Hamas says it is postponing the next scheduled hostage release, blaming Israeli violations of the ceasefire deal. Also: the trial of Salman Rushdie’s attacker starts.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic of this episode?
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Bernadette Keogh, and in the early hours of Tuesday 11th February, these are our main stories. Hamas is delaying the release of hostages, blaming Israeli violations. Israel responds by putting its military on high alert. There have been protests in Jerusalem after two Palestinian booksellers were arrested.
The Trump administration begins deporting migrants back to Venezuela.
Also in this podcast... I actually thought he'd punched me very hard. I didn't realise there was a knife in his hand.
The trial has opened of a man charged with trying to murder the author Salman Rushdie and how a monkey brought Sri Lanka's energy grid to a standstill.
Since a long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect just over three weeks ago, a fragile peace has seen 21 hostages held in Gaza being released in exchange for more than 500 Palestinian prisoners, much to the delight of their families and supporters.
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Chapter 2: Why did Hamas postpone the hostage release?
It also saw tens of thousands of Palestinians returning to their homes, many of which have been destroyed following the Israeli bombardment. But now Hamas has said it's postponing the next scheduled handover of hostages due for this Saturday because it says Israel has failed to keep to its side of the ceasefire agreement.
But they did add that the door remained open to this weekend's hostage prisoner exchange. Our correspondent in Jerusalem, Wura Davis, told me more about the reasons for Hamas's decision.
It sort of came out of the blue, this, because thus far the ceasefire has been working pretty well. As you were saying, 21 hostages released in exchange for about 500 Palestinian prisoners, much more aid getting into Gaza, the reopening of the border between Egypt and Gaza. But there are tensions.
Chapter 3: What are the complications surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire?
We're near the end of the first phase of the ceasefire now, and it's a fragile ceasefire because there are pressures on both sides. And Hamas has now said it will not, as things stand now, proceed with the release of three or four hostages as was expected at the weekend.
Now they're blaming Israel, saying Israel isn't keeping to its side of the bargain vis-a-vis the aid getting into Gaza and also it's accused Israel of firing against individuals and targets in Gaza during the ceasefire. There have been breaches of ceasefire but it has generally held. Now Israel is angry by this decision from Hamas.
It said Hamas has clearly backed down from what it was meant to do under the deal And the Israeli military, the IDF, is now on standby and ready for what may come, which, of course, may be a resumption of the war if the ceasefire does collapse.
Well, how much of a risk is that, Wura, that that could happen?
It is possible. It's only Monday night here in the Middle East. The handover isn't due to happen until Saturday. So they've got four or five days to work on this, which I think is crucial. And there are international mediators who will push both sides to try and resume the ceasefire.
But there are also elements on the Israeli side, particularly far-right elements within the government, who take this as a sign that the war has to restart.
They've been pushing at Mr Netanyahu, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister for some time to stop anyway after the first phase of the ceasefire and to resume the war because their argument is that Hamas is not yet militarily defeated and they want the war to resume. So this gives more momentum to that kind of view, if you like. So it is a very, very dangerous moment.
Why Hamas have done this is difficult to say. Perhaps it's their way of getting back at Donald Trump, you know, for his actions. Pretty outrageous comments, they would say, over Gaza and how Mr. Trump sees Gaza developing in future. And maybe this is Hamas's response to that.
Well, Israel's prime minister is still under a lot of pressure from the families of hostages to get them home under a ceasefire deal. What's been their reaction?
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Chapter 4: How are recent deportations impacting Venezuelan migrants?
And some very angry voices, in fact, criticising not just Hamas, but actually blaming this scenario on the Israeli prime minister because he doesn't really want the ceasefire to continue in their view.
There have been protests outside a court in Jerusalem in support of two Palestinian booksellers who've been accused of stocking texts that incite terrorism. Authors, journalists, international diplomats and local MPs have demanded that Mahmoud and Ahmed Muna be immediately released amid growing fears that this could be part of a campaign of harassment of Palestinian intellectuals.
Mahmoud and Ahmed own the educational bookshop in occupied East Jerusalem, which is frequented by Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners alike. Police requested that the booksellers be held in custody for eight days. The court granted an extension of just one day.
Speaking to reporters outside court, Nasser Odeh, a lawyer representing the booksellers, accused Israeli authorities of suppressing Palestinian free speech.
During the trial session, we explained that this move is very dangerous and a legal precedent and comes within a new policy pursued by the Israeli police in Jerusalem to combat Palestinian freedom of expression and thought and to prevent learning and education.
Ayad Mona is the brother of one of the bookshop owners who was taken into custody.
Any book that says Palestine for the Israelis, they will consider it this incitement just because the book called Palestine. We have a cooking book called Palestine. They will consider this an incitement because they don't like the word Palestine. They think Palestine doesn't exist. So for them, any book that have Palestine is incitement.
That's why the guys who were here yesterday, they took more than 100 books. At the end, they returned the books and they kept only eight books. We had other problems with, you know, we bring books from Europe, usually from England and from the USA. And they come with invoices through the Israeli borders, from the airport or from the seaboard. And every time they check all the books.
And sometimes, you know, they find a book they don't like, so they confiscated it. Then they returned it because, you know, it's printed in the UK or in the USA. So we have this kind of problems, but not like yesterday. Things are getting worse. We have more right in the government. We have more right between the people.
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Chapter 5: What are the latest developments in Salman Rushdie's attack trial?
Chapter 6: Why are Palestinian booksellers being accused of incitement?
And sometimes, you know, they find a book they don't like, so they confiscated it. Then they returned it because, you know, it's printed in the UK or in the USA. So we have this kind of problems, but not like yesterday. Things are getting worse. We have more right in the government. We have more right between the people.
This government is convincing their people that they cannot live with the Palestinians. They don't recognize there is another people living in this country. We will stay open, whatever it takes.
Ayad Muna. Israel's police, Ministry of Justice and the Criminal Division of the District Attorney Office said they were unavailable to be interviewed. The police sent us a statement. As part of the investigation, it says, detectives encountered numerous books suspected of containing insightful material. The Israel police will continue its efforts to thwart incitement and support for terrorism.
Two planes are heading to Venezuela, carrying migrants deported by the Trump administration. These are the first Venezuelan nationals repatriated since Mr Trump's return to the White House. The flights are part of a wider programme to repatriate some of those who fled the country over the past decade. Our America's regional editor, Leonardo Rocha, tells us more.
According to reports from Venezuela, some of them are members of a criminal gang, the most powerful criminal gang in Venezuela, Tren de Aragua, which was mentioned by President Trump. But others are just migrants who entered the country illegally or working there without the proper documentation. So they were being deported anyway.
I mean, it's part of the Trump administration mass migration program they've created. been arresting people, thousands of people, even a day, and deporting them. And the interesting situation is because over the past decade or so, you have almost 8 million Venezuelans left the country. Most of them went to neighboring countries, to Colombia, but many ended up in the United States.
But because Venezuela and the U.S., they don't have diplomatic relations yet, Venezuela refused so far to accept repatriation flights. So these Venezuelan migrants will probably be sent to a third country. It could be Mexico or El Salvador, a different country. And now, to the surprise of many people, they are going back to Venezuela.
As you say, no diplomatic relations between the two countries. So how did the deal come about?
Well, to the surprise of most people, the Trump administration sent an envoy to Venezuela on the 31st of January, and he reached a deal with the Maduro government. The Venezuelan government accepted to take back deported migrants, and in exchange, Venezuela released six American citizens who had been held in prisons there. The U.S.
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Chapter 7: How is climate change urgency being addressed globally?
I actually thought he'd punched me. very hard. I didn't realize there was a knife in his hand. And then I saw the blood and I realized there was a weapon. And then he just started, I think he was just slashing wildly at everything. So there was a very big slash here across my neck.
Today, 27-year-old Hadi Matar, who's accused of carrying out the attack, has gone on trial in upstate New York and pleaded not guilty. Salman Rushdie previously spent several years in hiding after the publishing of the Satanic Verses, a fictional story inspired by the life of the Prophet Muhammad, which led to threats against his life.
Our BBC North America correspondent, Neda Tawfiq, has been following the case.
Today, jurors heard opening statements from both the prosecution and the defense, and they heard just how this attack unfolded in a matter of seconds, just as the moderator was two sentences into his opening. And prosecutors said that Hadi Matar... lurched over stairs and rapidly accelerated to the stage.
And then he very deliberately plunged a knife into Sir Salman Rushdie over and over and over again. They said injuring him in the head, in the thigh, in the neck, on his body, stabbing him nearly 15 times. And as you mentioned there, leaving him blind in his right eye. and nearly killing him. Jurors heard about just the sheer amount of blood that was on the stage.
And prosecutors said they would hear from witnesses who were there. There were 2,000 people in the amphitheater there to hear the talk. Prosecutors said they would also see videos. And then the defense spoke. And their strategy seemed to really just try to sow doubt in the prosecutor's case.
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Chapter 8: What can we expect from the new Bridget Jones film?
They asked jurors to keep an open mind and to remember that it was the burden of the prosecution to prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt. And then the court did hear from two witnesses. The second witness was actually one of the gentlemen who rushed to the stage and tackled the attacker. And he directly identified Hadi Matar as being responsible in court. What do we know about the accused?
Well, Hadi Matar is a 26 year old from New Jersey. He is both an American and Lebanese dual citizenship holder. We know that he got a ticket to go to the event in August of 2022 and that he actually kind of slept on the grounds and then went inside.
Now, an exact motive hasn't yet been provided, but in a separate indictment, federal investigators accused Hadi Mattar of carrying this out for Hezbollah, of seeing Salman Rushdie as someone who was a disingenuous, who had been saying things that he didn't like in his books.
Neda Tawfiq. Only a handful of countries have hit a UN deadline to submit plans on cutting greenhouse gas emissions to help keep global temperature rises below a key threshold. That's despite warnings that the world is fast running out of time to keep such rises below 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. Danny Eberhard has more details.
In order to limit dangerous global warming, the UN's Paris Climate Accord relies on nations drawing up, and then acting on, plans to cut emissions. Only a tiny fraction of countries are hitting key deadlines. Scientists warn, too, that even some of their plans aren't compatible with keeping temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.
That's seen as critical to help limit ever more extreme impacts on humans and the natural world. Scientists calculate it as an average over a 20-year period, but 2024 was the first single year when temperatures exceeded that figure.
Two new scientific studies have warned how close we might be to breaching that limit, even when projected over the longer scale, without urgent, drastic emissions cuts.
Still to come in the Global News podcast, Renée Zellweger on returning for another Bridget Jones film. It's 25 years on.
Everything's changed. Society's changed. Women's expectations for themselves and from other people have changed. And, you know, I think our values have shifted just a little bit.
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