hello, i'm anna foster. we start in the middle east, where israel appears to be moving to a new phase of its military operation in gaza. displaced people from the southern gazan city of khan younis have started returning home, after the israel defense forces said they have withdrawn all of their maneuvering ground forces from that area — leaving just one brigade. israel's defence minister, yoav gallant, said troops have been pulled out to prepare for future missions, including into the now overcrowded city of rafah. much of the khan younis area is now in ruins, after months of bombardment and heavy conflict between israeli troops and fighters from palestinian militant groups. sunday marked six months since hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the us, uk and other countries, attacked israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, vowed to "crush

and destroy hamas" so that it no longer posed any threat, and said he would secure the release of the remaining hostages still being held in gaza. in the war that has followed the 7th of october attacks, gaza's hamas—run health ministry sayys more than 33,000 people have been killed there. on sunday, tens of thousands of protesters in israel called for the israeli government to strike a deal to bring the hostages home and for mr netanyahu to resign. earlier, i spoke to our middle east correspondent injerusalem, hugo bachega, about idf troops withdrawing from khan younis. the israeli authorities are saying their mission in khan younis has been accomplished and that these troops are now being prepared for future operations in gaza. i think the israelis are under a lot of pressure, especially from the americans, to de—escalate the conflict. i think the big question here is about what will happen in rafah. because the israelis have been saying that it is essential to launch a major offensive into rafah.

this is where they say hamas still has four active units and they say it is imperative to enter rafah to destroy those units and to be able to claim victory. the problem is that more thani million palestinians are now sheltering in rafah in overcrowded camps, in crowded shelters. there have been concerns that any kind of major military offensive in rafah could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. i think virtually everyone outside israel is against the idea of a major military offensive in rafah. the israelis say they have a plan to evacuate civilians. the americans say this is not enough, they think the israelis should instead launch targeted operations against hamas to prevent another major displacement of civilians. so we still don't know what is going to happen next. to give you a sense of how this

announcement, the reaction to this announcement, earlier today the national security minister, itamar ben—gvir, a far—right member of prime minister netanyahu plasma coalition, said without a major offensive in rafah, it would mean prime minister netanyahu would not have a mandate to continue as prime minister. hugo bachega in jerusalem. for more on this, i've been speaking with fawaz gerges — professor of international relations at the london school of economics. he told me how he's assessing the israeli troop rotation in gaza. there is no overall change in israel's strategy in garzo. they want to have a free hand in attacking whenever they want. this is prime minister benjamin netanyahu, regardless of what happens, israeli forces will remain, will have a presence in various

parts of gaza. israeli forces have been fighting for what you wrote months in khan younis. they will regroup and they want to rest. a more urgent concern for the israeli leadership is the potentialfor a war in the northern front with hezbollah. we have not really spoken a great deal about the increasing tensions between israel and iran and its allies. and the northern front between israel and lebanon has become a tinderbox. it takes a spark to ignite a regional war between israel and iran and its allies. lets talk more — israel and iran and its allies. lets talk more about _ israel and iran and its allies. lets talk more about that _ israel and iran and its allies. lets talk more about that northern front. as you say, the repeated exchange of fire and the depth with which israeli warplanes are operating in lebanon at the moment is a thing that at other times is exactly the thing we would be talking about. but because of the situation in gaza attention seems to be drawn away from the northern front, but israel again says it is continuing to

prepare for war there.- again says it is continuing to prepare for war there. what we need to take into — prepare for war there. what we need to take into account _ prepare for war there. what we need to take into account is _ prepare for war there. what we need to take into account is that _ to take into account is that israel's killing of six senior iranian commanders in damascus, the attack on the iranian consulate is a game—changer. the americans are anxious and concerned. iran has made it very clear it will respond. this could really serve as a trigger for a war between not only israel but israel and hezbollah and iran. everybody is waiting for the kind of response that iran has promised to basically retaliate. while you and i are talking about gaza and the prospects for a hostage deal, it seems to me that israel and hamas are closer to really signing a hostage deal. if you asked me i would say six out of ten because benjamin netanyahu faces tremendous, overwhelming pressure, from the biden administration, from the hostage families and their

supporters, from his security chiefs. an hamas also wants to show progress for the palestinians. while we might see a limited ceasefire in gaza, i think the danger of all—out regional war has increased from let's say 30% to 50% at this particular moment. the next phase of the uk post office horizon inquiry begins this week. it will be the second to last chapter of an independent investigation into one of the nation's biggest miscarriages ofjustice. our business correspondent, emma simpson, has been looking at the story so far. fenny compton. fenny? compton. just the place to start i really annoying the hell out of the post office. she chuckles. the moment in the itv drama where former subpostmaster alan bates picks the spot for the fightback. alan! jo hamilton is there to meet him. they'd no idea how many would come for the first meeting —

but come, they did. hello, jo! hello! the realjo hamilton remembers it well. it galvanised me, certainly — made me so angry when we all told exactly the same stories, and you realised we'd all been shafted. in the beginning, we were just a little circle in the middle. but it ended up — the word spread, and more and more postmasters came. and, er, yeah, we... look where we are. it's been a long road, though. that first campaign meeting in fenny compton was in 2009. eight years later, alan bates took legal action against the post office, and his group eventually won. in 2021, the court of appeal quashed the convictions of 39 subpostmasters in a landmark ruling. the year after, the public inquiry began hearing evidence — starting with the victims. the next phase starts in this room tomorrow. the inquiry has slowly been trying to join the dots, and it's now focusing on who knew what at the top.

centre stage will be former post office boss paula vennells. here she is in parliament defending the horizon it system. if there had been any miscarriages ofjustice, it would have been really important to me and the post office that we actually surface those. and, as the investigations have gone through so far, we've had no evidence of that. of course, there'll be dozens of other witnesses — from board members and barristers, to key politicians and government officials. first up, though, in the witness chair, will be alan bates. people have got to be held accountable. i see no sign of it yet, er... but i think, after the inquiry, then i think that's definitely the next stage. and then we start looking at prosecutions. notjust that, as well — i mean, huge bonuses have been paid to people over the years. some of that should be clawed back. all eyes are now on what this

inquiry is about to uncover. we've done the groundwork. we've found out the system was broken and that people knew the system was broken. so now we're going to find out what the leaders of the post office did with that information. we are deeply concerned that there is growing evidence that there was a cover—up. victims will be watching. they want accountability, too — as well as full and fair compensation. emma simpson, bbc news. if you are watching in the uk, we will have more on story in the next half an hour, hearing from the government post office minister kevin hollinrake and speak live to a member of the horizon. as compensation board. the head of the un's nuclear watchdog has condemned a drone attack on the russian—occupied zaporizhzhia power plant in ukraine. rafael grossi said no one could benefit from such attacks. russia's nuclear agency said three people were injured when a canteen was hit and blamed ukraine

for the attack. ukraine has denied responsibility. 0ur eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford is in kyiv and told me more about the specifics of the attack. the iaea, the un's atomic energy watchdog, has been talking about a very significant threat, and a very significant attack on this nuclear power facility. rafael grossi has talked about three direct hits on facilities, he described it, calling it reckless, saying this cannot happen. he said it was a major escalation of security dangers there. we have also seen a report that refers to iaea staff on the ground at the power facility. they talk about hearing explosions during the day as well as a rifle fire. they saw the remnants of drones, they have described that. they also said there were blood stains at one site, suggesting at least one person, one casualty, one person injured there. but all of the iaea statements have made clear there is no structural damage to the power plant,

no increased risk from this attack. in terms of who is actually responsible, there is complete confusion on that. russian officials in charge on the ground are saying this was a ukrainian drone attack. ukraine's military intelligence agency, the gru, is denying that, saying kyiv was not involved, they wouldn't endanger the facility or civilian populations and are blaming russia for it, saying it is an attack carried out by russia in order to blame it on ukraine. it has highlighted the risk around this power plant, which is right on the front line, and where there have been since the start of the full scale invasion, numerous occasions where the atomic agency, the nuclear agency, the iaea, has talked about its concerns. but these statements today are particularly stark and strong. are those warnings likely to be listened to, sarah? at the moment, as we say, it is pretty difficult to know who is responsible, with both sides blaming the other. it is difficult

to know what changes. i don't think ukraine is looking for a nuclear accident, but there are drones flying around that area, it is an active front line and the danger is real. it's an attempt by the iaea to underline how dangerous this kind of attack is and to make sure all sides understand that and refrain from any kind of putting the facility at any kind of risk. sarah rainsford, eastern european correspondent in kyiv. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

hundreds of muslim ethnic minority rohingyas have been conscripted to fight for myanmar�*s embattled militaryjunta, the bbc has learned. this is despite the fact that rohingyas are denied citizenship, and are subjected to a range of discriminatory restrictions, including a ban on travel outside their communities.

0ur southeast asia correspondent, jonathan head, is in bangkok and told me more about what he's learned. with my burmese colleagues we have spoken to several different people in five camps now. you have to remember that while millions of rohingyas have left rakhine state, 700,000 were driven out in the dreadful attacks on them by the military in 2017, an operation described by the un as possible genocide, another 600,000 remain in rakhine state in this very precarious situation. a quarter of those are confined to these squalid idp camps. they have been there since communal violence 12 years ago, they can't move. we have spoken to seven people in five different camps. just to confirm that this systematic conscription was going on, that the military government has denied it, they say they are just getting ready rohingyas to prepare to defend their own camps. we have

heard about military organisers going around camp organisers saying they must provide lists of potential men to be conscripted. between 20 and 25 and each can. families were threatened if they did not comply. they were sent for training, taught how to fire guns and thrown into battle. in rakhine state where the rohingyas are there is a huge amount of conflict at the under between an insurgent army and the military, the military has been pushed back, defeated there, add as it has been in many other parts of myanmar and it is struggling to fill its ranks was that it has lost a lot of trips through desertion and injuries and is simply using rohingyas instead. they describe horrific experiences of being thrown into brutal battles, chaotic battles, where they suffered injuries, so other rohingyas killed. eventually they were sent back home after the battle was over but some of them have gone into hiding because they say they have been told they might be summoned to go back and fight again.

they might be summoned to go back and fight again-— and fight again. presumably they have no hepe _ and fight again. presumably they have no hope of— and fight again. presumably they have no hope of that _ and fight again. presumably they have no hope of that situation i have no hope of that situation changing. have no hope of that situation chanauin. , . have no hope of that situation chanauin. ,~ . have no hope of that situation chanauin. ,, ~ ~' ., changing. they are trapped. we know of lots of peeple _ changing. they are trapped. we know of lots of people in _ changing. they are trapped. we know of lots of people in myanmar, - changing. they are trapped. we know of lots of people in myanmar, after i of lots of people in myanmar, after this conscription law was enforced in the last few weeks, because the military can't get people to join the army, it is so unpopular, lots of people in myanmar are fleeing, they are either coming to thailand or going underground. but these rohingyas are stuck in camps, they are not allowed to move anyway, they are not allowed to move anyway, they are completely trapped and it's easy for the military to point a finger and say you have to join. think of the hideous irony. the military in particular does not recognise the rohingyas as having any legal right to live in myanmar. they have pursued dreadful policies against them of discrimination, outright killings back in 2017. they have almost been regarded as people who just don't belong. now they are being forced to fight the military�*s battles. the other bad knock on consequences the local rakhine buddhist population, the other community in rakhine, supports the

insurgents and it will only inflame tensions between them and the rohingyas when the rohingyas are seen, unwillingly of course, fighting on the side of the military. so it'll store up a lot of problems for the future. jonathan head in bangkok. _ japan's prime minister fumio kishida is making an official visit to the united states on monday. the white house said mr kishida's visit to washington "will underscore the enduring strength of our alliance, the unwavering us commitment to japan, and japan's increasing global leadership role." stephen olson, a former us trade negotiator, gave us his assessment of what the visit could entail. well, i think biden and his japanese counterpart are going to give each other a very big bear hug, and very warmly embrace each other. i think they are going to stress the importance of both economic relationship as well as the security relationship, and if at all possible try to move this relationship even more close together. of course, the 800 lb gorilla that will be sitting in the room

during these discussions will be nippon steel and us steel. with the us presidential election looming in the not—too—distant future, i don't think biden�*s really got the political manoeuvrability to substantially change his position on that issue, so it's something that the leaders are going to have to carefully manage. let's get some of the day's other news now. more than 90 people died when an overcrowded makeshift ferry sank off the coast of northern mozambique, on sunday. the converted fishing boat was carrying about 130 people. the local authorities said many of those onboard were children. a southwest airlines aircraft was forced to return to denver international airport in the us state of colorado on sunday morning when part of its engine cover broke off and hit the wing on take—off. the federal aviation authority said it was investigating. there were no injuries reported. rescue teams in taiwan have evacuated several hundred people stranded

since wednesday's earthquake. many were cut off when rockslides closed the only road into a mountainous area near the city of hualien. that has now been partly cleared. rescuers are still searching for several missing hikers, including a couple from singapore. millions of people in north america are gearing up for a total solar eclipse today. the path of totality, the area that will be plunged into darkness when the moon blocks the sun's light, will extend across parts of mexico, the usa and canada. 0ur north america correspondent, nomia iqbal, reports. music. this park has turned into a family music festival. there's a stage for dancing, food stalls, bouncy castles, and people camped out. the big star everyone is here to see is in the sky. we wait for things like this — to be able to be outside and not stuck inside on doing something, or school, or whatever is going on. to be able to spend time together

as a family is amazing — especially to see something so cool. the one in 2017 was the first one i had experienced — or the first total one that i had experienced — and, yeah, it was... it was pretty mind—blowing. the moon will move in front of the sun, blocking its light and plunging the earth into darkness for up to four minutes in most places. there will be a total eclipse of the heartland — the path of totality will stretch from mexico, across the us and through to canada. the weather is sadly looking cloudy, but everyone is trying to be upbeat. even if you have clouds, you will be able to see the drop in light, the drop in temperature. but one of the great things about a total solar eclipse is you can see the corona — or the outer atmosphere — of the sun, which is this beautiful, stunning thing we don't normally get to see. and, unfortunately, if there's clouds, we won't see that. last time this celestial phenomenon happened in the us was in 2017. you may remember this moment. to view the sky safely, definitely

don't do what mr trump did there, and stare right at the sun — these solar eclipse glasses are your best friends. they are much, much darker than regular sunglasses. they block out the light and radiation. they should also carry this authentic label, which means they meet a high standard of safety. but what if you're visually impaired? scientists have made sure you won't miss out using this box that converts light into sound. if we think about, you know, my finger crossing over as, like, the moon... pitch decreases. ..then it'll slowly change pitch as that light is being blocked into lower and lower pitches, and a slower sound, too, once we hit totality in this case, when that sensor is fully blocked. as we exit back out of that, we can hear it increase in the pitch. pitch increases. the total solar eclipse is not just something you see, but experience with your whole body. you feel temperatures drop,

you hear nocturnal animals wake up as day becomes night for several breathtaking minutes. nomia iqbal, bbc news, texas. so for those of us not in the path of totality, what can we learn from this event? i asked professor emily brunsden from the school of physics at the university of york. this is unfortunately not an eclipse for us here in the uk unless you are very lucky to be very, very north and able to catch itjust as the sun sets. otherwise, scientifically we are really looking for lots of different ways to study parts of the sun that we can't normally see, because we get to block out all that really bright light from the centre of the solar disc. it's really key, isn't it, it makes it enormously hard to study the sun in normal time, so this provides a little window to be able to do that in a far better way. yeah, the sun doesn't stop at the edge of where we see it, it has this extended atmosphere called the corona, which is a really fascinating part of the sun

because it is even hotter than the surface of the sun. we don't actually fully understand why that is. so hen the moon passes in front and we get an eclipse that blocks so when the moon passes in front and we get an eclipse that blocks out the disc and we can see this corona and make measurements of its structure, temperature and things like that. for you i guess it's one of those exciting moments where people get into science and it's something everybody can see and be involved with. exactly. when you're in the path of totality it is truly magical, even scientists will tell you it is a magical experience, because you are in the daylight, it suddenly goes dark and everything changes. the sounds around you change, the temperature changes, the light changes, it is a fascinating thing. it's that personal connection, i think, with our own solar system that makes it really interesting. as with so many things in life, at the mercy of the weather as well. yeah, it's always a shame when the weather comes in just at these wonderful events but fingers crossed some people will get to see

a wonderful eclipse today. it is around four and a half minutes or so, is that right? that is the maximum, yeah, that's right. it will vary a little bit depending on where you are. it gets down to about one minute, i think, in parts of canada. you can enjoy that across bbc news today. for continuing coverage of the build—up to the total solar eclipse from our correspondents across north america, go to the bbc�*s live page on the bbc news app and website. lots more as well telling you about how and where you can watch it and some brilliant pictures. while you are on the bbc news website there is also a live page running at the moment on our main story of the day, this is as displaced palestinians returned to the gaza city of khan younis. israel defence forces withdrew the majority of their

ground troops from gaza yesterday so people are starting to return to khan younis, an area devastated by six months of fighting. you can also see and hear our correspondence and our international editorjeremy bowen reflecting on six months of the war. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. we're in for another changeable week of weather. yes, there'll be some sunshine at times, but we're also looking at some wet and windy conditions. it's going to be cooler, especially so on tuesday. and then it turns that bit warmer later in the week. by the weekend, london, for example, could be back up to 20 degrees. now, this low pressure to the northwest of scotland is what's left of storm kathleen pulling away. but we have another area of low pressure which is bringing in weather fronts with rain attached to them. you can see a weak weather front pushing northwards, producing some showers. but we've got some heavier rain moving north across parts of wales, northern england and also northern ireland with showers following on behind.

they're going to be pushing eastwards, some of those heavy and thundery. the brightest skies across the north of scotland, with the wind continuing to ease here, and temperatures 10 to 18 degrees north to south. if you're hoping to see the partial solar eclipse tonight, well, you'll be lucky. it's likely to be in the west, but there's a lot of cloud and rain around. you might see it in the western isles, possibly the west of northern ireland as well. but as i mentioned, a lot of cloud and rain around. temperatures falling away to between 4 and 9 degrees. heading on through tomorrow, then, we've got all this rain, some of it still heavy and persistent, drifting towards the east. for a time, there'll be snow in the mountain tops in the highlands and behind it, sunshine and showers, but blustery showers. it's going to be windy wherever you are with coastal gales in wales and the english channel coasts as well. temperatures cooler than today, 8 to about 12 degrees north to south. as we head on into wednesday, well, we start off on a bright note with some sunshine,

but the cloud will build quite quickly. this is a warm front bringing in rain. behind it, the winds change direction to more of a southwesterly, which is a milder direction for us, so there'll be a change in the temperatures, so going back up. we're looking at eight in lerwick, to 15 as we push down towards norwich. into thursday, thursday's looking like a bright and breezy day. there'll be a few showers knocking around and at times large areas of cloud as well, but for the most part it's going to be dry with a fair bit of sunshine, and temperatures continuing to climb, 17 in aberdeen to 19 in norwich and london.

this is bbc news. displaced palestinians start returning to the gazan city of khan younis. israel says it has withdrawn nearly all ground troops as it regroups for the next stage of war. the next phase of the post office horizon inquiry begins this week. former subpostmasters tell the bbc those responsible must be held to account.

british soldiers are in paris as theyjoin french colleagues to mark theyjoin french colleagues to mark the hundred and 20th anniversary of the hundred and 20th anniversary of the entente cordiale. and a film about amy winehouse. more now on the post office scandal, and the next phase of the uk post office horizon public inquiry begins this week. it will be the second to last chapter of an independent investigation into one of the nation's biggest miscarriages ofjustice. earlier, former subpostmaster, sharon, told the bbc of how her and her husband spent their life savings trying to make up the shortfall, when money started disappearing form their post office account. the error impacted their finances, relationships, and mental health for 20 years. it was horrible, it was really horrible, it was the worst years of

my life. and that's life lost, with the kids, everything, theyjust don't