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tv   BBC News  BBCNEWS  June 24, 2024 4:00am-4:31am BST

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hello, i'm carl nasman. russian police have killed five gunmen who launched a deadly attack in the southern russian republic of dagestan. that's according to russian news agencies citing dagestan�*s governor said attackers killed at least 15 police officers and an orthodox priest during a series of attacks in the cities of derbent and makhachkala. two churches were targeted on the orthodox festival of pentecost, as well two synagogues and a police checkpoint. 12 other police officers were wounded in the attacks. earlier, i spoke to daniel byman, seniorfellow with the warfare, irregular threats and terrorism programme at the center for strategic and international studies. we are heeding now that officials are calling this an act of terror. what do you make now,
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just from the details we have, of what we've seen and that these attacks in russia? obviously, there is a lot we do not know but it fits a pattern of attacks we have seen, including last year byjihadists linked to the islamic state — probably from the islamic state khorasan, which is their branch in central asia, and has carried out attacks in moscow and this attack is close to their home territory. can we infer anything? we know the sites that were targeted, two churches, one a synagogue — these are religious venues. can we make anything from that in terms of what was actually targeted? so, the islamic state and individuals that follow it see themselves as part of a religious struggle. they see a western war on islam and they see
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awar a war done by christians and dues on religious targets. —— jews. by striking religious targets, they believe they're defending their faith. as you said earlier, we're still working to confirm a lot of the facts here and figure out exactly who was behind this but in your assessment, do you think this has the hallmarks of an act by a group like isis or isis—k? certainly, that has to be the starting hypothesis. we have seen these group to similar attacks with gun and we know it is active in the region and that russia has failed to stop this group both from an intelligence and law enforcement point of view and russia likes to blame the west or blame others for its problems but this group has been at it for quite some time. you mention
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the region, dagestan. what more can you tell us about this area of russia where these attacks happened? so, russia has been involved in fighting differentjihadists orjihadi—linked groups in this area for decades, really. if we go back to the chechen conflict, which was right next door, in the late �*90s, that was a conflict which started off as a nationalist conflict and became much more jihadist—orientated. then, we saw a lot of individuals from this region go fight with the islamic state in iraq and syria. we saw continued violence in this religion, some of it was trying to fuel mini insurgencies, some of it was terror, but this has been an ongoing problem. sometimes it has been quite active, sometimes less so, but it has never gone away. this is, of course, is all happening just a few months after that deadly attack on a concert venue in moscow that killed more than 140 people. that was claimed by the terror group, in the end, isis—k.
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what do you think that says now about the state of readiness, maybe, about russia and the fact we have seen a couple now of very intense and deadly attacks within the country in just a matter of months? so, russian intelligence has clearly failed to get a handle on these groups. the moscow attack was, of course, incredibly deadly and really at the heart of the russian state. and while dagestan is less important to many russian officials, the scale of this attack with multiple gunmen killing many policemen, targeting religious sites is a humiliation for the government. and since so many people were involved, it's clear it was coordinated — it was not just a few individuals acting on their own — it indicates russia's intelligence is not good enough to stop these groups. at least for now. how do you think vladimir putin
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will respond to this attack? what do you think the russian state will do now, given what we have seen from the recent attacks? russia has a playbook for this. it will begin probably by trying to implicate ukraine, the united states, european powers, saying that somehow or another, they are involved either directly or otherwise encouraging it or supporting these groups. in addition to the propaganda, though, russia will often do large—scale arrests of individuals from central asia, really being willing to throw a lot of innocent people in the hope of finding a few guilty ones, throw in jail or otherwise harass them. then, there is much more repression in the region in general and this could be use of military force, assassinations, but russia usually uses a very heavy hand in the circumstances. in his first interview with an israeli tv network
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since israel's war on hamas began in october, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said the phase of intense fighting against the palestinian armed group is coming to an end. netanyahu said that would free up israeli forces to be deployed to the northern border with lebanon, where fighting with the hezbollah armed group has escalated. more than 90,000 israeli residents have evacuated the area amid exchanges of cross—border fire between israeli forces and hezbollah. there are concerns of a wider conflict breaking out in the region. israeli defence minister yoav gallant is here in washington to meet senior us officials. he is expected to meet antony blinken on monday. he is expected to discuss the next phase of the war in gaza and the hostilities between israel and hezbollah. mr netanyahu has, meanwhile, appeared to change course on a us—backed deal that would end the war and which was earlier approved by his war cabinet. he now says he's ready to accept "a partial deal that "will bring some of the hostages home" while the war continues. mr netanyahu has said hamas
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must be destroyed before the war concludes. translation: if there . is an agreement, it will be an agreement according to our terms, and our terms are not to end the war, to leave gaza and leave hamas as it is. i refuse to leave hamas as it is. we need to eliminate it. meanwhile in gaza, eight palestinians were killed sunday in an israeli air strike near gaza city. witnesses say the attack hit part of a college run by the un palestinian refugee agency which was providing aid to displaced families. in the occupied west bank, the israeli military has admitted its forces violated protocol by strapping a wounded palestinian man to a jeep during what it called a "counterterrorism operation" in the city ofjenin on saturday. a warning that viewers may find the video we're about to show you distressing. this is that footage. the man can be seen lying on the bonnet of a vehicle as it drives past two ambulances. we've decided to blur the image.
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his family said he was injured during the raid by israeli soldiers. the idf confirmed the incident, saying it "violated orders," adding that it would be investigated and dealt with accordingly. sebastian usher has more. the palestinians would say that what was going on in the west bank and has continued to do so on a more intense level since war erupted between hamas and israel in gaza is very similar in the way the israeli army acts, and they would say that what these images show — these images that have shocked palestinians, certainly and have gone viral — is at best a lack of concern for palestinians who have been injured. now, the man himself — the palestinian man and his family — have said he was shot and waiting for hospital treatment. the family said they were waiting for ambulances to come. the man has spoken from hospital and said he was there for an hour or two hours.
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he also described the pain that was caused to him when he was strapped on the front of this vehicle, saying it was in the burning heat, so he had that, and also, the way he was put on it made his injuries all the worse. now, the extra accusation that this was some form of human shield — we do not have any clarification of that but, certainly, this is an accusation that has been made a lot on social media. we have had the un special rapporteur essentially accusing israel of doing this. russia says it holds the united states responsible after a missile fired by ukraine killed at least five people in occupied crimea. according to moscow, more than 100 others were injured when missile fragments hit a crowded beach near sevastopol. the governor of crimea, which was annexed by russia in 2014, said four us—supplied missiles had been intercepted by air defences but a fifth had detonated in the air. tv footage showed people running from a beach.
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our security correspondent gordon corera has more on moscow's response. moscow is claiming that the us and ukraine are responsible for this. ukraine and the us haven't commented on that, but moscow's claim is that five ataka missiles were fired towards crimea. four of them were shot down by air defences — by russian air defences — but one, they say, detonated mid—air, raining shrapnel down on a local beach. and tv footage does show people running away, it appears, in panic from that beach. not likely to have been the target — probably a military target nearby was the intended place where those missiles were heading for. the russian authorities saying a number of children were among those killed and a large number wounded. significant, i think, that russia is trying to hold the us accountable for this and saying that it was us specialists, as they put it,
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who programme the coordinates for these missile strikes based on us satellite data, so suggesting that these are us—supplied weapons and the details of how they're used are also coming from washington and the us. even though it's a ukrainian attack, the russian authorities are saying they hold the us responsible and that they'll be raising this with the international community. but as i said, no word from ukraine or washington in response to those russian claims. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. manchester airport says flights have resumed after a power cut caused major disruption. people waited in long lines and some airline passengers were held on runways for several hours. some flights have been diverted to other airports. it comes at the start of the busy summer holiday season. the airport's managing director has apologised to passengers.
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search teams looking for a british teenager missing in tenerife have spent the day focusing on some small outbuildings near where his phone was last located. jay slater disappeared on monday while walking to his accommodation. the 19—year—old has not been heard from since he called a friend, saying he was lost and needed water. and scotland have crashed out of the euros after losing 1—0 to hungary, who snatched a goal in the 100th minute of the match. the result means scotland finish bottom of the group. the hosts germany and switzerland have drawn 1—1 in their final group game. germany had already qualified for the last 16 and the result means switzerland willjoin them. you're live with bbc news. the bbc understands that the gambling commission's inquiries into alleged bets placed on the timing of the uk general election involve more people than those publicly named so far. it comes as the labour party has written to the gambling
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regulator, urging it to release the names of everyone being investigated. recently, it emerged a fourth senior conservative is being reviewed by the commission. the party's chief data officer nick mason denies any wrongdoing. here's helen catt. that is fantastic. what's been some of your highlights? rishi sunak�*s party has already tweaked its sales pitch at this election from being all about another term of conservative government to more warnings about labour winning big. but the focus is now being repeatedly pulled away from that message by fresh details about bets allegedly placed by tories on the election date. the home secretary this morning was the latest minister to face questions about it. to your knowledge, home secretary, did any ministers put a bet on the timing of the election? not to my knowledge at all. i have been absolutely clear that from what i have read, i am not in any way going to defend the actions of these individuals but i'm also conscious that
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i don't have the full details — the only organisation that does is the gambling commission — and it is right that they take action, whatever the appropriate action, and they have been clear that we should not discuss this. the conservative party's chief data officer nick mason was earlier identified as the fourth conservative being investigated. he has denied wrongdoing and has taken a leave of absence. the bbc understands there are more people with links to the tories and the government being looked into. labour is making sure the questions keep coming. it's now written to the gambling commission, which hasn't named anyone it is investigating, calling on it to identify them all — it says in the public interest. the issue here is that whether those people who had insider knowledge of what was going on used that information in placing a bet. people across the country will place bets, but i think there is genuine disgust. also in the sunday times today, the levelling up secretary explained why he thinks the investigation is damaging. he said:
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a view echoed by the liberal democrats, who say rishi sunak needs to act. liberal democrats have already called on the prime minister to intervene personally to make sure that every single person who is being investigated is suspended immediately and that he launches a cabinet inquiry investigation. so, too, does this conservative, the former justice secretary. and i am deeply, deeply hurt and rather angry that this has happened in the middle of a campaign that is tough enough without things like this to complicate it further. do you think that the prime minister ought to suspend the people involved ? yes, i do. there's been a lot of criticism of rishi sunak�*s decision to call this election in the rain. but as it approaches the closing stages, it's the drip—drip of allegations that's doing more damage to the tories' campaign. helen catt, bbc news.
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it's exactly eight years since the uk voted to leave the european union. at the last general election in 2019, the uk was officially still in the eu and the campaign was dominated by brexit. this time around, brexit isn't featuring as heavily, though the consequences of leaving continue to play out. so, how are the different parties approaching the uk's relationship with the eu? our analysis editor ros atkins explains. during the last general election campaign, one message dominated. "get brexit done," boris johnson told voters, and they backed him to do that. this is a very different election. europe's not a central issue but rishi sunak and the conservatives are promising to seize the benefits of brexit by signing further trade deals, that's the plan, at least. but brexit ambitions aren't the votewinner they were. recent polling indicates a majority of people say the negatives of brexit have
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outweighed the benefits. as for labour, this is its position... it's not about going back into the eu. we've left. we're not going back. it's not about the single market or customs union. labour says it will improve the uk's trade deal with the eu with: but there may be a limit to what labour's plans can achieve. technical improvements have some merit. what they won't do is really address the aspects of brexit that have led to its economic costs and, therefore, really help in that search for growth that is so central to labour's missions. assessing the economic impact of brexit is made harder by the pandemic and the energy crisis but the independent office for budget responsibility estimates that brexit will make the uk economy 4% smaller in the long term. this, though, isn't something labour or the conservatives are emphasising — both view the matter of brexit as settled, both have political reasons to steer clear. and brexit isn't a top
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priority for voters. surveys suggest public concern on brexit is at its lowest level since 2015. the smaller parties, though, are taking a different stance. the liberal democrats want to rejoin the eu single market and, in time, the eu itself. the scottish national party and the greens want to rejoin the eu, too. plaid cymru wants to re—enter the eu single market and customs union. and then, there's reform uk. it says brexit has been betrayed and that critical reforms are needed. now, borisjohnson promised to get brexit done and the uk did leave, but the work on brexit goes on. additional checks on eu imports to britain are due to begin in the autumn. agreements on fisheries and energy need renegotiating in 2026. brexit isn't a top issue in this election but growing the uk economy is, and the relationship with the eu remains crucial to that. let's turn to some other
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important news around the world. the government of saudi arabia has given the first official death toll for this year's muslim hajj pilgrimage to mecca, which took place during an extreme heatwave. the kingdom's health minister says that 1,301 pilgrims had lost their lives. 83% of them were not registered to join the hajj, he says. unregistered pilgrims often don't have access to amenities in saudi arabia, including air—conditioned tents. several buildings were satellite in new caledonia overnight, it comes after several independent activists linked to last month's deadly protests were charged. i were taken into custody in mainland france. it follows electoral reforms proposed by france for the territory.
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on friday, nasa and boeing postponed the return of the starliner spacecraft — with two astronauts on board — from the international space station. the launch earlier this month was delayed several times by technical issues and there were thruster problems and helium leaks during the flight. officials say the latest delay will allow engineers time to review the situation. earlier i spoke to is the head of the kevin t crofton aerospace and ocean engineering department at the virginia polytechnic institute, ella atkins. first of all, it sounds like there are a couple of different issues with the starliner spacecraft right now. can you help us understand what has gone wrong and how common are the sorts of issues? sure. this is the first launch of its kind. it is a new spacecraft and usually, there are minor issues — in some cases, more than minor. the first issue that i have heard happened was when the spacecraft was first launched, there were some helium lea ks detected. they were small. they did not compromise the mission. obviously, it was successful in one day viewing and talking
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to the international space station. one of the things that is done to actually dock with the space station is you fire what are called reaction control thrusters, and they allow you to position yourself and orient yourself properly so you can execute a precision dock — which was successfully accomplished — but five of the 28 thrusters failed as they were approaching the space station. now, 28 is a lot extra. you did not need those five to be safe. the spacecraft was able to dock and the astronauts are on board the iss. with these issues and problems, how concerning is this? are these just minor problems or could it be potentially something more dangerous? well, the thrusters need to be used on the way back and so, they need the helium and they need to be able to use the thrusters, but they have extra thrusters and they do not have to do a precision landing.
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instead, they will be doing a parachute landing to the white sands desert, where airbags will soften the landing — and to my knowledge, this is the first time astronauts have actually done an airbag balance—type landing. that means that while thrusters do have to adjust the return trajectory of the spacecraft, they do not have to do anything as precise as was required for the international space station, so the return should be ok, even if the five thrusters do not work. my understanding is they have stopped using the faulty valve that they found during the launch and are routing the system so that other valves are used. a bit of good news, at least. we heard that nasa has not given a date for a return yet. it could likely be next month, even. we are talking aboutjuly here. what do you think the timeline looks like? how long do you think these
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astronauts can stay up there? when do you expect they can be back? the iss is the best hotel we have in space. i expect they're comfortable now because they have joined other crew on the iss and comfortably enjoying the space environment for a little longer than they may have imagined. the spacecraft is docked. one of the reasons they are waiting is because of the two evas, extra vehiclular activities — one scheduled forjune 24. i'm assuming it is a space walk? that's a spacewalk. any time they go outside the space station, they call it an extra vehicular activity because it's a big deal, you have to have the space suit to protect the human from the environment. so, they're having one tomorrow, and the other is planned forjuly two. they are a big deal because there are a lot of safety protocols which have to be followed and everyone
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is hands—on to make sure that the astronaut is safe, so they are purposely not focusing attention on returning starliner until after they're over. briefly, before i let you go, what do you think this all says about boeing itself? obviously, it has confidence for the space programme. do you think it has the ability to safely deliver them to space? they were safely delivered to the space station. there were some problems. i have confidence that the folks at nasa and boeing are reviewing the data, running simulations and doing what they can. unquestionably, the things that happened, once the landing is complete, they are going to make adjustments to the vehicles so the next launch will be less — have fewer problems.
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us prosecutors are recommending criminal charges be brought against boeing after finding it violated the settlement related to deadly air crashes. hundreds of competitors took part in this year's world worm charming championship in cheshire, england. using everything from forks to drums and trumpets, competitors did their best to coax as many worms out of the ground as possible. you can see them here, doing their best to get those worms out. this year's winner managed to convince 195 worms this year's winner managed to convince 195 worms to surface. plenty more coming up at the top of the hour. hello. we're into ourfirst significant spell of summer heat at the moment but how long will it last? well, certainly, the heat will be widespread to start the week. quite humid by day and by night, too. ok, not completely dry but as we go through the second half of the week, we'll notice all of us gradually turning fresher, temperatures closer to where we would normally expect this stage injune, and a bit more of a mix in conditions out there as well.
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back to the here and now. well, for monday morning, it's already quite humid across some southern and eastern areas. a little bit fresher for the north and west. we'll see the best of the morning sunshine. more cloud into north and west scotland through the day. some low cloud around the coasts. and this here's the remnants of that old weather front. it caused a lot of cloud during the afternoon yesterday for parts of wales and the south—west especially. it's more across the midlands and drifting into parts of south and east yorkshire later. not going to have a massive impact on temperatures — widely in the mid 20s for many. scotland 26, northern ireland at 24—25, experiencing their hottest day of the week. now, as we go into monday night, we'll see thicker cloud bring a bit more in the way of patchy light rain and drizzle to scotland and the west of northern ireland. some low cloud drifting northwards into northern england but notice where that cloud is in place. temperatures not dropping much lower than around 15—17 degrees. now, as we go into tuesday, we've got that weather front which brings rain at the end of the day in western scotland. it pushes a bit further southwards, combines with the old weather front, which is sitting
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here across northern england, to produce a bit more cloud for scotland, northern ireland, northern england on tuesday. the chance of a few showers breaking out later in the day. scotland, northern ireland, still warm where any sunshine gets through but nowhere near as warm as monday. the heat continues to build further south and east. up to around 28 celsius in the london area by this stage. now, as you go through tuesday night into wednesday, that first weather front starts to push away but still, remnants of it across the northern half of the country, producing one or two showers, more especially across scotland. but away from that, some sunny spells across england and wales and the heat could build even further. could get to 28, 29 celsius by the time we hit the middle part of the week. some showers and heavy downpours in northern ireland later and that's ahead of this — area of low pressure between us and iceland which will drive a cold front eastwards, sweeping away the humid air gradually as we go through thursday and into friday and introducing fresher conditions. but temperatures back closer to normal as we head towards the weekend, and a few more showers around as well. take care.
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this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. narendra modi still has his hands on the levers of power in india, but thanks to the recent election,
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his grip isn't as tight as it was. his prime ministerial third term will depend on the reliability of the smaller parties in his ruling coalition, and the opposition in india's parliament has been reenergised after years on life support. my guest, sachin pilot, is a seniorfigure in the congress party, which will lead a diverse opposition coalition. is india heading for a period of consensual government or chaos? sachin pilot,
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welcome to hardtalk. thank you. the recent indian election, it was a result which nobody

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