new help for women facing the menopause, counselling could soon be offered to help cope with the symptoms. and a loose manhole cover delays practice at the las vegas grand prix. the ferrari team boss says it's unacceptable. now let's continue our coverage in the middle east and we can go live to southern israel to our correspondent mark levin for the latest. thank you, frankie, once again. —— mark lowen. the un says a lack of fuel means aid cannot be brought into gaza from egypt. the relief agency for palestinians says they are almost �*begging for fuel�* — and should never have been put in that situation. juliette touma from you and rwa says an urgent shipment is needed as the

resumption of the telecommunications network. —— unrwa. also in gaza, the israeli military raided the strip�*s largest hospital, al—shifa, this week. but prime minister benjamin netanyahu told cbs news that there was no gunfight at the hospital because hamas leaders had, in his words, left shortly before the army arrived. israel says there's a hamas command centre at the site, but hasn't yet provided conclusive evidence. mr netanyahu also said that hostages could have been moved from the hospital. there's been violence too in the occupied west bank. the other part of the palestinian territories. the israeli army says its troops killed five gunmen during a raid in the city ofjenin. several palestinian news sources also say israeli soldiers entered the city's ibn sina hospital. and the israeli army says it's recovered the remains of a soldier held hostage by hamas, whose death the military had announced earlier in the week. the idf says noa marciano�*s body was recovered from a "structure adjacent to al—shifa hospital".

let's pick up on the dire humanitarian situation in gaza. live now to drjane crawley, a paediatrian based at oxford university, who helped train medical staff in gaza. we understand that you are planning originally to go back to gaza in a couple of weeks. juan i know we were meant to speak yesterday but we were interrupted by a news conference. first of all, and ask you about what you're hearing from your contacts in al—shifa hospital about what has been happening there. al-shifa hospital about what has been happening there.— been happening there. thanks for havin: me been happening there. thanks for having me here. _ been happening there. thanks for having me here. just _ been happening there. thanks for having me here. just a _ been happening there. thanks for having me here. just a segment l been happening there. thanks for| having me here. just a segment of the last 2a hours because of the communications blockade we have had nothing from our contacts but i can share a couple of things from a day or two ago. one is from al—shifa where we hear patients and staff are really trapped in their individual

departments. anyone moving around gets shot at by the israeli forces there. at the other hospital that is trying to keep functioning, al ahli, they are having a real nightmare with a total lack of blood. the problem is that the blood bank, the main blood bank in northern gaza is very close to shifa hospital and they simply can't access it, any ambulances going near that get shot at. consequently that has dire implications for, for example, and women, antenatal, haemorrhage before and after the delivery does occur and after the delivery does occur and happens very rapidly unless you can transfused those women immediately they will die and they are having that tragic situation on their hands. furthermore, any baby born premature is in real difficulty

now because generally most of those babies would have been referred to al nasser hospital where they have a premature baby unit but that can't happen right now. and they have no oxygen, they don't have incubators, and so the mortality for premature babies is going to be appalling. you mentioned al—ahli hospital, doctor crawley, which we understand is totally besieged by israeli forces. can ijust ask, you have been to al—shifa hospital several times in your career. can i ask firstly how your career. can i ask firstly how you feel when you have seen the images coming out of al—shifa of the premature babies out of incubators and doctors forced to perform operations without anaesthesia, using the lights on their phones, personally, has that affected you? it is deeply distressing. i really

can't say, it is just for both the patients and our colleagues, it is unspeakable. as a doctor you're always try and give the best for your patience. i can't imagine anything more ghastly than being in anything more ghastly than being in a situation with people in desperate need and not having the tools to do anything for them. quite apart from the fact that the places being besieged and everyone in immediate dangerfrom shooting. i have immense respect for the incredible dedication of the clinical staff there who are staying with their patients and providing the best care that they can under situations that i can't even imagine they are so awful. ~ . . i can't even imagine they are so awful. . , ., ., , awful. what about the photographs and video that _ awful. what about the photographs and video that is _ awful. what about the photographs and video that is coming _ awful. what about the photographs and video that is coming out - awful. what about the photographs and video that is coming out from i and video that is coming out from the israeli military in terms of

what they are found? they say they have found at al—shifa hospital, explosives, ammunition and ak—lfl assault rifles, a tunnel that they say they have now found. does that compute at all with what you have seen at all over your several visits to al—shifa over the years? fiaer seen at all over your several visits to al-shifa over the years? over the ears we to al-shifa over the years? over the years we have _ to al-shifa over the years? over the years we have never _ to al-shifa over the years? over the years we have never seen _ to al-shifa over the years? over the years we have never seen any - years we have never seen any evidence of any military activity in a hospital, period. and ifeel this israeli soldier who is finding ammunition, does thisjustify ammunition, does this justify bombing ammunition, does thisjustify bombing a hospital? does this justify raiding a hospital and interrogating patients, and basically killing patients because you are withholding proper clinical care from them? i would say definitely not.—

care from them? iwould say definitel not. �* . ., ., ., definitely not. and a humanitarian law hospital _ definitely not. and a humanitarian law hospital loses _ definitely not. and a humanitarian law hospital loses its _ definitely not. and a humanitarian law hospital loses its protected i law hospital loses its protected status and the geneva convention if it is used as a military site but the dispute deepens over whether indeed hammers have been using al—shifa hospital. we will wait to receive more evidence from the israelis, as they put it, as hamas continues to deny their presence was ever there. thank you very much indeed, doctorjane crawley, for your thoughts, indeed, doctorjane crawley, for yourthoughts, is indeed, doctorjane crawley, for your thoughts, is the operation continues inside al—shifa hospital we will continue to bring you up—to—date coverage from across this region. back to you in london, frankie. thanks, mark. former home secretary, suella braverman, says the government's attempt to revive its policy of sending asylum seekers to rwanda is a just a "tweaked version" of its previous plan. that plan was this week ruled unlawful by the supreme court. downing street says it will introduce emergency legislation to parliament in an effort to revive the policy. the conservative mp simon clarke

told the bbc�*s today program earlier that if the house of lords block emergency legislation — the prime minister should call an election. if it becomes clear that we cannot deliver this policy within the constraints of what the laws would allow, then that is an issue that i think we could take to the country and quite reasonably so. this is not a sort of trivial issue or an incidental one in the eyes of millions of voters. this is fundamental to their confidence, specifically in this government, but more broadly in the ability of the british state to govern britain, that we resolve it. our politcal correspondent peter saulljoins us now from westminster. we were just hearing because there of an election, could go that far? i suppose this is a very risky and extreme measure, you could say,

proposed by a former cabinet minister simon clarke. you look at his own personal majority in his middlesbrough constituency, just over 11,000, according to the current polls. he himself would be in trouble. shades perhaps of what borisjohnson did in 2019, calling a general election to solve the impasse over brexit. small boats are very important issue to lots of voters but perhaps not quite as as that one, britain was my departure from the european union as then was. but it speaks to the fractious sense of the conservative backbenches right now. an awful lot for them to dojust this week, right now. an awful lot for them to do just this week, the reshuffle on monday, david cameron being brought back into the fold, then on wednesday that supreme court ruling on the rwanda policy which was a major setback to the government, ministers saying they will still press ahead with it, introduce emergency legislation. and then we have the former home secretary suella braverman in her head up again and saying that's not enough and making a series of suggestions

in the daily telegraph this morning, number one that the uk should have observers in rwanda to make sure they are addressing some of the concerns of the supreme court. number two that they should amend, the government, the existing illegal migration act to ignore some elements of both domestic and international law as regards human rights and refugees, something that has prompted another very senior conservative mp damian green who it was effectively theresa may's deputy when she was prime minister, to equate what suella braverman is suggesting to the actions of what president putin or spresently xi jinping might do. a big row is brewing in the conservative party over all of this —— present xi jinping. suella braverman suggested that mps should cancel their christmas and sit in parliament over the christmas period to get the legislation passed. not sure that will go down well with a lot of her colleagues, even if her supporters

believe this is a very important issue that the government needs to address. we issue that the government needs to address. ~ , ., ., issue that the government needs to address. ~ , . ., , address. we 'ust heard a few minutes auo address. we 'ust heard a few minutes a . o from address. we just heard a few minutes ago from one — address. we just heard a few minutes ago from one of— address. we just heard a few minutes ago from one of our— address. we just heard a few minutes ago from one of our reporters - address. we just heard a few minutes ago from one of our reporters out - address. we just heard a few minutes ago from one of our reporters out in l ago from one of our reporters out in calais speaking to migrants who have been saying to us that even with this plan to deport people to rwanda, it's not going to stop them from crossing the channel. how will comments like that to be going down in westminster? this comments like that to be going down in westminster?— comments like that to be going down in westminster? this has always been the adamant — in westminster? this has always been the adamant against _ in westminster? this has always been the adamant against it, _ in westminster? this has always been the adamant against it, that _ the adamant against it, that actually it will not make that much difference. the government says what you need is a strong deterrent in place and until that deterrent is up and running and you are seeing flights taking off to rwanda then people will not think twice about taking that dangerous journey across the english channel. lots of potential barriers still in place. we have already talked about the potential opposition in the house of lords, the fact it has still got to go through the courts. it is a big question as to whether this actually gets up and running in time for the

general election. suella braverman says unless there are major changes to the government's approach the no. some ministers are hopeful this will happen in time for the spring of next year but the consistent line from opposition parties is this is an expensive gimmick, frankly, that it will not make any difference on the ground, even if it does eventually get up and running. certainly the conservatives are very keen to put across the point that in government they are aware that this is a massive issue for voters and they are prepared to do what it takes to actually address it. peter sauu takes to actually address it. peter saull in westminster, _ takes to actually address it. peter saull in westminster, thank- takes to actually address it. peter saull in westminster, thank you l takes to actually address it. peter saull in westminster, thank you for the update and we will follow that story closely throughout the day on bbc news. let's stay here in the uk. women could soon be offered counselling to help cope with the symptoms of menopause. updated draft guidance for the nhs by the watchdog nice, says it could be offered alongside, or instead of, hormone replacement therapy. with more on this we can go live to the newsroom and speak with our health reporter michelle roberts. i'm just reading your article online, just behind you as well, and

in that article you mentioned that critics are calling this disappointing. why is that? they have said that. _ disappointing. why is that? they have said that. the _ disappointing. why is that? iie: have said that. the new disappointing. why is that? tie: have said that. the new guidance, disappointing. why is that? tial:1 have said that. the new guidance, is the first time in almost a decade that new recommendations are being put out. one of the key changes is offering something called cognitive behavioural therapy, which is talking therapy to help with symptoms like hot flushes, sleep problems and low mood. critics say the overall advice is quite disappointing in terms of offering something that may be an alternative to hrt drug treatment. but proponents of it say actually it gives people more choice. so the body that looked at making the recommendations looked at all the available evidence and they say that cbt, this talking therapy, does seem to help some women. so if people would like to try that instead as

well as taking different types of hrt then that is now possible on the nhs. :, :, , ~', nhs. there are a few risks when it comes to taking _ nhs. there are a few risks when it comes to taking hrt. _ nhs. there are a few risks when it comes to taking hrt. talk - nhs. there are a few risks when it comes to taking hrt. talk as - nhs. there are a few risks when it comes to taking hrt. talk as to i nhs. there are a few risks when it | comes to taking hrt. talk as to the background that all those who may not be aware of the drug. there are lots of different _ not be aware of the drug. there are lots of different formulations - not be aware of the drug. there are lots of different formulations and i lots of different formulations and ways of taking it, there are tablets, gels, patches and they contain slightly different things depending on what thing has been prescribed. somejust depending on what thing has been prescribed. some just contain one home hormone, oestrogen, some have a hormone, oestrogen and progesterone. it is important you talk with your doctor if you are considering taking something like this. certainly if you still have a womb that you recommend taking combined, the oestrogen and progesterone because progesterone helps protect against endometrial cancer, womb cancer, which there is a slightly increased risk in women if they do take hrt but it is a very low level risk. would you say this feels a bit of a shift for nice to focus on female

problems? do you think it will be welcomed by female groups that problems like the menopause may be seen as being taken more seriously now? :, , , seen as being taken more seriously now? . , , ., :, :, ., now? there has been a lot of media attention in — now? there has been a lot of media attention in the _ now? there has been a lot of media attention in the last _ now? there has been a lot of media attention in the last few _ now? there has been a lot of media attention in the last few years - attention in the last few years about hrt, particularly because there has been some shortages of medication and lots of campaigns trying to raise awareness and improve access to it. certainly nice, this body that advises the nhs, has looked at the issue for many, many years. but this update will be welcomed by many because it gives more clarity about the risks versus benefits which is always important to consider if you are taking some medication. really interesting- _ taking some medication. really interesting. thank _ taking some medication. really interesting. thank you, - taking some medication. really| interesting. thank you, michelle roberts, our health reporter, and you can read more on that on our online pages. as many people will be aware the christmas season is not too far away and businesses across the uk are getting ready to send out thousands of parcels and packages.

and of course, amazon will be one of them. its distribution centres are increasingly reliant on robots and technology. but bosses say there will always be a role for humans, as laurel foster reports. imagine having one of these for a colleague —— laura roberts mark foster. now imagine working with 3000 of them. theirjob is to move 30,000 yellow stacking pots filled with amazon products to people who then put them into packages. products to people who then put them into packages-— products to people who then put them into packages. when they come on the floor, we into packages. when they come on the floor. we can — into packages. when they come on the floor, we can see _ into packages. when they come on the floor, we can see the _ into packages. when they come on the floor, we can see the floor _ into packages. when they come on the floor, we can see the floor here, - floor, we can see the floor here, they have a special qr bar code so they have a special qr bar code so they are aware where they need to 90, they are aware where they need to go, so it is not like somebody signing them, they know by themselves where they need to go. the products are not laid out like a supermarket, they are alljumbled up and the aisles are constantly moving, only the robots know where everything is kept. when you are in

this robotic zone you have to wear this robotic zone you have to wear this special jacket and this robotic zone you have to wear this specialjacket and this emits a radio frequency which means although all these robots are moving around you they can't get close to you that they won't hit you. the products are then picked and parcelled up by hand. it involves eight miles worth of conveyor belts. more than 2500 people work here at the moment but they are about to recruit 500 more for the busy festive season. i asked whether it will get to a point where robots replace people here entirely. in my lifetime i don't think that we'rejust going to in my lifetime i don't think that we're just going to see robots or anything like that. and so there is always going to be people. we have more people in this building even though we work with robots and there is always going to be a hands—on approach with our people. each is always going to be a hands-on approach with our people. each of these robots _ approach with our people. each of these robots can _ approach with our people. each of these robots can lift _ approach with our people. each of these robots can lift the _ approach with our people. each of| these robots can lift the equivalent of a grand concert piano, which gives you an indication of how many

orders are expected between now and the end of the year. laura foster reporting. analysis by the bbc suggest the government's plan to expand free childcare for working parents in england could make nursery and childminder places increasingly hard to find. demand is likely to rise by the equivalent of 100,000 more spaces by the time the scheme fully rolls out in september, 2025 — as our education reporter, vanessa clarke, explains. do you want mummy to do this? sophie isjuggling herfinal year at university, work and a busy two—year—old. oh, dear. from april, she will have 15 hours of child care paid for by the government to help. but the nursery is full, so she can't extend the days daisy is in, even though she works there. so it would have been nice to maybe have a day off to work on my uni work. i've got the parent's point of view of it, where i was really happy and really excited and then, in reality,

i knew there wouldn't be that extra room for her. a full—time nursery place for a two—year—old now costs around £15,000 a year in england. help for working parents is being extended to include younger children, but waiting lists are already growing. i'm looking at february 2025 before i can even look at potentially offering one or two days. we're very fortunate to have a waiting list at both our settings, but that could have a big impact on parents who do want those extra hours. and i think sometimes the government do react to things and don't plan adequately and then we have to then respond by trying then to fit in parents and keep people happy. so i think they really need to be sort of working with us more, talking to us about how this can work and giving us the information upfront so we can plan and budget and forecast for our future. the bbc has estimated that the government's expansion of funded hours will cause demand for spaces in nurseries and childminders to increase by around 15%.

that's the equivalent of 100,000 more children in full—time care by the time the scheme fully rolls out. this is going to be a challenging increase, but it's not completely unfeasible. my best guess, by september 2025, there will be an awful lot of parents who will be benefiting from their reduced childcare costs and with substantial impacts on their family finances. so i think we'll see a lot of happy parents and we'll also see a number of unhappy parents, as well, seeking to find those places. in order for the plans to work, experts say the amount the government pays providers needs to be right and there needs to be enough space in nurseries and childminders to cope with the extra demand. we're going to do a few signs. for the sector to expand, it needs to overcome its biggest challenge — staffing. thousands are leaving every year.

here at busy bees, the largest nursery group in the uk, apprentices are key — many fresh out of school. i chose to come to busy bees and start childcare because i thought it would be the best option, because it gave me the best qualifications and the best start to hopefully becoming a speech and language therapist. there are 1,300 apprentices training here and many more are needed. the company is looking to grow and recruit another 1,500 over the next two years. we have am 8,000—strong workforce, as we speak, we tend to build on that to meet the capacity. the apprenticeship scheme is a really, really fruitful way of doing that. but even here, there's a similar warning to parents. my view from that is get their name registered because childcare places will be hard to come by in the future. the government says this is the single biggest investment in childcare in england's history and it is rolling it out in stages to give childminders and nurseries time to prepare for the changes so there is enough places ready.

that roll—out begins injust six months' time — a welcome promise to many working parents, but concern that it may leave some behind. vanessa clarke, bbc news, bolton. let's head to iceland where its biggest bulldozer is heading to a small fishing town threatened by a major volcanic eruption. the vehicle is being used to build defences to stop alaba destroying key buildings will stop if the volcano does erupt near to the town of grindavik, thousands of people have been moved from their homes. it's after hundreds of small earthquakes in recent days. our correspondent jessica parker has flown over the volcano in a helicopter and sent us this report.

there are some places you can only fly to. this land of steaming volcanoes is one of them. dormant for 800 years, eruptions began in this area in 2021. this looked like this two years ago. the difference now is the earth—shattering effects on a community. we are now flying over the evacuated town of grindavik and, looking down, the streets are completely empty. ripped apart by earthquakes, there are fears volcanic lava could cause even more destruction. the coastguard do a quick supply drop to their colleagues out at sea. this is all part of the icelandic authorities constantly monitoring the area around where they think the volcanic eruptions may occur. they don't know when that could happen. it could be days, it could be weeks. it's thought the 15km tunnel of magma runs right under this ridge. the possible eruptions led to defences being built up around a geothermal plant. ultimately, we have to be, as we've been doing for many years now,

planning for volcanic activity, planning aggressively to be able to defend areas, to increase monitoring, and this is exactly where we are. we're almost at war with mother nature yet again in iceland. the anxious wait has hit tourism, too. no—one's bathing in the famous blue lagoon spa. closed for now, its waters are empty as iceland readies for another violent recreation from the earth. jessica parker, bbc news, the reykjanes peninsula. just before we go, let's show you live pictures coming from iceland right now. this is our camera looking across that land of volcanoes jessica looking across that land of volcanoesjessica parker was talking about in grindavik, looking calm as it is right now, and you canjust about see the ridge she was talking about. that tunnel of magma is believed to be flowing underground. now it's time for a look

at the weather with darren. hello there. it looks like being a pretty good day for most of us today. the weather is going to change in time for the weekend, mind you. but for the rest of the day, a lot of dry weather to come. the showers in the west continuing to fade away and there'll be some spells of sunshine as well. but if we look at the satellite picture, you can see all this cloud here in the atlantic that's spilling its way towards the uk. and will bring very different weather overnight and into saturday. the cloud already beginning to push into the south—west of england, wales, later towards northern ireland. but ahead of that through the afternoon, plenty of sunshine around. it should be dry. temperatures making double figures in england and wales. still a bit chilly in the north—east of scotland. and here there could be an early frost, but early because the cloud is coming in from the southwest, that's bringing rain. it'll bring some stronger winds and push the temperatures up as well. somr quite heavy rain actually for a while over the moors of the southwest, the hills of south wales, and these are the temperatures by the end of the night.

so a very mild start to the weekend. but things are going to look very different from today because we've got this weather front bringing the rain. it's wrapped around that area of low pressure. that's also bringing in some stronger winds, but it's actually bringing in air all the way from the tropics. and that's why it's going to be so mild to start the weekend. but a cloudy start with some rain around. still some heavy bursts of rain here and there. you see how it slowly pushes down towards the south—east, up towards northeastern scotland. away from these areas we should get some sunshine after the rain. showers, though, coming into northern ireland and particularly western scotland. those could be quite heavy. and it will be pretty windy out there as well. we're likely to have gales through the irish sea and around some western coasts, but it is very mild air. so temperatures could reach 15, possibly even 16 degrees along the south coast of england. now, with that weather front and the band of rain out of the way for the second half of the weekend, we've still got that area of low pressure close by and it still could have around it some thicker clouds, some showers or some longer spells of rain, mainly for the northern half of the uk where it's

not quite so windy. further south, the winds are certainly going to be strong, but at least there'll be some sunshine outside of those showers. and whilst not quite as mild, temperatures still are going to be 13 degrees. now, the wind direction changes early next week. more of a north or north—westerly, bringing in a lot of cloud to start next week, but also dropping the temperatures for a while.

live from southern israel. this is bbc news.

the un says it's almost "begging for fuel" in gaza and should never be in that situation. it says supplies cannot be brought in, or distributed. israel's prime minister says hamas commanders were inside gaza's largest hospital, but fled just before the military raided it. the israeli army says it's recovered the body of a second woman taken hostage by hamas, as troops continue to search in and around al—shifa hospital. i'm frankie mccamley in london. the other headlines: the chancellor says there's no guarantee that flights deporting asylum seekers to rwanda will take off next year. new support for women facing the menopause. counselling could soon be offered to help cope with the symptoms. and a loose manhole cover delays practice at the las vegas grand prix. the ferrari team boss says it's unacceptable.