tv BBC News BBC News January 26, 2025 9:00pm-10:00pm GMT
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will free israeli civilian hostage arbel yehud on friday, in exchange for the release of 30 palestinian prisoners. it could pave the way for israel to allow tens of thousands of palestinians to return to their homes in northern gaza. egypt and jordan reject president trump's suggestion that they take in one and a half million gazans because the strip is — quote — "a demolition site". i would like egypt to take people and jordan to take people, you are talking about probably 1.5 million people and we just clean out that whole thing. lebanon says israeli troops have killed 22 people, as thousands of villagers tried to return to their homes in the south. and exit polls give alexander lukashenko 87% of the vote in a belarusian presidential election dismissed as a "sham" by the us and eu.
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and in the uk, a 19—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car was driven at a police officer in manchester, leaving her seriously injured. hello, i'm laila nathoo. a senior officialfrom the palestinian militant group islamichhad has told the bbc an agreement has been reached with mediators for the release of an israeli civilian hostage. on saturday, israel accused hamas of breaching the terms of the ceasefire deal by not releasing arbel yehud, along with the four female israeli soldiers. the islamichhad official said she will be freed on friday in exchange for the release of 30 palestinian prisoners. that could pave the way for hundreds of thousands of displaced palestinians
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to return to their homes in northern gaza. the israeli military refused to allow them through yesterday because the civilian hostage wasn't released. gazan hospital officials say one person was killed earlier and several injured when israeli soldiers opened fire on a crowd gathered in cental gaza. the idf says it operated against several threats in the strip today. meanwhile, bothjordan and egypt have rejected the us president's suggestion overnight that they and other arab nations take in one and a half million of gaza's residents. donald trump told journalists the strip was "literally a demolition site" and suggested it be — quote — �*cleaned out'. israeli bombardments have reduced much of gaza to rubble. hamas says it would oppose any plan to relocate palestinians, and islamichhad called the proposal "deplorable". but the us president's comments were immediately welcomed by far—right israeli politicians, some of whom want to restore jewish settlements there. here's what president trump told reporters on air force one.
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i'm looking at the whole gaza strip right now- and it's a mess. you would like jordan to house people? i'd like egypt to take people. i'm talking to general el—sisi . tomorrow sometime, i believe. and i'd like egypt to take people. l and i'd like jordan to take j people, because, i mean, you're talking about probably a million and a half— people, and we just clean out that whole thing. - it's... over the centuries, it's many, many conflicts on that site. i and i don't know, - something has to happen, but it's literally _ a demolition site right now. almost everything is demolished and people are dying there. - so i'd rather get involved with some of the arab i nations and build housing at a different location - where they can maybe live
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in peace for a change. - temporarily? in peace for a change. could be temporarily or long—term. it could be temporarily. it could be long term. our correspondent lucy williamson reports from jerusalem. dreams of going home aren't only for hostages or prisoners, but also for gazans displaced by the war. the road to an israeli checkpoint on gaza's coast, now a waiting room for tens of thousands impatient to return to their homes in the north. faith in the promises of gaza's cease fire deal undimmed by new delays and disruptions. samir ali hussein said he'd moved six times since the war began. translation: we want to go home. god willing, we will. we spend the night here. it was cold. it rained and soaked our clothes and the ground. israel delayed the withdrawal of its troops here yesterday, and the reopening of this road north, after hamas postponed
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the release of a civilian woman hostage, arbel yahud. both sides have accused the other of violating the truce. in gaza's battered northern neighbourhoods, those who survived the war are now waiting for their relatives to return. i can't describe my feelings, said um sharif. i'm going to see my children. i've been waiting for this moment since day one of the war. israel doesn't allow journalists access to report independently from gaza, but the un estimates that 60% of its buildings have been damaged or destroyed. donald trump has described it as a demolition site and talked of clearing gaza out, relocating its residents to egypt and jordan. the idea has delighted israel's far right politicians, who want israelis to resettle
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there, and outraged gazans themselves. translation: with all due respect, the us . president is an idiot. we are staying put here in gaza. we don't want to emigrate. why should we do that? if we wanted to emigrate, we could have done that a long time ago. lives, already made unpredictable by war, are facing an unpredictable peace. but after 15 months of conflict, these crowds waiting to go home are proof that families move, buildings collapse, but roots are not easily destroyed. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. my colleague nick beake has more reaction from jerusalem to president trump's proposal. just a few days ago, president trump was talking about the gaza strip as if it
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were a piece of prime real estate. he said it was a phenomenal location by the sea with the best weather. now, though, he's describing it as a demolition site and says it's over and that it needs to be cleaned out. and that has sparked a lot of concern today. critics saying that this sounds like language which is tantamount to ethnic cleansing, if palestinians have to leave gaza. mr trump was suggesting that the likes of egypt and jordan could take in more palestinians, and that people would be able to live in peace there. jordan has already got more than two million registered palestinian refugees, and the foreign minister has been saying that they've got this unwavering commitment to palestinians remaining in gaza while there is, of course, reconstruction of the place, which has been so badly damaged in the past 15 months. egypt has said previously that any sort of forced displacement
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of palestinians from gaza could jeopardise the peace deal that was signed back in 1979 between egypt and israel. in israel, there has been reaction from far—right politicians. they have welcomed the comments from president trump because ultimately they would like to see jewish settlers return to gaza to live there in the years to come. so i think many people will be looking now to see if president trump says more about this idea he seems to have come up with. he was asked specifically whether he saw this as a temporary suggestion or a more permanent thing. he said either plan could work at this point. so i think a lot of people waiting to see what more he has to say. staying in the middle east, the lebanese health ministry has accused the israeli army of firing at residents trying to return to their homes in southern lebanon, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens more. israel's military missed today's deadline to leave the area, as a sixty—day ceasefire deal expired. it has not said how long its forces will stay in lebanon. both israeli troops and hezbollah fighters were supposed to have completed their respective withdrawals.
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our correspondent in beirut is hugo bachega. he sent this update. what we saw today is that thousands of residents tried to return to their homes in the south of the country, despite warnings from both the lebanese and the israeli armies and the united nations that it wasn't safe to do so. this happened after the end of a deadline for the withdrawal of all israeli troops from the south, also for the removal of hezbollah fighters and weapons from there. now, israel says lebanon hasn't really fully implemented the deal, which also includes the deployment of thousands of lebanese soldiers to the south of the country. so the situation now is that israeli soldiers remain in the country, today they opened fire. they say that they had fired warning shots. they didn't really explain those incidents that happened today. we still don't know how many israeli soldiers remain here in lebanon, how long they're planning to stay,
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but this is a country with memories of past foreign occupation. so the presence of israeli soldiers here is seen as unacceptable and a source for concern. the us president says he's imposing sanctions and tariffs on colombia after it refused to allow two us military aircraft deporting migrants to land there. donald trump announced travel bans and visa sanctions for colombian officials and 25 percent tariffs on all colombian goods coming into the us — rising to 50 percent after a week. mexico has also refused to let us deportation flights land on its territory. but on friday, two deportation flights each carrying around 80 migrants were allowed to land in guatemala. donald trump has made removing unlawful migrants from the us a cornerstone of his immigration policy. let's get more on this from our reporter, mimi swaby. shejoins us now. it does she joins us now. it does show this immediate reaction that president trump means business.
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this was a very decisive move, and urgent retaliation, as he called it when he put out the station —— statement on the social media platform, truth social and the actions were said to bejeopardising us safety and he said that these tariffs, the 25% tariffs on all colombian imports were the beginning and next week they would rise to 50%. this is a huge step and it shows notjust the significant breakdown of diplomatic ties but also adds to a growing chorus of discontent in latin america on the us�*s presidency. really clamping down and mobilising his government for this mass deportation, this largest deportation, this largest deportation in us history so a very decisive and urgent measure taken from the us president. measure taken from the us president-— president. and what impact could these _ president. and what impact could these potential - president. and what impact - could these potential sanctions
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have. it could really dent to the colombian economy. this will have a — the colombian economy. this will have a huge _ the colombian economy. this will have a huge impact - the colombian economy. ti 3 will have a huge impact on the columbia economy and the us imports around $2 billion from colombia and this is in addition to other imports such as avocados, flowers, crude oil. this will have a very detrimental impact on americans themselves and interestingly this is the first time trump has gone through with the threats he has made on implementing tariffs that he viewed as being influential on migration and he's threatened tariffs on mexico and canada but tariffs on colombia, the first time he's actually taken action and these are alongside some very decisive travel bans having a travel ban and the media on government officials with our allies and supporters as well is their enhanced
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inspections on all colombians and cargo and these are just the beginning. mrtrump and cargo and these are just the beginning. mr trump is taking a strong stance and he wants this to be a message to other latin american nations because if they don't play ball or pick up their side of the deal on this immigration measure and the state of emergency where there is an invasion happening from illegal migrants, if they don't play ball on their side his measures will not work and this is the thing from mexico, guatemala, colombia, very much making an example out of colombia when they decided to refuse the two planes, the two military aircraft from landing on colombian soil carrying what mr trump has called illegal migrants who are criminals rather than civilians in his eyes. many thanks. the prime minister's office says sir keir starmer has spoken on the phone with president trump.
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they discussed the importance of working together for security in the middle east, as well as issues related to trade and the economy. the two leaders have agreed to meet soon. here in the uk, a 19—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a vehicle was driven at a police officer in greater manchester. it happened at a retail park on wilmslow road in cheadle, on saturday evening, leaving her seriously injured. my colleague charlotte gallagher has the details on what we know so far. police were called because people said there were people acting suspiciously inside of a car. when a female police officer arrived, she walked towards the car, the car then set off, driven at high speed towards her and hit her. she received very, very serious injuries and was taken to hospital and as you say, a 19—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. greater manchester police had said she has recovered from injuries and is still in hospital and being supported by her fellow police officers and they have said, it was a truly shocking incident.
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there is no explanation as to why it happened as the way it did in also it underlines the risks that front—line officers take when they go to these kinds of incidents and how quickly they can escalate. they have also said assault on our officers are completely unacceptable, will not be tolerated and in this case the officer suffered incredibly serious injuries. now it's time for a look at today's sport with karthy. tottnenham have had a pretty difficult start to 2025 in the premer league and problems continue to mount for he club and its manager ange postocoglou. spurs were beaten, at home, by strugglers leicester — themselves desperate for a win. spurs are without a win in seven league games, a run stretching back to last year. they opened the scoring through richarlison — but goals from jamie vardy and then bilal el—khannouss saw leicester city come back into the game and hold on for their first win in the premier league
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for nearly two months. the victory moves them out of the relegation zone. tottenham stay 15th. there is of course relief and a celebration in the dressing room altogether with players and all staff, everybody involved. we were really looking for this moment and it took a long time. so now, we can enjoy this for a day or two. and then it is back to work because, i said at the beginning, since my arrival, it is going to go right till the end. it is going to go right till the end for us and let's prepare and take momentum of this win. the supporters are feeling it as well, and, yes, it's not an atmosphere where it's easy at the moment. and kind of one follows the other and we need to sort of break through that and try to give them something to sort of get behind the team for, so they can create the atmosphere we have. i mean, you know, it wasn't
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long ago we beat liverpool here and it was a great night, so you have to keep these things in context. the final game of the weekend in the premier league finished with a 1—0 win for manchester united over fulham. chances in the game for both sides were few and far between but lisandro martinez was helped by a big deflection as he gave united the lead. united move up to 12th place while fulham remain in 10th. earlier, brentford ended crystal palace's unbeaten run thanks to a 2—1win at selhurst park. while west ham managed to hold aston villa to a 1—1 draw at villa park. plenty of interesting games happening across europe on sunday too. earlier in scotland, rangers beat dundee united. they trail celtic by 10 points. in serie a, ac milan had a 3—2 win over parma to move up to sixth place in the table. second—placed inter milan had a 4—0 win over lecce. the late game sees lazio host fiorentina. in spain,
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athletic club are in third place after a goalless draw with leganes. while barcelona are thrashing valencia, ten minutes into the second half. and it is 5—0 to barcelona. chelsea introduced their world record signing naomi girma before kickoff in their women's super league clash against arsenal. the usa international witnessed her new side strengthen their grip on the title with a 1—0 win against their london rivals. the only goal of the game came from the penalty sport from subsitute guro reiten. chelsea are now nine points clear of manchester city who are in second place. arsenal, who finished the game with 10 players after katie mccabe was sent off, lost for the first time under new coach renee slegers. top seed jannik sinner has retained his australian open title beating alexander zverev in straight sets. it was a battle between the world number one and world number two, with sinner comfortably coming out on top in straight sets. zverev didn't get a single break point in the match. sinner becomes the first italian to win three grand slam singles titles.
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the nfl season has reached its penultimate stage, with four teams just one win away from a place at super bowl 59 in new orleans. the kansas city chiefs have set their sights on winning a third straight title, but they will have to see offjosh allen and the buffalo bills first in the afc championship game. in the nfc championship, the philadelphia eagles take on a washington commanders side who have surprised many this season. that game is well under way and it's 111—12 to the eagles coming towards the end of the second quarter. and that's all the sport for now. to belarus now, and the first exit poll in the presidential election the eu has branded �*a sham' — shows alexander lukashenko on course to win a seventh term with 87.6% of the vote. he was up against four
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other candidates — one of whom ran under the slogan "together with lukashenko". his fiercest critics and most serious rivals are either in prison or have been forced into exile. as people voted, mr lukashenko sparred with the world's media at a news conference lasting more than four hours, and said some of his political opponents had "chosen" to go to prison. someone chose jail, someone chose exile, as you say. we did not expel anybody and more over, we open the whole country and i've probably already stated it five times that we are not rigged into people, not malicious and everyone will get a chance. —— we are not vindictive people. our russia editor steve rosenberg is in minsk and was at the president's impromptu press conference earlier. well, i've never experienced anything quite like this
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before on an election day. so alexandar lukashenko came to the polling station behind me, he cast his ballot, and then he proceeded to give a four hour long press conference from the polling station live on state television, while people were voting. that's the kind of airtime that the other four candidates who've been allowed to run against him simply don't enjoy. about the other candidates, by the way, i met two of them earlier this week. one of them said he actually supports alexandar lukashenko. the other one was full of praise for the current leader of belarus. and when i put this to mr lukashenko at the press conference, he told me, "well, this is a new experience for you, steve." the leader of belarus faces no serious challenge in this election. all his most vocal critics, his staunchest opponents, are either in jail or they're in exile. which is why the european union's foreign policy chief described this as a sham election. let's speak to alesia rudnik, who's director of the independent belarusian
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thinktank center for new ideas. many thanks for joining many thanks forjoining us on bbc news. when you look at that number of 87.6% for the exit poll, was that around a number you are expected to see? i deftly expected, because the regime expects this and yesterday lukashenko mentioned yesterday lu kashenko mentioned he yesterday lukashenko mentioned he does not really care what the western countries of the election and generally in the country, so there will be, reported by the electoral commission tomorrow and that doesn't change much in the country's politics and they do not act on what is going to happen in the country, just as the previous election has not changed much, so the numbers do not really matter but they were
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expected by many experts including me, so the election was without any equal access for the opposition candidates which were absent and there was no multiple violations of the electoral rights and these are just a few features that in any other country would probably not even class it to be called a free and fair election. 50 not even class it to be called a free and fair election. so as well as a _ a free and fair election. so as well as a lack— a free and fair election. so as well as a lack of— a free and fair election. so as well as a lack of choice - well as a lack of choice between candidates, it is the process of how the election carried out —— was carried out is a problem. do you think that lukashenko will be emboldened by winning a seventh term. i don't think his new term will be an imitation of politics and the slight institutional changes might be within the political elites but the core of the regime and the political system will remain the same and the regime will further continue with its repression and continue to deprive people of their primary human rights
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and political expression and freedom of speech and many others and it will continue to use the repressive tactics that it's been developing during the five last years to control the political situation in the country. political situation in the country-— political situation in the count. ., , country. how will he be looking on, and country. how will he be looking on. and and — country. how will he be looking on, and and that _ country. how will he be looking on, and and that will— country. how will he be looking on, and and that will play - country. how will he be looking on, and and that will play a - on, and and that will play a huge part in the next term unfolding. huge part in the next term unfolding-— huge part in the next term unfoldinu. ., �*, ., , ., unfolding. that's for sure and there is no — unfolding. that's for sure and there is no surprise _ unfolding. that's for sure and there is no surprise it - unfolding. that's for sure and there is no surprise it either. | there is no surprise it either. and they will support putin as little as they can but as much as he needs to make sure the country survives and lukashenko remains in power.— remains in power. many thanks indeed for— remains in power. many thanks indeed forjoining _ remains in power. many thanks indeed forjoining us. _
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prosecutors in south korea have formally charged the suspended president — yoon suk yeol — with insurrection, over his brief implementation of martial law in december last year. on saturday, a court in seoul rejected a request to extend mr yoon�*s detention, forcing prosecutors to indict him orfree him, ahead of the end of his custody period on monday. if convicted, mr yoon could face years in prison. an endurance athlete has broken a world record for running for 48 hours non—stop this weekend ? but without actually going anywhere. gb athlete sophie power ran 365 kilometres — more than 226 miles — on a treadmill — breaking the women s record for the greatest distance in two days. she ll now submit her evidence to guinness world record officials to have it confirmed. hello.
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a deep area of low pressure has again taken charge of our weather during today. another storm system, this one named by the spanish weather service for impacts it is having in spain. but storm herminia also bringing impacts here. met office yellow warnings for wind and rain remain in force through the rest of today into tomorrow. the satellite picture shows this storm, the centre of the storm, well out to the west of us, but through today we've been watching this development here, a hook of cloud appearing along the line of this weather front. actually, we've spun up another very small scale area of low pressure, and that will be shifting northwards through this evening and tonight, bringing a spell of very heavy rain. yes, across england and wales, increasing the risk of flooding. but also as this little feature works its way northwards just on the southern edge, see the little hook in the rainfall pattern there? we could have some very squally
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conditions for a time. a few places could see gusts of 60—70, maybe 80mph, but that will be quite a localised feature, in other places it willjust be a blustery night. and these small scale features are always hard to predict in terms of the exact track they will take, but it may well be that we see some heavy rain first thing across eastern scotland. if it gets a little bit further west, well, it could turn to snow over high ground. another band of rain driving out of northern ireland, northern england into southern scotland. again some snow over high ground, some blustery heavy downpours into wales, the southwest of england. very windy around these southern and western coasts. gusts of 60—70mph, a sustained period of strong winds, pretty brisk winds inland across the south as well. so another rather disturbed day weather wise on monday. as we look ahead to tuesday, well, our area of low pressure will still be with us, but it will be weakening, it will be filling. and so while we will continue to see some showers or longer spells of rain, the weather generally looking a little bit calmer with more in the way of dry interludes around, some spells of sunshine and temperatures of around seven to ten degrees. now, as we look a little bit
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this is bbc news, the headlines. the militant group palestinian islamichhad — has told the bbc it has agreed to free israeli civilian hostage arbel yehud — on friday — in exchange for 30 palestinian prisoners. it paves the way for israel to allow thousands of palestinians to return to their homes in northern gaza. egypt and jordan have both rejected president trump's suggestion that they and other arab nations take in one and a half million of gaza's residents. he called the strip "a demolition site" which should be "cleaned out". lebanon has accused the israeli army of firing at residents trying to return to their homes in the south. officials say at least twenty—two people have been killed and over a hundred wounded. and alexander lukashenko is on track to win a seventh term as belarusian president with an exit poll giving him 87.6% of the vote in sunday s election. the us and eu have called the vote a "sham".
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hello. i'm leila nathoo. let's bring you more from lebanon now. our bbc world service correspondent in beirut — carine torbey — has been to one of the towns which people headed to from their villages in defiance of israeli occupation. here is her report from tyre, the historic lebanese port city. people gathered here are among those who tried to cross into their occupied villages further in the south. they are here to hear news about others who were injured after the israeli army opened fire to disperse them. they were brought to this hospital. translation: we were heading to our village and we found - the israelis there. we remained there. they started firing in the air, but they didn't scare us. then a drone threw sound bomb on us and the soldiers
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started firing at us. a guy standing next to my brother got shot. people started panicking, not knowing in which direction to head. one of the villages where people tried to go to is just two minutes' away from where we're standing here, on top of this hill over there. basically, people who were trying to cross today knew that they were taking a big risk, but they told me this didn't stop them. translation: i was just standing there and the i israelis fired at us. i wanted to stay, even if it meant we'd be martyred. it's our land we're going to. should we leave it to the israelis so they blow up our homes? how is that acceptable? it is so dead the scale of the destruction in the villages that are still under israeli occupation and that are off limits, is massive. as the israeli army
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continues to detonate houses and to bulldoze homes. now the lebanese army is deploying in many areas in the south. it is here in bint jbeil and further. the idf says the lebanese army hasn't done a good job deploying all over the south. but the lebanese army says it is the stalling of the israelis and their delay in withdrawing that is preventing it from deploying all over the place. m23 rebels backed by rwanda who are laying seige to eastern congo's largest city have ordered government forces to disarm and surrender. m23 fighters say they are preparing to enter goma and take control — and there are reports of gunfire in the centre of the city, which is home to more than one million people. in the last week, thirteen foreign soldiers serving with peacekeeping forces have been killed —
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most of them from south africa and malawi. the un says several sites on the outskirts of goma which were sheltering more than 300 thousand people displaced by the recent fighting have completely emptied in just a few hours. un chief antonio guterres has called on rwanda to withdraw its forces and halt support for the rebels. our reporter emery makumeno is in the drc�*s capital, kinshasa. he gave me the latest on what's happening in the east of the country. the m23 have closed in. i've talked to some residents. they've told me, and they are in the north of the city, and they can hear gunshots and heavy artillery being fired from the morning up till now. many residents are now, hiding in their residences. the governor of the north kivu, who took office just two days ago, has come out and said that, all the forces in goma and all the patriots in goma
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should take arms and be ready to defend, goma not to fall under the control of the m23. so the situation is tense and of fear inside goma as we speak. and, emery, we've heard from the un that they are pulling all of their nonessential staff out of goma. i mean, there already is a dire humanitarian situation in that part of the country. even before this latest outbreak of violence. what do you think the consequences are of the un reducing its presence there? well, they did say that the essential, they are still helping the congolese army to halt the advance of the m23. so the boots are still on the ground. yes, all the nonessential civilian staff have been leaving the city as of yesterday and today as well.
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though it has, it has been made difficult with the airport not operating fully. but it's just about everyone who can afford accommodation and food outside goma are trying to leave the capital city of the north kivu and most of the people who are staying there are people who don't have any means to survive, far, far away from their homes. sudan s army chief general abdel fattah al burhan has visited the military s headquarters in khartoum for the first time in almost two years. two days ago his forces broke through to the complex, which had been surrounded by the paramilitary rapid support forces. the city of el fasher in darfur is still under siege though, and the world health organization said 70 people were killed in a attack on a hospital there on friday. tens of thousands of homes in northern ireland are still
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without power as the aftermath of storm eowyn is still causing chaos across parts of the uk. the majority of the rail network in scotland remains closed with network rail dealing with around 400 separate incidents. david wallace lockhart is in glasgow for us and told us about the impact there. a 19—year—old man has died after his car was struck by a falling tree in east ayrshire last friday. shortly before that red warning came into force. and the disruption is still being felt here in scotland. i'm in glasgow central train station, one of the main train stations in scotland. very quiet for this time of day and if you look at the departures board behind me, you can see why. around 20 trains on that and the vast, vast majority of the scheduled trains cancelled, including trains going down to london and manchester. around 20,000 homes in scotland without power currently. a slightly worse picture on that front in northern ireland. 75,000 homes without power.
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and the storms continue to come, because we're expecting heavy rains and strong gales coming into the southwest of england and wales. that's storm herminia, not as strong as the storm we've just experienced, but more bad weather still to come. tomorrow is holocaust memorial day, when the world commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz and remembers the millions of people murdered by the nazi regime. our chief presenter lucy hockings has been speaking to aron goodman. the 19—year—old american college student is the grandson of tova friedman, one of the youngest survivors of the auschwitz death camp. aron has been teaming up with his grandmother to educate his peers on the holocaust, with many of their videos going viral. lucy first asked him how their tiktok journey began. it all started in high school when i was 16 years old. i noticed the lack of holocaust education so i went around my school, interviewing people, to figure out what parts
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of the holocaust they did not understand of what they did not know about. so when i started using tiktok i realised just how much anti—semitism and holocaust misinformation spread on social media. and so one day i kind ofjust sat down with my grandmother after dinner and recorded a little introduction video saying this is who she is. she has a holocaust survivor. here to combat anti—semitism tiktok. it was a lot. it still is a lot. what was the thing that you found most shocking? that young people didn't understand about the holocaust? i mean, it wasjust basic facts. like the number of people who were murdered. some of the names of the concentration camps. in some of my earlier videos focused on common misconceptions about the holocaust that people don't know about or has not been taught.
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and which of the tiktok that you have done has most fascinated, do you think, with people? there is one video with eight million views that has my grandmother showing her tattoo. and it is one of the first times we did that and i think just having a survivor physically in front of you talking to you and showing you, like, a piece of evidence from the holocaust is incredibly powerful. and so i think that is why it fascinated with most people. what sort of things people say? what feedback did you get? we get a mix of comments. so there is a lot of positive feedback on people saying, like, "oh, my god, i have never heard of this before." "thank you for telling me, thank you for teaching me." it was not in our schools, why not? and also the other side when you have people saying, six million wasn't enough hitler was right and other anti—semitic comments that kind of make it difficult to continue. your grandmother tova friedman
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is the most remarkable woman. holocaust survivor with an incredible story, a woman of such strength and resilience. did she talk to you growing up about the holocaust? is it something you've always known about? about her experiences? i have known about it for almost my entire life, as long as long as i can remember. she kind of started slow, explaining, like, this is my number because i was a prisoner and as i got older she would explain in more details about the holocaust so she would not scare me or scar me when i was young. slowly. and how do you feel is the descendant of a holocaust survivor? the fact that we're now talking about the 80th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz today? well, i mean, it is kind of a responsibility to continue. as the third generation and is in fourth generation survivors, fit, eventually. ——fifth it is up to us to continue the stories of our relatives because they won't be
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here forever and the 80th anniversary, there won't be as many survivors as there was at the 75th and the 70th so it kind of shows, we need to be here. we need to be talking about this. if you were to go to a holocaust museum in germany, my grandmother story is there. but one has to go to a museum whereas if you use social media, we come to them. rather than them having to seek out holocaust education, we can reach out with that. one of the main messages about the tiktok is not to be a bystander. if you see anti—semitic incidences or something that might be considered hatred in your school, don'tjust sit back and let it happen. say something about it. bring it up to an administrator. mention it on social media. don't just sit silently. let's speak to gary sokolov — whose family story is charted in a new documentary — the tattooist�*s son: journey to auschwitz. in it, he explores the horrors
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confronted by his parents — who met and fell in love while imprisoned at auschwitz. gary, welcome. your parents' story will be familiar to many of our viewers from the bestselling novel, the tattooist of auschwitz. remind us about what happened to them. my my mum was on one of the earliest transports. i think it was about three weeks into the transport starting, she got there about a month before my father. she was then transferred from auschwitz to auschwitz to. my dad had to read her number he said very famously, i tattooed her number onto her arm and she tattooed herself onto my heart. he literally it was love at first sight between the two of them. it's actually quite amazing that such a thing can happen.
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you heard aaron talking earlier about how he first heard the story of his grandparents. how did you first learn, when did your parents first talk to you about what they had been through?— about what they had been throu~h? , , ., , through? they very rarely spoke to me. i didn't know— through? they very rarely spoke to me. i didn't know my - through? they very rarely spoke to me. i didn't know my dad - through? they very rarely spokej to me. i didn't know my dad had done my mums number. when i was about 12 years old they made me watch a documentary called a wilted wall. i would sit in front of the television, it was like 50 years ago now and that's where i first learned about what happened, the rise of nazism and the holocaust. and after watching it they still wouldn't talk to me about it. it wasn't until pretty much heather came on the scene and spent about three years talking to my father and i got to read the book that i found out a lot of stories about my parents that i never knew.—
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of stories about my parents that i never knew. while you learned new _ that i never knew. while you learned new thing _ that i never knew. while you learned new thing really - that i never knew. while you | learned new thing really quite late on about what your parents had been through. and only through the process of her writing the novel.- writing the novel. yes. probably _ writing the novel. yes. probably 9096 - writing the novel. yes. probably 9096 of - writing the novel. yes. probably 9096 of what | writing the novel. yes. | probably 9096 of what i writing the novel. yes. - probably 9096 of what i know writing the novel. yes. _ probably 9096 of what i know now probably 90% of what i know now is because of the novel. i knew bits and pieces, i knew about the vision my mum had when she was sick and her mum came to her and said to her, "you are going to survive, you're going to meet a man, you're going to move away to a far—away country and you're going to have a son. "dad told me a couple of stories. but very minimal. he spoke a lot about what happened to him after the war rather than what happened during the war. they i suppose wanted to reject me emotionally from what they had experienced and just move on for themselves as well. you did know that your father
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wanted to go back to auschwitz but he didn't make it before he passed away. it but he didn't make it before he passed away-— passed away. it is certainly one of my _ passed away. it is certainly one of my biggest - passed away. it is certainly one of my biggest regretsl passed away. it is certainly i one of my biggest regrets for the about five weeks before he passed away i came home and heather was there and i asked how the day went and heather mentioned that my father would like to go back to auschwitz. i was quite shocked at that because he never mentioned ever wants to go back to anywhere in europe. i said to my dad, so why do you want to go back to auschwitz, it was the third time i saw a tear in his eye. he said to me, because i need to apologize to all the peoples lives i couldn't save. one of my biggest regrets, what motivated me to do this documentary was that because i didn'tjump on a plane straightaway and take them there and he died five weeks later, he never had the opportunity to make that apology for them and going to
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auschwitz actually gave me the opportunity to make that apology on his behalf. at a crematorium that he had most interested in which was crematoria three.- interested in which was crematoria three. ., ., crematoria three. you had huge motivation _ crematoria three. you had huge motivation to _ crematoria three. you had huge motivation to make _ crematoria three. you had huge motivation to make this - crematoria three. you had huge motivation to make this journey yourself. how was it? were there any moments where you thought, ijust can't do this? the first moment was when i got to the gate. my knees started shaking horrendously. i probably tried about four times to walk through the gate but the next and probably the hardest thing was when our historian pavel took me into crematoria one. that was on the second day and it was probably good it was one of the last things because ijust broke down. whatever emotion i had leftjust down. whatever emotion i had left just couldn't stop down. whatever emotion i had leftjust couldn't stop crying it smacked me so in the face,
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how horrific it felt to be in there. i knewi how horrific it felt to be in there. i knew i knew i was walking out, not like tens of thousands of other people. that was probably the next hardest thing for me once i had walked in. , ~' ., thing for me once i had walked in. gary, we know monday is the 80th anniversary _ in. gary, we know monday is the 80th anniversary of _ in. gary, we know monday is the 80th anniversary of the - 80th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. there are so few survivors left out. how important is it for you to be able to tell the story of your parents? it is so very important that the message does not get lost. i important that the message does not get lost-— not get lost. i think the story of my parents _ not get lost. i think the story of my parents is _ not get lost. i think the story of my parents is one - not get lost. i think the story of my parents is one of - not get lost. i think the story of my parents is one of hope | of my parents is one of hope and survival. i think that it can show that you can find love evenin can show that you can find love even in the most horrific of places. if you are going through a bad time it will end and the good times will come. when you have the good times you are going to take advantage of it. but more importantly, if the documentary can at least change the mind of at least one holocaust denier that i think
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it's done itsjob.— it's done its 'ob. gary sokolov, _ it's done its job. gary sokolov, thank- it's done its job. gary sokolov, thank you i it's done its job. gary| sokolov, thank you so it's done its job. gary - sokolov, thank you so much it's done its job. gary _ sokolov, thank you so much for sharing your story with us on bbc news. and we will be marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz over the coming days. and on monday 27th january, on holocaust memorial day, lucy hockings will be presenting from auschwitz where survivors and world leaders will come together for day of commemorations. here in the uk — a third runway at london's heathrow airport could be given government support this week after the chancellor hinted she was in favour of expansion, as part of plans to grow the economy. rachel reeves said a third runway at heathrow — which is already the world's busiest two—runway airport — would mean that instead of circling london, flights could land more quickly. our political correspondent iain watson reports. growth is our number one mission. the number one mission to grow the economy. gi’ow oui’ economy. so you get the message by now,
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the drive for growth is rachel reeves's number one priority. but critics are questioning whether reality matches the chancellor's rhetoric. gloomy messages from government about the public finances. so today she talked up the economy and promised to help developers. my optimism has never burned brighter than now and that is why we are going further and faster in removing those things that are blocking investment. that means ministers using powers to approve big projects and simplifying the planning system with fewer legal challenges and less consultation. in a speech this week the chancellor will back further airport expansion. while she hasn't confirmed support for a third runway at heathrow it sounds as if it has been cleared for take—off. the third runway will mean instead of circling london flights can land at heathrow. some in her own party including the mayor of london against expanding heathrow
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and some opposition politicians are circling. there is no economic case for expanding heathrow and we know how damaging it will be to the environment and the noise impact on everyone living all across west and south—west london. economic growth matters because it can help fund public services without the need for tax increases but the rate of growth has been glacially slow some members of rachel reeves's own party are now worried big and unpopular spending cuts could be on the horizon and some labour mps are concerned that the government's green agenda will be downgraded in the pursuit of elusive growth but the chancellor insists there should be no conflict between boosting the economy and protecting the environment. the conservative leader says labour doesn't have a credible plan for the economy. your hearing announcements, not plans. when you hear what people want to hear without saying how you will deliver it then you run into trouble. the chancellor hopes that
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if the economy grows then so also will labour support but she may face opposition to her plans before voters reap any of the benefits. the uk chancellor has been speaking about the role of social media companies following the conviction of the southport murderer axel rudakubana. rachel reeves said social media sites have a moral duty to take down harmful and illegal violent content. she was commenting on a letter the home secretary, yvette cooper, has written to x, meta — which owns facebook — tiktok, google and youtube calling on them to act. here's our political correspondent damian grammaticas. the shocking deaths of bebe king, elsie dot stancombe and alice da silva aguiar — violent and extra material had been accessed online by axel rudakubana before he committed his crimes. videos, terror training manuals. the biggest tech companies have been asked to take the material
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down, but it's still available, so the government has written to them saying... it's totally unacceptable the fact that the killer, before he went on to commit those horrific crimes, was able to access — really easily, on some of the online platforms — such hateful material. and those companies have got a moral responsibility to take that content down and make it harder for people to access it. the mistakes that meant police and others didn't stop rudakubana in time will be the subject of a public inquiry. he was born and raised in the uk. today, the conservative leader, kemi badenoch, repeated her view his crimes represent a failure of integration. he had materials about, you
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know, white genocide and so on. if you are being inculcated in hate, you are not integrating well. what's your evidence that. a lack of integration was part of the reason that he went on to commit these - absolutely heinous crimes? i have seen what has come out of the court case. i have made an observation. i think that these are things that need to be looked at. but every single time a politician wants to talk about these issues, there's often a pushback, "well, what's the evidence? " "well, we're not really sure." "should we use this sort of language?" and the minute we start going down that track, i think we start to lose our way. police found rudakubana, aged 17, had bought knives online. today, the government said online retailers will have to see photo id, with proof of age, before selling. delivery companies will have to hand packages over in person and demand proof of age as well. damian grammaticas, bbc news. quick breaking line we've
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received from guitars foreign ministry, a statement saying that hamas will hand over the female israeli hostage and two other hostages before friday. in return israel is going to allow displaced palestinians to return to northern gaza starting on monday morning. will bring you more on that as we get it. if you look up at the sky you could be in for a treat. six of the planets in our solar system have lined up, in what is sometimes called a planetary parade. after sunset, venus, jupiter, saturn and mars will be visible in an arc—like formation — and can be seen with the naked eye. uranus and neptune will also be part of the line—up, but you'll need a telescope to spot them. stay with us here on bbc news. hello.
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a deep area of low pressure has again taken charge of our weather during today. another storm system, this one named by the spanish weather service for impacts it is having in spain. but storm herminia also bringing impacts here. met office yellow warnings for wind and rain remain in force through the rest of today into tomorrow. the satellite picture shows this storm, the centre of the storm, well out to the west of us, but through today we've been watching this development here, a hook of cloud appearing along the line of this weather front. actually, we've spun up another very small scale area of low pressure, and that will be shifting northwards through this evening and tonight, bringing a spell of very heavy rain. yes, across england and wales, increasing the risk of flooding. but also as this little feature works its way northwards just on the southern edge, see the little hook in the rainfall pattern there? we could have some very squally
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conditions for a time. a few places could see gusts of 60—70, maybe 80mph, but that will be quite a localised feature, in other places it willjust be a blustery night. and these small—scale features are always hard to predict in terms of the exact track they will take, but it may well be that we see some heavy rain first thing across eastern scotland. if it gets a little bit further west, well, it could turn to snow over high ground. another band of rain driving out of northern ireland, northern england into southern scotland. again some snow over high ground, some blustery heavy downpours into wales, the southwest of england. very windy around these southern and western coasts. gusts of 60—70mph, a sustained period of strong winds, pretty brisk winds inland across the south as well. so another rather disturbed day weather wise on monday. as we look ahead to tuesday, well, our area of low pressure will still be with us, but it will be weakening, it will be filling. and so while we will continue to see some showers or longer spells of rain, the weather generally looking a little bit calmer with more in the way of dry interludes around,
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some spells of sunshine and temperatures of around seven to ten degrees. now, as we look a little bit further ahead on wednesday, southern parts could see another dose of heavy rain, another area of low pressure moving through. a little bit drier further north and it does look a little bit calmerfor the end of the week.
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this is bbc news. qatar says hamas will free israeli civilian hostage arbel yehud and two other hostages before friday in exchange for the release of palestinian prisoners. in return it says israel will allow tens of thousands of palestinians to return to their homes in northern gaza, starting monday morning. egypt and jordan have rejected president trump's suggestion that they take in one and a half million gazans because the strip is — quote — "a demolition site". i would like egypt to take people and jordan to take people, you are talking about probably 1.5 million people and we just clean out that whole thing. lebanon says israeli troops have killed 22 people, as thousands of villagers tried to return to their homes in the south. exit polls give alexander lukashenko 87 percent of the vote in a belarusian presidential election dismissed as a "sham" by the us and eu.
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