Transcripts For BBCNEWS Verified 20240704

White to make with the problems with automation and pictures. We start with Breaking News in gaza with more details emerging of an explosion at a Un Relief Agency warehouse, in rafah in southern gaza. The Hamas Run Health Ministry says, five people have been killed, with more wounded. These are pictures verified by the bbc filmed at a nearby hospital, where casualties were taken. Israel has not commented so far on the incident. It comes as the us and others continue to urge israel not to launch a full scale assault on rafah where over a million palestinians have taken shelter in recent weeks. Let me show you pictures of the warehouse itself that were talking about. These taken in the immediate aftermath. This the scene inside, a lot of the images are too graphic to broadcast. Unrwas Director Of Communications isjuliette touma. Welcome to the programme. Tell me what you know. Welcome to the programme. Tell me what you know welcome to the programme. Tell me what you know welcome to the programme. Tell me what you know. It is yet another very sad day for unrwa. What we do know is that Israeli Forces have hit one of our largest warehouses in southern gaza. It is also used as a Food Distribution centre. At least one colleague has been killed and 22 others were injured. Tell me a little more about the location of the warehouse, what it contained, what you can say about what caused this, who is responsible . Its in the eastern side of rafah in the very south of the gaza strip. This is also the site where more than 1. 5 Million People are currently living, many of them have been displaced several times due to the war. This is a Distribution Centre for food and also a warehouse where we store Food Supplies but also other critical supplies. We know that it is the Israeli Forces who were responsible. It happened this morning. Our teams were on site and they reported back their casualties. It comes at a critical time, as hunger spreads across the gaza strip and as famine looms in some parts of gaza, including in the north. Meanwhile, the eus Foreign Policy chief says starvation is being used as a weapon of war in gaza. Josep borrell described the lack of aid entering the territory as a manmade disaster. His comments come as new air and sea and land routes, are being tried to get more aid into the territory. Our correspondent anna foster has more on those entry points. This is a route that the World Food Programme and others had been pushing for, because the problem is when you take aid into the gaza strip, at the moment most of it, well, all of it in fact, comes in at the southern tip, through the rafah crossing, and also kerem shalom, the israeli controlled crossing. We have seen problems with aid convoys when they get in there because people are so desperate that they go to any lengths they can to actually get some of the food and aid on the trucks. We saw that terrible situation where people were crushed, some of them, under the wheels of trucks. Others were shot by Israeli Forces who saw, they said, crowds of people approaching and panicked. Thats really problematic, not only to get aid around the lower part of the strip, but when it comes to going further north, logistically it is an enormous challenge. What they have been pushing for is actually routes further north, ways they can get in perhaps through gates in the security fence. The aid thats on its way from cyprus, we have talked repeatedly about the ship thats on its way, the barge being towed carrying 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid. That we know will go straight to the north. The problem there is that gaza doesnt have any port of any kind, so thats why world central kitchen, the charity that are sending those meals across are using rubble from destroyed buildings to try to build some sort ofjetty they can use to off load aid. But again, exactly the same problems will remain because potentially when people see the aid coming, people who are desperate, people whose children have no food, what are the chances they will attempt to try to get that food as it comes ashore before it is distributed . So there are lots of questions about security and logistics. We have seen the aid drops, when thejordanian air force, and the us military is now involved as well, we have seen those airdrops happen around once a day at around one oclock local time, but again there was a day when reportedly five people were killed by one of the pallets because the parachute didnt open properly on the way to the ground. Again, peoples desperation means they are waiting for these to drop so they can take the aid as soon as possible. All of these things taken together, it illustrates some of the problems and why they are looking for different kinds of answers to solve them. While you are with me, one more question about the growing tension again in eastjerusalem and the west bank. Tell me more about that. Thats right. We are just a few days into ramadan. Dont forget there was a lot of effort being made internationally to try to get some sort of humanitarian ceasefire into play by the start of ramadan. We are a couple of days in now and even though the talks are still happening and channels are still open, there is no sign that an imminent deal is on the table. In the meantime, as you say, things remain very tense. Overnight, reportedly five palestinians were killed by Israeli Security forces, including a 13 year old boy. We saw video circulating on social media about that particular incident. We see the boy holding a firework, it looks like he will throw it towards Israeli Police but then you see the boy shot, he falls to the ground and in subsequent videos circulating you see him lying on the floor. This is something, tensions in the occupied west bank and eastjerusalem have been high since the 7th Of October and since the war began. We also saw this morning at one checkpoint on the outskirts ofjerusalem, a palestinian, reportedly 15 years old, carry out a Stabbing Attack in which two members of the Israeli Security forces were injured. As we move towards the first friday prayers of ramadan, always a time when tensions are high and we have seen violent clashes around Al Aqsa Mosque in the old city ofjerusalem in recent years, security is tightened and i have seen it myself in jerusalem, additional Security Forces put in. I know a lot of focus and attention is being paid on what may happen there over the next few days. Anna foster. We have been having a lot of technical and automation issues. Apologies for that and hopefully they will be fixed in the next little while. Here, the Prime Minister has told the commons that comments allegedly made by Conservative Party donor frank hester were wrong and racist. Mr hester is reported to have said the mp diane abbott made him want to hate all black women, and should be shot. At Prime Ministers questions, the labour leader sir keir starmer asked rishi sunak if he was proud to be bankrolled by someone using racist and misogynistic language. Is the Prime Minister proud to be bankrolled by someone using racist and misogynist language when he says the member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington makes you want to hate all black women . Mr speaker, the alleged comments were wrong. They were racist. And he is now, as i said, the comments were wrong. They were racist. He has rightly apologised for them. And that remorse, and that remorse should be accepted. Mr speaker, there is no place for racism in britain, and the government that i lead is living proof of that. In november, the Prime Minister accepted a non cash donation to the tune of £15,000 from Frank Hesterfor the use of his helicopter. So will he reimburse him . Yes or no . No, mr speaker, and im pleased that. Im pleased that the gentleman is supporting a party that represents one of the most diverse governments in this country, led by this countrys first British Asian Prime Minister. That was pmqs earlier. Lets bring in our Political Correspondent rob watson. There is no letup in this story with the labour again urging the Prime Minister to hand back their £10 million. ,. , ~ minister to hand back their £10 million. ,. ~ � , million. Yes, and i think its re million. Yes, and i think its pretty obvious million. Yes, and i think its pretty obvious to million. Yes, and i think its pretty obvious to everyone l million. Yes, and i think its pretty obvious to everyone watching, and if you watched the entire Prime Ministers questions, the rancour thatis ministers questions, the rancour that is there in parliament. Despite the uptick in anti semitism, islamophobia and all sorts of things in the last few months, anyone who thought that might bring the parties together, anything but that has happened. Rather interestingly, if one was to draw a newsline out of it rather than just observing the rancour and bad temper, it was rishi sunak insisting when questioned by labour and others that he would not be giving back the £10 million given by mr frank hester to the Conservative Party, making him one of the largest donors. That Conservative Party, making him one of the largest donors. Of the largest donors. At the same time in the of the largest donors. At the same time in the last of the largest donors. At the same time in the last little of the largest donors. At the same time in the last little while of the largest donors. At the same time in the last little while we of the largest donors. At the same time in the last little while we had| time in the last little while we had Downing Street underlying the point that the comments were racist but they dont believe that mr frank hester was racist. We are in an extraordinary position, arent we . Yes, we are. There are some in the Conservative Party who think this has just really been hopelessly handled by Downing Street, that they should have acknowledged right from the start that the comments were, as reported, racist, and are wondering whether this news in, if you like, set down by Downing Street that they would not be giving the money back to frank hester, whether that is really sustainable. I guess thats whats to look out for in the next few hours, will Downing Street and Rishi Sunak Have to retreat on that again . Rishi sunak have to retreat on that a. Ain . ,. ,. , Rishi Sunak Have to retreat on that main . ,. ,. ,. , again . You are there at westminster, alwa s in again . You are there at westminster, always in the again . You are there at westminster, always in the corridors again . You are there at westminster, always in the corridors of again . You are there at westminster, always in the corridors of the always in the corridors of the houses of parliament, give a sense of the mood among conservative mps after a couple of days of this latest meltdown. After a couple of days of this latest meltdown. ,. ,. , latest meltdown. Grim, if you want it in one word. Latest meltdown. Grim, if you want it in one word, it latest meltdown. Grim, if you want it in one word, it is latest meltdown. Grim, if you want it in one word, it is grim. Latest meltdown. Grim, if you want it in one word, it is grim. They it in one word, it is grim. They faced the row over the racism of this conservative donor and before that you had a defection of someone on the right of the governing Conservative Party to the reform party further to the right, essentially saying the conservatives were not standing up for the kind of things he believed in. Then the budget last week, set to try and enthuse the people and voters of britain about the conservatives stewardship of the economy and that doesnt seem to have had much of a boost for the party, none at all whatsoever. All around the mood in the governing Conservative Party is grim. The governing Conservative Party is rim. , the governing Conservative Party is irim. ,. , the governing Conservative Party is rim. ~ , grim. Rob watson at westminster, thank ou. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news in the uk. A 34 year old man has beenjailed for at least 21 years for the murder of a man in newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, two years ago. 54 year old roy reynolds, was beaten and stabbed to death. His remains were placed in a car boot and taken to a reservoir. Ajudge described the murder as merciless and brutal in the extreme. Official figures show, hundreds of refugees were left homeless in london, during a cold snap, after being evicted from home office accommodation. London councils say more than 300 refugees had to sleep rough injanuary because their claims had been closed. The home office says its working with authorities to improve the system. A headteacher in southampton has admitted hes disgusted by the state of the food served at his own school. In a despairing letter to parents, jason ashley, head of Redbridge Community school in southampton, said meals served in its canteen were completely unacceptable and asked how difficult is it to bake a potato . Youre live with bbc news. Russia has said its had repelled a series of cross border raids by Pro Ukrainian militias. The groups burst into russian territory and claimed to seize control of a village. The fighters are pro kyiv volunteers made up of russians who oppose the kremlin. Moscow said it had fired rockets and artillery to foil the attempted incursion. So whats going on . Olga robinson from bbc verify explains. There has been a lot of confusion about a reported incursion by pro Ukrainian Armed groups into russia on tuesday. Russian Officials Say all attempts to breach the border were thwarted, but some of these fighters insist they are still in russia. So whats going on . Lets take a closer look. So one of the pro ukraine groups, Freedom Of Russia Legion and an exiled russian politician claimed on tuesday that these two villages in kursk and Belgorod Regions right on the border with ukraine, as you can see on the map, were in control of so called liberation forces. Now, these are very small villages. And as evidence of their success, the fighters posted this video claiming to show a Russian Armoured personnel carrier being hit in the village of talkeetna. And weve done some checks and we know its recent and it is indeed filmed in talkeetna. And we can tell because of the layout of the buildings that match the location on the map. What we cant tell from the video, though, is who controls the village and whose Military Vehicle that was hit. So for its part, the Russian Defence Ministry Says the border has not been breached and that the fighters have suffered heavy losses. And they posted this video set to show a destroyed Military Vehicle and they posted this video said to show a destroyed Military Vehicle of the pro ukraine fighters in one of the villages. Now, weve matched the location to this spot on the map. As you can see, its right on the border between russia and ukraine. But we cant be sure when exactly the incident took place or who the tank belongs to. Russian authorities also say 234 pro ukraine fighters were killed, but they havent provided any evidence to support this. So what proof is there to suggest that the Pro Ukrainian fighters are still on russian soil . Now, the freedom of Russian Legion posted this earlier today. They claim they are still in the village of talkeetna. We dont know where exactly this was filmed, and there arentjust enough clues for us to analyse. But you can see the sunny weather in this video is consistent with yesterdays forecasts for the village. Not today. This isnt the first time Pro Ukrainian groups have made a cross border raid since the full scale invasion of ukraine. And last may, we saw videos like this where Russian Military said a similar attack in the Belgorod Region was defeated. Now, president Vladimir Putin has condemned the latest raid, saying it was an attempt to undermine this weeks president ial election, which he is expected to win. Just hours ago, the three Pro Ukrainian groups said in a joint statement that they are planning to carry out attacks on the russian cities of belgorod and kursk, and they called the locals to evacuate. President putin says russia will deploy troops to finlands border. It follows the accession of both finland and sweden to nato, since russias invasion of ukraine. Speaking today, Vladimir Putin said he thinks finland joined the alliance to be members of a western club. Translation why they needed this, i i frankly dont understand. This is an absolutely meaningless step from the Point Of View of ensuring their own national interests. But nevertheless, its up to them to decide. Thats what they decided. We didnt have troops there. Now they will be there. There were no systems of destruction there. Now they will appear. So why . Lithuania has blamed russia for attacking a close aide of the late russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The countrys president called it a pre planned assault. This is Leonid Volkov, a long time ally of navalny. He was assaulted while in his car in the Lithuanian Capital Vilnius on tuesday night. He was left with a broken arm and covered in blood. biv but and covered in blood. But mr volkov is not detered he released this Video Message blaming putin and urging people to carry on fighting him. sot translation thank you very i much for your words of support. Its a bit tough but never mind, well get over it. I was pleased to read what you had written to me. Even more so because while i was reading, i knew i was still alive. They wanted to make me into a schnitzel with a meat hammer right outside my house, in the yard. The attacker hit me 15 times in my leg. Surprisingly, the leg is still in one piece. It is difficult to walk but apparently the leg is not broken. My arm has been broken instead. Oh, well, ill live. The most important thing is, we will continue working and we will not surrender. I am not ready to make any comments except for this. It was another obvious, typical, classic gangster hello from putin, from the gangster petersburg. Vladimir vladimirovich, hello to you, too. What else can i say . Continue working against putin. Thats what needs to be done. Lets go on. Bill browder is the author of freezing order surviving putins wrath. He is a leading campaigner to expose russian corruption and human rights abuses. I asked him whether he agrees with Leonid Volkov that this was a � typical gangster greeting from Vladimir Putin. Absolutely no question. A couple of weeks ago putin killed Alexei Navalny. There have been almost no serious consequences, and so putin is now flexing his muscles outside the country and this is what putin does, he doesnt just target one person, he targets everyone around them and this Volkov Attack is clearly the result of some type of russian operation ordered by Vladimir Putin and those around him. Is the broader worry that it shows putins reach and it also shows he is acting with total impunity if this is him . The Impunity Problem is really very serious. We all knew when he killed Alexei Navalny that was a huge red line. Navalny is a major Opposition Politician and by killing him putin basically told the world he could kill the most important and popular Opposition Politician and nothing would happen. And effectively nothing has happened. We have sanctioned a fewjail officials from the prison where navalny was kept but. And now he is empowered, Putin Is Empowered to go around outside russia and attack his enemies. And Leonid Volkov is one of his enemies and there are many other enemies. And i imagine other people will be attacked in the future as well who are enemies. Alexei navalny� s team was pretty large. Presumably all of those people will be pretty alarmed by what they have seen playing out. They will be and they should be. The basic message putin wants to send to everybody is that you are not safe anywhere in the world. This message is not just for the colleagues of Alexei Navalny but everyone. He wants people to be scared, he wants politicians to be scared, he wants activists to be scared, russians elsewhere to be scared. And in that sense, is that working . Absolutely, it works very perfectly. He sends these messages, very symbolic messages, it is a mafia style thing, you dont have to kill or attack everybody, just a few highly symbolic people and everybody gets the message, and the message has been generated loud and clear, thats what he wants to tell everybody. Until we stand up to him and punish him for doing these things he will carry on. A final thought, and you touched on it twice, you ended that thought on where i want to go, you are clearly saying not enough was done after the death of Alexei Navalny. What in concrete terms should the International Community be doing now . I suggest the International Community confiscates the 300 billion of frozen Russian Central Bank reserves. They should confiscate that money and supply it to ukraine for their defence and say to putin, this is the cost of killing Alexei Navalny, 300 billion. That would send him a message. Bill browder. Now to the us, where its round 2 for joe biden and donald trump. The pair have both passed the delegate thresholds to clinch their parties nominations and will go head to head in this novembers president ial election. It will be the first president ial election re match for 70 years. Sidney blumenthal is a us politics journalist and writer but is best known for his time as Senior Advisor to president bill clinton. He says people who would have voted for nikki haley could have a major impact at the general. The election will be determined by a small number of swing states, and in those states, including georgia as you mentioned, that number of voters could determine the outcome. And if those haley Voters Decide not to vote for trump and enough of them vote for biden they could tip the election. In terms of what this election will be fought on, you talked about the economy, obviously the border issue is massive at the moment. How much do you think the threat to democracy will also play come november and in the run up to november . Well, the border issue has been blocked in the congress. The republicans in the senate and the democrats have forged a bill that biden has agreed to. It is a very conservative bill. The democrats have conceded many things on it, but trump called the speaker of the house mike johnson and told him not to bring the bill up for a vote. It would pass if it was allowed to come to the floor of the house. Trump wants the issue rather than the solution. So there is a solution here but it is being stymied by trumps ambition. So, on the border we are facing a political paralysis that i dont see overcoming. Thailand is celebrating National Elephant day. The 13th Of March celebrates the elephant� s role in the culture and aims to edge get the public on the role of the elephant in the culture. The public on the role of the elephant in the culture. In the culture. The elephants to allot for society, in the culture. The elephants to allot for society, even in the culture. The elephants to allot for society, even for allot for society, even for economic, the government. They get recognition. Thats why we pushed for this day to be a day to highlight the elephant is important. The elephant is the symbol of our country. We the elephant is the symbol of our count. ~. , ~. , the elephant is the symbol of our count. ~. , the elephant is the symbol of our count. ~. ~. ,. ,~. , country. We will take a break and when we are country. We will take a break and when we are back country. We will take a break and when we are back we country. We will take a break and when we are back we will country. We will take a break and when we are back we will have i country. We will take a break and i when we are back we will have more of the day plus make headlines and the latest Business News with ben thompson. Hello. Thanks forjoining me. Its a bit of a mixed bag out there. On the one hand, its going to be relatively mild over the next two or three days. But on top of that, weve also got a lot of cloud and some really quite heavy rain today, especially across parts of wales and also the north of england. Snowdonia could see as much as 100 millimetres of rain over the next couple of days. So really wet there. Lets have a look at the forecast, then, as we go through the course of the afternoon. That narrow but very heavy band of rain from northern wales affecting parts of the pennines as well. To the south of the weather front, its really mild, temperatures around 15 degrees in some spots. To the north of the weather front, its a little less mild, around 12 degrees in the lowlands of scotland. And very windy here in the north West Of Scotland through this afternoon and into this evening, gusts of wind, 60, maybe even 70 miles an hour in some exposed coasts. But back to that rain. Heres a weather front. Actually, it tends to move northwards, this next weather front, through thursday morning. So the heavy rain will transfer into Northern Ireland and also southern parts of scotland. And also, to the west, well have showers spreading in, being carried by this mild south westerly wind. And you really will notice the mild weather tomorrow. In fact, in some spots, particularly across the East Midlands into east anglia, lincolnshire, mid teens, 16, maybe even 17 celsius in one or two areas. And the forecast for tomorrow evening shows the wettest of our weather across scotland. Really quite heavy, persistent rain. Rest of the country, itll be a mixture of clear spells and occasional showers. Now, this is fridays weather map. The isobars are pointing from the north to the south, so were on the other side of an area of low pressure, so our winds will be coming in from the north. So i think friday is going to feel a little colder, particularly in the north. Its a colder direction. So temperatures here i think around single figures for edinburgh, for newcastle, but in the south still relatively mild, around 11 to 1a degrees celsius, and a mixture of sunny spells and showers. Friday night into saturday is going to bring a touch of frost, and then the outlook really does show that mixed bag of weather continuing but staying relatively mild in the south. Bye bye. This is bbc news, the headlines casualties arrive at hospital following an explosion at a Un Relief Agency warehouse in gaza. Unrwa says at least one of its Staff Members was killed and another 22 were injured. Is time up for tiktok in the us . The house votes to force a split from its chinese owner or face a ban. The worlds First Comprehensive Law Regulating Ai receives final approval in the eu parliament. And reaching for the sky. Why the giant redwood, the Worlds Largest tree, is thriving in the uk. Time for a look at the Business News now with ben thompson. We start in the us where in the past couple of hours, the House Of Representatives passed a bill that would ban tiktok in america unless its chinese owners sold the part of it operating in the us. A ban would be hugely significant as it has more than 170 million users in the us