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tv   BBC News  BBCNEWS  March 12, 2024 5:00am-5:31am GMT

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live from london, this is bbc news. the president of guyana, who heads the caribbean bloc caricom, says the prime minister of haiti, ariel henry, has resigned. a ship carrying aid to gaza has yet to leave a port in cyprus. and as sweden officiallyjoins nato, we have a special report from the arctic circle on what this new alliance means. the aim of this exercise is to demonstrate how nato would come to the aid of an ally under attack. it is the very principle of the alliance, an attack on one is an attack on all. hello, i'm mark lobel. let's start with some breaking news. within the past hour or so the prime minister of haiti, ariel henry, has resigned. that's according to the president of guyana, who heads the caribbean bloc caricom. mr henry has held the unelected
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role since the assassination in 2021 of the country's last president. armed groups have been calling for mr henry to step down, leading to widespread violence. last week he was prevented from returning home to haiti. news of his resignation came during a high—level meeting of the caribbean community injamaica. to that end we acknowledge the resignation of prime minister ariel henry upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council. harold isaac is an independent journalist based in haiti. he gave us his reaction to the news. it is unclear for pretty much everybody here at this point, although in the past few hours there were serious indications that resignation was imminent. prime minister ariel henry had been under tremendous pressure to resign in the past couple
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of weeks after he returned from kenya on a trip to get police support. as of late, you could see people rushing for instance to money transfer houses, trying to get some cash, trying to go to do groceries or to the market. sadly, we have grown somewhat accustomed to disruption, and it is yet another one, but it is unclear how it ends. so people have welcomed having some peace over the last few hours. and we hope it is going to last. but will it? nobody knows, ready. earlier at the caricom talks injamaica, the us secretary of state, antony blinken, announced a multimillion—dollar aid package for haiti. what we've seen in recent days again should remind us that the already—challenging and difficult security situation has now deteriorated even further,
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and makes the multinational support mission even more important than ever. the united nations security council has reaffirmed that and reaffirmed a collect commitment to deploy it as quickly as possible. given this increasingly urgent need i am announcing today that the us department of defence is doubling its approved support for the mission from $100 million. and that brings the total us support to $300 million for this effort. i am also announcing additional humanitarian assistance for the people of haiti. $33 million to further support their health and food security. now, all of us know that only the haitian people can, only the haitian people should determine their own future. let's speak now to esther belliger, a spokesperson for the swiss aid
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organisation helvetas. she's in guatemala city. hello, esther. this breaking news about the prime minister doesn't affect the situation on the ground, one of the greatest risks we are hearing about in the capital is stray bullets. how is your team faring on the ground? how is your team faring on the round? , ., ., , ground? the situation is extremely _ ground? the situation is extremely precarious, i ground? the situation is. extremely precarious, we ground? the situation is - extremely precarious, we are deeply concerned and even before the latest events, half of the population, we are talking about 5 million people, were facing acute hunger. so calls are closed, —— schools are closed, hospitals are closed due to lack of medicine, lack of personnel, 400,000 internally displaced people, so it is really a humanitarian crisis going on in haiti. what the organised _ crisis going on in haiti. what the organised gangs - crisis going on in haiti. what the organised gangs there i crisis going on in haiti. what the organised gangs there now in control demand of people who are working on the ground? well, we do not collaborate of
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course with the gangs, so in view of the worsening situation we decided to remove the office from port—au—prince to the south coast of the island, where we are still able to implement our programme. 50 implement our programme. so what level of security are you looking for to feel safe, to feel your team there from past experience? we feel your team there from past experience?— experience? we really had to imrove experience? we really had to improve our— experience? we really had to improve our security - experience? we really had to l improve our security measures and that first step was really to move out of the capital because for us as a development organisation it was not possible to work in port—au—prince. so ourfirst port—au—prince. so our first step port—au—prince. so ourfirst step was really to secure the safety of our staff. and it is possible to work in the south of the country, in the rural areas, and as we have been working there for 40 years, so we know the people, we know the
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local authorities, the work we are doing is well recognised so i think this helps to ensure safety and security for our staff. �* ., , , ., staff. and how this compares to revious staff. and how this compares to previous humanitarian - staff. and how this compares to previous humanitarian crises - previous humanitarian crises there, some are saying this is worse than in the past? it is worse than in the past? it is worse and — worse than in the past? it is worse and also _ worse than in the past? it 3 worse and also different. especially in the capital, it is just extreme, especially in the capital, it isjust extreme, people especially in the capital, it is just extreme, people are not able to move, people are not able to move, people are not able to move, people are not able to get out of the house. there is a lot of violence, the authorities ijust there is a lot of violence, the authorities i just absent, police is absent. —— are just. it is extremely chaotic. police is absent. -- are 'ust. it is extremely chaotic. what is the most _ it is extremely chaotic. what is the most urgent _ it is extremely chaotic. what is the most urgent next - it is extremely chaotic. what is the most urgent next step| is the most urgent next step then? , ., then? so i believe that it really needs _ then? so i believe that it| really needs international missions. in order to establish a transitional government, to restore basic security, democratic governance, access to services which is missing now and rule of law, i think
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this is extremely important at this is extremely important at this moment. mil right, as the belliger, spokesperson for the aid organisation helvetas, thanks for joining organisation helvetas, thanks forjoining us. let's get some of the day's other news now. a former boeing employee who had raised concerns about the company's production standards has been found dead in the us. john barnett had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against boeing in the days before his death. a coroner said the 62—year—old had died from a "self—inflicted" wound. police are investigating. donald trump has criticised a bill making its way through congress that could ban the use of tiktok in the us. he said such a move would give an unfair advantage to facebook owner meta. mr trump tried to ban the social media app when he was president. lawmakers are set to vote this week on a bill that would force the chinese owners of tiktok to divest from the company or face a ban. airbnb says it will ban most
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indoor security cameras at the properties it lists. it follows complaints they've been found in areas where a guest would expect privacy. they'd been allowed in common areas such as hallways and living rooms, if clearly visible and listed in the property description. the new policy comes into effect at the end of april. a ship that was supposed to set sail from cyprus to gaza over the weekend with 200 tonnes of food has yet to leave its port. the spanish ship, the open arms, will be the first to sail along a humanitarian marine corridor announced by the eu, the us, the uk, cyprus and the uae. the reason for the delay was unclear. it marks another setback to international aid delivery to gaza, as the un reports hundreds of thousands face famine. quentin sommerville reports from cyprus. there is no functioning
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port in gaza. the israeli offensive, the bombardment has devastated infrastructure there, so there is nowhere for this aid to land. so the charity involved, world central kitchen, has hired heavy lifting equipment, is moving huge boulders, and is building its own pier, its own jetty out into the mediterranean to get ready to receive aid. the problem might be that that jetty may not be ready yet. thejourney from larnaca, where i am now, to gaza, it usually takes about 15 hours, but is is expected to take this boat and the barge it is towing about 50 hours, much longer because of the cargo and the nature of the vessel. it's a tiny, tiny, tiny drop in terms of gaza's need and in some respects maritime sea corridors and air drops are not the way to get the humanitarian aid that gaza needs so urgently
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to the people of gaza. the reality is the quickest way to do that is by truck, through the two entry points at the south of gaza and despite pleas from israel's allies to increase the number of trucks up to 500 today as it was before the war, israel has resisted doing that, it's around 100 a day that are getting through. the help palestinians need, palestinians who, let's remember, are on the brink of famine according to the un, it's within their grasp and just across the border in israel and in egypt, but politics of war is keeping it farfrom them. for the first time since it officiallyjoined nato, the swedish flag has been raised in a ceremony at the alliance's headquarters in brussels. both sweden and finland, which have cast aside their neutrality, have been taking part in the largest nato military exercise since the end of the cold war. all this amid warnings of a renewed threat to europe from russia, following its full scale invasion of ukraine. jonathan beale reports
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from the arctic circle. nato says it's a bulwalk for peace... ..but it's preparing for war. this just part of its massive military exercise taking right across europe. and with newest members sweden and finland in no doubt as to why they've joined. being alone against russia is like... why take that risk when you canjoin nato? i personally feel a lot safer because now we have allies to depend on. in this scenario, they've come to defend northern norway after it's been invaded. they're not calling the enemy russia, but it is a near neighbour. the aim of this exercise is to demonstrate how nato would come to the aid of an ally under attack. it is the very principle of the alliance — an attack on one is an attack on all. butjust how likely is that? no—one's saying the threat is imminent.
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russia's preoccupied with its war in ukraine. but it is moscow's aggression that's sounding the alarm. the important thing is, it's not if they will reinforce themselves, it's how long will they take. you're sure russia is a threat? i'm sure that russia is a threat, yes. and that we need to be even stronger as an allied country in the upcoming five or ten years. it's those living closest who are most aware of the threat. the country's now boosting defence spending but also mentally preparing themselves for war. both finland and norway share a border with russia and they've already strengthened their defences with a citizen army. teachers, nurses and carpenters who are also part—time soldiers. these are members of norway's home guard.
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but its no dad's army, most are young and ready to fight. in world war ii, this county was burned down. the whole county. so my grandparents, everyone, they had to flee and, yeah, so that's my option. just stay here and fight and do something i'm trained for. i'd rather stay here and fight, yeah. i look at the newspaper more often now than i did before just to see if there's something that's happened, especially with russia. for these nordic allies, it is now strength in numbers. but for russia, it's the mother of all unintended consequences. more nato on its border. jonathan beale, bbc news, the arctic circle. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the government has committed to building new gas—fired power
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stations, warning that failure to do so would mean the uk risking blackouts. the new plants will replace ageing stations coming to the end of their life. environmentalists say it's a backwards step but the government says they have to be "realistic" in the move towards clean energy. hundreds of thousands of young adults who didn't get a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine as children are being invited in for a catch—up campaign. there have been rising measles cases in england. mmr vaccination rates fell in the late 19905 because of the damaging and discredited claims about the jab by andrew wakefield. experts say banana lovers are facing rising prices as global warming threatens to disrupt the supply of one of the world's favourite fruits. a un banana economist, pascal liu, told the bbc that climate change was compounding the impacts of fast spreading diseases that are destroying crops.
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you're live with bbc news. the princess of wales has apologised for what she calls "any confusion" after she said she edited a photograph of her with her three children. five news agencies withdrew the photo over concerns it had been digitally manipulated. the image, taken by the prince of wales, was the first of catherine to be released since her surgery injanuary. the princess of wales was seen on monday being driven out of windsor in a car with prince william, as he travelled to the commonwealth day service which she did not attend. 0ur royal correpondent daniela relph has more. 0ur royal correspondent daniela relph has more. very nice to see you guys. the prince of wales this evening at an event related to his earthshot environmental project in london. at the end of a day filled with unexpected twists and turns. prince william took this photo of his wife and children
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that was supposed to reassure, to calm the more outlandish rumours about the princess's condition. but its publication has done the opposite. today, the princess was seen with her husband, being driven from windsor. kensington palace said she had a private appointment. last night, the first of five news agencies issued dramatically—worded "kill notices", withdrawing the picture of the princess and her children, due to what the agencies said were "inconsistencies" in the image. then this morning, a social media post from the princess of wales herself, where she admitted she had made cosmetic changes to the picture. she said... have you got a favourite shot? photography is a passion for the princess of wales, reflected in some of her public engagements.
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and over the years, she has released many of her own pictures with little fuss. but times are different now. the clamourfor information on her current condition remains intense, and it's fuelled the questions about the photo. they've misled the public by putting an image out there that was manipulated, and it's going to fuel a whole load of speculation and conspiracy about kate and her health. at the commonwealth day service at westminster abbey, it was business as usual. but the royal party was depleted due to the current health problems. the absent king recorded a video message, played to the congregation. in recent weeks, i have been most deeply touched by your wonderfully kind and thoughtful good wishes for my health and, in return, can only continue to serve you to the best of my ability throughout the commonwealth. it's been a challenging few weeks
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for the royal family — and the photo controversy has fed the debate over whether we can trust what the palaces tell the public. i wouldn't say it's a trust issue, i haven't heard that. i mean, the princess of wales is an accomplished photographer. she said she edits photographs. she might have been editing family photographs, you know, all the time, for all we know. a photo altered by a princess. her team say she was doing what many others do — trying to make herfamily look as good as possible in a picture. daniela relph, bbc news, windsor. let's speak tojuliet rieden, abc's royal correspondent and author of the the royals in australia. juliet, hello. why are people still fascinated with this editing fail? it does seem quite as our, and
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almost laughable to be suggesting that this sort of harmless photo shopping of a family photograph should bring into question the integrity of the monarchy, but that does seem to be how it's playing out. at the moment at least. i think it was bold and smart for the princess of wales to fess up the princess of wales to fess up and say this is what happened, "i edited, i didn't mean to confuse you", but it took too long to come to us. the powers paused for too long a time and in that void everyone was ruminating and questioning what on earth else might have been manipulated over the years that we have had pictures come out of the palace. that is a problem i think. the prince and princess of wales are so popular and they have always been so popular, but now the public don't fully trust them. find popular, but now the public don't fully trust them. and it has, don't fully trust them. and it has. just _ don't fully trust them. and it has, just this _ don't fully trust them. and it has, just this photo - don't fully trust them. and it has, just this photo has - has, just this photo has sparked endless conspiracy theories by people who don't
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normally talk about conspiracy theories. how big a deal is this in australia right now? look, it's dominated the news cycle, that's for sure. but i think everyone is a bit incredulous about first of all, photo agency would turn down a picture from a palace, that was quite surprising in the first place, and then that the palace would actually manipulate the image and also admit to manipulating the image. we don't normally get those sorts of statements from the palace, we certainly don't get them from the princess of wales herself. so i think people are a bit shocked, bemused by it. i don't think it's affected the princess of wales's image, though, i think she is still held in pretty high esteem here. ., ., , here. you say that but the ro al here. you say that but the royal family _ here. you say that but the royal family needs - here. you say that but the royal family needs to - here. you say that but the royal family needs to be i here. you say that but the i royal family needs to be seen to be believed. now the question is can we believe what we see. do you think kate has actually inflicted some permanent damage here? i think there is going — permanent damage here? i think there is going to _ permanent damage here? i think there is going to be _ permanent damage here? i think there is going to be a _ permanent damage here? i think there is going to be a lot - permanent damage here? i think there is going to be a lot of - there is going to be a lot of ridges to be built. i think
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anything that comes out of the royal household now will be questioned. —— ridges. and quite rightly so. it probably should have been questioned more in the past but we have had these sweetheart deals between the royal family and the newspapers in the uk, where what we are given has been accepted, there has been a lot of spoon feeding. i think now the public is going to make sure that all of that stuff is questioned a lot more. and perhaps we will go back to the old days where royal photographers take these pictures. d0 photographers take these ictures. , ., ~ photographers take these ictures. ~ . pictures. do you think that concerns _ pictures. do you think that concerns over _ pictures. do you think that concerns over the - pictures. do you think that i concerns over the princess's health, which was one of the reasons why it was thought that they released this photo, remains?— they released this photo, remains? , ~ ., remains? yes. i think we are all concerned _ remains? yes. i think we are all concerned over— remains? yes. i think we are all concerned over the - remains? yes. i think we are i all concerned over the princess of wales's health but i also think she does deserve privacy. i think the idea that they gave us that initial information that she was having stomach surgery, abdominal surgery, and
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that she was then recuperating at home for a few months and they would leave it at that, i think that should have been fine, and then these conspiracy theories started in pretty much theories started in pretty much the far corners of the internet but the wider media lifted them to another plane. they should have just stayed there in the background. and we should have alljust background. and we should have all just carried background. and we should have alljust carried on reporting real news. but then the fake news took over.— news took over. historically ou will news took over. historically you will know _ news took over. historically you will know there - news took over. historically you will know there has - news took over. historically l you will know there has been many scandals over the many years, but is this year is shaping up to be the royals lost their gloss?— shaping up to be the royals lost their gloss? look. i don't see this as — lost their gloss? look. i don't see this as a _ lost their gloss? look. i don't see this as a scandal, - lost their gloss? look. i don't see this as a scandal, it - lost their gloss? look. i don't see this as a scandal, it is - see this as a scandal, it is not a scandal in the same way, a mother photo shopping a family shot so as they all look their best is really not a scandal. and even not admitting to it at first is not a scandal, one question she did admit to it. but certainly it
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does, it is difficult for the monarchy, it is showing how the monarchy, it is showing how the monarchy is beleaguered now, it is showing these two illnesses, the princess and the king, has shown how fragile the monarchy can be. juliet, thank you forjoining us on the programme. it's been a long—feared development in the worldwide spread of bird flu — for the first time it's been found in penguins in sub—antarctica. the virus has been discovered in gentoo and king penguins. hundreds of thousands of them live in south georgia, an island teeming with birdlife. 0ur science editor rebecca morelle has more. they come to the islands of south georgia to nest and raise their chicks. gentoo penguins are a vital part of a wildlife haven. but now avian flu has arrived and five gentoos have tested positive.
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five more cases have been detected in a separate king penguin colony, too. it's the first time this deadly virus has been confirmed in penguins in the sub—antarctic. south georgia is a spectacular island. there are so many unique concentrations of wildlife, most of which are globally important. so if bird flu were to take a hold and cause very high mortalities across the island, it would be of conservation concern. scientists think migratory birds — skuas and giant petrels — brought avian flu from south america. but these birds also migrate to antarctica, and the fear is they'll carry the virus to this pristine wilderness and infect more species there. like emperor penguins — already under threat from climate change as the sea ice vanishes. but there are still many unknowns about how the virus will spread. penguins do form colonies and live in very close proximity to each other, so that in itself would lend itself to the idea that they might spread the virus rapidly between each other.
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but we don't know how susceptible penguins are. we know that there have been die—offs in penguins, but we don't know how easily the virus can get into different penguin species. avian flu has already devastated wild birds around the world, including tens of thousands in the uk. it's crossing over into mammals too. with a virus so widespread, it's been a question of when, not if, it would arrive in the south polar region. so far, it's only had a small impact on the penguins there, but scientists will be monitoring the colonies closely. rebecca morelle, bbc news. a reminder of the breaking news — the prime minister of haiti, ariel henry, has resigned within hours of the us secretary of state meeting caribbean leaders injamaica, to discuss the deployment of a security force to haiti. within the last few minutes a us official has said the outgoing prime minister of haiti is welcome to stay in puerto rico. stay with us here on bbc news.
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hello there. we've still got significant problems with a lot of ground water lying around across the southern half of the uk. there are numerous flood warnings out for that, and as well as some large waves around southern western coast. the warnings are all on the website, but we are in for more rain. it's already been moving in through the evening and overnight across the western part of the uk. this is for the rest of the week — you can see the rainfall totals amounting to perhaps 30—40 millimetres again, for many parts. this is the current arm of cloud that's moving in the next area of low pressure, which will give some wet weather through the remainder of the night and into the start of our tuesday morning. perhaps a little bit of mist and fog in central and eastern areas, a bit chilly here, touch of frost in the north — but this is the main story, really quite wet through the rush hour across parts of northern ireland, initially across wales and southern and central england, moving towards the south—east, as well. so it could be quite nasty — hazardous driving conditions, lots of spray and standing water around. that main pulse of rain for many of us lasting 3—4
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hours before starting to move out the way, but we will be left with a legacy of cloud following on behind. quite a bit of that even to the north of the front, across scotland, perhaps some brightness in the far north. still quite a keen southeasterly breeze here, but for most of us, it's a south—westerly, brisker wind — and it's milder, 13—14 celsius, because we're in a warm sector. and as we go through the night, we'll see this low pressure gathering forces and becoming closer to the north, bringing windier weather and wetter weather, as well, as it sinks southwards. so, by wednesday, we think sitting as a slow—moving band of rain, parts of northern ireland, northern england, north wales, as well. showers following on behind — a bit chilly, wintry over the hills — but the main story is again, yet more rain, perhaps not arriving into the south and the east until later on. in fact, it mayjust lift northwards then as we go into thursday. still, as you can see, a lot of wet weather in the forecast for the coming week, but milder as we pick up that southerly or south—westerly wind. 15—16 if we see some breaks in the cloud
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as we head towards thursday. and that's, as i say, because of our wind direction coming in off the atlantic for much of last week, we had the chilly wind coming in off the north sea. so it really does make a difference, our wind direction — but coming in from the south and west over the atlantic, it does mean we'll see more rain. as i've said, the warnings are online.
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live from london. this is bbc news.
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uk jobs data is expected later. with the country falling into recession, what's the impact on employment? in the united states, will the consumer inflation report indicate interest rates could be cut? bitcoin hits an all—time high at over $72,000. in mongolia, we'll hear about the scheme to get more girls into coding — and why. welcome to the programme stop. we're on the verge of the latest indication of how the uk economy is faring. 0fficialjobs market and wages data will be released soon. last month figures suggested the jobs market remains fairly resilient. the unemployment rate across the uk fell to 3.8% in the final three months of 2023.
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that's down from 3.9% in the three months to november.

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