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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 20, 2024 10:30am-11:01am GMT

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this is bbc news. the headlines: the united states puts forward a draft un resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire in gaza as soon as feasible. the dispute deepens between the business secretary and the former post office chair over the timing of compensation to victims of the horizon scandal. former strictly come dancing star, robin windsor, has died at the age of 1m. lets get more on that story. the former strictly come dancing star robin windsor has died at the age of 1m. the professional dancer appeared on the tv show between 2010 and 2015. his managment announced his death and described him
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as the embodiment of passion, grace, and sheer talent. earlier our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba told me more about robin windsor�*s rise to fame. he was an incredibly successful dancer. he'd competed in world championships, he had represented england and if you like, it was the classic strictly story. he started dancing almost as soon as he could walk. his parents took him to dance classes and discovered he had an incredible talent. he moved to london in his mid—teens and took part in various shows, notably burn the floor and with that kind of pedigree, the strictly producers would always have their eye on someone like him. hejoined in 2010. his first partner on the show was patsy kensit. he went on to dance for the following four years alongside anita dobson, lisa riley and deborah meaden. and they may not have been the main celebrities as the dancers
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but the public absolutely loved them just as much and people watched him, cheered him on in their millions. as you can imagine, the tributes have been pouring in for such a popular figure on such a popular show. susanna reid, who of course presents good morning britain and danced alongside him on a children in need special was emotional and described him as an remarkable dancer, incredibly strong and creative and so enthusiastic about dancing, ijust adored him. he was the most incredible personality with something very special about him. strictlyjudge craig revel horwood said he was one of the kindest, gentle, honest and funny and caring people i have had the pleasure of knowing and working with. he will be forever missed, my heart goes out to all of his family and friends. former strictly professionaljames jordan said, "i had the pleasure of working with this man for many years on the strictly.
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i had such fond memories of him, he was always very fun to be around." i am sure we will get many more tributes pouring in throughout the day because strictly�*s such a popular show and he was such a popular figure on there in the four years he appeared on the show. even after strictly, he was in shows all over the world. he took part in more and more ballroom—based theatre shows and until recent times, he was in a show called come what may. a mulan rouge tribute. a talented dancer who will be sadly missed by so many. how entertainment reporter, lizo mzimba. the uk's two largest abortion providers say an �*unprecedented' number of women are being investigated by police on suspicion of illegally ending a pregnancy. campaigners and mps have called for the law that criminalises abortion in england and wales after 2a weeks to be replaced with medical regulations like in northern ireland.
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so this is the living room. what was happening in here, then? ijust remember loads of police, a couple of paramedics, and then, yeah, theyjust kept coming. sammy was seven months pregnant when she says she started feeling unwell. i had a bit of backache, it started getting a bit worse. and i think i'm having the baby. then not even ten, 15 minutes later, he's here. he was blue, he was lifeless, no movement. and then obviously the paramedic on the phones talked me through cpr. sammy and her baby were taken to hospital. she says the next thing she remembers is the police arresting her husband. both of them are placed under investigation, suspected of trying to illegally end the pregnancy. there's no crime been committed. i was in tears. i couldn't believe what they were asking me. when she found out she was pregnant, sammy says she had initially wanted a termination. abortion is legal in britain before
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2a weeks of pregnancy and only under exceptional circumstances after that. sammy thought she was well within the legal limit, but says staff at the abortion clinic told her she was over the cut off. ijust...| broke down. i couldn't believe, well, i was near enough 26. sammy says she was honest with police and hospital staff about wanting an abortion, even told them that she looked for pills but never bought or took them. but after the premature delivery, police suspected an illegal abortion may have been attempted. though her baby survived, she's faced a year long investigation. my mental health, obviously that's declined in the last year. but, yeah, we werejust treated like criminals from the get go, really. abortion providers say that since 2020, a growing number of women are facing criminal investigations on suspicion of illegally ending a pregnancy.
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we're probably talking about 50 to 60 who are falling under active criminal investigation, but that compares to pretty well zero before 2018. prosecutions of women for having illegal abortions are rare, but they do happen. we've spoken to one of these women. she's being portrayed by an actor. when i found out i was pregnant, . it was very much self—preservation, like, i can't have this child. emma wanted to have an abortion, but when she went to a clinic, she was told she was too far along. despite knowing she was well beyond the 2a week legal limit, emma then got hold of abortion pills and took them at home, ending the pregnancy. i dealt with everything by myself. i carried on as best i could. then about a month later, a doctor knocked on the door and said, - "you should be really pregnant by now." i
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and ijust panicked and said, "i had an abortion". - and the next thing i know, the police were called - and wanted to interview me. emma was convicted and sentenced to years in prison. this was reduced on appeal. do you regret what you did? definitely. i think that there should be - a deterrent and i think what i did was wrong and i should be held accountable for that. _ abortion providers and campaigners say prosecuting women for illegal terminations is never in the public interest. they want to see abortion fully decriminalised. there's fierce opposition to that. i think that if you don't have the possibility of prosecution and if you don't have the possibility of some sort of sentence, then you're in danger of having more of these cases and not fewer. we do need a deterrent and the law at present provides it. sammy recently received a call from police,
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who told her the investigation had been dropped. the force who handled her case told us that a thorough investigation was necessary to safeguard all involved. they said no further action would be taken against sammy nor her partner. ijust burst out into tears. i couldn't believe what i was hearing, after all these months. i wouldn't wish it upon anybody. if i didn't have my family's support and my husband, i wouldn't be here. divya talwar, bbc news. let's speak to rachael clarke, who is chief of staff at the british pregnancy advisory service. thank you forjoining us. if a woman in this situation comes to you and asks for advice, what kind of thing do you say to them? how do you direct them or help them? i think first of all, it's really important to remember that more than 90% of abortions in this country
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happen before ten weeks gestation. the vast majority of women know they are pregnant early on and access care within the legal framework. as your reporter said, we can provide abortion up to 2a weeks of pregnancy and in certain circumstances, be on that. but for some women they may not find out until beyond 2a weeks or they may experience a really big life changes which mean their circumstances change post 2a weeks, weather that is a breakdown of relationships, losing theirjob, losing their house. in those circumstances, we can't legally provide an abortion and essentially, in many cases, all that we can do is refer those women into support services, into antenatal care and ensure they get their support that they made. but obviously for some women, thatjust isn't enough to be able to ensure that they feel they can continue their pregnancy to term. so for those women, once they have left you and if they make the
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decision to go ahead and try and terminate the pregnancy themselves, there is not really any other support structure left for them, i suppose, is there? i think what we have really seen is when these women under the current law are presenting to hospital or are calling an ambulance, that rather than focusing on the care of those women, the support of them and providing them with what they need, the police are being called and that is kind of the hands are washed by the midwives, by the doctors, by the people who are supposed to be caring for them. so what we have seen time and again are these women who are in absolutely desperate circumstances, nobody, no woman would end her pregnancy by herself beyond 2a weeks without any support if she felt she had any other choice. but rather than providing the necessary support for her, instead the police are called and she is treated as a criminal. we heard in the report about the need for a deterrent. how is that
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something that can be balanced, while also taking as you say the complex psychosocial needs of these women into account as well? it is our opinion and the opinion of avast member of the royal college, a large number of trade unions, that punishing women, criminalising them is never in the public interest. it is never in the public interest. it is simply not the right way to manage what is an incredibly difficult situation. i think in terms of deterrent, it is the wrong way of thinking about it because ultimately, what we need is for these women to be able to present to medical care, to tell the truth about what it is they may have done and to get the support that they really need. thank you forjoining us. chief of staff at the british pregnancy advisory service. you can find out more about that story, listen to
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when abortion is a crime. 0n bbc for a pm tonight and on bbc sounds. just a line of breaking news to bring you, if you have been covering our coverage from the high court in london this morning about the wikileaks founder julian assange, who has an extradition hearing, a two—day hearing happening today. live pictures there of the scene of his supporters outside the royal courts ofjustice. julian assange�*s lawyer of justice. julian assange�*s lawyer has ofjustice. julian assange�*s lawyer has told the court this morning in the last few minutes that mr assange is unwell and will not be attending court for his extradition hearing today. we also brought to what his wife stella had to say outside court as well. as i say, these live pictures. there has been a lot going on outside the royal courts of justice this morning. that new line to bring you, julian assange�*s lawyer informing the court by his extradition hearing that he will not be attending today. three young
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children found dead at a house in bristol have been named by police. police responded to a wealth or cool after midnight. the 47—year—old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder. —— police responded to a welfare cool. this was the moment police were called to blaise walk, a quiet close in sea mills in bristol in the early hours of sunday morning, but it was too late. three children, fares, joury and mohammad, couldn't be saved. they were already dead. the death of such young children is a great shock to the whole community, and this incident has had a profound and deep impact on all of us in the police. a 42—year—old woman from sudan was arrested and is in hospital under police guard. her injuries are not thought to be life threatening. they were very happy children, they were amazing,
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they were beautiful children. especially the oldest child, fares, he is very smart, amazing, bubbly boy. he is just, he's very friendly, he's very curious about everything. his attitude is like an adult�*s attitude, he's an amazing boy, he's so amazing. ijust, i can't believe that he's gone. we couldn't sleep. we're shocked, and everybodyjust kept phoning the others. as a community, we feel like the sky fall on us. and it's very sad. the local playgroup was cancelled and the local school where the eldest fares went was also closed, giving this community, which is in huge shock, time to remember and reflect. we've kept our church building open all day today so that people can come in and express their grief. and they have done in
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great numbers, actually. avon and somerset has referred itself to the police watchdog, the iopc, as they had previous contact with the household. now the focus is on these young siblings found dead in their home. fiona lamdin, bbc news. the uk prime minister rishi sunak is set to pledge he will never take food security for granted and outline support for farmers in a speech that is planned for today, due to happen very soon at the national farmers�* union in birmingham. we will bring that to you when it happens. this is something we have seen a lot of across europe. in poland, farmers will block roads across the country today to protest against eu regulations, as well as cheap grain from ukraine flooding the market. demonstrators have been blockading border crossings with ukraine, which is causing long queues. the farmers
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won brussels to reintroduce tariffs on kyiv�* agricultural imports which were lifted after russia�*s invasion of ukraine thrust of ukrainian truckers are planning a protest on their own side of the border well from tuesday. president zelensky has condemned the demonstrations as a mockery and urged all parties to restore cross—border traffic. 0ur correspondent adam easton spoke to us about the disruption. the organisers — us about the disruption. the organisers of _ us about the disruption. the organisers of the _ us about the disruption. tue: organisers of the demonstration us about the disruption. tte: organisers of the demonstration say they are going to have blockades with these tractors and about 200 locations right across the country. what they are aiming to do is to cause the maximum traffic disruption by blockading motorways, major road junctions around the cities, not necessarily inside the cities. that is coming in a weak�* time when we have a big protest scheduled in warsaw. this is about causing traffic disruption and also this disruption that you mentioned on the
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border crossings with ukraine, which are ongoing protests and have been going on for many months and have caused such queues queues that one crossing trucks are taking two weeks to clear customs going through the there. that sparked this reaction in ukraine, with ukrainian lorry drivers and truckers saying they will start their own protest on their side of the border and they are going to prevent polish trucks from going in the fast route of the border crossing and make sure life is more difficult for them. as you said as well, president zelensky has said as well, president zelensky has said this is not about grain, this is about politics for him. he said this protest in poland is really damaging relations between two countries which have had excellent relations. poland has been one of the main supporters militarily and humanitarian aid to ukraine but this protest over grain has really damaged relations between the two countries. ~ ., ., damaged relations between the two
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countries. ., , , . countries. what about public su - ort, countries. what about public suwort. where _ countries. what about public support, where do _ countries. what about public support, where do the - countries. what about publicj support, where do the public countries. what about public - support, where do the public stand? their public stance behind the farm is pretty much. they also stand behind the ukrainians as well because the polish have their own history stretching back centuries with russian domination and they feel very deeply for ukrainians and the difficulties and horrendous situation that is ongoing in ukraine. but at the same time, they support theirfarmers. there ukraine. but at the same time, they support their farmers. there farmers are saying that they are having very difficult times. when the eu decided to open up its markets to ukrainian produce, when russia invaded, that has basically caused this flood of cheap grain into poland, undercutting the domestic products. last year, the amount of stockpiled wheat and grain in the polish silos reached a record high of 10 million tonnes. so theyjust can�*t sell
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their own produce and they can�*t get, they haven�*t got the infrastructure either at the ports to actually export the ukrainian grain. so it has really left farmers in a difficult position. the public and the government in poland sympathise with their plight and they are trying to get the european union to reach some sort of compromise which will regulate the access of ukrainian agricultural products into eu markets like poland. that was adam easton in warsaw. last summer, the prime minister apologised for the historical treatment of lgbt veterans who were sacked or forced out of the military for being gay.an independent review recommended the government could award compensation, but seven months on, many of those affected haven�*t received any money. 0ur lgbt and identity reporter, josh parry, has more. i�*ve offered my life for my country, and that�*s the way they treated us. joe 0usalice is no stranger to battles. in the royal navy he fought in the falklands war. came in with a huge pair of scissors and said, "sorry, mate, i need your medal," and just cut it
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off my tunic. when his medals were taken away because of his sexuality he battled the establishment to get them back and won. but now, he faces a battle of a different kind. i don�*t think i�*m going to be here much longer. and i really do want to get this sorted. i�*ve got prostate cancer, chest cancer. and i found out yesterday morning from my doctor that it�*s possibly moving up into the brain now. so i don�*t think i�*ll be the same person in a year�*s time. when joe�*s bosses found out he was bisexual, it was the end of an 18 year naval career. disgusting people such as myself, there was no place for us in the modern day armed forces. and as such, he would recommend to the admiral that they dismissed me. he spent the 30 years since campaigning, first to lift the ban on lgbt people in the military and later to get compensation for those affected.
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the government will say schemes like this take a while to put in. it�*s at a time when budgets are very tight. what would you say to that? the prime minister said they would make recompense and yet here we are six months later, still waiting for it. i�*d like to get it settled now and then that is one part of my life over and done with. it was illegal to be gay in the british military until the year 2000, when this group of veterans took their fight against the ban to the european court of human rights. in 2023, an independent review recommended 49 ways the government should make reparations, including this apology from the prime minister. the ban on lgbt people serving in our military until the year 2000 was an appalling failure of the british state. more than six months on and for leigh, an raf veteran from liverpool, things aren�*t moving fast enough. today, on behalf of the british state, i apologise. when are the reparations forthcoming? what's happening?
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we know nothing at the moment. an apology isjust not good enough. when he firstjoined the royal air force in 1980, he was still discovering his sexuality. i didn't really know what i was. i had just turned 18. i thought i might be gay, maybe if ijoined the armed forces, it might get rid of it out of me. obviously, that's impossible, ridiculous thing to think. flight lieutenant doyle, i'll never forget his name, lovely guy, he laid the charges out against me. he said, "what do you say to that?" and i said, "yes, sir, it's all true." he says, "i'd like you to go outside the room. you go outside the room now, take five minutes, have a little think, and then come back in and i'll ask you the same question again." well, isaid, "no, thanks, sir, i'm not going to change my mind." it was more important for you to be true to yourself? it was, yeah. it was the bestjob i've ever had, it really was brilliant, it was. and it was alljust taken away? snatched, yeah. i was going to say my fault, but no, it wasn't my fault. it doesn't mean you should
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lose yourjob for what you are. despite his dismissal, leigh looks back at his time in the forces fondly. but now his thoughts are turning to his ill health. do you have faith that you�*ll ever see any of these reparations? a little, a little, but not very much. i would like the government to take into consideration people who are terminally ill. now, because i'm at this age, i've got a terminal illness, i'd be able to go on my last holiday, i'd be able to pay my bills off. tomorrow couldn't be quick enough for me. it should be done now. the government say they have already delivered a number of recommendations from the independent review and that they�*re working at pace to deliver the rest. forjoe, leigh, and hundreds of others, it can�*t come soon enough. josh parry, bbc news. now, i have a remarkable picture to show you. have a look at this. it�*s a free diver examining whale
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bones on the sea bed, off remote greenland. it was taken by swedish photographer alex dawson who won underwater photographer of the year against more than 6,500 other entries. he�*s been talking to us about his work. it�*s all amazing. i feel so honoured that somehow my image managed to make it to the top. we dived under thick ice that�*s close to a metre thick and my model, the free diver, she was swimming on one breath from the surface, trying to find me under the ice among these whale bones. it�*s a minky whale on the bottom that she�*s swimming by and yeah, it�*s a very challenging environment. —2 degrees in the water, it�*s pitch black down there. yeah, it�*s a privilege and it�*s been a long, hard journey. i mean, i�*ve been educating myself also in diving, in very advanced systems, very advanced cave diving, with vehicles that push you deep into the caves.
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it takes me to places that very, very few people have been able to go. the more people that can see my underwater photography and cinematography, the happier i am because it�*s such a different world and people need to know about it. we need to take care of what�*s under the surface, we need to think from environmental perspective, so think this is all very relevant in many perspectives, as much as i�*d like to show beauty. i like to show the beauty of the world, like, it makes me happy. swedish photographer, alex dawson, there. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. over the next few days, you�*ll notice a feeling of the difference of the weather. for today and tomorrow, it�*s still going to remain mild,
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there will be rain at times and it�*s going to be windier than it has been, particularly so tomorrow. but by the end of the week, it will feel cooler as temperatures return closer to the seasonal norm and there�*ll also be some wintry showers, mostly on higher ground. today, what we�*ve got is this weather front continuing to push south. it weakens but look at the tail end of it, coming back and taking another swipe at us through the course of the overnight period and into tomorrow. so this is the weather front producing the rain. as it sinks south, more cloud will build ahead of it and behind it, we�*ll see a return to brighter, sunny intervals with some showers. in scotland, the showers are likely to be heavy with some hail and thunder and wintry on higher ground. it�*s going to be a mild day across the board and also a breezy one. as we head through the evening and overnight, the weatherfront sinks south as a weakening feature but if you remember, you but if you remember, are watching bbc news. let�* ta ke you are watching bbc news. let�*s take you live now to birmingham, where the british prime minister rishi sunak is speaking to the national farmers�* union. rishi sunak is speaking to the national farmers' union. good
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afternoon _ national farmers' union. good afternoon everyone. _ national farmers' union. good afternoon everyone. i - national farmers' union. good afternoon everyone. i know- national farmers' union. good | afternoon everyone. i know this national farmers' union. t£r>r>c afternoon everyone. i know this is your last conference as nfu president so i wanted to start by paying a brief tribute to you. during a momentous period, you have been a bit medical champion of our farmers. always fair, always thoughtful and always forceful. if you ask some of my ministers sitting there, they would probably say very forcible but i know everyone will want to join me forcible but i know everyone will want tojoin me once forcible but i know everyone will want to join me once again forcible but i know everyone will want tojoin me once again in paying a special tribute and thanks to minette for everything she has done. applause nine years ago, i gave my maiden speech in the house of commons. i pledged that day to be a champion of agriculture, the countryside and all of my hard—working rural constituents. it is farmers who feed us. farmers who embody those british values of strength, resilience, warmth and independence. i see that
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in north yorkshire and across the country, week in and week out. i have spent time in our auction markets, walk to the fields up and down in wensleydale and swaledale, enjoyed our high quality british meat which we will continue to support people to eat. i have walked up support people to eat. i have walked up hill farms, arable and livestock farms, i even tried my hand at milking once, not very successfully i must say but i see the long hours that you were, the weather you content with, the family businesses that you support. the community to build. the beautiful countryside, the pastures, the hedgerows, the fields that would not be the same without you. you do it not for praise or high reward but to put food on our tables, to maintain a tradition and a way of life and to steward our landscape. it is part of who we are and we don�*t celebrate you enough. so behalf of the nation,
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just wanted to say, thank you. while the importance of farmers will never change, farming is going through its biggest change in a generation. as you do so, this government will be by your side. you have been dealing with soaring global prices and things like fuel and fertiliser so we have been working hard to get inflation down from 11% to 11% now. we are increasing payments and ourfarming schemes by an average of 10%. you are dealing with climate change and extreme weather, too. devastating flooding has damaged crops, delayed planting and taken a huge toll on ourfarming communities. that is why we quickly set out our flooding support and why we are going faster than almost anyone else in the world to tackle climate change, even as we reduce the burdens on families. you are also at the forefront of innovation, from gene editing to
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boost resilience, to disease, to automation to harvest crops. and while thanks to you we enjoy good quality food all year round, global events, including russia�*s invasion of ukraine, have put food security back at the top of the agenda. we will never take our food security for granted. we have a plan to support british farming and we are going further again today in three specific areas. we are investing in farming. we are investing infarming. we we are investing in farming. we promise that across the spa and every penny of the £2.11 billion annualfarming budget would be every penny of the £2.11 billion annual farming budget would be spent on you and we will absolutely meet that promise. i know the transition from the common agricultural policy has been frustrating. it has taken time and i appreciate the perception that we didn�*t always get the balance exactly right but i still believe that the vision is the right
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one. cap disproportionately

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