of famine in gaza. in other news, events are being held across rwanda to mark three decades since the beginning of the genocide against ethnic tutsis and moderate hutus. and as millions prepare for the solar eclipse in north america, we look at how to safely watch the total blackout. and a british man who has been running the entire length of africa, finally reaches the finish line. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says his troops are just "one step away from victory". it's six months since hamas gunmen stormed into southern israel, massacring 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250. the attack sparked what's become the deadliest and most

destructive israel—gaza war, killing over 33,000 palestinians. speaking at a cabinet meeting, prime minister netanyahu said a ceasefire would not be agreed until israeli hostages, captured by hamas in october, were released. translation: the achievements of the war are great. _ we eliminated 19 out of 2a of the hamas battalions, including senior commanders. we killed, wounded or captured a significant number of hamas terrorists. we purged shifa and many other terrorist headquarters as well. we destroyed factories, manufacturing rockets, control rooms, weapons, ammunition, and we continue to systematically destroy what is underground. we are one step away from victory. israel is not the one preventing a deal. hamas prevents a deal. its extreme demands were intended to bring about an end to the war

and leave it intact, meaning to ensure its survival, its rehabilitation, its ability to endanger our citizens and our soldiers. surrendering to hamas demands will allow it to try to repeat the crimes of october seventh again and again, as it promised to do. hamas hopes that the pressure from outside and inside will make israel surrender to these extreme demands. it will not happen. israel is ready for a deal. israel is not ready to surrender. israelis have been visiting the site of the nova festival in southern israel where the october 7th attack unfolded. it comes as talks resume in cairo to try an negotiate a ceasefire. sebastian usher reports from jerusalem. grieving for those who were killed on october the 7th at the nova festival in southern israel. six months on, the trauma for israel still runs deep. and for some, it's a personal grief

that can never be assuaged. we were talking with our kids on the phone in the last minutes and second and we tried to help them, but we couldn't. in front of our eyes and ears, we saw our son and daughter killed, and nobody could help us. and it's the worst thing that a father and mother can feel for their son and for their daughter. last night in tel aviv, tens of thousands of israelis came out to demand that government do more to save the lives of those who survived but were abducted and taken to gaza, all building more pressure on the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, who's already facing unprecedented criticism from israel's closest allies. the urgency of those protests is underscored by the front page of one of the main newspapers in israel today, haaretz, framed by the faces of the israeli hostages still missing in gaza and with the headline reading,

"there is not a day to lose." the message is the same from the devastation of gaza. the ruins of al—shifa hospital are emblematic of what palestinian civilians have suffered. the israeli army says it was hunting down fighters there. but palestinians say civilians were among those killed or wounded in a scene that has been repeated for six months across the territory. as the displaced in the southernmost town of rafah gather to break their ramadan fast, they're still hoping that shattered lives can somehow at sometime be pieced back together. sebastian usher, bbc news, jerusalem. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, spoke to husam zomlot, head of the palestinian mission to uk, and also spoke to ehud barak, who served as prime minister of israel from 1999 to 2001.

she asked him how the attack on october the 7th happened. major failure of our intelligence, it is a major failure of our army. we had the message this morning, it is a major failure of strategy by the government for unexplainable reasons, almost unexplainable. they believed for several years that hamas was an asset and the palestinian authority is a liability rather than the other way around. and basically our government encouraged the qataris to pay $1.5 billion to hamas, so it is quite a majorfailure. it is the worst day, october the 7th is the worst day in our history, and we are paying the price for it. but i am confident that at the end we will overcome and we will

resume our march forward. as you know, israel's war cabinet is divided. prime minister netanyahu saying that war must go on until hamas is destroyed, others are saying this war will not achieve that objective. but israel has to use other ways. where do you stand in that divide? look, i think that today a new chapter eventually starts in this war, the last big division level unit leaves the gaza strip and only one out of more than 30 brigade level units remains inside gaza. so it is by the very effect a new chapter. it is a real debate within our

cabinet, i belong to those who think that it was notjust the worst day but in spite of the devotion and sacrifice and courage of our fighting soldiers, it was very poorly managed strategically. there was an inability by the prime minister to take strategic choices and decisions that have to be made during the war. i am a great believer in an old roman saying, if you don't know which port you want to reach, no wind will take you there. and for a reason that has to go with political interest and not with the proper way of running a war, netanyahu blocked, almost physically, any discussion about the morning after, the day after the war. and as a result of it, hamas gained from this clumsy management at a strategic level.

if you were prime minister now, and joe biden called you up and said we need a ceasefire, ehud barak, what would you say? i say not now. i said it for five and a half month backs now, from the second week, that was the choice that we had. whether to turn with the rabid state, tell them yes, but we have other considerations around our security, but basically yes, but let's close the door behind us and stick together with the egyptians, thejordanians, with the emirates who have shown signs of willingness tojoin the club, and deploy this axis is moderation led by the united states under new regional orders facing the axis of rogue states led by iran that will be backed by russia, which includes syria and hamas, hezbollah in yemen and so on.

and basically establish a multinational source that will be ready to take the gaza from our hands within two or three months for a limited period during which they will bring into the gaza strip a revised or revitalised palestinian authority, the only legitimate player, legally and internationally, to go there and basically have a deal with saudi arabia organising a relationship. and the only drive that will be expected from israel is to be ready to launch a process that at the end will lead towards the vision of two states. that is something that all of us have been doing, including netanyahu, several times in the last three decades.

you tried to make peace with the palestinians and failed, it is remembered here in israel and beyond, do you still believe that there will one day, do you still want one day, for there to be a palestinian state alongside israel? you know, as you accurately have described, the israeli mood now is one of deep pain and trauma, and the need calls for revenge and a boiling blood. that is not exactly the time to talk about a peace agreement. it is still down the stream. israel has a compelling imperative to make sure that hamas will not reign over the gaza strip and won't be capable of threatening israel. so that is their main objective, and we have made certain mileage towards it but even after six months

it is far from being accomplished. netanyahu is speaking about a small step, just a kind of absolute victory, just behind the corner, that is not even rafa itself, if we enter into rafa, it might take several months before it is over. and i think that now is not time not to announce eternal peace coming forever, that is the time to release the hostages, to strike a deal, to stop the immediate fighting, to strike a deal about the hostages and bring them back home. and then decide how to continue. i think that there is a good chance that if we stop the fighting in gaza, we can reduce the tension in the north, we can bring back into homes about 100,000 israelis that left both the gaza area

and the lebanon border area and we can reduce the risk of finding ourselves in a whole regional war. it is time to correct relationships that are deeply hurt. the relationship with the united states. and to resume support for israel. israel always has to have full—scale walls with major world power beside it, and always having a short, very short, decisive campaign, and always holding the moral high ground. and somehow netanyahu seems to miss all of these three lessons, both the decisive short wall, as well as the need to american power beside us, and the need to hold to the moral high ground by avoiding this humanitarian crisis, and many other painful mistakes along the way.

former prime minister barak, thank you forjoining us with your assessment of the military strategy and a possible political path ahead, thank you. thank you for having me. lets have another perspective on this continuing war, this grievous israel—gaza war, and the six months mark. we can cross london to join husam zomlot, who heads the palestinian mission to the united kingdom. as you know, even israel's staunchest allies, including the uk where you are now, are putting pressure on israel on prime minister netanyahu to move towards a ceasefire, do you see this as a possible turning point in this war? hello, lyse. so far, i haven't seen that pressure from the uk, the us, or the rest of the international community, working on israel.

who would have imagined, lyse, six months on after this genocidal aggression, we are still talking about the genocide? who would have imagined after the first child the world would be shocked, 100 children, 1000 children, 10,000 palestinian children, the world would be shocked, and now we are more than 100,000 maimed and killed, mostly women and children. what kind of pressure are we talking about? the uk, the us have leverage, tools, including an immediate embargo on arms that end up in the burnt bodies of our children. they have leveraged, like suspending israel's membership in the un, because it has already violated the un security council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, which the uk voted for. so, the genocidal israel is not the discussion here, the discussion is the rest of the world and what the rest

of the world will do, and what are the consequences on all of us after the normalisation of the murder of children, the mass destruction of an entire population, the erasure of an entire people by the use of famine and disease as weapons of war? we are in the 215t century, and i believe the consequences will be severe, and the world, especially the west, have got to think seriously and not just about palestine and what is happening, but about the whole lot of international rules, international system, when will be the next war against who, whose children, whose schools, whose hospitals? and how bigots all over the world are going to use this moment that israel have normalised such utter scenes that dent our humanity. i'm sorry to tell you, whatever lip service we are hearing from london or from washington, it is not working. we understand the pressure is being put on the negotiating teams in cairo, pressure on hamas, pressure on israel

from their respective allies, to come to a deal for swapping hostages in gaza for palestinian prisoners in israeli jails, and to achieve a humanitarian pause, a ceasefire. what are you hearing? are you hearing that there is now a greater chance those talks can succeed ? these talks have been going on for a long time, and there has been an international formula. the us is involved for a hostage exchange or an immediate permanent ceasefire. that formula has been rejected by netanyahu. it is very clear. netanyahu wants a perpetual aggression on gaza. he needs war, and if it is not in gaza, he is going to lebanon, to syria, he is provoking in the west bank. this prime minister of israel lives

now, lives on aggression, lives on confrontation. we're not hearing very promising new so far. the leverage of the rest of the world has not been exercised, despite all of the statements we have been hearing, and still netanyahu is preparing for an invasion of rafah. he has declared it many times. you know the consequences, the untold stories and suffering that would be caused if he does. the plan is very clear. netanyahu and the israeli government wants to push the palestinians out of gas. —— out of gaza. they have already turned gaza unlivable. it is unlivable, the sheer level of destruction that has occurred in gaza is unmatched, unprecedented. before i thought netanyahu is manoeuvring by saying he is negotiating, he is outmanoeuvring his internal rivalries, he is outmanoeuvring his allies in the us and the uk as well, and he isjust waiting to buy time for that moment when he is capable to push a mass number of palestinians out of their homelands.

that is the plan, otherwise how do you explain the policy? how do you explain what they are doing in the north of gaza? the targeting of hearing aid workers? —— the targeting of humanitarian aid workers? _ how do you explain the famine and what have you? the plan is being executed. what happens in cairo and elsewhere for netanyahu isjust a distraction, gaslighting and slide shows. and for viewers in the uk, lyse is presenting a special programme on bbc two tonight, assessing the human cost of six months of conflict, with eye witness accounts from both israel and gaza. that's �*the darkest days�*, 9pm on bbc two, and on iplayer now.

let's ta ke let's take you life to the scene in jerusalem there as, as you can see, dozens of people have gathered for an anti—government protest there, many of them, it is understood, our families of those hostages who continue to be held in gaza. families who have not seen their loved ones now for six months. there have been regularly holding these protests calling for prime minister benjamin netanyahu to do more to secure the return of their relatives. and you can see there that many are holding signs which have photographs of their relatives who they have not seen for six months, who have been held in gaza. a british man hasjust become the first person to run the entire length of africa.

27—year—old russ cook, an ultra marathon runner, who calls himself the hardest geezer, has finally reached the finishin line after a year on his feet. his epicjourney had pitfalls along the way — it ended in the last half an hour in tunisia... ellie price has more. lets go. day four. day six. only the hardest geezer _ lets go. day four. day six. only the hardest geezer could _ lets go. day four. day six. only the hardest geezer could run _ lets go. day four. day six. only the hardest geezer could run nearly - hardest geezer could run nearly every day for more than 350 days. covering more than 10,000 miles, the entire length of africa. russell cook has done it. dar; entire length of africa. russell cook has done it.— entire length of africa. russell cook has done it. day 349. over runnina cook has done it. day 349. over running the _ cook has done it. day 349. over running the entire _ cook has done it. day 349. over running the entire length - cook has done it. day 349. over running the entire length of - cook has done it. day 349. over i running the entire length of africa. he has run through desert, rainforest, savannas, mountains, jungles, and 16 countries. he has so far raised nearly £700,000 for the running charity sandblast. he has had complications with his health...

visas... the weather... and he was even robbed at gunpoint. i visas. .. the weather... and he was even robbed at gunpoint.— even robbed at gunpoint. i was re even robbed at gunpoint. i was pretty terrified, _ even robbed at gunpoint. i was pretty terrified, i _ even robbed at gunpoint. i was pretty terrified, i won't - even robbed at gunpoint. i was pretty terrified, i won't lie. - even robbed at gunpoint. i wasj pretty terrified, iwon't lie. but he has taken _ pretty terrified, iwon't lie. but he has taken it _ pretty terrified, i won't lie. but he has taken it all in his stride. in this final stretch he had a little help from his friends. fire little help from his friends. are ou little help from his friends. are you ready _ little help from his friends. are you ready to — little help from his friends. are you ready to run _ little help from his friends. fife: you ready to run a little help from his friends. fif'e: you ready to run a marathon? little help from his friends. are l you ready to run a marathon? he little help from his friends. are - you ready to run a marathon? he has achieved something _ you ready to run a marathon? he has achieved something no _ you ready to run a marathon? he has achieved something no one - you ready to run a marathon? he has achieved something no one else - you ready to run a marathon? he has achieved something no one else in i achieved something no one else in this world has ever done and his immediate plans now, a strawberry daiquiri on the beach. ali price, bbc news. and my colleague ellie pricejoins us live from the newsroom... le, he has finally done it, but it has been quite the journey, hasn't it? it has been quite the “ourney, hasn't it? :,, has been quite the “ourney, hasn't it? : :, , has been quite the “ourney, hasn't it? :, , : :, it? it most certainly has. what did he sa ? it? it most certainly has. what did he say? 352 _ it? it most certainly has. what did he say? 352 days _ it? it most certainly has. what did he say? 352 days running. - it? it most certainly has. what did he say? 352 days running. i - it? it most certainly has. what did he say? 352 days running. i don'tl he say? 352 days running. i don't think they were consecutive but that is not to take anything away from him. he only did not run on the days that he did not run because he came

into problems with visas, problems with an armed robbery, the sort of things that stop you from running even though you really want to. and of course the weather. the whole point about all of this is that it has been highly documented on his social media feed, so he has had a youtube channel going, instagram, twitter all of that. viewers around the world have been able to keep up with everything that he has been doing. it has been such a journey because there has been weather problems, he talked about on monday there was a sandstorm and a snow storm in the sahara desert on the same day, as i say, there has been an armed robbery, problems with visas, health problems, all sorts. what makes this really a fun story actually is just this idea that people have been able to follow his journey. the whole point of all of it was to raise lots of money for charity, and in fact i have been keeping an eye all day on the charity fundraising page that he has been running. i think up till about now it was aboutjust under £700,000. it looks like the charity

fundraising page may have actually crashed because it is not updating. i suspect there are plenty of people trying to donate with the final finishing line having been crossed. ellie, i was reading that russell was saying that one of the reasons that he was motivated to do this was because he struggled in the past with mental health concerns and also gambling. find with mental health concerns and also uuamblin. : :, :,, , ., with mental health concerns and also uuamblin. : :, , ., ., gambling. and that has been one of the sort of messages _ gambling. and that has been one of the sort of messages from - gambling. and that has been one of the sort of messages from the - gambling. and that has been one of| the sort of messages from the social media posts. this idea that if you want to do something crack on and do it. you want to look back on your life i do not regret it. there is a double legacy in this that the huge amounts of cash being raised for charity but also this kind of inspirational feel to all of it. as i say, if you look at some of the messages posted in response on the social media pages, they are really inspirational. it feels like a good new story because everything has been really positive. the people reading and following his progress and feeling inspired to maybe go for and feeling inspired to maybe go for a run, probably not for more than

300 marathons in a row, but this idea of getting active and doing something that you like. it has felt like a really positive news story today and in the process he has raised some money and had a bit of a laugh on the way. the big thing he wants to do when he finishes the run is to hug his friends, many of whom have come out to see him from the uk, but then to go and have a strawberry daiquiri on the beach. briefly, ellie, he nearly was stopped in his tracks because of issues with visas that you touched on. it was a social media campaign that helped him end up getting that visa. i think it was to algeria, wasn't it? it visa. i think it was to algeria, wasn't it?— visa. i think it was to algeria, wasn't it? :, , :, ~ :, :, wasn't it? it was to algeria. that wasn't it? it was to algeria. that was one of— wasn't it? it was to algeria. that was one of the _ wasn't it? it was to algeria. that was one of the more _ wasn't it? it was to algeria. that was one of the more recent - wasn't it? it was to algeria. that - was one of the more recent problems that he had to overcome, and in the end he had a personal pass, if you like, from the government, in the end, that he could basically get the visa that he needed because it followed a very high profile campaign. ithink followed a very high profile campaign. i think at one point elon musk got involved on twitter. he has

certainly garnered plenty of support in various different means of a social media, but yes, at last, after 352 days, he has passed the finish line. :, :, finish line. time for that strawberry _ finish line. time for that strawberry daiquiri - finish line. time for that strawberry daiquiri that l finish line. time for that i strawberry daiquiri that you finish line. time for that - strawberry daiquiri that you were talking about. i can't even say it right. well done, russ. that is eight for this half hour. i will be back after a short break. hello there. it certainly has been a weekend of contrasts — wet and windy, stormy for some, glorious for others. you had to make the most of the sunshine when you had it. after the warmest day of the year so far in east anglia, it was not a bad start to sunday morning. it did cloud over a little as the day progressed. and the week ahead is going to stay pretty unsettled, i'm afraid. 0ften wet and windy, a little bit cooler as well to begin with. but then there's a potential for something warmer to return from wednesday into thursday later on. more on that in just a moment. but we've got this deepening area of low pressure for monday, which is going to bring some wet weatherfor some of us.

so we'll start off on monday morning with rain into the channel isles, moving up through cornwall, gradually into south wales, up through the irish sea. ahead of it, we'll have this band of showery rain developing as well. so across england and wales it's a case of quite a lot of cloud around. there will be some showery outbreaks of rain. top temperatures, though, still on the mild side, 17 celsius here. in the east, the pennines, 17 celsius and it may stay dry for much of the afternoon. heaviest of the rain through the isle of man, just fringing into northern ireland. the bulk of scotland for monday afternoon, staying fine with some sunshine, highs of ten to 12 celsius. but that rain will move its way across northern england into scotland overnight, and also the wind direction is set to change back to a north—westerly, which is going to push that milder air over into eastern europe. a cooler air source arrives for all of us on tuesday. tuesday doesn't look a particularly pleasant day either. there'll be a spell of heavy rain which will grind to a halt for a time across southern scotland

and northern england. quite a lot of cloud and plenty of frequent showers. temperatures on the whole will struggle due to the strength of the wind gusts in excess of 35 to 40 mph, so on your thermometer, probably only looking at between eight and 12 celsius as a high. wednesday will start off for some of us quite promising. we've got this little ridge of high pressure quieting things down, but the next frontal systems are waiting in the wings to move in from the west. so eastern areas seeing the best of the dry weather on wednesday with some sunshine coming through. that rain clears through to sunny spells and scattered showers in the north, but it is going to allow more heat to return in the south later on.

live from london, this is bbc news. israel says it has withdrawn more ground troops from southern gaza. the move was announced as benjamin netanyahu claims his troops are "one step from victory". the israel—gaza war reaches its 6 month mark. on october the 7th, hamas attacked israel killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage. in the war that has followed, the hamas—run health ministry says at least 33,000 palestinians have been killed.

in other news, events are being held across rwanda to mark three decades since the beginning of the genocide against ethnic tutsis and moderate hutus. as millions prepare for the solar eclipse in north america we look at how to safely watch the total blackout as the moon blocks the sun's light. and a british man who has been running the entire length of africa in a mammoth challenge across 16 countries, has reached the finish hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. more now on our main story. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says israeli troops are just one step away from victory in gaza, exactly six months after the hamas attack that began the conflict. mr netanyahu said there would not be a ceasefire without the release of israeli hostages captured by hamas in october. a new round of ceasefire talks between israel and hamas are beginning in cairo, but the two sides are still far

apart and there are few hopes for immediate progress. quite like the hamas — run health ministry says no that 33,000 palestinians have been killed in the conflict. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet has been looking at the human cost of six months of conflict, and sent this report. 0n israeli streets here in the heart of tel aviv, the old rhythms of life have slowly returned. but it's not the same. everywhere you look, there are the posters, the photographs of hostages and so many more israeli flags. israelis say this is a different country now that 0ctober country now, that 0ctober the 7th changed everything. and so many are united and backing this war until israel declares victory. but they're not united on every issue. i'm not sure any more

that the palestinians and israel can live together in the near future. if so, it will take a very long time and will demand a lot from both sides. i believe that people want to live in peace. and i think that the terrorists are the only one who likes to go and fight. but people in gaza and people in israel wants peace. the protests grow louder. even before this war, the streets filled with anger against israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu. now they're demanding he do more to bring hostages home. and demand he step down. they blame him for the massive security failure of october 7th. the prime minister insists this war will bring hostages back,

bring security, break hamas. to end the violence, israel must end its decades—long occupation. that's what most palestinians say. this is the occupied west bank, the palestinian territory, about 60 miles from gaza. they feel gaza's pain, and their own hard lives are even harder now. israel has tightened the restrictions and targeted people it says are terrorists. palestinians say hundreds of innocent people are being killed in the west bank, too. we have just gotten used to so many deaths, so many wars over the years. you just eventually get numb to it. like, every day i hear some people are dying,

some people are dying. at first it used to get to me, but now it's just more like it's something that i hear in passing and that is honestly devastating when you have to think about it. i think everyone sees from their own point of view. they will never see from the other side. i mean, we can never see from the israeli side of point of view and they can never see from ours. so, i mean, even tojust settle it, it's not even possible, i don't think. in the very first weeks of this war, israel's best friends, the us and its allies, suddenly started paying attention to not just ending this war, but this forever conflict, believing that it is in these darkest of times that you can make a push for peace — a palestinian state alongside israel, a new palestinian leadership, a new relationship between israel and arab countries, even saudi arabia —

a grand bargain to remake the middle east. others say it's not the time that the trauma could take generations to heal. and so for now, israeli leaders say october 7th demands that they focus on israeli security, not peace. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. and for viewers in the uk, lyse doucet is presenting a special programme on bbc two tonight, assessing the human cost of six months of conflict, with eye witness accounts from both israel and gaza. that's "the darkest days" at 9pm on bbc two, and on iplayer now. ceremonies are being held across rwanda to mark three decades since the start of the genocide against ethnic tutsis and moderate hutus. injust100 days, 800,000 people were killed in 1994.

rwanda's president paul kagame said the international community failed his country either through contempt or cowadice during the massacre. france acknowledged that it could have stopped the genocide, along with its allies, but lacked the will to do so. bbc�*s senior africa correspondent anne soy has been following the occasion from nairobi. very solomon poignant, notjust for a rwandis, but for people around the world, who remember how hate and discrimination descended into the slaughter of close to 1 million people in 1994. today, the commemoration begins, and for the next days rwandis will be remembering the days of 1994 that changed their lives in many ways. earlier today, the president lit the flame of remembrance at kigali at the memorial there, and led heads of state and former heads of state

rejoining him from different countries around the world to lay wreaths at that memorial, where it is believed about a quarter of a million people were buried. the journey of recovery has been long and slow in rwanda, and people are still confronting the truths. just this year, another new mass grave was discovered. indeed, thejourney of recovery continues, but also the president reflected in his speech on the demographics today in rwanda. he said about three quarters of rwandis are under the age of 35, so many of them will not have a memory of what happened in 1994, and they say that is where the hope of recovery of rebuilding and renewal lies, in this new generation that will have a different perspective. slovakia has a new president. peter pellegrini is an ally of the country's populist prime minister— he won saturday's vote by a greater than expected margin, beating his rival ivan korcok

after a campaign overshadowed by the war in ukraine. mr pellegrini favours peace talks with russia, and described his pro—western opponent as a warmonger. the result means there will no longer be any high—level official in slovakia who unequivocally backs kyiv in its fight against moscow. barely a year ago, slovakia donated an entire fleet of fighter planes to ukraine. 0ur correspondent rob cameron is covering the story from neighbouring prague. i think it really cements slovakia's position as no longer one of the most steadfast allies of ukraine. i mean, this is a country that less than nine months ago donated its entire fighter jet fleet of retired mig 29 flying fighter jets to ukraine. then in october, mr fico, the prime minister, came to power on a platform, on a pledge of promising to send not one round of ammunition to ukraine,

ending the sending of slovak army stocks to ukraine. and now this has been cemented by his ally, his man winning the presidential election and quickly making it clear that he favours peace over war and maintaining that line. that is very much mr fico's line, that the west's policy of sending more weapons to ukraine is prolonging and not resolving this conflict. here in the uk, the prime minsiter, rishi sunak has said britain continues to stand by israel's right to defend its security, six months on from the start of the israel—gaza war. but mr sunak said the nation remains "appalled" by the deaths of three british aid workers in an israeli defence forces strike this week. the deputy prime minister, 0liver dowden, has been answering questions on gaza. 0ur political correspondent helen catt has more. well, there's been a lot of discussion in the uk in recent days about whether companies, british companies, should still be allowed to sell arms to israel.

and that is heightened after that strike on the convoy of aid workers. and 0liver dowden, the deputy prime minister, was pressed on this morning. so what happens is when a british company wants to sell arms, they have to have a licence from the government and it gets assessed against a number of criteria, some of which include the uk's obligations under international law, and also the risk that those products, those arms will be used to violate human rights. so there have been all these questions about whether that should still apply for israel. the deputy prime minister, 0liver dowden, was pushed on this, this morning, and he said that he believed it was still legal for arms to be sold from the uk to israel. ..have specific concerns about different areas of israel's conduct. we are raising those concerns with israel, but i think it's so important to remember this. we've gone from the horrors of six months ago to holding israel

to extraordinary high standards. it's right that we do so and it's right that we raise these concerns where we say, "look what you're doing in respect "of not getting aid in or what you're doing "of your targeting raises concerns for us, "and we need you to engage." the way this process works is that the business department grants these licences, but it takes advice from the foreign office and mr dowden was saying that the advice from the foreign office hadn't changed. but there's been a big question about what the advice is that's being given to the foreign office by lawyers. there have been some suggestions from a conservative mp earlier this week, alicia cairns, that some foreign office lawyers had suggested that israel was not staying within international law. so there are calls for that legal advice to be made public. the shadow foreign secretary, labour's david lammy, was today saying that he thinks the government should publish a summary of the legal advice that's been given. margaret thatcher suspended

sales of arms to israel. tony blair suspended sales of arms to israel. gordon brown suspended sales of arms to israel, all during previous conflicts. this has been done before. this is a very serious issue. it's now gone on for six months on issues of proportionality, on precaution and distinction. there are real concerns, notjust from judges, from the intelligence community, but the broader public. for that reason, let us be sure that we are not in breach of international law. now, labour is not at this point calling for export of arms to be stopped, unlike other parties in the uk, like the liberal democrats and the snp. it is, however, as i said, calling for that legal advice, a summary of it, to be published. it also wants the foreign secretary, david cameron, who sits in the house of lords to come to the house of commons to take questions on this. david cameron himself this morning

has been striking a cautious note. while he is reiterating the government's support for israel's right to defend itself, he has warned in a newspaper article this morning that that support is not unconditional. helen a murder investigation has been launched by police in bradford after a 27—year—old woman was stabbed in the city centre yesterday afternoon. 0ur correspondentjudith moritz is at the scene with the latest. well, we know this happened just after 3:00 yesterday afternoon, broad daylight in a busy part of bradford city centre as well, just north of the city centre here. and this is an area which would at that point have been pretty busy with shoppers. there are restaurants here, there are beauty salons and so on, so lots of people around. what we understand to have happened isjust behind where i am, and you can see it's still cordoned off here, there's a shop there and just outside the shop, this woman, 27 years old, we don't have her identity at this point, was stabbed by a man who ran off. now, the police are

still looking for him. we understand that the man and woman were known to each other. we don't know any more about the circumstances and west yorkshire police are asking for people who were in this area, and as i say, it would have been busy, perhaps people driving past with dash cam footage, anyone who saw anything, to get in touch. they're appealing for anyone who has got any information at all to help. but also today, we've been seeing a scene of crime officers here pulling apart this area, looking through the patch of grass behind me, behind the shop, and just combing through the area as well for information. police have arrested two people on suspicion of murder after human remains were found in a park in south london. a 44—year—old man and a 48—year—old woman are being questioned about the discovery, which was made in croydon on tuesday. police haven't yet identified the victim — but say their inquiries have made significant progress. more than 5,000 nail technicians across the uk are coming together to collectively

raise their prices from tomorrow. it's being labelled "national nail price increase day" — and comes after the company behind the movement calculated that workers were making around £7 an hour — well below the minimum wage. amy guy is the founder of the nail tech 0rg and had the idea to set up this national nail price increase day — shejoins me now. just tell us why you decided to do this, and on one day come together as a collective?— as a collective? thank you so much for havin: as a collective? thank you so much for having me- _ as a collective? thank you so much for having me. it's _ as a collective? thank you so much for having me. it's such _ as a collective? thank you so much for having me. it's such an - as a collective? thank you so much for having me. it's such an exciting j for having me. it's such an exciting time for all of us in the nail industry. we've known for a very long time but unfair pricing in the industry are such a huge problem, and we felt that creating one day where nail techs felt comfortable and empowered to calculate their own business costs and correctly

calculate their prices would help them make that change. that's why we created the day, and it is going really well. it is really exciting, so really looking forward to tomorrow. so really looking forward to tomorrow— so really looking forward to tomorrow. :, : :, :, : , so really looking forward to tomorrow. :, : :, :, : tomorrow. how much our manicures and edicures tomorrow. how much our manicures and pedicures going — tomorrow. how much our manicures and pedicures going to _ tomorrow. how much our manicures and pedicures going to go — tomorrow. how much our manicures and pedicures going to go up _ tomorrow. how much our manicures and pedicures going to go up by _ tomorrow. how much our manicures and pedicures going to go up by now, - pedicures going to go up by now, what are you calling for commercialising? what kind of increase are you going for? that would be for _ increase are you going for? that would be for the _ increase are you going for? trust would be for the individual nail business. there are so many costs factored into one treatment, and is such a standard that nail techs have just looked at what everyone else is doing and charged around the same, which doesn't factor in those costs are fairly pay them and allow them to have a solid income, a prophet, and be able to recover all the business costs along with things like paying into their own pension and holiday and sick pay that they would be entitled to as an employed person. there is no right or wrong. you will see every nail tech increase their prices, but if you do

see nail techs increasing their prices from tomorrow onwards, it is for the right reason and so they can earn saw solid income from their hard work. earn saw solid income from their hard work-— hard work. people will say the avera . e hard work. people will say the average price _ hard work. people will say the average price of— hard work. people will say the average price of a _ hard work. people will say the average price of a normal- hard work. people will say the - average price of a normal manicure is around £15, £20, depending on where you live, and a gel manicure can cost £30, even £40 in some places in london. they will say prices are already steep, so what and that goes to the nail technician, and where's the rest of the money go? that technician, and where's the rest of the money go?— the money go? at such a good question. _ the money go? at such a good question. and _ the money go? at such a good question, and that's _ the money go? at such a good question, and that's why - the money go? at such a good question, and that's why it's . the money go? at such a good | question, and that's why it's so important that this movement is educational, notjust for the nail educational, not just for the nail technicians educational, notjust for the nail technicians but also for the public. if you pay £35 for a set of gel nails, that takes up to do. when he's put that in turn i really rate thatis he's put that in turn i really rate that is £17.50 per hour, but the nail tech has to factor in things like the rent, utility, insurance, as well as products and tools, and

the standard treatment will cost between £6 and £8 to £9, and then they have to pay themselves, paying to their pensions, their holiday pay, their sick pay, so you can see where that £35 or £40 that the nail technician is being paid is absolutely not profit, and that is where customers potentially will see a rise in the cost of a treatment. it is only a positive change so that customers can continue to get their nails done for years to come and the industry remains sustainable. shim? industry remains sustainable. amy gu , thank industry remains sustainable. amy guy. thank you _ industry remains sustainable. amy guy, thank you for _ industry remains sustainable. amy guy, thank you for taking a story. —— taking us through that story. now solar eclipse fever is building. millions of people in north america will be able to witness a rare solar eclipse on monday, hoping to spend around four minutes in total darkness as the moon blocks the sun's light.

ben woolvin has more. all right, guys, are we ready? preparing for totality. this is dallas, texas, where tomorrow lunchtime 100% of the sun will be covered by the moon. who's excited the eclipse is coming? the eclipse is coming, the eclipse is coming! eclipse chaser leticia ferrer is ready to witness daytime darkness for her 21st time. i've seen 20, all over the world. it's just such a feeling in my soul, that i'm so grateful to be there, and so happy to see it, and i'm sort of addicted to them. i'm addicted to that feeling of that — of being there, for those few seconds or minutes, being one with the universe and being really present and feeling it. i think it's going to be scary because it's going to be very dark at, like, daytime. and i've never seen an eclipse, so my parents are scared too, because they've also never seen an eclipse either. the last time a total eclipse was visible in the us was in 2017, when thousands gathered here in oregon.

this year in the united states is a great place to see a total solar eclipse. it will be coming up through mexico and exiting up towards maine, so across the central part of the united states. you need to be inside the path of totality to see the total eclipse, which is a small band. however, you can see a partial eclipse from all over the united states. so here in washington we will see about 87% of the sun covered by the moon. in the uk, people in the west of the country should be able to catch a partial eclipse from just before 8:00pm tomorrow evening. it's been almost 25 years since the last total eclipse was visible here, in 1999. the next one will be 66 years from now, in september 2090. 0ur correspondent, emma vardy, has been looking at some of the way you can safely catch a glimpse. a once—in—a—century solar eclipse

will be happening right here in north america. so you want to watch it? but haven't we always been told, never look directly at the sun? here's what you need to know. the old advice still applies — you mustn't look directly at a solar eclipse. that could permanently damage your retina, the part of your eye which senses light. so to witness this spectacle, what can you do? time to accessorise. these are solar viewing, or eclipse, glasses. nasa says they're 1,000 times darker than your average sunglasses and will keep your eyes safe. they're widely available but remember to check that they have the iso symbol and have the code 12312—2 to show that they meet the latest international safety standard. and if you don't have eclipse glasses, you can make a pinhole projector with just paper or foil pricked with a small pinhole. this allows you to watch a projected image of the eclipse without looking directly at it. but the same principle works

with anything that has small holes, like a colander. even just holding your hands like this can give you a projection of the solar event. and if you can't do any of these, or aren't in the path of the eclipse this time around, there's always the internet, where you can watch a live feed from a telescope. 0rjust wait a few more decades. happy viewing! during both world wars, hundreds of thousands of women were recruited into the land army to replace farm workers who had gone away to fight. now one former royal navy officer is trying to trace some of the so—called former land girls. archive: from the planting of- harvest, the girls in land army work with all of the skill and confidence of the regularfarmer�*s boys. making a good rake usually calls for a lot of experience, though the girls are a little more used to the comb. working the land during and after the second world war involved hard work and long hours for the women that volunteered. grace dray is pictured here with her potato harvest. she lied about her age to sign up

for the women's land army and leave london for dartmoor. she had never worked on a farm before but looking back now at 94 believes that it was the making of her. it was hard work. i know that we felt every muscle was strained with doing really heavy work. and when you are only working in an office, that is very sedatable, but i loved every minute of it. you had a pair of these, i assume? oh, yeah. a pairof them. did you like those? no, ididn't. grace is just one of the 1,700 former land girls that farmed in devon. becks pearson started her quest to record their stories when she bought some old uniform at an auction, but could not find out about the women's land army locally. they did so much to feed the country. dame trudy denman, who was the director of the women's land army during the second world war, said the land army fight in the fields, and it is in the fields that we may well win this battle, because without the nation being fed, we could not

fight the war. so they were an amazing group of women. did you ever drive a tractor? i did drive a little ferguson. did you? but i wasn't supposed to because i hadn't passed my test! 0k. not all land girls lived and worked together as part of a gang. ruby terry worked on a neighbour's farm in kingston and never got a uniform or badge. 85 years later, becks has brought one along for her. you were definitely one of the girls that got forgotten, so i think that you should have a badge. ruby milked the cows twice a day and worked in the fields in the afternoon. that is your land army badge. thank you for all that you did during the war to make sure that we, the country, got fed. thank you. how long did it take you to milk 50 cows every morning and night? well, not very long once you got used to it. -

you had to be quick, you know, . before they came out to collect it. it is absolutely unbelievable to get some sort of recognition after such a long time. becks is ex—forces herself and hopes that more land girls from devon come forward so that she can record their stories. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it certainly has been a weekend of contrasts — wet and windy, stormy for some, glorious for others. you had to make the most of the sunshine when you had it. after the warmest day of the year so far in east anglia, it was not a bad start to sunday morning. it did cloud over a little as the day progressed. and the week ahead is going to stay pretty unsettled, i'm afraid. 0ften wet and windy, a little bit cooler as well to begin with. but then there's a potential for something warmer to return from wednesday into thursday later on. more on that in just a moment. but we've got this deepening area of low pressure for monday, which is going to bring some wet weatherfor some of us. so we'll start off on monday morning with rain into the channel isles,

moving up through cornwall, gradually into south wales, up through the irish sea. ahead of it, we'll have this band of showery rain developing as well. so across england and wales it's a case of quite a lot of cloud around. there will be some showery outbreaks of rain. top temperatures, though, still on the mild side, 17 celsius here. in the east, the pennines, 17 celsius and it may stay dry for much of the afternoon. heaviest of the rain through the isle of man, just fringing into northern ireland. the bulk of scotland for monday afternoon, staying fine with some sunshine, highs of ten to 12 celsius. but that rain will move its way across northern england into scotland overnight, and also the wind direction is set to change back to a north—westerly, which is going to push that milder air over into eastern europe. a cooler air source arrives for all of us on tuesday. tuesday doesn't look a particularly pleasant day either. there'll be a spell of heavy rain which will grind to a halt for a time across southern scotland and northern england. quite a lot of cloud and plenty of frequent showers.

temperatures on the whole will struggle due to the strength of the wind gusts in excess of 35 to 40 mph, so on your thermometer, probably only looking at between eight and 12 celsius as a high. wednesday will start off for some of us quite promising. we've got this little ridge of high pressure quieting things down, but the next frontal systems are waiting in the wings to move in from the west. so eastern areas seeing the best of the dry weather on wednesday with some sunshine coming through. that rain clears through to sunny spells and scattered showers in the north, but it is going to allow more heat to return in the south later on.

live from london. this is bbc news. israel says it has withdrawn more ground troops from southern gaza. the move was announced as benjamin netanyahu claims his troops are �*one step from victory�*. translation: we destroyed factories manufacturing rockets, _ control rooms, weapons, ammunition, and we continue to systematically destroy what is underground. six months on, israeli families mourn their loved ones killed during the october 7th attack by hamas at the the nova music festival site. by hamas at the the nova

hopes for a new round of ceasefire talks, amid renewed warnings of a famine in gaza. in other news, events are being held across rwanda to mark three decades since the beginning of the genocide against ethnic tutsis and moderate hutus. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says his troops are just "one step away from victory". it's six months since hamas gunmen stormed into southern israel, massacring1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250. the attack sparked what's become the deadliest and most destructive israel—gaza war, killing over 33,000 palestinians. speaking at a cabinet meeting, mr netanyahu said a ceasefire would not be agreed until israeli hostages, captured by hamas in october, were released.