tv The World Today with Maryam Moshiri BBC News April 29, 2024 7:00pm-7:31pm BST
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live in edinburgh with the latest after another remarkable day for politics in scotland. america's top diplomat calls on hamas to agree a ceasefire deal with israel, as hopes rise of a breakthrough. as flooding intensifies in kenya, dozens of people have been killed after a dam bursts. also coming up on the world today — and a mysterious roman artefact goes on public display for the first time in the uk. we will have the story. welcome to the world today. we begin this hour in scotland — where it's been a tumultuous day in british politics.
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—— for scottish politics. humza yousaf has stepped down as snp leader and scotland's first minister afterjust over a year in office. his politicalfuture had been uncertain after the shock announcement last thursday, that he was ending power—sharing with the scottish greens — they clashed with the scottish government on its approach to gender reform and climate targets. he had been facing two votes of no confidence in the scottish parliament. the snp now have 28 days to find a new leader who is supported by a majority at holyrood. and we can go live to edinburgh, and our correspondent laura maciver. a very good evening to you. humza yousaf started today as the first minister of scotland and leader of the snp. he ends it with that party looking for a new leader, and there will be a successor to him first got his first minister. it was an emotionalfirst his first minister. it was an
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emotional first minister who made his resignation statement earlier, and james cook has been following the events throughout the day. mr yusuf, are you resigning today? a simple answer — yes. not at home in dundee, but here at the official residence of the first minister in edinburgh, the place which gave its name to the power—sharing deal with the greens which humza yousaf dumped so disastrously last week. unfortunately, in ending the bute house agreement in the manner that i did, i clearly underestimated the level of hurt and upset that caused. i have concluded that repairing our relationship across the political domain can only be done by someone else at the helm. i have therefore informed the snp's national secretary of my intention to stand down as party leader and ask that she commences a leadership contest for my replacement as soon as possible. as a young boy born and raised in scotland, i could never have dreamt that one day
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i would have the privilege of leading my country. people who looked like me were not in positions of political influence, let alone leading governments when i was younger. politics can be a brutal business. it takes its toll on your physical and mental health, yourfamily suffer alongside you. iam in i am in absolute debt to my wonderful wife, i am in absolute debt to my wonderfulwife, my i am in absolute debt to my wonderful wife, my beautiful children, and my widerfamily wonderful wife, my beautiful children, and my wider family for putting up with me over the years. i'm afraid you will be seeing a lot more of me from now. humza yousaf, glasgow. humza yousaf. .. humza yousaf will have a place in the history books as the first muslim, the first descendant of immigrants, and the first scots asian to lead scotland's devolved government. but his time in office was tough — most of all when his in—laws were trapped in gaza for a month.
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but he also lost a westminster by—election to labour and endured policy problems from hate crime to gender health care, all with his party under the shadow of a police investigation. the drama here today isn'tjust about who occupies this house, but what they want to do while they are in there. and this whole affair has highlighted divisions in the snp — divisions on how to achieve independence, divisions on economic policy, and divisions as well on social issues, not least the most contentious topic of gender. so who will inherit those challenges? will you be the new snp leader? there is a lot to happen today. could it bejohn swinney, who led the party two decades ago and had pretty much retired from front—line politics? i am giving very careful consideration to standing to be the leader of the snp and i am somewhat overwhelmed by the requests that
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have been made of me to do that, with many messages from many colleagues across the party. so i am giving that issue very active consideration and it is likely i will have more to say about that in the days to come. but what about kate forbes, the former finance secretary who ran humza yousaf so close in the leadership contest a little over a year ago? she is said to be thinking about running for the job. but the greens, whose support she might need, are not fans of her agenda. it is entirely up to the snp to decide who they want to lead their party, it is for them to decide what kind of party they want to be. do they want to continue to be a progressive party? do they want to continue to make income tax fair? to work for the climate emergency? or do they want to take a different direction? as he found out, governing is hard, but governing without a majority is much harder. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh.
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as viewers can as viewers can see on as viewers can see on their screens, newscast has a special edition with james, whojust newscast has a special edition with james, who just heard there, adam fleming and chris mason to discuss what's going on in the role of scottish politics. laura, good to have you on the show. let me ask you a bit about where we are heading from here? because of course, once the dust is settled, it'll be on who will take over the all—important job. will take over the all-important “ob. ., ., _, ., job. indeed, and that conversation moves on so _ job. indeed, and that conversation moves on so quickly, _ job. indeed, and that conversation moves on so quickly, doesn't - job. indeed, and that conversation moves on so quickly, doesn't it, i job. indeed, and that conversation moves on so quickly, doesn't it, in this event? what seems to have happened over the day is that consensus has gone behind two potential candidates at the moment. kate forbes, who ran against humza yousaf in the leadership contest which he won, and alsojohn swinney, who is a former deputy first minister here in scotland and a seasoned minister of the scottish parliament here too. so the
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conversation seems to be going around them and different people already showing their backing, particularly a lot of backing behind john swinney. our conversations will doubt go on about the direction the party wants to go in, two very different candidates with different attitudes — kate forbes, with her social attitudes were one of the reasons why it was deemed that, did not win the leadership contest last time, and john swinney, a safe hand in scottish politics with lots of experience. that's the conversation that many scottish proletarians will be having over the coming days. laura, thank you very much indeed for that. let's go to the middle east — where there are renewed hopes of a breakthrough between israel and hamas, after weeks of stalemate between the two sides.
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the us secretary of state says he's hopeful hamas will accept an israeli proposalfor a ceasefire and hostage deal in gaza. antony blinken is in saudi arabia to make the latest push for peace, while hamas are attending parallel negotiations in egypt. here's what mr blinken said about the deal. hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of israel. and in this moment, the only thing standing between the people of gaza and a cease—fire is hamas. they have to decide, and they have to decide quickly. the foreign minister, david cameron, echoed his american counterpart�*s hopes of a deal between israel and hamas to release prisoners and hostages, and had more details on it. there is now, you know, let's be frank, a very generous offer of a sustained 40—day
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cease—fire, the release of potentially thousands of palestinians in return for the release of these hostages who have now been in captivity for over 200 days. so i hope hamas do take this deal — and frankly, all the pressure in the world and all the eyes of the world should be on them today, saying, "take that deal." our security correspondent frank gardner is injerusalem. i asked him what makes these latest talks significant. it's a very good question, because a lot of the details appear to be ones we've heard before — the exchange of prisoners, a 40—day truce. what's different this time is that israel appears to be prepared to allow the return of very large numbers, possibly overi million palestinians who are currently crammed into the south of the gaza strip in rafah to their original homes in northern gaza. it's also prepared reportedly to withdraw a number of its military units out of the gaza strip and to increase aid going
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into the gaza strip. and it's reducing, or has been prepared to reduce its minimal demand of a0 hostages that need to come out — that number that's now being talked about is 33. now it hasn't been signed, sealed and delivered yet, there's plenty that could still go wrong — but it does appear that the two sides are inching ever closer to some kind of a deal. as we await to hear whether the deal will go ahead, israel's bombardment of gaza continues. this was rafah, in the south of — the gaza strip you can see a huge plume of smoke towering over a camp for displaced palestinians after israeli air strikes earlier today. more than a million people are sheltering in rafah, which had been designated a safe area. these pictures are from that camp you can see a makeshift school in a tent. gaza has a very young population and a large proportion of palestinians caught up
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in the conflict are children. let's hear from the school principle and a student. translation: it is our students' | right to complete their education. no one has the right to deprive them of their education with war as an excuse. we have gone through wars all our lives. it's true that this is the hardest war that gaza has gone through, and possibly the hardest war on an international scale. however, students today are very mindful of their education. translation: we've lost| a whole year of education. it's not a problem that we hid in a tent. with knowledge, we build nations. and these pictures are also from rafah. the aftermath of an overnight strike that hit residential buildings there. most of the dead in that strike are children.
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in fact, out of the more than 3a,000 people whom the health ministry says have been killed in gaza since israel launched its assault in october, most are children and women. israel says it wants to launch a full—scale assault in rafah to root out hamas, despite the us and other allies opposing the plan. the deal being proposed would put that assault on hold as long as hamas releases the 130 or so israeli and foreign hostages it still holds after its october 7th attack on israel. frank lowenstein, in washington — former us peace envoy for israel and palestinians, in the barack obama administration — gave his assessment of the situation. i think this is one of secretary blinken�*s most important trips to israel. all of the main us policy goals — getting the hostages released, getting more humanitarian assistance in, preventing a war with hezbollah from breaking out, getting the the saudi normalisation deal up and running, preventing a massacre in rafah — all of these things are really dependent on a ceasefire. so i think you've seen the united states pull out
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all the stops with the israelis, in trying to get the qataris and egyptians and others to put some pressure on hamas. but we have a lot riding on this. the first is post—conflict reconstruction in gaza. we are hoping there'll be arab peacekeeping force to restore order and allow construction to proceed. and i think the biden administration hasn't given up on what's really a long shot deal to try to get saudi normalisation in place with israel in return for a bunch of things we would give the saudi arabians. all thatis would give the saudi arabians. all that is dependent on a cease—fire. still to come on the world today... a trial going on in germany about a
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let's look at the protests against the military campaign sweeping across college campuses in the us. nationwide rallies during which there have been hundreds of arrests are showing no sign of stopping. at ucla, a pro—palestinian encampment has grown in size in recent days, as has grown in size in recent days, as has a group of pro—israeli counter protesters. on sunday there were skirmishes between the pro—palestinian and pro—israel groups after a barrier separating the two sites was breached. let's hear from a protester there. the two sites was breached. let's hearfrom a protester there. we hear from a protester there. we heard hear from a protester there. - heard about the counter protesters
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showing up, they were saying this protest as a protest of hatred. so we're just trying to counter them, showing support to the ucla protesters who have been here and there encampment. the protesters who have been here and there encampment.— protesters who have been here and there encampment. the white house has insisted demonstrations - there encampment. the white house has insisted demonstrations must - has insisted demonstrations must remain peaceful, here's the national security council spokesperson john kirby speaking to abc. we certainly resect the kirby speaking to abc. we certainly respect the right — kirby speaking to abc. we certainly respect the right of _ kirby speaking to abc. we certainly respect the right of peaceful - respect the right of peaceful protest. _ respect the right of peaceful protest, people should have the ability— protest, people should have the ability to— protest, people should have the ability to airtheir protest, people should have the ability to air their views and to share — ability to air their views and to share their perspectives publicly. but it _ share their perspectives publicly. but it has— share their perspectives publicly. but it has to be peaceful. we will leave _ but it has to be peaceful. we will leave it _ but it has to be peaceful. we will leave it to — but it has to be peaceful. we will leave it to determine how these protests — leave it to determine how these protests are managed, but we want them _ protests are managed, but we want them to— protests are managed, but we want them to he — protests are managed, but we want them to be peaceful protests, and obviously — them to be peaceful protests, and obviously we don't want to see anybody — obviously we don't want to see anybody hurt in the process of peacefully protesting. but again, the president understands that. the students the president understands that. students are the president understands that. tue: students are calling the president understands that. he students are calling for the president understands that. tt2 students are calling for the universities to boycott companies and individuals with ties to israel. major protest camps and demonstrations were first seen at columbia university in new york will
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stop since then, they've spread across the united states. take a look at this, it shows the universities with the biggest protests, university of southern california has cancelled its graduation ceremony and what it says our safety grounds. in austin, texas, the state ordered state troopers to arrest the protesters. there's also been hundreds of protests... the pictures you see here are from virginia tech. nomia iqbal, demonstrators have ordered protesters to disband or face disciplinary action. have they disbanded? at it looks like they haven't. , . �* disbanded? at it looks like they haven't. , ., �* , haven't. they haven't, behind me, students get _ haven't. they haven't, behind me, students get a _ haven't. they haven't, behind me, students got a notification - haven't. they haven't, behind me, students got a notification round l students got a notification round about midday to say that there was this call for them to disband by two
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p:m., which came from the president of the university, who is underfire by students because of the way right police went in last week. she is also under fire from right—wing politicians who say she's not doing enough to stop these protests on campus, which they have claimed our anti—semitic — something the pro—palestinian protesters have pro— palesti nia n protesters have com plete pro—palestinian protesters have complete the denied. but what's happening at the moment is that you've got students who are not part of the encampment, there other students who have joined of the encampment, there other students who havejoined in of the encampment, there other students who have joined in and support of the students inside the encampment, and they are circling around, as we canjust encampment, and they are circling around, as we can just have a look. some of them are walking around and they've been chanting the demands, which is boycott, divest, and sanction, outlining what it is the students want — essentially the students want — essentially the students want — essentially the students want columbia university, and these are the same demand students are making other protests around the country, they want their
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institutions to effectively cut economic and academic ties with the israeli institutions. i've been speaking to students all weekend to say all those demands have to be met, but the president of this university today said that the negotiations have failed, which means those demands are not being met, and the university president, the administrators want the students to essentially clear out. they've said they are going nowhere. just as we were coming in, we saw police setting up a barricade, we saw one police officer with the zip ties, we asked them what the plan is — of course they said no comment, so right now the situation is that students have been very — the ones i've been speaking to at other campuses — are feeling tense, but they are also adamant that they aren't going anywhere until their demands are met. the university wants them out particularly by 15
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may, which is when it is graduation day. may, which is when it is graduation da . . ~ may, which is when it is graduation da . ., ~' , may, which is when it is graduation da . ., ~ , . may, which is when it is graduation da . ., ~' , . ., day. thank you very much indeed. you can follow the — day. thank you very much indeed. you can follow the story _ day. thank you very much indeed. you can follow the story live _ day. thank you very much indeed. you can follow the story live on _ day. thank you very much indeed. you can follow the story live on the - can follow the story live on the bbc news website and app, you can get updates as they happen as columbia sets a deadline for protesters to leave the camp. if you're interested in scottish politics, you can see on your screen a qr code there that will take you to newscast, a special addition hosted by adam fleming, chris mason and james cook on the ongoing political saga and british politics. here in the uk, the national crime agency has issued an unprecedented alert to all schools, warning about the danger to pupils of so—called sextortion. it's when criminals trick young people into sharing intimate images of themselves online, then blackmail their victims for cash. police say there's been an alarming rise in the number of cases. here's angus crawford. just 16, murray dowie ended his life. criminals posing as a girl online
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tricked him into sending compromising pictures. then they blackmailed him. he couldn't bear it. it totally destroyed our family. murray was a happy, normal teenager. he was driven to take his own life by whatever threats and awful things that the people that were trying to extort money out of him were saying to him. hi — how are you doing? what happened to murray is called sextortion. gangs pose as young men or women, send explicit videos or pictures to targets they identify via social media. they demand the same in return, then... male voice: the film will be shared with your friends, - your family, your workmates... girl's voice: everyone you know. man's voice: unless you pay. today, in an unprecedented move, the national crime agency issued an alert to schools across the uk about this growing threat.
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the nca is warning that criminals are increasingly targeting young people, especially teenage boys. it's mainly done by gangs based in west africa or southeast asia. their aim, terrifying children into handing over as much money as they can. it can have an absolutely devastating effect on young people. this is why we are issuing this alert and we want people to take it extremely seriously, but we don't want them to panic. so there are definitely things that parents can do, conversations that can be had. it is really important children know that they are never to blame. but what is really disturbing for teachers and parents is how young the victims are now. keeping them safe on social media is a daily challenge. never presume it couldn't happen here. presume it could happen. i think be vigilant, set up some really good, clear parameters, allow students to be part of that process so that it is not being done to them but being done with them.
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today's alert by the nca strikes a chord with 14—year—old josh. i think that's definitely a big step in the right direction. i think people need to be made aware of this sort of thing. it is quite easy to get into these sort of bad situations. from a mother who lost a son, a plea to other young people. my message would be, please don't do what murray did. nothing is worth taking your own life for, nothing. no matter how terrified and awful you are feeling at the moment, that will pass and this can be fixed. angus crawford, bbc news. if you live in the uk — and you, or someone you know, has been affected by the issues in angus�* piece, bbc action line has information on organisations that can help. let's turn to germany where a trial has got under way in the city of stuttgart over an alleged far right coup plot to overthrow the german government. nine men appeared in court accused of planning a coup
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with the aim of installing an aristocrat as head of state. it's the first of three trials placed over the coming months which, taken together, form one of the largest legal proceedings in recent german history. on the allegations, the group are facing, here's a reporter from the german broadcaster. translation:— translation: abolishing our democracy — translation: abolishing our democracy by _ translation: abolishing our democracy by force _ translation: abolishing our democracy by force of - translation: abolishing our democracy by force of arms i translation: abolishing our | democracy by force of arms was translation: abolishing our - democracy by force of arms was the goal of the suspected terrorist group, and that this plan may sound crazy, but it was meant very seriously. that'll be the main focus of the stuttgart trial, because the charges there include attempted murder, and act they can also prove the group was really prepared to kill for its goals. the the group was really prepared to kill for its goals.— kill for its goals. the accused emer: ed kill for its goals. the accused emerged from _ kill for its goals. the accused emerged from a _ kill for its goals. the accused emerged from a loose - kill for its goals. the accused emerged from a loose union | kill for its goals. the accused i emerged from a loose union of conspiracy theorists who refused to recognise the german state in its current form and who hoped to one day see the restoration of the monarchy. the police uncovered the suspected plot and a series of raids
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into a 22. authorities confiscated more than 380 firearms, along with almost 150,000 pieces of ammunition. translation: this almost 150,000 pieces of ammunition. translation:— translation: this is a new type of terrorist network _ translation: this is a new type of terrorist network that _ translation: this is a new type of terrorist network that we _ translation: this is a new type of terrorist network that we see - translation: this is a new type of terrorist network that we see here. | terrorist network that we see here. above all, dangerous, equipped with many weapons. we are dealing with something that gets to the heart of democracy. plans to overthrow the german government. the french actor, gerard depardieu, will face trial in october over two allegations of sexual assault. he's accused of molesting two women on film sets. depardieu, who's 75, already faces a rape charge, as well as other claims of assault by more than a dozen women. he strongly denies all the allegations. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it's been a much better day today for much of eastern england with some dry weather and some warmth in the sunshine as well. further west, though, things have shaped up very
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differently because we've got lower pressure here, and that has been bringing with it this swathe of cloud, which has brought some outbreaks of rain as well. and through the afternoon, itjust got wetter really across scotland. that rain pegging back the temperatures here, but the rain should be clearing away from scotland during this evening, leaving behind some clearer skies and a few showers overnight. still got this zone of thicker cloud threatening some rain for northern england, especially into wales in the southwest, and we get wet weather arriving in northern ireland by the end of the night. but still got those clearer skies towards the southeast and minimum temperatures of six or seven degrees. heading into tomorrow, differences again, east—west. in the west, more clouds and more rain moving in as well. in the east, it's going to be drier and warmer with some sunshine. but some wet weather in the morning for northern ireland will be followed by sunshine and showers. we've got this band of rain pushing into south west england and wales, just grazing western scotland. further east, a lot of dry weather, some sunshine. the chance of the odd light shower later in east anglia in the southeast, with a bit more
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cloud arriving here. but we've got a southerly breeze bringing the warmth, and that warmth is moving northward. so temperatures will be higher than today in the midlands and northern england and also scotland, where we could reach 16 or 17 degrees. this weakening weather front will slide a few showers northwards along those north sea coast. and we've still got low pressure as we head into wednesday to the west of the uk. that very weak weather front not producing much rain at all. still, the odd shower may be around some of those coastal areas. some sunshine around, too, but you can see it's clouding over across a good part of england and wales from the south with some rain heading up from the continent later on. but those temperatures widely 16, 17 degrees. cooler for eastern coast of scotland and the north east of england. could be some misty, murky weather even as we head into thursday. we're picking up an easterly wind that's going to bring some warm air, but it's moving over the cold seas. now, we may well see some sunshine developing across more of scotland on thursday, perhaps the far north of england, maybe even northern ireland as well. but there's cloudy skies elsewhere, maybe some more rain hanging around from overnight.
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from bbc news, the headlines a tumultous day for scottish politics — after humza yousaf resigns just a year as first minister america's top diplomat calls on hamas to agree a ceasefire deal with israel as hopes rise of a breakthrough. as flooding intensifies in kenya, dozens of people have been killed after a dam bursts. and... teachers in uk have been urged to warn pupils against the dangers of sextortion — a form of blackmail involving threats that intimate pictures will be shared. more on our top story. the turmoil in scottish politics. with the first minister humza youssef resigning today. the turbulence in scotland has ramifications for the politics of the wider uk, and a general election is expected within months. from edinburgh, here's our political editor chris mason
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