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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 17, 2024 8:00pm-8:31pm GMT

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hello and welcome. i'm tanya beckett. the death of alexei navalny, one of president putin's most prominent critics, has been confirmed by his family. they say they've had no access to his body — and they believe it's being deliberately withheld to allow the authorities to cover their tracks. russian officials say it's because an investigation is ongoing. vigils mourning mr navalny and expressing outrage at his death have continued around the world — this is the scene outside the russian embassy in london today. in san francisco, people gathered outside city hall, some holding banners accusing president putin of murder. in russia itself, more than 350 people have been detained for attending memorials. here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. in moscow, they continue
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to bring flowers and pay respects to alexei navalny, the kremlin�*s most vocal critic who has died in prison. "move along, you can't stay here," the policeman says. "we have the right to be here," she shouts. "we want to and we will stand here." someone adds, "this street isn't yours, it belongs to everyone." the riot police don't seem to think so. there are cries of disgrace, shame, as police start to clear the area. and then the arrests. across russia, hundreds of people have been detained at events commemorating the late opposition leader. these are the last known images of alexei navalny from two days ago. the russian authorities claim he died the next day after falling unconscious.
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today, mr navalny�*s mother arrived at the remote penal colony where he died, beyond the arctic circle. she was told her son's body had been taken to a local morgue, but... the body of alexei isn't there, so his prisonjust lied to his lawyer and his mother that the body is there. we don't have any clue where he is now and what is happening to him, and when it will be given to the family. we do know one thing — the russian authorities are saying very little about what happened. the death of alexei navalny is a huge story — outside russia, but here it is being kept out of the headlines, barely mentioned by the state media, as if the kremlin is hoping out of sight, out of mind. not everyone is out laying flowers, but everyone we spoke to had heard about mr navalny�*s death,
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though there was a mixed reaction. "it is very sad," he says, "and it is bad there are political prisoners." but she says she's not interested, she doesn't care about politics. such indifference suits the authorities. to his supporters, alexei navalny will always be a symbol that change is possible. but the kremlin will be hoping most russians won't care enough to make him a martyr. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. anti—corruption campaigner bill browder was a friend of alexei navalny�*s. he spoke to the bbc at the munich security conference. it's heartbreaking. absolutely heartbreaking. he was the hope for russia. he was what russia should be. he was against corruption, he was for democracy, he was for free speech and he was going against these criminals, these murderers, and he was calling them out.
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and the most important thing is that in spite of how hard they were grinding him, sending him to siberia and sending him to solitary confinement, he alwaysjoked, he always smiled and he always showed that nothing they could do could break him. and that symbolism for the russian people was so important because everybody is in one way or another imprisoned in russia, even if they're not in prison. and losing him, having them kill him — and make no mistake, this was a murder, this was a politically motivated murder — it's heartbreaking for me, for his family — most importantly for his family — but also for the people of russia. also, the widow of alexander litvinenko has also been responding to the death of alexei navalny. litvinenko was a russian spy who became a british citizen, and was fatally poisoned
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in london in 2006. the european court of human rights found russia was responsible for his killing. the uk said it was "probably approved" by vladimir putin. russia has always denied any involvement in his murder. his wife, marina litvinenko, says the world must respond to navalny�*s death. when my husband died, i hardly can talk for the whole week, even more. ijust couldn't believe if anybody wanted to hear my voice, what can i tell people? but she did the right things, because her husband was so well—known in russia, abroad. she needs to keep his words alive. she is now his voice. i want people to support her, help her family, because as long as she will be able to talk, she will drive this attention
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and everybody will remember alexei. it was shocking news because i have a tiny hope alexei navalny will survive. when putin's resume collapsed, alexei navalny would be able to get out of prison and started his political career. i'm not saying he became a leader of new russia, but he could have a chance to do it. unfortunately, it was a dream, and now we all have to agree putin has another person who he wanted to kill. i am sure now, after what happened, the international community needs to be more strong. and not make only good words to say how they regret and sympathise for the family, but making real action and make it possible not any other people in prison now, and other politicians.
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but it needs to be done, something, but it will be done only if putin collapses. without that, i don't think people will survive. ukraine says its troops have withdrawn from a key city in the east of the country. for months, russian forces have been on the offensive around avdiivka and now almost completely encircle it. ukraine's president zelensky says the decision to withdraw was taken to save soldiers' lives. speaking at the security conference in munich, he repeated his request for more financial and military aid. and in the last few minutes, the white house has said president biden has called mr zelensky today, telling him the us is committed to supporting ukraine's fight against the russian invasion. 0ur correspondent andrew harding is in the donbas region and sent this report. ukrainian troops film themselves as they withdraw from avdiivka.
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exhausted after the longest and perhaps the bloodiest battle of the war so far. russian shells still landing close by. in the town centre, a russian flag is raised and another on a rooftop in one of the town's industrial areas. the kremlin is already crowing, releasing footage of russian fighterjets in action. air power has played a big role in this victory. 0n the ground, ukrainian forces have also been struggling with acute shortages of men, and in particular of ammunition. so these are the last two shells that you have? "yes," this artillery officer told us this week, blaming western nations for halting supplies. the result? ukrainian infantry fighting to hold
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on to avdiivka have been heavily outgunned, by as much as 10 to i. and so, eventually, ukraine ordered a withdrawal. at times, well organised, but not always. here, a ukrainian armoured vehicle is hit by a drone. overall, though, russia has lost far more men here, perhaps tens of thousands. so, now what? on its own, the fall of this one small town won't change the course of the war. but again, russia has shown its sheer determination, its massive firepower and its willingness to sustain very heavy casualties. and none of that is good news for ukraine. no wonder towns nearby are nervous. every day, i think about the future. not only this town, but every town.
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kostiantynivka, dniprovske... that they may be next? yes. for now, in avdiivka, the russians are once more lords of the rubble. andrew harding, bbc news, eastern ukraine. for more on what's happening in ukraine, we spoke to defence analystjonathan marcus, who told us how significant recent gains by russia have been. it's very significant. it's the first significant russian advance since much earlier last year. russia clearly now has the initiative, it's on the point of trying to take back territory that the ukrainians captured last year, and a number of other areas, too. of course, much of it is due to the fact the russians are willing to expend huge numbers of lives and losses of equipment to make this headway, but also the fact, as president zelensky was saying in munich earlier today, the ukrainians are suffering from
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a dramatic shortage in ammunition. this is in many ways an intensely artillery war. shells are being fired at volumes perhaps nobody has seen or even imagined would be the case in modern warfare, for a very long time now. and because of essentially the us delay, the halt in this huge aid package to ukraine — largely because of the republicans in the house of representatives — the ukrainians are starved of ammunition. you hear stories of batteries down to very small numbers of shells, or no shells, they have propellant with the fire but no ammunition as such. they have the ammunition but don't have the propellant, or whatever. it's a serious case, the ukrainians
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have pulled back into avdiivka. i think they had little choice — they wanted to extricate their men and equipment. as i say, it means the russians have the initiative, and the hope clearly for president zelensky and supporters of ukraine is that these events galvanise opinion in the west, and perhaps bring about some sort of serious urgency in actually giving ukraine the wherewithal to defend itself. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has vowed to carry on the war against hamas regardless of international pressure. in a televised speech, he insisted victory was within sight. he said nothing would stop israel achieving its goals, which included destroying hamas in rafah where a million palestinian refugees have sought shelter. he said not entering the southern gazan city would mean losing the war. translation: we are now fighting in khan younis, . the capital of terrorism.
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and in recent days, we have reached places the enemy could never have imagined us reaching. we have demolished most hamas battalians and we will not stop until we destroy all of them. this is a necessary condition in order to achieve absolute victory. we will hunt down the terrorists, the leaders of hamas who are escaping from one tunnel to the next underground, and we will reach them ultimately and settle the score. it's only a matter of time. two days ago, i spoke again with president of the us, joe biden. i speak with leaders from different countries every day and i say to them unequivocally israel will fight until it achieves absolute victory. and, yes, this includes also operating in rafah. once we will of course enable the civilians in the combat zone to move on to safer places. those who seek to stop us operating in rafah are actually saying to us that we should lose this war, but i will not agree to that.
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the president of israel, isaac herzog, has joined world leaders at the munich security conference. he said he'd met the prime minister of qatar — a country with which israel has no diplomatic relations, but is hosting talks aimed at negotiating a ceasefire in gaza. he also called for the immediate release of hostages. mr herzog said normalising relations with saudi arabia — which had seemed increasingly likely before the war — would be a "victory over hamas". here in the uk, tens of thousands of people have taken part in a pro—palestinian march in central london. 11 people were arrested. the protesters walked to a location near the israeli embassy, where speeches were made. demonstrators were calling for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. now it's time for a look at today's sport with hugh ferris. liverpool and arsenal have benefited from manchester city's first dropped points in the premier league for two months,
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with the title race taking another twist on saturday. liverpool stay top. they won 4—1 at brentford with mo salah scoring on his return to the side. while city needed to win to stay second, but they couldn't. held 1—1 by chelsea at the etihad, on a day erling haaland missed a host of good chances. the champions were heading for defeat after raheem sterling scored against his former side. but rodri's equaliser at least kept their year—long unbeaten home record intact. the draw ends a run of 11 straight wins in all competitions. the first half was a little bit not our level and that will happen with many games. you have to play 90 minutes, notjust half. arsenal have now scored 11 goals in two games after winning 5—0 at burnley. bukayo saka got two of them, as they went above manchester city into second, two points behind leaders liverpool. the purpose that we are playing
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with. _ the purpose that we are playing with. the — the purpose that we are playing with, the form that the players are in, they— with, the form that the players are in, they want more. they way they tried _ in, they want more. they way they tried back— in, they want more. they way they tried back at — in, they want more. they way they tried back at 96 minutes, it tells you a _ tried back at 96 minutes, it tells you a lot — tried back at 96 minutes, it tells you a lot about how they feel at the moment _ you a lot about how they feel at the moment it — you a lot about how they feel at the moment. it is about maintaining momentum now. aston villa are back into the top four after they beat fulham 2—1. spurs lost by the same scoreline against wolves. plenty more reaction to all the day's games on the bbc sport website. in germany, bayer leverkusen equalled bayern munich�*s record of 32 league matches without defeat as they beat heidenheim 2—1. xabi alonso's side move eight points clear at the top of the table ahead of bayern�*s match with bochum on sunday — a game thomas tuchel knows they need to win to turn around a week that included losses to both leverkusen and then lazio in the champions league. translation: it has been a very bad week for us so _ translation: it has been a very bad week for us so far. _ translation: it has been a very bad week for us so far. we _ translation: it has been a very bad week for us so far. we had _ translation: it has been a very bad week for us so far. we had imagined l week for us so far. we had imagined it to be completely different with the three away games, but there is still one game left and giving up is not an option. neither for us
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still one game left and giving up is not an option. neitherfor us in still one game left and giving up is not an option. neither for us in the title race or in the champions league. it is still on and you have to prove yourself as a coach and as a player. iga swiatek has won the wta qatar open title for the third straight year. the world number one beat elena rybakina in straight sets, although it wasn't straightforward. the first set took almost 90 minutes. it was a first title of the year for swiatek and an 18th of her career. alex de minaur remains on course to win his first atp tour title in almost a year. that's after a straight sets win over grigor dimitrov in the semifinals of the rotterdam 0pen. fifth seed de minaur broke dimitrov in the opening game of the match and went on to win 6—4, 6—3. he will face top seed and australian open championjannik sinner in the final. he's just beaten tallon griekspoor in straight sets. england are in a real bind in the third test against india in rajkot. but the man who scored a century in their first innings doesn't
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sound too concerned. ben duckett raised a few eyebrows after he said, when it comes to their eventual chase, "the more the better". well, after collapsing to 319 all out, they're 322 runs behind india, who are 196—2 in their second innings. it was one of those days and ifeel like it's one of those where you have to give credit to india. i thought right from this morning they were very good, they didn't make it very easy to score at all, it seems like their plans were a lot better than maybe last night. and unfortunately, we kept losing wickets at the wrong time. and it was one of those days. we will be back in about an hour or so's time. thank you very much. many british subpostmasters who were wrongly accused of theft and fraud are still fighting for compensation — despite the scandal now being recognised as one
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of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice in uk history. the cases taking the longest to resolve involve the victims who were forced to declare bankruptcy in order to pay back the losses they were accused of making. our business correspondent, emma simpson, has more. tony downey is finally heading back to his old home in the lake district. it's taken him 15 years to have the courage to return. tony bought the hawkshead post office in 2001. he said it was buzzing and a dream come true. it's a childcare centre now. what's it like to be back? 0verwhelming, to be honest. a lot of emotions after 15 years of not coming back here. now i live in spain in a rented apartment with no career, no money, no pension, no nothing. tony had £35,000 of shortfalls at his branch. he and his wife used their savings and credit cards to balance the books. when another £7,000 of losses appeared, they could not pay any more.
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tony resigned and sold up, advised to go bankrupt two months later. he's still nervous about who he might meet here, but not diane. she bought the post office from him, and guess what — she had shortfalls, too. it was tony who encouraged her to claim for compensation. i've been on antidepressants ever since all this started. we had several audits, each time they were demanding money. the last one we had said you either pay £1,200 now or you're going to be prosecuted. you think, crikey, we'll be led out of here in handcuffs! this is awful! we had £3,000 and they literally made my wife go to the bank, and she went to our friends to borrow money and we had to pay it by 11:30. i thought it was me, you thought it was you, and it wasn't — it was the computer system. same post office. same problems. here's the thing —
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the post office has accepted that horizon was to blame for tony's losses at his branch but they won't admit causing his bankruptcy. so far, he's ended up with just £10,000 worth of damages, far less than he's owed. the rest of the £1a0,000 worth of compensation has gone straight to the official receiver to pay off his bankruptcy debts. in a statement, the post office said... tony is doing that. his legal team are dealing with most of the bankruptcy cases.
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the enemy is time. the fear and worry we have is that people are left in a situation where they've got to throw the towel in because time is running out and they want some sort of resolution or some sort of access to money. he believes tony's got a very strong case. just how long will it take to unravel? emma simpson, bbc news, hawkshead. now, how would you like to live on mars? us space agency nasa is looking for four new volunteers to spend a year living and working inside a base that simulates the martian surface, to prepare forfuture missions to the red planet. 0ur reporter nicky schiller is in the newsroom with more. this is real footage of the surface of mars. it has been taken by nasa's rover that's been on the planet since february, 2021, collecting rock samples. now, this is sand at thejohnson
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space center in houston, texas. it is meant to mimic the surface of mars. the reason? well, the space agency wants martians. well, volunteers who are willing to spend a year inside an artificial complex. the 3d—printed habitat is 518 square metres. it simulates the challenges of a mission on mars. the space includes four bedrooms, a living area, medical room, and a vertical farm to grow things. whilst locked inside, the crew will be given a series of challenges that will mirror those of a true mars mission. they will have to overcome isolation, equipment failure, communication delays, and conduct experiments to measure the impact of life on mars for possible future missions to the red planet. officials hope the data gathered will help them plan for everything, from the mental impact to more mundane things like furniture layout. so, if you fancy a life on mars, you're going to need to be healthy, motivated, between the ages of 30
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and 55, a nonsmoker, speak english and be a us citizen. oh, and you're going to have to get used to eating space food for a year. there is already a crew of four inside the complex. they are due out later this year and have already been conducting experiments. now, nasa itself says it hopes to launch astronauts up to mars in the late 2030s or early 2040s, and thatjourney itself will take seven months. cannot wait! the japanese space agency has launched its new flagship h3 rocket on a two—hour test flight, after years of delays and two aborted attempts. the h3 had a successful liftoff on saturday and the space agency says the rocket has already released one micro—satellite. compared to its predecessor, the h3 is cheaper and has a greater payload capacity. the agency hopes that will help it win launch orders
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from global clients. japan's first h3 launch a year ago was abandoned after ignition trouble left the rocket standing motionless on the launchpad. i hate it when that happens. to stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. good evening. some very mild air across the uk at the moment. some pretty spring—like scenes, too, such as here in perth and kinross — lots of snowdrops. but for many it's been a grey, damp and drizzly day today. the ground already saturated, too, in places, especially out towards the west. and there's a band of heavy rain sweeping eastwards overnight tonight — could potentially lead to some more surface water flooding. of course, some very large puddles out there as this heavy rain just pushes southwards and eastwards through the night, moving into shetland and lingering across east anglia and the far south
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east of england. but some clear spells developing behind, although temperatures won't drop very far, staying in double figures for most. a few isolated showers out towards the north and the west as we head into tomorrow morning. but a rather soggy start to the day across the southeast of england, down towards the south coast as well, east anglia and across shetland. the rain will eventually clear, but it could linger on for some as we head even into the first part of the afternoon, but it will turn gradually more showery. cloud behind it, the cloud breaking up to leave us with some bright and some sunny spells. but for many, i think it will stay largely dry through the day on sunday. some isolated showers again out towards the west of scotland, perhaps western wales and northern ireland, but mostly dry. temperatures again well above the seasonal average, peaking between 10 and 1a, maybe even 15 degrees celsius. next week, though, temperatures will be dipping back down to the seasonal average. so it will be feeling colder, particularly by night. and it's still going to be rather unsettled. various areas of low pressure moving in from the atlantic, including another one on sunday
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night and into monday. and that's going to bring us some showery outbreaks of rain. it's all pushing its way further southwards and eastwards, gradually fizzling out. lots of brighter skies behind it, along with a northwesterly wind. and again, a few isolated showers in the north and the west, but a definite dip in temperature there, feeling a little fresher by a couple of degrees. and it will be feeling cooler, too, on monday night, with many of our temperatures widely dropping back into mid—single figures. there's another weather front coming through on tuesday. strong, gusty winds as we head through wednesday, with more heavy, persistent rain for the south of england. so here's the temperature outlook for our capital cities as we head through next week. it will be feeling cooler and it will stay unsettled. wet, very windy at times. bye— bye.
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this is bbc news — the headlines. the whereabouts of the body of the late russian opposition figure alexei navalny remain unknown after the russian authorities refused to release it to his family. we don't have any clue where he is now and what is happening to him and when it will be given to the family. the us vice president has warned republicans in washington not to play political games over support for ukraine, after a front line town was lost to invading russians. israel's prime minister has insisted he won't bow to international pressure over israel's offensive in gaza.
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in the uk, hundreds of british sub—postmasters, wrongly forced into bankruptcy, are keeping up the fight for compensation. and nasa is on a hunt for martians. the space agency wants four volunteers prepared to spend a year living and working inside a base that simulates the surface of the red planet. now on bbc news, the travel show. look at this — simply stunning. and this isjust the beginning. i'm in sri lanka, an island that charms you with its warmth. yeah. ready? yes! a tiny nation of dramatic extremes... keep it going. hold on. yee—hoo! ..and unique wildlife.
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we know each and every one of them.

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