tv BBC News at One BBC News February 13, 2024 1:00pm-1:31pm GMT
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nearly 19 years after she was killed on duty, a murder trial into the death of pc sharon beshenivsky starts in leeds a staple of the british high street — the place for body butters and ethical beauty — the body shop faces a radical restructuring and how one community, fed up of flytipping, took matters into their own hands and coming up on bbc news... leah williamson has been named in the england squad for friendlies against austria and italy. it's herfirst recall since missing the world cup because of injury. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the labour leader is facing criticism for being too slow to withdraw support for the rochdale by—election candidate azhar ali
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after it emerged he made anti—semitic comments — apparently in a local meeting. the conservatives say it shows labour �*is unfit for government'. labour say that sir keir starmer took a �*swift decision�* in withdrawing backing for mr ali. our political correspondent peter saull has the story. this is azhar ali, he was until recently expected to become the next labour mp for rochdale. the election was expected to be a slam dunk for labour but what happened here in april caused fury, he said israel allowing the hamas attacks that killed 1200 people and killed spot the following conflict. labour said it was standing by its man until a recording apparently from the same meeting emerged and in it he discusses the treatment of the mp andy mcdonald who was suspended by the labour party for an alleged anti—semitic remark.
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that was the final straw in the labour party has withdrawn its support. labour party has withdrawn its su ort. ~ ,, . labour party has withdrawn its su--ort. ~ ,, ., , support. when it starmer became the leader of the — support. when it starmer became the leader of the labour _ support. when it starmer became the leader of the labour party _ support. when it starmer became the leader of the labour party he - support. when it starmer became the leader of the labour party he said - leader of the labour party he said he would change the party and expect every candidate and mp to operate to higher standards under the wood was a difficult decision, today he has put us words into action.- a difficult decision, today he has put us words into action. many are questioning _ put us words into action. many are questioning the — put us words into action. many are questioning the judgement - put us words into action. many are questioning the judgement of- put us words into action. many are questioning the judgement of the l questioning the judgement of the leader, was the candidate properly vetted and why didn't he act after the first comments came to light? this is a problem that labour party has to take about tackling forms of discrimination within the party of not using it as a factional weapon. when voters in rochdale get their ballot papers, the name of azhar ali
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will still appear next to the red rose of the labour party, he could still win and become an independent mp but this by—election is difficult to predict. the veteran left—wing campaigner george galloway is standing here as a dan shaka, himself a former labour mp now under the banner of reform uk and the conservatives are hoping to capitalise on the verse of the labour party. capitalise on the verse of the labour party-— capitalise on the verse of the labour party. capitalise on the verse of the labour pa . ., ,., ., , .,, capitalise on the verse of the labour pa . ., ., , .,, ., labour party. the labour party has a roblem labour party. the labour party has a problem and — labour party. the labour party has a problem and they're _ labour party. the labour party has a problem and they're demonstrating. problem and they're demonstrating they are not fit for government, they are not fit for government, they have not changed and they should not be voting in the election later in the year.— later in the year. there are nine da s to later in the year. there are nine days to go _ later in the year. there are nine days to go until— later in the year. there are nine days to go until the _ later in the year. there are nine days to go until the by-election| later in the year. there are nine - days to go until the by-election and days to go until the by—election and all of a sudden there's everything to play for and the man who hopes to be prime minister by the end of the year, it is a mass he could do without. peter saull, bbc news. we'll speak to our political correspondent hannah miller in a second but first our north of england reporter, rowan bridge, is in the constituency for us. how is this news being received, and what does it mean for
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the by—election? if you walk around the town centre you will be hard pressed to know there is a by—election taking place here, there's not much canvassing going on but if you stop or opinion you will find it is divided. we are talking about a straw poll rather than scientific survey but speaking to people you will see it runs the gamut, people certainly feel bad for the language of azhar ali was inflammatory he was tapping into a sense that keir starmer and the labour party should have taken a stronger stance over the conflict in the middle east, something george galloway has played on. but at the same time there are labour voters who clearly feel bitterly dismayed by what they have heard from azhar ali and really do not know where to turn. they say they want to go but do not know who they want to vote for. what a number of people have said as they think this could cost azhar ali the seat and the labour party held that with a 9500 majority
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at the last election but there is a thought some votes may be split into other parties and some voters may choose to stay at home and not bother to vote but what is clear they say a week is a long time in politics. this has been going on 48 hours for herein —— here in a much the labour party. 0ur political correspondent, hannah miller, is in westminster. this is a row that sir keir starmer could do without. keir this is a row that sir keir starmer could do without.— could do without. keir starmer needed a pledge _ could do without. keir starmer needed a pledge to _ could do without. keir starmer needed a pledge to tackle - needed a pledge to tackle anti—semitism and looking at how the past 48 hours had played out, relations with the jewish past 48 hours had played out, relations with thejewish community and the labour party are significantly better but there are really three questions now for sir keir starmer. the first is how deep—rooted are those views that you had in the clip earlier. are they still bear with members who were at
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that meeting? secondly, white was azhar ali afforded the benefit of the doubt in any way some people on the doubt in any way some people on the left of the labour party would suggest that they have not been given, people have been suspended forfour given, people have been suspended for four they see as being lesser crimes and more quickly. thirdly, i think the bigger kind of political question, why was this allowed to run for 48 hours in the way it did before the labour party support for azhar ali was withdrawn? what all of their stores is highlight really the divisions within the labour party, a point that keir starmer would prefer to be painting a picture of a party united. hannah miller and rowan bridge, thank you. the rochdale by—election will take place on the 29th february. here is the full list of candidates standing. the trial has started of a man accused of murdering pc sharon beshenivsky in 2005. the 38—year—old officer died after she was shot while she and a colleague responded
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to reports of a robbery in bradford. 75—year—old piran ditta khan, who was extradited from pakistan last year, denies all the offences. 0ur north of england correspondent, danny savage, is outside leeds crown court. many people will remember this case, that a pc sharon beshenivsky, and on duty west yorkshire police officer in november 2005, cold to a robbery at a travel agents outside bradford city centre but when she and her colleagues arrived at the scene, three armed men came out and shot her and her colleagues teresa milburn at almost point—blank range. sharon beshenivsky died at the
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scene, her colleague recovered. the prosecution says seven men were involved in the robbery, three of them in the building, for others acting as lookout and six of them were dry and arrested and are serving prison sentences but the seventh bomb the prosecution says is piran ditta khan who fled to pakistan the following january and was arrested and extradited to the uk last year, hence why he has gone on trial here. he was mercedes car, the prosecution say he organised the organised the robbery, the defendant was organised —— responsible for organising the robbery responsible for firearms being carried organising the robbery responsible forfirearms being carried us with the jury heard today. ewa swoboda a revolt on a reconnaissance mission, the week beforehand, he checked out the week beforehand, he checked out the area on a visit from london. he denies the charges and the trial is expected to last several weeks. danny, thank you. talks in cairo are expected to begin on a ceasefire for gaza between senior officials from the us, qatar, egypt and israel —
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as the international pressure for a truce grows. the meeting is due as israeli forces prepare to launch a ground offensive against hamas in rafah in southern gaza. almost 1.5 million people are sheltering in the overcrowded city and president biden has called for their protection. he's pressing strongly for the truce deal, which would release more of the hostages held by hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government. barbara plett usher reports from jerusalem. palestinians are on the move again. they went south to rafah to escape israel's war against hamas. more than a million took shelter there. now some are heading back north, afraid that their safe zone is no longer safe. this woman doesn't know what she'll find when she pitches her tent. "but there's been a lot of bombing in rafah", she says. airstrikes launched two nights ago killed dozens of palestinians.
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the intense bombardment was part of an operation to rescue israeli hostages. a boost for israel and they want more. translation: there will be more operations. - and in my opinion, the day is not far. there will be more operations. but the prime minister is also talking about sending troops into rafah, expanding the ground war to finish off hamas. he's promised a plan to evacuate all the civilians who've crowded into the city. but the united nations says that's not feasible. "forced displacement" is what they call it. you can't send people back to areas that is littered with unexploded ordnance. not to mention a lack of shelter. jordan's king was the latest arab leader to appealfor us help to end the conflict. president biden has not backed down from his support for israel's war aims, but he is pressing hard for a pause in the fighting. as the king and i discussed today, the united states is working on a hostage deal between israel
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and hamas, which would bring an immediate and sustained period of calm and good to gaza for at least six weeks, which we could then take the time to build something more enduring. israel's allies warn of a catastrophe if it takes its ground offensive into rafah and keep pushing for a ceasefire. there is already a framework for a temporary truce deal on the table that was drafted by egypt and israel and the united states and qatar which involves exchanging israeli hostages were palestinian prisoners in the period of calm to allow aid into gaza. the israeli prime minister last week rejected amendments to the document that hamas had made and he called them delusional but he agreed to send his intelligence chief to the talks in cairo to see if some progress could
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be made. even though he is talking about expanding the war, not opposing it. barbara plett—usher, thank you. hamas has warned there could be "tens of thousands" of casualties in rafah if israel does launch its ground—offensive. the hamas—run health ministry says more than 28,000 palestinians have been killed and nearly 68,000 wounded since the attacks on israel on 7th october. humanitarian workers from the palestinian red crescent society say the demands can be relentless. palestinian journalist feras al—ajarmi spent the first month of the war following paramedics across northern gaza. this is their story — and a warning, their stories are painful. he sobs.
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in response to that report, the israel defense forces said: "any claim that we intentionally target "red crescent or medical workers "is baseless and untrue. "we act in accordance with international law and take "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm in our operations." you can watch bbc arabic�*s full film, gaza 101: emergency rescue on bbc iplayer. has wage growth continued to stall but still outpaced price rises in the three months to december, official figures show. pay, excluding bonuses, grew by 6.2% in the final quarter of 2023, compared with the same period a year before. it's been a british high street favourite for decades, but the body shop is expected to appoint administrators later today. —— in the last few minutes the bbc has learned the body shop has
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appointed administrators. the company was set up in 1976 by the late dame anita roddick. while it's thought that today's move will result in the closure of stores, the brand itself is likely to survive. our business correspondent, theo leggett, reports. and you don't really need it on your hairfor more than half an hour at all. it all started with a single store in brighton. the body shop was founded by anita roddick and her husband gordon in the 1970s. it made its name selling natural health and beauty products, with a heady dash of environmentalism and social activism thrown in. our whole image is no packaging whatsoever. the minimal amount of packaging, the crappiest little labels which disintegrate in the water. i mean, there's nothing actually spent on a bottle other than what it's costing. it was a formula that really worked. the small store became a worldwide chain, attracting attention from celebrities and even princess diana. but in 2006 the body shop was sold to the cosmetics giant l'0real for £650 million. some fans saw that as a sell—out. anita roddick died a year later,
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and since then, the business has changed hands twice more and its commercial star has fallen. in its heyday, the body shop was extremely popular with young people who are attracted as much by its message of sustainability and socialjustice as by the products it sold themselves. but over the years, critics say some of that messaging has been lost and, at the same time, competition has become more intense. so now young people are taking their money elsewhere. back in brighton, where it all began, shoppers didn't seem surprised. the chain has fallen on hard times. i remember it from my childhood and it is a bit nostalgic. but, yeah, maybe it's not moved with the times. everyone loves body shop. it's one of those — you want a gift, you go to body shop, you want this, that or the other, you go to body shop. so, yeah, it is sad to hear. the eco message is more widespread and i don't think it's a strong here as it used to be because it used to be everything refillable pretty much years ago, so it doesn't feel like the same
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establishment at all. the body shop still has some 200 stores in the uk and 2000 employees. they now face an uncertain future. experts say major restructuring will be needed and the brand itself will need attention. i think it does need to make itself more vibrant and more edgy, but it shouldn't really jettison its traditional values. so the messaging needs perhaps a bit of editing and fine tuning, but not total reinvention. the world has changed since the days of anita roddick. to survive, the body shop will need to show it can appeal to a new generation of young and savvy shoppers. theo leggett, bbc news. the time is 13:20. our top story this afternoon... questions and criticism for labour over its handling of the party's candidate, azhar ali, for the rochdale by—election. and still to come: the children fighting to keep this youth centre open. coming up on bbc news: sven—goran eriksson will be part of the liverpool legends' management
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team for a charity match against ajax legends. the former england boss revealed he'd been diagnosed with terminal cancer last month. fly—tipping costs authorities across the uk an estimated £100 million a year to clean up. it's a blight that affects a growing number of communities, but police in warwickshire have thanked some villagers for fighting back. adam beaty and his family took matters into their own hands when they saw two men dumping rubbish near the village of meriden, as jo black reports. caught in the act — piles of rubbish dumped on a country lane in warwickshire. when flytipping was suspected, local families were prompted to take matters into their own hands. adam beaty, a farmer, was first to arrive. i whipped up there in the pick—up to find a large transit van, a high—sided transit van.
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he was just emptying the last of his rubbish out, actually. he saw me, jumped out of the back of the vehicle. he was quite abusive to me initially, and then my son came up in a pick—up behind me and he went quiet, thenjumped in the van, tried to turn around to speed off, initially got stuck. so his friend, who was there in another van, jumped out, had to push him out. and then they sped off up this track. after chasing them up farm track for around about a mile, i would think, we managed to block them in. the gamekeeper and my brother came in from the other end, wouldn't let the vans pass, and we blocked them in. the police were called and say they told the fly—tippers to reload the weight back into their vans. 90 minutes later, the vans were then seized and two men placed under investigation. the incident we saw on wednesday was significant in the fact that we had two full vans' worth
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of goods disposed on the side of the road in a careless manner that ultimately put other road users at risk. the refuse wasjust dumped at the side of the road in a careless way that has just left people having to pick up the pieces. luckily, on this occasion the farmers were there and able to stop them, but in a lot of occasions we don't see that and it can have such a large impact on the rural communities. so i commend their efforts and would thank them for the work that they did. although a significant problem in warwickshire, flytipping also blights many of our urban and rural spaces across the country. the latest figures released from defra show between 2022 and 2023, local councils dealt with 1.08 million flytipping incidents, a slight decrease of 1% from the year before. but these figures only show part of the problem, because they relate to public land. any rubbish dumped on private land becomes the problem of that landowner, who usually has to cover
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the cost of clearing it away. it makes me livid, to be honest. livid. i can guarantee that at least once a week we will get an issue with flytipping, no matter whether it be one bin bag, some tyres, drug paraphernalia. we get lots of marijuana plants and the rubbish that comes with them, dumped out, the metal piping... we get lots of builders' waste, where possibly bathrooms, kitchens have been done out. we'll get the empty baths, we'll get mattresses, we'll get bin bags full of babies' nappies — we get everything. warwickshire police says this incident was some of the worst flytipping its officers had seen in a long time. it also says people concerned about flytipping should not put themselves at risk, and call the police, because offenders sometimes dispose of hazardous waste, and that could be dangerous.
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jo black, bbc news. house building in big cities in england will be turbocharged by government changes to planning rules — so says the housing secretary michael gove. councils will be told to prioritise developments on former industrial, or brownfield, sites. the housing charity shelter said it had concerns about the quality of homes in commercial premises that had been converted into residential buildings. our home editor, mark easton, is here. turbo—charged, will it be? turbo-charged, will it be? housing in encland turbo-charged, will it be? housing in england will— turbo-charged, will it be? housing in england will almost _ turbo-charged, will it be? housing in england will almost certainly - turbo-charged, will it be? housing in england will almost certainly be| in england will almost certainly be one of the biggest issue is that the next general election and there is a clear divide between the two major parties, the labour party wants a big increase in the supply of affordable and social homes with a target of 300,000 every year, to achieve that they say they will be prepared to build in some cases on green belt. the conservatives, much
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more of a focus on brownfield sites. they do not want to tell tory councils particularly in rural areas that they must deal with housing needs, instead they want to encourage developers to look at town and city centres, turning shops and offices into homes, using planning controls to make it easier to build in town and city centres. will this be a turbo—charged way of increasing house—building? i'd be surprised if it makes much of a tent in our huge housing shortage.— housing shortage. thank you, mark easton. now a look at some other stories making the news today. shoppers are being warned they could struggle to find tea on supermarket shelves. sainsbury�*s has put up signs in some stores warning of nationwide problems. supplies have been affected by houthi attacks on shipping in the red sea. tetley tea, the country's second biggest tea brand, said supplies were "much tighter" than it would like, but the british retail consortium says the disruption is temporary. a survey of the impact of avian flu on seabirds around britain has
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revealed a dramatic decline in three species. numbers of great skuas were down by three—quarters compared with three years ago, while gannets and roseate terns also suffered badly. youth clubs can be a lifeline for young people, giving them confidence and teaching them valuable life skills. but a new report is warning those spaces are under threat following cuts to funding. the charity the ymca says the number of local authority—run centres in england has more than halved since 2011. in glossop, teenagers are trying to save their club, after the county council said it can no longer afford to run it, as john maguire reports. twice a week, every week, children can come here to the community centre on the gamesley estate near glossop and learn to box, to bake, and tonight, to make banners. that's because the building's threatened with closure.
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helen thornhill runs the hangout club. so helen, what does this place mean to people? it's a lifeline, really, for the young people that come. it's a safe space. it's a place where they can come and meet their friends, be sociable, get out the house, be active. there's a night for teenagers and a night for younger ones. 11—year—old mia tells me it's essential for local children. when this wasn't here everyone was, like, bored, like, getting upset and like, worried and things. but when this came along, everyone was happy, smiling, not confused, not angry. i come here every week because you can do boxing here and in there, all right, what you can do is you can do, like, cooking if you want which is good for, like, you can, like, do pool. you can buy some sweets, you know, which is really, really nice. buy some sweets? yeah.
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that sounds like a reason to come alone, doesn't it? and if you didn't come here, what do you think you'd be doing? i'd probablyjust be doing nothing. i'd be bored. it makes me happy when i go because, like, it's a safe place and it's a fun place to go. it stops, like... it stops people, like, walking around the streets and everything. the club is under threat, not because of any cuts to youth services, but because the community centre's owner, derbyshire county council, wants to close the building. in a statement, it says... the volunteers have launched a crowdfunding site in an attempt to save the club. they're young, they need to be active, they need to be doing things instead of being sat in their house. 0therwise we'll end up seeing them at my mental health group that i run in glossop. for the government's part, it says £1.6 billion of funding, and the national youth guarantee, aims in england to ensure that
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by 2025, every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home, and opportunities to volunteer. we will be somewhere for you all to still keep your club open, i guarantee it. and you can hold me to that. the passion and commitment of the volunteers will now be tested, but they remain determined to save this club — notjust for the children, but also for theirfamilies and the whole community. john maguire, bbc news, gamesley in derbyshire. now to a former british gymnast who's reached some dizzying heights. this is lucie colebeck and her guinness world record breaking performance at the royal albert hall. keep watching. lucie manages a staggering 36
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handsprings in less than 30 seconds on a trampoline. she usually only does five in a row when performing with cirque du soleil. amazing! makes me feel slightly sick. time for a look at the weather. here's elizabeth rizzini. a very different —looking day of weather across england and wales today than yesterday. some sorry looking daffodils earlier but also lots of sunshine still lasting across parts of scotland and towards the north of northern ireland, but even here it will turn unsettled through the rest of the week, we will see some much milderfeeling air too. this is the low pressure responsible for changing the weather, sending a warm front north and east across much of england and wales for the rest of the day, bringing thickening cloud, hill fell, showery outbreaks of rain, a
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