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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 17, 2024 10:30am-11:01am GMT

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mr trump says he will appeal. after months of fierce fighting, the ukrainian army says it has withdrawn from a key eastern town to avoid being surrounded by russian forces. a cry for unity for conservative unity from rishi sunak after his party's two big by—election defeats this week. and as london fashion week kicks off for its fortieth year, we take a look at some of the creations welcome back. protests have erupted across pakistan after some political parties said the recent general election was rigged. imran khan's pti party was denied permission to hold a protest in islamabad on saturday. let's speak to saher baloch
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who's in islamabad. thank you so much for your time. so, what's the full album from the elections?— what's the full album from the elections? ., ., , elections? right now there have been rotests elections? right now there have been protests across _ elections? right now there have been protests across pakistan, _ elections? right now there have been protests across pakistan, and - elections? right now there have been protests across pakistan, and imran l protests across pakistan, and imran khan's political parties been holding political rallies. they've been holding a rally in a parking going on to the press club, so there's a lot of barricades being put up across the city, and we have been formed by the islamabad police that section 194 has been imposed on the city which means there is a restriction of any kind of congregations within the city premises. there is a lot that is happening alongside what we also got to knowjust now that happening alongside what we also got to know just now that a happening alongside what we also got to knowjust now that a commissioner resigned after alleging there was a massive rigging in the elections, and that has also created quite a
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stir in pakistan. in and that has also created quite a stir in pakistan.— stir in pakistan. in relation to that, what — stir in pakistan. in relation to that, what is _ stir in pakistan. in relation to that, what is the _ stir in pakistan. in relation to that, what is the election - that, what is the election commission actually responded? the election commission actually responded? tue: election commission commission actually responded? tte: election commission of pakistan has said they have nothing to do this and that his allegations inaccurate, and that his allegations inaccurate, and also the caretaker government and also the caretaker government and said there should be a proper investigation into the allegations. there's a lot happening right now, especially when a lot of political parties have been saying and claiming that there was rigging in the elections, notjust in punjab, but across different promises to remote provinces. there are lots of process happening, and right now the commissioner's allegations have come at a very important time, because there is a lot of reflection that is thatis there is a lot of reflection that is that is needed. find there is a lot of reflection that is that is needed.— that is needed. and practically speaking. _ that is needed. and practically speaking. what _ that is needed. and practically speaking, what is _ that is needed. and practically speaking, what is this - that is needed. and practically speaking, what is this actually| that is needed. and practically - speaking, what is this actually mean for the stability of the political system in pakistan?— for the stability of the political system in pakistan? right now it is uuite an system in pakistan? right now it is quite an unstable _ system in pakistan? right now it is quite an unstable time. _ system in pakistan? right now it is quite an unstable time. for - quite an unstable time. for instance, the coalition government should have informed a while ago but
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a while. also a major political parties do not want to form a government in the capital, which also speaks a lot about how weak this government is going to be if it is formed. also at the same time there are allegations of massive rigging, so there is also creating quite a lot of disruptions in what should have been a drop down a while ago. it is being presumed that any government that gets formed will be a coalition government because there is a majority that no party got, so they were to sit together to do it. imran khan is pti so they will not sit with two other parties, so it means a lot of people are saying that imran khan still wants to talk with the establishment and clear his way to come back once again. thank ou so way to come back once again. thank you so much — way to come back once again. thank you so much for— way to come back once again. thank you so much for that _ way to come back once again. thank you so much for that update - way to come back once again. thank you so much for that update from i you so much for that update from
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islamabad. the prime minister, rishi sunak, has urged what he calls the "conservative family" to come together. it follows the tory pa rty�*s losses in thursday's by—elections. labour won two seats, overturning large conservative majorities in kingswood and wellingborough. our political correspondent charlotte wright explained the message rishi sunak was trying to send to his party. i think he is trying to say, stick with me. it was a bruising day yesterday for the conservatives, two big losses in those by—elections in wellingborough and kingswood. labour won both, taking the seats off the tories. many conservative mps are feeling despondent, at the very least, about it, about their experience and about their chances at the next election, which we know is due later this year. rishi sunak took to the telegraph, a newspaper read by a lot of conservative party members, activists and, crucially, mps, to say, stick with me, stick with my plan, and he's calling for the conservative family, as he calls it, to come together and back his plan.
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it is clearly a message directly to conservative party members, but also to his own mps in a week when they have been having a pretty tricky time. it seems like a bit of a rallying cry to say, support me, don't think about anything else, you know, stick with me and my plan. and this comes off the back of the by—election defeats to labour, and reform uk came third in both votes. yes, so, labour one both by—elections, but reform uk are a party that the conservatives are worried about. they are the former brexit party, their honorary president is nigel farage. they came third in both of these by—elections — and it's the first example, really, we have seen of this party taking support from the conservatives, something many conservatives had been worried about. well, at this electoral test, these two electoral tests, the party it reform uk
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did just that. we heard a little earlier from the deputy leader of reform uk. this is what he's had to say. kingswood is a particularly telling by—election, because it is was seat in which we did not expect to do well. it's quite a sort of liberal democratic area, and we were expecting rupert lowe, who stood, not to do as well as he did, but to get 10% from a standing start in kingswood, really tells you the small c conservative vote in this country is extremely disillusioned with the conservative party. in wellingborough i did slightly better than rupert and got 13% of the vote. the entire swing of the conservative voter basically was to reform uk. to the extent they came out, they came out for reform uk. you heard reform uk's deputy leader feeling very pleased about the performance in those two by—elections. it has prompted some conservative mps to speak out, in particular mps who call themselves the new conservatives
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when grouping within the party, to say that the prime minister needs to go further on things like tackling immigration and bringing down taxes. crucially, though, there doesn't seem to be a threat, an imminent threat, to his leadership at the moment. we have talked about that in previous weeks and months, but it seems that the judgment from conservative mps at the moment is that to have a leadership election right now would not work this close to the general election, michael howard, the former leader of the conservative party has written to the telegraph saying a leadership election i would be madness. it doesn't seem there is a threat to rishi sunak cosmic authority at the moment, but clearly that party is feeling very despondent about those by—election results and he has a lot to do to them back around the table. some breaking news on the death of
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alexei navalny, we have word from a spokesperson from him, that the russian leader is confirmed to be dead. he died at two 17p on local time. the news has now been confirmed. we have an additional piece of information from alexei navalny�*s spokesperson, that is that his body is with investigators. you may have heard our interview with the un special rapporteur who insisted that that body needed to go through an independent investigation to determine the cause of death. we now have confirmation from the spokesperson that he has indeed died while in custody in a penal colony and that he died on february the 16th. the document was delivered to his mother. we will have more for
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you as you receive more updates on that story. many sub—postmasters who were wrongly accused of theft and fraud are still fighting for compensation — despite the scandal now being recognised as one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice in uk history. the cases taking the longest to solve involve the victims who were forced to declare bankruptcy in order to pay back the losses they were accused of making. our business correspondent, emma simpson, has more. tony downey is finally heading back to his old home in the lake district. it has taken him 15 years to have the courage to return. tony fled abroad when the post office ruined him. we lost everything. we lost our business, we lost our home, i lost my health. wejust up and ran. we didn't even say goodbye. we were too embarassed. wejust ran. thank you. tony bought the hawkshead post office in 2001.
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he said it was buzzing and a dream come true. it's a childcare centre now. what's it like to be back? overwhelming, to be honest. a lot of emotions after 15 years of not coming back here. here it is, your old business. very bleak. angry that, you know, this should have been ours — our business. and now i live in spain in a rented apartment with no career, you know, no money, no pension, no nothing. tony had £35,000 of shortfalls at his branch. he and his wife used their savings and credit cards to balance the books when another £7,000 of losses appeared. they couldn't pay any more. tony resigned and sold up, advised to go bankrupt two months later. my health started to decline. i got headaches, stress, anxiety, social anxiety, and it got a lot worse than that. i didn't realise how bad it was until we got the medical records, you know?
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i was suicidal. tony, hi! he's still nervous about who he may meet here, but not diane. it has been a while, hasn't it? sorry, it's such a bad thing to have to do. she bought the post office from him — and guess what, she had shortfalls, too. yeah, it's difficult, isn't it? horrible, honestly. i swore i'd never step foot in hawkshead again. it was tony who encouraged her to claim for compensation. i've been on antidepressants ever since all this ever started. we had several audits. each time, they were demanding money. the last one that we have said, "right, you either pay £1200 "now or you're going to be prosecuted" and you think, "0h, crikey!" you know, "i'm going to be led out of here in handcuffs!" this isn't — this is awful. well, we had £3000 and they literally made my wife go to the bank and she went up to my friends there to borrow money and we had to pay it by 4:30. i thought it was me, you thought it was you. i thought it was me.
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and it wasn't. no. it was the computer system. and the same post office. same post office. exactly, same post office. yep, same problems. here's the thing. the post office has accepted that horizon was to blame for tony's losses at his branch, but they won't admit causing his bankruptcy. so far, he's ended up with just £10,000 worth of damages, far less than he's owed. the rest of the £140,000 worth of compensation has gone straight to the official receiver to pay off his bankruptcy debts. it's an insult. at the moment, they're not even close to putting me back to where i would've been but they have to admit the causation before they'll do that. you know, in my opinion, is that a reason why they're not? because then it opens the floodgates to, you know, a proper claim? in a statement, the post office said...
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tony is doing that. his legal team are dealing with most of the bankruptcy cases. the enemy is time. the fear and worry that we have is that people are left in a situation where they've got to throw the towel in because time is running out and they want some sort of resolution and some sort of access to money, but the risk there is that they don't get the right level of compensation. he believes tony's got a very strong case. just how long it will take to unravel? but at least tony's still young enough to keep fighting. emma simpson, bbc news, hawkshead.
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a huge step forward in the treatment of parkinson's disease could transform the lives of nearly a thousand people. nhs england is to roll out produodopa, a new system that uses a pump to steadily release medicine into the bloodstream around the clock. many patients currently need to take more than 20 pills a day to control their symptoms. earlier, we spoke to professorjames palmer is nhs england's medical director for specialised services about the new treatment. yeah, it's a great step forward for a whole host of patients with parkinson's disease. levodopa is actually quite an old drug — it came out in the 1960s, and the difference now is that this drug company has managed to make that drug very soluble so it can be given into the skin, so it can be infused as a continuous infusion. why that such a leap forward is that when patients with advanced parkinson's
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disease take their tablets, they have periods of time when they are getting an overdose of drug, or periods of time where they are getting an underdose of drug, and it can wreck their day, so they can have moments where they can hardly move, and other moments where they are moving too much. this infusion by a special pump that goes under the skin allows that drug to just to be continuously delivered at a steady rate and makes such a major difference to a patient�*s day. and do you believe that all people with the disease can actually benefit from this treatment? it's not for everybody. there are oral drugs for parkinson's disease, in the early parts of parkinson's disease, that work just as well. it's the fact that when you get through into the more advanced stages of parkinson's disease, you have to have more and more drugs, because the body becomes more tolerant to the drugs — you need more dosing, which makes the issue of over—dosing and under—dosing. there are other treatments available for parkinson's disease on the nhs, such as deep brain stimulation,
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other drug treatments, so it fits within a tool box of other treatments that are available, so it's not for everybody. and what have you heard from patients who are looking forward to this sort of treatment? some of the stories and anecdotes of how they suffered when they can't deal with other treatments? well, a great one is, because it's infusing all the time, right through the night, as well, patients with severe parkinson's disease can have periods of time at night when they can't properly turn over in bed because of their movement problems, or get up safely in the middle of the night, so these sorts of things allow patients to be able to do the simple things, and patients with severe parkinson's disease, they start their day, theyjust don't know, when are they going to be able to move, or when are they going to be able to do things? so, they can actually open the day with the infusion and actually plan to do something. since the creation of the nhs in 1948, people from all over the world have travelled to britain
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to work for the service — but their vital roles have been largely ignored. now, an exhibition is telling their personal stories through photography, film and interactive storytelling. cathy killick has the story. hello! hi, gloria! it's 30 years since jan and gloria have seen each other but they share a bond no woman forgets. back in 1994, jan gave birth to her son and gloria was her midwife. we were a team. as soon as you become pregnant and you came to see me, i'm part of the pregnancy. gloria made an unforgettable impact onjan's life, providing care and support at a momentous time. and over her 30—plus years as a midwife, she helped thousands of expectant mothers. she came to the uk from st kitts in 1968, aged just 18, and fought hard to be trained as a state registered nurse. oh, i look back at it very fondly. i have enjoyed my training —
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and i was trained very well in the nhs — and i've enjoyed working in the nhs. gloria's contribution is celebrated in a pop—up exhibition in trinity leeds called migration and the making of the nhs. it tells the stories of the immigrants who gave their working lives to the health service. the nhs wouldn't really exist from its beginning, but also still now, without migration. a lot of what we learn is in textbooks and history books but these are really just stories of everyday people. file: the nigerian nurse was working when the pictures were taken. - while the nhs depended on these workers, for many, life was tough. they faced prejudice and discrimination trying to find homes and, despite being fully trained, some patients were openly racist. it's a really emotional exhibition. i mean, lots of people have welled up and cried. some of the stories, itjust brings disappointment that these things have happened, and for me, it makes me
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want to be part of ensuring that this doesn't continue. i found that quite shocking and it really upset me. to read that gloria had some negative experiences from people who, quite frankly, are just so ignorant. i couldn't have chosen anybody better to be my midwife. gloria is rightly proud of her career and has kept her delivery kit. she's part of a living history, at last getting the recognition it has long deserved. it's a long time coming because we've given so much but it should be there as a legacy to see how we've helped to build the nhs. cathy killick, bbc news. the japanese space agency has launched its new flagship h—three rocket on a two—hour test flight, after years of delays and two aborted attempts.
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the h3 had a successful liftoff from kagoshima on saturday and the space agency says the rocket has already released one micro—satellite. the agency hopes the h3�*s lower costs and greater payload capacity than its predecessor will help it win launch orders from global clients. dhara patel is a space expert at the uk's national space centre. she has more onjapan's hopes for the new rocket. so, the h3 rocket from the japanese aerospace exploration agency is one that debuted on its inauguralflight last year but it didn't go successfully. so, last march it attempted to launch and unfortunately the second stage of the rocket did not ignite, and from ground control they had to basically have a controlled explosion which meant that the satellite aboard was also destroyed. it's had setbacks and delays in various missions, the
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test flight that has just happened now, successful as it was, really does put japan back now, successful as it was, really does putjapan back in does put japan back in that competitive mix.— does put japan back in that competitive mix. what about the exoeriments _ competitive mix. what about the experiments that _ competitive mix. what about the experiments that it _ competitive mix. what about the experiments that it is _ competitive mix. what about the experiments that it is supposed l competitive mix. what about the l experiments that it is supposed to carry out? experiments that it is supposed to car out? ., experiments that it is supposed to car out? . �*, ., ., ., carry out? yeah, so it's got to what we call secondary _ carry out? yeah, so it's got to what we call secondary payloads - carry out? yeah, so it's got to what we call secondary payloads on - carry out? yeah, so it's got to what l we call secondary payloads on board, two satellites for observation purposes. one of them will be conducting optical imagery and videos of the earth cosmic surface to help with disaster management, and the other one is an infrared sensor helping to analyse the earth cosmic surface temperature. the primary payload is actual record a dummy payload or a dummy mass, the idea is that this is a dumbbell shaped mass to basically simulate or replicate the satellite that was on the very first h3 launch. that expensive satellite, roughly £150 million, was lost. so, on this flight they have not put that
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satellite on board. they are using a dummy payload to test out the h3�*s performance and test its mechanisms, how it would launch a satellite into space. it looks so far like that has been successful, so we will look to see that satellite launch soon forced their way on the catwalk, as london fashion week gets under way. among them, will be the �*daisy chain' charity — whose creations have been made from thousands of bags of old clothes and fabrics — to showcase the problem of fashion waste. gerry jackson reports. just a couple of the 2000 bags of clothing and accessories that arrive at the daisy chain warehouses every week. some can be sold on but what can't might still be useful. we know that we're kind of the last stop for these textiles before they might end up in landfill so we decided to do something with the textiles that would give them a bit more longevity and a bit more life in the fashion world. neuthreads is this charity's answer to our global throwaway
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culture, using every fabric, textile, even handbags and luggage straps — new clothing can be created that's not only unique but good enough to catch the eye of the fashion industry's trendsetters. this dress is made from a duvet cover. some of you might know and recognise this. and then we got the cuffs from a child's jacket and we used it as the sleeves. we also used the zips from handbags and we used the zips from other things that we put onto these to create the whole design, so every one is unique in its own way. unique and sustainable and the ambition doesn't end there. all profits are being ploughed back into causes supporting north—east people with autism and other neurodivergent gent conditions. as far as i'm aware nobody does what we do. certainly no—one does this in the northeast of england — for design and environmental design but also ethical where we are ploughing the money back, straight back into social enterprise
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which affects people's lives in the northeast of england, to enable them to live a better life if you're neurodiverse. there's lots more where this came from, but sadly, what they're actually taking to london fashion week is a fairly closely—guarded secret. national lottery money has helped get them this far but it's hoped their own catwalk at fashion week could really make success materialise. it's just beyond our wildest dreams. we just never thought this something like this would happen, with hundreds of people coming to see our designs in the biggest stage in the uk for fashion so we don't know where this could go. it could only go up, we hope, so it's just going to get bigger and bigger. gerry jackson, bbc news. before we go we want to remind you of the news we broke earlier and thatis of the news we broke earlier and that is that a spokesperson tar that is that a spokesperson for alexei navalny has confirmed his death. she said he died at 217 local
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time on the 16th of february, nuts according to a document given to alexey�*s mother. his body is currently with investigators, and his family reaction to this latest news have called for the immediate release of alexei navalny�*s body and for it to be returned to the family. we spoke to a un special rapporteur for human rights who insisted that an independent investigation of the body was necessary. as a reminder, alexei navalny, at 47 years old, has died in custody of rocha, he resigned a penal colony since 2021, and that was based on charges of extreme asian that were politically motivated. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafernaker. hello. after a dry and mild start to the day, the afternoon for most
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of us isn't looking too bad, but clouds will be thickening through the afternoon, and out towards the west it will already be raining by early afternoon, i think, and if you look at the satellite picture you can see a weather front sweeping towards the uk, and that clearer weatherjust ahead of it, so i think some brightness along the east coast, maybe around the midlands, the south—east, too, this is around four o'clock in the afternoon, but out in the west you can see it's wet. on top of that it's going to be quite windy, as well. where you see the green splodges, that is where the rain is heavier, for example, around the lake district, south—western scotland, through northern ireland and into the western isles, but notice that around the north—east of scotland, actually, it's still relatively bright on saturday, and as temperatures in the north about 10, but in the south it's closer to around 14 or 15 degrees. now, all of us are in for some rain tonight. it will be quite heavy,
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and particularly heavy i think in the south of the country through the early hours of sunday morning, and it's going to be a mild night. in scotland, in aberdeen, around 7 degrees, 10 expected in liverpool, that's the morning temperature on sunday, and 12 in the south. now, we are a little uncertain as to how soon this rain is going to clear from east anglia and the south—east, so, yes, a wet start for many of us, for sure, but that weather front could drag its heels around this corner of the country. i think that by the time we get to around early afternoon we should be all in mostly sunny weather, and certainly the further north and west you are. temperatures 12 in glasgow, 13 in birmingham, in plymouth it will also be about 13 — add a degree on top of that, i think, in the south—east. now, monday, a weak weather front will sweep across the country, and then this high pressure will build. here is that weak weather front in the morning. that will produce some rain, some showers for a time, then i think the skies will clear a little bit later on in the day.
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temperatures about what we have been used to, maybe a shade lower, say 9 in stornoway, about 10 in liverpool and 13 or in london, and if you're planning the week it is looking unsettled. it's going to be often wet, windy at times, temperatures still into double figures and then at the end of the week ahead it could turn a little bit colder. bye— bye.
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live from london, this is bbc news. as demonstrations and vigils continue around the world, alexei navalny�*s spokeswoman confirms his death. speaking at the munich security conference, volodymyr zelensky warns alexei navalny�*s death highlights the dangers of the putin regime. vladimir putin kills whoever he wants. be it an opposition leader or anyone else who seems like a target. exactly to him. a new yorkjudge ordered donald trump to pay more than $350 million.
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mr trump says he will appeal. in the past few minutes, supporters of alexei navalny have confirmed his death in prison. a spokesperson said an official note had been given to his mother. the spokesperson demanded that mr navalny�*s body be handed over to the family immediately. as vigils continue, more than 100 people are reported to have been detained in cities across russia. shrines in honour of mr navalny have appeared across russia, in defiance of the authorities. alexei navalny was 47 years old and was president vladimir putin's most prominent and outspoken opponent. in the us, presidentjoe biden said that mr putin was responsible for mr navalny�*s death and that it was yet more proof of his brutality.
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the bbc�*s sarah rainsford has this report for us.

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