tv BBC News BBC News February 24, 2024 4:00pm-4:31pm GMT
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these comments from a senior conservative are islamophobic, racist and anti—muslim. alexei navalny�*s family says his body has been handed to his mother, over a week after the russian opposition leader died in an arctic prison. israeli media says negotiators have returned from talks in paris with an outline of a ceasefire deal to be put to the war cabinet today. on the second anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine, president zelensky insists his country will win, but urgently needs more weapons. hello, i'm nicky schiller. we start with breaking news from here in the uk and the former conservative deputy chairman, lee anderson, has been suspended from the parliamentary conservative party for refusing
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to apologise for his comments about the mayor of london, sadiq khan. mr anderson told gb news on friday that islamists had "got control" of mr khan and he had "given our capital city away to his mates". pressure had been mounting on rishi sunak to take action over the comments from the ashfield mp after mr khan criticised a "deafening silence" from the prime minister and his cabinet. this is what sadiq khan said before lee anderson was suepended. we will bring you that later. let's speak to our political correspondent iain watson who's at westminster. i mentioned a lot of pressure from labour for i mentioned a lot of pressure from labourfor rishi sunak to i mentioned a lot of pressure from labour for rishi sunak to act. i mentioned a lot of pressure from labourfor rishi sunak to act. mr anderson has been suspended. what more can you tell us? i anderson has been suspended. what more can you tell us?— more can you tell us? i think it is significant _ more can you tell us? i think it is significant some _ more can you tell us? i think it is significant some conservatives i more can you tell us? i think it is i significant some conservatives have been pressing for action against lee anderson. his comments that effectively the first muslim mayor
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of london was controlled by islamist. the business minister said these comments were foolish and dangerous. we had the former chief of staff theresa may suggesting what had been said by lee anderson was despicable. there were growing numbers of voices and pressure on the government to act during the course of the day from within their own ranks, not simply from the labour opposition or city can't himself, who has said these comments were islamophobia, racist and inflammatory —— or sadiq khan himself stopped they tried to get lianas into apologise, enough to keep inside the conservative party at westminster. he has refused to do so, so he's been suspended, no longer an mp, so, so he's been suspended, no longeran mp, he so, so he's been suspended, no longer an mp, he will sit as an independent unless he chooses to
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join any other group. he will be sitting as an independent. we don't know how long the suspension will last, but if he doesn't apologise for these comments, it could last until the next election. he would therefore not be allowed to stand as a candidate, and this was someone he was a definite chairman of the party until recently and was a prominent spokesperson for the party.- spokesperson for the party. worth remindin: spokesperson for the party. worth reminding our— spokesperson for the party. worth reminding our viewers _ spokesperson for the party. worth reminding our viewers mr - spokesperson for the party. worth reminding our viewers mr anderson in the past has made controversial statements on a range of issues. yes, he's not somebody who minces his words. he resigned recently from his words. he resigned recently from his post as deputy chairman because he didn't think the rwanda policy was tough enough. he had to go because he will vote for a position not endorsed by the prime minister? he is somebody who didn't mince his words, he got into trouble for suggesting people could survive with
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small amounts of money in a cost of living crisis. i think even some of his colleagues felt this time he had crossed the line. what are his supporters saying? privately they say these comments were in relation to the pro—palestinian protests we've seen regularly in london, and the london mayor, who's got responsibility of the metropolitan police service, he simply wasn't getting a grip on the protest, and it was in those contexts that they were made. it doesn't sound like an apology, and to his opponents, the conservative party didn't see that as an excuse for suggesting a muslim mayor had somehow been taken under the control of islamist. again, because of the backdrop to the concerns about the conflict in the middle east, it wasn't solely the labour party that found those
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comments to be inflammatory. ian watson at westminster, thank you. the spokeswoman of the russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, has said his body has been given to his mother, just over a week after he died in suspicious circumstances in a siberianjail. with more on this, danny aeberhard, bbc world service's europe regional editor. what has the spokesperson be insane? this is a tweet, and she said the body was handed over, his mother was in the camp where he died but he died friday last week. she's been trying to get the release of this body. she and her allies have been blackmailed, she said, to allow the russian authorities to bury his body in secret with the threat if they didn't allow that, he would be buried at the prison camp itself. it
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is a big development. it is not clear yet when a funeral for alexei navalny will take place. the mother said she thank people for putting pressure on the russian authorities, but she said it is unclear whether the authorities, what type of funeral they will allow, whether the one the family want and deserve. also, his wife released a video statement as well?— also, his wife released a video statement as well? there was an attack, statement as well? there was an attack. six _ statement as well? there was an attack, six minute _ statement as well? there was an attack, six minute attack - statement as well? there was an | attack, six minute attack directed personally towards vladimir putin. alexei navalny�*s wife, she accused him again of having murdered alexei navalny injail. that him again of having murdered alexei navalny in jail. that is something the kremlin denies. she also took issue at the way she said they had been torturing him in live, but also in death and torturing his mother about his body. she said the way
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they would treat mr putin personally was treating the body, it was satanic. she criticised him for his professed orthodox christian faith, something putin makes a big play of. above photos and images of president putin gazing out russian icons, kissing relics and going swimming in an ice bath, she said basically he was not showing any type of christian values in the way he was treating her husband's body. it was a very personal, and was the faith matters in russia. there is a large percentage of the publishing which are very... they adhere to the christian orthodox faith. the church is controlled by the state, but it's a powerful medium, she contrasted the way putin was behaving with her
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own husband's christian values, which she said meant a lot to him. thank you very much. israeli media says an israeli delegation has returned from talks in paris with the �*outline of an agreement�* on a ceasefire with hamas and the release of the remaining hostages in gaza. an official says �*significant progress�* has been made in talks with negotiators from the us, egypt and qatar. the outline is reportedly going to be presented to the war cabinet today. the news comes as israel�*s bombardment of gaza has continued through the night into saturday, with more than a hundred people killed. the un is also warning of the growing risk of famine. the un agency for palestinian refugees has just confirmed to the bbc it�*s paused aid deliveries to northern gaza. our correspondentjenny hill is now injerusalem. i asked her to tell us more about the reports that we have been hearing about the ceasfire outline.
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significant process has reportedly been made during the talks in paris where israel was represented along with delegates from egypt, qatar, driving the negotiations, and the us, which has said it wants a deal in place before the beginning of the muslim holy month of ramadan which start on march the 10th. around a fortnight to go to get the deal. reports suggest the negotiators have thrashed out a framework, an outline of a deal upon which further negotiations can be built. we don�*t have details of that outline at this stage, but we understand the israeli delegation will be presenting a framework to the israeli war cabinet later this evening. we would hope to have more details soon. we know what the sticking points had been between hamas and israel, the whole deal is
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looking at brokering a temporary ceasefire. hamas said they want a permanent ceasefire followed by the ritual of israeli troops, something they weren�*t prepared to move on. there were discussions around the release of israeli hostages but in return hamas were demanding the release of palestinian prisoners from israeli jails. there was discussion about how many prisoners should be returned in exchange for a certain number of hostages. we know those with a stick in point, we don�*t know what shifted. it is fair to say in the last few days, the tone has certainly softened. last weekend, benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister, describing hamas�*s negotiating position as delusional, but a few days later, a minister from his war cabinet said the initial signs indicated there was a possibility of progress towards a
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deal. a cautious optimism coming out of the israeli reports. let�*s wait and see what details follow. from the israel—gaza war to the war in ukraine. a defiant president zelensky has insisted they will win the war as the country marks the second anniversary of russia�*s full—scale invasion. visiting western leaders have pledged their solidarity, but kyiv says more weapons are what�*s really needed. earlier i spoke to chief international correspondent lyse doucet who�*s in kyiv, who told me about the mood in the city today. it's it�*s been a quiet day, the air raid sirens sounded last night before midnight, leading ukrainians to wonder whether russia would unleash more marriages of missiles and drones to mark what is for ukraine a grim anniversary. today has been a day instead of quite reflection, ukrainians not able to forget those fateful hours area in the morning on 24th of february when russian forces launched attacks from land, air and
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sea. today was also a day of resolve. this morning a train from poland brought the prime ministers of canada, belgium, italy, as well as the president of the eu commission ursula von der leyen. they came here in what they described as a show solidarity, using the warm embraces of president zelensky with his visiting allies. ursula von der leyen raising of the extraordinary resilience of the ukrainian people. she uses moment to reaffirm the european union�*s support. president zelensky emphasisejust support. president zelensky emphasise just how support. president zelensky emphasisejust how much support. president zelensky emphasise just how much that support was needed. there were more russian attacks overnight, in many regions, including the port city of odesa which was hit for the second night running. in the reports we have for odesa is one person was killed and three were injured. as the light
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fades on the day, let�*s take a look at the scene in kyiv. independence square, the scene of many historic moments here in ukraine. there were small protests this morning by ukrainians. they were criticising what they see as insufficient support from the rest of the world for a war they say is notjust ukraine�*s war, warning if president putin wins here, he won�*t stop at ukraine. today, president zelensky took western leaders to another historic location, to the airport just outside of kyiv. russian forces occupied eight on the first day of the invasion, but ukrainian forces took it back. this was the stage today for president zelensky to speak to ukrainians and to the world. translation: two years ago we met
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hostile fighting with fire here. two . years later we welcome friends and partners here. we have become 730 days closer to victory. someone is waiting for some sort of someone is waiting for some sort of fortune—teller to give us the end date, but millions of ukrainians just remember a great quote from our poet. keep fighting, you are sure to win. none of us will allow our ukraine to end. in the future, next to the word ukraine, the word independent will always stand. as ukraine enters the third year of this war, ukrainians still insist this war, ukrainians still insist this is a war that they must end, they can win. this is a nation which has suffered enormous losses. that is l se has suffered enormous losses. that is lyse doucet _ has suffered enormous losses. that is lyse doucet in _ has suffered enormous losses. that is lyse doucet in key. _ has suffered enormous losses. that is lyse doucet in key. i— has suffered enormous losses. that is lyse doucet in key. i want to take you to the czech republic and to prague where a march is taking
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place there in support of ukraine. hundreds of people in prague are marching to the old town square where there will be a massive ventilator, featuring the president and a video appearance by president zelensky to mark that invasion. we are on the streets there as those people are making their way to that eventin people are making their way to that event in the old town. there we go, that camera moving around a bit, but you can see one sign saying make russia pay. i can also take you to italy, and this is the scene in rome where there are people gathering their with the colours of the ukrainian flag, the yellow and blue. they are listening to speeches there in rome. when the war happens to years ago, lots of people around the
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world were wearing the blue and the yellow of the ukrainian flag. there you can see those ukrainian flags out in force in the italian capital in rome, and a lot of people draped in rome, and a lot of people draped in the ukrainian flag as well. people around the world are marking that second anniversary of the full—scale invasion by russia of ukraine. a reminder there is a special bbc news life page about running on the bbc news website, with the latest from kyiv and around the world. time for a check on the sport. we will start with rugby union, and ireland have made it three wins out of three with a comfortable 31—7 win against wales. they were 17— zero up at half—time. ireland extended their lead late on.
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ireland extended their lead late on. ireland closing in on back—to—back six nations titles. scotland are aiming for a fall straight calcutta win against england in half an hour. andy swiss looks ahead from murrayfield. andy swiss looks ahead from murrayfield-_ andy swiss looks ahead from murrayfield. andy swiss looks ahead from murra ield. ., , , murrayfield. the calcutta cup is the oldest trephy _ murrayfield. the calcutta cup is the oldest trephy in _ murrayfield. the calcutta cup is the oldest trophy in rugby. _ murrayfield. the calcutta cup is the oldest trophy in rugby. scotland - murrayfield. the calcutta cup is the| oldest trophy in rugby. scotland and england first played in 1879. over the last few days it�*s been very much in scotland�*s hands, they have won at the last three times including the thrilling victory at twickenham last year, letter by one of the great 6—nation tries. they will start as the favourites once again, helped by the return of a few keep players, including their winger and theirfull—back. as keep players, including their winger and their full—back. as for england, they have won their opening two matches of the striving share but they�*ve not looked hugely impressive
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so far. they�*ve made by changes to their starting line—up, and they will have to raise their game if they will get a win at murrayfield this afternoon. they�*re into the second half in four games in england�*s premier league. aston villa lead nottingham forest 3—2, ollie watkins and two from douglas luiz for villa. elsewhere it�*s goalless between brighton and everton, crystal palace and burnley, where the visitors are down to 10 men. and there�*s no score at old trafford where manchester united are playing fulham. later on champions manchester city visit bournemouth before arsenal host newcastle united. four wickets from shoaib bashir have put england in a strong position in the 11th test with india. the day started with joe root resuming after his century on day one. root finished unbeaten on 122 . as england were bowled
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out for 353 in ranchi. india�*s star opener yashavi jaiswal made 73 for the hosts, but he was one of four wickets for young spinner bashir.india, who lead the five—match series 2—1, finished day two on 219 for 7 but still trail england by 134 runs. after play root said he was delighted to return to form. it was nice to finally get some runs in the series, it has felt like a long time coming. it�*s been a lean series individually for me. you proud yourself as a senior player, especially with the history i�*ve had in this part of the world to make contributions that put you in positions to win games. the important — positions to win games. the important bit _ positions to win games. the important bit is _ positions to win games. the important bit is to _ positions to win games. the important bit is to get as close to the target — important bit is to get as close to the target. we will see maybe tomorrow how far away or close we are to _ tomorrow how far away or close we are to the — tomorrow how far away or close we are to the target. what we need to look out _ are to the target. what we need to look out is — are to the target. what we need to look out is we got to chase. the target _ look out is we got to chase. the target wiii— look out is we got to chase. the target will be different, but mentally we need to bat well in the second _ mentally we need to bat well in the second innings. let's keep it that
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simple _ in rugby league, wigan warriors welcome their australian counterparts, penrith panthers, for the world club challenge later — as they vie for the title of best club side in the world. the home crowd are hoping to see the reigning super league champions take the spoils for a fifth time. but they have a tough task on their hands, against the nrl team. penrith lost in the final to st helens last year, in a dramatic golden point defeat. and were actually beaten to it by wigan in 1991. and that�*s all the sport for now. we will be back later on. people have started voting in the south carolina republican primary election. it will determine whether people in that state want donald trump or nikki haley as their republican presidential candidate. the former us president is expected to easily overpower his rival, even though ms haley served twice as south carolina�*s governor. while admitting she is well behind, ms hayley says the polls show she�*s better placed to beatjoe biden in november and that republican voters should focus on that.
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the french president emmanuel macron has met agricultural union leaders afterfarmers stormed an agricultural fair in the capital. there were chaotic scenes when farmers clashed with police at the fair in paris, just before president macron was due to arrive. protesters were seen being led away after confronting police officers. farmers have been demonstrating across europe, calling for better income and less bureaucracy and complaining of unfair competition from cheap ukrainian goods. macron, seen here talking to the union leaders, called for calm — telling them that scaring people away from the fair was not "helping their colleagues". hugh schofield has been following the story from paris. well, it�*s ongoing, this situation, because president macron is still there in the exhibition centre at the port de versailles, where it is held every year.
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but he�*s not in the actual fair bit. he�*s in offices somewhere and we�*re waiting to see whether he is going to actually cut the ribbon, what he�*s supposed to do first thing this morning and maybe even do what he planned to do, which is have a bit of a walkabout among some of the stands and to pat cows on the bottom and so on, or whether the atmosphere is now so sort of riotous or potentially riotous and certainly hostile that he won�*t do that. there�*s certainly a big group of radical farmers there. i think one should not think that just because there�*s lots of whistling, that all the farmers are behind the taking part in the sort of protest. but there is a group of very, very vocal parts there, and it�*s possible that they decide to cancel the whole thing because there�*s a risk of something awkward happening or an embarrassing security breach. so we�*re waiting to see. it�*s still quite tense.
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the spanish city of valencia is observing three days of mourning after a deadly fire in an apartment block. authorities on friday said they had recovered ten bodies and were no longer looking for anyone else. but that figure was revised on saturday — saying nine bodies had been found and one person was still missing. experts say flammable cladding and high winds may have helped the fire spread. british airways has been ranked among the worst airlines in a uk passenger satisfaction survey by consumer group which?. the airline�*s customer score for long—haul flights was the joint third lowest out of 17 carriers. the company said it was hit by "several factors outside of our control" last year, such as strikes by air traffic controllers. pope francis has cancelled meetings because of mild flu — according to the vatican. his regular audiences with vatican officials and private meetings have all been
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called off to allow the 87—year—old pontiff to recover. king charles says he has been cheered by the 7,000 cards of support sent to him during his cancer treatment. pictures released by buckingham palace show the king reading some of the messages written to him, including well wishes and jokes. he seems to have a smile on his face there _ he seems to have a smile on his face there. now, if you were planning a romantic proposal, this could be the perfect spot. giant red heart—shaped balloons are popping up across hong kong. they are attracting locals and tourists. people are posing for photographs in front of them and meeting for dates there. it�*s actually an art project called chubby hearts and the hong kong government reportedly spent $1 million on it.
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a reminder of the breaking news in the uk. the conservatives ave suspended the parliamentary membership of the party�*s former deputy chairman, lee anderson. he has refused to apologise for comments about the labour mayor of london, sadiq khan, in which he suggested the mayor was controlled by islamists and had, in his words, "given the capital city away to his mates". the prime minister, rishi sunak, had faced mounting pressure to take action over friday�*s comments by the conservative mp. mr khan, a muslim, called the remarks islamophobic. he said the "deafening silence" of the prime minister and his cabinet amounted to condoning racism. mr anderson resigned as conservative deputy chairman last month over the government�*s plans to send some asylum—seekers to rwanda. you can get more on that on the bbc news website. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there.
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it was a cold and frosty start up and down the country this morning. there were some mist and fog patches around, too, but through the day we�*ll see plenty of dry and sunny weather, particularly towards eastern areas, more cloud further south and west and there�*ll be a few showers as well. these, again, wintry in nature certainly over the high ground. now, most of the showers fade away this evening. skies clear, light winds, it�*s going to turn cold and frosty pretty much right across the uk. we�*ll see some dense mist and fog patches developing, particularly across northern england, the midlands and eastern england, where they will be stubborn to clear through the morning period. now, part two of the weekend, we�*ve got to contend with this area of low pressure, which we are skirting towards the southwest, the uk and then spreading towards france as you move through the day. so it�*s southern britain which will see wet and windy weather for a time because of this low pressure system. and we�*ll be on the colder side of the low. as you can see, the blue colours there indicated on the air mass chart. so another cold, frosty start, stubborn mist and fog patches which could take their time to clear across the midlands in towards eastern england. a few wintry showers across northern scotland.
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otherwise plenty of sunshine across the northern quarter of the country, but it turns wet and windy. south wales, southwest england, particularly the channel islands, rain moving along the south coast through the day. bit of uncertainty to the northern extent of the rain. it looks like it�*ll be, i think, the m4 corridor southwards, which is seeing most of the impacts from that, stays wet, windy across southern britain as we head through sunday night. again, gales, perhaps an exposure towards the far south west. a few wintry showers across northern scotland into northeast england, otherwise mostly dry with clear skies. another cold night to come here, a little less cold in the south because of the cloud, the wind and the rain. into monday, that area of low pressure continues to push in towards france. a ridge of high pressure builds into northern and western areas, the best of the dry will tend to be across northern areas, just one or two showers across the far northeast, but it stays windy across the south, particularly the southeast corner as that low pressure pulls away and takes the rain with it. so blustery and raw feel across the southeast where the winds will be lighter. further north, those temperatures
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in single figures for most factor in that wind in the south and east will feel more like one or two degrees there. and then as we move deeper through the new week, atlantic low pressure systems return. they�*ll bring wetter and windier weather, but also milder south westerlies. it will turn less cold both by day and by night.
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tory mp lee anderson has been suspended from the conservative parliamentary party after refusing to apologise for saying islamists had gained control of the mayor of london, sadiq khan. he made the comments while talking about pro—palestinian protests on gb news on friday. the spokeswoman for the russian opposition figure, alexei navalny, says his body has been given to his mother, more than a week after he died in prison. but they are still unsure whether the russian authorities will allow them to hold the funeral that they say he deserves. on the second anniversary of the full—scale invasion of ukraine by russia, president zelensky vows that his country will defeat russia. several western leaders in kyiv are pledging their solidarity. but ukraine is losing territory, and there are warnings moscow is taking advantage of the delays in delivering western military help.
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