live from london, this is bbc news. the high court rules prince harry is a victim of phone hacking and awards him £140,000 in damages. he describes it as "a great day for truth". what now for ukraine — after hungary's prime minister the israeli army admits to x and the killing three hostages. what now for ukraine — after hungary's prime minister blocks a $55 billion eu aid package and threatens to "pull the handbrake" on future payments? we speak to moldova's president after eu leaders approve membership talks. a british boy, found alive six years after he disappeared, is due home in the coming days. french authorities say he walked for four days through the pyrenees.

hello, i'm rich preston. welcome to the daily global, where we'll bring you the top stories from the uk and around the world. a few stories we're keeping across tonight — a judge in london has found that prince harry was the victim of phone hacking by the mirror newspaper group. we'll bring you the details, with reaction and analysis. also today, a key development in efforts to get humanitarian aid into the gaza strip — israel says it will allow aid trucks to enter through the kerem shalom crossing for the first time since the hamas attacks on october the seventh. it comes as us national security adviser, jake sullivan, is the region today, meeting the palestinian leader, mahmoud abbas. and russia responds to the eu's decision to open membership talks with ukraine and moldova, saying it's a politicised action that could destabilise the bloc. we'll hear from moldova's

president maia sandu. but first — prince harry has called on police to open a criminal investigation after a court in london ruled he had been the victim of phone hacking by a major newspaper group. mirror group newspapers has apologised. welcoming the decision, prince harry called it a "great day for the truth". thejudge awarded him damages of a hundred and $80,000. piers morgan, who edited the daily mirror between 1995 and 2004, has refused to accept the judge's assertion that he was aware certain stories were based on information hacked from prince harry's phone. here's our media editor katie razzall. a significant victory. in 15 articles about prince harry in all three mirror titles the newspaper group has been found to have intercepted five voicemails and gathered other information. —— unlawfully. phone hacking at the paper,

thejudge found, was widespread and habitual. prince harry's lawyer read out his client's words after the 386—page judgment was delivered. "this case is not just about hacking. it is about a systemic practice of unlawful and appalling behaviour, followed by cover—ups and destruction of evidence. the shocking scale of which can only be revealed through these procedures." the articles include this in the people in 2003, about a row between harry and william about whether to meet their mother's former butler. thejudge says both proably had their phones hacked — a serious security concern. most of the 15 unlawfully gathered articles relate to his time with former girlfriend chelsy davy, including this in the mirror, in 2005, about her plans to dump him — and this in the sunday mirror in 2007, phone hacking

involved in both instances. prince harry said the relentless invasion killed their relationship. there was this article in this newspaper about his date with caroline flack, £15,000 in damages for distress to the prince. in all, he takes away just over £140,000. two senior executives, former ceo sly bailey and former legal director paul vickers, knewjournalists and private detectives were breaking the law, said thejudge. better—known a name that came up often in court was piers morgan, who edited the daily mirror from 1995 to 200k. 0ne also gave evidence that mr morgan knew about a 2002 story that kylie minogue came from deception. the judge said he was a reliable witness. piers morgan fought back. as i have consistently said, i have never hacked a phone or told anyone else to hack the phone, and nobody has produced any actual evidence to prove that i did. his former employers, mirror group newspapers, had earlier welcomed the judgment as giving them clarity.

where historical wrongdoing took place, they said, we apologise unreservedly and we have taken full responsibility and have paid appropriate compensation. this is a significant decision on a story from a different media age where the tabloids were read by millions, and apparently all too often broke the law to get their exclusives. thejudge ruled the hacking of prince harry's phone was modest, but it did go on. a senior royal hacked byjournalists, whose bosses knew. mirrorgroup mirror group always said that didn't happen. through his barrister prince harry explained how much thejudgment means to him. "today's ruling is vindicating and affirming. i have been told that slaying dragons will get you burnt, but in light of today's victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it is a worthwhile price to pay." the mission continues. as for him saying this is "a good day for truth," the truth that has been repeatedly

exposed in recent years as someone who wouldn't know the truth if it slapped him around his californian tanned face. he demands accountability for the press, but refuses to accept any for himself for smearing the royal family, his own family, as a bunch of callous racists without producing a shred of proof to support those disgraceful claims. prince harry, seen here leaving court in the summer, has had his judgment. around 80 other people, many high—profile, have similar claims against the mirror group, and will be examining thejudge was not decision closely. ——judge�*s —— judge's decision closely. katie razzall, bbc news. with me now is paul connew, former editor of the sunday mirror. what do you make of today's ruling? prince harry will certainly be happier than anybody else about this judgment. certainly it's a highly significant one, the first royal in 100 years to go to the witness box — against the wishes, i'm sure, of his

family. but whether this will heal in a way some of the rifts between his father in him, and his brother in him, will be interesting, or whether it'll widen that goal. who knows? ., ., ., ., ., ., knows? you are co-author of a book - how has journalism _ knows? you are co-author of a book - how has journalism and _ knows? you are co-author of a book - how has journalism and the _ how has journalism and the royal family changed over the years? greatly, but there's always been this interdependence of the media and deeding the monarchy, the monarchy needing the media. and in a way, it's been the history of never complain, never explain — which prince harry certainly has broken away from. i know prince harry edged slightly before the meghan markle area and i liked him a lot. but some people say, and there may be grounds

for this, that he says he's a crusader against press wrongdoing, and to an extent i'm sure that's true. but he's also possibly got a morbid obsession about it linked with his mother's death, which wasn't directly linked with the media, but she often played her of heard she wanted... people sittin: at of heard she wanted... people sitting at home _ of heard she wanted... people sitting at home may _ of heard she wanted... people sitting at home may be - of heard she wanted... people - sitting at home may be wondering that you're a former editor of this newspaper which is at the heart of this case, did anything go on under your watch? this case, did anything go on under yourwatch? i this case, did anything go on under your watch?— your watch? i predate the hacking era, in your watch? i predate the hacking era. in fact _ your watch? i predate the hacking era. in fact i _ your watch? i predate the hacking era, in fact i was _ your watch? i predate the hacking era, in fact i was hacked - your watch? i predate the hacking era, in fact i was hacked myself. era, in fact i was hacked myself later on wearing a different hat. but it's a very important ruling because it'll trigger renewed calls for police investigation, and i'm sure politicians will eventually

break cover and be talking about tougher press regulation. now i'm a strong believer in press self—regulation, i wouldn't want their fingers too much around press freedom. i think the new press regulator is doing a pretty good job, nothing is perfect, but certainly i think the culture is now better than it was by far. these are historic cases, but of course, piers morgan is possibly telling the truth when he says he's never hacked a phone — but the allegation isn't that he hacked a phone, but he was aware that it was going on in that it was a culture at the time he was editor. and looking back, of course, backin editor. and looking back, of course, back in 2015, the mirror group settled a big case involving a— nine

celebrities, including paul gascoyne amongst them, for well over £1 million in total —— 8—9 celebrities when there then qc acknowledged it was an industrial scale practice and had been, and that senior managers and editors knew about it. of course, piers would have to explain why, in his own autobiography, which predated the hacking scandal, he wrote about listening to the paul mccartney serenading his estranged wife on what turned out to be a hacked call. now the allegation was revisited in this case, but the allegation wasn't that piers morgan or the mirror themselves hacked it, but that somebody else within the organisation was aware of it and passed the hacked a message on. so piers has some explaining to do, but i do accept that he probably has

never personally hacked a phone. but of course, the fallout as they are, and it only plays into the, shall we say, the fact that there is no mutual love or admiration between piers morgan and prince harry and meghan markle, or them for him. there is an argument that the reason these voicemails were hacked is because they generated news stories, which people went out and paid money to buy the newspapers and read them. there is this kind of supply and demand element to it — what does this do to that? demand element to it - what does this do to that?— this do to that? well, that's interesting _ this do to that? well, that's interesting because - this do to that? well, that's interesting because also, i this do to that? well, that's i interesting because also, when this do to that? well, that's - interesting because also, when the first allegations involved in this case were happening, the mirror titles were selling around 2 million copies, they are now selling around 300,000 - so copies, they are now selling around 300,000 — so the climate for newspapers is dire, and the mirror

group have been sacking many journalists for economic reasons. and ijust hope, because i think we need a left—leaning newspaper group, that you have to worry that this could even possibly damage the mirror group themselves, we don't know how shareholders and investors will react to this, much less if there'll be a public backlash, don't know. ., ., ~ there'll be a public backlash, don't know. . ., ,, , ., there'll be a public backlash, don't know. ., . ~' , ., , know. paul, thank you very much, appreciate — know. paul, thank you very much, appreciate it- _ israel's military says it killed three hostages being held in gaza after they were "mistakenly identified as a threat" in the north of gaza. the bodies have been returned to israel, and two of the victims were identified as yotam haim, who was kidnapped from kibbutz kfar aza, and as samer talalka, who was abducted from kibbutz nir am. the family of the third hostage asked for the name to not be revealed. it came hours after the bodies

of three other hostages were recovered in gaza — two israeli soldiers, nik beizer and ron scherman, both 19 years old, and 28—year—old elia toledano, who had been taken by hamas from the supernova music festival. meanwhile, israel says it will allow aid trucks to enter gaza through the kerem shalom crossing, for the first time since the hamas attacks on october 7th. until now, aid has only been able to get into gaza through the rafah border crossing from egypt, which can only process a limited number of vehicles. the opening of the kerem shalom goods crossing should allow in 200 trucks a day, carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid. the move has been welcomed by the world health organization. white house national security adviserjake sullivan, who's in the region — today meeting the head of the palestinian authority in the west bank — has called it a �*significant step'. mahmoud abbas told mr sullivan that what he called the "genocide" being carried out in gaza must stop.

the health ministry in gaza, which is run by hamas, says more than 18,700 people have been killed since the start of the war. the palestinian foreign minister has been in the norwegian capital, 0slo, today to discuss the conflict with his counterparts from the middle east, nordic, and benelux countries. he was asked whether the palestinian authority needs to be revitalised, if it's to have a role in governing gaza after the war. let's hear what he had to say. we are ready to listen to anyone who wants to talk to us, and ready to speak with us, mc how they want in a positive manner to help us, you know, develop, build capacity, look for the future, be prepared, you know, for further responsibilities. in that regard, yes, we are very much open and ready to listen and

engage. i spoke to hugo bottega earlier and what we know about these three hostages killed by so—called friendly fire. hostages killed by so-called friendly fire.— hostages killed by so-called friendl fire. , , ., , ., friendly fire. this is a statement released by _ friendly fire. this is a statement released by the _ friendly fire. this is a statement released by the israeli - friendly fire. this is a statement released by the israeli military l released by the israeli military just a short time ago, saying that these three hostages were mistakenly identified as a threat and that they were killed by the israeli military. this happened in northern gaza, this has been one of the places where fighting has been intense in gaza in recent days. this area has been described by the israeli authorities as a hamas stronghold — and we know the intense fighting is happening there, so the israeli authorities saying this incident is under investigation. this is likely to put extra pressure on prime minister benjamin netanyahu, whojust days ago was in tel aviv talking to some relatives and friends of the hostages — more than 100 people

remain in captivity in gaza — and obviously they haven't lost hope that these captives will be released, but obviously they know that it will be extremely difficult for those captives to be freed as fighting continues in gaza, and i think there's always the fear that some of the captives could end up being killed because of the military activity that is happening there in gaza. so the news today that three israeli hostages were killed by the israeli hostages were killed by the israeli forces in gaza is likely to put pressure on the authorities to try to reach a deal so more hostages can be released.— can be released. hugo, let's stick with the tepic _ can be released. hugo, let's stick with the topic of _ can be released. hugo, let's stick with the topic of diplomacy - can be released. hugo, let's stick. with the topic of diplomacy because this comes as the us national security adviser is beating the palestinian leader, bakhmut boss. what's come out about that meeting? the second day of this visit by jake sullivan, he was in ramallah, the

occupied west bank, he met the president of the palestinian authority, mahmoud abbas, who described the situation in gaza as genocide, saying it was vital to protect the civilian population, the palestinian population from what he described as the israeli war machine. now before meeting mr abbas, jake sullivan had talks with the israeli leadership, meeting the israeli prime minister and defence minister — and i think the message from the biden administration has been very clear, that concerns are rising over the amount of civilians being killed in gaza, and what mr sullivan said was that the discussions were around the new phase of the war and the tactics of more targeted, precise attacks attacking the hamas leadership. but what the israelis have been saying

is they still need more time to accomplish the goal of this operation, the goal of this war, which is the elimination of hamas in gaza. and i think again, pressure is rising on the israelis because of the amount of dust mounting civilian casualties, but also because of the worsening humanitarian situation in gaza. for days, we've been talking about desperate conditions for the population there, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and widespread shortages of basic supplies. so again, one of the messages here from jake sullivan is that more could be done to protect the civilian population of gaza. let's look at some other stories making news. there's been an alarming rise in the number of very young children in scotland escaping from nursery school care. in the past year, two children a week, on average, disappeared eitherfrom nursery or while on trips.

a nursery trade association has said its members are taking the issue seriously and cites staffing pressures, with a greater number of inexperienced staff. households face paying more for their energy bills to help suppliers recover nearly three billion pounds in debts, from customers who can't pay their bills. 0fgem is proposing lifting the energy price cap by 16 pounds from april. the watchdog said it wanted energy companies to use the extra funding to support struggling customers. six of lionel messi's jerseys worn during last year's world cup have sold for a combined £6.1 million at auction. messi captained argentina to victory at the tournament with his country beating france on penalties in the final. the six jerseys were from the first half of the final, semifinal, quarterfinal, last—16 tie and two group games. you're live with bbc news. very good to have your company.

the grandmother of a british teenage who was found in france on wednesday, having been missing since 2017, has spoken of her relief. alex batty who is from 0ldham, disappeared while on holiday in spain six years ago with his mother and grandfather. he was 11 at the time and in the care of his grandmother susan caruana, who tonight said she couldn't begin to express her happiness. he was spotted this week walking near the city of toulouse, from where nick beake sent this report. the little boy who went on holiday and was never seen again — until now. these photos of alex batty were taken more than six years ago. since then, he has been on the move from country to country. but this week alex — now 17 — left his mother in their remote community in the french mountains, and reappeared on the street with his remarkable story. french police say he seems to be a normal teenager despite everything. translation: the young man was

described as tired by the police, i and doctor who were able to see him. but in overall good health and intelligent, despite having never attended school during his entirejourney. the prosecutor revealed that alex's grandfather, who he was travelling with when he disappeared, died six months ago. he said the community in which alex lived was not a cult. translation: he says there was no physical violence from anyone. - he talked about a spiritual community and didn't mention the word cult. we still need to find out more. on 30 september, 2017, alex left oldham to go to marbella on holiday with his mother and grandfather. he was last seen a week later in malaga on the day they were due to fly home. the following february, alex's grandmother — his legal guardian — said she believed he had been taken to morocco to live with a spiritual community. the french police believe he could have been there for two years before moving to spain, and then, coming to france

and living with a travelling community in the pyrenees mountains. but this week, after walking forfour days, he re—emerged and was picked up by a passing driver and taken to the town of ravel, then to toulouse — as he identified himself as alex batty. investigators say alex's mother had recently told him they had to leave the country yet again — to finland this time. and at this point, alex said the lifestyle he had been living had to stop. and so, he simply walked away. nick beake, bbc news. for more on this i'm joined by clinical psychologist dr martha deiros collado. thank you very much for being with us, this is obviously a very delicate, sensitive and difficult subject, but when he comes back to the uk, authorities will want to talk to alex to get his account of things. what kind of support will he need to be able to get through that?

i think he might find it quite difficult to articulate some of his experiences, and he might feel some shame or he might be afraid. so he will need support while he's talking. so an advocate for him — whether that's his grandmother or someone from the safeguarding team, someone from the safeguarding team, someone who can really keep him safe emotionally and physically while they are exploring his experiences and asking him personal questions. the details are still very scant, and of course we are talking about a child here. talk to us about some of the potential trauma implications of what alex may have been through, and how we begin to get around those. well, he has missed on a foundational period of growing up, which is about adolescence. and in adolescence, young people spend time with their peers and they go through risk and building life skills — and

he may have missed out on those really essential components, so it's really essential components, so it's really hard to say like what traumas he's experienced, but i think we can say that the life he's had and that community will be very different from the kind of life he will have outside that community. so there might be social skills, emotional skills, practicalskills, and might be social skills, emotional skills, practical skills, and also cognitive and intellectual skills that he is missing and needs to adjust, and rebuild. so that he is missing and needs to adjust, and rebuild.— adjust, and rebuild. so when it comes to _ adjust, and rebuild. so when it comes to reintegrating - adjust, and rebuild. so when it comes to reintegrating back. adjust, and rebuild. so when it. comes to reintegrating back into life in the uk, that will obviously be a slow and gentle process, but how does someone like you work with a child to begin to do that? i how does someone like you work with a child to begin to do that?— a child to begin to do that? i think somebody like _ a child to begin to do that? i think somebody like me _ a child to begin to do that? i think somebody like me would - a child to begin to do that? i think somebody like me would begin by| somebody like me would begin by understanding his experiences, his story. so it's not the hardship that develops trauma, but it's his meaning making over what's happened to him. so i would want to think

about how we can build up skills in toulose to reintegrate him to society outside the community —— skills and tools, and i'd like to explore the things he thinks he's missing from the community, or things he feels there might be a loss of. because often we think they are running away or getting away from something, and he clearly wanted to leave and was allowed to step away — but there might be areas where he feels like he is missing out on, and those are the things we would have to consider and think about how we build them so that he feels safe and can develop his own identity outside of the community, which is something that over the past seven years, he hasn't had experience of. we past seven years, he hasn't had experience of.— past seven years, he hasn't had experience of. we have to leave it there, experience of. we have to leave it there. doctor. _ experience of. we have to leave it there, doctor, thank _ experience of. we have to leave it there, doctor, thank you - experience of. we have to leave it there, doctor, thank you very - experience of. we have to leave it. there, doctor, thank you very much for being with us, we appreciate it. the israeli military says it's investigating after three hostages being held in gaza were killed in what it described as a friendly fire incident after israeli military

forces mistakenly identified them as a threat. we'll bring you much more on that story and others, stick with us on bbc news. hello. we've seen some drier weather developing over the past 2a hours or so, and many of us will hold on to the fairly quiet theme to the weather into the weekend, too. so mostly dry, breezy and mild, often fairly cloudy, but the exception will be across the northwest of the uk, particularly northwest scotland, where we've got some really wet and pretty windy weather on the cards. so high pressure holds on to the south, keeping things mostly dry, but these weather fronts moving in at times through the weekend across the far north of the uk will be quite persistent as they produce that heavy rainfall. now for friday evening, overnight into saturday, a lot of cloud across the board generally. some light rain and drizzle for the west of scotland. we'll see a few clear spells here in there further south, but i think enough of a breeze, enough cloud to keep things well and truly frost—free. so temperatures in the south between about 4—8 celsius, but we're staying in double figures

for parts of scotland and northern ireland, with the wind and the cloud — and the winds are coming in from a very mild south westerly direction. importing this mild air, you can see the orange colors across the map — blue colours, colder air to the north there and where those two air masses meet, that's where we've got this frontal system, which will be a bit of a troublemaker in the far northwest. so saturday, that rain becomes quite persistent across the northwestern parts of highland, into parts of the western isles, the northern isles also seeing some rain. 1—2 splashes of rain for the likes of the cumbrian fells, perhaps northern ireland, but further south and east, we're going to be staying at dry. a bit milder than it was on friday — temperatures in double figures across the board. but then, as we move through saturday night into sunday, that rainfall continues to pile in. we could see up to about 175 millimetres of rain falling across parts of highland, towards argyll and bute. and the met office have issued an amber weather warning for that heavy rain, which is likely to cause some flooding problems across the region. so moving through sunday, then, it's looking drier further south, but a bit of rain for northern england, northern ireland. should be dry too for the east

of scotland and mild — 1a there for aberdeen, around about 11 in london. into the new week and for monday, then, that weather front slips its way further south. it's quite a weak affair, so tending to fizzle out, but it will bring a fair amount of cloud once again, a few showers around, as well. and then, further ahead, a pretty wet day for many of us, especially in the south on tuesday. stays reasonably mild and unsettled, though, through the course of next week. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines. israeli military and kills three hostages in gaza. israel says its opening the border at kerem shalom for aid — a decision welcomed by washington — and the world health organization. the high court rules prince harry is a victim of phone hacking and awarded £11t0,000 in damages. he describes it — as �*a great day for truth'. and — hundreds fill the sydney opera house — to remember the comedy superstar, barry humphries. israel's military says it killed three hostages being held in gaza

after they were "mistakenly identified as a threat" in the north of the territory.