With violent disorder after a riot breaks out in hartlepool linked to mondays mass stabbing in southport. And its day seven of the olympics, with 25 medals up for grabs. Netherlands takes gold in the Womens Rowing Pair final and croatia wins for the men. Hello. Im annita mcveigh. Welcome to Bbc News now, three hours of fast moving news, interviews and reaction. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have greeted american detainees at an airbase outside washington, following their release from russia as part of a Prisoner Swap the largest since the cold war. The plane carrying the two us journalists, evan Gershkovich And Alsu kurmasheva, ex marine Paul Whelan and leading Kremlin Critic vladimir Kara Murza landed late at night. Family members of those whod been detained some for several years were there, as emotional scenes played out on the tarmac. President biden said he was grateful for the diplomatic Co Operation from many other countries involved in the negotiations. I
connected you are. everyone must play by the same rules. this is a victory for america that believes in the simple but fundamental pillar of our democracy, that the rule of law applies to all of us equally, fairly, and justly. that was new york attorney general letitia james speaking friday after the financially devastating civil fraud ruling against donald trump. we ll go through that judgment and the what it means for trump s finances. also ahead, the latest fallout following the death of alexei navalny as russia cracks down on any show of support for the opposition leader. plus, the israeli government is rejecting any recognition of a potential palestinian state while its forces move forward with an offensive in southern gaza. good morning and welcome to way too early on this monday, february 19th. i m ali vitali in for john nan lemaire. we start this morning with the $350 million fraud ruling against donald trump. he was ordered on friday to pay the massive
the early morning assault began with a barrage of rocket fire from gaza just after dawn with explosions heard on the streets of ashkelon. sderot, which is near gaza, is thought to have been infiltrated by militants. here s the latest on what we know at this hour. israel s public broadcaster is reporting that after 18 hours, hostages being held in a dining room in kibbutz be eri have been released. israel has also confirmed that the commander of the nahal brigade, coloneljonathan steinberg, was killed in fighting on saturday. meanwhile, major airlines have cancelled dozens of flights to tel aviv. they include american airlines, air france, lufthansa, emirates, and ryanair, among others. let s show you live pictures from gaza now. we re hearing that the israeli army has asked residents of seven different areas across the gaza strip which you can see there on your screens to leave their homes and move to the city centres or take refuge in shelters in preparation for launchin
let s bring you up to date on the very latest developments. the israeli army has told residents of seven different areas across the gaza strip to take refuge in shelters as it prepares to launch new attacks on hamas targets. meanwhile, israeli hostages who were held in a southern town have reportedly been rescued that s according to israel s public broadcaster. three israeli soldiers were moderately and lightly wounded. and on the diplomatic front, us secretary of state antony blinken has called for calm and stability in the west bank during a call with palestinian president mahmoud abbas. and israel s allies have shown their support through displays like this. here s berlin s brandenburg gate lit up in white and blue to show support for israel. the conflict is also impacting air travel. the federal aviation administration is urging us airlines and pilots to use caution when flying in israeli airspace. the us air regulator s warning follows an earlier alert issued by the
let s show you live pictures from gaza now. the israeli army has asked residents of several different areas across the gaza strip to leave their homes. move to the city centres or take refuge in shelters in preparation for launching attacks against hamas targets. witnesses told the bbc that dozens of families had started leaving their homes and were sheltering in un schools. this comes as israeli troops are still going house to house to clear communities after the saturday assault. we are hearing there is still fighting ongoing in southern israel at this hour. let s get some reaction now from washington. us secretary of state antony blinken spoke with several of his european counterparts. state department spokesperson matthew miller says they discussed and condemned the hamas attacks and underlined the us support for israel s right to defend itself. live now to elliot abrams, who served in the george w bush and trump administrations. welcome to you. thank you for joining us.