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tv   Newsday  BBC News  April 8, 2024 1:00am-1:31am BST

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hundreds of mm hundreds of muslim ethnic _ hundreds of muslim ethnic refugees i _ hundreds of muslim ethnic refugees in| muslim ethnic refugees in myanmar have been in scripted to fight for the embattled military junta. to fight for the embattled militaryjunta. more from our correspondence. as millions prepare for the solar eclipse in north america, we look at how to safely watch the total blackout. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's eight in the morning in singapore, and 3am injerusalem, where it appears israel is moving to a new phase of its military operation. the israeli military says it has withdrawn nearly all its ground troops — apart from one brigade — from southern gaza, to focus on other offensives including rafah. sunday marked six months since hamas gunmen stormed into southern israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250. after the attacks,
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israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu promised a "mighty "vengeance". more than 33,000 gazans have been killed since then in israel's offensive, according to the hamas—run health ministry, and aid agencies are warning of an imminent famine, if there is no ceasefire, and no increase in relief aid. on sunday, tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets ofjerusalem, calling for the israeli government to strike a deal to bring home hostages and end the fighting. 0ur international editor jeremy bowen has been reflecting on six months of the war, and sent us this special report. 0ver six months, gaza has been ravaged by war, disease, death and now imminent famine, caused by israel's siege. the un calls it "a betrayal of humanity." kibbutz nir oz, right on israel's border with gaza, feels like a time capsule — stuck in the horrors of the 7th of october. hamas broke in at dawn.
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they killed and took hostage a quarter of the 400 or so israelis who lived here. sayed was laying there dead, nearthere. you could see that he was trying to hold the door closed, and actually, the door was locked. the army opened the door later. ron behat and his family survived in their safe room. then he recovered dead friends and neighbours, some in pieces. in this house, you know, that was the first time that we realised that we are not looking for only bodies, because the beginning, you know, we took a lot of bodies. the interrupted, terminated lives — laundry neatly folded the night before the attack give israelis a sense of moral clarity. going around this place, you can understand why israelis believe very strongly that they're fighting a just war in gaza. of course, their allies feel the same. their quarrel is with
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the methods that israel has been using, that have cost so many innocent palestinian lives, and as for the family who lived here in this house, they're dead. israelis support the war. many are also back on the streets, demanding the resignation of the prime minister. netanyahu's stated war aims — total victory over hamas, as well as freeing the hostages — have not been achieved. the demonstrators say that's because they come second to his own political survival. nava rosalio leads a movement called shame. netanyahu has an interest to lengthen the war as much as he can, because as long as the war is still going on, he can say that now is not the time to new elections. now is not the time to look for who is responsible, which is he. everyone here faces uncertainty, sometimes fear and a forbidding future.
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israelis and palestinians look at each other with horror since the 7th of october. the old city ofjerusalem, the heart of their conflict, has been mostly quiet. during ramadan, many palestinians under 55 need police permission to join the crowds moving to the holy mosque. palestinians were already convinced that their lack of rights under israeli occupation amounted to apartheid. israel denies that allegation, and another, considered plausible by the world court — that it is committing genocide in gaza. both sides believe that the other has carried out inhuman, unforgivable crimes since the 7th of october. new wounds on a century of scars. dimitri diliani, a palestinian christian activist, says israelis are in denial. killing children is killing children. it doesn't matter who is the child that's being killed, it doesn't matter who
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is doing the killing. i do sympathise with the holocaust. i recognise the holocaust. but that does not mean a green light for israel to commit genocide against my people or any other people. this is ramallah, on the west bank. polls show palestinians have strong support for the hamas attacks, but like most israelis, they deny that their side commits atrocities. what happened on october 7th wasjust one, one... what's the word? one thing that happened in a long... many years of oppression. so, again, i'm going to repeat myself that our struggle will continue until we are free. that's what any people under occupation, under oppression, under colonial settlers will do. we can report first—hand here on the occupied west bank, just as we can from israel.
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but foreign journalists are not allowed into gaza by israel or egypt. the bbc commissioned a palestinian freelance in rafah to film ii—year—old rima getting food for her family. translation: if we get - there early, we get some food. but if we're too late, the food runs out, so we won't have anything to eat. the food we bring is only enough for one meal. this has become a daily ritualfor the children, like rima, who fled to this part of rafah with theirfamilies. much less aid reaches northern gaza, where famine is imminent. israel, under us pressure, is letting more food in, but it's also insisting that it can't finish off hamas without attacking this town, where 1.4 million palestinians, including rima, are sheltering. she says getting her family food makes her happy. but rima's pot is all seven people have to eat in a single day. six months on, the gaza war is not over.
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a wider middle east war threatens. this could get worse. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. in the uk, the foreign secretary has said the government's support for israel is not unconditional. the deputy prime minister oliver dowden told the bbc he has concerns about the way israel is conducting itself, but denied that the government had received legal advice, saying israel has broken international law. the opposition labour party has called for that advice to be published. here's our political correspondent helen catt. this was what was left of an aid convoy hit by an israeli air strike in gaza last week. seven aid workers died, three of them british. the foreign secretary, lord cameron, said today it was tragic and avoidable, and there was no doubt that the blame lay with israel. but the government has not agreed to calls made in the aftermath, including by 600 lawyers, to stop arms exports to israel.
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this morning the deputy minister said the government's current assessment remains that sales are still legal. of course we have concerns about the way in which israel is conducting itself. that is why we have raised issues in relation to aid and getting more aid in. that's why we've raised issues in relation to de—conflicting. but that is in the context of a legend conflict that israel is pursuing. the conservative mp alicia kearns chairs the foreign affairs committee in the house of commons. she had previously claimed the government had received at least some advice from lawyers that israel had broken international law. mr dowden did not directly deny how clean this morning. labour is calling on the government to publish a summary of the legal advice it has received, which the government says is confidential. the shadow foreign secretary says people could then be sure international law hadn't been broken. this is a very serious issue. it's now gone on for six
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months, on issues of proportionality, there are real concerns — notjust from judges, from the intelligence community, but the broader public. for that reason, let us be sure that we are not in breach. labour is not calling for arms sales to be suspended, as the lib dems and the snp have. the strike on the convoy won't be taken into account in a fresh assessment of the government's position on arms exports, which is thought to be due, as it's retrospective. the government's tone towards israel has changed in recent months, but as the war goes on, well its judgment of its action follow suit? helen catt, bbc news, westminster. ceremonies were held across rwanda on saturday to mark three decades since the start of the genocide against ethnic against ethnic tutsis and moderate hutus. injust 100 days, 800,000 people were killed in 1994.
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rwanda's president, paul kagame, said the international community failed his country. france has acknowledged that it could have stopped the genocide, along with its allies, but lacked the will power to do so. the bbc�*s senior africa correspondent anne soy followed the occasion from nairobi. well, a very symbolic lighting of the flame of remembrance by president paul kagame in kigali, and this flame will burn for the next 100 days to signify the duration of a genocide. in 100 days, more than 800,000 people, mostly of the tutsi ethnic minority, were killed, and moderate hutus as well. now, the events from the 7th of april 1994 and for the next 100 days were triggered by the downing of the plane of the then president habyarimana, over kigali, who was hutu. therefore, we had the hutu forces doing the rampage across rwanda, and the tutsu forces which were led by paul kagame, then went on to take over the country within100 days and ended that massacre. there has been a lot of reflection on what the international community
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could have done better. un peacekeepers had just been downsized in the country and they stood by and watched as this slaughter was going on. and therefore, today has been a moment to reflect on that, to reflect on what happened in 1994. the un secretary—general said that we must never forget, the world must never forget that, and it must never be repeated anywhere. and now that acknowledgement from france, a very significant step towards the recovery of rwanda as a country. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.
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the bbc finds hundreds of muslim ethnic refugees in myanmar have been in scripted to fight for the embattled military junta. for more on this i'm joined by jonathan head in bangkok. tell us more about the military junta's loss in the border town thatis junta's loss in the border town that is close to thailand in the east and what does it mean for their grip on power? it is another significant - fortheir grip on power? it 3 another significant loss. remember, they lost a large part of their control over the border with china. most of myanmar�*s trade goes out either through china or across year to thailand. they still control a china border crossing but not
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the roads going to it, and they lost huge amounts of territory up lost huge amounts of territory up there. in the west of the country where this issue with the rangers has come up, they have lost control of pretty much all of the state of the insurgent arakan army, and that means control more or less of their bangladesh border, but this boardercross is where huge amounts of trade goes, very busy over time, i can't remember the last time that insurgent forces held that. this is a state where there is a long—running insurgency but to have taken it as their allies have is a very significant blow. there are hundreds of myanmar soldiers at the moment who are hoping the thai is going to help them get across to myanmar, be flown back, that is an arrangement that they are making at the moment. there is one battalion left, which we believe has still not finally surrendered all that wants to, it is negotiating. you just wonder how many more blows the military can take to its prestige. it is very humiliating to have lost this town. it is an important one.
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back to the other side of the country, on the western part of myanmar, 700,000 rohingyas were driven into bangladesh, and those that remain face discrimination and denial of citizenship, but some are now being recruited by the military? is this another sign that the military leadership is on the back foot? this that the military leadership is on the back foot?— on the back foot? this is a really extraordinary - on the back foot? this is a i really extraordinary decision. conscription of course is being imposed from this month. in fact it started a little earlier across the country because the army is so short of soldiers, so many have been killed, wounded, surrendered or defected to the other side and it's causing panic. lots of young burmese try to get out of the country to avoid being forced to fight in the military �*s battle but i don't think anyone thought the military would go to recruiting the rohingyas. these rohingyas to idp camps. they were displaced in communal violence more than a decade ago, so they don't even have any control. they can't move anywhere. they are not regarded as citizens. the military has always condemned them as essentially illegal
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migrants. they were subjected to what the un believes was a genocide back in 2017 when these terrible attacks took place when thousands died and so many more fled to bangladesh, and yet they are being recruited. we have spoken to at least seven rohingyas who have confirmed regular recruitment military going round from camp to camp and pretty much forcing them to do it. they have been offering some inducements, including at one point apparently citizenship, but that is not happening, we believe, and those rohingyas we have spoken to who have been sent into battle have had the most gruelling experience. there are very fierce battles going on there. they have seen their fellow rangers killed. 0ne there. they have seen their fellow rangers killed. one man we spoke to had been injured in both legs. he spent 11 days fighting for a town which eventually the military lost and was driven back. he doesn't want to go back and he has gone into hiding now. so this is a pretty awful irony that ranges themselves are being sucked into this conflict. they are really caught between in this battle with this other insurgent army. and in effect, they are really being used as cannon fodder. i
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they are really being used as cannon fodder.— they are really being used as cannon fodder. i understand bbc burmese spoke _ cannon fodder. i understand bbc burmese spoke to _ cannon fodder. i understand bbc burmese spoke to some - cannon fodder. i understand bbc burmese spoke to some of- cannon fodder. i understand bbc burmese spoke to some of the l burmese spoke to some of the ranges. what did they say? the? ranges. what did they say? they are in despair — ranges. what did they say? they are in despair really. _ ranges. what did they say? they are in despair really. they - are in despair really. they don't feel they have any choice. all of them said they do not want to fight, they don't want to get caught up in this battle. in many ways they already have been because this fierce fighting between the arakan army which is supported by the other community, the refined buddhist community, that has been very successful in driving out the military but the military are using air strikes to get back at them, so rangers and other civilians are being caught anyway in the fighting. a lot of villagers have been bombed, lots of noncombatants have been killed, but to be forced to fight is something they are in complete despair about. they are saying there is nothing much they can do. they don't even have enough food where they are. all these idp camps, about 150,000 ranges stuck in these camps were more than a decade rely on international aid, and that's not been getting through because of the conflict so they all desperately short of food as well. some of them perhaps the appeal of getting a bit of
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food in the military might have been an inducement, but for the ones we have spoken to, the fighting is so horrific, they just don't want any part of it but it looks like they're going to continue to recruit them as the military tries desperately to stop this advance, which risks it losing the entire western state.- risks it losing the entire western state. thank you, jonathan _ western state. thank you, jonathan head. _ western state. thank you, jonathan head. some - western state. thank you, | jonathan head. some other stories and headlines. the head of the un's nuclear watchdog has condemned a drone attack on the russian—occupied zaporizhzhia power plant in ukraine. rafael grossi said there had been three direct hits on the site. he said no one could possibly benefit from such attacks. russia's nuclear agency has blamed ukraine. it said three people were hurt when a canteen was hit. a southwest airlines aircraft was forced to return to denver international airport in the us state of colorado on sunday morning, when part of its engine cover broke off and hit the wing. america's federal aviation authority said the crew of the boeing 737—800 reported
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a piece of the cover had fallen off and struck the wing flap during take—off. the faa said it would investigate. there were no injuries reported. more than 90 people have died off the north coast of mozambique, when an overcrowded makeshift ferry sank on sunday. the converted fishing boat was carrying about 130 people, near nampula province. the local authorities said many of those onboard were children, and that an investigative team was already working to find out the cause of the disaster. solar eclipse fever is building. millions of people in north america will be able to witness a rare solar eclipse later today — hoping to spend around four minutes in total darkness — as the moon's shadow blocks the sun's light. emma vardy reports from texas. the daily cattle drive — usually the main attraction here, but now, thousands of people are herding to see this city of cowboys plunged into darkness. a first for some, others travelling to witness an eclipse again.
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the birds are quiet, nothing moves. there's just this magical hush. i feel like it's going to be really fun and cool. people are rolling into the path of totality from all over the world and will be craning to get a good view. 0w, my neck! you've got nine of you in this trailer? yes, ma'am. how's that going? it's going 0k. what do you think it's going to be like? crazy. i think it's going to feel pretty intense, you know, just watching it happen. what are you expecting to feel? maybe something spiritual come over me or it may touch my soul. i don't know. we planned this elopement in three weeks. _ more heavenly alignments are happening in arkansas, where a mass wedding will see some 300 couples tie the knot beneath the celestial event. this seems like the perfect storybook wedding, the coolest wedding ever. this is a memory we'll take with us for the rest
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of our lives. newsreel: this is the moon, | moving into perfect alignment between sun and earth. not since 1970 has there been a total eclipse passing over such a populated area of north america — an experience for humans and animals alike, an experience for humans and animals alike. and during the eclipse, l gordon had been crowing all morning, suddenly- was quiet and just shuffled about rather nervously. and it'll be another 50 years before it happens again. the shadow of the moon has been approaching the earth _ for several hours this morning. we're going to have a huge impact across the us. so, over 30 million americans are in the path of totality and another 150 americans are within 200 miles drive of that path of totality. so, the impact that this eclipse is going to have on everyone's daily life is fascinating. while scientists can predict the precise time and path of an eclipse centuries into the future, what's harder to forecast is the weather, and with it looking pretty overcast here at the moment, people will have to hope for a glimpse during a break in the clouds. god, if you're listening,
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you know, clear it out, just forfour and a half minutes! a prayer that millions across america are hoping to be answered, or they'll be waiting for the next one till the cows come home. emma vardy, bbc news, texas. cooper downs is a solar astrophysicist at predictive science inc, who's in texas, in preparation to study the total solar eclipse. he told us why this eclipse is so exciting. it's a really exciting moment for scientists, because this is an opportunity to really see the solar corona that people like me, we study all the time, but it's not obvious to everyone in the public that there this amazing, magnetized plasma—filled atmosphere outside the sun. there's a lot we still don't understand, so there's a purpose for scientists like me and my colleagues. and make very unique measurements when totality is happening. is happening. so we're very excited
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here in america. tell us a bit more about that. what are you looking to see? there are a number of sites along the path of totality where people will be measuring the emission from macaroni at various different wavelengths. there are very precise spectral lines where we see emission from hot, ionised plasma in the corona, and also the electrons in the solar corona scatter from the photosphere, and that tells us about the density,, the temperature, about the magnetic field. not all the space—based instrumentation measured will what we wanted to know. so the eclipse is really for us to make new opportunities and measure things we haven't measured before. a british man hasjust become the first to run the entire length of africa. 27—year—old russ cook, an ultra marathon runner, who calls himself the "hardest geezer", has finally reached the finish line, after a year on his feet. his epicjourney had some pitfalls along the way. ellie price reports. only the hardest
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geezer could do it. cheering. russell cook has just run nearly every day for 352 days, covering more than 10,000 miles. let's go! day three... day four... day six... the heavens have opened. he's run through deserts, rainforests, savannas, mountains, and 16 countries. and he's so far raised nearly £700,000 for the running charity and sandblast. bit windy. soon enough, we'll all be in tunisia, sipping strawberry daiquiris on the beach. he's had complications with his health, visas, the weather... sneezing. highs of 39 degrees out here today. twisting me up! ..and other man—made threats. they said we should go more to the main track. we're going to get blown up over here. really? but he's taken it all in his stride. i'm too damn ferocious, boys and girls! in this final stretch, the 27—year—old had a little help from his friends — a few more running mates than he's used to.
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he has achieved something no—one else in this world has ever managed — and that strawberry daiquiri. ellie price, bbc news. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello, there. it certainly was a windy weekend, but the winds are going to be a lot lighter on monday, and that's because storm kathleen, to the north of scotland, is weakening and moving away. but we are seeing more cloud coming in from the south across england and wales, and this area of low pressure is taking a bit of rain northwards, as well. clearer skies, scotland and northern ireland, will mean a chilly start here. we've got the early rain in north wales and northern england moving northwards and largely petering out across southern scotland. later in the day, we'll see some rain arriving in northern ireland. this rain in the south—west
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of england pushes back into wales, and some showery bursts of rain arrive in southern england and later into the midlands. but ahead of that, we'll get some sunshine for a while in the midlands and eastern england, so temperatures back up to a healthy 17 or 18 degrees. now, if you're hoping to get a view of the partial solar eclipse in northern and western parts of the uk — well, it could be spoiled by all this cloud that's coming in, and the outbreaks of rain, as well. now, we've seen the back of one area of low pressure, but there's another one arriving. this is one that's going to sit around overnight and into tuesday, and it's going to take the rain northwards, all the way into scotland by tuesday morning. the rain, curving back into england and wales around the low, turning to drift away eastwards into the north sea, allowing brighter but more showery weather to come into southern and western areas, and the winds will be picking up, as well. we're looking at gale force winds around some southern and western coasts of england and wales, and with the winds picking up, and that cloud and showery rain around, temperatures are going to be a lot lower. it's going to be a cooler day on tuesday. our top temperatures are only 11 or 12 degrees, and that's because we're seeing this north—westerly wind
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picking up on tuesday, into tuesday night. but i don't think that cool air is going to last long. out in the atlantic, there is milder air, and that's following this weather front, which is going to bring cloud and rain in from the west. ahead of that, though, eastern areas starting dry on wednesday, with some early sunshine, but soon clouding over. rain in the west pushes eastwards, heavier rain for a while, northern ireland, the hills and north—west england and also into scotland, lighter rain as you head further south across the uk. but it's gradually getting a little bit warmer on wednesday despite all that cloud — 14, maybe 15 degrees. but the wind direction is changing — we're getting a south—westerly wind. that is going to bring warmer weather back across the whole of the uk towards the end of the week, and temperatures could be back up to around 20 celsius at best.
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a week of high stakes diplomacy between the us and china. we take stock of what has been achieved. from fast fashion to slow fashion, how one british designer is looking to transform the entire industry. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. 0ur our top story today. us treasurer try secretary janet
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yellen says the relationship between the two countries because of tough conversations. now, this comes after she raised concerns about china's overproduction of electric vehicles, solar panels, and other clean energy products with premier li qiang. she says the huge subsidies china is providing to companies is giving them an unfair advantage overforeign firms. for giving them an unfair advantage over foreign firms. for his part, li said constructive progress had been made. the bbc business reporter has more. soon after arriving secretary yellen addressed business leaders in guangzhou and promised to address the oversupply of chinese goods in key industries such as electric vehicles and solar panels. 0n vehicles and solar panels. on sunday she met the chinese premier li qiang and struck an emolent tone. we premier li qiang and struck an emolent tone.— emolent tone. we put our bilateral— emolent tone. we put our bilateral relationship - emolent tone. we put our bilateral relationship on . emolent tone. we put our bilateral relationship on a | bilateral relationship on a more stable footing. this is not meant ignoring our differences or avoiding tough conversations. it has meant understanding that we can only
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make progress

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