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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 5, 2024 10:00am-10:31am GMT

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live from london. this is bbc news rishi sunak arrives at stormont to mark the return of power—sharings in northern ireland and holds bilateral talks with irish taoiseach, leo varadkar. the us says strikes on iran—linked targets are just the beginning — as america's top diplomat heads to the region again. chile's deadliest forest fire on record claims at least 112 lives — the president warns the figure is likely to rise. taylor swift. and taylor swift makes history at the grammy awards becoming the first artist ever to win best album four times. the british prime minister rishi sunak and the irish prime minister,
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leo varadkar, are in northern ireland to mark the return of the power—sharing government in the region. mr sunak is meeting with northern ireland's new first minister michelle o'neill and deputy first minister emma little—pengelly, with the northern ireland secretary chris heaton—harris. the irish taoiseach leo varadkar also arrived at stormont in the last hour. the assembly reconvened on saturday, exactly two years after the democratic unionist party walked out in protest against post—brexit trade agreements. charlotte gallagherjoins me now live from outside the stormont parliament buildings in belfast. it buildings in belfast. is good to see you again. coul you it is good to see you again. could you recap the rivals here and why they are so historic?— you recap the rivals here and why they are so historic? there has been a lot of coming _ they are so historic? there has been a lot of coming and _ they are so historic? there has been a lot of coming and going _ they are so historic? there has been a lot of coming and going at - a lot of coming and going at stormont this morning, so firstly rishi sunak the british prime minister arrived around eight o'clock this morning, was met by
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chris heaton harris, the northern ireland secretary and the speaker of the newly formed assembly, edwin poots made his way into the building to meet with parties to discuss issues. one thing we know they will talk about is money. as you head to, parties here don't agree on many things and that is partly why the assembly collapse for two years, but one thing they agree on is northern ireland needs more money. they have been offered about £35 billion for public services here but all the politicians say that is not enough to tackle things like hospital waiting lists, which are the worst in the uk, education and also public sector pay. they will be asking rishi sunak for sector pay. they will be asking rishi sunakfor more money. they will be talking about various issues within the uk. they could also talk, of course, about the prospect of a border poll here in northern ireland, but the chance of northern ireland, but the chance of northern ireland and the republic of ireland reunited, essentially and becoming one island. it is the nationalist first minister now, michelle
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o'neill, she wants northern ireland to reunite. unionist politicians do not want that body could be something discuss with rishi sunak today. also today, leo varadkar, the irish taoiseach, he arrived and is holding talks with politicians and discussing various issues. there is not much work going on, it is a lot of chat, photos and handshakes but it is symbolic to see stormont up and running after two years of political chaos, essentially. there were many times where we never thought we would get to this point. i have stood outside these buildings many times and just said, nothing is happening and we don't expect anything to happen in the weeks and months to come. now we see politicians back and doing their job, it is a huge moment for northern ireland and they will be hoping it doesn't collapse again and they will be in the same situation they will be in the same situation they have been in for the last two years. they have been in for the last two ears. ., ., ., ~ . years. you mentioned that michelle o'neill is the _ years. you mentioned that michelle o'neill is the nationalist _ years. you mentioned that michelle o'neill is the nationalist first - o'neill is the nationalist first minister now and there are some challenges presented with that, but
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what has the language been coming out of her speech is the last few days? out of her speech is the last few da s? ,, . , out of her speech is the last few da 5? ,, ., , , ., out of her speech is the last few das?,, ., ,., out of her speech is the last few da s? ,, , ., , ., days? she has been at pains to say she is first — days? she has been at pains to say she is first minister— days? she has been at pains to say she is first minister for _ days? she has been at pains to say she is first minister for everyone i she is first ministerfor everyone in northern ireland, notjust nationalists who want the north of ireland to unite with the republic of ireland, but also for unionists who want northern ireland to remain part of the united kingdom. she said she is here to serve every single person in northern ireland. however, what she did say when she talked about what she called a decade of opportunity. within that she meant essentially having a border poll within the next ten years about the north of ireland joining the republic of ireland. something that upsets unionists, they don't want that, they want to remain part of the united kingdom. on one hand she is saying, i am the leader for everybody here but on the other hand she is stressing her nationalist background and the fact sinn fein wants her party, wants tojoin background and the fact sinn fein wants her party, wants to join with the republic of ireland. that wants her party, wants to 'oin with the republic of ireland._ the republic of ireland. that is something _ the republic of ireland. that is something else _ the republic of ireland. that is something else which - the republic of ireland. that is something else which is - something else which is unprecedented, hasn't she built
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bridges with the royal family? she has indeed- _ bridges with the royal family? sue: has indeed. she bridges with the royal family? sie: has indeed. she went bridges with the royal family? si2 has indeed. she went to the king's coronation, which many people didn't think would happen, but she went to the coronation when king charles came to northern ireland after his mother, the late queen elizabeth died. she met him and expressed her condolences and she talked about what the queen had done for the peace process. the late queen elizabeth did come to northern ireland and she shook hands with martin mcguinness, she met with nationalists, his background are very different, they don't agree with having a royalfamily very different, they don't agree with having a royal family that has any influence in northern ireland. edc those cross community links, people making the effort with each other that you didn't see 30, 40, 50 years ago. michelle o'neill very keen to stress, as i said, she is for all people in northern ireland. some people won't agree with that and they will see her as a nationalist politician for nationalist politician for nationalist voters here. charlotte, we will have _
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nationalist voters here. charlotte, we will have to _ nationalist voters here. charlotte, we will have to leave _ nationalist voters here. charlotte, we will have to leave it _ nationalist voters here. charlotte, we will have to leave it there - nationalist voters here. charlotte, we will have to leave it there but. we will have to leave it there but i'm sure we will speak to you soon because the day is not over. we start this hour in the middle east. the united states military says it's conducted more air strikes on houthi missiles in yemen — it's the latest action targeting the group backed by iran. us central command said it struck missiles which were preparing to launch against ships in the red sea. the british prime minister, rishi sunak, said thejoint air strikes were in "self defence", that houthis�* attacks on shipping had put lives at risk, and were having economic consequences. now all this has happened, as america's top diplomat — us secretary of state antony blinken embarks on his fifth trip to the middle east in the past four months. tensions with iran — which, again, supports the houthis — are rising. and washington has also accused tehran of having its "fingerprints" on the drone attack that killed three us soldiers at a military base in jordan last week. the white house has warned that its retaliatory air strikes on targets linked to iran, in iraq and syria, and washington has also accused tehran of having its "fingerprints"
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in jordan last week. the white house has warned that its retaliatory air strikes on targets linked to iran, in iraq and syria, are just "the beginning, not the end" of its response. iran denies involvement, but its affiliate the islamic resistance in iraq has claimed responsibility. we're expecting antony blinken to land in saudia arabia in about an hour's time... hugo bachega, who told us more about blinken�*s trip. he is facing the challenges related to the situation in gaza and also growing american involvement in hostilities in the region. so, at the top of the agenda will be those difficult talks for a deal in gaza that could see the release of at least some of the hostages who remain in captivity in gaza — more than 100 hostages who were kidnapped during the hamas attacks. at the same time, a pause in hostilities to allow more aid to get to civilians in gaza, much—needed aid for the palestinian
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population of gaza. at the same time i think he will be hearing concerns of some in the region that the latest american actions are, you know, resulting in even more violence. we have seen that there have been american air strikes against iranian interests in iraq and syria over the weekend in response to the deadly attack on a us base injordan a week ago. also this american—led campaign against the houthis who are also supported by iran continues. the americans say the strategy here is to try to reduce the ability that the houthis have to continue to attack commercial vessels in the red sea. these attacks have caused major disruption to international trade. so it is a very complicated situation for the americans and i think the strategy here by the biden administration has been to use calibrated
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attacks to send a message, but at the same time to try to avoid an escalation of this crisis and an escalation with iran. right. so far, the response from iran and its proxies in the region has been muted. perhaps this could be an early indication that iran might have decided to de—escalate, rather than respond to those attacks. hugo, you mentioned the united states' growing involvement in the region, you're in baghdad, how has iraq reacted to those strikes in iran and syria? strikes in iraq and syria? there has been some strong reaction from the iraqi government, the authorities here saying that the air strikes the americans carried out against those positions used by these iranian—supported groups in the country were a violation of the iraqi sovereignty.
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again, i think they are making the case here that negotiations need to take place for the end of the american military presence in the country. around 2,500 american troops remain here in iraq, basically training the iraqi army. on the weekend were just the beginning of this response to those attacks that were carried out by iranian—supported groups. in other words, they're saying that more attacks are likely to come. i think many here are still waiting to see what is going to happen, not only in relation to those american air strikes, but also the possibility of any retaliation from those groups supported by iran. let's look at chile now.
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the authorities there say wildfires raging in the centre of the country have now killed at least 112 people. an official said there were still 40 active fires across chile. earlier, the president warned that the number of people if confirmed dead was likely to rise significantly. emergency teams have been struggling to control the fires, which have spread rapidly across the valparaeeso region. the forest fires are thought to be the deadliest ever recorded in chile. the government is investigating whether some blazes were started deliberately. henna hundal is a delegate to the un climate change conferences. she told us that these fires have been devastating. in situations like these, the one known is that there is so much unknown and more information will be made available hour by hour. it was announced initially that there were 99 deaths accounted for, but now that number has risen to 112. there is an estimate of between 3,000 to 6,000 homes that have been destroyed. in the valparaiso region, which is a very important port city, officials have said that hundreds of millions of dollars�* worth
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of damage has been created. so, it's a devastating situation all around. there are reports of medical students being recruited to help serve in temporary field hospitals. so, there is a lot of devastation ongoing, and president boric has said that a disaster of this scale has not been seen since the 2010 earthquake that hit chile, so it's a really unfortunate situation. i think that the international community will be receptive to supporting chile as they try to battle these wildfires. we sawjust last month columbia was also dealing with their share of fires and their president actually put out a call for international aid and we saw chile at that time, peru and the united states and canada come to support. so, i think if and when president boric needs the help, there will be the international community to do so. let's bring you some pictures, this is the moment the executive held its first meeting. a reminder this is a
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moment that marks the end of a two—year political deadlock. there you can see prime minister rishi sunak, michelle o'neill and a little tingly who have been appointed first and deputy first ministers of the northern ireland executive. this is prime minister rishi sunak�*s very first visit to northern ireland as it has a fully functioning government. voters in paris have approved a plan to triple parking fees for people from outside the city if they drive suvs in the french capital. the rules will affect internal combustion or hybrid vehicles weighing over 1.6 tonnes and electric vehicles weighing more than two tonnes. hugh scofield reports from paris. anne hidalgo, the socialist mayor of paris, has got what she wanted. she's got this vote in favour of a big, steep increase in parking fees for people who come into town with suvs. suv is a very, very vague notion. but what it means is basically heavier vehicles and it's done on the basis of the tonnage
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of the vehicle. and there will be a list of vehicles which qualify for this higher fee and others that are less heavy, which don't. it was a vote. 55% of those who turned out were for this increase. so, quite a tight vote. 45% were against it. and on a turnout, which was tiny, and that's going to be key. this is the second time this has happened. a year ago, you may remember anne hidalgo, the mayor, organised a referendum very much like this on stopping e—scooters. and again, a tiny turnout. but she got what she wanted. she predicted that there would be enough people who were angry enough to turn out and vote in favour of what she wanted and she got it. she calculated again this time that most parisians would be in favour of this, and they are — or they don't care. so it means that coming up soon, this big increase will will be enacted. it means that if you come into paris
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with one of these heavier vehicles, you'll pay up to 225 euros for six hours' parking. there's about £190. that's about £190. crucially, it doesn't affect people who live in paris themselves, who have suvs. they will have their on—street parking and that is unaffected. so it's not parisians themselves who'll be affected, but people from outside paris, the outskirts of paris, the banlieues, who come in bringing their suvs. and of course it is all about reducing emissions, sending out a signal that cars should not be big, heavy things, but should be getting lighter and to make the place safer, the city says, because these heavier vehicles do have a much worse track record in accidents. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. police are waiting for confirmation about the breeds of two dogs which mauled a woman to death in essex on saturday. esther martin was killed at a house injaywick, near clacton. her daughter believes the animals which attacked her mother were xl bully dogs.
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a 39—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous dog offences. a report by medical research leaders has warned that urgent action is needed to tackle a decline in the health of children under the age of five. the academy of medical science says increasing obesity and declines in most childhood vaccination rates are the leading reason for hospital admissions of children. schools in england will be able to apply for grants to get electric vehicle chargers installed and then sell the energy back to motorists. the department for transport says the initiative could help boost revenue while encouraging drivers to make the switch from petrol and diesel cars. the uk's africa minister andrew mitchell has told the bbc there is every danger of famine
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in ethiopia unless action is taken to prevent it. his warning was echoed by regional leaders who said the world was ignoring a worsening crisis triggered by war and drought. our diplomatic correspondent james landale travelled with andrew mitchell to get rare access to the northern region of tigray. once again, hunger is stalking ethiopia. and, once again, women and children are suffering most. the babies in this hospital in the northern tigray region are all acutely malnourished. their mothers little better. sega is 23. herfour—month—old son has been malnourished since birth. her family's crops failed and there was no food to be had. "even when i was pregnant, i was not eating a balanced diet," she said. "i was not producing enough breastmilk. that's why the baby has developed malnutrition.
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ijust didn't have enough to eat at home." we travelled north across the parched ethiopian highlands that have suffered from successive droughts that many attribute to climate change. this is not where the malnutrition is... there, with the african minister, andrew mitchell, we visited a clinic where anxious mothers queue to get their children assessed for malnutrition. so that's after nine weeks. that's still seriously malnourished. the nurses said the numbers were getting worse by the week. this is a largely forgotten crisis. it's hard for the media to get here — fighting makes some areas inaccessible for charities, and the world's attention is elsewhere. but, once again, women are queuing up with their children who are hungry, some are starving, desperately in need of help. mr mitchell promised £100 million more in uk aid to help millions of mothers like these get better access to health care. but, he said the international community had to do more. there is clearly a risk of famine
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if we don't now take action. and there are serious indicators of the danger of famine. but, if you ask me, "is there a famine taking place now in ethiopia?" i say, "no," and we have the power to stop it. but if we don't take the necessary action now, then there is every danger that a famine will engulf this war—torn country, which has suffered so much already. but is it a famine? aid workers are cautious. regional leaders have no doubts. the one thing i know is that thousands of people, who would otherwise have been able to feed themselves are not in a position to feed themselves, and they are succumbing to death because of starvation. whether you call it famine or a risk of famine ora potentialfamine — for me, it's purely academic. what transpired in 1985, for example, would pale in comparison if we fail to address the kind of unfolding famine that's staring us in the eye.
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michael buerk: dawn, and as the sun breaks . through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside korum, it lights up a biblicalfamine. this is what he's talking about. the famines of the mid—1980s reported so powerfully by michael buerk for the bbc. but the government in ethiopia disputes such comparisons, saying the country is a victim of climate change. there is a drought, no famine. the government is responding very seriously, but at times we call on all the stakeholders to do their share. these people at least have something. they come here to get food aid from the united nations, each clutching a qr code with all their details. enough to get some oil and a scoop of wheat and lentils. there's food enough for now, but aid workers say stores are emptying fast. the problem is that about a million people in tigray are internal refugees, living in camps like these, with little hope
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of returning to homes still occupied by armies. in ethiopia, you have several overlapping crises at a time, so we have drought, people recovering from a two—year conflict, rising inflation, an upsurge in the cases of disease. and all of this togetherjust pushes people further into hunger and malnutrition. so if we don't get food assistance to people right now, the situation will worsen. without more support, the future for these children could be bleak. james landale, bbc news in northern ethiopia. the confederation of british industry — which is an organisation which represents some businesses in the uk — and its former chairman tony danker. mr danker was dismissed from his role in april 2023 — he then took legal action.
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we now hear the cbi has settled that legal action, the cbi board has agreed an undisclosed settlement with mr danker. this quote from the cbi — "the cbi board also reiterates that mr danker is not associated in any way with the historical allegations reported in the media concerning matters which pre—date his tenure at the cbi and rejects any such association." here in the uk, a reward of up to £20,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected of carrying out a chemical attack on a mum and her daughters in south london. police say they believe people who know where abdul ezedi is have yet to come forward, as a nationwide manhunt enters its fifth day. a woman who rescued one of the daughters during the attack has spoken to the bbc about the moment she intervened.
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ijust run i just run outside ijust run outside and as soon as i got outside it was like, what am i stepping into? iwas got outside it was like, what am i stepping into? i was shocked, got outside it was like, what am i stepping into? iwas shocked, i kinda froze and it was hard take in what i had just seen. obviously, once i gathered kind of what was going on, it was straightaway, i need to call the police, i need an ambulance, i need the police, he is getting away. if it wasn't for the neighbours and everyone here on that night, it would have got a whole lot worse. i held onto the girl the whole time, trying to keep her still in case she had a spinal injury, in case she had something on her brain. i kept talking to her, kept trying to keep her awake. now before we go you may have heard about rohan bopanna, who at the age of 43 has reached a milestone, becoming the doubles number one tennis player in the world. my colleague — nikhil inamdar asked him about the secrets
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to his success and the advice he has for other leaders. i would say to really focus and sharpen the goals. even though you have a long—term goal, break into shorter goals. that is when you start, not losing focus. maybe tomorrow, you want to own your own company, but to get to that there are small steps, smalljourneys. the biggest thing when you have a short goal, should be a personal goal, not someone else's goal you are to fulfil. the australian open this year, my first goal was to pass the third round. i had never gone past the third round ever in the so many years i have played. i said, that is my first go. of course, i would love to win it but the first focused was to win it but the first focused was to do that. he to win it but the first focused was to do that-— to win it but the first focused was to do that. .,, ,., ,., , ., to win it but the first focused was todothat. , ., to do that. he was somebody who has exclusively played _ to do that. he was somebody who has exclusively played double _ to do that. he was somebody who has exclusively played double so - to do that. he was somebody who has exclusively played double so you - exclusively played double so you have a unique understanding as to what makes a partnership successful, what makes a partnership successful, what is it that makes partnership successful? it what is it that makes partnership successful?— successful? it is very simple, communication _ successful? it is very simple, communication makes - successful? it is very simple, communication makes a - successful? it is very simple, | communication makes a great partnership. there is no question of
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it. no matter how difficult the situation is, byjust assuming what the other person is thinking, it does not work. however difficult the communication could be, when that communication could be, when that communication happens, it builds a real strength in communication and that no matter what hurdle comes your way you can challenge it. let's go back to our top story, this is inside the meeting, the first meeting of the executive today as northern ireland ends a two—year political deadlock. one seat was added to the table and that is to accommodate prime minister rishi sunak. it is his seventh visit as prime minister but the very first image northern ireland has a fully functioning government. he is set in between first minister michelle o'neill and the deputy first minister. please do stay with us on bbc news, there is much more to
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come. hello again. for many of us, it was a mild weekend but as we go through this week, the temperature is going to drop closer to where we would expect it to be at this time of year. now, today, we've got this weather front. it's been with us for a while. the met office has a yellow weather warning out for rain across parts of northern and western scotland. it expires this evening at nine o'clock and by then we could have had as much as 170 millimetres of rainfall — flood warnings in force. behind the rain we've got cold air, so the showers increasingly turning wintry. but ahead of the weather front, there's a lot of cloud around. and in the west, we're looking at some light rain and some drizzle, but mild for many, brisk winds today and cold as we push up towards the north—east. now through this evening and overnight this rain heads south, eventually getting into northern ireland and into northern england. there'll be some showers crossing
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the north of scotland, which will be heavy with hail and thunder. and for england and wales, it still is going to be a windy night, quite brisk winds and also fairly cloudy but mild in the north, comparatively colder. so into tomorrow, then. then the weather front continues to sink southwards. you can see from the squeeze on the isobars that it still is going to be quite windy across southern areas. and we've got the rain sitting across northern england, southern scotland and northern ireland heading into wales. as the cold air behind it digs in, we could see some wintriness on the hills here, and behind it, increasingly through the day, the wintry showers will be falling at low levels across parts of scotland. but there will be a lot of bright weather here, whereas in the south, although it's milder, it is going to remain fairly cloudy. now on wednesday, it looks like that weather front will clear but it will come back later in the day to the south—west. there will be a lot of dry weather around and again some wintry showers. these are the temperatures, two in lerwick to nine in london. but the milder air where we've got the cloud and the returning weather front. and it's that that's going to give us some
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complications in the forecast wednesday into thursday. we've got this area of low pressure pushing north, rain in the south, but it looks like we could well see some snow as well. this could change, i can't emphasise that enough, but it looks like the south will have a blustery day with the rain, but snow could well fall across parts of wales, parts of england and northern ireland eventually getting into southern scotland, but drier in the far north. news labs programme metadata.please do not edit or remove this pid= line as it's a reference to your particular programme
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hello and welcome to this bbc news special on the grammy awards. taylor swift has won the top prize for times. joining us are our culture correspondent, and also in the studio, host of the reliable source podcast, we also have ben beaumont thomas, he is the guardian�*s music editor, and also the bbc�*s music correspondent mark savage. we will be in la very shortly but first let's get a taste of the ceremony, which was hosted by trevor noah. it's the 66th annual grammy awards.

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