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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityCultureOscar 2024 best moments: Ryan Gosling, nudity and a dog who stole the showPublished24 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsThe OscarsThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Watch: Ryan Gosling sings live at the OscarsBy Emma Saunders & Holly Honderichat the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles & in WashingtonThis year’s Oscars brought more than three hours of glamour, tears, and full-frontal nudity. Here are some of the best moments from the biggest night in Hollywood. It was Kenough We all knew it was coming but Ryan Gosling’s full-throated rendition of the Barbie movie’s hit I’m Just Ken was even better than we could have hoped for.He started out the Oscar-nominated original song sitting just behind Barbie co-star Margot Robbie, who could not seem to control her laughter as Gosling crooned into her ear.Carrying on in his all-pink tuxedo, Gosling made his way to the stage where he danced a choreographed routine with a dozen accompanying cowboy-hat-wearing Kens transforming the sometimes stuffy evening into a rousing concert. And, if that wasn’t enough, Slash appeared to lend his talents for a guitar solo. There were even suggestions the choreography was a homage to Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.The Kenergy was infectious – Gosling solicited energetic singalongs from the star-studded front row, including best actress winner Emma Stone and Barbie’s director, Greta Gerwig. Stone even had a wardrobe malfunction due to all the excitement – as she walked up to the stage to collect her best actress nomination, she was struggling with the back of her dress.Appearing backstage, she said: “They sewed me back in! I genuinely think I busted it during I’m Just Ken. I was so amazed by Ryan and that number just blew my mind. I was just going for it and things just happen!”Kimmel – tried and testedJimmy Kimmel returned to the Dolby Theatre for his fourth turn as Oscars’ host.He’s had some practice and it showed. Kimmel nodded to the months-long strikes that brought Hollywood (nearly) to a halt in his tone-setting monologue, celebrating the actors and writers who had pushed for a deal.”As a result, actors no longer have to worry about getting replaced by AI,” he said. “Thanks to this historic agreement, actors are now able to go back to worrying about being replaced by younger, more attractive people.”Fallon also got into a spat with Donald Trump that went viral. In response to the former US President posting on Truth Social: “Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel?”, the comic quipped back on stage: “Isn’t it past your jail time?”But not all his jokes landed. A jab at Robert Downey Jr and his history of substance abuse drew some blank stares from the crowd, and a “wrap it up” from Downey Jr himself. Downey Jr was the only winner who didn’t come to the winners’ room to speak to the press later. Although he skipped it at the Baftas too. Maybe he’s just too cool for skool.Israel-Gaza war remains ever-presentThe streets of Hollywood were flooded with demonstrators protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, snarling traffic and slowing the arrival of several stars. Protesters chanting “ceasefire now” walked down Sunset Boulevard to the sound of honking horns, while Los Angeles police stood by in riot gear. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Siblings and Oscar winners Finneas O’Connell and Billie Eilish wore red pins in support of a ceasefire in GazaThere were reminders of the conflict inside the ceremony too, with several big-name stars including Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef sporting red pins in support of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. And the war was noted from the Oscars stage itself, as the British director Jonathan Glazer accepted the best international film statue for his film The Zone of Interest, which follows the domestic life of a Nazi officer and his family. Glazer, who is Jewish, said he rejected his “Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people”.”Whether the victims of October 7th in Israel, or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanisation, how do we resist?”Da’Vine Joy Randolph moves us to tearsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The first winner of the night, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, told the audience: “Thank you for seeing me”The Oscars made lots of super-fans happy this year by returning to an old presenting format, with past winners announcing the nominees for the four acting categories. The personal tributes gave us some nice moments of real emotion from the stars.This was especially true for Da’Vine Joy Randolph who was moved to tears by a heart-felt introduction from Lupita Nyong’o.Randolph had us crying ourselves moments later when she accepted the trophy for best supporting actress – her first win after her first nomination. “I didn’t think I was supposed to do this as a career,” she said in her speech. “For so long, I’ve always wanted to be different, and now I realise I just need to be myself. And I thank you. I thank you for seeing me.”Backstage, she spoke about encouraging creatives from under-represented backgrounds to keep going: “The beautiful thing that erupts is your imagination and creativity because you don’t have much…. Something I think as black people, we are very good at, is making a lot out of very little. It’s our superpower.”A Hollywood streaker?Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, John Cena (nearly) bared it all this yearThe award for costume design won’t be easily forgotten this year, thanks to the presentation by John Cena. Prompted by Kimmel, Cena – a wrestler and actor – appeared on stage entirely naked, save for a pair of Birkenstocks and a strategically placed envelope carrying the name of the winner. Cena shuffled on stage to the sound of roaring laughter, before a quick exchange with Kimmel – one of the better sketches of the evening. “The male body is not supposed to be funny,” Cena said. “Mine is,” Kimmel replied. Al Pacino and an awkward announcementIt wasn’t the only moment of the night that had people sitting up in their chairs. Al Pacino nearly gave us a panic attack right at the end of the ceremony. We still haven’t recovered from the Moonlight/La La Land mix-up back in 2017. So when Pacino hesitated before announcing Oppenheimer as the best picture winner – and then uttered his announcement so casually – there was a sharp intake of breath in the auditorium. Thankfully, no-one rushed on to the stage to correct him. Phew.Best supporting dogImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Messi the dog put his paws togetherThe best picture-nominated Anatomy of a Fall boasted a four-legged break-out star: Messi, the black-and-white border collie who plays Snoop the dog in the French courtroom drama. Following days of speculation over whether he would show, Mess appeared at the ceremony, sitting in a plush red seat with a black bow-tie around his neck. Messi even got some screen time later in the evening. The camera panned to him to show his paws up in applause for Robert Downey Jr’s best supporting actor win. Gosling also looked delighted to see Messi again, having previously made his acquaintance at the Oscars Luncheon last month. More on the OscarsLive updates and reactionRed carpet fashion: All the looksMurphy wins best actor as Oppenheimer sweeps awardsTop director makes Gaza statement in speechHayao Miyazaki wins second Oscar after two decadesThe full list of winners Related TopicsLos AngelesThe OscarsHollywoodTop StoriesPalace faces questions as news agencies withdraw Kate’s Mother’s Day imagePublished3 hours agoKate picture heats up rumours instead of quelling public curiosityPublished1 hour agoLive. Oscars 2024: Oppenheimer sweeps awards with best picture and actor winsFeaturesSeven of the best moments from the OscarsWatch: I’m just… Slash?! Ryan Gosling brings the Kenergy. VideoWatch: I’m just… Slash?! 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[ad_1] A naked presenter, a clapping dog and a real-life Ken doll kept spirits high during the three-hour broadcast.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaIsraeli PM ‘missed chance’ to cut off Hamas cash, says ex-spy chiefPublished6 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warBy John WareBBC PanoramaIsrael’s prime minister missed the chance to starve Hamas of cash, years before its murderous attack last October, according to a former senior Israeli intelligence officer. Udi Levy has told BBC Panorama he advised Benjamin Netanyahu to target Hamas’s finances. He believes this would have hampered the group’s military build-up, but says the intelligence was not acted upon. The Israeli prime minister’s office has not responded to the allegations. Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages on 7 October last year, when they crossed into southern Israel. One hundred and thirty hostages remain unaccounted for. Israel’s military response has killed 29,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Mr Levy – who was head of economic warfare in the Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, until 2016 – says he told Mr Netanyahu many times that Israel had the means to crush Hamas, which controls Gaza, “by using only financial tools”. Mr Levy says he never got a response to his proposal from Mr Netanyahu. When asked if he considered there was a connection between Mr Netanyahu’s alleged reluctance to deal with Hamas’s finances and the 7 October attack, Mr Levy is unequivocal. Image caption, Udi Levy says he alerted Mr Netanyahu to Hamas’s lucrative funding streams “Yes, of course,” he says. “There is a very good chance that… we would [have] prevent[ed] a lot of the money” that had gone into Gaza, and that “the monster that Hamas built probably [wouldn’t be] like the same monster that we faced on October 7th.” Hamas would have needed “billions, not millions” of dollars, says the former spy chief, to build hundreds of kilometres of tunnels underneath Gaza and pay for an estimated 30,000-strong military force. One specific funding stream, which Mr Levy says he raised with Mr Netanyahu in 2014, was an alleged multi-million-dollar investment portfolio which Israeli intelligence said was controlled by Hamas and managed out of Turkey. Mr Levy says that Mr Netanyahu chose not to act on the information. Hamas’s secret financial empireFollowing the attacks of 7 October, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas. But can it? With access to some of Hamas’s most closely guarded secrets, John Ware investigates its network outside Gaza.Watch on BBC One at 20:00 on Monday 19 February (20:30 in Northern Ireland and 22:40 in Wales) or on BBC iPlayerHamas, which rejects Israel’s right to exist and is committed to its destruction, is much more than just a military force. It’s a political movement with financial support extending well beyond Gaza. “We spoke about Qatar and Iran as the main sponsors,” says Mr Levy of his conversations with Mr Netanyahu. “Turkey is even, in some aspect, more important because it is a critical focal point for Hamas to manage [its] financial infrastructure.” Panorama has been investigating documents, which had been acquired in 2020, said to reveal the extent of Hamas’s investment portfolio. They are a snapshot of an eight-month period that ends in early 2018. Israeli intelligence says they show how Hamas makes some of its money. Some 40 companies across the Middle East and north Africa are believed to be in the portfolio, including Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan, Egypt, the Gulf and also Turkey. The alleged investments include everything from road construction, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment to tourism, mining, gold prospecting and luxury real estate projects. Since 2022, six of the companies listed in the documents have been designated by the US Treasury as being directly or indirectly owned or controlled by Hamas. The US has restricted their ability to trade by sanctioning them. Next to each company listed in the portfolio ledger is what is said to be the value of each Hamas-controlled holding, running into the millions of dollars for some of the companies – and adding up to a total value of $422,573,890 (£335m).Much of that value is said to be tied up in real estate. Property investments, which hold their value and have the potential for rental income, are a “perfect way” for an organisation such as Hamas to manage its finances, says Tom Keatinge, founding director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies (CFCS) at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi). Image caption, Luxury apartments developed by the Turkish firm Trend GYOOne of the companies sanctioned by the US is Trend GYO – a Turkish real estate firm. In the 2018 document, it is referenced several times as Anda Turk – which documents show was an old trading name, before it was renamed Trend and floated on the Istanbul stock exchange. The 7 October attacks or, as Hamas calls them, “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, were recently praised by Trend’s former chairman, Hamid Abdullah al-Ahmar – who stood down in 2022 but remains as the head of Trend’s parent company. Speaking at a conference in Istanbul in January 2024, he was filmed saying: “We meet… while the Aqsa Flood is at its peak, a sweeping and roaring flood that will never stop before the occupation of beloved Palestine is defeated.” He went on to call on the conference to “work to criminalise Zionism as a racist and terrorist movement”. Panorama wrote to Mr al-Ahmar but received no reply. Trend told us that the US Treasury’s allegations of links between the company and Hamas were “unfair and unfounded”. The Turkish authorities have said they have investigated Trend and found “no abuse of our nation’s financial system” and that Turkey abides by international financial rules. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, From an Israeli prison cell, Yahya Sinwar started to forge links between Hamas and Iran, according to a former Israeli security agency officerHamas, however, has also had a variety of other long-term financial sources. One of its most important early fundraisers was Yahya Sinwar, now the head of Hamas’s political wing in Gaza. According to Israel, he began raising funds for Hamas while he was in an Israeli prison cell. In 1988, Sinwar had been jailed for murdering Palestinians he suspected were spying for Israel. Micha Koubi, a former Israel security agency officer says he interrogated Sinwar for more than 150 hours. He said Sinwar managed to forge links with Iran by sending covert messages from prison. In 2007, a year after Hamas was voted into power, Israel and its neighbour Egypt tightened the blockade on Gaza, both saying they were concerned about their security. Mr Koubi said that Sinwar’s Iranian connections helped him to beat the blockade. “He sent messengers to Iran, to start the contact. He asked them to send… weapons and arms. And they agreed to help [Hamas] with everything that they need. “That was the very beginning.” Cash for Hamas also arrived from the Gulf state of Qatar, both overtly and covertly, according to former Mossad officer, Udi Levy. Israel has acknowledged that some of that money was delivered in cash with its blessing. It was allocated to pay the salaries of officials in the Hamas government and provide humanitarian support for the people of Gaza. “The Qataris [had] a special envoy that came every month, with a private jet to Rafah with a suitcase, enter to Gaza, gave it to Hamas, say hello and go back, that’s it,” says Mr Levy. He has told Panorama he believes “a significant sum of this money” went to “support Hamas’s military arm”. Image caption, Hamas has financed and built hundreds of miles of tunnels under GazaBillions more had been provided by UN agencies, the EU, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and numerous charities. All intended for humanitarian purposes. Rusi’s Tom Keatinge calls it a “fair assessment” that this money may have been subsidising Hamas’s military wing. “It is money [Hamas] can use on other issues, like building tunnels, like arming its military,” he says. It is impossible to know how much donor cash – if any – Hamas may have appropriated for military purposes. The group denies diverting any aid money. It told Panorama its military wing had its own sources of income. Israel’s Prime Minister has been clear about his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, and how that strategic aim was linked to his position on Hamas funding. In 2019, Mr Netanyahu told colleagues in his ruling Likud party: “Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas… This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.” Keeping Hamas strong enough to be an effective rival to Fatah – its West Bank rival – would prevent the possibility of a “unified Palestinian leadership with whom you would have to negotiate some kind of final settlement”, says Khaled Elgindy, senior fellow on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington DC. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuMore recently, Mr Netanyahu has denied he wanted to build up Hamas and said he had only allowed Qatari money into Gaza to prevent a humanitarian crisis. Mr Netanyahu has now vowed to destroy Hamas. There will be “no element” in Gaza that finances terrorism, he says. But, by destroying so much of Gaza and killing so many Palestinian, Israel may achieve the opposite effect. “Iran will probably continue to arm and financially support Hamas,” says Mr Elgindy. “But more than that, as long as there is a reason for a group like Hamas to try to acquire those weapons, and those resources, and those capabilities, they will do that. “Because the justification for it, the reasons for it, are still in place.” Related TopicsMiddle EastIsrael & the PalestiniansIsrael-Gaza warIsraelGazaHamasTop StoriesNavalny’s grieving widow vows to continue his workPublished3 hours agoRow deepens between Badenoch and ex-Post Office chairPublished14 minutes agoBaby was among three children found dead Published4 hours agoFeaturesLyse Doucet: Rafah deadline raises stakes as Ramadan nearsThe unprecedented case of a migrant manslaughter trialWatch Baftas 2024 best bits… in two minutes. 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaWestern officials in protest over Israel Gaza policyPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warImage source, Getty ImagesBy Tom BatemanBBC State Department correspondentMore than 800 serving officials in the US and Europe have signed a statement warning that their own governments’ policies on the Israel-Gaza war could amount to “grave violations of international law”.The “transatlantic statement”, a copy of which was passed to the BBC, says their administrations risk being complicit in “one of the worst human catastrophes of this century” but that their expert advice has been sidelined. It is the latest sign of significant levels of dissent within the governments of some of Israel’s key Western allies.One signatory to the statement, a US government official with more than 25 years’ national security experience, told the BBC of the “continued dismissal” of their concerns.”The voices of those who understand the region and the dynamics were not listened to,” said the official.”What’s really different here is we’re not failing to prevent something, we’re actively complicit. That is fundamentally different from any other situation I can recall,” added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The statement is signed by civil servants from the US, the EU and 11 European countries including the UK, France and Germany. It says Israel has shown “no boundaries” in its military operations in Gaza, “which has resulted in tens of thousands of preventable civilian deaths; and… the deliberate blocking of aid… putting thousands of civilians at risk of starvation and slow death.””There is a plausible risk that our governments’ policies are contributing to grave violations of international law, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing or genocide,” it said.Israelis tell MPs of Hamas sexual violence evidenceInjured, hungry and alone – the Gazan children orphaned by warThe identities of those who signed or endorsed the statement have not been made public and the BBC has not seen a list of names, but understands that nearly half are officials who each have at least a decade of experience in government. One retired US ambassador told the BBC that the coordination by dissenting civil servants in multiple governments was unprecedented.”It’s unique in my experience watching foreign policy in the last 40 years,” said Robert Ford, a former American ambassador to Algeria and Syria. This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Watch: Biden’s support for Israel has lost him votes among Arab AmericansHe likened it to concerns within the US administration in 2003 over faulty intelligence leading up to the invasion of Iraq, but said this time many officials with reservations did not want to remain silent. “[Then there were] people who knew better, who knew that intelligence was being cherry-picked, who knew that there wasn’t a plan for the day after, but nobody said anything publicly. And that turned out to be a serious problem,” he said. “The problems with the Gaza war are so serious and the implications are so serious that they feel compelled to go public,” he said. The officials argue the current nature of their governments’ military, political or diplomatic support for Israel “without real conditions or accountability” not only risks further Palestinian deaths, but also endangers the lives of hostages held by Hamas, as well as Israel’s own security and regional stability. “Israel’s military operations have disregarded all important counterterrorism expertise gained since 9/11… the [military] operation has not contributed to Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas and has instead strengthened the appeal of Hamas, Hezbollah and other negative actors”. Why are Israel and Hamas fighting in Gaza?The officials say they have expressed their professional concerns internally but have been “overruled by political and ideological considerations”. The US State Department, the European Union Commission and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have been approached for comment.The statement suggests that while Israel’s military operation has caused unprecedented destruction of lives and property in Gaza, there appears to be no workable strategy to effectively remove Hamas as a threat, nor for a political solution to ensure Israel’s security in the longer term. It calls for the US and European governments to “stop asserting to the public that there is a strategic and defensible rationale behind the Israeli operation”. Israeli officials have consistently rejected such criticism. In response to the new statement, the Israeli embassy in London said it was bound by international law.It added: “Israel continues to act against a genocidal terrorist organisation which commits war crimes as well as crimes against humanity.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that only full military pressure on Hamas will secure the further release of hostages, while the army says it has destroyed significant underground infrastructure used by the group, including command centres, weapons sites and facilities for holding hostages. On Saturday, the Israeli military said: “Throughout [the city of] Khan Yunis, we have eliminated over 2,000 terrorists above and below ground.”Israel has repeatedly rejected claims it deliberately targets civilians, accusing Hamas of hiding in and around civilian infrastructure. Since the start of the war, more than 26,750 Palestinians have been killed and at least 65,000 injured, according to health officials in the Gaza Strip, which has been governed by Hamas and blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007. Israeli officials say that 9,000 of those killed were Hamas militants but have not provided evidence for the figure. More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas attacks of October 7th, and a further 100 died of their injuries according to Israeli officials. More than 250 people were taken as hostages into Gaza. Image source, Getty ImagesThe US administration has repeatedly said that “far too many Palestinians have been killed” in Gaza, and that Israel has the right to ensure October 7th “can never happen again”. It has recently adopted a tougher line over elements of Israeli policy, including becoming increasingly outspoken over a failure to act against settler violence in the occupied West Bank. On Thursday, President Biden announced the first ever US sanctions against settlers responsible for attacking Palestinians. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has previously attempted to address reservations over US policy within the ranks of the State Department, telling officials in November: “We’re listening: what you share is informing our policy and our messages.” The department has a “dissent channel” set up during the Vietnam War to enable diplomats to express disagreements with official US positions without fear of retaliation.In the latest statement, the largest numbers of signatories are understood to be working in EU institutions, the Netherlands and the US. Most of the US government officials who signed are understood to work for the State Department, while others are officials serving at the White House, Homeland Security, Justice and other government departments. The BBC has previously reported on dissent among some UK Foreign Office staff amid wider complaints over a failure to explicitly highlight the spiralling civilian death toll in Gaza. It is understood that “staff counsellors” in the Foreign Office previously collated internal concerns, but that there is currently disquiet at the lack of formal mechanism to register dissent over the Israel-Hamas war. Related TopicsIsrael-Gaza warIsraelPalestinian territoriesUnited StatesWest BankJoe BidenMore on this storyUS sanctions Israeli settlers over West Bank violencePublished13 hours agoIsraelis tell MPs of Hamas sexual violence evidencePublished1 day agoAt least half of Gaza buildings damaged or destroyed, new analysis showsPublished2 days agoIsrael W Bank hospital raid kills three Palestinian fightersPublished2 days agoTop StoriesLive. 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