israel's defence minister outlines proposals for the future of gaza — once the war against hamas is over. flooding causes chaos in parts of the uk and northern europe, with rivers bursting their banks and people fleeing their homes. hello, i hello, lam lauren hello, i am lauren taylor. former athlete oscar pistorius has been released from prison on parole, more than ten years after killing his girlfriend, and is now at home. the south african has served just over half of his jail sentence, following a crime and trial that dominated international headlines. he shot reeva steenkamp multiple times through a bathroom door on valentine's day in 2013, later claiming he mistook herfor a burglar at their home in pretoria.

reeva's mother says she's serving a �*life sentence�*. let's take a look at the background to this case now with daniel de simone. commentator: oscar pistorius is champion! | oscar pistorius, convicted murderer, today leaves prison on parole. he was once a paralympic and olympic superstar nicknamed the blade runner. his victim was girlfriend reeva steenkamp, a law graduate and model. pistorius murdered her on valentine's day 2013 by shooting four times through a locked toilet door at his home. his trial absorbed the world. pistorius claimed to have shot reeva by mistake, thinking an intruder was in the house. i got to the bed and then i realised reeva wasn't there. at first only found guilty of the equivalent of manslaughter, he was convicted on appeal in 2015 of murder, withjudges saying his story was inconsistent and improbable. reeva's close friend says she's

heard no evidence he's changed. i want to know, has he been given proper anger management therapy? and in saying that, this rehabilitation, have they focused on all of that? because in my opinion, oscar walking around as a free man without the necessary training and treatments and psychiatric evaluations, he is deadly on the streets. in november, pistorius was granted parole with release set for today. for five years, he'll live under conditions and could be returned to prison if he breaches them. campaigners against male violence say his release sends a terrible signal. oscar's release is an indication that we have a serious problem, that there's, i guess, a normalisation of leniency when it comes to predators, when it comes to anyone who commits any type of femicide or gender—based violence. reeva steenkamp�*s mother says the void left by her murder can

never be filled by anyone else. well, daniel explained the conditions to the release of mr pistorius. the conditions will last until his sentence expires in late 2029 so he still got more than five years of conditional release. and if he breaches those conditions he can be returned to prison. we know a little bit about some of the conditions, he's not going to be allowed to speak to the media which is obviously significant given his fame. he's also going to be banned from drinking alcohol, taking drugs and he's also going to have to attend mandatory classes on anger management and violence against women and girls. the fact he's going to have to attend those programmes is something that has reassured reeva steenkamp�*s mother, june, in a statement she issued this morning. so we don't actually know what he's going to be doing otherwise. we think he's gone to a family home

which isn't farfrom here, it's about 25 minutes. drive away. but actually what his life will look like from now on, we really don't know, we are in speculation territory if we say we do. what reception can he expect from the south african public? well, the case was a huge story here, as you know and it was a huge story round the world. but particularly here, it was televised, all the evidence was followed very closely to people here, if you talk to people, you'll talk to a group of people who are together and friends, you'll find different views on the case still after all these years. the fact is, he is a convicted murderer, he was once a hero but he is a convicted murderer. the court that convicted him, the supreme court of appeal here in south africa said his account, he had given this story about thinking an intruder was in the house, had been inconsistent and full of improbabilities. reeva steenkamp�*s motherjune has

made it clear she is not convinced he has rehabilitated and she said previously that she would be concerned for the safety of any woman if his behaviour has not changed during his years in prison. you said he can't talk to the media as part of the conditions of release, but do you think we will see him at all? well, we don't know. there were a lot of media here outside the prison this morning. we got here very early and there were some media here from last night, so for many hours. and this is the main entrance. he didn't visibly come out of this entrance, it doesn't mean he wasn't snuck out in a car but he certainly was got out somehow of the prison, so the authorities have gone, i think, to some trouble to get him out without him being seen. apparently he does look a bit different, he's been in prison quite a few years,

obviously, the picture that everyone remembers of him, he was a very fit, medal winning athlete. so at some point he will be seen, but so far today that's not the case. now here in the uk, hundreds of people have been forced to leave their homes as flooding hit large parts of england and wales following storm henk. a major incident was declared in nottinghamshire along the banks of the river trent. the environment agency says levels on the trent were some of the highest seen in 2a years. right now more than 290 flood alerts and many more warnings are in place. take a look at this map from the environment agency. it shows all the places that have alerts — you can see most of them are in southern, eastern and central england. we will be live in some of the worst hit areas shortly but first mairead smyth has the latest. yet more heavy rain on already sodden ground. in nottinghamshire, a major incident has been declared as the river trent continued to rise, as high as it's been in more than 20 years. the peak expected today.

hundreds of people have been evacuated from their flooded homes. and a few miles south in loughborough, this flat ruined by floodwater. darren�*s father had to be rescued in the early hours of yesterday morning. there was three feet of water whereas today i'm looking at it and there's no water. the river severn also expected to peak today. belongings piled high in this cottage in worcester to escape the worst of the damage. in the village of longford near gloucester, catherine is helping to look after her mum's house which was surrounded by water,

fighting in gaza continues alongside the hamas health ministry says dozens of people have been killed. thousands have attended a funeral in beirut. we can now head to the hometown in the occupied west bank to speak to our correspondence. give

us a sense of the mood there at the moment. , , ._ , ., ., moment. the friday prayers are now under way- — moment. the friday prayers are now under way- the _ moment. the friday prayers are now under way. the local _ moment. the friday prayers are now under way. the local mosque - moment. the friday prayers are now under way. the local mosque is - moment. the friday prayers are now under way. the local mosque isjust| under way. the local mosque isjust behind me, the killing is the main subject of the friday sermon. the imam is speaking about how loved and popular he was, and what a fighter he was. this was a man that israel and the united states accused of being responsible for many terror acts, for people here, for the people in the west bank he is a popularfigure. he is seen people in the west bank he is a popular figure. he is seen as a symbol of resistance, there was a call for a demonstration right after the friday prayers. people are still making their way into the mosque. but i was also just taken to his family homejust around but i was also just taken to his family home just around the corner, and you can sense that there is a state of mourning, there are banners

with his pictures, hamas flags all around. the west bank is run by the political rival. but he remains a popular figure political rival. but he remains a popularfigure here. he was political rival. but he remains a popular figure here. he was the link between hamas and the iran backed hezbollah and iran itself. his killing may have taken his name off the most wanted list of us and israel but for the people here that they feel a major loss. he mentioned in passing, the palestinian authority, how will they react to the plans israel has put out for the day after in gaza? fine out for the day after in gaza? one ofthe out for the day after in gaza? one of the most _ out for the day after in gaza? (me: of the most problematic parts of that plan is the fact that israel plans to maintain general security in gaza, which means an israeli presence in gaza. that has been floated, if you remember, by the israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu early on in the conflict. that was met by a great deal of concern from his allies, the united states and the uk. i remember speaking to the uk foreign secretary at the time, but also from arab negotiate, specifically egypt and qatar. this will make any diplomatic negotiation with hamas for the freeing of hostages very difficult. one of the conditions is for israel to stop the bombing, but also the presence of israeli security forces for any of the arab negotiators and four palestinians mean some sort of reoccupation, even if it is not labelled as such by israel. the other thing i think is that israel is very reluctant, the israeli government is very reluctant to involve the palestinian authority in the governing of gaza. that has always been a point of contention in the war cabinet and the security cabinet in israel. we don't know what kind of input rolled and they are going to have, whether they want to be involved with israeli security

presence on the ground, but with antony blinken's trip to the middle east, this is going to make hisjob that more difficult to convince the pa to be involved, but also to convince egypt to have a specific role in the governing of gaza or the general administration of gaza after the war. just general administration of gaza after the war. , , ., ., general administration of gaza after the war. , ., ., general administration of gaza after thewar. , ., ., ., the war. just to go back to saleh al-arouri. _ the war. just to go back to saleh al-arouri. it _ the war. just to go back to saleh al-arouri, it is _ the war. just to go back to saleh al-arouri, it is early _ the war. just to go back to saleh al-arouri, it is early days - the war. just to go back to saleh al-arouri, it is early days but. the war. just to go back to saleh al-arouri, it is early days but inl al—arouri, it is early days but in the past, hamas have replaced leaders who have been assassinated, are there any indications on who they might replace him with, now he is dead? , ., , ., ., ., is dead? there is no shortage of --eole, is dead? there is no shortage of peeple. of— is dead? there is no shortage of people, of leaders _ is dead? there is no shortage of people, of leaders and - is dead? there is no shortage of people, of leaders and deputy i people, of leaders and deputy leaders and people in power, if you will end the hamas hierarchy. there hasn't been a specific name put forward but one of the interesting points israeli media has been discussing, if you assassinate one man, many others will take his

place. i would also comment on the calibre of saleh al—arouri, what he was able to be involved in, what he was able to be involved in, what he was able to be in charge. he was a significant figure politically and militarily. he was one of the people that put in place the military wing of hamas. he was a very experienced negotiator when it comes to prisoner swaps, for example, for hostages. he was involved in the big deal of swapping 1000 palestinian prisoners for the release of a hostage shell those years ago. and a former intelligence official has made the point that has dealt with them indirectly and they said hamas have lost a significant figure because of the negotiating skills he had. it will have to be someone that is able to cover a lot of ground militarily, politically and diplomatically and making those very important deals for prisoner swaps, given there are

still more than 100 hostages in captivity still in gaza.— still more than 100 hostages in captivity still in gaza. thank you very much _ captivity still in gaza. thank you very much indeed. _ around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a 16—year—old boy and a 17—year—old boy have been arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of 16—year—old harry pitman in north london on new year's eve, according to the metropolitan police a record number of electric cars were sold in the uk last year — 315,000 in all. the society of motor manufacturers and traders believes the industry has recovered from the pandemic, but says more still needs to be done to promote the uptake of electric cars. the new ofsted boss, sir martyn oliver, will meet education unions to discuss the way future school inspections are carried out. it comes nearly a year since the death of head teacher ruth perry, who took her own life after an inspection downgraded her school. the actor glynisjohns has

died at the age of 100. she appeared in dozens of films and plays, in a career spanning more than eight decades, and was best known for playing the suffragette mother, winifred banks in mary poppins. her manager described her death as "the end of the golden age of hollywood." you're live with bbc news. hundreds of people in england and wales have been forced to leave their homes after flooding. john maguire gave us this update from tewkesbury. we maguire gave us this update from tewkesbury-_ tewkesbury. we are in gloucestershire - tewkesbury. we are in gloucestershire in - tewkesbury. we are in - gloucestershire in tewkesbury tewkesbury. we are in _ gloucestershire in tewkesbury right on top of the abbey. you can see floodwaters in the floodplain pretty much as far as the eye can see in all directions. if you remember the large floods back in the summer of 2007. the river levels are not as high now, it is worth saying that

they are at their highest level since 2007. that image of tewkesbury abbey sitting here surrounded by flood water was sent around the world, the fronts of newspapers became a very iconic image. and people here are well used to these incidents. they are an incredibly resilient community. they know what to do, they will have racks to move furniture and valuables up and they will keep their valuables upstairs. a few of these houses down below were evacuated overnight, they spent the night in the local club which is just down below us, so they could spend a try and safe night. it has been an extremely busy couple of days for the emergency services and other organisations to try to prepare people as best as they could. we think the water levels will rise later on, the river severn is the major river that runs at the side of the town. there are four other rivers here and then the river

level should drop after that and then we are expecting a few days of dry weather as well, which will be thankfully received. the people here are used to this, they have to be strict because these incidents will increase with climate change and we have seen more and more of these flooding incidents over the last few years. people have put up flood barriers and taken the steps and measures. at the moment it is a handful of homes that have been affected. a couple of the main roads into the town have been cut off by flooding, but i canjust into the town have been cut off by flooding, but i can just hear into the town have been cut off by flooding, but i canjust hear some workers from tewkesbury counciljust down below putting out sandbags, again putting out road cones and handling road closuresjust trying to make sure people cope with things as best they can, stay safe as they can. it has been a tough few weeks but hopefully, fingers crossed with water levels forecast expected to drop over the next couple of days, things will get better. any homes that have been badly flooded, badly

affected, people will be out of those four months and months to come. but the very foreseeable future, it looks like it might be a calmer picture, a dry picture and with the bell is just going off below me, something that it will be music to the years of the local community. back to you. the french president, emmanuel macron, is welcoming european leaders to a tribute to the former european commission president, jacques delors, who died just after christmas at the age of 98. delors is widely regarded as the architect of the modern european union, overseeing the creation of the single market and its currency, and promoting european integration. live now to our correspondent hugh schofield who is following this story. he was quite a towering figure, wasn't he? he he was quite a towering figure, wasn't he?— he was quite a towering figure, wasn't he? . , ., , ., wasn't he? he was indeed, he was a towerin: wasn't he? he was indeed, he was a towering figure _ wasn't he? he was indeed, he was a

towering figure for— wasn't he? he was indeed, he was a towering figure for france _ wasn't he? he was indeed, he was a towering figure for france and - wasn't he? he was indeed, he was a towering figure for france and for. towering figure for france and for europe. he was an important minister under francois mitterrand and in the early 70s, so he has had a long political track record in france, before he entered the ten year period as head of the european commission, when what he will really be remembered for in europe is the single european act, the act which created the single market, freedman of movement and goods around europe —— freedom. setting the ground for maastricht, which set the ground for the treaty of 1992 which also said the treaty of 1992 which also said the growth of the single currency, all that we know today. it dominated that period of european history and french history as a result. at the time when there was a great deal of optimism in the air about the european project. there were voices in britain, famously, which were very much opposed to a lot of what he was doing but across the continent it was a time of a lot of hope, the fall of the berlin wall,

ushering the prospect of eastern european and central european future membersjoining. and jacques delors members joining. and jacques delors was membersjoining. and jacques delors was at the heart of that. one has to say in the same breath, things started quickly to unravel after he left, but when he was the things were looking quite hopeful. the? left, but when he was the things were looking quite hopeful. they can see pictures — were looking quite hopeful. they can see pictures of _ were looking quite hopeful. they can see pictures of emmanuel _ were looking quite hopeful. they can see pictures of emmanuel macron i see pictures of emmanuel macron greeting various european leaders and some of them these days are less and some of them these days are less a message with the european project, some of the leaders are not particularly keen on the freedom of movement or have quite strong views on immigration how it works? mi on immigration how it works? all e es on immigration how it works? fill eyes and the french press on the hungarian leader. all heads of governments have been invited, by viktor orban is identified with the new national district which seems to run counter to the spirit ofjacques delors. there has been a spot of eyebrow raising in france. the

viktor orban of the 2000 and 1990s, and jacques delors was very much in favour of hungary signing up to the european norms and joining this club and freeing itself from the embrace of what had been the soviet union. and that victor hogan still holds a memory which is quite dear of jacques delors, someone who was quite open to the idea of expanding europe to the east. we know he had reservations about it, meaning a dilation of europe but ultimately the side of it that europe spreads and extended it self eastward. hugh schofield, thank _ and extended it self eastward. hugh schofield, thank you _ and extended it self eastward. hugh schofield, thank you very much indeed. stay with us here and bbc news. let's get a report from north korea.

residents of two small south korean islands have been evacuated after north korea fired more than 200 artillery shells into the sea off their coasts. south korean officials called the shelling near the two countries' maritime border "provocative" — and said it would respond with appropriate measures. four people were killed on the smaller of the islands, yeonpyeong, in 2010 by another barrage of north korean shells. that was the first such attack on a civilian area since the end of the korean war 70 years ago. our reporter, yuna ku, has been following the latest developments in seoul. so north korea had fired more than 200 artillery rounds into the west sea on friday morning as a part of this military drill. the shells hit the north side of the northern limit line, which is tightly defended maritime border, but it caused no damage to civilians or the military. and what about the reaction from south korea, how unusual is it to evacuate people in this way? to be honest, it's not a total surprise for residents living near borders. however, some people have been

worried about the possibility of, military conflict near the island since 2010. at that time pyongyang fired dozens of artillery at yeonpyeong island, killing four people, including two civilians. and south korean officials have said they'd respond with what they called, "appropriate measures". what other appropriate measures do you think there will be? so after this incident, the south korean military issued an emergency evactuation alarm to the residents living nearby western border islands. they notified that what happened and they planned to launch a similar fire drill in response. south korea actually did respond with a similar fire drill at 3pm local time. for now we cannot expect what will follow. however, now all the alerts have been dismissed. stay with us here on bbc news.

the weather has caused a lot of disruption over the past few days with relentless heavy rain, still lots of flood warnings in force. the weather is going to be improving over the next few days, it's going to turn drier and colder but it will take several days for those floodwaters to fully recede. so the satellite image shows this curl of cloud that brought all the wet weather yesterday and overnight. it's clearing gradually towards the east now so low pressure starting to move away from eastern england. still this area of low pressure close to the north—east of scotland, so not completely dry out there today. more rain for northern and eastern scotland, rain clearing from the likes of norfolk and kent. a few more showers. a few more showers for some western areas coming in on that north—westerly breeze. but generally more sunshine for northern and western parts of the uk, whereas towards the south and east you are more likely to keep the cloud. in temperature somewhere between four to 10 degrees north to south. and then through this evening and tonight, the cloud and rain start to clear

away for most, still a bit cloudy in the east but lighter winds, clearer skies said the recipe for quite a cold night. could be a bit of frost and mist and fog patches for some. whereas towards the east of england i think you willjust keep that low cloud so just about frost free here. but a chilly start to saturday for most of us. the mist and frost and fog patches clear away from northern ireland, parts of scotland, wales as well, a few showers still for coastal parts of the irish sea for instance. whereas further east you've still got the odd spot of light rain coming out of this cloud but much, much drier thankfully than it has been an temperature is a little cool under the cloud, five to 7 degrees there towards the east but up to about nine in the sunny skies towards the west. and then good news as we head through sunday as high—pressure, very welcome area of high pressure builds across the uk so squeezing away most of the showers. i think not 100% dry, we could see some showers coming in on the breeze through the english channel, perhaps east anglia and one or two across the north—east of scotland. some missed on some fog patches could linger through the day, for instance for the central belt, the welsh marches as well. could be

murky for some of us where you have the mist and fog, particularly with the mist and fog, particularly with the very wet ground. high pressure stays until monday, just drifts a bit further until the west and the wind will rotate around the west of high pressure so bringing in colder air mass, return to the blue colours on the map. it will feel different to the course of next week. it is looking colder, some missed, frost and fog but thankfully much drier than has been.

if this is bbc news. the headlines... more than ten years after killing his girlfriend — former paralympian oscar pistorius is released on parole. flooding continues to cause disruption in parts of england and wales — forcing hundreds to leave their homes. a bbc investigation finds some online pharmacies are selling prescription—only drugs without robust safety checks. now it's time for your questions answered.... today we are focusing on tomorrow's national insurance cut. 27 million uk workers will pay less national insurance tax — after plans announced in the chancellorjeremy hunt's autumn statement. let's just take you

through the change. the rate of national insurance currently sits