — he's a flood and coastal risk manager at the environment agency. he gave me his reaction. i would like to send my... my heart goes out to those affected by flooding, it is a really devastating thing to happen and sadly that's been the case for some properties. we think around 1,800 properties so far have been affected by the flooding. at the same time, around a5,000 properties and businesses have been protected by flood defences, so looking at the whole picture there has been a lot of work which we in the environment agency and our partners have done that has made a real difference and allowed people to sleep soundly through this event. in terms of the forward look, we now have no further significant rainfall in the coming days which is good news, but as you have said the river levels remain very high, particularly the larger, slower responding rivers throughout
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the country, so thinking of the trent, the thames in particular, some of the places where we have seen impacts, it takes a long time for water to work its way down through the system. that's what we will expect to see over the coming days and we could see some further flooding impacts through the coming days, but fortunately the worst of the rainfall is now over. you talk about the work that the environment agency has done protecting people and making sure that not as many have been impacted as perhaps could have been, but many will inevitably be asking the question, are our flood defences resilient enough? i think in answer to that question, we do a huge amount of work within the environment agency and across many of our partners to build and maintain flood defences. we are currently in a period of record levels of investment in flood defences with the current £5.2 billion capital flood investment programme which runs through to 2027. and from an environment agency point
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of view, our role is to make the best use of the money that we can, so we apply it to the places with the greatest risk, we do it where it makes greatest sense and can help the greatest numbers of people and vulnerable locations. so really i would say that we are doing what we can. can we protect all homes and businesses from flooding? no, we don't expect to always be able to prevent all flooding but we make the best use of the money that we have to do the best we can. we understand the environment secretary is in close touch with the environment agency, there isn't, the bbc understands, any plans for an emergency meeting of the government over this. are you happy with the support you are getting from the government to deal with this immediate situation? i think the current flood needs to just be put in context of some of the floods we have seen in recent years.
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it has been really devastating and i would not want to take away from all of those people who have sadly experienced flooding on this occasion. but looking back at recent years, we are seeing the investment that has gone into flood defences across the country, and also importantly in warning and informing and raising awareness in helping people to reduce their own risk of flooding, has made a real difference. we are seeing greater, more extreme flooding in frequency with climate change and we expect that to increase. but at the same time, the investment is making a real difference in helping to reduce that impact. that was joe cuthbertson from the environment agency. documents seen by the bbc suggest that the british prime minister, rishi sunak, had serious doubts about the uk government's policy of sending failed asylum seeker to rwanda. the papers, written in march 2022, indicate that his view then — was that the policy would not deter migrants from crossing the english channel from france. a source close to rishi sunak told the bbc, "the prime minister was always fully behind the principle of the scheme."
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the scheme to send some asylum seekers to rwanda for processing — and potentially resettlement — in order to deter people from crossing the channel in small boats — was first announced by then—prime minister borisjohnson in april 2022. there's been violence in bangladesh on the eve of the country's general election. at least 1a polling stations have been set on fire in the last 2a hours. prime minister sheikh hasina is trying to gain a fourth straight term in office. bangladesh's chief election commissioner has described the violence as an attempt to sabotage the vote. the main opposition bangladesh nationalist party has asked people to shun the poll. international observers, including the un, have said the poll is taking place in a repressive environment. 0ur correspondent samira hussain has been monitoring events from the bangladeshi capital, dhaka. the main opposition party, the bangladesh nationalist party, is not contesting the elections. not only have they said
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that they are boycotting the elections but they also called for a two—day strike, which is already under way. and i realise that it looks quite busy behind me but if you can imagine just 2a hours ago, this was just wall—to—wall traffic. it's actually usually a lot more busy. even as we were walking around on the streets, we saw that there are quite a few shops that were closed. with some of course abiding by this call for a strike, with others just taking the opportunity to go back to their home districts since they are going to be voting. and then, of course, there is that sense of worry in case something does happen ahead of these elections. samira hussain there. one of the all—time greats of brazilian football, mario zagallo, has died at the age of 92. he won two world cups as a player, but is best loved in his homeland for his coaching of the great national team that won the cup in 1970. zagallo played alongside the greats such as pele — he retired from the sport after the world cup in germany in 2006 and had been living
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with numerous health problems. here's our reporter simijolaosho in the newsroom with more. mario zagallo was one of the most instrumental figures in brazilian football history. he brought victory to his country over four decades — from the 1950s to the 1990s. his family have described him as a loving grandfather, as a victorious professional, and as a patriot who leaves behind great achievements. well, zagallo was a winger who you can see over here who was part of the team that brought the country back to back world cup victories in 1958 and in 1962. and in 1970, the professor or the old wolf, as he was nicknamed, managed the team that is widely regarded as one of the best international teams of all time.
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and that squad involved or included pele and carlos alberto. they went on to win the 1970 world cup, beating italy. in 199a, zagallo had his fourth taste at world cup victory when brazil again won and he was assistant coach. and in 1998 he managed the team and got them to the finals, but they were beaten by their hosts, france. zagallo had four children and a wife of 57 years who died in 2012. his feat of being both a player and a manager to have won the world cup has only been matched by two others, and now his death means that there are no longer any members of that 1958 brazil world cup final team left alive. now to wales, where a rare
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eagle has been spotted. the sea eagle has not been seen in wales since the 16th century but a farmer near llanuwchllyn in gwynedd. filmed the bird flying above his farm last wednesday and again the following day — but how exactly it came to arrive in wales remains a mystery. an update on our top story after a boeing 737 max 9 jet plane flying from alaska to california had an outer section of the plane full off midair. we have had a statement from boeing saying safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact of this event has had on our customers and their passengers. we agree with and fully support the faa was my decision to require immediate inspection of 737 max nine planes with the same configuration as the affected were aeroplane. do stay with us on bbc news.
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hello there. for many, it's been a much drier day today with some sunshine. but again, there are still around 200 flood warnings in force because all the rain that we've had is still making its way through the major river system. so for more detail, you can check out the website. but actually the drier weather is here for a while now. it will feel colder as it has done today and we will have some frost and some lingering fog like we had today in cumbria. and thatjust thickens up again this evening and overnight under the high pressure. but the high pressure is going to be responsible for the drier weather. it's blocking these weather systems from bringing their rain in off the atlantic. but it's not altogether dry. there have been quite a number of showers, which will continue to diminish for most this evening and overnight, although we may pick up more across east anglia and the south—east and they could fall as sleet or snow over
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the higher ground here, it's certainly going to be cold enough. widespread frost, and of course, because it's been so damp, so wet, there'll be quite a few issues with ice, i should imagine. and certainly first thing sunday morning along with the fog. so potentially some freezing fog around. still quite a keen breeze up in the north of scotland and more of a breeze compared with today in the south and the east. one or two wintry showers around, but they should be easing, one or two showers to the east as well, but fewer further west. that's where we'll see the lengthier spells of sunshine. but it's not going to help our temperatures much, actually. it'll feel chilly wherever you are, and obviously it will be accentuated by that keen breeze. it's going to be picking up more so today across east anglia in the southeast. but then it's a return to frost and fog then through tomorrow night into the start of monday. and that cold air, that high pressure just hangs on this week. but that increasing wind across the southern half of the uk in particular preventing as many fog issues across the far south and the east, butjust making it feel colder still. and temperatures are dropping lower by night, so they're not going to rise as much by day. and as you can see, starting to get a bit polluted with some fog around here and there. so we will see some
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lingering fog as we go through the coming few days. tuesday is a similar set—up, although by then that brisk wind may just lift a bit more of the cloud in the south. so we might see a bit more sunshine on tuesday across southern and central areas, perhaps a bit more cloud coming and going further north. but it's drier right across the board. and that drier weather looks set to last through much of the coming week. temperatures may recoverjust a little bit towards the end of the week, but it's dry. bye—bye.
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pele forcing an emergency landing. the us secretary of state antony blinken is back in the middle east to try and quell the violence in the region. downing straight files is seen by the bbc suggests that prime minister rishi sunak had serious concerns about the governments rwanda policy. government's rwanda migration policy in his earlier role as chancellor — indicating that he thought the plans would not stop migrant boat crossings. brazilian football legend mario zagallo — who managed a national team widely regarded as the greatest international team of all time has died aged 92. now it's sportsday.

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