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tv   Verified Live  BBC News  February 27, 2024 4:30pm-5:01pm GMT

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reject the terms of a ceasefire. german chancellor olaf scholz rules out sending you groupie and trips to ukraine after the french president left out the possibility —— sending european troops. cancer survival rates in the uk are lagging behind comparable countries according to a study. scientists discover that one of the tiniest fish produces sounds as loud as a pneumatic drill. now time to have a look at the business news. we start here in the uk — where the chancellor — jeremy hunt — is being warned that he shouldn't cut taxes in next week's spring budget if he can't show how he'll pay for them. a leading economic think tank — the institute for fiscal studies— says the case for cutting taxes is "weak." mr hunt is facing pressure from within the conservative party to ease the tax burden —
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which is on track to hit the highest level in half a century. the bbc understands he is considering a further cut to national insurance — but a decision won't come until later this week. we spoke to carl emmerson from the ifs — he said the chancellor is in a difficult position. the challenge is for the chancellor, indeed whoever is chancellor after the election, we have weak growth and high spending on debt interest, and high spending on debt interest, and yes, there has been a big interest in taxes since 2019 and the chancellor has pencilled in plans which imply pretty big spending cuts in the next parliament, and despite all of that, he has got government doubt stable at about five years�* time so the public finances are in a precarious state, and tax cuts could boost growth but they will not pay for themselves and we think tax cuts should only be announced if the chancellor is able to say which spending cuts he will do to pay for them. , ., , , ., .,
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them. the problem is that we are facin: in them. the problem is that we are facing in the _ them. the problem is that we are facing in the uk _ them. the problem is that we are facing in the uk a _ them. the problem is that we are facing in the uk a tax _ them. the problem is that we are facing in the uk a tax burden - them. the problem is that we are facing in the uk a tax burden that is close to a 50 year high. the tax burden is high _ is close to a 50 year high. the tax burden is high in _ is close to a 50 year high. the tax burden is high in the _ is close to a 50 year high. the tax burden is high in the uk _ is close to a 50 year high. the tax burden is high in the uk by - is close to a 50 year high. the tax burden is high in the uk by uk - burden is high in the uk by uk standards, it has risen a lot, record breaking parliament for tax rises, pushing it to its highest ever uk level and it is important to remember there�*s a lot of pressure on public services, many are struggling and there is demographic change with a growing population and an ageing population which is putting pressure on the nhs and social care budgets. it is also important to remember there are lots of countries in scandinavia and western europe which have done bigger tax rises in recent years and that explains why they have a bigger tax burden than us. we do have choices to make and we could go for tax cuts, it is tax cuts that are not matched by spending cuts which we are worried about. what not matched by spending cuts which we are worried about.— we are worried about. what about national insurance? _ we are worried about. what about national insurance? that - we are worried about. what about national insurance? that is - we are worried about. what about national insurance? that is an - national insurance? that is an 0 tion, national insurance? that is an option. cutting _ national insurance? that is an option, cutting the _ national insurance? that is an option, cutting the for- national insurance? that is an option, cutting the for the - option, cutting the for the chancellor, if you can identify the spending cuts, but i think he could do better, because cutting this
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could boost growth but the most damaging taxes we have in the uk are other taxes and they are in need of reform and i would suggest that things like stamp duty on the purchase of homes and stamp duty on the purchase of shares of the kind of taxes that are particularly damaging to growth and if we want to do tax cuts and we want them to be growth friendly, those kind of tax cuts should be towards the front of the queue. let�*s stay in the uk, because figures out today show inflation in grocery prices has fallen to its lowest point in two years. retail analysts kantar say that last month, supermarket prices were 5.3% higher than a year ago — that�*s the lowest let�*s stay in the uk, because figures out today show inflation in grocery prices has fallen to its lowest point in two years. retail analysts kantar say that last month, supermarket prices were 5.3% higher than a year ago — that�*s the lowest figure since march 2022. but of course falling inflation doesn t mean falling prices 7 they re just rising at a slower rate. i spoke to andrew walker from kantar
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and asked him what�*s causing grocery inflation to come down. two things — one, less upward pressure in the supply chain in terms of energy costs and supply costs, but also a real effort on the supermarket�*s part to deliver value to shoppers. so it�*s a fiercely competitive industry. all of the retailers know if they�*re not delivering value to their shoppers, those shoppers will vote with their feet and go elsewhere. and therefore, we�*re seeing huge investment in discounts at shelf in order to attract shoppers through the door. so this is all about changes in consumer behaviour, is it? well, what we�*ve observed over the last 12 months is clearly as inflation at times, this time a year ago was up at 17%. shoppers have found ways to mitigate some of that inflation and avoid it either by choosing different stores, choosing cheaper products. and what we�*ve seen, therefore, is retailers responding to that by trying to deliver value in their own stores, and that manifests itself with a lot more promotional discounts and a lot of emphasis around loyalty schemes to keep shoppers coming back through the door of their stores.
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how does this feed into broader inflation? so food and drink inflation is an element, albeit a small element of broader inflation. so while it helps, it all helps in terms of bringing down overall inflation. other elements, notably energy prices, play a bigger role than food and drink alone. to the us now — because disney is shaking up its movie operation — as it battles to appease unhappy shareholders. it�*s replaced its head of live—action movies after its new releases struggled at the box office last year. disney�*s shares have lost almost half their value since reaching a peak three years ago. there have been concerns the company isn�*t keeping up with changes in the way we get our entertainment. this is the man who is out — sean bailey ran disney�*s non—animated movie operation for 1h years. he oversaw some huge movies — including the re—makes of beauty
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and the beast and aladdin. let�*s go to erin delmore in new york — this the latest move to try to turn disney around. we might be hearing a lot about this until the 3rd of april which is when disney has their big annual meeting, they are under pressure from investors who have hammered disney, criticisms over the movies we have seen at the box office, which have not been the blockbuster is that disney has been hoping for, and the need to better monetise streaming platforms and do more with their asset but you can add another to the list because one of the activist investors is calling on disney to make large investments in al and they say that can double the share price of disney, they have a few creative ideas on how that can be implemented, everything from the following for traffic and waiting times at the disney theme parks to
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the jedi times at the disney theme parks to thejedi lightsaber battles. disney on its part issued a letter to shareholders talking about some of the games it has made, the dividends it is issuing, and the 3 billion stock buy—back and saying it is looking to profitability with its streaming networks, so expect to see this continue. we will keep you posted with all the updates. i�*m posted with all the updates. i'm sure ou posted with all the updates. i'm sure you will — posted with all the updates. i'm sure you will be. thanks forjoining us. we spoke to orlando parfitt from the industry magazine screen international — he said this is the end of an era for disney. it is big news for disney because sean bailey has been there 15 years and he has had a mixed record but he is seen as the architect behind what has been a lucrative strategy of turning animated classic films into live—action hits like the lion king and beauty and the beast. but since bob iger returned there has been a
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lot of turmoil at the studio. last year was a badge year for disney, the first year since 2016 that they were not the top distributor in the world for box office —— a bad year. this is part of a wider restructure of the whole disney theatrical film strategy. of the whole disney theatrical film strate: . ~ , ., ., , ., strategy. why have the movie is not been doin: strategy. why have the movie is not been doing so _ strategy. why have the movie is not been doing so well— strategy. why have the movie is not been doing so well at _ strategy. why have the movie is not been doing so well at the _ strategy. why have the movie is not been doing so well at the box - been doing so well at the box office? —— movies. the been doing so well at the box office? -- movies. the reason why disney have _ office? -- movies. the reason why disney have done _ office? -- movies. the reason why disney have done so _ office? -- movies. the reason why disney have done so well- office? -- movies. the reason why disney have done so well recentlyl office? -- movies. the reason whyl disney have done so well recently is because they own these super ips like star wars, marvel, because they own these super ips like starwars, marvel, pixar, and if those films did not make a billion they were considered failures, and during covid some of those films like the pixar films, they went straight to disney plus and some of the marvel films became and some of the marvel films became a series on tv, so people think these core theatrical brands were devalued as disney tried to pivot towards streaming and out with
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people realising that streaming is not as lucrative as it was possibly thought, trying to get customers who had previously happily gone to the cinema to see a pixar film to go back to cinemas, having seen the most recent pixar films on disney plus, that is quite difficult, and this restructure is part of that process. this restructure is part of that rocess. �* , process. one thing i'm interested in, are process. one thing i'm interested in. are we — process. one thing i'm interested in, are we falling _ process. one thing i'm interested in, are we falling out _ process. one thing i'm interested in, are we falling out of— process. one thing i'm interested in, are we falling out of love - process. one thing i'm interested in, are we falling out of love with| in, are we falling out of love with movies, preferring a box set? people talk about, movies, preferring a box set? people talk about. huge _ movies, preferring a box set? people talk about, huge part _ movies, preferring a box set? people talk about, huge part of _ movies, preferring a box set? people talk about, huge part of the - movies, preferring a box set? people talk about, huge part of the success i talk about, huge part of the success of disney is marvel movies and people have talked about superhero fatigue and you look at the big films at the box office last year, barbie and oppenheimer, and part of this move with sean bailey leaving, being replaced by a man who was previously co—president at searchlight which is the more arthouse film brand of disney and i wonder if they will be looking at
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making more film—maker led films, like oppenheimer. which are, it feels like public interest is more into that in cinemas, people are looking for something a bit different, but also feel may films are often cheaper. avengers costs 400 million and that is just a production budget, so may be making more mid—budget films that do not need to make $1 billion at the box office is maybe what disney are aiming for with this change of strategy as well. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. back to training in middlesbrough, elias is thinking about his next bout after taking the welterweight belt at the region unity fighting championship in darlington. unity fighting championship in darlington— unity fighting championship in darlinuton. , , ., darlington. every day is training, no da s darlington. every day is training, no days off. _ darlington. every day is training, no days off, even _ darlington. every day is training, no days off, even after _ darlington. every day is training, no days off, even after the - darlington. every day is training, no days off, even after the fight, darlington. every day is training, | no days off, even after the fight, i
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was straight in for the next flight. at this amateur level you can keep going as much as you can. not many injuries. if you get injured, take time out, but at the pro level, you get injured more. his time out, but at the pro level, you get injured more.— get in'ured more. his proud father has get injured more. his proud father has been supporting him since he | has been supporting him since he started at 14. i�*m has been supporting him since he started at 14.— started at 14. i'm very proud. we have been _ started at 14. i'm very proud. we have been working _ started at 14. i'm very proud. we have been working hard - started at 14. i'm very proud. we have been working hard to - started at 14. i'm very proud. we have been working hard to get i started at 14. i'm very proud. we i have been working hard to get this and the _ have been working hard to get this and the sky is the limit. we have one title — and the sky is the limit. we have one title and we have another one lined _ one title and we have another one lined up _ one title and we have another one lined up at — one title and we have another one lined up at the end of march. another— lined up at the end of march. another one injune, as well. he lined up at the end of march. another one in june, as well. he and his team have _ another one in june, as well. he and his team have their _ another one in june, as well. he and his team have their sights _ another one in june, as well. he and his team have their sights set - another one in june, as well. he and his team have their sights set on - his team have their sights set on the american circuit after that. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you�*re live with bbc news. some breaking news from russia. a lawyer who represented the late russian opposition leader alexei navalny is reported to have been detained in the country. we are
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getting few details but sources say that the lawyer is being held on an administrative charge from violating public order. —— for. he accompanied the mother of alexei navalny last week when she travelled to the arctic where her son had been held, to demand her son�*s body be returned to demand her son�*s body be returned to her. the news coming in from the russian media that the late opposition politician alexei navalny�*s lawyer has now been detained in russia. we will have more on that story when we know more. today on the bbc, we have a special coverage on the life of gazans.
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in gaza city last december an attack is thought to have killed 103 members of the same family. according to the hamas—run health ministry — nearly 30,000 people have been killed in gaza since the start of the israeli military campaign, following the hamas attack on october the 7th. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson has been speaking to one of the surviving family members — who lost his wife and three young daughters. it took ahmad al—ghuferi a decade to build the family he loved. it took a split second one winter evening to destroy it. ten—year—old tala, five—year—old lana, and najla — not yet two — killed with ahmad�*s wife in a powerful strike on a residential building in gaza city. along with his mother, four of his brothers, their families and dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins. 103 relatives in all, a family obliterated. translation: i feel i am in a dream. i still can�*t believe
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what happened to us. my daughters are little birds to me. ahmad survived because he was 50 miles away in the occupied west bank, stuck outside gaza since the start of the war, working in tel aviv to fund the couple�*s dream of owning their own home. he was on the phone to his wife when the attack began. translation: she knew she would die, and she asked me to forgive her - for anything bad she might have ever done to me. i told her there was no need to say that, and that was the last call between us. the house ahmad built with his tel aviv salary in gaza city is still standing — just. the homes around it flattened — including his uncle�*s house, metres away, where the family fled for safety. translation: it was a fire belt.
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there were strikes here on four houses next to ours. they were hitting one house every ten minutes. the family are still searching for bodies buried in the rubble. among those killed, they say, a 98—year—old grandmother and a baby boy born nine days before. only a handful of survivors. "we were sitting in the house and we found ourselves under the rubble," umm ahmad told us. "i was thrown from one side to the other. i don�*t know how they got me out." two months on, israeli forces are fighting hamas in gaza city — as they were a few blocks south of ahmad�*s house around the time the compound was hit. the army said it wasn�*t aware of any strikes there that day. ahmad no longer wants to return home. last monday would have been najla�*s second birthday. "who am i going back for?" he said. "there is no—one left
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there to call me darling, no—one to call me dad." lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. a reminder of the human cost of the conflict in gaza. we have been relying on our brave reporters who have been facing difficult conditions to bring us the story. it has been very hard to do this balance especially when you have to leave three times the place, first my house, and then gaza,
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you were then told to go to khan younis, and then we were displaced a few times because of air strikes, this is very hard to explain to a nine—year—old girl, why she has to wake up overnight and pack up her stuff and to leave to an area, and why she has to do it again and again, it was difficult to explain this to the kids, and also try to keep them safe. i was trying to report my story because i lived the story like 2 million people, 2.3 million people in gaza, living in the same situation, and when i did thisjourney from gaza city into khan younis, my family were with me in the car and my wife was filming me and i was trying to explain to the bbc audience, this journey and how hundreds and thousands of people, some of them walking, their animals and cars, trying to get a snapshot from the car. a it is hard but i tried
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because the people there deserve their story to be told and it is a big story. my wife was always taking the job further and further and it is great that she has been able to do this. unfortunately i was not able to support the family most of the time because reporting a big story like this requires you being on air all the time and doing live after live. i remember speaking to you after an air strike that hit near where you were, and i wonder now you are sitting here, you always held it together on air, but at times did you want to cry and stop doing the reporting? yes, and i said many times, "i can�*t do it today," because you are human, and it is your father and your
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brother and your son and your wife, she was nearly killed in one of the air strikes, and it took me a while, sometimes it would take hours to recover, to regain the power to stand and speak again. this is something that was not easy all the time. there was an occasion when i said, "i can�*t do this." this is on the roof at the top of my building, i could not go to the office, and i decided to record from the rooftop — that house does not exist any more, it is completely destroyed. when you look at the reporting that people are still managing, we are still trying to tell the story of what is happening in gaza, how do you feel about your old neighbourhood? you wrote about how you used
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to enjoy walks along the beach, enjoying a coffee and ice cream, do you think you can go back? the war will stop one day and they will rebuild, but who will bring back the memories? i�*ve been living in this house for about 20 years and i grew up in this neighbourhood which does not exist any more. i don�*t know where my neighbours are. we used to enjoy our time in this place. before 7th of october, gaza was not heaven and we used to suffer even before, but not as big as what we are facing right now. they can bring back the walls but they cannot bring back the memories. the time that we lived in this place. a new study suggests cancer
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survival rates in the uk are lagging 15 years behind other major countries. experts found that 31—point—5% of uk cancer patients received chemotherapy. rates are higher in australia, norway and canada. an nhs spokesman said more people than ever are being diagnosed at an earlier stage of the disease. earlier i spoke to ovarian cancer surgeon drjohn butler. this is what he had to say. this is a really important study. we know that cancer survival is a key indication of the performance of the health care system and we have known for over 20 years that the uk lags behind similar countries, so those with comprehensive health care and universally funded health care systems. but what we have been exploring in the last 10—15 years is why there�*s a difference in survival and this is for the first time an international study to compare two key components
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of cancer treatment, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, across countries. and what we have found is that patients in the uk with cancer wait longer to receive their treatment and they also receive less treatment, and those differences are particularly amplified in older patients. we know that for some aggressive cancers such as ovarian, lung cancer, the time is crucial to increase the chance for a patient to survive. it might be a good idea to brace yourself for this one. researchers have discovered that a tiny, transparent fish known as a danionella cerebrum can make a sound as loud as a jackhammer. the creature, which isjust over a centimetre long, uses its muscles to drum out a 140 decibel rhythm on its swim bladder. in the waters close to the fish this is as loud as a gunshot. let�*s have a listen. loud, raspy buzzing
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earlier i spoke to lead author of the study, verity cook, and i asked her to explain a little more about how such a small fish makes such a big noise. the swim bladder is a chamber of gas inside the fish used to control it and the fish have these specialised muscles and inside the muscle there is a rib and a piece of cartilage and when the muscle contracts it pulls on the rib, and then the cartilage is shot out so you can imagine it like hitting a drum, so you hear this buzzing sound that we heard earlier. how did you find out
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about the noise? it�*s a nice story. we have used high—speed video recordings, and you can see what is going on inside their bodies, so we recorded videos up to 8000 frames per second and when you slow them down you can see the swim bladder being compressed by the cartilage movement. what is the point in terms of knowing about this? in our lab we are mainly focused on neuroscience and because the fish are so small and transparent we can use special microscopes to see inside the brain and see what is going on at a neuron level. because they communicate with each other acoustically we can gain insights into acoustic communication and the underlying networks making this happen. do we know why these tiny fish make this huge sound? because they are so small, if they make a sound they become very vulnerable, so when they are by themselves they don�*t make sounds,
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only when they are with other fish. so we think it is a communication signal and only the males make sounds. we think it is probably to do with aggressive behaviour and also with males and females, may be courtship or a mating ritual. are these the loudest fish in the world? or are there others? there are many loud fish, actually. te loudest i have ever come across is the black drum which can make sounds at 180 decibels at a metre away. but this is two metres large. so this is the loudest fish at this size that we know about. you were just walking past a fish tank and you noticed the noises? there are some hobby aquarium people who reported that the fish made sounds, and we could hear them walking past the tanks, so we have microphones you can submerge into water to record high quality recordings and then
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to discover the mechanism we used specialised cameras where you can record very fast frame rates. now it�*s time for a look at the weather. hello there. good afternoon. it was a beautiful start earlier on this morning across england and wales, red skies for many ahead of the weather front. as the old adage goes, it�*s introducing a lot more cloud and rain as we head through the rest of the afternoon. but the rain is fragmenting as it slowly pushes its way southwards and eastwards. sojust thickening cloud really across much of central southern england and the south east of england, perhaps still a bit of hazy sunshine here, the mist and fog having lifted and cleared. there will be some heavier downpours of rain perhaps across north west and wales into the midlands for a time.
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thickening cloud, too. behind the front, some brighter skies, sunny spells and quite a brisk southwesterly wind, possibly gales across the northern isles. very blustery here. temperatures are really quite mild behind the front across the north and the west. northern ireland, ten or 11 degrees celsius, maybe. cooler underneath the cloud and the rain, seven or eight degrees celsius for the south and the east. overnight tonight, that front clears away with just a few outbreaks of perhaps light, patchy rain and drizzle, clear skies for much of england and wales, particularly towards the east. and here we could see a touch of frost, maybe some fog developing. a little cloudier and milder. also really quite breezy further north and west so here we should stay frost free. and then into wednesday, there�*s another weather front approaching and that is a warm front. it�*s going to drag behind it much milderfeeling air, although colder conditions again expected as we head into the latter part of thursday. so, for wednesday, we�*ll start off the day with outbreaks of rain across western scotland, moving across north west england, possibly pepping up for a while. heavier downpours of rain may be developing across western wales and the far south west of england. by the end of the day. temperatures creeping up into double figures, maybe 14c for the far east of northern ireland.
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but then behind that warm front comes another set of cold fronts. and this is going to be with us on thursday. initial rain, i think, across the far south east of england, possibly heavier downpours across many central southern areas of england. and in that cold feeling air, towards the north and the west, things will brighten up. but there could be some wintry showers with the snow levels dropping as we head through the day. so temperatures starting to drop as we head through thursday and friday. for many, it is going to be a cooler feeling weekend again and it will stay rather unsettled.
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live from london. this is bbc news. concerns that hamas could reject the terms of a gaza ceasefire deal — but president biden says he hopes a pause in fighting could begin as soon as monday. germany says boots on the ground is not an option in ukraine,
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after french president emmanuel macron said "nothing can be ruled out". the prince of wales unexpectedly pulls out of a memorial service for his godfather due to a "personal matter". and the man who led the campaign for justice for sub postmasters caught up the in the horizon it scandal has called for the system for paying compensation to be sped up we keep coming back to this time after time after time, pay people. there�*s a lot of distractions, a lot of things thrown up all the time, butjust get up, pay people. hello, i�*m rajini vaidyanathan, welcome to verified live. there are growing concerns that hamas may reject the terms of a gaza ceasefire deal, drawn up in paris over the weekend. the group is still studying the draught framework.
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the deal would include a pause in all military

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