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tv   BBC News  BBC News  January 15, 2023 12:00am-12:30am GMT

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this is bbc news. i'm lucy grey, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. russia launches missile strikes across ukraine. one hit an apartment block in the city of dnipro, killing at least five people. translation: clearing - operations are ongoing and will continue throughout the night. how many people are under the rubble is still unknown. a further five classified documents have been found at the delaware home of us presidentjoe biden. four women and two girls have been injured after a drive—by shooting near a church in central london. iran has executed british—iranian dual national alireza akbari on charges of "spying for the uk", which he'd denied. britain's prime minister calls it a "callous and cowardly act".
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takeaways, restaurants and cafes in england will have to stop using plastic cutlery, plates and bowls from october, as part of a new government plan to tackle plastic pollution. we begin in ukraine, where russia has launched missile strikes across the country — hitting residential areas, as well as energy infrastructure, plunging much of ukraine into an emergency blackout. this is the city of dnipro, where at least five people were killed and dozens injured when an apartment building was struck on saturday. according to the regional governor, several children were among those hurt. rescue workers are still combing the rubble for survivors. ukraine's president zelensky spoke earlier. translation: in the city of dnipro, a residential. building was destroyed as a result of this russian strike.
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dozens of injured and traumatised people were rescued and being treated. clearing operations are ongoing and will continue throughout the night. how many people are under the rubble is still unknown. unfortunately, the list of the dead is growing every hour. our correspondent paul adams is in dnipro with the latest. this was one of the worst attacks here in dnipro in many months. we don't know what russia was aiming at, or even exactly what caused the damage, but whatever it was — a russian missile, or perhaps something intercepted overhead by ukrainian air defence — it tore into this apartment building, carving a great gaping hole. as you can see, rescue workers and volunteers worked frantically for hours trying to find survivors, but as night fell, the official number of those killed or injured began to rise inexorably. sirens did sound several times during the afternoon here in dnipro. people were advised to go to their shelters.
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but it's been months since something like this happened here, so it's likely that plenty of people were in their apartments, not underground. this all came on a day when russia once again launched attacks all over ukraine, clearly aimed at disabling the country's power grid. with a piece of the country's energy infrastructure not that far from here, it's possible that that, and not the apartment block, was the target of this strike. but it's been two weeks since the last wave of russian attacks on critical infrastructure and people here — and in the west — had started to wonder if russia might be running out of missiles or thinking of changing its strategy. it seems there weren't quite so many missiles this time, perhaps less than a0. but it's clear tonight that russia has not changed its strategy and seems intent, for now, on causing maximum hardship for ukraine's civilians whenever and wherever it can. paul adams.
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reporting from dnipro. as president zelensky appealed for more weapons to stop what he described as "russian terrror", britain's prime minister confirmed that following a telephone call between the two leaders, the uk would be sending around a dozen challenger 2 tanks to ukraine. rishi sunak said the move would "send the right signal". however, the russian embassy in london criticised the decision, saying it would drag out the confrontation. here's our defence correspondent, jonathan beale. britain's the first western nation to confirm it will provide ukraine with modern main battle tanks. the prime minister told president zelensky in a phone call. the british army's challenger 2 is more than 20 years old, but it was designed and built to go up against russian armour. and ukraine says it needs more tanks to break the deadlock in the war and go back on the offensive. the british army's challenger 2 will provide ukrainian tank crews with more speed and accuracy, and more protection than their own
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russian—designed tanks. but the uk is only expected to send around a dozen challengers, when ukraine says it needs another 300 tanks. it hopes others will follow. germany's leopard tank is used by several european armies. some have signalled that they're willing to supply them, but that still needs germany's approval. then there's the us—made abrams. america has been ukraine's biggest military backer but, so far, hasn't sent tanks. but does britain's decision signal a wider shift? the provision of this small number of tanks is not a game—changer in terms of how it's going to change the course of the fighting everywhere in ukraine. it is a game—changer in that it symbolises how the west, including the uk, is stepping up to provide the sort of equipment ukraine has been asking for for over a year, in order to win its country
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back on the battlefield. so far, in ukraine, tanks on their own have proved to be relatively easy targets for drones and shoulder—launched missiles. ukraine claims to have destroyed or damaged more than 1,000. but western military experts say tanks, combined with infantry, artillery and air support will be essential to take back territory, with a shift from defence to offence. jonathan beale, bbc news. the white house has confirmed five additional pages of classified information have been found at us presidentjoe biden�*s family home, in delaware. his legal team acknowledged it had uncovered the documents relating to his time as vice—presidentjust hours after a statement on thursday about the discovery of one document in a storage area at his wilmington home. additional classified materials were identified at a former office used during the 2020 presidential campaign. an independent lawyer has been
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appointed to investigate. 0ur north america correspondent david willis told me howjoe biden�*s political opponents have reacted. if you're a democrat, or you're in the white house at the moment, this drip—drip of allegations isjust embarrassing. the gift that keeps giving, though, for republicans, it has to be said, and they've seized on this, as you can imagine. the white house is trying to draw a distinction, lucy, between the documents that were found in mar—a—lago, for example, and those that were discovered atjoe biden�*s residence and former office. they're saying that president biden has voluntarily handed over all these classified documents and has sought to cooperate fully with government investigators, as distinct from donald trump's behaviour. and he had to basically be coerced into parting with hundreds of classified documents that were found in a raid by the fbi on his florida residence,
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mar—a—lago. but as i say, it is this drip—drip that keeps coming up and keeps embarrassing president biden. it's preoccupied his agenda over the course of the last week, certainly as far as the media is concerned here. and this independent lawyer has been appointed to ensure, well, to find out whether they have been mishandled, these documents, but it is against the lawjust to have them, isn't it? it's a very serious matter, all this. the presidential records act maintains that e—mails, documents, letters and all sorts of things relating to a presidential run in office should be handed over to the national archives and be stored for the public�*s use in the future. this is not something that can be taken away and basically kept in storage facilities, or in cars, or residences when people leave office.
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so there is currently a special investigator looking into the behaviour both of donald trump, in this regard, and that ofjoe biden. david willis. the us and the uk have condemned iran, after it executed a british—iranian citizen, accused of spying. washington says it's "horrified" by the execution of alireza akbari, and the british prime minister, rishi sunak, described it as "callous and cowardly", and that "it would not go unpunished". the uk has imposed sanctions on iran's prosecutor general, accusing him of being at the heart of iran's use of the death penalty. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley, reports. news of the execution came on state—run television early this morning, despite repeated last—minute appeals from the uk. alireza akbari was once a deputy defence minister in iran, but became a british citizen after investing here, and lived in this country for several years. his family say he was enticed back to tehran in 2019 by his former boss.
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the british government responded swiftly to his execution. the prime minister calling it a "callous act", by a "barbaric regime". we take this incredibly seriously. and of course, we will make sure that we respond to deter any further actions like this being taken by the iranian government. there's been an outcry from uk allies over the killing. the us called it "sickening". emmanuel macron said it was a "barbaric act". and germany described it as "inhumane". this was the grim prelude to the execution — a long, edited video on state—run television last week, in which alireza akbari appears to confess to working for the uk. but in an audio recording from jail, obtained by bbc persian, he spoke of the pressure he was put under and accuses iran of trying to take revenge on britain. translation: they tortured me for 3,500 hours. - they broke my will, drove me to madness and forced me to do
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whatever they wanted. the iranian regime has been shaken to the core by recent protests, sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody. mahsa amini had been arrested for supposedly not wearing her hijab properly. the authority's brutal response has led to several rounds of sanctions against iran from western countries. one european diplomat told me mr akbari was collateral damage from a regime that had lost its bearings, looking to distract attention from its internal problems. mr akbari's nephew described it as a sign of desperation, linked to divisions within the regime. it's been a horrific few days. what has happened, i can only speculate that there has been some power struggle at the very highest levels of the government, and they have decided to create this plot against my uncle.
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whatever the exact motive, the execution sends a chilling message and marks a dramatic new low in relations between britain and iran. caroline hawley, bbc news. four women and two girls have been injured after a drive—by shooting near a church in central london. one of the girls, who's seven years old, has life—threatening injuries. the victims had been attending a memorial mass near euston station when the attack happened. laura trant reports from the scene. a seven—year—old girl is said to be in a life—threatening condition in hospital. the 12—year—old girl was hurt, along with four women aged 21, 41, 48 along with four women aged 21, a1, 48 and along with four women aged 21, 41, 48 and 54. the 48—year—old may have life—changing injuries. the condition of the
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21—year—old is not known. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, described the shooting is deeply distressing. the labour leader, keir starmer, who is the mp for hoban and st pancras, has condemned the attack and says his thoughts are with the victims. —— cockburn and st pancras. police responded to reports shots have been fired from a moving vehicle which was then driven away. london ambulance service and the air ambulance were also called to the scene. there is a significant police presence here tonight and an investigation is still under way and police are impaling for any information. —— appealing for any information. staying here in the uk, the nurses�* union says it will announce fresh strikes for february, if there's no progress in talks
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with the government by the end of this month. the royal college of nursing says the strikes would involve twice as many nurses, because they'll include all eligible members in england for the first time. it comes as ministers push for new legislation, requiring minimum levels of service on strike days. police in brazil have arrested the former head of public security, anderson torres, over accusations that he colluded in the storming of government buildings in brasilia last sunday. brazil's supreme court also says it's investigating the role of the former presidentjair bolsonaro in the riot. the violence was carried out by thousands of radical bolsonaro supporters, who continue to claim that october's election was rigged. mr bolsonaro briefly posted a video questioning the legitimacy of the vote, which was won by his rival, lula da silva. china has admitted that there have been 60,000 covid—related deaths injust over a month, following the government's sudden decision to end strict pandemic controls. it's the first time beijing has acknowledged the scale of fatalities caused by the covid wave sweeping the country. for weeks, it's reported just a handful of deaths a day — figures which appeared inconsistent with the long queues seen at crematoriums.
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the climate activist greta thunberg has joined demonstrators in western germany, protesting against plans to expand a coal mine. energy company rwe wants to demolish the abandoned lutzerath village — which it owns — so that it can extend a huge, open—cast coal mine. the bbc�*s emer mccarthy reports. they came in their thousands, with a familiar face among the crowds. the fact that all of you are here is a sign of hope. this is only a part of a much larger global climate movement, a movement for climate and socialjustice and racialjustice. lutzerath, what happens in lutzerath doesn't stay in lutzerath. germany, as one of the biggest polluters in the world, has an enormous responsibility. but scuffles quickly broke
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out, with police clad in riot gear wielding batons on demonstrators. the village of lutzerath is set to disappear to make way for the extension of an adjacent coal mine owned by energy firm rwe. coal is the single biggest contributor to climate change. the protesters' battle has been a long one, with demonstrators occupying the hamlet for almost two years. but it's recently intensified, as the german government argues the coal is needed in the short term to replace lost energy supplies from russia. because we want to have sanctions effective enough that leads us to foregoing gas and oil supplies from russia, we need to replace that. and how to replace it, if not by coal? and unfortunately, the kind of coal germany mostly has is lignite, which is the most polluting of all the kind of coals that you have.
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germany's economy minister has called lutzerath "the final frontier" and says it's the last place that brown coal will be mined in germany. but for some, that's still not enough. the carbon is still in the ground, we are still here. lutzerath is still there. and as long as the carbon is in the ground, this struggle is not over. emer mccarthy, bbc news. in the czech republic, the retired nato general petr pavel will face controversial former prime minister andrej babis, in a vote to become the country's next president. mr pavel emerged from this weekend's first round with just over 35% of the vote, narrowly defeating mr babis by 20,000 votes. the two men will have to meet in a second—round run—off in two weeks' time. you are watching bbc news, the headlines:
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russia has launched missile strikes across ukraine. one hit an apartment block, in the city of dnipro — killing at least 12 people. a further five classified documents have been found at the delaware home of us presidentjoe biden. more than 80,000 demonstrators have protested in the israeli city of tel aviv for the second consecutive saturday against proposed changes to the judiciary. the protesters — who included a cousin of the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu — called the reforms "an attack on democracy". banners referred to the new coalition led by mr netanyahu as a "government of shame". demonstrations have also been held injerusalem and haifa. a supreme courtjudge in israel is among those who've condemned the government's plans. thousands of people have marched through the streets of the tunisian capital, tunis, to protest against president kais saied. he has ruled by decree since sacking the government
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and freezing parliament in 2021. demonstrators accuse him of trying to install a dictatorship. many are also angry at soaring prices and shortages of some staple foods. new research suggests hormone replacement therapy — which helps control menopause symptoms — could reduce the risk of alzheimer's in women. the study found hrt was linked to improved memory and cognitive function in the 25% of women who carry a particular gene linked to alzheimer's. simonjones reports. hrt, taken to help control symptoms of the menopause, but could the therapy also have another benefit? that's what researchers at the university of east anglia are suggesting. they looked at the results of cognitive tests and brain volumes recorded by mri scans and concluded that the use of hrt is associated with better memory and larger brain volumes among women carrying the apoe4 gene. about a quarter of women in the uk are thought to have the gene, which is considered a risk factor for developing alzheimer's. these were associations, and they were done in an observational setting
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in around 1,200 people, so a relatively small sample size. but they give us great confidence now to say that this is a real effect and to go on and do the confirmatory randomised control trials which we're planning at the moment. this was an observational study, rather than a clinical trial, and it didn't look at dementia cases, but cognitive performance. the researchers say it's too early to say for sure that hrt reduces the dementia risk in women, and one charity told me caution is needed. what do you make of this research? the results of the study are extremely encouraging, but are the first step for further research. indeed, the study is quite limited in number, and we need bigger and larger studies, with a higher number of women enrolled in the study. a proper clinical randomised trial that is looking at the effect of hrt on a wider population. and more research seems inevitable, given the clamour for treatment for dementia. simon jones, bbc news.
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let's turn now to the new second world war memorial focusing on some of the lesser—known stories from the war, including those of the thousands of caribbean service personnel who came to britain as volunteers. the bbc�*s leanne brown has been finding out more. the sacrifices made by british servicemen and women during world war ii are well—documented and recognised. but thousands of volunteers who came over from other places like the west indies seem to have been forgotten. edwin samuels was among thousands who made the journey from the caribbean to england, serving at raf hunmanby, on the east yorkshire coast. family members have been campaigning for a plaque to be placed inside the war memorial gardens in filey, but the council won't allow it. we want this plaque really to serve as a reminder to all
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people really of the contribution made to the war effort by people of colour. there are many young people today who simply don't know that their forebears came to this country long before windrush and helped in the war effort. alfred gardner was an raf mechanic who came over from jamaica and, after the war, he stayed here. when we went to filey, it was the first time 90% of people had seen black people. so many lads, so many of us passed through filey. it is very, very important that people remember and, you know, there were beautiful days and there were rough days. the design of the plaque in memory of those who served is ready, but it had no home until a local resident stepped in to help. i'm glad to say we've had a fantastic response from people all over the country, but in particular from people from filey, many of whom didn't know about this history
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and certainly didn't know about our campaign. one lady in particular has come forward, and she owns property in filey and she's kindly allowed us to put the plaque on her property. and i can say it's going to have a fantastic location, just on the cliff path. the plaque will be unveiled in april, finally honouring those who crossed oceans to help britain. a funeral mass has taken place in the vatican for cardinal george pell, who died of heart failure earlier this week. in 2019, cardinal pell was jailed in his native australia — on child abuse charges — but the convictions were quashed the following year. preparations for his funeral were overshadowed by the revelation that he was the author of a previous anonymous memo that described the leadership of pope francis as a "catastrophe". some single—use plastics will be banned in england from october, as part of government plans to tackle plastic pollution. sean dilley reports. quick, convenient and no washing up. but from october,
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the government says it plans to ban restaurants and cafes in england from using some single—use plastics and polystyrenes. we've got a whole raft of measures on waste, trying to reduce waste in this country. and this new ban that we're announcing today is just one of a whole raft of measures to really tackle this issue. in 2020, single—use plastic straws, cotton buds and stirrers were banned for sale and distribution. it's estimated that england uses 2.7 billion items of single—use cutlery each year. the majority are plastic. in 2020, plastic cutlery made it to the top—15 most—littered items. england, though, is playing catch—up with other uk nations. wales approved similar measures last month. those come into effect later this year. and scotland introduced a similar ban lastjune. takeaway owners are concerned that new rules could add to their costs, when bills are already high. campaigners welcome any move
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that reduces our carbon footprint and reduces harmful greenhouse gases. but for some, the government's plans don't go far enough. we're second only to the us in how much plastic waste is produced per person. that means we're the second biggest producers of plastic waste in the world. so we really need transformative change to happen. we need the government to be showing real ambition and taking the lead. we're actually looking for a 50% reduction in single—use packaging, which would lead to the kind of change we need to see. the proposed ban in england only applies to cafes and restaurants, and not to single—use plastic packaging for food and drinks sold in supermarkets. the government says it's working on separate plans for these retailers to cover disposal costs from 2024. sean dilley, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter. that is all from me for now,
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thanks for watching, goodbye. hello, there are still lots of flood warnings on rivers in england at the moment, but there's not much rain in the forecast. instead, it's going to be different sorts of hazards that will trouble us in the next few days, because the wind direction is changing and we are drawing down cold airfrom the north. that colder weather is arriving in scotland, and some icy patches early on sunday morning. even though it is windy, temperatures elsewhere won't be far away from freezing. the colder weather is following this band of what is mostly rain that trundles its way southwards and tends to peter out. following that from the north, sunshine. more snow showers in northern scotland, keep some showers in wales and the southwest, and more damp weather will push back into northern ireland during the afternoon.
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now, the winds will gradually ease down, so it will become much less windy, but it is going to be a colder day on sunday, with temperatures of five to 8 degrees. and overnight, we could see that wet weather moving away from northern ireland, hitting the colder air in southern scotland and northern england to bring snow for a while, especially over the hills. there is even the risk of rain, sleet and snow running along the south coast of england into the far south—east by the end of the night. it will be a cold night, cold. temperatures in northern scotland could be down to —10 and there will be some icy conditions as well. things tend to dry off across northern england. any wet weather in the south—east moves away. most places, it will be dry for plenty of sunshine on monday. more snow showers in the north—west of scotland, perhaps north of northern ireland, in the far south west of england. otherwise, plenty of sunshine around and temperatures struggling at 2—4 , a cold day, not terribly windy, mind you. still in the cold air from monday and tuesday,
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we are looking at more weather systems just sliding into the south—west, developing into an area of low pressure. most of that weather will be in the english channel, which is good news because if it is a bit further north, there is the risk of snow in southern inland. snow showers in the north—west of scotland perhaps affecting northern ireland. large parts of the uk will be dry and sunny, but again, it is going to be cold. temperatures typically 2 or 3 degrees, after a widespread frost. we are going to keep this cold weather for a few days into next week. the frost becoming widespread and severe across parts of scotland. there's also the risk of some ice and, for some of us, some snow.
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this is bbc news. the headlines: russia has launched missile strikes across ukraine. one hit an apartment block, in the city of dnipro — killing at least 12 people. a number of other cities, including kyiv, kharkiv and odesa, were also hit. a further five classified documents have been found at the delaware home of us presidentjoe biden. a special counsel is investigating mr biden�*s handling of the files. in the uk, a 7—year—old girl is in a critical condition in hospital, following a shooting in central london. four women and a 12—year—old girl were also injured in the attack. iran has executed british—iranian dual national alireza akbari, on charges of "spying for the uk" — which he'd denied.

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