Plus: Unexplained deaths of Palestinians detained in Israel, and Japan's embrace of AI ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. Reporting from northern France early on Tuesday, a BBC crew saw dozens of people boarding an overcrowded dinghy hoping to reach the UK. An hour or more later, at least five people on board of the boat had died. Correspondent Andrew Harding recalls the morning's events. In the West Bank, Palestinian authorities are denouncing the treatment of detainees in Israeli jail, including 13 prisoners who have died since 7 October. From Japan, we hear of successful implementation of AI technology in sectors that are struggling to hire workers. Finally, a nine-year-old boy achieves success as a seagull impersonator. | |
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| An overcrowded boat's fatal journey | | Once at sea, police made no attempt to stop the boat. Credit: BBC News | Five people, including a child, died while attempting to cross the English Channel. It happened as media gathered near Calais to report on migrant crossings the morning after British MPs passed a law to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. |
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| | | It was clear that there were far too many people attempting to fit on the boat. Some were clinging to the edges. Usually, the maximum number of migrants attempting to fit on such a boat is around 60, but with two groups merging on the beach, that number was now over 100. Slowly, the boat drifted out to sea, briefly appearing to run aground on a sandbank.
The police and those who had failed to get a place began walking back towards the dunes and a nearby carpark. At this stage, it was not clear to anyone ashore how bad things were on the boat. We could hear the occasional shout, and there were a few life jackets visible in the water. But there was no way of telling that people were dead or dying. |
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QUESTIONS ANSWERED | Palestinians deaths in Israeli jails |
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| | Arafat Hamdan was dead within two days of his arrest. Credit: BBC | Conditions for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons have worsened since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, according to the Palestinian Authority's (PA) Commission of Detainees Affairs. Since then, 13 Palestinian prisoners have died in jail. In two cases, Arafat Hamdan's and Abdulrahman Mari's, their families are still waiting for the bodies to be retured. |
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| | Shaimaa Khalil and Mohamed Madi, reporting from the West Bank |
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| How many Palestinians are held in Israeli jails? | Israel currently holds more than 9,300 security prisoners, the vast majority of whom are Palestinians, according to the Israeli rights group HaMoked, including more than 3,600 people in administrative detention - meaning without charge. These figures do not include detainees from the Gaza Strip, who are being held in separate facilities by the Israeli military. | What was the cause of death for the 13 dead prisoners? | The majority of them have died "as a result of beating or denial of medication", the Commission of Detainees Affairshead, Qadoura Fares, told the BBC. | How have Israeli authorities responded to the allegations? | The Israeli prison service has denied any mistreatment, saying that "all prisoners are held in accordance with the law while respecting their basic rights and under the supervision of a professional and skilled prison staff". It said prisons had gone into "emergency mode" after war broke out and it had been "decided to reduce the living conditions of the security prisoners". Examples it gave included removing electrical equipment and cutting electricity to cells and reducing prisoners' activities in the wings. | | Born an orphan: Doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section to deliver the child of a woman who was killed, along with her husband and their three-year-old daughter, in a strike in Rafah on 20 April. Gaza: The UN's human rights chief has said he is "horrified" by the destruction of Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals and the reports of "mass graves" being found at the sites after Israeli raids. West Bank: A 21-year-old Palestinian has been arrested over the murder of a 14-year-old Israeli shepherd. Separately, the Israeli army is investigating the killing of a Palestinian volunteer paramedic. | |
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THE BIG PICTURE | How Japan's job market welcomed AI |
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| | | By 2040, it is estimated Japan will lack 11 million workers due to an ageing population and low birth rates. Credit: Getty Images | In a country where changes happen slowly, Japan is embracing the power of AI with less reluctance than others. For sectors of the economy that are struggling to hire enough workers, AI has been particularly helpful. |
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FOR YOUR DOWNTIME | Samurai spirit | Kanazawa preserved its traditions while reinventing them for modern life. | |
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And finally... in Belgium | Nine-year-old Cooper has found his calling. The British boy has just won a title at a European competition dedicated to seagull screeching - yes, it's a real thing - held in the Belgian coastal town of De Panne. Have a listen to his uncanny impression of the bird. | |
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In History newsletter | The past comes to life through the BBC's unique audio, video and written archive, each Thursday. | |
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