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tv   BBC News  BBC News  April 25, 2021 2:00am-2:31am BST

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welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: hospitals in delhi issue an 505 for supplies of oxygen and free beds as coronavirus case numbers and deaths reach a new record in india. turkey reacts angrily after president biden breaks another night of scuffles in eastjerusalem between palestinians and police despite alien appealfor calm by palestinians and police despite alien appeal for calm by the israeli prime minister. —— despite an appealfor israeli prime minister. —— despite an appeal for calm. turkey reacts angrily after president biden breaks with us policy and calls the massacre of amenians during the first world war �*genocide�*. calls for borisjohnson to explain how the refurbishment of his downing street flat was paid for, following allegations from his former chief advisor. a warm welcome — spacex delivers new crew
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to the international space station, propelled on a recycled rocket. india is struggling to source enough oxygen for the thousands of covid patients in desperate need of treatment. nearly a million new infections have been confirmed in the past 72 hours alone. the government has dropped customs duties on imports to try to boost supplies, but it may come too late for many — at one hospital in the capital, delhi, officials say at least 20 patients have died because of a lack of oxygen. this report from our south asia correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan, contains images you may find upsetting.
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patients as far as the eye can see but oxygen remains scarce. the situation right now here is really, really worse, critical and out of control. tushar maurya filmed this video inside a crowded delhi hospital, as he took a family member with covid to casualty. it is difficult to provide equal treatment to all the patients. that's why there is a high casualty rate inside, and there's a very negative environment inside. it's the same outside. every day as cases rise, families face a never—ending search and a terrifying wait. this 17—year—old is taking care of his grandfather as they queue for help at a hospital. he's been here before. his father died while he waited here just a day earlier. "i brought him here in a rickshaw because we couldn't find an ambulance", he said. "my father was gasping for air. "he was crying,
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saying �*save me, please, save me, please�*, "but i could do nothing. "i just watched him die." and many have now died because of the supply shortage. doctors have been left in a desperate situation. patients and many people are every time coming in emergency. they want only beds. we have no beds or oxygen and there's a deficiency of a huge amount of oxygen. as the crisis unfolds, a prime minister under pressure. narendra modi chaired an emergency meeting today, to look at ways to boost supplies of oxygen. but many say it's too little, too late. relatives continue to queue for supplies across india, as thousands continue to die. for every family who gets a canister, there are countless others who won't. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news.
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dr trupti gilada is an infectious disease specialist in india's second largest city, mumbai. she made an emotional appeal in a video to family and friends. it's very, very helpless in that... we have to literally manage patients at home with oxygen, and this is not something we are enjoying. so, i really, really want all of you to follow a few things that i really am requesting you to follow. and a little earlier, dr gilada — who works at two hospitals in mumbai — told us why she felt she had to make that video. there was this mixture of emotions that we all doctors face right now in india. it's an emotion of fear, of frustration, and a fear of helplessness because how much ever we try at some point, we just cannot do our best because there is a lack, shortage of oxygen, shortage of icu beds, and shortage of medicines.
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and this video was actually made for families and friends to warn them that this is what the scenario is, and it will not take too many things for you to protect yourself from falling prey to this disease. and it had a very clear, simple message and i think it did strike a chord with a lot of people and that's the reason why it went viral because i think in the background of this second wave, people are all trying to think what can they do to not fall to this entire disease. the most important thing was to mask up because we know that masking works, it works like magic. and the second most important thing was the vaccine hesitancy that we've seen over the last three months and now that india opened up the vaccination drive to people above the age of 18, it was a plea to everyone to go and get themselves a vaccine because we've seen in the second wave that those who've been vaccinated have not had severe illness, not have to reach the hospital or died.
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so even though people might get covid after taking the vaccine, the fact is they will not die of covid nor will they be sick of covid to be in the hospital, and i think that is one message that we really want to let people know about. joining me now from newton, massachusetts, is professor ashistha, dean of brown university school of public health. thank you for coming on the programme. thank you for coming on the programme-— thank you for coming on the rouramme. ., ~ i. ., ., programme. thank you for having me. you programme. thank you for having me- you are _ programme. thank you for having me- you are a _ programme. thank you for having me. you are a firm _ programme. thank you for having me. you are a firm believer- me. you are a firm believer that the united states should do more to help india. what do you think the most important thing is that the us could be doing right now?— doing right now? india is in difficult situation _ doing right now? india is in difficult situation and - doing right now? india is in difficult situation and there j difficult situation and there is a lot that the whole world can be doing and focusing on the united states, there is a lot we can do on shoring up the public health response, improving testing, high—quality masks, a lot on the healthcare
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response, improving access to medicine and oxygen and then, of course, vaccination and the us has an ample supply of vaccinations right now and could be giving away some to india without compromising vaccination here at home. how likel do vaccination here at home. how likely do you — vaccination here at home. how likely do you think— vaccination here at home. how likely do you think that - vaccination here at home. how likely do you think that is to happen? if likely do you think that is to ha--en? happen? if the i administration... happen? if the - administration... they happen? if the _ administration... they are certainly aware there is a crisis and i think they are feeling pressure to act. the good news right now is that there is plenty of vaccine so they can make decisions without worrying about cutting off supply to americans. i believe the administration _ supply to americans. i believe the administration is - supply to americans. i believe the administration is going - supply to americans. i believe the administration is going to | the administration is going to act. and if it does it will be act. and if it does it will be a significant move but you mention other things that will help with testing, supporting the infrastructure. they sound like difficult and intrusive things for the us to be doing when it has to concentrate on its own country and situation. so, firstly, it is intrusive and you will not do this without the full cooperation and hopefully the enthusiasm of
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the indian government. india and america have a long—standing relationship, in the same way that india and the uk does. he was a place the uk can also be hopeful. and if we work closely with the indian government to do these things, i think it will be helpful for india and america and the uk have plenty of capacity to both do this in india and manage the situation at home. i don't think you need to make a trade—off here. think you need to make a trade-off here.— trade-off here. so, no trade-off _ trade-off here. so, no trade-off and - trade-off here. so, no trade-off and you - trade-off here. so, no trade-off and you are | trade-off here. so, no - trade-off and you are domestic trade—off and you are domestic that the could be help being sent to india. one of the interesting things is india itself is a centre for vaccine production. so people will be surprised, why does it need much help in that area? can you explain some of the bottlenecks or problems?— or problems? absolutely. we hear from _ or problems? absolutely. we hear from the _ or problems? absolutely. we hear from the indian - or problems? absolutely. we l hear from the indian producers hearfrom the indian producers they are running into shortages of raw materials and other key supplies that are actually being prevented from being exported to india because of exported to india because of export bands that the united
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states has. this is a huge problem. right now, we're trying to do global countries are thinking narrowly about their own nation and are preventing raw getting out. this will prevent india from making all the vaccines it can. so america needs to lift the ban and send the excess supply of vaccine. there needs to do both. link ou for there needs to do both. link you forjoining _ there needs to do both. link you forjoining us. _ there needs to do both. link you forjoining us. thank- there needs to do both. l “if. you forjoining us. thank you. —— thank you forjoining us. let's get some of the day's other news. presidentjair bolsonaro has threatened to deploy the armed forces on the streets of brazilian cities if lockdown measures imposed by state governors generate chaos in the country. he described the restrictions as cruelty against those who need to earn a living, saying they could cause widespread hunger and riots. a third coronavirus state of emergency has come into effect in the japanese capital, tokyo, and some western areas, three months ahead of the scheduled start of the olympic games. for two weeks residents will be asked to stay at home, large stores and businesses selling alcohol have been told to close.
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at least 23 people have died in a fire at a hospital treating coronavirus patients in the iraqi capital, baghdad. reports said an accident had caused an oxygen to tank explode, sparking the blaze. further clashes have broken out in eastjerusalem between in east jerusalem between palestinians in eastjerusalem between palestinians and israeli police despite an appealfor palestinians and israeli police despite an appeal for calm by the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. there have been several nights of unrest in the city now and palestinians complain that officers have been trying to prevent their usual gatherings during ramadan.— usual gatherings during ramadan. ,, . , , usual gatherings during ramadan. ,, . , ., . usual gatherings during ramadan. ,, . , ., ramadan. security forces are on horseback _ ramadan. security forces are on horseback and _ ramadan. security forces are on horseback and are _ ramadan. security forces are on horseback and are now - ramadan. security forces are on horseback and are now pushing l horseback and are now pushing back the crowd. the palestinians here who have been gathering, there was a stand—off for a while and
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israelis have moved in, they are trying to get this crowd back. we saw objects and stones being thrown towards the israelis, there are fire trackers that make firecrackers there from the palestinians and this has all been about israelis to disperse the palestinians here and the significance of this spot, this is damascus gate. it is the entrance to the muslim quarter of the old city and you can see why this place matters. these are steps that on these ramadan nights after the evening prayers, after the fdr meal, palestinians would come and sit here. israelis have put up these barriers erected here. these have been erected over the nights, the thing that was creating the sense of tension. certainly here at the moment it feels a bit quieter than it has in previous nights but certainly the eastjerusalem light palestinians have been trying to make their way back to the steps here and have been showing determination.
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the indonesian military has announced that a navy submarine missing since wednesday has sunk, with 53 sailors on board. search teams have discovered debris including items from inside such as prayer mats. what remains of the submarine is believed to be at a depth of 850 metres, below the level at which it could safely operate. here's richard galpin. this submarine, the nanggala 402, disappeared four days ago. on board, 53 crew members taking part in a torpedo exercise off the coast of bali. contact was lost after the crew asked for permission to dive. a major operation to find the stricken submarine was launched, with malaysian and australian ships amongst those helping. today, it became clear all was lost. the indonesian naval chief, yudo margono, told a news conference the submarine had sunk 850 metres down from the surface. but the hull
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could only withstand the pressure at 500 metres. as a result, he said, the hull cracked. he also announced that some items from the stricken submarine had been recovered, including a piece of the torpedo system and a prayer mat. the navy insists the submarine was seaworthy but it was a0 years old. the search continues to find the bodies of the 53 submariners. richard galpin, bbc news. you are watching bbc news, the headlines: hospitals in india are warning of dire shortages in the face of a huge surge of patients needing treatment for coronavirus as almost a million new cases are confirmed in the last three days alone. the turkish government has summoned the us ambassador after president biden broke with his predecessors and declared the massacre of up to 1.5 million armenians by the ottoman empire during world war i as an act of genocide.
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turkey has always strongly denied that these deaths were systematically orchestrated. a solemn ceremony of remembrance in the armenian capital, yerevan. people here see the past as a burning injustice. more than a century on, it has now been recognised by america as a genocide. president biden, seen here leaving the white house, has taken a historic step, a reckoning with history, and has given his verdict. the statement issued by the white house is damning. the president refers to the ottoman era armenian genocide and says...
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these painful images from 1915 show some of the horrors. skulls on public display. armenians hanging in full view. for decades, turkey has denied this was a genocide and said innocent turks died too in the turmoil of war. it has reacted angrily to president biden�*s move. i reached the senior adviser to the turkish leader, who said president erdogan had tried to talk him out of it and there would be consequences. we could not dissuade him. it's very sad because once the cat is out of the bag, you can't put it back in. we feel that this is that situation. declaring this as an act of genocide is going to create a lot of complications. this is my grandfather and he was the only survivor
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of the armenian genocide. the lone armenian mp in the turkish parliament told us it would mean far more if turkey acknowledged the genocide. i want to believe in turkey and i believe in turkey. turkey is going to face this genocide one day, and we will have thatjustice one day, i'm sure about it. will you see it in your lifetime? i hope to see it. but two generations have passed without seeing that justice. this will cause fresh tension between america and turkey, two nato allies, but the reality is, relations are already deeply strained over a range of issues — including turkey's human rights record, and president biden is making it clear he's not too worried about keeping the turkish leader happy. orla guerin, bbc news, istanbul.
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bulent aliriza is a senior associate of the turkey project at the center for strategic and international studies in washington dc. that in washington dc. is a research organisation. that is a research organisation. thank you for coming on the programme. what is your reaction to this decision by president biden? very important. here, as the new us president, has done what three, fourformer new us president, has done what three, four former presence actually, failed to do, which is to classify it as genocide. by is to classify it as genocide. by doing so, he has raised the ire of the turkish government and it remains to be seen how far the current turkish reaction, which has been limited, is going to go. let's talk a bit _ limited, is going to go. let's talk a bit more _ limited, is going to go. let's talk a bit more on _ limited, is going to go. let's talk a bit more on that. - limited, is going to go. let's talk a bit more on that. howj talk a bit more on that. how damaging do you think it could
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be to relations between the us and turkey? for be to relations between the us and turkey?— and turkey? for a long time, the us refrained, _ and turkey? for a long time, the us refrained, or - and turkey? for a long time, the us refrained, or us - the us refrained, or us presidents refrain from using the word genocide for fear of damaging important alliance with turkey. clearly president biden believes that the reaction can be contained. he called the turkish president one day before he made this statement and afterwards issued a statement saying that he was looking forward to meeting with him on the margins of the nato summit injune to deal with the problems on the us turkish agenda. clearly he believes the damage can be contained. so father turkish president does not the issue himself, although people below him have done so. the turkish ambassador in washington has not been called back. the us ambassador was called in, presumably for a dressing down on this issue but as i said, we'll have to see
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how far it goes on their reaction. how far it goes on their reaction-— how far it goes on their reaction. ., , ., reaction. clearly then, an ability for— reaction. clearly then, an ability for the _ reaction. clearly then, an ability for the white - reaction. clearly then, an. ability for the white house reaction. clearly then, an - ability for the white house to contain and manage the reaction to turkey ——of turkey as part of the decision—making process. what else has gone into this decision by president biden? personal commitment by president biden. he sponsored legislation that was in the senate as far back as 1987 opposing genocide and mandating punishment for those who were involved in it. in 2015, on the 100th anniversary of the events, he attended an event at washington cathedral, although his boss at the time, president obama, did not utter the word genocide for eight years, it seems as if obama and biden differed in that respect and as soon as he had the chance, used the word. ,
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soon as he had the chance, used the word-— the word. interesting. thank ou so the word. interesting. thank you so much _ the word. interesting. thank you so much for— the word. interesting. thank you so much for coming - the word. interesting. thank you so much for coming on. | people across australia and new zealand have stopped to remember the 106th anniversary of the first world war landing of anzac troops at gallipoli. thousands gathered for the dawn service at the australian war memorial in canberra, marking the first time in two years that public commemorations have been possible. here's a closer look at the dawn service in the australian capital, including part of prime minister scott morrison's address. trumpet plays the last post. when we are threatened, when our peace and our safety and our security are imperiled, in these moments, our differences fade away. on this anzac dawn, we remind ourselves of the sacrifices, the courage, the selflessness which helped make our country what it is today.
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calls for borisjohnson to explain how the refurbishment of his downing street flat was paid for, following allegations from his former chief advisor. this report from iain watson contains flashing images from the start. out but not down. boris johnson's closest adviser left downing street in november, but now, dominic cummings has not only denied that he leaked some of the prime minister's text messages, he also opened a pandora's box of accusations against his former boss. the most serious is that the funding of last year's renovation of the downing street flat where the prime minister lives with his fiancee, carrie symonds, wasn't above board, amid reports that costs were spiralling out of control. in a blog, dominic
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cummings says... and this former conservative law officer, and long—standing critic of borisjohnson, has now entered the fray. my impression is that there has been a constant wriggling about the source of the money for this refurbishment, and that's just one illustration of the chaos mrjohnson seems to bring in his wake. and the reason for that is because he is a vacuum of integrity. the government says the prime minister has paid for the work himself, and that no codes of conduct or electoral law were broken. the electoral commission is looking into whether there were any undeclared donations. number 10 says that all donations that need to be reported, have been. but labour is accusing the government of not playing fair.
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they want to know if any conservative donor was initially involved in the funding, and are calling for more transparency and an inquiry. publish the details. have the full inquiry. if there is nothing to see here, whether it's the refurb of number ten, whether it's the dodgy contracts, whether it's the privileged access, if there's nothing to see, publish everything, have a full inquiry, because you know, sunlight is the best disinfectant. but a former adviser on standards in government thinks that more information rather than a new inquiry is what is needed. we have probably got enough inquiries going on. it's actual concrete, hard evidence, which demonstrates where things have gone wrong, that is critical now and cummings mightjust be able to provide some of that. and dominic cummings has a means of communicating what he knows. next month, he'll be able to give
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evidence publicly to a joint committee of mps on the government's handling of the pandemic. the prime minister's former adviser clearly believes that the best form of defence is attack. he is now questioning borisjohnson�*s competence and his integrity, and dominic cummings says he is happy to have every e—mail that he sent and received during his time here at number 10 published. dominic cummings is showing no signs of getting back in his box, and that could be bad news for his former boss. iain watson, bbc news. astronauts on board elon musk�*s spacex crew dragon spacecraft have successfully docked at the international space station. angus crawford reports. we start to see the detail on dragon there as it is closing in. docking just moments away. but endeavour�*s been here before. this its second mission to the international space station. metre by metre, the gap closes.
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until... dragon spacex on the big loop, soft capture confirmed. the four astronauts blasted off on friday from the kennedy space center in florida. the first to use a rocket booster recycled from a previous flight. checks complete between space station and capsule, this time to meet their crewmates for the next six months. confirmation that the crew is go... making a total of 11 astronauts now on the station. it has not been this busy for years. it is really unbelievable to be here on the space station. the space station has changed quite a bit since last time i was here. i have never seen so many astronauts on board. i have never seen so many different spacecrafts on board. i think it is a tribute to how strong our programme is going. a new era in space, then. thanks in part to a recycled rocket. station, this is houston, are you ready for the event? angus crawford, bbc news. back soon. you can reach me
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on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. this is bbc news, bye bye. hello. the temperature rose to near 20 celsius in the warmest parts of wales and scotland on saturday in a day of virtually unbroken sunshine once again. plenty of sunshine again during sunday. if you are looking for some rain though, there is a bit coming in the forecast. how much? you may be left feeling underwhelmed. high—pressure still around on sunday, the flow of air around that, particularly to england and wales will be a stronger easterly. it will feel a bit cooler but especially if you're along that north sea coast it will be a rather chilly day even when you do get to see some sunshine. it's a cold start to sunday with another frost in many
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areas away from larger towns and city centres, —3 possible in the coldest parts of eastern scotland. there will be some areas of patchy cloud around to begin with. a lot of that will clear away though, some areas will stay hazy during the day. some cloud will continue to push in towards eastern parts of england. maybe producing a light shower. it will be cloudy a little on the down side in shetland and there may be an isolted on heavy shower later in the day in the scottish highlands. very gusty through the channel, channel islands and into southwest england, overall it's a bit cooler. especially along that north sea coast but around 17 in the sunniest parts of the west. on through sunday night and into monday we do start to bring in more cloud. notjust cloudier but wetter in northwest scotland as the weather system moves in. but still where there are some clear spells overnight and into monday, you could still have a touch of frost. it is a different looking picture on monday. the high pressure
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being squeezed away as we see this area of low pressure begin a rather slow journey southwards throughout monday and tuesday. bringing at least the chance for rain. there will be some falling in scotland on monday, just edging its way slowly south. later in the day, you could see a little bit feeding into parts of northern ireland and england where as for the rest of england and wales it stays dry. could still be a fair amount of sunshine around here. that continues moving south overnight and into tuesday. again the chance for a little rain, beyond that as the week goes on there will be a few showers around. it will, though, be on the cool side still and there is still, overnight, the risk of frost. that's your weather.
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this is bbc news. the headlines: hospitals in india are warning of dire shortages including a vital oxygen supplies and beds in the face of a huge surge of
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patients needing treatment for coronavirus. almost1 million new cases have been confirmed in the last three days alone. there has been another night of disturbances in eastjerusalem between palestinians and israeli police despite an appealfor israeli police despite an appeal for calm israeli police despite an appealfor calm by the prime minister. there have been several nights of unrest in the city with palestinians complaining that officers have been trying to prevent their usual gatherings during ramadan. turkey has summoned the us ambassador following president biden�*s recognition of the massacre of armenians during the first world war as genocide. in a change to long—standing us policy, turkey has always fiercely denied the deaths were orchestrated by the ottoman empire. now on bbc news, dateline london.

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