this is bbc news, the headlines... israel's prime minister meets his war cabinet to discuss need details of a deal that would see hamas release at least 50 hostages leaders of the brics group of emerging economies — call for an an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce in gaza. and the inspiring and influential women joining forces in an attempt to end child marriage around the globe. will come back, i'm lewis vaughan jones. will come back, i'm lewis vaughan jones. a, ., will come back, i'm lewis vaughan jones. ., ., ., , ., , more on our top story now — israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has been meeting with his war cabinet and government to discuss the details of a deal to free at least 50 of the hostages held by hamas

and other groups in gaza. a senior israeli official told the bbc that in return, israel would pause its attacks on hamas forfour days, while a us official says some palestinian prisoners would also be released. will so what about those prisoners held by israel — who may be released under the deal? earlier i spoke to sari bashi, programme director at human rights watch, who's based in the occupied west bank. she gave me her reaction to the negotiations. any development that would lead to civilian hostages being returned in particular, mothers and children would be welcome. i do have to say, though, that human beings are not bargaining chips. hamas and islamichhad are required to immediately and unconditionally release all civilian hostages men, women and children. this shouldn't have

to wait for a deal. the deal itself — and i will underline every time i say we're we're not in any position of any confirmation, but we're just reporting what we're hearing so far from various officials involved. but this potential deal, if it does happen with the rough numbers that have been talked around 50 or so. what do you read into that? so my concern is that throughout this conflict, since october 7th, all parties have been using civilians as bargaining chips. this all began with an unlawful attack on israeli civilians by hamas led fighters. it's continuing with the unlawful holding of almost 240 hostages, including many, many civilians. and the israeli military has been bargaining for allowing in life—saving fuel into gaza. there have been reports that the israeli military is going to trade x number

of litres of fuel into gaza in exchange for hostages. that's all wrong. the israeli military is required to allow life—saving humanitarian supplies into gaza for civilians. and hamas and islamichhad are required to release unconditionally and immediately all civilian hostages because civilians have to be kept out of the fighting. they have to be protected. one report we've been hearing is that potentially part of this deal would be the release of palestinians currently being held by israel. one report we've been hearing is that potentially part of this deal would be the release of palestinians currently being held by israel. what do we know about that? so the israeli authorities are holding almost 7000 palestinian security prisoners or political prisoners. that includes 2000 people who have been convicted. 2000 people who are in pre—trial detention, which under the military justice system, can be extremely long. sometimes the pretrial detention is longer than the maximum sentence that one could serve

for the crime if convicted. and they're also holding a record high of 2000 people in what's called administrative detention, which is detention without trial based on secret evidence that neither the person detained nor their lawyer can see. among those detainees, there are about 200 women and about 60 children. we have serious concerns about lack of due process protections, both for the people who are convicted in military courts, as well as for people who are being held without trial, in some cases indefinitely. the world health organization says one of its employees has been killed in gaza. she was killed alongside her six—month—old baby, in gaza. she was killed alongside hersix—month—old baby, her in gaza. she was killed alongside her six—month—old baby, her husband and two brothers, who were all sheltering in the same house. more than 100 un workers have been killed since the war broke out last month.

the leaders of the brics group of emerging economies have called for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce in gaza. the statement by the countries, which include brazil, russia, india, china and south africa, was issued after a virtual meeting aimed at coming up with a common response to the conflict. china's president called for the release of civilian detainees and an immediate ceasefire. south african president, cyril ramaphosa, who chaired the summit, accused israel of committing genocide in gaza. the collective punishment of palestinian civilians through the unlawful use of force by israel is a war crime. the deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food and water to the residents of gaza is tantamount to genocide. meanwhile, south african members of parliament have voted to close the israeli embassy in

pretoria and to suspend all diplomatic relations until israel agrees to a ceasefire and commits to negotiations. the governing african national congress — which dominates parliament — has long been a strong supporter of the palestinian cause and compares the situation to its own struggle during the apartheid years. for the latest — i spoke earlier to our correspondent in johannesburg, daniel de simone. the vote took place a little earlier this afternoon here in south africa. the motion was actually proposed by one of the opposition parties, but it was ultimately backed by the ruling african national congress, albeit they added an amendment and the motion called for the closure of the israeli embassy here and the suspension moon of all diplomatic relations. what the amendment that was added by the anc said until they basically want those measures to be taken, until such time as there's a cease fire and israel commits to un led binding negotiations.

the motion that was passed isn't binding on the government here. but as you as you've heard, president cyril ramaphosa has... about his criticisms of israel's actions in gaza. he previously referred israel to the international criminal court. south africa removed its diplomats from israel quite recently, and last night, in advance of this vote, israel actually recalled its ambassador from south africa to south africa, back to israel — for what it called what it said were consultations. and just give us a flavor of the the the history, i suppose, of the history, i suppose, the broader, longer political context here. so there's longstanding links going back decades really between the african national congress and and palestinian groups. they were both part of what they would have seen themselves

as revolutionary movements back in back in the 60s, seventies. and then the african national congress took over power in south africa nearly 30 years ago. it's then carried on with this close relationship with with palestinian groups, particularly with particularly notjust with not particularly necessarily with hamas, but it has like a long standing affinity. so when the october seventh attacks took place in israel, south africa has condemned that. cyril ramaphosa today said that that was itself a war crime, but he's been particularly then vocal about israel, saying that israel is committing war crimes, israel is committing genocide. the relationship between the two countries is now really, has really collapsed. we're waiting to see what israel says in response to developments today, but i think it's hard to see where the relationship goes from here at the moment.

china—myanmar border — online and telephone scammers china targeting criminal gangs on the myanmar side and 31,000 people suspected of involvement, handed to china. 31,000 suspects caught supposedly involved in these online and telephone scams. it gives you a real sense of the scale of these operations, these criminal operations in myanmar. the chinese government estimates that billions of us dollars are lost to these scammers each year in the tens of thousands of cases. so, yes, the number is extraordinary. they've been handed over the last couple of months. china in september had a really

concerted effort to try and crack down on these border areas. we're talking areas bordering yunnan province in china, myanmar. and china has tried to crack down on those areas. also, what's happened in the last couple of months is been there's been an uptick in violence between the burmese army and ethnic groups with inside myanmar. and that seems to have spurred on a lot of the news operations being forced out into the open. and so a lot of the people involved being thrown into the authorities hands and then handed over to the chinese. but really an extraordinary number, as you say there. and just very quickly, talk us through what exactly are these scams? do we know? a whole range of scams from basic ones involving people purporting to be bank employees, telecom employees, credit card companies, just asking people to hand over the details to some longer ones involving more elaborate scams in which people are are drawn out over a period of time.

so, for example, people might be encouraged to invest in bogus investment schemes, cryptocurrency, that kind of thing, or even dating, online dating scams where people pretend to be attracting or looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend. so a long — a whole range of different scams and lots of money involved. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. cheap street, slow down when the call comes you have received all my mail. pcso brooks has got to be quick. you have received all my mail. she's chasing after hundreds of pounds worth of designer handbags. managed to catch up with him, and goods were recovered to the value ofjust over £300.

and house of fraser. it's a problem the store is taking seriously. have facial recognition cameras on each of the doors. _ so as people come in, it picks up a face. - if you have committed i a crime in store before. we will get an alert to say this face has come in. - some, like lots of the security guards now know the faces to look out for. sometimes even he's surprised there is a woman recently sometimes even he's surprised. there is a woman recently who is in a hostel because she'd been in an abusive relationship and she came in stealing food for her son. he was in a pushchair and i felt really bad for her. i paid for it. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. an estimated 12 million girls around the world are married under the age of eighteen every year — that's one girl every three seconds. now three well—known faces have joined forces to try to tackle the issue. michelle obama, amal clooney and melinda french gates say they want to end child marriage around the globe in less than a generation. megha mohan, bbc world service gender and identity correspondent, joined them

on theirfirst field visit together to malawi, a country where 42% of girls marry under the age of 18, for a bbc 100 women exclusive. # welcome, welcome, welcome... it's not everyday that some of the best—known women in the world pop into your class. they are here at a school in central malawi, in a district where a third of girls fall pregnant under 18. they are collaborating to fund local projects with the aim of keeping more girls in school. this is an urgent issue, and we can do better. this is an issue that can be solved tomorrow if all the world leaders got together and made it a priority. it wouldn't take 300 years, it can happen in less than a generation. in malawi it is illegal to marry under the age of 18, but since the law was introduced six years ago there have been very few prosecutions.

the human rights lawyer amal clooney outreach is a practical solution. we are in malawi and we are so excited to be able to learn what you need from lawyers. her foundation funds female lawyers across the continent. giving people access to the courts, this is what we do, is fight for girls' rights in the courtroom, that's a big piece, but we are not naive enough to think that's the only piece. you have to form alliances and really fight against these kinds of injustices with the determination it takes to win a war. we may have a bit of a technical problem with that report but we'll get more. i problem with that report but we'll aet more. , .,

problem with that report but we'll aet more. ., ~ get more. i spoke with an african engagement _ get more. i spoke with an african engagement officer _ get more. i spoke with an african engagement officer for _ get more. i spoke with an african engagement officer for girls - get more. i spoke with an african l engagement officer for girls rights. write to the global partnership to end child marriage with over 11100 members across the globe. the majority of our members are actually in africa. and what michel said about social norms is indeed and what michelle said about social norms is indeed a social norms issue. in fact, child marriage, what is at the root cause of it is gender inequality. so if we continue to put less value on girls, instead of putting all the value that we need to put on them, we will continue to see child marriage rising. so how do you how do you change that? is that is that in schools, you change it because it's so strongly ingrained in so many areas. yeah, absolutely. it has to be a change of mindset. and this is going to happen over and over many, many years. so thinking, changing that mindset, using traditional and religious leaders to continue to show people the devastating consequences of child marriage is what is really going to make that change happen. and at the community level,

we see so many experts who know what their challenges are and also are aware of the solutions that they need to take to be able to ensure that child marriage. to ensure that child marriage ends in our generation, we work with so many members at the community level, for example, girls, not brides in malawi who are really championing to make sure that laws are harmonized, to make sure that girls have access to education, quality health care. so it's really exciting that the three ladies have come together to join in this fight against child marriage. i'm probablyjust worth reflecting again on the scale of one and probablyjust worth reflecting again on the scale of one of these marriages taking place every three seconds. sounds extraordinary. yeah, i know. it's quite unimaginable, but this is this is the reality. and it's a reality because if we don't address child marriage and gender inequality, which is the root cause, it's actually costing us trillions and trillions of dollars. and this was demonstrated by the world bank in 2018 when they did a research to show

that the economic cost of child marriage is actually causing us a lot of trouble. it's our problem. michelle was saying it is everyone's problem. but i think more importantly, it's the human cost. denying the rights and the choices of girls is really what we're talking about. the palestinian football team play australia later today in kuwait in a game that was to be held in the west bank but was relocated after the start of the war in gaza. players on australia's national team are donating part of their match fees to humanitarian causes in gaza. you get to let my reports from gaza. stuck in gaza, displaced, under the threat of bombardment. ibrahim abuimeir should have been

on a football pitch, training for the world cup qualifiers with the rest of the palestinian team. this is what's left of his home after a bombing struck the adjoining house and killed more than a dozen of his neighbours. translation: 17 people died here. we found only one of the bodies intact. the others were ripped apart. two bodies are still under the rubble. we haven't been able to dig them out. we've had to identify people from parts of their bodies. my grandparents were injured. it took us two days to pull them out. his grandfather has recovered now, but a daily struggle for water and food continues. amid the grief of war, there's also heartache of losing out on the opportunity of a lifetime... ..in a sport where careers usually have a short span. ibrahim was described as one

of the stars of the palestinian defence by his team's trainer. translation: i haven't played for 44 days. - each day gets harder than the previous one, and i'm constantly scared for my life. away from gaza, in the west bank, we met one of the palestinian national team's trainers, ehab abujazar. his father died of an illness in gaza on the second day of the war. he wasn't able to attend the funeral. ahab's family is moving from one place to another for safety. thousands of people have been killed in gaza. amidst these circumstances, why is it important that the palestinian team play football? translation: football. is notjust a game for us. it is a matter through which we strive for our independence. it's a symbol of our resistance and our aspiration to achieve an officially recognised state for every palestinian.

war sweeps up everything in its path. ibrahim feels grateful to have survived so far, but it is a bleak life without the sport that gave it meaning. yogita limaye, bbc news, ramallah. we'll have all the latest updates coming up at the top of the hour on bbc news. england's chief medical officer, professor sir chris witty, has told the covid inquiry that the first lockdown in march 2020 was imposed a bit too late, but that the government had "no good options" at the time. he said public health issues — such as loneliness, depression and the risk of aggravating poverty, meant it was important to be cautious. here's our health editor hugh pym. a household name and a central figure in the battle against covid. sir chris whitty was questioned on key events in the crisis.

the inquiry focussed on the early days injanuary, with the virus threat emerging. sirjonathan van—tam, deputy chief medical officer in england, had warned of a significant pandemic. sir chris had said hold on and wait for more data. i don't see what i would have done differently, at this particular point. if i had said to him, ok, what's the evidence on which this is going to be a pandemic, and lots of other things aren't, he would have said, this isjust, this feels like that to me — that is quite a narrow basis on which to make quite big decisions. by march 2020, the virus was spreading fast and lockdown loomed. sir patrick vallance, the chief scientific adviser, wanted to go earlier, but sir chris wanted to weigh things up. the risk of going too early, in which case you get all the damages from this with fairly minimal impact on the epidemic, and the risk of going too late, in which case you get all the problems of the pandemic running away. now as we will, i am sure, come

on to, my view is with the benefit of hindsight we went a bit too late on the first wave. sir chris conceded that major sporting events which went ahead, like the cheltenham racing festival, gave the impression of normality. with hindsight, things could have been done differently. and what about the relationship between scientists and politicians? sir chris was clear that big decisions like lockdown were for ministers. i think they are clearly ones that only an elected politician within a democratic system at least can reasonably finally make. we can give advice of a technical nature as to what would happen in this situation or that one, but ultimately these are political decisions. this week is largely about leading scientists and health officials and from next week it is the turn of key politicians from that time, including matt hancock, borisjohnson, and rishi sunak. add a thought for them from sir chris, the system should take the threat of natural disasters as seriously as security threats.

hugh pym, bbc news. the bbc has announced that the hit show — top gear — will not return to our screens for the foreseeable future after one of the programme's presenters, freddie flintoff, was seriously injured during a crash while filming last december. our media and arts correspondent david sillito reports. that looks very, very dangerous. top gear, and freddie flintoff... 0h, here we go. ..the car show�*s charismatic daredevil. here — dramatically running out of road. but in december of last year there was an accident at the dunsfold park track in surrey that left him with serious facial injuries. filming of the show came to an end, and even months later, freddie's injuries are still visible. however, little is known about what actually happened that day. his co—host chris harris told bbc breakfast that everyone had agreed to say nothing. he's healing, you know? it was a serious incident, i'm not going to say any more than that, and i'm so proud of the fact that team top gear kept everything quiet. even the report into the accident is not being made public.

however, a wider, independent investigation into the show�*s safety policies concluded procedures were followed. nevertheless, the uk show is being shelved — the word "rested" is the official phrase. but the original stig who worked with clarkson and co in the noughties thinks the programme may be facing more than just a little lie—down. i personally don't think it's a little rest, i think the programme has been laid to rest. i think that there's no appetite from certain quarters inside the bbc to continue with the show. i'm not happy about it from a commercial perspective, i think it's the completely wrong decision. of course, top gear has been written off in the past. the old comfy, cardigan—clad consumer show... and maryjohns has been having a spot of trouble changing her plugs. ..was saved from cancellation whenjeremy clarkson added comedy and some terrifying risk—taking. and the show�*s international variants will continue.

this is the italian approach. mamma mia!! 0h! and this is top gear, french—style. oh! — si, si, mais... but it's the end for now for the uk version. the bbc has reached a financial settlement with freddie flintoff and top gear, one of the corporation's best—known programmes, is now officially "at rest" for the foreseeable future. david sillito, bbc news. bleep, bleep. stay with us here on bbc news good evening. we've had a lot of dry weather around today, but quite a bit of cloud. even if it's just been high cloud in the north, it's starting to thicken up now, with the skies becoming overcast this evening and overnight in the north, with some rain and some heaviest rain as well heavy—ish rain as well across the highlands of scotland, whilst in contrast, showers in the south will clear the winds

that we've had all day ease away. so we could see not only some fog around by morning, but some ground frost and some ice on the cars. and you can see the rain does stretch into parts of north wales and northern england. but look at the contrast. temperatures this morning started at freezing in the glens of scotland. much milder to start here tomorrow morning, and for northern ireland, and that's because of the combination of the cloud and the rain and the wind. some strong and gusty winds here tomorrow — 40, 45 miles an hour — whilst further south, it's the lack of wind that means we'll start with a little bit of mist and fog. once that clears, it looks brighter and dry for the majority of wales, central and southern parts of england. further north, though, north wales northwards, really, some thicker clouds and drizzly rain, but the most persistent over the highlands of scotland. but it's much milder at 13 or 1a. and that mild weather stays with us through wednesday night. so, too, the rain on our weather front, which starts to meander southwards during the night and into thursday. so behind it, brighter, scattered showers on thursday. to the south of it, any mist clearing and then bright, too. but we do have this line of rather more persistent rain. it's the dividing line between the mild air to the south and that colder air i hinted at earlier to the north.

so we're starting to feel the effect of that arctic blast by the end of thursday across scotland. and it will be right the way across the country friday, saturday, to start on sunday, but there's just the hint now that we'll see a temporary low pressure coming in sunday. but a bright, cold, crisp start friday. the showers will be of sleet and snow by the end of the day, even at lower levels in the north, and rain and hail on the coast in the east and it will feel colder. these are the daytime temperatures — much lower than we'll have all week. and add on that strong wind, particularly for scotland and eastern england, that's where we'll see the chilliest—feeling weather. yes, a cold day for all and a cold night following friday night into saturday, with perhaps a few more showers coming onshore near the north sea coasts. a little ridge of high pressure, though, keeping things settled for the start of the weekend. just that area of rain coming into the north on sunday. so still a question mark on the outlook, but certainly a cold snap for most.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. we're now very close, very close. we could bring some of these hostages home very soon. but i don't want to get into the details of things, because nothing is done until it's done. we are working towards an agreement taking place. and we are now at the closest

point we ever have been in reaching an agreement. we are very optimistic, we're very hopeful. if we are getting close, it's— because hamas needs that cease—fire. we've been hitting them hard, i we've been crippling their military machine, we've been taking - apart their military fortifications. if we're talking about people's lives, then we all feel — especially when we're talking about our families — that this should be the top priority. close, maybe, imminent. we are told the deal for the release of 50 women and child hostages is almost done — but still no confirmation from either side. we will speak to a former hostage negotiator tonight who knows what it's like to be in the room in those final tense moments. we will also hear from the man who heads up the un's

operations around the world — poised as he is, to fastrack