tv BBC News BBC News July 28, 2024 10:00pm-10:31pm BST
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hello, i'm anjana gadgil. israel's security cabinet has given prime minister netanyahu and his defence minister the authority to decide on the scale and timing of israel's response to saturday's deadly rocket attack in the israeli—occupied golan heights. earlier, funerals were held for some of the 12 young people killed when a rocket hit a football pitch in a town close to the border. the israeli defence minister blamed hezbollah, in neighbouring lebanon, and the white house says the group was responsible for what the us has called an �*horrific�* attack. hezbollah has denied any involvement. there are fears that the rocket strike, in the town of majdal shams, will trigger all—out war in the region. paul adams reports from israeli—occupied golan heights. through the streets of majdal shams,
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the coffins came one by one. a town reeling in shock, consumed by collective grief, terrified about what happens next. for months, they feared a disaster, but they never imagined it would take away their children. at the football pitch where they all died, moments of silent reflection. efforts to comprehend the speed of this tragedy. a playground, transformed in an instant into a place ofjagged metal, discarded belongings and, in the corner, the blood of the victims. we're told that a siren sounded just seconds before the rocket landed here and blew the fence right back. and look, just outside the pitch, metres away, there's a bomb shelter. but the children, the children on the pitch, those watching, those on their bikes and scooters, they had no time to react. the mood changes, as
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government officials arrive to pay their respects. there's real anger now, even from one man in uniform. "they've been bombarding us for ten months," he shouts. "my children are crying every day!" after thousands of hezbollah rockets since last october, people here just want it all to end. when israel's hardline finance minister shows up, some urge the government to strike back hard. but others turn on him. "get out of here, you criminal," one says. the government has yet to decide how to respond. the army says itjust needs the word. we are ready. we said we are ready for several weeks or even months, and we continue to be ready. and every day that is passing, we are preparing more, and more, and more. but in this druze minority town, captured from syria in 1967, such talk is causing anxiety.
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i'm afraid for the consequences. if this happened yesterday, what about tomorrow, if it happens? like, if it gets to an all—out war. it's going to be pretty tough. more people are going to die, on all sides. milar sha'ar was ten years old, the youngest victim. his uncle and cousin struggling to comprehend their sudden loss. he is loved by everyone. his family says the war which killed him has to end. i also spoke to mark lowen, our middle east correspondent, and asked him how israel might respond. i think the expectation is absolutely that there will be a green—lighting of a military operation of some sort, a retaliatory strike by israel into lebanon. but quite what form that takes and where, indeed, the israelis decide to strike are unknown, and they will be critical as to determining just how dangerous this moment is. all the reports we're getting is that the pressure is on israel not to strike in major urban centres
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like beirut, for example. and then there will be pressure on hezbollah, in lebanon, as to how they would respond to an israeli retaliatory strike, because there is a huge amount of international pressure on both sides at the moment — coming from the us, from france, from the united nations, from the european union — on both, on both hezbollah and on the israeli government not to allow this to escalate into a full—scale regional inferno, if you like. remember, hezbollah is the most important middle east proxy of iran. it is sponsored by iran. and so, a full—on confrontation with hezbollah risks bringing in tehran, potentially, risks spreading this into a much wider regional conflagration. so that is what all the international mediation attempts at the moment are focussed on. as we mentioned, the us says hezbollah was behind the strike, and authorities have been in discussions with israeli and lebanese counterparts since the attack to work on a diplomatic solution.
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lebanon's foreign minister, abdallah bou habib, told the bbc that he didn't think that hezbollah carried out the strike. he condemned the attack and said an international investigation was needed to find out what happened. the government of lebanon first condemns the killing of civilians wherever they are. hezbollah is denying it, and hezbollah usually, even in israel, has been hitting, you know, military targets, not civilian targets. so in the golan heights, it knows that there are civilians there, i don't think hezbollah would do it. there could be another organisation, or a mistake by the israelis, or a mistake by hezbollah. i don't know. we need, really, an international committee to investigate this event. in the last few hours, hezbollah has said it has carried out two attacks on israeli soldiers close to the lebanese border — in response to israeli retaliatory strikes into lebanon. our middle east correspondent,
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hugo bachega, brought us up to date. so, hezbollah said it had carried out two attacks targeting israeli military positions today. one of those attacks happened in the town of shtula, where reports suggest a house was hit, but there were no reports of casualties. now, obviously, this happens as there is the expectation of an israeli response following the attack on saturday, that deadly attack that israel says was carried out by hezbollah. we heard there that hezbollah has denied being behind this attack. it is very important to mention that just before the scale of this attack became clear, hezbollah had claimed responsibility for an attack in the area of this explosion using an iranian—made missile. now, they say that they were not behind this attack, that this was possibly the result of fragments from an israeli missile from israel's air—defence system — something that the israelis have rejected.
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they say that this was an attack that was carried out by hezbollah from lebanon, using an iranian—made missile. and the us secretary of state, antony blinken, earlier today also said that all evidence suggests that this was an attack that was orchestrated and carried out by hezbollah. now, we still haven't heard yet from israeli officials about that meeting that has been taking place between the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, and top security officials in israel. they are discussing now how to respond to that attack. they've promised a strong response. there have been reports during the day here in lebanon suggesting that the authorities consider that, as a certainty, that there will be a massive israeli attack, but there have been some efforts behind the scenes to try to limit the scope of this attack, to try to avoid large population centres, including the capital of beirut. we've heard also from the lebanese
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foreign minister earlier today, who said conversations were happening between the lebanese authorities and hezbollah to try to prevent an escalation and prevent a response from hezbollah to a possible israeli attack. so i think people in lebanon, many are waiting to see the result of this israeli meeting today and whether there will be a massive israeli response. voting is under way in venezuela, in what's being seen as the most consequential presidential election in a generation. president nicolas maduro, who's been in office since 2013, is seeking a third consecutive term. he told voters they have a choice between war and peace, and warned of a bloodbath if he loses. opposition candidate edmundo gonzalez said it's time to re—establish democracy and prosperity in the country, after a quarter of a century
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of socialist rule. tensions across the country are high. there have been clashes at polling stations, as people wait in long queues to cast their votes. our south america correspondent, ione wells, has the latest from caracas. there have been huge queues up and down the country already at this election in venezuela, with some people even queuing all through the night to try and vote early. president maduro is seeking his third re—election into office. he has said this morning that he wants the international community to respect the result, and that he doesn't want them to, in his words, "meddle" in the results of this election. but there are concerns about whether he will respect the result himself. the last elections were widely dismissed as neitherfree norfair, and there have already been concerns about the way in which the government has attempted to suppress the opposition vote. this has ranged from opposition candidates being banned from running to opposition aides being detained in the build—up to the election,
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but also, other methods as well, including the fact that millions of venezuelans who live abroad have struggled to register to vote. eu election observers have been disinvited as well from monitoring the election today, so there are concerns about whether this vote will be fair. and the reason for that is because the opposition campaign in this election has had huge momentum. even though the opposition leader was banned from running, there has been a lot of momentum behind the campaign, and the opposition candidate, edmundo gonzalez — who is backed by the opposition leader, maria corina machado, who herself was banned from running. certainly, some people we've spoken to today have already said that they are feeling, for the first time in years, optimistic that change could be on the way. here in the uk, the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, says we now have a fuller picture of the manchester airport incident, after new footage emerged late last night showing the moments before a police officer kicked and stamped on a man last week. the new video, obtained by the manchester evening news, shows two police officers
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being punched to the ground after trying to restrain one of the men. a warning — you may find this report by phil mccann distressing. you've got him on the floor, stop being agressive! the man in blue here is fahir amaaz — now known to millions as the man who has his head stamped on by a police officer. this new footage, obtained by the manchester evening news, shows what happened just beforehand. as police appear to try to apprehend the man in blue, a man in a grey top comes in and punches are thrown. the man in blue breaks free and more punches are thrown between him and two other officers, who fall to the floor. he then drags the other officer down, as he holds a taser towards the man in grey. one of the other officers tasers him, and this footage ends as the man in blue is kicked in the head. a man with his hands up, who is later hit in the back of the head with a taser,
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appears to be the same man seen in grey in the new video. it is an extremely difficult situation. but at least this morning, it has moved forward a degree, because people now have a fuller picture. and it confirms what i said last week, which is that this is a situation that escalated very quickly. it was a very violent situation. issues on both sides. greater manchester police are appealing for information about the series of earlier events last tuesday that happened before their officers arrived. at 7.20pm, there was an altercation between passengers on a qatar airways flight from doha. they say it may have taken place on board or in the baggage hall, although the airline denies it happened on the plane. then, at 8.22pm, the police say there was a violent altercation involving members of the public in a branch of starbucks at manchester's terminal two. that happened six minutes before the altercation involving the police. four people were arrested after that incident and released on police bail. a police officer is facing a criminal investigation
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over kicking, stamping and using incapacitant spray. we understand the police officers involved are still under the care of medical professionals. sources we have spoken to close to the family say that fahir is still traumatised and still needs medical scans. they say the family is not a criminal family, they say that if anyone is found to have broken the law, they should face due process. they also say that there is no context that could justify an assault on someone who's lying on the ground. shame on you! the original video sparked protests, including in the home town of the brothers involved in the incident, in rochdale. greater manchester's chief constable has said the shock and upset caused in some communities is a matter of profound regret. phil mccann, bbc news. reports from northern ethiopia say at least 12 people have drowned after their boat sank on saturday. the vessel was taking passengers across the tekeze river, which runs up to and along ethiopia's northern border with eritrea. media access to northern ethiopia is heavily
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restricted by authorities. the region has seen recent clashes between the military and an ethnic amhara militia known as the fano. our reporter kalkidan yibeltal has been following the story. here is what we know so far. as you said, the area is remote and there is little access to media organisations, so the information is coming out slowly. but what we managed to find from local authorities so far is at least 26 people were travelling using a wooden boat, and they were travelling to attend a funeral from one village to another, and they were crossing over the tekeze river. this is one of the major rivers in northern ethiopia. and it happened that there was a flash flood while they were crossing the river. and then the boat capsized and they drowned. so far, the authorities have confirmed four of these passengers are dead because they have managed to retrieve their body from the river.
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but while seven others were rescued, and they're hoping, they were hoping for more people to swim to safety on the banks of the river. but there are still several people remaining missing. and, uh, there is a high possibility of them being, uh, presumed dead. so that's what we know so far. the region is one of great political instability, isn't it? a devastating wildfire has ripped through bushland in northern california, forcing several thousand residents to flee their homes. duncan kennedy reports. it's california's biggest wildfire this year, already burning through more than 300,000 acres of land. and it looks like some of it was started deliberately. a lot of our crews are what's doing called prepping, basically getting out ahead of the fire, um, finding those structures, communities, making sure those areas are more survivable, should the fire go through. the centre of the fire is in northern california, in places like butte county, leaving homes and cars burning...
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and burned out. the same county was hit by another fire in 2018 that killed 80 people. ah! your house down there, too? and even when vehicles can move around in this cauldron of flames and smoke, the very sides of the roads are themselves on fire. in chico, brian is now sleeping out in the open, just his dog rescued from the inferno. right about the time i go out the door, i got two city pd officers at the door telling me i needed to get out. and, uh, well, i packed up what i could pack up in the car — me and the dog — and i got out. sherry made sure she got out with all of her 12 dogs, her most precious companions, amid the other physical loss. as long as i have the dogs and they're safe, i don't really care about many material things, you know. a 42—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of starting the butte blaze by rolling a burning car
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into a gully. it's already too late for many properties — here, just the brick chimney is left standing. elsewhere, rows of homes are evacuated, their owners in shelters. i want to go home right now, but, uh, those things can be replaced. lives can't, pets can't. you know what i mean? that structure will be replaced eventually. a state of emergency has been declared, as around 2,500 fire crews and emergency workers try to contain what they can, when they can. in some places, that means creating fire breaks and hosing down the ground to try to stop embers building back into fires. but wind and very dry shrub are making this another summer of destruction. duncan kennedy, bbc news. let's turn to one of our main stories today, the olympics, and day two of the paris games is well under way. this is the scene live
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in paris this evening — as the sun sets and athletes begin preparing for day three. my colleague maryam moshiri has been following events in paris today. the sun is shining. it's absolutely beautiful. we had two days of solid rain. it had a huge impact on so much. for example, the opening ceremony was a bit of a washout. i mean, it was a success, but it was very wet indeed. then, of course, we had some news in terms of the triathletes. their training session, which was due to take place today, has been cancelled. now, authorities say the river is too dirty for them to swim in, but they're hoping that at some point, potentially, it'll get better and that by tuesday, it will be back to normal pollution levels and the triathletes can swim. now, it's been a really big day in terms of sport today. we've had action at the tennis. rafael nadal, for example, won his first—round match, and that sets him up for a really interesting second—round match against novak djokovic.
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simone biles, the gymnastics superstar, has been on the floor and on the apparatus once again today. she's wowed the crowds, after that very difficult outing she had in tokyo 2020. she will go through now, as it's hoped that other members of her team will, to the final. the gymnastics, the artistic gymnastics, carries on for a good few days here in paris. elsewhere at the games today, controversy at the men's beach volleyball, as the dutch player steven van de velde, a convicted child rapist, was met with boos at his olympic debut. he was sentenced to four years in prison back in 2016, but was selected for the dutch team. fans outside the venue gave their reaction to his inclusion at the games. we want to ask you about steven van de velde. i'm not going to comment. yeah, well, i don't want to answer that question. i'm sorry. will you support him today? i will support matthew immers. i'm very astonished that a raper, as a supporter, is now playing i the beach volleyball tournament. yeah, they should be
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not allowed to play. i are you aware of his story? yes, iam. i think it's... i think it's no longer an issue. you think it was right he was selected for the olympics? of course, because he's been punished, or... yeah? and now, it's over and he can continue with his life. well, controversy aside, the beach volleyball is taking place today, as is the skateboarding as well. we've seen the rowers in action. we've also seen the artistic gymnasts, both the women's team, the gb team, the american team as well. it's been a really busy day of sport and it's going to get even busier. tomorrow, we're going to have 19 gold medals up for grabs. so as the weather hots up here in paris, the sporting action is starting as well. and the temperature here is supposed to be hitting about 35 degrees or 3a degrees by about tuesday. that's going to be really, really hot, especially for a lot of the outdoor events here in france. so it'll be interesting to see how that all pans out over the next few days.
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one of ireland's best—known writers, edna o'brien, has died at the age of 93. she made her name with a series of novels focusing on how young irish women were treated by their country. in a tribute, ireland's president, michael d higgins, said she was a fearless teller of truths, who'd had the moral courage to confront irish society with realities long ignored and suppressed. in formula 1, the winner of today's belgian grand prix, britain's george russell, has been disqualified because his car was found to have been underweight. stewards found the car hadn't been fully drained of fuel when it was initially weighed — so it was 1.5 kilos underweight. his team admitted a �*genuine error�*, and victory went to his mercedes team—mate, lewis hamilton. now, there's some big news for superhero movie fans. iron man star robert downeer is making a shock return to the marvel cinematic universe,
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after five years away from the multi—billion—dollar franchise. but this time, he'll be playing supervillain doctor doom. he was unmasked at the comic con event in san diego on saturday. the actor previously played billionaire tony stark, whose iron man alterego was one of the series' biggest stars, and told fans at the event "new mask, same task". film critic ashanti omkar told us what she made of robert downeer�*s return to the marvel cinematic universe. i am absolutely gleeful about this news. i wish i was in hall h when they unveiled it, because what an epic moment! the... there were many fans who were actually chanting his name even before he unveiled his mask. i guess that people were waiting to see him in some form. robert downeer is one of those, you know, one of the best actors in the world, as the russo brothers said, and they'll be directing him. it's a very exciting phase for the marvel cinematic universe and, certainly, i'm excited for it.
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everyone is wondering — iron man was a man who did so much good, how is he going to come back as this very evil, evil doctor doom? how is this going to happen with the same actor? but one thing to remember is that doctor doom never removes his mask. so when robert downey said that, you know, "new mask, same task", it's just a bit like, you know, it's a new mask, he won't be removing it in this case. we may not be seeing his face very much in this, but it'll be very interesting to see how they take this forward, because at the moment, it's all shrouded in mystery. i guess this is like phase six, as the geeks call it, and they've had many years — about 16 years now — to bring the marvel cinematic universe to what it is at the moment. with deadpool & wolverine already shattering records, it only came out on thursday at midnight. sojust before... or should i say friday at midnight? you know, so... so that film has already shattered records for an r—rated movie. and that's almost the start of this reboot, the whole introduction of the mutants and the x—men
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into the marvel cinematic universe. there's lots of big changes going on. this has taken a while to get to this. and there have been hits and misses, but mainly hits, because $30 billion, this is like one of the biggest franchises of all time, especially for superheroes. and now, it's been a time to kind of reboot it because they had jonathan majors as kang the conqueror, he was going to be the big villain. and with him and the harassment charges and everything that's gone on with him, they've had to change this very much, and what they've done is to give the fans what they want, which is robert downeer. they, the fans really wanted something with him back, and here he is. so, it's a very exciting time. you will have to bide your time a little bit. the film is not out until 2026. stay with us on bbc news. lots more still to come.
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hello there. sunday was a very warm day. we had the sunshine far and wide, and we've got a few more days of dry weather and sunshine to come, but the heat is going to continue to build across england and wales. and, really, across the whole of western europe, temperatures are rising, the heat is pushing up from spain into france and for the olympics. that's the temperature anomaly chart. you can see for eastern europe, things may be a little cooler than normal. here at home, though, the heat is building underneath that area of high pressure.
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there is a weak weather front approaching from the north—west, and that's bringing more cloud into scotland and northern ireland on monday. the odd light shower, perhaps, but most of any rain really is in the far north—west of scotland. the cloud will break in other parts of scotland, but the best of the sunshine will be for england and wales. just a bit of patchy fair—weather cumulus. the winds will be light in england and wales. there will be some cooling sea breezes. there is a stronger breeze, though, blowing for scotland and northern ireland, where temperatures aren't changing much. it's still going to be warm for eastern scotland, but the heat is really concentrated on england and wales. inland temperatures in the south—east, 28 or 29 degrees. that weather front continues to weaken as it moves down into the high pressure overnight and into tuesday. just that sliver of cloud there. more sunshine to come for scotland and northern ireland on tuesday, the odd light shower in the far north—west. sunny skies on the whole for england and wales, a little bit hazy at times. and those temperatures continuing to rise, particularly towards the south—east of england, could make 31 or even 32 degrees here. quite different temperatures for scotland and northern ireland, and you can see the temperature
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difference overnight tuesday night into wednesday morning — an uncomfortable night for sleeping in the south—east, particularly in london. there's more sunshine and generally dry weather to come on wednesday. signs of one or two showers breaking out, particularly towards the south—west of england. this could be the first signs of some change. but ahead of that, it's still going to be a hot day through the midlands and the south—east. temperatures, 29, 30 degrees quite possible once again. things are changing, though, wednesday and through the rest of the week in particular, it's not going to be quite as warm. there's the chance of more cloud and some rain, which could be heavy and thundery. on wednesday night and through thursday, that moves its way northwards. and then after we start the week with high pressure, we're going to end the week with low pressure in the west.
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this is bbc news, the headlines... thousands of people have been attending funerals for the 12 children who were killed by a rocket strike in the golan heights. the white house says the attack was carried out by hezbollah. new video emerges of the events leading up to a police officer kicking a man in the head as he lay on the floor at manchester airport last week. the footage shows a fight between two officers and two men. venezuelans have been voting across the country in a crucial presidential election. president nicolas maduro is seeking a third consecutive term in office, amid allegations that the opposition
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has been harassed and the vote may not be free and fair. edna o'brien, one of ireland's best—known writers, has died aged 93. she made her name with a series of novels focusing on how young irish women were treated by their country. blackpool illuminations have been a draw for visitors for more than 100 years and preparations are already under way ahead of this year's switch on. earlier this week, some of the upcoming displays were revealed and our reporter ian haslam went to take a look. blackpool's big switch—on is the biggest night of its events calendar. for many years, celebrity tv designer laurence llewelyn—bowen has led the illuminations illuminati. now he's come up with this donkey—based feature. tell me about this.
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