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tv   BBC News  BBC News  March 31, 2024 10:30am-11:01am BST

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expected to ceasefire talks are expected to resume in cairo. the prime minister's office as a delegation of officials have been sent. tens of thousands of worshippers have gathered in st peter's square to hear pope francis late easter sunday mass. there has been concerned about the 87—year—old's health. king charles joins the queen and other members of the royal family at an easter service taking place at st george's chapel at windsor castle. it's his most significant public appearance since being diagnosed with cancer. millions of workers in the uk will see their pay increase tomorrow as more people become eligible for the national living wage. millions of workers in the uk will see their pay increase tomorrow as more people become eligible for the national living wage.
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previously you had to be 23 years old to qualify, but that's been reduced to 21. it has been just over £10 an hour — just over $12. it's going up to just over £11 an hour. our business correspondent marc ashdown has the details. barista sam loves hisjob, but after paying his essential bills he's often left with just a few hundred pounds a month to live on. pay rises just help him stay afloat. i think they balance, because obviously everything else goes up in price so it sort of evens out every single year. maybe for, like, a month you'll be like, "ooh, i've got money this month!" and then it'lljust be, like — the next month will be a bit of a rough one. workers across the uk in some of the lowest—paid jobs are about to get a boost in their pay. from tomorrow, the national living wage is going up from £10.42 an hour to £11.44 an hour. that's an increase of 9.8%. the age at which a worker qualifies has also been reduced from 23 to 21 years old. the treasury says a full—time worker
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should be paid about £1,800 extra over one year. this is the largest increase in a minimum wage in cash terms and the first time it's gone up by more than a pound in one go, and it reflects, really, the strength in pay growth across the economy — which looks set to continue. minimum wage levels for workers aged between 16 and 21 will also rise. the lobby group uk hospitality says taken across all the pay scales, businesses could be having to find an increase of 17%. got significant cost headwinds they're facing into, notjust wages, but energy, food price inflation, and the cost of living pressures. so there's a perfect storm going on here, and on top of this, a 17% increase in their wage bill. charities want to see more businesses sign up to the so—called real living wage, which sets minimum pay at a higher rate. but tomorrow's increase will give a pay boost to millions of workers. mark ashdown, bbc news. one in four people experience a mental health problem each year in england. now after a successful trial,
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a new treatment is being rolled out in one nhs trust — a headset which delivers low—level electrical pulses. it should only be used under the guidance of a doctor and is being prescribed to patients who don't respond to medication. our reporter nikki fox explains how it works. you open up the app and it works on bluetooth so it tells you to attach the pads. like a lot of men his age, ashley riley suffers from depression. the app tells you how to line it up, which is there. then you press start stimulating and you're away. but since wearing this device, his symptoms have improved. and that's it for 30 minutes. and you get a slight tingling and i'll sit and do emails or work on my laptop and you do that every day. the place i was in was a pretty bad place. i'd had some really bad depression and anxiety, so i tried lots of medication, i tried lots of different things. i couldn't work, couldn't interact with my family on a day to day basis.
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and so, yeah, i was pretty ill, i was pretty poorly. i've become much calmer. i take a day at a time and i feel much more settled and there's much more hope in my life. he wears the device five times a week. it uses electrical pulses. they target a part of the front of the brain called the prefrontal cortex. it controls things like how we express emotions and can influence depression. the weak pulses aim to restore activity in that part of the brain. the nhs in northamptonshire is helping to trial the device. about 30 to 40% of patients with depression do not respond to antidepressants. some people do, and for them antidepressants are appropriate. we can'tjust keep giving antidepressants hoping something is going to be different because we need a different approach. it's one of the first nhs trusts to give patients the headset because it can be used at home.
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it's cheaper than other therapies. what would you say to people who are skeptical of this kind of alternative treatment? what i would say is research shows and we've known for many years, that the brain runs on electricity. that's the mother tongue. and effectively, when you look at brains of people who are depressed, there's less activity in the region associated with mood and memory. and what we're doing is targeting that region with electrical impulses to push it back to sort of a healthy state. i'm able to be a full—time dad, which i love. i go running with with my son, i'm out with my daughter. i'm able to be a proper husband to my wife. my family means everything to me. and so to be able to to be a full part of that, how i should be, is really, really important to me. it's also being trialled in america as part of a wider study where more than half of patients showed improvements. ashley did have counselling as well, but feels the brain stimulation has played a major part in helping him get his life back.
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when it comes to the best of british wildlife, it's fair to say seagulls aren't at the top of most people's lists. they're seen by many as food—stealing pests, but scientists say they are actually very intelligent. conservation experts are warning that gull populations across the uk are dwindling and attitudes need to change. helen briggs reports. seagulls showing off their flying skills on a winter's day. they may be a common sight near the coast, but hit by bird flu and the loss of wild spaces, some populations are in trouble. i don't think people realise our numbers, especially of our breeding gulls have been declining. perhaps they don't take so much notice of them and realise that the numbers have been dropping off because they're quite a visual species, aren't they? they're in our towns and parks and urban areas and we've become quite familiar with them. three common gulls and 26 black—headed gulls there.
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in january, hundreds of volunteers took part in the first national survey of winter gulls in 20 years to get a better picture of the six main species that spend the winter here. we're looking sort the tide dropping and the gulls are together. so we've got a lot of black—headed gulls here, a few common gulls and some herring gulls. and the idea of today's exercise is to count them into a census. look at population change. but not everyone's a fan of seagulls. some species such as the herring gull, a notorious for raiding bins and stealing food. and here in brighton, people have mixed views. people are very unkind and cruel to seagulls. they throw stones at them. hate them. why do you hate them? the other day i ate a doughnut and theyjust stole right out of my hand. i know you can't walk around with food in your hand. -
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that's the only problem with the seagulls. - but other than that you are cushty. i had my sandwich here while i was, i don't know, taking something from my bag. and then she just took my sandwich away from me. so i need to buy food now. but this scientist says seagulls aren't the problem. it's us. when we see their behaviour in terms of stealing or theft, what we should actually perceive is the intelligence of the animals. so we need to think differently about them. i would say so, yeah. to think of an animal as a pest is a negative mindset. if we think of them as intelligent creatures thriving in an environment that we've forced upon them, then that should give us a more respectful outlook on herring gull behaviour. the experts say it's likely more seagulls will settle in our cities and evolve ever more cunning behaviour. and when they visit the urban environment, sometimes they get a bad press. seagulls are misunderstood ? yes, absolutely. i think so. i think they're very charismatic creatures and definitely get a bad rap for sometimes aggressive behaviour in the breeding season. but they are a part of our natural
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world and they're just taking advantage of the hand that's been dealt them. the data from the survey will be used to draw up new conservation plans for seagulls, with the hope we can learn to live better alongside each other. helen briggs, bbc news on the south coast. let's go now to windsor castle. we are expecting to see king charles in his first public appearance since being two —— diagnosed with cancer. sarah campbell is there for us. the royalfamily is sarah campbell is there for us. the royal family is now starting to arrive? , ., , , ., arrive? yes, absolutely right. you can see the _ arrive? yes, absolutely right. you can see the princess _ arrive? yes, absolutely right. you can see the princess royal - arrive? yes, absolutely right. you can see the princess royal there i arrive? yes, absolutely right. you i can see the princess royal there and her husband, vice admiral sir tim
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laurence. that is sarah ferguson there, the duchess of york herself, having an skin cancer diagnosis in the recent past. that is the duke and duchess of edinburgh, edward and sophie. that is there is some. easter is a very traditional time for members of the royal family to get together. they have gone through all the time of the late queen, easter was when they would come together. i think what people are waiting for today is to see this first appearance of the king, and our expectation is that he is due to attend the service along with queen camilla. the significance of that of course being that he hasn't been seen out and about in a public scenario like this since his cancer diagnosis, which was made public on
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the 5th of february. i think we are about to see that moment. people have been taking this as a very positive sign as regards the king's health. the cancer diagnosis, and unspecified cancer diagnosis, made public on the 5th of february. we haven't seen him out and about in public since, but there we have the king, king charles and queen camilla, attending the easter service. they are being greeted by the dean of windsor. and nice little wave there. there have been crowds of people queueing up since early this morning to get the glimpse of the king and that was nice to see him acknowledge them there. my lip reading wasn't quite up to seeing what he was saying, but we do know
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he has been greatly cheered over the last few weeks by the plethora of messages, cards and good wishes that have been sent to him as he undergoes treatment for his cancer, so we saw several members there of the royalfamily, his siblings, the duke and duchess of edinburgh, prince hassan and sarah ferguson. i didn't see whether prince andrew arrived there, it could be that i missed it. the couple that are missing, the family that are missing are the prince and princess of and their three children. they were there in force last year. as we know, last week the princess of is made public cancer diagnosis and the fact that she undergoing preventative chemotherapy. they wanted to spent the easter holidays with the children away from any sort of public gaze, so they were not
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expected to arrive here today. a very positive sign in terms of the king's health that his doctors have felt he is up to attending the service, as he does every year. 0bviously service, as he does every year. obviously this is not a return to public duty, sarah. it is obviously this is not a return to public duty, sarah.— public duty, sarah. it is not a return to _ public duty, sarah. it is not a return to public _ public duty, sarah. it is not a return to public duty - public duty, sarah. it is not a return to public duty and - public duty, sarah. it is not a return to public duty and i . public duty, sarah. it is not a i return to public duty and i think the palace will be very keen to make that clear, that because we have seen him today it does not mean he will now start a full programme of royal duties. the phrase that has been used as dialling up on engagements. we know that he didn't stop working, he has been meeting with the prime minister every week, he has been holding one—on—one audiences with people and really the overriding concern has been minimising infection. the risk of infection is what is the concern, so
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moving about, shaking hands with throngs of people is not to be advised. it is a positive sign that he has come here today. i was struck by a photo that was released by the palace on tuesday. the king chaired a meeting with the number of faith leaders in buckingham palace and he was sitting at a table inside buckingham palace with around 12 or so faith leaders. that was a real sign that his medical team felt that he was in a good enough position to be able to do that. i think this is another sign that his medical team are feeling that he is well enough to get out and about. i don't think there is any question that the king wants to be out and about as much as possible. you saw it on his face when he went into the chapel, he likes that human interaction. he likes that human interaction. he likes seeing the people interacting with people and the public. it has been difficult and frustrating that he hasn't been able to do that. as
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you say, this doesn't mean to say we are back to a full schedule of royal engagements but this is certainly a very positive signal. just to let you know the service is due to last a round about an hour, then we are expecting to once again see members of the royalfamily expecting to once again see members of the royal family as they leave st george's chapel. we are talking about, the pictures you havejust seen, if you could jump over the henry viii gate and glanced at the other side, that is where st george's chapel is. it is not like he is out and about wandering around windsor, it is in a very controlled, confined space within the confines of windsor castle, but as you saw there, he was able to wave to the members of the public who had queued to get in there and catch a glimpse of the king. to get in there and catch a glimpse of the king-— to get in there and catch a glimpse of the kinu. ., .,, ,, ., ., of the king. how has queen camilla done with leaving _ of the king. how has queen camilla done with leaving the _ of the king. how has queen camilla done with leaving the royals - of the king. how has queen camilla done with leaving the royals in - of the king. how has queen camilla done with leaving the royals in the | done with leaving the royals in the absence of king charles? she
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done with leaving the royals in the absence of king charles?— absence of king charles? she has absolutely had _ absence of king charles? she has absolutely had to _ absence of king charles? she has absolutely had to do _ absence of king charles? she has absolutely had to do that. - absence of king charles? she has absolutely had to do that. she . absence of king charles? she has| absolutely had to do that. she has been having to take on the mantle of the most senior royal. so, for example, she was at worcester cathedral on thursday, handing out the maundy money, which is a very traditional event, it had never been carried out by a consort before. she was in northern ireland on her own. she has had to step up because obviously she was used to taking on royal duties, but she has had to do this without the king by her side. i'm sure she will appreciate the king being able to attend these engagements with her hopefully more in the future. we are not saying thatis in the future. we are not saying that is going to happen. if you think about the things coming up, the really big events for the summer, the anniversary of the d—day landings at the beginning ofjune, then tripping of the colour shortly after that the official birthday of the king. everyone is hoping that
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the king. everyone is hoping that the king. everyone is hoping that the king might be well enough to participate in those events, but it is very much i'll wait and see what the doctors advices and see how the king is continuing with his treatment.— king is continuing with his treatment. ., ., ,, ., ~ treatment. sarah campbell, thank you ve much. easter celebrations taking place across the christian world. tens of thousands of worshippers have gathered in st peter's square to hear pope francis lead easter sunday mass and give the traditional �*urbi et 0rbi' blessing. these are live pictures from vatican city, where the 87—year—old pope is expected to deliver his address shortly.
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the archbishop of canterbury is conducting the service at canterbury cathedral. let'sjust conducting the service at canterbury cathedral. let's just listen in. music. de - music. - de archbishop music. - de archbishop of music. — de archbishop of canterbury, as you can see him there, using his easter sermon to call for love in action for those caught in conflict. i think that will be reflected in many ceremonies this year. he will pay particular attention to children in gasser and sudan. also put by people affected by the war in ukraine. justin welby will tell congregants
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that the church is not party political and the christian belief calls for courageous action to address wrongs. two newly—discovered hymns written by a famous church composer have been performed for the first time at a special easter concert at blackburn cathedral. the long—forgotten arrangements by sir edward bairstow were recently found by chance in the town's central library. 0ur reporter mat trewern has more. # a0 days and a0 nights. # fasting in the wild... a glorious rendition of a recently discovered easter treasure. but the story of these two lost musical arrangements starts here in the less grandiose surroundings of blackburn library archives.
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we have a collection here of documents belonging to a blackburn lad who became a world—famous organist and composer, a chap called william wolstenholme. and to my great surprise, we found two pieces by edward bairstow in amongst the hundreds of manuscripts that were part of the collection. sir edward bairstow was from yorkshire but worked in blackburn for many years. in 1932 he was knighted for his services to church music and his works have been regularly performed by choirs for more than a century. so, how exciting was it to find these two hymns? er, elated. there was something here which probably had not seen the light of day for over 100 years. nobody knows exactly when sir edward wrote these arrangements of a0 days and a0 nights and 0 come, 0 come, emmanuel but everyone involved in the concert felt these
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long lost gems had to be heard. it feels really special, and i think the fact that we're singing of a manuscript copy in his writing makes it a bit special, too. as well as a bit hard. this year is the 150th anniversary of sir edward bairstow�*s birth, and this is the first time in living memory, possibly the first time ever, these lost works have been sung. applause. they might be just a normal part of your morning commute, but for one british man railway departure boards have become big business. russell pirie was so fascinated with them as a child he decided to make his own at home.
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now they're so popular he is quit his job and enlisted his family to help him produce them. 0ur reporterjonathan holmes has the story. they're a familiar sight in stations up and down the country, the glowing panels telling you where you need to go and perhaps how late your train might be. russell used to commute to reading daily, and he spent a lot of time staring at these boards. i was fascinated with the departure boards. i really liked everything about them. so i decided i'd try and build my own one just for fun. he puts a video of his homemade board on youtube and was flooded with offers to buy it. now he's quit his old job just to build them. it's so niche and it's just something you'd never think would even exist or people wouldn't even want. ijust basically built it for fun myself and it just appears that other people seem to want them and enjoy them as well. platform 2 for the 11:41 great western railway service to bristol temple meads.
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the boards run off real time data that's been provided by the railway companies. they're so popular that russell's wife and father have been roped in to help make them. he used to even sell overseas at one stage, which i could never really understand. why would someone in america want to know about uk trains? but these are ex—pats who wanted to see what was going on at their local station. they've also found an unlikely following with people who aren't regular commuters. quite a lot of them go to either people who autistic themself or autistic children, they they find them absolutely fascinating sort of like i did. so yeah, we get a lot of feedback from autistic children, parents saying they love them. russell's now working with pop mogul and railway fan pete waterman to make the boards work with model railways across the country. not bad for a light bulb moment that came from staring at just another piece of railway furniture.
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30 years after it first hit our screens, gladiators is still proving to be a hit with tv audiences. an average of eight million viewers tuned in to the reboot of the 1990s show over the last 11 weeks. our culture reporter noor nanji has been looking into its success. gladiators theme music. the moment of victory. after weeks of gruelling challenges, finlay anderson and marie—louise nicholson finally got their hands on the prestigious trophy. contender, ready! gladiators, ready! the final showdown saw the contenders take on the tried and tested challenges against the gladiators. commentator: and here he goes! at the end, finlay and marie—louise went head—to—head with their rivals, running up the iconic travelator to the finish line. analysts say keeping the original format from the �*90s has been key to the show�*s success.
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what it's done, it's created a lot of nostalgia for those who might be in their 30s or 40s and remember watching it the first time around, so they watch it, alongside their kids, who are watching it for the very first time. it will cause tv commissioners to come back to the drawing board and think of maybe more shows that will bring everyone around together. and this is not the end, with a second series of gladiators now confirmed. noor nanji, bbc news. just back to windsor castle and seems a few moments ago of king charles and queen camilla arriving for the easter sunday service at st george's chapel. a significant sighting of the king here. he had said that he was very much looking
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forward to attending this service. prince william and his wife, the princess of is, who is also receiving treatment for cancer, will not be there this year. his first formal public appearance here taking place at windsor castle. the crowds lining the streets and in the area building up to the entrance of the chapel, just cheering on and clapping as king charles arrived. as you can see, making his way into st george's chapel for an hour's easter service. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. it was a beautiful start to easter sunday for many of you, but we have seen a few changes compared with yesterday. the area of low pressure that's been towards the west of us has slipped further south and, in doing so, we're dragging in more of an easterly breeze. that's brought in more cloud through central and eastern parts of england,
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outbreaks of rain into the afternoon from the east anglia, pushing then towards parts of yorkshire. to the south of it, we'll see a bit more sunshine develop once again, but there could be a few heavy, thundery showers for the channel islands and the south—west, but further northwards and westwards you come, we will continue with some long spells of sunshine. certainly a better afternoon in northern ireland than we began. cumbria into western parts of scotland seeing the best of the blue skies, but we will see more low cloud creep up eastern coasts this afternoon and that will have an impact on temperatures — just around eight or nine degrees for some in the east of scotland, compared to 16 degrees in the west where we see the highest of the temperatures through today. into tonight, outbreaks of rain will develop more widely across northern england. some heavy, potentially thundery showers working their way up across some southern counties of england and wales. but for much of scotland and northern ireland it will stay dry. with some clear skies in parts of scotland a chance of a touch of frost for some of you. now, into monday, bank holiday monday, of course, our area of low pressure is more broadly spread across the uk and that means more cloud, more rain, particularly so for northern england. we'll also start with some downpours across the midlands,
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east anglia and wales. they will edge away northwards, skies will brighten and then it's an afternoon of sunshine and some slow moving showers. some will stay dry in the south. outbreaks of rain across northern england quite extensively, edging into parts of northern ireland, southern scotland at times, but further northwards and westwards in scotland, still with sunshine, but more of a breeze here tomorrow. that's going to feed some cold air in across parts of east scotland, north—east england. just around eight or nine degrees at best here through the day, whereas western scotland maybe up to around 14 degrees — down on today's values. a bit warmer in east anglia and the south—east, with more sunshine compared with today. into tuesday, we'll see the cloud and outbreaks of rain push into eastern scotland. still drier in the west of scotland. a brighter day for england, wales and with a bit of brightness in northern ireland, but showers will develop and some longer spells of heavy, thundery rain across the south later in the day. it sets us up for a week in which we'll all see some rain at times, not a complete wash—out, but even though it will be wet at times, it will also turn a bit milder too.
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take care. live from london. this is bbc news. king charles hasjoined members of the royal family at an easter servic at windsor castle, his most significant public appearance since being
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diagnosed with cancer. yes, the king arrived in the last 20 minutes as you see they're waving at the crowds in waiting for him. it's been seen as a positive sign about the king's health. thousands of worshippers are gathered in st peter's square to hear pope francis lead easter sunday mass. as the war in gaza continues, ceasefire talks between israel and hamas are expected to resume in cairo. hello. welcome to bbc news. we start in windsor, where king charles has arrived for the easter sunday service at st george post chapel. he can be seen here smiling accompanied by queen camilla.

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