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tv   BBC News  BBC News  October 19, 2024 4:00am-4:31am BST

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the hamas—run civil defense agency says dozens of people have been killed in israeli strikes on the jabalia refugee camp, with more than 80 also wounded. there's been no immediate israeli comment. local sources indicate northern gaza is effectively isolated, with telecommunications and internet services severed. the director of al—awda hospital had told reporters about an overwhelming influx of casualties. it's believed around 400,000 people are trapped inside the camp, without food or water. meanwhile, we've heard more reaction today from world leaders on israel's killing of hamas leader, yahya sinwar. us president biden said the so—called "quad" of western allies agrees there is a road to peace, though he acknowledged it would be "difficult" to reach a ceasefire in gaza. on friday, a senior hamas member confirmed sinwar was killed, but says his death will only strengthen the group. the bbc has learned that hamas members will meet soon to choose a new leader, and israel's government says, their war objectives have not yet been met. meanwhile, crowds of israelis
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have continued their protests against israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in tel aviv, demanding a ceasefire deal to bring the israeli hostages home. 0ur middle east correspondent wyre davies sent this update. this has been a day of many developments in the middle east, following the death of the hamas leader yahya sinwar. first of all, hamas themselves belatedly acknowledged that their leader had been killed in rafah, in southern gaza. hamas said his death, although tragic for them, would not change their course of action — they won't stop fighting in gaza, they say, until israel agrees to a full ceasefire. hamas also said that sinwar died a heroic death with his arms by his side, taking on the israelis. that version of events has been somewhat disputed by the idf themselves. they said they came across sinwar after he'd been flushed from a tunnel network in southern gaza, where they said he'd spent most of the war surrounded by this
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human shield of israeli hostages. indeed, the area where sinwar was killed was very close to a spot where six israeli hostages were found killed earlier in the summer, in august. so, some dispute there about how sinwar died, but he is dead, and hamas might have to find a new leader, although they've not yet said who that person is going to be. more widely, this is now being seen by many in the international community as a window, an opportunity for the resumption of those ceasefire talks leading to the release of the israeli hostages still being held in gaza. but there seems to be no appetite between the belligerent parties for that to happen. hamas, as i've said, want to carry on fighting, and the israeli prime minister, while he says if hamas released the hostages, there will be an end to the fighting, in the meantime, israel still strikes targets in northern gaza, particularly around the jabalia refugee camp, where there was another strike overnight on a school, a former school, which is now
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housing several families. israel says that was being used as a base for fighters from hamas and islamichhad, but the united nations says more than 20 civilians were also killed in that strike. so it's a very important moment. israel also fighting, of course, on the northern front in southern lebanon against hezbollah, and there's the rising spectre that israel has now decided where it's going to strike in its much—promised attack against iran, in retaliation for the iranian missile strike a couple of weeks ago. so a very tense moment in the region. international leaders, including biden and sir keir starmerfrom britain, have been trying to persuade belligerent parties to pull back and talk about a ceasefire, but, at this point in time, the fighting continues.
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international aid groups are once again sounding the leaders of the us, the uk, germany and france today reiterated calls for an end to the war in gaza. sir keir starmer said the world would not tolerate "any more "excuses" over humanitarian assistance. the us president said he's told benjamin netanyahu to seek peace. the death of the leader of hamas represents a moment ofjustice. he had the blood of americans, israelis, palestinians and germans, and so many others, on his hands. i told the prime minister of israel yesterday, let's also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a betterfuture in gaza, without hamas. international aid groups are once again sounding the alarm about possible famine in gaza, as winter approaches. the united nations on thursday warned that nearly 345,000 gazans face "catastrophic" levels of hunger in the coming months, due to a drop in aid deliveries. the israeli government doesn't let internationaljournalists gain independent access to gaza, so our correspondent fergal keane reports from jerusalem, on food insecurity in gaza, and a warning that it contains images you may find
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distressing. again, the un warns of famine. again, it describes a catastrophe. again, israel denies a policy of starvation. and hunger renewed. charity keeps many from starvation. translation: there is - absolutely nothing available. the financial situation is very difficult and we cannot buy anything. even if prices drop, even if prices drop, we still cannot buy. we still cannot buy. israel launched an offensive israel launched an offensive in the northern gaza strip two in the northern gaza strip two weeks ago and has impeded aid, weeks ago and has impeded aid, according to the un and according to the un and america. america. now, some trucks are entering since the united states warned israel it might cut israel it might cut
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arms shipments. arms shipments. arab states have dropped aid, arab states have dropped aid, but a prominent un figure told us nothing like what's needed. but a prominent un figure told the violations, the suffering the violations, the suffering of people on a day to day of people on a day to day basis, including for basis, including for very basic necessities, very basic necessities, is unparalleled, is unparalleled, is unprecedented. is unprecedented. history will look back at this, history will look back at this, and judge, and see, and ask and judge, and see, and ask questions about what the international community questions about what the international community was doing when such atrocities was doing when such atrocities were happening in gaza. were happening in gaza. nothing has changed nothing has changed in the reality of gazan lives in the reality of gazan lives in the last 2a hours. in the last 2a hours. they're still burying they're still burying their dead in deir al—balah. their dead in deir al—balah. 12—year—old abdul rahman 12—year—old abdul rahman al—dalou died of burns in an israeli air strike. al—dalou died of burns in an israeli air strike. the fire that swept the fire that swept through their tents killed his through their tents killed his 19—year—old brother, shaban. 19—year—old brother, shaban. they were refugees in a hospital compound. the israelis blame hamas, saying they operated
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in the compound.
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here in the us, both presidential candidates are hitting the campaign trail across michigan today. republican nominee donald trump has been holding multiple events in the key swing state. the former president took questions from voters earlier during a roundtable in the city of auburn hills, and in the past couple of hours, mr trump was addressing supporters at an event in detroit, when audio problems with his microphone put the speech on pause. because to me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary, it's not love, it's not respect... and you don't hear the rest of that sentence because this is the moment when you consider a technical problems at that trump rally in michigan. all chant: trump! meanwhile, just north of detroit, kamala harris has been holding a duelling rally in oakland county. the vice president's speech
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was also interrupted, twice, after someone in the crowd fell ill, and a medical team was called in. harris paused mid—speech, and referred to how warm the room was. here's one of those moments. and i am proud to have the support of arab—american leaders, like wayne county deputy... we need a medic. 0k, we need a medic. let's figure out a way to part a little bit so we can bring a medic in over here, please. 0k? crowd murmurs. the latest polls show the pair neck—and—neck in the battleground states, including michigan, and you can see the numbers here are well within the margin of error. earlier, vice president harris spoke in the city of lansing. that speech was focused on labour issues in michigan, one of the biggest manufacturing states in the country. before that, the vice president
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spoke at a rally in grand rapids. ahead of the event, a group of pro—palestininan protesters gathered at the venue. the war in gaza is a key issue for voters in michigan, which has the largest proportion of arab—americans in the us. i've been speaking with the political editor of michigan public radio, zoe clark, about the busy day of campaigning in the state. yes, it's been fascinating to watch. i can tell you, i don't remember a day like this
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in presidential politics here in michigan for a very long time. look, both candidates are talking about manufacturing, they are talking about union jobs, on certain issues light on immigration and abortion. it really felt like today it was about the economy, it was about inflation, what kind of life and what kind of world either candidate would bring the michigan voters into the future. so, of course, michigan, as we know, one of the seven battle ground states in this election. just tell us more about the importance, of course, of michigan in this race, but also the kind of voters that both candidates have been targeting, have been courting, today? absolutely, look, michigan is a microcosm of the united states. we have, as you were mentioning, the city of detroit, a huge, populous city that has poverty and is still really rebuilding, in many respects. we have very wealthy suburbs. manufacturing, of course, is our largest industry, but we also have huge amounts of agriculture, ag being our second largest part of our economy, and rural areas, and 20% of the world's freshwater, so we have a lot of environmental enthusiasts
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and protectors, and of course, as we've talked about before, we have one of the largest arab—american populations in the country, and so when we talk about who the presidential candidates are going after, at any given day, any given message, it's really a bunch of different constituents, and today, it seems like it was again union workers, and for kamala harris, being in oakland county, particularly suburban women is something that i think the campaign is really looking at now, with 18 days to go. us president biden has been making what's likely to be his final official visit to europe, meeting with leaders of the uk, france and germany, with the war in ukraine high on the agenda. speaking after the talks on friday in berlin, mr biden said there'd been no consensus on allowing ukraine to use western weapons in attacks deep inside russia, but said boosting support to kyiv is necessary as winter approaches. i talked more about this liana fix, senior fellow for europe at the council on foreign relations.
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this is likely to be joe biden�*s very likely final visit to europe as us president. what do you think his legacy will be, in terms of relationship with europe? his legacy will be a very good one in europe. europeans have been so relieved when biden was elected. but, at the same time, that left europeans in a cosy and comfortable situation, where they very much relied on us leadership throughout the ukraine war. so, with the upcoming us elections, it will be much more difficult for europeans to repeat the same, to believe that america is back, regardless of how these elections turn out, and they are very nervous about what happens if donald trump is elected. you talk about them being on edge about the possibility of a trump presidency in 2025 — what are those concerns?
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the concerns are about european security and specifically nato. what if trump does what he has threatened several times, undermine the credibility of nato. what if he stops support for ukraine, militarily and financially? that's not something europeans can make up for. and then also, what will trump do to the global economy, and what will he do in relation to china? so, basically, all strategic priorities that europeans have are under threat with a donald trump presidency. do you think there could be any stumbling blocks, in terms of further support to ukraine coming from inside europe? for example, when it comes to long—range missiles and their use deeper inside russia, for example? yeah, so we have a divided view on this in europe. france and the uk have been more forward—leaning, but actually, the united states and germany were the two countries that were reluctant. they are also the two countries that are more reluctant on ukraine's nato perspective, so we have an interesting situation in europe now,
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where it's basically germany hiding behind the us with a caution, and france and the uk being much more forceful, and depending on the outcome of the us elections, france and the uk might have an opportunity to bring germany along on their priorities. talking about france, the uk, global conflicts, also we've got the situation in the middle east, of course, and after the death of yahya sinwar, we are seeing those renewed calls for a ceasefire. do you think european pressure could play a role in that? do you think potentially, this could be something of a turning point in international diplomacy, when it comes to the middle east? unfortunately, the level which of europeans in the middle east is not particularly strong. they have followed us leadership. some european countries, like spain, have taken a more critical view of israel. but they have been followers on this global conflict and this issue of global affairs, not leaders, and that is something that diminishes the clout
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of the european union as a geopolitical actor, that europe basicallyjust tries to stay out of the most complicated parts of the conflict in the middle east. the ukrainian foreign minister has called for a strong and immediate reaction, after claims from south korea that north korea has agreed to deploy thousands of troops to help russia in its fight against ukraine. moscow has previously dismissed reports of north korean involvement as "fake news". 0ur ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse has this report. satellite images have accompanied the claims of pyongyang's growing involvement in moscow's invasion. south korea's spy agency says they show a russian vessel collecting weapons, as well as north korean troops gathering at military bases in russia's far east. it's thought 1,500 have arrived and another 10,000 will follow, and ukraine is in no doubt what for.
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translation: we are convinced that they want to use these - north korean soldiers as cannon fodder. they understand how sensitive the issue of mobilisation is in russian society. they are trying to solve their domestic political issues by dragging other countries into the war. there is mounting evidence of russia using north korean ammunition, missiles and technology. with it already outnumbered, kyiv is worried about what more invading soldiers could mean. while ukraine's allies have provided billions of pounds in military aid like weapons and ammunition, it's never been soldiers overfears of a wider war. now, there are growing accusations that the same can't be said for russia. for one former deputy defence minister, it's another step change. this is like a first open participation of the third party in this war, and it means that the war becomes more global and becomes more influential in geopolitical meaning, i think.
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despite the surrounding speculation, vladimir putin made no mention of north korea at this business forum in moscow. he only said that russia will keep fighting in ukraine for as long as necessary. for the ukrainians on the receiving end of his invasion, the cost continues to mount. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. cuba was plunged into a blackout on friday, after the country's largest power plant went offline, triggering a total grid failure, knocking out electricity to around ten million people. the government has declared an emergency, with officials saying they do not know how long it will take for power to be restored. for more, i spoke to nora games torres — she's the latin america and cuba reporterfor the miami herald. you know, the entire
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island lost electricity, leaving millions of cubans without power, nationwide. just hours after, the government declared this energy emergency in the past few days, cuba's state electricity company has reported like you know difficulties to generate of up to electricity of up to half of the country actually needs, so cubans have been hit with blackouts for as long as you know 18, 20 hours. you can sense the frustration that is growing in the population, in comments left on cuban official news websites, that, you know, even though there's a lot of laws and regulations of punishing criticism of the government, you know, cubans are openly, openly discussing, and proposing, and saying that the government leaders have to go. that's really interesting to see that there is that level of critical response there in cuba.
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what is to blame here? is it the infrastructure, the lack of fuel? and we've also heard from the government, saying they are not sure how long this will last. have they been vocal about what their plan is to help people? they've said they are still in a very initial phase to try to kick start the whole system, so we don't know how many hours this is going to last. i think it's several problems here. most of cuba's power plants are outdated and inefficient, some are 50 years old and even older, and they have not received proper maintenance, because the government said it lacks the resources for that, but also, the prime minister has said the country has no money to buy oil. cuba is receiving less oil subsidies from venezuela. there is little actual support from russia and the government is bankrupt, you know? the country is going through its fourth economic crisis since the end of the soviet union, so there's no money to buy oil on the international market so all of this is causing this crisis, i mean, it was a long coming, you know, like many experts said the government needed to urgently invest in modernising
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the electricity grid and the power plants, but for that, you need investment, and the government have been, hardliners in the government have been resistant, and market reforms have been resisting foreign investment. in the last few hours, liam payne's father has visited the hotel where the former 0ne direction star died. the singer died on wednesday, after falling from a balcony in argentina. his father, geoff, was seen reading tributes and looking at flowers and candles left outside the buenos aires hotel. he also stopped to thank fans paying tribute there. some of those gathered at the hotel tried to block cameras and paparazzi from following mr payne into the hotel, after
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the family asked for privacy. liam payne's former partner, the singer and former x—factor judge cheryl, has criticised coverage of his death, highlighting what she called "abhorrent reports and media exploitation" in a statement, cheryl also said their seven—year—old son, bear, had to "face the reality of never seeing his "father again". an unusual experiment to restore a valuable wetland in southwest england has been a big success. the national trust filled in the river allen in somerset and then let it find its own natural course, and it's led to a major increase in biodiversity. the project could now be repeated elsewhere, with important lessons for habitats around the world. 0ur climate editorjustin rowlatt went to find out more. from the air, the river aloe used to look like a typical british weather. it had been straighten into a neat
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single—channel that kept the land dry but left little room for nature. so here's the question, is it possible to do the ecological equivalent of a complete reboot, to reset the river and let it find its own course through the landscape? 0ther course through the landscape? other projects have used diggers to reconstruct the curves are rivers used to have, but here in west somerset, the national trust tried something much more radical. theyjust filled the river in and then waited to see what would happen next. it really is boggy now, isn't it? it's absolutely brilliant. it isn't it? it's absolutely brilliant.— isn't it? it's absolutely brilliant. , ., , , brilliant. it is absolutely phenomenal, _ brilliant. it is absolutely phenomenal, it - brilliant. it is absolutely phenomenal, it has - brilliant. it is absolutely phenomenal, it hasjustj brilliant. it is absolutely - phenomenal, it hasjust been phenomenal, it has just been transformed, it is green, it is messy, it's noisy, you walk through and insects go up, and then you stop and listen, and then you stop and listen, and the birdsong isjust amazing. what's so interesting is the national trust couldn't be certain what would happen. this wetland environment supports
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much more life, including endangered water bowls, but what about downriver? the village is regularly a flood, and last winter was one of the wettest on record. post—restoration, we had some really significant rainfall events, unprecedented really. the site responded really well, we didn't get any flooding of other villages around somerset were really flooded, the data backs it up, we have helped protect our communities. the uk is reckoned _ protect our communities. the uk is reckoned to _ protect our communities. the uk is reckoned to have _ protect our communities. the uk is reckoned to have lost - protect our communities. the uk is reckoned to have lost 90% - protect our communities. the uk is reckoned to have lost 90% of i is reckoned to have lost 90% of its wetlands in the last hundred years. ribery sets like this won't work everywhere but the national trust is already considering sites where it could be repeated. justin rowlatt, bbc news, west somerset. before we go, the volcanic portuguese island territory of the azores has approved the creation of a vast protected marine area. 0fficials there say it will be the largest underwater conservation effort in the north atlantic, covering about 300,000 square kilometres — that's more than 100,000 square miles. almost all fishing and tourism
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will be banned, in an attempt to preserve vulnerable marine habitats and species, like deep—sea corals. thanks for being with us here on bbc news. hello. we've got our first named storm of the season, so a notch up on what we've had so far this autumn. we'll all feel the effects of storm ashley. widespread gales, but a met office amber warning for some stormy weather for the western side of scotland. more rain to come with it as well — you can see it developing here in the atlantic. it will rapidly develop in the next 18 to 2a hours, and even ahead of it, some typical autumnal wind and rain with us at the moment, moving its way eastwards to clear across scotland and northern ireland, western fringes of england and wales, by the morning time. so, quite chilly in these areas, and there could be some low—level fog to watch out for. under our rain band, it's misty, murky, with hill fog, and much milder
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than it was last night, but it does mean a slow start to saturday for eastern parts of england. it could be that that rain drags its heels into the afternoon, but for most of us, it's the quieter day of the weekend. the winds are lighter, there'll be some sunshine, just a scattering of showers, so i think it will feel quite pleasant. eventually, that rain clears from east anglia, as we head towards the middle part of the afternoon, so 15 to 17, just a little bit above average. but then, as we go through the night, we start to see this next area of low pressure, this deepening storm coming our way, with windy weather and rain for all parts. as i say, it's a notch up on what we've seen so far this autumn, so widespread gales, particularly around the coast, on the hills, but even inland for some. a spell, again, of very wet weather, for a time, and then it brightens up with a few showers, but more rain and another escalation in the winds. it looks stronger still in the north and west. bear in mind, as well, we've got high tides at the moment,
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so we may well have some coastal flooding as well — another hazard. so, these sort of wind speeds enough to bring down the trees that are in full leaf, cause some travel disruption, as well, and structural damage, and even more ferocious, the feeling at the moment is that western scotland will have gusts of wind up to 80 miles an hour during the course of sunday, so it's definitely one to watch, before it looks as if it'll scoot away into the north sea, across to scandinavia, leaving us with a brisk westerly wind, possibly more rain coming into the south and the east on monday. but at the moment, it's a couple of days of quieter weather, sunny spells and showers. we may even see high pressure into the middle part of the week, but there's more on the storm on the website.
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voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. hello, i'm ros atkins. and i'm katie razzall. this week, a new archive documenting the horrific treatment of captives by the islamic state group. we speak to the journalist behind the project. we're also going to hear from a journalist who's received an apology from the hollywood star anne hathaway. it's all to do with an interview from 2012, which has now gone viral. we'll hear the full story.
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this year marks ten years since the so—called islamic state declared its caliphate. and now a group ofjournalists is seeking to preserve evidence of what the islamic state group did in order to hold it to account. as is deserted these sites, they left behind thousands of artefacts. the isis prisons museum project was created to collect and archive this evidence. to find out more, we spoke to the director of the museum, amer matar, and discovered his personal reason for setting up the project. in 2013, isis kidnapped my brother. his name mohammad nour matar, and he was a cameraman filming the city and the fight between the society and isis and the different islamic groups in the city. when he was doing that,
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isis kidnapped him.

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