nick eardley.four israeli settlers accused of committing human rights abuses in the other palestinian territory, the occupied west bank. the israeli settlements in the west bank are seen as illegal under international law. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, is with me. to what extent are we seeing a shift here? i think there is a shift going on because people are getting really worried about the west bank. many countries in the west and the middle east think that this is the place where there is a real risk of escalation. because what you've got is hundreds of thousands of israelis packed into these illegal settlements and some are using violence to try to seize more territory from the palestinians. now, the west has urged israel's government to tackle it, it hasn't. so ten days ago, the united states imposed sanctions on four settlers. today, the uk has followed suit, imposing travel and financial restrictions on four men it accuses of attacking palestinians. settlers are a really powerf

bbc verify�*s nick eardley has been looking at how the situation has changed in the city since the october months into the current conflict. and experts have been mapping the damage done to buildings for the bbc. you can see here — these red dots. the damage starts in the north. but over time moves south israeli forces have repeatedly urged people to move south so for their own safety too. many have but fighting has often ended up in these very places. the current flash point is here in rafah, close to the border with egypt. hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in gaza. sometimes they've moved several times. this is a satellite image from october and this is the change injanuary. tents now cover a wide area, leading to rafah being dubbed "a tent city". this verified video gives a sense of conditions here. tents have been built around a cemetery. you can see more in the distance too. the population of rafah has shot up as people fled here. the un says it's now 1.5 million compared to a quarter of a million in 2022. strikes on rafah have escalated in recent days. this image sh

nick eardley there.ge boys in bristol. 15—year—old mason rist and 16—year—old max dixon were attacked by a group of people in the knowle west area of the city last saturday. 0ur correspondent danjohnson is in bristol for us. yes, this investigation is growing. it's moving, it's getting more complex and tonight we had the news that two teenagers have been charged with murder. it means now that there is a 15 and a 16—year—old accused of murdering a 15 and a 16—year—old. the names of that pair have not been released because they are under 18 but they are due to appear at bristol youth court tomorrow for the next stage of the process. there has been a huge amount of concern on this estate since the attack on saturday night that left max dixon, who was 16, and his friend mason rist, who was 15, dead. there's been concern in this community about the level of knife crime. there's been a huge amount of support and love for the family. these are some of the tributes, the messages, the flowers, that have been left

nick eardley, bbc news.ice scandal in which hundreds of sub—postmasters were wrongly prosecuted. we've analysed documents from seven years ago, which show the government knew the post office had suddenly abandoned a secret investigation into the faulty horizon it system — even though it was an investigation that could have helped the postmasters prove their innocence. andy verity has this exclusive report. i've discovered in documents released through freedom of information requests, the post office commissioned no less than three secret reviews into its horizon it system, hoping to be assured that it was all fine and remote tinkering by fujitsu couldn't cause subpostmasters' losses. but the first review in 2014 found fujitsu could remotely create transactions and fake digital signatures to edit data on customers' purchases. then, in 2016, a review by top lawyers urged post office chair tim parker to investigate further. so he commissioned the auditors deloitte to go back through all the transactions since 1

nick eardley, bbc news.rmers around the world — with thousands staging demonstrations in countries including the czech republic, poland and india — and with more expected. the reasons for the revolts are different and unique to each country, but they are united in their frustration. meghan owen brings us pictures from the protests. from quite's too busy city streets, so the scenes have been pretty dramatic. we've seen fires outside the eu headquarters in brussels. main routes into pop paris block, tear gas fired at protesters in india, and even cows brought to the pope's prayers at the vatican. most of this year's protests have been concentrated in europe and india and obviously the farmers in each country have their own reasons for protesting, carbon cutting targets, inflation, bureaucracy and the import of ukrainian greens. so let's hearfrom and the import of ukrainian greens. so let's hear from some of the farmers themselves. translation: we of the farmers themselves. translation:— of the farmers themselv

nick eardley from bbc verify has been looking into this for us. n't a great deal of information available about exactly how insurance premiums are calculated. but bbc verify has been looking at some factors which appear to have a significant impact. if you live in an area with a lot of people from ethnic minorities, you're paying what's been dubbed by some as an ethnicity penalty. let me explain a bit about how we figured this out. we looked at thousands of addresses, in every local authority in england. all of the details we provided were the same — a 30—year—old teacher, driving a ford fiesta. the only thing we changed was the address. but on a price comparison website, if you're in an area where there are more people from ethnic minority backgrounds, your costs go up. and they go up a lot. have a look here at a specific example — just outside of birmingham — sandwell. these two areas are similar. they have comparable levels of crime and similar levels of car accidents, but this area here has a much higher ethnic minority population. it'sjust und

nick eardley has more from the verify hub.e pretty hard to get your head around. insurance companies don't provide that much information about how they arrive at quotes. bbc verify has been trying to find out a bit more and what factors could lead to you paying a lot more. and if you live in an area with a lot of people from ethnic minorities, you could be paying what's been dubbed by some as an "ethnicity penalty", ie you're paying more. let me explain a bit about how we arrived at these figures using the screens here. bbc verifiers looked at thousands of addresses in every local authority in england. we've gone to a price comparison website and got quotes for each of these addresses. all of the details we used where the same a 30—year—old teacher driving a ford fiesta. the only thing we changed was the address. if you live in an area with more people from ethnic minority backgrounds, your costs go up and they go up a lot. have a look at this example here just outside of birmingham, an area called sandwell. these two areas in

that was nick eardley.oint head of the united kingdom's government economic service. so she knows a thing or two. thank you forjoining us. vicki, economists are saying that this may not be as bad as it seems. and of course the word recession tends to worry people quite a bit so could you put this into context for us? it is true we have seen some indicators that suggest the start of 2024 hasn't been that bad. we have the data that comes out of a survey that is called the purchasing managers' index which looks at how companies are looking at their prospects and what they are doing actually on the month, that seems to be picking up, particularly in services. manufacturing still not doing so well that services output seems to be quite strong, it was strong in the last couple of months if we believe that indicator. it didn't quite make it into what the office for national statistics has been calculating so unfortunately we still saw a drop in december which is really what brought the overall quarter down and we

nick eardley, bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.k at some other stories making news. the chief inspector of borders and immigration, david neal, has been sacked. a home office statement said he had breached the terms of his appointment. it comes after he was quoted in a publication which says the uk border force failed to check the occupants of hundreds of private jets arriving last year. mr neal's contract had been due to expire next month. the sentence of the man found guilty of stabbing three people to death in nottingham last year is to be reviewed. valdo calocane was given an indefinite hospital order on the basis of diminished responsibility. the attorney general, victoria prentis, said the sentence was "unduly lenient". relatives of the victims have welcomed the announcement. the national trust is reopening the farne islands, off the northumberland coast, to visitors for the first time in two years. the bird sactuary is home to about 200,000 seabirds, including puffins and arctic terns. it had been closed because of an outbre

nick eardley is here to tell us more. what we know for sure now about what has happened?ure now about what has happened?— has happened? we are seeing different videos _ has happened? we are seeing different videos from - has happened? we are seeing different videos from this - has happened? we are seeing different videos from this partj has happened? we are seeing i different videos from this part of the world. this could be a big moment. if confirmed, this would be the fourth major ship that ukraine has managed to damage or destroy since the conflict began. since crimea was occupied by russia a decade ago, it has become, the sea has become a key strategic location for the russian navy. ukraine has said that this attack this morning happened on crimea's southern coast. there is a pretty dramatic video that was released by ukraine military. you can see it on your screen now. it shows vassals, we think they are naval drones, approaching and then hitting the ship. we found other materialfrom the same location, which suggests, or backs up, the idea that there was a major inci

that was nick eardley. let's take it to japan.ever, women are being allowed to take part in a ceremony dating back more than 1,200 years. it's called the hadaka matsuri, or the naked festival, and our correspondent shaimaa khalil was there. what you're looking at is one of japan's most ancient traditions. this is the matsuri or the naked festival, essentially hundreds and hundreds of men, if not thousands, wearing next to nothing. they huddle together, they push and shove, all to try and touch the chosen man, a man chosen by the shrine. this is to bring in good luck and drive away evil spirits. it is freezing out here, i'm wearing so many layers and i am shivering. i don't know these guys are doing it. they're barely dressed. and to make things interesting, they're being sprayed with very cold water. in the more than 1,200 year history of this festival, women were never allowed to participate until now. for many years, women have been pushing to take part and it's finally happened. and no, they're not naked, and no, they're not in

here's our correspondent nick eardley. the sea has become a key strategic location for the russian navy, and ukraine has said that this attack this morning happened on crimea's southern coast, near a place called alupka. and there is a pretty dramatic video that was released by the ukrainian military. you can see it on your screen now. it shows vessels. we think that they're naval drones approaching, then hitting the ship. we found other material from the same location which suggests or backs up the idea there was a major incident in the black sea, although at the moment, we can't be completely certain of the location. this ship, i think we can show you an image of it, has been identified by ukraine as the tsezar kunikov. now, vessels like that are big. they can hold 190 people and ten tanks. we don't know how many people were on board because russia hasn't commented yet, but this would be a big moment. it would be the second successful strike in the black sea in this month. it could be a sign that ukraine's drone attacks

here's nick eardley. israel's action in gaza has gradually moved south over the past few months.see on this map, rafah is in the very south of gaza, and as you can see on this map, just beside the border with egypt. it's become home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. and we can give you a sense of what that looks like in reality. this a part of rafah in october, before the conflict began. and if we go across here, you can see the change. all of these constructions here are tents. let me just show you the difference. you can see in the middle here, hundreds and hundreds of tents appearing in this area. now, to give you some more context about what's changed in rafah, the number of people has increased five—fold. it was around a quarter of a million before the 7th of october attack. it's now said by aid agencies it's around 1.4 million. geographically, it's roughly the size of walking in surrey, the size of woking in surrey, but it now has a population almost iii times that of woking. here's a sense here 1.4 million palestinians crammed into the area, that's according to

our correspondent nick eardley has more.sets of strikes in yemen in the past three weeks. many have been limited. the most recent were last night, focused on houthi military targets. the uk has been involved in two sets of the strikes so far. but are they working? let's start off back in november, in this area off the coast of yemen. this is where houthis — backed by iran — have been launching attacks on ships. the first few are mostly here, in the red sea. many are near a pinch point, the bab al—mandab strait. here's an example, when houthis seized a part—israeli—owned cargo ship, the galaxy leader, and released this footage. after the initial attacks, the us and uk launched air strikes on the houthis on the 11th of january. there were more joint strikes 11 days later, too. the us has also launched several attacks on its own and intercepted this vessel, which it says was transporting iranian weapons to the houthis. all the while, though, houthi attacks continue. they're starting to move south, into the gulf of aden. one exa

bbc verify�*s nick eardley explains.e channel on small boats fell by a third last year. the government saw that as a success. but there has been a big debate about why it happened, and specifically how much of it was down to the bad weather in 2023. here's the home secretary james cleverly speaking to breakfast last month. so this is nothing to do with the weather. i mean, this is... i know this is a convenient way of overlooking the incredible hard work that our officials have done with their colleagues across europe. this is not about the weather. now, whenjames cleverly said that, we asked the home office for its figures and they didn't provide them. we have managed, however, to get our hands on them through freedom of information requests, and the picture is more completed. ——complicated. let me show you this first. these are figures compiled by a part of the home office, the border force, and they come from the met office. and they show that the number of days where weather conditions were worse, where hardly anyone

of stopping houthi attacks 0ur bbc verify correspondent nick eardley has been investigating what theave been continuing — there was the joint strikes on friday night, the us launched its own last night, too. at bbc verify, we have been looking at the impact on the strikes, but also the impact of those houthi attacks on vessels. let's start off back in november, in this area off the coast of yemen. this is where houthis backed by iran had been launching attacks on ships. the first few are mostly here in the red sea, many are near a pinch point the bab—el—mandab strait. here is an example, when houthis seized a part israeli—owned cargo ship, the galaxy leader, and released this footage. after the initial attacks, the us and uk launched air strikes on the houthis on the 11th of january, there were a second set on the 22nd. and over the weekend, there were more. this verified video shows air strikes in the city of sana'a on friday night. the uk's defence secretary said these strikes would further degrade the ability of the houthis. on sunday, the us said they targeted missiles being prep

nick eardley reports: there have been 11 sets of strikes in yemen in the past six weeks, many of themthi military targets. the uk has been involved in two sets of strikes so far, but are they working? let's start back in november, in this area come off the coast of yemen. this is where houthis backed by iran have been launching attacks on ships. the first few mostly here and the red sea, many near this pinch point. here is an example when houthis seized a part israeli owned cargo ship and released this footage. after the initial attacks, the us and uk launched air strikes on the houthis on the 11th of january. there were more joint strikes 11 days later too. the us has also launched several attacks of its own and intercepted this vessel, which it says was transporting iranian weapons to the houthis. all the while, though, the attacks continue. they are starting to move south into the gulf of aden. one example is this tanker with links to the uk, which was set on fire after being hit by a missile. the frequency of attacks has not fallen, though. in the three weeks before the first us—u

bbc verify�*s nick eardley has been looking at how the situation has changed in rafah since the octoberpert have been mapping the two buildings. you can see it here, it starts in the north but over time it moves to the south, all the way down to rafah. so have people. it is ready forces have urged people to move south of time for their own safety, too. but many have ended up in areas where the fighting is taking place. the current flashpoint is rafah, just here beside the border with egypt. this is a satellite image from october. and this is the change injanuary. tents now cover a wide area leading to rafah being dubbed a tent city. this verifi video gives a sense of conditions. tents have been built around a cemetery. you can see more in the distance, too. the population of rafah has shot up as people moved here. the un says it is now 1.5 million compared to a quarter of a million compared to a quarter of a million in 2022. this image shows some of the destruction. this appears to bejust some of the destruction. this appears to be just beside where the two israeli hostages were rescued

bbc verify�*s nick eardley explains.n to the bad weather in 2023. here's the home secretary james cleverly speaking to breakfast last month. so this is nothing to do with the weather. i mean, this is... i know this is a convenient way of overlooking the incredible hard work that our officials have done with their colleagues across europe. this is not about the weather. now, whenjames cleverly said that, we asked the home office for its figures and they didn't provide them. we have managed, however, to get our hands on them through freedom of information requests, and the picture is more completed. ——complicated. let me show you this first. these are figures compiled by a part of the home office, the border force, and they come from the met office. and they show that the number of days where weather conditions were worse, where hardly anyone was coming across the channel, went up significantly. in 2022, there was 96 days where it was highly unlikely that people would cross the channel. in 2023, it was 147. that's up 50%.

nick eardley from bbc verify has been looking into this for us. insurance is a complicated world.n area with a lot of people from ethnic minorities, you're paying what's been dubbed by some as an ethnicity penalty. let me explain a bit about how we figured this out. we looked at thousands of addresses — in every local authority in england. all of the details we provided were the same — a 30—year—old teacher, driving a ford fiesta. the only thing we changed was the address. but on a price comparison website, if you're in an area where there are more people from ethnic minority backgrounds, your costs go up. and they go up a lot. have a look here at a specific example just outside of birmingham — sandwell. these two areas are similar. they have comparable levels of crime and similar levels of car accidents. but this area here has a much higher ethnic minority population. we went on an insurance comparison website and got quotes. here, princes we were quoted just under £2,000 per year to insure our car. but here, great bridge, with its higher ethnic moniority population, the quote wa

how do you think nick eardley would look? i - rubbish. how do you think nick eardley would look?d find out. absolutely. the hand is on the hip, _ should find out. absolutely. the hand is on the hip, striking i should find out. absolutely. the hand is on the hip, striking a i should find out. absolutely. the i hand is on the hip, striking a pose! that's the answer. i'm a natural, that's the answer. i'm a natural, that's the answer. it that's the answer. i'm a natural, that's the answer.— that's the answer. i'm a natural, that's the answer. it is 40 years of london fashion _ that's the answer. it is 40 years of london fashion week, _ that's the answer. it is 40 years of london fashion week, has - that's the answer. it is 40 years of| london fashion week, has anybody spotted you and ask you to take part in any of the shows?— spotted you and ask you to take part in any of the shows? when we heard we were coming _ in any of the shows? when we heard we were coming to _ in any of the shows? when we heard we were coming to cover— in any of the shows? when we heard we were coming to cover

nick eardley is in shrewsbury this morning, nick what more can you tell us? other way. i want to bring in an expert on some of the other stuff. chris from the centre for economic and business research. put into context for us. it is a recession but how bad is it? it context for us. it is a recession but how bad is it?— context for us. it is a recession but how bad is it? it is a recession and the data _ but how bad is it? it is a recession and the data today _ but how bad is it? it is a recession and the data today was _ but how bad is it? it is a recession and the data today was slightly . and the data today was slightly worse — and the data today was slightly worse than expected. we do think this will— worse than expected. we do think this will be — worse than expected. we do think this will be the end of the recession. it is backward looking dated _ recession. it is backward looking dated my— recession. it is backward looking dated my looking at the last few months — dated my looking at the last few months of 2023. we dated my looking at the last few month

nick eardley from bbc verify has been looking into this. nick, what have you found out? morning.to get these quotes where the exact same. a30—year—old teacher driving a ford fiesta. the only thing we changed was the address. if you are in an area where there are more people from ethnic minority backgrounds, costs go up. they go up significantly. have a look here at a specific example! outside of birmingham, a place called sandwell. these are two pretty similar areas. they have similar levels of crime, similar levels of car accidents. the ethnic minority population is quite different. up here, it is 11%, down here 44%. we went on an insurance comparison website, we got quotes for both areas. let me show you the difference. here, in princess and with the lower ethnic minority population, it isjust with the lower ethnic minority population, it is just under £2000 to get your car insurance for the year. —— prince's end. here, the quote is £800 more with the higher ethnic minority population. numbers are similar when it comes to car accidents and crime. this isjust an example. it was