tv BBC News BBC News January 28, 2024 1:00pm-1:31pm GMT
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the organisation which was important. it just wasn't working. painting protest — two activists throw soup at the mona lisa in the louvre museum in paris. and the saint of melbourne — italy's jannik sinner wins the australian open — his first ever major. hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. the united nations secretary general has implored governments not to defund the un agency for palestinian refugees. he also vowed to hold to account any un employee involved in acts of terror, after israeli allegations that several unrwa staff were involved in the deadly attacks
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by hamas last october. here's un spokesman, stephane dujarric. the secretary general is horrified by this news and asks mr lazzarini to investigate this matter swiftly and to ensure that any unrwa employees shown to have participated or embedded in what transpired on october 7th, or in any other criminal activity, be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution. nine countries have paused their funding for unrwa, including the us and the uk, although scotland has not changed its policy and is urging others to continue with the funding. mr guterres says...
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israel has called for the head of unrwa, philippe lazzarini, to resign. the israel military is pressing ahead with its operation against hamas in the south of the gaza strip. palestinians continue to stream out of khan younis, where the israeli army says it's involved in intense fighting. multiple israeli air strikes have been reported there. the hamas—run health ministry says a hundred and sixty five palestinians have been killed in the past 2a hours, taking the total number killed since the start of the war to more than 26—thousand 400. diplomatic efforts to free more than 130 hostages still held by hamas are gathering pace. the head of the cia is expected to meet officials from israel, egypt and qatar at an undisclosed
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location in france in the coming days. they're expected to work towards securing the release of the hostages held in gaza. many western governments consider hamas to be a terrorist organisation. live now to doha, where we can speak to nawaf al thani, who is qatar's former director of defence intelligence operations and defence attache to the united states. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. how do you view kattar�*s roll at this point in the negotiations? because qatar has done a lot in terms of negotiating the release of hostages in the past but at this point where there seems to be a lot of division between israel and hamas, what is the role of qatar today? and hamas, what is the role of qatar toda ? . ~' ,, and hamas, what is the role of qatar toda ? ., ~ i. ., ., ., today? thank you for having me on. qatar has continued _ today? thank you for having me on. qatar has continued to _ today? thank you for having me on. qatar has continued to push - today? thank you for having me on. qatar has continued to push for- today? thank you for having me on. qatar has continued to push for a i qatar has continued to push for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, and it has said from day one that it
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will continue to support any negotiated settlement. so that is the position of qatar, this has not changed and it has yielded benefits, the release of over 100 hostages in the release of over 100 hostages in the past. i think that moving forward on this would be a positive, would help a positive outcome, if all parties are honest and stick to the agreement. at all parties are honest and stick to the agreement.— all parties are honest and stick to the agreement. at the same time, there is a lot _ the agreement. at the same time, there is a lot of _ the agreement. at the same time, there is a lot of pressure _ the agreement. at the same time, there is a lot of pressure coming i there is a lot of pressure coming particularly from the families of some of the hostages being held by hamas who are urging qatar to do more. they think it could be putting far more pressure on hamas to release the hostages. i far more pressure on hamas to release the hostages.— release the hostages. i mean, obviously _ release the hostages. i mean, obviously we _ release the hostages. i mean, obviously we are _ release the hostages. i mean, obviously we are sympatheticl release the hostages. i mean, i obviously we are sympathetic to release the hostages. i mean, - obviously we are sympathetic to any civilians who have loved ones, whether from the palestinian side or the israeli hostages, but the fact remains, out of the two countries, israel and qatar, qatar is the only one out of the two that released and helped releasing israelis and other
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nationals. the idf on the other hand representing as well in this operation, unfortunately through their efforts killed civilians, whether palestinians or even the israeli hostages. so the clear path is right there in front of us, negotiations, peaceful settlement, ceasefire and then hopefully a long, lasting peace. the ceasefire and then hopefully a long, lasting peace-— lasting peace. the israeli position is that it is _ lasting peace. the israeli position is that it is fighting _ lasting peace. the israeli position is that it is fighting to _ lasting peace. the israeli position is that it is fighting to remove - is that it is fighting to remove hamas as an authority in gaza because it believes that hamas has to be removed for the country�* self defence. how do you view the negotiations at the moment, is this about having an interim deal like we did last year, at the end of last year, or do you think there are actually negotiations about actually ending the ongoing conflict? itinfoil ending the ongoing conflict? well obviously we _ ending the ongoing conflict? -ii obviously we don't know the exact obviously we don�*t know the exact details of any negotiations. qatar, for instance, as the lead negotiator of this, has made it extremely clear
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multiple times that they will keep this very secretive because of the nature of negotiations to stop but what we can expect is that the lasting ceasefire should come about, a longer ceasefire than the last ones we had, and release of hospitals and aid for the palestinian civilians. unfortunately on the other side, the political language and games that are being played, whether globally or internally in israel, especially from the new conservative government of benjamin netanyahu, is a bit confusing. criticising qatar on one side and then asking for its help on the other sends mixed messages and is not helpful and i think focused releasing of the hostages, ceasefire and lasting peace.— and lasting peace. thank you very much. and lasting peace. thank you very much- nawaf _ and lasting peace. thank you very much. nawaf al—
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and lasting peace. thank you very much. nawaf al thani, _ and lasting peace. thank you very much. nawaf al thani, ten - and lasting peace. thank you very much. nawaf al thani, ten there. | we can go tojerusalem and our correspondent mark lowen. we have just been speaking about these expectant negotiations to try and have a halt to the fighting in gaza. how optimistic are people there in jerusalem, that there might be an agreement reached? i jerusalem, that there might be an agreement reached?— jerusalem, that there might be an agreement reached? i think there are still significant _ agreement reached? i think there are still significant hurdles _ agreement reached? i think there are still significant hurdles and _ agreement reached? i think there are still significant hurdles and a - still significant hurdles and a blood—soaked gulf between the warring sides on several issues. there is a lot of mistrust. the israelis have been appearing to be coalescing around a pause of one to two months. hamas has publicly demanded a permanent ceasefire as part of any hostage deal. but the sides are engaged in talks again. that is progress in itself. and as various different elements kind of add up to form greater pressure on the israelis, that has all kind of
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given renewed momentum to the diplomacy. an israeli delegation has arrived in paris but those talks. there are reports in the american media, the new york times, interviewing american mediators who say that they are cautiously hopeful that a deal is within reach, where there would be potentially a two—month pause in the fighting and a phased release of hostages, women, the elderly first, then men and competence. but then the big question is would israel still be able to achieve it second aim, to go back and continue fighting and destroy hamas? jeanette anaya has long claimed the twin aims of getting the hostages back and destroying hamas are possible but a lot of people feel that you can�*t, that one of those aims has to give. so we wait to see whether those talks in paris actually achieve anything. talks in paris actually achieve an hina. ., , talks in paris actually achieve an him, ., , anything. today the un still calling for countries _ anything. today the un still calling for countries to _ anything. today the un still calling for countries to continue _ anything. today the un still calling for countries to continue funding i for countries to continue funding its palestinian agency helping
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refugees from the palestinian territory. where does this leave the future of unrwa, which has been the key humanitarian operation operating in gaza? , ., ., . ~ in gaza? yes, the head of unrwa has said life-saving _ in gaza? yes, the head of unrwa has said life-saving assistance _ in gaza? yes, the head of unrwa has said life-saving assistance in - in gaza? yes, the head of unrwa has said life-saving assistance in which . said life—saving assistance in which 2 million people rely is about to end. he has said that that constitutes additional collective punishment for the palestinian people. it is a huge blow at the moment to an agency which operates in a territory where few others can, really. unrwa, beyond its educational role, it runs schools and medicalfacilities in time of peace. at the moment, it distributes aid and runs the shelters where 80% of gaza�*s people are now displaced at many of them are having to be in unrwa shelters. so the pores and funding of western governments has been met with dismay by their mission. i think for several western governments that have paused funding, they are obviously
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seriously concerned about these allegations that unrwa employees were involved in the attacks but it�*s an opportunity for them to publicly show support with israel by maintaining pressure on the israeli government. and for the israeli authorities, an opportunity for them to prove what they have long alleged, that the un is biased and anti—semitic against israel. denying the state of israel and israel�*s foreign minister has cast doubt on the continued existence of unrwa, saying it should not have a role in post—conflict gaza. that begs the question, if the united nations cannot operate there, who will? thank you very much. mark lowen in jerusalem. some news coming in now and a british naval warship was attacked again in the red sea by the iranian—backed houthis yesterday. these pictures have just come iranian—backed houthis yesterday. these pictures havejust come in iranian—backed houthis yesterday. these pictures have just come in of the moment the hms diamond repelled the moment the hms diamond repelled
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the attack by firing sea viper missiles at an incoming houthi drone. it was heading directly towards the ship. the ministry of defence said. it is currently situated in the red sea to protect merchant ships from houthi attacks. live now to our political correspondent harry farley. what can you tell us about this? in the last few minutes we have had this statement from the ministry of the defence here in the uk, confirming hms diamond, a british naval destroyer in the red sea, was attacked again by the houthi groups, the iranian—backed group in yemen at the iranian—backed group in yemen at the moment. the statement from the mod said these intolerable and illegal attacks are completely unacceptable and it is our duty to protect freedom of navigation in the red sea. it is not the first time hms diamond has been attacked by the houthis and the uk hasjoined
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hms diamond has been attacked by the houthis and the uk has joined the hms diamond has been attacked by the houthis and the uk hasjoined the us twice now in launching air strikes against both the targets in yemen. grant shapps added to the state in nz the uk remains undaunted after yesterday�*s illegally attack on hms diamond. it begs the question, does that mean we will see further strikes against houthi targets in yemen from the uk, as well as us air forces and armed forces and the uk government has repeatedly said it does not rule out continuing to strike houthi targets in yemen. harry, thank you so much for that update. we will get more information on that story and bring it to you here on bbc news. here in the uk, the business and trade secretary, kemi badenoch, has said she removed the post office chairman henry staunton because the governance of the post office "just wasn�*t working". an interim chair is expected to be appointed shortly. it comes as the post office is reeling from the fallout from the horizon scandal, which has been called the biggest miscarriage
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ofjustice in uk history. marc ashdown reports. it�*s been thrown out and i�*ve... that�*s me, i�*m free! rab thomson sharing the emotional news this week with his sister that his 2006 conviction for embezzlement had been overturned. it�*s the moment all convicted subpostmasters are hoping for. there�*s been much debate over the quickest and fairest way to achieve that, and now the chair of the post office, this man, henry staunton, has stepped down, posing the question — did he reallyjump or was he nudged? there were various disagreements within the board, and when i looked at it, i thought that a change of personnel was what was required. i don�*t want to do hr on live tv. these are human beings that we are talking about. it is very difficult, to be asked to stand down from a position, but i decided that given all of the difficulties the post office is having, it�*s notjust about horizon, it�*s about the entire business model and how to make it work. that we needed someone
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who could chair a board that had... that was able to deal with these things effectively. the government does ultimately own the post office and campaigners have long called for it to take tougher action to bring justice for more than 700 people, likejo hamilton, who were wrongly prosecuted because of defects in the horizon it computer system. so do they think this departure will make a difference? the whole thing is a bit of a distraction from the real thing. it's the dead cat strategy, and i think it's designed to make it look like the department, the business department, is being proactive and listening to the postmasters. but, actually, they're not. but the business secretary did hint that further personnel moves could follow. one labour mp who has long campaigned on the issue says root and branch reform is needed. i hope this is the start of wider change. - clearly nick read, the chief executive, needs to go, - and we need now an open and honest culture which is not there _
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at the post office at the moment. the post office says it continues to make changes so the edges of the past cannot be repeated. questions about this sacking will rumble on. why now? who might be next? and who might now be tasked with ensuring the post office runs effectively, and justice is finally served for those who have suffered for 20 years? marc ashdown, bbc news. now it�*s time for a look at today�*s sport. here is sarah mulkerrins. thank you, catherine. let�*s start with an absorbing men�*s final at the australian open, where italianjannik sinner fought back from two sets down against daniil medvedev to win a first grand slam title. the russian, who was looking for his second grand slam title, dominated the first set, taking it 6—3. and while the second set felt closer, medvedev also took that by the same score line.
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and then sinner, who was playing in his first final, recovered and started to impose his game on medvedev, with the 22—year—old winning the next three sets 6—4, 6—4, 6—3 to take the title. it was another bitter experience for medvedev, who also blew a two—set lead against rafael nadal in the 2022 final. sinner becoming the first australian champion for a decade not to be named novak djokovic, rafa nadal or roger federer. now to cricket where tourists england managed one of their best ever away wins, stunning india with a 28—run victory in a dramatic finish to the 1st test in hyderabad. india had lost only three of their previous 46 home tests and this england victory came despite a vastly inexperienced attack and with senior spinner jack leach hampered by injury. 7—62 from debutant spinner tom hartley helped england set india 231 to win. they then managed to get the hosts
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out for 202 in the final over of the extra half—hour at the end of the fourth day. one of the all—time great innings too by ollie pope, as he made 196 for england with the bat. to another momentous win, as west indies have pulled off a shock victory in australia, their first test victory in the country since 1997. the home side went into day four in brisbane well on their way to reaching their target of 216. but shamarjoseph, despite an injured toe, took seven of the remaining eight wickets in just his second test match to take the windies to an 8—run win. the tourists finish the series level having taken an understrength side to australia. to football, and of the four matches on sunday in the fourth round of the english fa cup, there�*ll be a particularly notable moment before one of them. jurgen klopp takes charge
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of his first liverpool game since announcing this season would be his last at anfield, where norwich are the visitors. meanwhile, manchester united have a trip to league two side newport county. it�*s united�*s last realistic chance of winning silverware this season. it�*s the truth, that the league and qualification for the champions league... and the fa cup is, like you say... so probably it is, it is fact, the last opportunity of a trophy. so, yeah, we go for it. in words familiar from friday�*s announcement byjurgen klopp, barcelona�*s head coach xavi says he�*s given everything he has, and he too will leave his post at the end of the season. his decision follows a run of poor results this season culminating in a 5—3 home defeat to villarreal last night. they�*re 10 points adrift of league leaders real madrid. xavi is one of the club�*s most famous players, and won the league title last season in his first full campaign as coach. matthieu pavon has won
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the farmers insurance open to become the first french player to claim a victory on the pga tour since arnaud massy in 1907. it�*s the 31—year—old�*s first season on the tour, and this was just his 11th event. a 3—under par round of 69 was enough to win by one shot ahead of denmark�*s nicolai hojgaard at torrey pines in san diego. i still can�*t believe it. as i said, it feels like there is another round to play tomorrow because it is only saturday. that is special. i can�*t thank the pga tour enough, it gave us the opportunity to come from europe and compete here in america against the best players in the world, it has always been the dream for me and i got finally a shot and i took it. it�*s a dream come true and it�*s a little bit hard to believe.
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congratulations to him. and that�*s all the sport for now. thank you. protesters have hurled soup at the mona lisa painting in paris. the 16th century work — by leonardo da vinci — is protected by bulletproof glass, so is unlikely to have been damaged. the two eco—protesters are reported to have been demanding the right to "healthy and sustainable food", saying "our agricultural system is at risk". it is the latest attack on the masterpiece in the louvre museum, after an activist threw a cream pie at the painting in 2022. king charles has spent a second night in hospital in london, after undergoing a procedure for an enlarged prostate. he was visited on saturday by queen camilla — charles is staying in the same hospital where the princess of wales is being cared for,
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following her abdominal surgery. our correspondent charlie rose is outside the hospital. the very latest is that the feeling is that his majesty the king is expected to spend at least the rest of the weekend here at the london clinic hospital. we can�*t give any certainty on that, of course, because buckingham palace tends not to give a running commentary on these matters, but what the palace has commented on is the king�*s health problem. why? because the king wants to raise awareness and publicise the fact that he�*s been having an enlarged prostate, to encourage more men to come forward and seek help, information and advice. and that�*s exactly what�*s happened, according to the nhs, who say it�*s seen a surge in the number of men going on to its website, seeking help and advice on enlarged prostates and that�*s been welcomed by doctors and charities. 1—in—3 men over the age of 50 apparently has the condition of an enlarged prostate. as well as the king,
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his daughter—in—law, catherine, princess of wales, is also being cared for at this hospital, having undergone abdominal surgery. she�*s now on her 13th day here, although she was always expected to be here for around about a fortnight. both she and her father—in—law, his majesty the king, are said to be doing well. both are being cared for, being waited on by medical teams, doctors, nurses, they�*re being monitored and assessed. and while that goes on, today, perhaps we could see another visit from queen camilla. we have some breaking news now, which is that two boys aged 15 and 16 have died after being stabbed in an attack by a number of people who made off from the scene in a car. that was in south bristol on saturday night. avon and somerset police have said in a statement,
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thatis police have said in a statement, that is some breaking news that two boys aged 15 and 16 have died after being stabbed in an attack. we will bring you more news on that here on bbc news. the world�*s largest cruise ship — the icon of the seas — has set sailfrom miami in florida on its maiden voyage. it is 365 metres long, has 20 decks, and there is enough room for almost 8,000 passengers on board. features include a 16—metre waterfall, six water slides and more than a0 restaurants, bars and venues. sofia betizza reports. if you love going on cruises, this is a dream come true. and if not, it is probably your worst nightmare. take a look at this, it is named the icon of the seas. it is the largest cruise ship in the world. it cost more than $2 billion to build it. let me show you what is inside. it has seven swimming pools, six water slides and a0
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restaurants like this one. it also has an arcade, an orchestra, musicians, comedians. now, this is the ship setting sail from the port of miama, —— of miami, taking all of its passengers, it can house up to 7,600 on a trip to the caribbean. now, the royal caribbean group who own the ship say that all of this is eco—friendly. this is what the captain had to say. we, as a company, are on a continuousjourney with all kinds of technology. sustainability is an important part of ourjourney to destination net zero in the future. and lng is one part of that step forward on ourjourney. now, he talks about the boat being powered by lng, which is short for liquefied natural gas. even though lng burns in a way
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that is cleaner compared to other marine fuels, it mostly contains methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. now, some experts are warning that there is a risk that some gas could escape, leaking harmful methane into the air. listen to this... when you actually look at the implications for the climate, it is actually a step in the wrong direction. the moment that you start using lng as a marine fuel, including in cruise ships, you actually start to emit more greenhouse gas emissions than if you had done nothing and continued to run on the fuels that we are using today. now, when methane, which is what lng is mostly made of, is released into the atmosphere, it drops more than 80 times more heat than co2 over 20 years.
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so it is extremely harmful. and cutting those emissions is seen as crucial to slowing down climate change. so for many experts, this lavish cruise ship represents everything that we should not be doing to fight climate change. the big debate is, do you love it or hate it? the icon of the seas? stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. sunshine may have been rather limited today but it has been a warmer day than it was yesterday. the average temperatures range from six to nine but today has been significantly milder, 15 degrees likely in the moray firth and around north wales. all due to a strengthening southerly wind which has been picking up ahead of this band of rain, still gusty through the irish sea
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into the central belt of scotland. windier in the north—west of scotland but this evening, those winds are beginning to ease and the winds will fall lighter elsewhere as the band of rain moves through scotland and northern ireland and comes to rest across northern england and wales. to the north it is going to be colder, north of the central belt there could be frost early on monday morning. south of the band of rain, it is much, much milder. that rain could be heavy over the hills particularly in the north west of england, much of scotland and northern ireland could be dry with some sunshine, significantly colder than it is today, temperatures taking quite a tumble. but across the midlands, east anglia and the south—east where it is still dry with mild air, temperatures 1a or 15 degrees. wet weather in some places, and after dark we could see some snow falling over the southern uplands leaving icy conditions by tuesday. by tuesday morning, that area of low pressure will have taken the wet weather out of the way, leaving a cloudy start for england and wales but we will have sunshine
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for scotland and northern ireland pushing its way south during the day and introduce colder air again. it might be 12 degrees for a while in the south—east but i think eight or nine nearer the mark on tuesday afternoon. lighter winds in southern parts of the uk into wednesday but further north a different story, wet and windy weather driving in on that weather front and windy across the far north of scotland, but gales widely into scotland, northern ireland and the north of england, over the hills in the highlands there could be a couple of inches of rain on wednesday. the wet and windy weather sweeps through northern ireland, england and wales look dry, some sunshine and temperatures are still ten or 11 degrees. as that weather front takes the rain southwards, the rain dies out, and then we will see a weather front bringing that milder air.
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this is bbc news, the headlines. the british warship, hms diamond, has fired and repelled a drone atack, by the iranian—backed houthi, yesterday. houthi rebels continue to attack commercial and military ships in the red sea despite air strikes being launched jointly by the uk and us against the group�*s targets in yemen.
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