Skip to main content

tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 19, 2024 9:00am-9:31am GMT

9:00 am
oppenheimer! oppenheimer was the big winner at the bafta _ oppenheimer! oppenheimer was the big winner at the bafta film _ oppenheimer! oppenheimer was the big winner at the bafta film awards - oppenheimer! oppenheimer was the big winner at the bafta film awards last - winner at the bafta film awards last night, taking home seven prizes. hello, i'm anna foster. the mother of the russian opposition leader alexei navalny has been refused access to his body for a third day. his representatives say she was not allowed to enter the mortuary near the remote arctic prison where he suddenly died last week. the navalny family representative said — the announcement of alexei navalny�*s death has sparked international outrage. the uk foreign secretary lord david cameron said "there should be consequences",
9:01 am
and us presidentjoe biden has said that putin is to blame. navalny�*s widow yulia, is due to address european foreign ministers in brussels today, on the invitation of the eu's foreign policy chiefjoseph borrell. the bbc�*s chief international correspondent lyse doucet spoke with him about the significance of the invitation, and the wider concerns around russia and ukraine. it is a way of, first, honouring navalny. secondly, to express our deep sorry for this death and third, and maybe the most important thing, is to provide a voice to the russian opposition. because in russia, there are people who want to live in freedom — as you and me — and these people have been fighting, together with navalny. and many which are anonymous has also been sent to jail and may be dead and these people deserve support. that was joseph borrell. let's speak to our eastern europe
9:02 am
correspondent sarah rainsford. the suggestion is that some kind of investigation is taking place and that that has been extended. what do we know for sure? this that that has been extended. what do we know for sure?— we know for sure? this is a comment that's come — we know for sure? this is a comment that's come from _ we know for sure? this is a comment that's come from navalny's _ that's come from navalny's spokeswoman and she has said exactly that, that the investigative committee, a powerful body in russia, has informed theirfamily that its investigations and inquiries are ongoing, it is ongoing. there is no timeframe for when it might finish and there are even no interim results. so no official word on why exactly alexei navalny died on friday afternoon. so all we have now still is the prison service's initial statement which says he was out, they say, for a walk in the prison facilities at the prison there and that he collapsed suddenly and he died because medics could not resuscitate him. very
9:03 am
little information coming forward. also alexei navalny's mother who had been up in the arctic region for several days trying to get access to his body has been refused access to the mortuary where she thought his body was being held but where in fact staff have not even confirm that basic fact. that is why all navalny's kemar concerned and accusing the authorities are potentially covering up what happened, trying to cover up what has happened by delaying the entire process. has happened by delaying the entire rocess. ~ . , _, process. what is the continuing international _ process. what is the continuing international reaction _ process. what is the continuing international reaction to - process. what is the continuing international reaction to that? l process. what is the continuing international reaction to that? i international reaction to that? i think there is of course concern and it is interesting that today, yulia navalny, even at this hideous time for her as a wife now is a widow, is in brussels and will be speaking to eu foreign ministers today to try to keep pressing home the message that alexei navalny's family and team believe how well however he died on
9:04 am
friday, they hold the russian authorities directly responsible for everything that's happened to him. i think the fundamental thing to remember in all of this is alexei navalny was in prison because of his political position, because he was the most vocal, the most obvious, the most vocal, the most obvious, the most vocal, the most obvious, the most powerful to vladimir putin and he was first poisoned in 2020 with a weapons grade novichok and when he survived it and went back to russia he was thrown in prison. he was there serving extremely long consecutive prison sentences, charged on multiple charges but essentially he was imprisoned because of oe was because of its politics. because of oe was because of its olitics. ,,. . because of oe was because of its olitics. ., , ., because of oe was because of its olitics. ., , , ., politics. sarah, you. -- because of who he was- _ a member of israel's war cabinet has given hamas a deadline to release all the hostages — or the military will launch its offensive in rafah. benny gantz said that unless they were freed by the start of ramadan — expected to be on the tenth
9:05 am
of march — israeli troops would move into the city. rafah is currently overcrowded with at least 1.4 million palestinians sheltering there, after being made to move away from northern and central parts of the strip. speaking on sunday, mr gantz, a former defence minister in the israeli goverment, said the message was clear. if by ramadan hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere — to include rafah area. we will do so in coordinated manner, facilitating the evacuation of civilians, in dialogue with our american and egyptian partners to minimise the civilian casualties as much as possible. with more on this — let's speak to our correspondent, jenny hill. there has been much talk already of an offensive in rafah but this is the first time we have had some sort of clear indication of a possible date? that is correct, we have not had a
9:06 am
timeline or a deadline before. essentially, it means that if the israelis are serious about this and if negotiations don't come up with a temporary ceasefire or the return of those hostages, and at this stage it doesn't look as if that is anywhere on the horizon, then there are just three weeks to get more than i million three weeks to get more than! million displaced civilians out of harms way before that ground offensive begins. that of course is the subject of focus of huge international concern. it was quite interesting that benny gantz made these comments at a meeting of jewish—american leaders last night. the us of course, israel's closest ally, has been amongst the most vocal of foreign governments, urging the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to show the restraint and at least have a care to millions of civilians sheltering there. over the weekend, we heard from him striking a really defiant tone in the face of
9:07 am
that growing international pressure. his position of course is that there are battalions of hamas fighters still in rafah, he says, and he has insisted over the weekend several times over that he intends to push on with his plans and as he puts it, "finish thejob". you on with his plans and as he puts it, "finish the job".— "finish the 'ob". you spoke about movin: "finish the job". you spoke about moving those _ "finish the job". you spoke about moving those sheltering - "finish the job". you spoke about. moving those sheltering palestinians in rafah out of harms way, what are the realistic options to actually do that at the moment?— the realistic options to actually do that at the moment? well, as many aid agencies — that at the moment? well, as many aid agencies are _ that at the moment? well, as many aid agencies are saying, _ that at the moment? well, as many aid agencies are saying, there - that at the moment? well, as many aid agencies are saying, there are i aid agencies are saying, there are not really any good options. we have seen some people leaving rafah. it is of course the southernmost city. these people are sheltering at the southernmost point of gaza, against the egyptian border. quite literally in some cases, people intents next to the border wall. it is possible for people to head to the north and west of rafah but the ground there is simply open scrubland. aid
9:08 am
agencies warning there are no facilities for people there. as we already know, conditions in rafah itself are very difficult, it is very difficult for people to get hold of food, clean water and so on, let alone medical supplies. if they move to these other areas, the thinking goes they will be on an even more difficult situation. many of these people have been displaced several times over. you will remember at the beginning of this military operation, which israel launched in response to the october the 7th attacks, israel itself told civilians to get out of gaza city, then to get out of khan younis to get out of harms way as israeli troops swept from the north down through the centre of the gaza strip. now of course they are at the southernmost point without anywhere to go. there is the possibility that some of them i try to cross the border into egypt. it is a border which is close to them. we have seen reports in recent days that egypt looks to be building some kind of
9:09 am
enclosure on its side of the border, they suspicion it might be used as a facility to house people who come across the border and the egyptian authorities have denied that they are making any such preparations. jenny, thank you. jenny hill in jerusalem. headteachers in england have been given government guidance on how to stop children from using mobile phones in schools. ministers had already committed to introducing a ban last year — but many schools already have their own restrictions in place and there are questions over how much of a difference this new advice will make. yunus mulla reports. i need that one too. good friends and in the first year of high school. but with year seven, there's also more time on their mobiles and screen time away from home. i can't find my friends at school because we normally have different... sometimes we have different lessons. sometimes, i need to contact my parents. perhaps no surprise to find talk of taking those devices away during school hours hasn't gone down well. like when you're trying to learn,
9:10 am
it can be distracting. but like, i don't really see the harm at, like, lunchtime or break. i think it would, like, take away your freedom when you needed to call your parents or talk about something you don't know how to talk to a teacher about. for parent olivia, her daughter having a mobile away from home is reassuring. and although the school has a strict policy, there are concerns. outside influences, i guess, sort of having access to the internet — that worries me and that she's not concentrating at school. and again, bullying is probably the biggest thing for me. according to government data, almost a third of secondary school pupils said mobile phones were being used without permission. one survey found 44% of primary school parents are concerned about the time their children spend on electronic devices. that figure increases to half of all parents in secondary schools. many schools already have restrictions in place
9:11 am
when it comes to using mobiles in classrooms and on school premises. the guidance is aiming to make that approach consistent across all schools and they will be supported. in recent weeks, the mother of brianna ghey has called for tougher regulations on the use of social media. her daughter's killers had accessed and watched harmful and extremely violent material on their phones. i would like to see the law changed, so that children only have access to children's mobile phones. that could look exactly the same as an adult�*s mobile phone, but without the ability to download social media apps. year six is kind of the prime... you know, they're that little bit older, it's that transition to secondary school. tony guise is currently the longest serving secondary school headteacher in calderdale, west yorkshire. he doesn't know of a single headteacher, who hasn't already taken action. the problem isn't the phones. the problem is what's on the phones. it's the social media and access
9:12 am
to social media on the phones that is causing the issue. isn't it a sign that government is making this a priority for you? when i go into school on monday, this isn't going to be on the top of my to do list. finding the next maths teacher, the next science teacher will be. balancing my next budget where school funding has not kept up with inflation. that's on my to do list. wondering which hit of the roof has blown off in the storm or which leaks i'm going to have to patch because of the rain — that'll be on my to do list. but actually, we implemented a mobile phone policy a long time ago. the move is being seen as bringing england in line with other countries, including france and italy. but some will question if it is too little too late. yunus mulla, bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a major search operation is under way after a child fell into the river soar in leicester. police say the two—year—old boy was with his family when he fell into the water on sunday afternoon.
9:13 am
a man was taken to hospital. in bristol — two 15—year—old boys have been charged with the murder of another teenager. 16—year—old darrian williams was fatally stabbed in rawnsley park play area in the easton area of the city. the two attackers were wearing masks and fled the scene on bicycles. they have also each been charged with possessing a knife in a public place. the business secretary kemi badenoch will make a statement to mp5 today, after accusing the former chairman of the post office of misrepresenting the circumstances of his departure. it follows a newspaper interview in which henry staunton claims he was told by a senior civil servant to stall compensation payments for victims of the post office scandal. you're live with bbc news. let's look at ukraine now. this week marks the second anniversary of the start of the war,
9:14 am
and as russian forces make advances in the east, there are concerns over what a third year of conflict may bring. our correspondent andrew harding has returned to the town of lyman, close to the frontline, to find out how people there are feeling. how do you judge the mood of a country this big and this broken? we've come back to a frontline town, lyman, a place seized by russian forces and then liberated by ukraine back in 2022. since then, the closest frontlines have remained just up the road. this was aleksander a year ago with his cats. aleksander? yes. andrew from bbc. today, he's still here. "yes, i remember you," he says. he shows me the wreckage of his old apartment block, hit by russian missiles.
9:15 am
and he says he sees this war differently now. i want peace, peace, peace. so has your opinion changed? changed — many changed. so this is interesting. he's changed his opinion over the course of the last year. before, he said ukraine had to win this war. now he's saying there's been too much death, too much suffering. he wants talks, even if it means giving up land. peace is more important than victory. you can feel the weariness on the streets of lyman. british aid distributed here, mostly to pensioners, who ignore the sound of another explosion on the front lines. "our youth are being exterminated." "if this continues, there'll be no ukraine left," says nadezhda. "this war will go on for a long time yet," says pasha. but it's not all gloom here. council workers are out doing
9:16 am
what they can and a younger generation isjust getting on with life. school is mostly online, but not entirely. "i've got everything i need," she says. a year ago, we found families hiding from the war in these cellars. and today, the dmitrichenko family are still here. but there's regular electricity now, waterfrom a pump outside, and irina, an accountant, is quietly determined. "we're waiting for victory," she says. "we are all tired, but i don't see how we can negotiate with murderers." still, lyman's mayor is worried that america will stop supplying weapons to the ukrainian troops protecting his town.
9:17 am
"we're fighting a monster," says aleksander. "so we need more outside military help. our soldiers are doing their best, but they're running out of guns and ammunition." this small town feels torn between determination and despair. what unites it now is sheer exhaustion, the knowledge that this war will not be quickly won, and increasingly, the fear that ukraine's fate may yet be decided by foreign politicians in faraway capitals. andrew harding, bbc news, in eastern ukraine. police in papua new guinea say they'll use all necessary force to quell an outbreak of tribal violence in the country's highlands region. it follows the killing of dozens of men in an ambush in enga province. it's an area that has struggled with tribal violence for a long time — but it has escalated recently due
9:18 am
to an influx of illegal firearms. the czech authorities are preparing for a mass protest by farmers today in the capital, prague. hundreds of tractors are expected to park outside the agriculture ministry to demand the government ends support for the eu's green deal. the farmers say plans to halve pesticides, reduce fertiliser use and slash greenhouse gas emissions will spell ruin for their livelihoods. let's speak to our prague correspondent, rob cameron. gave a flavour of it there but what exactly is expected today? $5 gave a flavour of it there but what exactly is expected today?- exactly is expected today? as you can probably _ exactly is expected today? as you can probably see _ exactly is expected today? as you can probably see behind - exactly is expected today? as you can probably see behind me, - exactly is expected today? as you . can probably see behind me, farmers from across the country have brought their tractors into prague, into the city centre, and they are parked right along the main north—south highway that cuts through the city. if i stand out of the way, you can see them stretch all the way back behind me. that goes all the way to
9:19 am
back to the main square. i think a lot of people have heeded the authorities are part of a warning to work from home today and bring their cars because the traffic is quite fluid now. so these fears that the city would be brought to a standstill by perhaps up to !000 tractors chugging into the city centre and being parked in the city centre and being parked in the city centre had so far not come to pass. but those farmers are angry, they are angry not only at the eu's green deal but also at the spiralling costs of farming, at the worsening bureaucracy, high energy costs and the risk of cheap imports coming into this country which they say affect their profits. so a litany of woes that they say the government is failing to tackle.— failing to tackle. does the government _ failing to tackle. does the government actually - failing to tackle. does the government actually have failing to tackle. does the i government actually have a failing to tackle. does the - government actually have a plan to try and balance these two competing narratives? , ., .,
9:20 am
narratives? they do, and the government _ narratives? they do, and the government has _ narratives? they do, and the government has stressed - narratives? they do, and the | government has stressed that narratives? they do, and the - government has stressed that they have had talks with the farmers unions and the associations. in fact, there were talks with the agricultural minister who came out of the ministry behind me to speak to these farmers this morning, and that they are listening and they are trying to do what they can to lessen the burden for farmers trying to do what they can to lessen the burden forfarmers in trying to do what they can to lessen the burden for farmers in this country. but it is also important i think to stress that this is a minority of farmers and agricultural associations in this country represented today. many farmers have stayed at home, saying these guys have political ambitions, they criticise them for being close to prague right and pro—russia political groupings and they think that those farmers are being used by these politicians in the months ahead of the european parliament elections. . ~ ahead of the european parliament elections. ., ~ , ., ., , ., , elections. thank you, rob. rob cameron in— elections. thank you, rob. rob cameron in prague. _ when conjoined twins marieme and ndeye were born in senegal, doctors only expected them
9:21 am
to survive for a few days. at the age of two, they moved to the uk for treatment at great ormond street hospital — and since then, the girls have defied all the odds and recently celebrated their seventh birthday. our reporter lucy owen has their story. what is it now? marieme and ndeye, playing with their friends at mount stuart primary in cardiff. their dad always wanted them to go to a mainstream school. it's just a way for me to show they are part of society. they don't have to hide from anybody. they see kids, they play with them, laugh with them, to make friends, to develop as individuals. they are both so pretty. marieme's favourite colour is my favourite colour too. | that's why they're together, because they really love each other. they may share a body, but the girls are two very different characters. marieme is very quiet, very
9:22 am
reserved, introverted personality. it's completely different from ndeye. she's very independent. she wants to be in charge of everything. when they were born, doctors in senegal didn't expect them to live more than a few days. they thought separation was their best hope of survival. but when the girls arrived in the uk, it was discovered that marieme's heart was too weak for the complex surgery and the decision was made not to separate them. i can't allow myself to choose who will live, who will die now. let the doctor listen to your heart. marieme and ndeye share one pair of legs, one pelvis, and each has a spinal—cord and heart. they have regular checkups at the children's hospital for wales. what you can clearly see here are two spines. so this is illustrating the approximate place
9:23 am
of where they are joined. what does everybody say when you're in the standing frame, girls? oh, you look tall! now the girls continue to surprise everyone around them. at school, they to spend time in a standing frame to get them used to being upright, in hope that one day they may walk. we're going to live. how long, i don't know, i don't want to know now. i don't want to know. ijust concentrate on the present, and celebrating life. if you want to keep up—to—date with all the news today, take a look at the bbc news website. in particular, we have a live page running this morning about the situation in russia. alexei navalny's family is continuing attempts to try and get his body released. you can follow that, get all the context and information you need on the bbc news
9:24 am
website. and in just a few minutes, we'll be bringing you a special programme on last night's bafta film awards — discussing the films, fashion and viral moments. everything that you need. also as well on the bbc news website. i was mentioning about the fashion, which is always a huge part of this. if you take a look on the website, you can also see some of the outfits from last night, some of the big winners, as well. of course we were saying earlier in the programme that oppenheimer unsurprisingly swept the board. it had been tipped as one of the films that would do well at the awards last night, presented by david tennant and it did. the team will be talking about everything you need to know and the gossip, as well. we mentioned the viral moments. everything that you want,
9:25 am
that coming up on bbc news. and if you keep an eye on the website, you can see all of the pictures and hear about some of the winners from the event and what they had to say as well. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. as we go through this week, the weather will turn a bit cooler, but temperatures will be closer to where we would expect them at this time of year. what we have at the moment is the back edge of that weather front clearing away and a ridge of high pressure builds in behind it, settling things down before the next few weather fronts come our way. so into the afternoon, a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine, some scattered showers and a bit more cloud turning the sunshine hazy in the west before this weather front comes in, introducing some rain later. temperatures 8 to m degrees north to south. so down a little on yesterday, but still above average for this time of year. now through this evening and overnight, ourfirst weather front comes in from the west,
9:26 am
pushes eastwards across scotland. then the second one comes in, bringing in more rain, strengthening winds and more cloud. the far southeast, though, remaining fairly clear. this is where it will be coolest, especially in east anglia, with overnight lows around about 4 degrees. so that takes us into tomorrow. a weather front will come in from the northwest and continue to push steadily southwards and eastwards. as you can see from the iso bars, it's going to be quite a breezy day as well, but a wet one initially across scotland and northern ireland, with that band of rain continuing to sweep southwards into england and wales, followed by sunny spells and scattered showers and preceded by a fair bit of cloud and some bright spells. temperatures, 8 in lerwick to m in london. then as we move on into wednesday, things change a touch in that we've got some heavy rain pushing northwards and eastwards, some snow in the hills of wales, northern england and scotland. and as the rain clears, we see a return to bright spells, sunshine and showers. but it's going to be widely windy, with strong gale force winds across the north of scotland
9:27 am
and also into the northern and western isles. but temperatures still round about the !! to 13 mark. but that will change. as we lose the south—westerly, we pull in more of a northwesterly from thursday, friday and into the weekend. so temperatures dipping back to where roughly we would expect them to be. now, on thursday, we've got this band of rain sweeping towards the east. it may linger longer in the south of england. behind it, we'll see some wintry showers, most of these in the hills, but you could see some sleet or even some hail at lower levels. but the temperatures going down for most — 6 in lerwick to !0 in hull, !2 in london.
9:28 am
9:29 am
hello, i'm nicky schiller and welcome to this bbc news special on the bafta film awards. it was the oppen—homies night on sunday night in london as oppenheimer took seven, including the top award for best film. joining me to discuss with films, the fashion and the viral moments are helen o'hara, film critic and editor at large at empire magazine, ellis ranson, celebrity fashion stylist, and kirsty grant, host of the bbc�*s reliable sauce podcast. first, if you missed the ceremony, here are the highlights in just over 90 seconds. this is nice, isn't it?!
9:30 am
welcome to the ee bafta film awards 202a. so grateful, i'm going to tell you the entirety of my life in 30 seconds. and i place this at the feet of my of an egg, susan downey. thanks! you are so handsome. i was really hoping _ you were going to be here and, ooft, it was worth it! and the bafta goes to... christopher nolan. thank you for letting us all take on something quite dark and seeing the potential in that. cillian murphy. thank you for that extraordinary, exhilarating script and for always pushing me and always demanding excellence, because that's what you deliver, time after time again. the bafta goes to... emma stone! ijust want to start by thanking our
9:31 am
dialect coach neil swain, -

37 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on