the un declares there is little it can do to protect gazans sheltering from the fighting, saying there are no safe spaces. for the sake of civilians wherever they are, and for the sake of humanity, this has got to stop, and it has got to stop now. top us diplomat antony blinken is meeting regional leaders in amman, as he pushes for humanitarian pauses in the conflict. israel's military says it allowed traffic on one of gaza's main highways so people could head south. but the road is now scheduled to again close. this is the scene live in gaza from southern israel. you can see large clouds of smoke. i'm frankie mccamley in london. also in the programme: an earthquake in western nepal kills

at least 157 people. houses are destroyed and people are digging through rubble to rescue others. and russell brand faces a fresh allegation of sexual assault. the claim is made in a civil lawsuit filed in new york and dates back to 2010. hello. i am anna foster, this is bbc news, live from jerusalem. israel's military has again urged civilians in gaza's north to leave the area. it reopened one of the strip�*s main highways. allowing people to drive south. strip�*s main highways. the road was scheduled to be open for three hours — and that window was due to close

just moments ago. the rafah crossing to egypt is also closed — at least temporarily. no one has used the crossing so far today. we are hearing that gaza border authorities will not permit foreign passport holders to cross into egypt until the injured people in gaza's hospitals are allowed to travel to rafah. hundreds of foreign citizens have escaped gaza through the crossing in the past few days. our bbc arabic correspondent alaa ragaie has been following the situation at the rafah crossing, and sent this update from cairo. until this moment, we've been hearing that nobody managed to cross to the egyptian side according to palestinian sources. we have seen the list that used to be issued in the past three days by the authorities of crossings in gaza with around 700 names, including german, british and egyptians for the first time.

all of these people, hundreds of them, headed to the border but the gate didn't open. according to sources we talk to from the crossings authorities in the palestinian side, there is some kind of condition. they are making it clear that they will not allow the foreigners or dual nationals to cross to the egyptian side until there is some kind of coordination or agreement about the safety of transferring those injured, severely injured palestinians, to the egyptian side. this, of course, came after a day when the palestinian side or palestinian authorities accused the israeli forces of targeting

a convoy of ambulances in front of al shifa hospital, which killed around 15 in this convoy. so far, nobody crossed but we are still watching if there will be some kind of updates there. we don't know about the criteria or the number, the first day on wednesday we heard that 81 will be allowed to cross to egypt or to be transferred to egyptian hospitals. according to egyptian official numbers, only around 45 were allowed to cross or to be transferred to egyptian hospitals. we know that their identities are checked and verified by the security, israeli security or egyptian security to verify that they are not involved in the fighting. they are civilians.

but we don't know about the criteria, why those. but most of them are severely injured. some of them were children. that is the situation at the rafah crossing. that is the situation at the rafah crossing. the united nations palestinian refugee agency says a school it runs that was housing displaced people in gaza has been hit. a spokeswoman, juliette touma, told the bbc that thousands of people were sheltering at the al fakhoura school injabalia in the battle—hit north of the territory. the hamas—run health ministry blamed israel, and said at least fifteen people were killed. a spokesman for the israeli military, said it was investigating the strike. meanwhile the diplomatic efforts to relieve the humanitarian crisis in gaza are stepping up again. the us secretary of state antony blinken is in amman meeting leaders from lebanon, qatarand jordan. mr blinken is pushing for pauses in the fighting in gaza. the regional leaders want an immediate ceasefire. but israeli prime minister

benjamin netanyahu insists there will be no temporary truce until all hostages are released. while in gaza, an official from the un agency for palestinian refugees warns there is less and less it can do to protect people. the hamas—run gaza health ministry says 9,488 people have now been killed, including about 3,900 children. about 1,400 israelis were killed in the hamas attacks. the health ministry also says at least 12 people sheltering in a separate school to the one mentioned a short time ago were killed in an explosion there on friday night. hamas says the school was bombed by israel. there has been no comment yet from israel. the un secretary—general and the world health organization have condemned israel's attack

on an ambulance in gaza. on friday, the israel defense forces admitted striking the ambulance but said the vehicle was being used by hamas to transport fighters. and the united states says it believes the war between israel and hamas is being contained, and any broader regional conflict has been deterred. these comments from the pentagon follow the first public remarks from the leader of the iranian—backed and lebanese—based hezbollah group, who didn't commit his thousands of fighters to enter the conflict. 0ur correspondent mark lowen reports. four weeks on, it's unrelenting. explosion. israel has continued its pounding of gaza from the ground...and from the air. 0vernight, its army says it killed what it called terror cells exiting some of the many hamas tunnels.

the target, israel says, is terrorists, but civilians are paying an ever—more disastrous price. a school in a refugee camp hit this morning in what palestinians say was an israeli strike that killed at least 15. israel hasn't commented. most of these pictures are too graphic to show. childhood innocence has been destroyed, too, this boy says he witnessed three bombings here, carrying bodies with his own hands. hospitals and schools, places of refuge no more, israel maintaining they are hamas hideouts, using civilians as human shields. the roads are not safe, the unwra schools which were used for any attack in the past also as shelters are not safe. the south doesn't seem safe, either, and the passage to the south wouldn't seem safe, either. as the war grinds on, the american secretary of state

arrived injordan, telling regional leaders the us is pushing for increased aid, despite israel's prime minister rejecting his call for a humanitarian pause. as gaza smoulders, so does arab anger. diplomacy has failed to stop the bloodshed. 0n the ground, more foreign passport holders have been leaving from gaza, like 11—year—old fala, her american passport a way out, but her father, left behind. my dad told me to be safe and he hugged me and he kissed my forehead because he is very worried about me. and this is the devastation they leave, gaza and its lives, ripped apart. israel hopes it will be hamas itself that will be flattened here. but what then? for the latest from gaza, here's our correspondent there, rushdi abualouf. today, israel asked about half a million people who still live

in gaza city and the north to leave south here to khan younis. the city is already overwhelmed by about a million people who were displaced from their houses. the reason — the fighting was intensified around the gaza city and it seems that the israeli operation is expanding and pushing the people who are still in gaza to leave. they want the area to be evacuated, especially around the tel al—hawa area where al-quds hospital is. this morning there was an air strike right in the front of the hospital and they destroyed a building, causing big damage and big panic to about 111,000 people who are taking the hospital as shelter. israel insisted they should leave. the director of the hospital say we can't leave because most of the roads around the hospital were destroyed and about 100 patients are being treated inside. eight of them were connected to the life—saving machine. the biggest israeli incursion so far is in the north west of gaza, and they are pushing hard towards gaza city. it seems that the israelis

want to tighten the siege around gaza city itself, and they are pushing hard for the residents who still remain there to leave their homes here to khan younis. that was our correspondence with the latest in gaza. as mentioned, us secretary of state antony blinken is facing demands for an immediate ceasefire in gaza as he meets regional leaders. he spoke shortly before his meeting with the un relief and works he spoke shortly before his meeting with the un relief and works agency, unrwa. it's both a pleasure and important to be here at unwra, which is doing extraordinary work every single day as a lifeline to palestinians in gaza and at great cost. more than 70 members of unwra have lost their lives. thousands are putting their lives on the line every single day to show up at work

to help people. i have extraordinary admiration for the courage that they're showing. and we're here to hear about the efforts, the ongoing efforts, to be able to talk to people in the field and to express our own ongoing support for unrwa's work, including through the assistance that the united states has dedicated to unwra over the last three years. so let me just say again, our condolences to those who've lost their lives in trying to help others, and our admiration for those who continue this vital work. antony blinken speaking earlier. 0ur diplomatic correpondent paul adams is with me now. antony blinken started his visit here in israel yesterday. what was here in israel yesterday. what was he trying to achieve in this visit?

0ne he trying to achieve in this visit? one of the phrases that has been used a lot is this humanitarian pauses. he was talking about it when he was here yesterday. basically small breaks in the fighting to enable the humanitarian aid situation in the south to improve. forget the north, there is no humanitarian aid in the north. the un is not operating in the north. the americans have effectively washed their hands of the north because we know they make they know thatis because we know they make they know that is where the israelis are focusing military activity. it is about increasing aid trucks going into the rafah crossing, about 100 a day they say, but they want that to rise to 300 or 400 and day. and to make sure the aid gets to where it is needed within the southern gaza strip, which is where this idea of pauses might be necessary. 0bviously pauses might be necessary. obviously there are israeli military operations, air strikes, still continuing in the south. today american officials talking in a man seem to say that they don't have to be pauses, theyjust have to be arrangements. i think they recognise

that the israelis don't like any talk of a pause in the fighting. the israeli approach is maximum pressure all the time, do not give hamas any opportunity to regroup, particularly when it comes to the issue of hostages. the israelis believe that just keeping up relentless pressure is the best way to secure the release of hostages. that is not a universally held belief, but we are seeing the americans slightly struggling to find terminology that israel will accept in an effort, essentially, to alleviate the humanitarian situation in the south, while the israelis get on with whatever they are getting on with the north. ., , whatever they are getting on with the north. ., �* ~ , the north. today blinken will be caettin at the north. today blinken will be getting at a _ the north. today blinken will be getting at a different _ the north. today blinken will be getting at a different set - the north. today blinken will be getting at a different set of - getting at a different set of messages from leaders in the arab world. he has a lot of talks. we hear that _ world. he has a lot of talks. we hear that the _ world. he has a lot of talks. - hear that the hotel where these meetings are taking place in a man is absolutely full of diplomats from across the region, a huge press presents from the arab world, all

wanting to know what antony blinken is up to. he is going to have a press conference and are coming hour with the jordanian press conference and are coming hour with thejordanian and i think egyptian foreign ministers. a huge amount of interest in how he is marshaling regional players in this effort, and of course it is notjust about what is going on in gaza, it is also this constant preoccupation with making sure this conflict does not escalate. yesterday, after the hezbollah leader gave a speech in which he didn't appear to be making any fresh threats, there was a sigh of relief, but everyone recognises this still has the potential to become a much bigger regional conflict. that is a key part of those conversations with all the regional players. those conversations with all the regional maven-— those conversations with all the regional players. paul, thank you. as paulwas— regional players. paul, thank you. as paul was saying, _ regional players. paul, thank you. as paul was saying, antony - regional players. paul, thank you. | as paul was saying, antony blinken is expected to make that press conference. when it happens you will hear exactly what he has to say that life here on bbc news.

joining me now is gina abercrombie—winstanley, president of the middle east policy council. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. as we were reflecting there, a huge amount of discussion going on today injordan with various senior figures. what will the us consider to be a successful day today, as a result of all of those talks? israel has got to fight on, perhaps not additional members, who are part of the abraham accord, changing their diplomatic relations. the focus now really, is on trying to get aid into civilians, and that part of the discussion is very much what the... the situation not

getting worse as far as expanding the border, is probably the most that we can hope for. certainly the discussion is that the secretary is carrying out now make very clear that, as this goes on in multilateral effort, trying to ameliorate and improve the situation is what is going to have to take place, particularly after this phase is done. what comes next? it is going to take regional partners, working with the united states, israel, the palestinian authorities, to move beyond.— to move beyond. there is quite a difficult balancing _ to move beyond. there is quite a difficult balancing act _ to move beyond. there is quite a difficult balancing act going - to move beyond. there is quite a difficult balancing act going on i difficult balancing act going on just now, isn't there, with the us asking israel for humanitarian pause, and israel clearly saying that won't happen. how do you think we progress from that point? it is auoin to we progress from that point? it is going to be _ we progress from that point? it is going to be very _ we progress from that point? it 3 going to be very difficult, because clearly, the facts of how this works

are not uppermost in the calculations from the government of israel. from that i mean we, the united states, speakfrom experience, with counterinsurgency, activities, whether in iraq or afghanistan. many of us, who have been following the events in gaza, know that, when you kill people, you bring additional terrorists, their family, theirfriends, and when you are having such a large number of civilian deaths, you radicalise others. so there is increasing questioning about whether the final aims of the government of israel is trying to achieve, are indeed achievable? the questions have been asks and they will continue to be asked. what is that they have to look like? when this is done, what do we have in front of us, and how do we have in front of us, and how do we have in front of us, and how do we move forward? since history

shows that you cannot stamp out ideas, the question has to be, what indeed is going to be achieved at the end of so many civilian casualties?— the end of so many civilian casualties? �* ., ., casualties? and we heard from the penta . on casualties? and we heard from the pentagon last _ casualties? and we heard from the pentagon last night, _ casualties? and we heard from the pentagon last night, after - casualties? and we heard from the pentagon last night, after those i pentagon last night, after those remarks by the leader of hezbollah, that the us felt that a broader regional conflict would be avoided. do you think that is a holding position for now, or is the situation likely to stay that way? i think that is a safe statement for the moment to make. the speech was very long but very clear in that statement, that he is not calling for his fighters to join immediately. the reality is that that could change at a moment, depending on what is happening in gaza, what the rest of the world is able to see. tensions run high, they will run high. there is a low—grade conflict going on. it can be a

miscalculation by a commander, by individuals, the aim of the rockets, do they continue to hit primarily military targets, does one go astray and hit a civilian target? there are many ways that this can go or rye, and therefore the attention to the rest of the front, whether it is lebanon, syria, iraq, the west bank, we cannot ignore the conflict that is but on going in the west bank as well. there are many ways this can go wrong. any statement by any of our government officials have to be caveat it with, we have to keep a close eye on this, the diplomatic efforts to keep everyone along side and not expanding this war is going to be very important.— and not expanding this war is going to be very important. thank you very much forjoining _ to be very important. thank you very much forjoining us _ to be very important. thank you very

much forjoining us here _ to be very important. thank you very much forjoining us here on - to be very important. thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc - to be very important. thank you veryl much forjoining us here on bbc news as we continue to watch and wait for the secretary of state, the us secretary of state, antony blinken, who is going to be making those comments injordan in the next hour or so, which we will bring you here on bbc news was up we have also got that life shot you can see, those live pictures towards gaza from southern israel. it is regularly a very misty skyline there. sometimes it is the weather and sometimes it is the result of those repeated air strikes and artillery strikes that we see continuing as part of that intensifying military operation that is going on. thousands of pro—palestinian protesters have been holding rallies as well. we'll keep you up—to—date with that story. we also have our live page on the bbc news website, where you can follow the story, all of the developments, all of the breaking news is there

for you on the bbc news website. that is all for now from here in jerusalem. let's get the rest of the day's news in london. thousands of pro—palestinian protesters have held demonstrations in one of the uk's busiest shopping districts in london before marching on trafalgar square. crowds of tens of thousands gathered for the latest in a series of large—scale demonstrations to demand an end to the bombardment of gaza. the protest comes amid demands by senior ministers, including prime minister rishi sunak, for a crackdown on any support shown for hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation in the uk. let's get the latest on that protest and joining me now from central london is our correspondence. talk is through what people are saying to you. what is happening where you are? ., , .,

are? thousands of people are here in trafaluar are? thousands of people are here in trafalgar square. _ are? thousands of people are here in trafalgar square. they _ are? thousands of people are here in trafalgar square. they are _ are? thousands of people are here in trafalgar square. they are asking, i trafalgar square. they are asking, it seems, for a ceasefire. i have talked to dozens of people this morning who have said to me that they are here peacefully. they want to protest peacefully. they say they want to protest peacefully. they say they wa nt to to protest peacefully. they say they want to see a ceasefire in palestine. i also asked them about the problem of possible extremists infiltrating these protests. they said, that wasn't true, they haven't seen any signs of that. one man i spoke to had said that manyjewish people have joined these protests to call for a ceasefire. as you know, thatis call for a ceasefire. as you know, that is not the line of the government's policy at the moment. the current policy of the british government is to call for pauses in israel's attacks on the gaza strip. people here are generally in good heart. they are shouting, making a lot of noise as you can see, waving flags, but so far it does seem to be extremely peaceful here, albeit very noisy. yesterday we heard from the chief rabbi of britain, who said

that he was very concerned about hate crimes at these protests. he said that it was difficult for the jewish community to see so many people marching in pro—palestine demonstrations, and that some of the comments that he had heard, some of the gestures that had been made, some of the flag—waving and some of the chance, had been extremely hurtful to british jews, the chance, had been extremely hurtful to britishjews, and he felt that the police should step in. mark rowley, the metropolitan police commissioner, has said that he will police to the line of the law. he said today that they would be looking at social media and face recognition, to make sure nobody does step over that line. rishi sunak, the prime minister, has also said that the laws for the police are sufficient. we said that the laws for the police are sufficient.— are sufficient. we can 'ust hear --eole are sufficient. we can 'ust hear people and h are sufficient. we can just hear people and see people - are sufficient. we can just hear| people and see people chanting are sufficient. we can just hear - people and see people chanting just behind you. many people have families, either in gaza or in jerusalem. have you managed to speak to anyone there? are they able to

get in touch with their relatives? we saw today at the front, at the bottom of nelson's column, there were pictures of photographs of children who had been allegedly killed in gaza. i spoke to one person who was in tears and said that they felt that this wasn't a relative but they felt total empathy with the people in gaza at the moment. today i haven't actually spoken to anybody who is directly affected by people who are struggling in gaza at this present time. �* p, struggling in gaza at this present time. �* ., , ., , time. but that update, stay with us here on bbc _ time. but that update, stay with us here on bbc news. _ hello there. tomorrow should be a drier day for most of the country with some sunshine around. tomorrow very unsettled, we are dominated by low pressure, this one bringing strong winds into biscay and the west coast of france, northern parts

of spain. around the base of that low see some stronger winds running through the english channel. again unfortunately affecting the channel islands. the winds gusting close to 50 miles an hour. lighter winds further north, especially in scotland and northern ireland, where it is turning drier, but quite cool air, particularly if you're stuck under the air, particularly if you're stuck underthe rain, and air, particularly if you're stuck under the rain, and there are heavy showers running along the south coast of england heading towards the dover straits as well. if you're going to be seeing some fireworks this evening you are looking at a bit drier in scotland and northern ireland. a few breaks in the cloud, not such good weather across much of northern england and north wales. so some rain here. the showers that are coming all the way from hampshire to kent could be heavy, possibly thundery, and there will be some gusty winds in there as well. not particularly ideal. those wins may tend to ease overnight as the low pressure, which has been bringing the wet weather, tends to move away. by the wet weather, tends to move away. by the time we get first thing tomorrow these are the temperatures. it could be quite a chilly start in scotland and northern ireland, a few

patches of mist and fog to clear away in the morning. a cloudy is for eastern scotland, eastern england a little bit of rain in the air. that should move away as the load moves away and we get more sunshine coming sunshine coming through. she was getting blown into western parts of scotland, not too many in northern ireland, if few coming over the irish she and western parts of england and wales. the strongest of the winds are going to be across the south, across southernmost parts of england and through the english channel, gust close to 40 miles an hour or so. channel, gust close to 40 miles an hour orso. lighterwinds channel, gust close to 40 miles an hour or so. lighter winds further north. there is temperatures, 11 to 13, probably a little bit warmer than today with the promise of some sunshine. bonfire night tomorrow evening, clearskies sunshine. bonfire night tomorrow evening, clear skies across the east, showers continue out towards the west. the week ahead not looking particularly stormy. not looking that windy or wet. we are going to find the weather front coming in from the atlantic by the middle part of next week, bringing some rain and may be some stronger winds. but ahead of that, the start of the week we will see some sunshine and

showers and most of the showers will be in the west.

this is bbc news, the headlines: hamas says 15 people are killed in an explosion at a un—run school, where displaced people were sheltering. israel says it's investigating the circumstances.

authorites at the rafah crossing say no foreign passport holders will leave gaza for egypt until the injured people in gaza's hospitals are allowed to travel through the crossing. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, meets regional leaders in jordan. they're pressing him to call for an immediate ceasfire. an earthquake in western nepal kills at least 157 people. houses are destroyed and people are digging through rubble to rescue others. hello from london, and frankie mccamley. at least 157 people are believed to have been killed in an earthquake in western nepal. the shallow quake of magnitude 5.6 hit the remote hill district of jajarkot, which is about 500 kilometres west of kathmandu. strong tremors were felt in the capital and in indian

cities including delhi. hospital officials in jajarkot said they were treating more than 40 injured people rescued from the rubble of their homes. live now to our bbc nepali correspondent ashok dahal who's in kathmandu. ashok, talk us through the latest. what do we know? the earthquake at midniaht what do we know? the earthquake at midnight that — what do we know? the earthquake at midnight that hit — what do we know? the earthquake at midnight that hit the _ what do we know? the earthquake at midnight that hit the western - what do we know? the earthquake at midnight that hit the western part - midnight that hit the western part of nepal has killed 157 and more than 300 people have been injured in the incident. 0ur than 300 people have been injured in the incident. our local correspondent who has visited the worst hit area recently told us people are staying outside the home in all weather as their houses are either damaged or collapsed. they complain of inadequate materials.

local authorities have asked people to stay outside for at least 24 hours as they are reporting minor aftershocks in the area. the worry is about distributing relief materials and rescue efforts. it is turning dark in nepal and electricity in many affected areas has been cut off. some more than 300 injured have been airlifted to facilities including in kathmandu and nepal's prime minister who witnessed the worst hit area this morning, has said he will announce more relief and relief materials to the victims and the government is also expected to take decisions about whether to take foreign aid

for the relief of the quake victims as nepal's neighbour india and china are proposing relief and humanitarian aid to the quake victims, the people of nepal. people are still afraid of aftershocks and major jolts are still afraid of aftershocks and majorjolts in the area and they are still panicking according to our local correspondent. just still panicking according to our local correspondent. just while you have been taught _ local correspondent. just while you have been taught and _ local correspondent. just while you have been taught and we _ local correspondent. just while you have been taught and we have - local correspondent. just while you l have been taught and we have been seeing pictures of the rubble, the devastation in the area. talk us through the area. how common are quakes like this in the region? nepal lies in a quake prone area. it is in the seismic belt between india and china. so, minor quakes are

common in nepal. a6 .3 magnitude quake had damaged many houses last month in the nearby area, and after 2015, seven .8 magnitude earthquake that killed nearly 9000 people in nepal, many aftershocks are still being reported. this aftershock was reported even last month, and nepal has observed many quakes. more than five above four magnitude. the major earthquake in the western part of the country, as it had been quite a long period in that area to release the power. long period in that area to release the ower. �* , long period in that area to release the ower. a ., ., ., the power. ashok dahal in kathmandu, thank ou the power. ashok dahal in kathmandu, thank you for— the power. ashok dahal in kathmandu, thank you for that _ the power. ashok dahal in kathmandu, thank you for that update. _ the power. ashok dahal in kathmandu,

thank you for that update. and - the power. ashok dahal in kathmandu, thank you for that update. and of - thank you for that update. and of course as we get more information on that earthquake we will bring you the latest on bbc news. just to let you know we will also bring you live on bbc news, live pictures in a amman as us secretary of state antony blinken is facing calls for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. there will be a speech in the next few minutes which we will bring to you live on bbc news. european commission president ursula von der leyen has made an unannounced visit to kyiv. she was there for talks with president zelensky on ukraine's efforts to join the european union. the commission will next week report on the progress made by ukraine and other countries in their bids for membership. kyiv hopes that — despite the ongoing war against invading russian forces — eu leaders will agree to open formal

accession negotiations at a summit in december. that would require the approval of all 27 eu nations — something that's not certain. i must say, you have made excellent progress. this is impressive to see. we will testify to this next week when the commission will present report on enlargement. i want to tell you how impressed we are by the reforms you've made in the midst of a war. you should never forget you are fighting an existential war, and at the same time, you are deeply reforming your country. you have reached many milestones, reforming yourjustice system, curbing the oligarchs' grip, tackling money—laundering and much more. this is the result of hard work, and i know that you are in the process

of completing outstanding reforms. if this happens, and i am confident ukraine can reach its ambitious goal of moving to the next stage in the accession process. 0ur reporter abdujalil abdurasulov sent this update from kyiv. there are signs that show that eu politicians believe that ukraine has met the criteria to start the accession process. in fact, the german foreign minister has said that she believed there will be... ukraine will start the formal process after the december summit. many here in ukraine are expecting this report, and they believe that finally their goal to join the eu at least we'll have a certain framework and timeframe, and they will start this process. there were seven conditions that

were indicated by the european union that ukraine must meet in order to become a formal... in order to start the formal process. in the past, they said that two of these requirements were met, but ukraine was still supposed to make more efforts to work on reforms of the constitutional court, to change its legislation, to work more on fighting the oligarchs, and support the minority rights. so, on wednesday, we will hear the report from the european commission. if it is positive, it is very likely that the eu will start this formal process after the summit in december. we do not have the exact timeframe at this moment. this is exactly what ukraine was demanding from the eu, give us a timeframe so we will know when we will be able tojoin the european union. at least what they will get now, they will have this formal

process to start talks with the european union and become a member in the future. that will be the starting point. as for the timeframe, i believe we might hear something in december, but probably even later. it is not necessarily coming during the summit. some of the eu countries were quite sceptical about ukrainejoining the eu, particularly hungry. particularly hungary. the prime minister of hungary was saying he does not believe that ukraine canjoin the european union while it is at war. it is very difficult to predict when it will happen, and also it is not certain, of course, that all 27 members of the european union will agree to start this formal process. we need to wait for the summit in december, even if this report that is coming out next week will be positive and will confirm that ukraine has met all the requirements that they set up for this country.

abdujalil abdurasulov with that update in kyiv. the british actor and comedian russell brand faces a further accusation of sexual assault. the claim is made in a lawsuit filed in the us state of new york. the accuser is a woman using the alias "jane doe". she claims mr brand assaulted her during the filming of the romantic comedy arthur in new york, 13 years ago. she says she was an extra in the film. several women have recently accused mr brand in the british media of sexual assault or inappropriate behaviour, but this is the first accusation filed in court. he has denied taking part in any non—consensual sexual activity. david willis reports. and i tried to get away from him... an investigation by the times, the sunday times and channel 4 reported claims of sexual assault on the part of russell brand involving four women, one of whom alleged he raped her at his home in los angeles.

he denies the allegations. these and this latest allegation all relate to a period when russell brand, seen here at the premiere of his film get me to the greek, was at the height of his hollywood stardom. now, an affidavit filed in new york alleges that russell brand exposed himself to an extra on the set of the film arthur. "the sexual assault happened later that same day "when i was in the bathroom", the affidavit continues. "mr brand entered after me and assaulted me, as a member "of the production crew, guarded the door from outside." it's the first such allegation to be levelled against russell brand in a lawsuit. he has yet to respond. what i seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations... shortly before the initial allegations came to light, he took to his youtube channel to maintain that all his relationships had been consensual. his latest accuser, who has maintained a career as an actor, is reported to be seeking

unspecified damages in return for psychological injuries suffered as a result of the assault. david willis, bbc news. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. in northern ireland, water pumping has started in the flooded areas of downpatrick. several towns were hit by heavy rain this week. but for many businesses it could be a while until they are able to assess the damage to their premises. as our northern ireland environment correspondent, louise cullen, reports. unprecedented, apocalyptic, and now the aftermath. after two days of drier weather, it is time to push the water back. the pumps have been working away for hours here, pumping thousands of litres two kilometres away from here. the water level has receded, but it has been far from a simple operation. the complications

we are encountering, obviously everyone has heard downpatrick is in a bowl, so there is a lot of floodwater draining down into the bowl. the water levels in the river are quite high, thankfully they have now subsided. this is as close as she can get to her shop floor. my stock is just floating about. it is very hard for a family business. we have been here for 100 years almost and my grandfather started it up. it is hard for everybody but we are a lovely community and we are trying our very best. the fire crew are amazing. it is just heartbreaking. and across the road the local pharmacist is starting his clean—up. we were here until the early hours of the morning while they were trying to save my premises, and it meant so much to me. and to the rest of our staff when they came in the next day. this is one of the main shopping

streets in this market town and with christmas barely seven weeks away, there is just one wish now on everyone's list. we need help, we need help now, we need somebody to come down here and say, we need that man who signs the cheques. croatia's foreign minister has been criticised for trying to kiss his german counterpart, annalena baerbock, at a ministerial summit in berlin. they shook hands before a group photo, but then gordan grlic radman appeared to move to kiss ms baerbock. she turned her head, so that they bumped cheeks. in croatia, mr radman's faced accusations of acting inappropriately. but he says colleagues always greet each other warmly, while acknowledging that, as he put it, �*maybe it came out awkwardly�*. my colleague tom brada has more details on the story and sent this update, from the newsroom. eu ministerial summits often don't generate headlines, but this moment at an eu foreign

ministers meeting in berlin has sparked some controversy. 0n the left, that is croatia's foreign minister, gordan grlic rudman, greeting his german counterpart, annalena baerbock, with a handshake followed by an extremely awkward attempted kiss. ms baerbock turns her head away and his kiss lands on her cheek. now, this happened on thursday, but it's only over the weekend that the video started to spread rapidly online. according to german media, mr grlic radman has already apologised and defended what happened as a warm human approach to a colleague and that it was maybe an awkward moment. for her part, ms baerbock has yet to comment, but the situation has been covered by both german and croatian press. for example, this is a translation of an online article from the german tabloid newspaper bild. the paper calls the incident a kiss attack and goes on to say that the embarrassing situation played out because mr

grlic radman had arrived late and that all the other ministers had already greeted one another and exchanged kisses. meanwhile, croatian media has picked up this tweet from former croatian prime minister who posted that forceful kissing of women is also called violence, isn't it? now many people are defending mr grlic radman, insisting that the incident has been blown out of proportion and the greetings with a kiss are a standard part of european culture. in colombia — the search continues for the father of liverpool footballer — luis diaz — who the government says has been kidnapped by left—wing rebels. the colombian forward's mother was released shortly after being seized by gunmen on saturday — but his father is still missing. officials say they expect him to be freed soon — but it's still a difficult time forfamily and friends. translation: luis is very much affected by this situation. -

he is very attached to his father, and a blow like this is hitting him very hard, as it is hitting all of his family members, as it is hitting all of us. this situation isn't easy for anyone. this is the first time we've been in a situation like this, and here we are waiting to see what is going to happen. the information we have is that he will be released. and, yes, we are waiting and waiting for things to be solved in a good way. if you could go back in time, say, 4.6 billion years and take a picture of our sunjust as it was being born, it might very well have looked like this. this is a very young star, in the constellation of orion. it's a new image from nasa's james webb space telescope. you can see pink and red jets shooting out from a dense disc of gas and dust.

the star is thought to be no more than 50,000 years old — but would have looked much the same as our sun at a similar age. the telescope, which launched two years ago, is in the sun's orbit, 1.5 million kilometres from earth. live now to drjenifer millard, astronomer at fifth star labs who can explain all to us. thank you forjoining us. break it down — what does this image show? what are we looking at? we are lookin: at what are we looking at? we are looking at a _ what are we looking at? we are looking at a newly _ what are we looking at? we are looking at a newly formed - what are we looking at? we are looking at a newly formed star, | what are we looking at? we are - looking at a newly formed star, she said, only a few tens of thousands of years old and stars form from collapsing clouds of gas and dust and as they are collapsing we preserve the way that these clouds are rotating, it kinda enhanced, so it's what we call the angular momentum, you have may see a ballet census spinning and that they bring in their arms

census spinning and that they bring in theirarms and census spinning and that they bring in their arms and start spinning faster, or if you spin around in a chair and faster, or if you spin around in a chairand bring in your legs faster, or if you spin around in a chair and bring in your legs and suddenly you spin faster. we are bringing in this cloud of gas and dust that starts to form a star and it spins faster and faster. but we have to get rid of some of the spinning because otherwise the star willjust spinning because otherwise the star will just fling spinning because otherwise the star willjust fling itself spinning because otherwise the star will just fling itself apart. spinning because otherwise the star willjust fling itself apart. the way this is done we think is through these amazing jets which are driven by a very powerful magnetic field and also the rotation of the staff. it looks spectacular, doesn't it? just looking at those photos. but on the grand scale of things, how important would you say this discovery is? this is amazing we have such a detailed image from the james webb space telescope because we have studied this object for about 25 years but not at the wavelengths we can with jay wst, nor with such fine detail, so it will allow us to fully understand how stars are behaving in the very early

days. stars are behaving in the very early da s. ,, ., stars are behaving in the very early da 5, ,, ., ., ., ., stars are behaving in the very early da s. ,, ., ., ., ., , days. star formation is something we are still trying — days. star formation is something we are still trying to _ days. star formation is something we are still trying to figure _ days. star formation is something we are still trying to figure out _ are still trying to figure out because it takes so long to happen. we can't watch it one star form, we have to take lots of different snapshots of different styles at different stages and build up a picture that way. but we can see that there are jets that came out at different points, that's why there are different bright points along thisjet, because we have are different bright points along this jet, because we have studied are different bright points along thisjet, because we have studied it so long we can see it evolving over time and all of this information helps us to understand how we get to stars. , g p, , helps us to understand how we get to stars. _ ,, stars. this james webb telescope, it was only released _ stars. this james webb telescope, it was only released last _ stars. this james webb telescope, it was only released last year. - stars. this james webb telescope, it was only released last year. it - stars. this james webb telescope, it was only released last year. it has i was only released last year. it has already been responsible for so many discoveries. just how powerful and how important would you say this piece of equipment is? yeah i would say the james webb telescope is a kind of once in a generation telescope. we don't get them very often because they are incredibly difficult to build, require decades of planning. this telescope was planned before we even launched

hubble and that was 30 years ago. with this —— with this telescope we can see parts of the universe we could never seen before. the very first stars and _ could never seen before. the very first stars and galaxies _ could never seen before. the very first stars and galaxies billions - could never seen before. the very first stars and galaxies billions of| first stars and galaxies billions of years ago, we are seeing things like this, we can see the asteroids and planets, everything. it is so sensitive this telescope that it can detect the heat of the bumblebee on the moon. it isjust incredible. and i can see so many more details. it is an absolutely amazing telescope and has been doing science 18 months and has been doing science 18 months and it seems like barely a week goes by without some incredible discovery that trying to break all of our theories, which can seem a little bit scary but we like it to test our theories because when something doesn't match up to what we think, to what we are seeing, that means there is new science we are about to discover about the universe. this is an incredible telescope and it will

be operating for ten or 20 years yet so there will be so much more to come out of it.— so there will be so much more to come out of it. very exciting, and very exciting _ come out of it. very exciting, and very exciting for _ come out of it. very exciting, and very exciting for your _ come out of it. very exciting, and very exciting for your industry, i l very exciting for your industry, i would imagine. doctorjenifer millard, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. just before we bring you the headlines in a few minutes, let's bring you live pictures coming from our camera in southern israel. these are live pictures looking towards gaza. you can see a big plume of smoke rising into the air. these picturesjust plume of smoke rising into the air. these pictures just coming plume of smoke rising into the air. these picturesjust coming in plume of smoke rising into the air. these pictures just coming in live to us. we will get more on the situation in both gaza and israel in the coming minutes and hours. stick with us for the latest on bbc news. and of course you can head to the bbc news live pages where our correspondence and reporters will be updating you with everything we know and the latest on what is happening. thousands of people... apologies, let's head to london where we are getting some more live pictures in

today, coming in from just around trafalgar square where thousands of people have been gathering. protesting, surrounding the gaza war, as we are expecting... and here we are expecting antony blinken, the us secretary of state, he's just about to give a press conference, give a speech, he is meeting representatives of arab nations in thejordanian capital of amman, and we will bring you that speech live on bbc news as they are just preparing to give that speech. let's listen in. translation: that reflect our

interests to — translation: that reflect our interests to protect _ translation: that reflect our interests to protect our - translation: that reflect our interests to protect our pupilsl translation: that reflect our- interests to protect our pupils from the destruction of war and work together continuously to stop this disaster that erupted on the 7th of october and actually evolved into the war that israel is waging against gaza. 0ur speech today was direct and comprehensive and in—depth and with all transparency it has reflected the stances in what should be done immediately to end this catastrophe. but it asserts our

mutual keenness, our involvement, actually, to stop what we can describe as a catastrophe that will haunt the region for generations, and we all wantjust and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two—state solution as a path for ensuring the security of the region for the palestinians, the israelis and the people of the region. also there were points of meeting and points of agreement between the us and the stances that the arab foreign ministers have actually expressed and these points included the importance of delivering humanitarian assistance, enough humanitarian assistance, enough humanitarian assistance, enough humanitarian assistance to gaza and protecting civilians, the importance

of adherence to international law and human rights and the displacement of palestinians off their land, and as we said before at their land, and as we said before at the arab league and we injordan and all the arab countries, we consider that this is a war crime that we will stop with all our strength. the arab countries, the arab world demand an immediate ceasefire that will end this war and end the killing of the innocent and the destruction it is causing. we don't accept that it is self defence. it is a raging war that is killing civilians, destroying their homes, their hospitals, there are schools, their hospitals, there are schools, their mosques and their churches. it cannot be justified under any pretext and it will not bring israel security. it will not bring the region piece. the killing must stop

and also israel immune from committing war crimes must stop. and please allow me now to switch to english. we cannot allow this war to undermine all that has been done to bring about a just peace to the region. with every missile unleashed on gaza, with every killing of a palestinian child, and israel has killed in this war more children than all verbal conflict since 2019, the whole region sinking in a sea of hatred that will define generations to come. that is already starting to manifest itself and expressions and acts of hatred in the region and the deplorable acts and expressions,

islamophobia and anti—semitism. and that's something that we all stand against unequivocally on principle and in accordance with our human values. this is not a religious war, it is not a war between muslims and jews, it is defined in its context and all our values, muslim, christian, jewish, or other human values dictate that we work for peace and we stop this madness and we do not allow for the very dangerous dehumanisation that we see. rachelshould dangerous dehumanisation that we see. rachel should not be allowed and cannot be allowed to destroy the lives of millions of people. we understand there is pain, nobody in their right mind will belittle the pain that was felt by israelis on october the 7th and that's been filled by palestinians and all of us, it doesn't matter who we are, arab, muslims, christians, jews,

human being, but again we cannot allow rage to determine where we go forward. we condemn the killing of all civilians, we condemn the killing of palestinian civilians, we condemn the killing of israeli civilians. 0n condemn the killing of israeli civilians. on october seven and before and after, regardless of nationality, as i said. 0ver before and after, regardless of nationality, as i said. over the situation in the west bank. again, killing and the violation of international law cannot continue there. settlers should not be allowed to rampage palestinian communities and kill innocents in the west bank. israeli soldiers who brought despicable humiliation on palestinians after illegally detaining them should be held accountable. palestinians and israelis deserve to live in peace, with dignity, with security and with freedom, from occupation and freedom from fear. 0nly freedom, from occupation and freedom from fear. only a just and lasting peace that chose the right to the

palestinian people of freedom and the state, jerusalem is the capital drawn on 1967 lines, israel will bring security to all. the priority now is to ending this war to saving innocent lives, preventing further destruction, restoring hope and to stopping the very dangerous dehumanisation. all lives matter to all of us. mr secretary, tony, who has a leading role to play in these efforts. and on it and on all of us, hold the very heavy responsibility of ending this catastrophe, achieving the just peace that is the right of every palestinian, every israeli, mother, child, fatherand that will ensure that none of them, orany that will ensure that none of them, or any other in the region will ever have to live the horrors that this vicious cycle of violence and war is

bringing. we will continue to