the iranian—backed lebanese group, hezbollah, says it has launched a barrage of rockets at northern israel, in response to tuesday's beirut explosion that killed a top hamas official. us secretary of state, antony blinken, holds talks with turkey's president as part of his fourth recent trip to the middle east and the wider region. police in london confirm they're investigating potential fraud offences in relation to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub—post masters by the post office. the uk health security agency issues a week—long cold weather alert as parts of england still struggle with floods following a week of heavy rain. three arrests over a fire on a bangladesh train after at least four people, including a child, died. it comes ahead of this weekend's election.

hello, i'm lauren taylor. we start with drama on an alaska airlines flight in america which had to make an emergency landing, after a part of the fuselage fell off in mid air. despite the issues, no—one was hurt, and everyone was able to leave the plane safely. these pictures illustrate where the part of the fuselage went missing. it appears to have been the panel which houses a door. it's not thought anyone was in the seat next to the panel when it failed. audio has emerged of the moment the onboard crew informed flight control of what was happening — take a listen. we are declaring an emergency. we are descending down to 10,000. to recap what was said there — the crew was declaring an emergency, and carrying out an urgent descent. it's not yet known what caused the panel to detach from the plane — but here's what we do know about the incident so far. there were 177 passengers and crew on board. there are no reports of any physical injuries. the flight was heading

from portland to california — and the panel became detached not long after take off. the plane had reached an altitude of 16,000 feet — that'sjust under 5,000 metres — and the emergency breathing apparatus was deployed inside the cabin. the plane returned to the airport in portland around 35 minutes after taking off, and landed safely. the aircraft is a boeing 737 max 9. alaska airlines operates 65 of the planes — and has temporarily grounded its fleet of them, for inspection. the plane's manufacturer, boeing, says it is aware of the incident and is "working to gather more information." and america's national transportation safety board says it is investigating the incident. let's hear now from a passenger who was on board the alaska airlines flight, evan smith, who spoke to reporters after landing back at the airport in portland. who spoke to reporters after landing wide as a refrigerator and about as high as two thirds of a refrigerator in height. there was a very loud bang towards the left rear of the plane and a whoosh noise,

and all the air masks dropped. just a situation i have no control over, and just wait and see what happens. they said there was a kid in that row whose shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane, and his mother was holding on to him to make sure he didn't go with it. it says something that those planes can take that kind of hit and still go ahead and land safely. for more on this story, i'm joined now by aviation analyst alex macheras, who's in andalusia in spain. thank you for being with us. do you have any theories as to how this could have happened? its have any theories as to how this could have happened?— could have happened? its quite unprecedented. _ could have happened? its quite unprecedented. we _ could have happened? its quite unprecedented. we are - could have happened? its quite unprecedented. we are talking| could have happened? its quite - unprecedented. we are talking about an aircraft that was only delivered to alaska airlines less than three months ago and some of your viewers may recognise the name of the boeing 737 max because thatjet became a household name when it suffered two incidents, first in indonesia with liner and a few months later with ethiopian airlines. that triggered

the worldwide grounding and ban of this aircraft which lasted almost two years because investigation is concluded that there was something fundamentally wrong with one of these systems on board the aircraft, known as mcas and so boeing were forced to reassess how they were going to recertify that aircraft and get it back into the sky. the aircraft did return back into the skies, it is fly now globally. alaska airlines in one of the carriers that have around 65 of these aircraft but to see something like an entire side wall panel of an aircraft become separated while airborne is not something that we see in commercial air travel, not least in recent history of air travel and that is why investigators and bureaus will be scamming to work out how this happened, not least because it is at 737 max and this is an aircraft that has been under close scrutiny since those two accidents of years ago. we

close scrutiny since those two accidents of years ago. we know the airline has now— accidents of years ago. we know the airline has now branded _ accidents of years ago. we know the airline has now branded the - accidents of years ago. we know the airline has now branded the rest - accidents of years ago. we know the airline has now branded the rest of l airline has now branded the rest of the fleet. tell us a bit more about the fleet. tell us a bit more about the incident itself. when it happens, what are the mechanics of it and what will the pilot have had to do? it's good news, everyone is safely down. to do? it's good news, everyone is safely down-— to do? it's good news, everyone is safely down. what we have seen in this incident _ safely down. what we have seen in this incident is _ safely down. what we have seen in this incident is at _ safely down. what we have seen in this incident is at the _ safely down. what we have seen in this incident is at the aircraft - safely down. what we have seen in this incident is at the aircraft had i this incident is at the aircraft had departed as normal and was climbing to its cruising altitude and just as it reached around 16,000 feet, we knew that a side wall panel, if you are sitting in an aircraft cabin, this what panels are on the left and right. through the tube shape of the aircraft, that panel which houses a deactivated emergency exit door, so to the passengers, it looks like a normal side wall panel but for us in aviation, we know that if alaska airlines were to put more seats into that cabin, for example as many

seats as ryanair managed to squeeze in, there would be forced by regulators to activate another egg emergency exit. so the panel that houses an emergency exit that alaska airlines doesn't use. so from the outside looks like a dauber from the inside it isjust a normal outside looks like a dauber from the inside it is just a normal panel. that panel that was part of a decompression where it had blown out and that separation of the panel leaving the aircraft triggers a decompression scenario that crew have to jump into decompression scenario that crew have tojump into place decompression scenario that crew have to jump into place and decompression scenario that crew have tojump into place and into action to ensure that not only passengers are seated, that they are also able to withstand the vacuum that occurs because we have had scenarios decades ago by this has happened and passengers have been sucked out of the aircraft cabin because of that pressure. so it is

incredibly dangerous, it is not something that investigators will be downplaying and it is testament to the crew and the flight crew that they were able to return safely. and they were able to return safely. and they were able to return safely. and they were quite lucky that nobody was sat in that initial window seat, right next to the panel where it becomes separated from the aircraft. i willjust add that typically come in air travel, that seat is quite sought after because it has extra legroom because typically, it would house an emergency exit. so it is pretty unprecedented stuff. you talked earlier _ pretty unprecedented stuff. you talked earlier about what the previous problems well with this model. how damaging will this be further boeing generally?- further boeing generally? boeing will be in credit _ further boeing generally? boeing will be in credit he _ further boeing generally? boeing will be in credit he worried - further boeing generally? boeing will be in credit he worried now, | will be in credit he worried now, not only because they will be looking for a conclusion for what happened on this flight but also for the damage they have suffered in recent years, which is directly tied to the 737 max. this aircraft has had a troubled history in commercial

aviation and that has been incredibly costly for boeing. we are talking tens of millions per investigation in terms of the scrutiny boeing has been under, and all of these damning reports that show that there were problems with the production of the 737 max. and investors do not like that. it is responsible for some pretty hefty financial losses the boeing. we will also be saying over the coming hours and days, if there are any consequences to this, the rest of the world that operate the 737 max will be keen to find out as much info as they can to know if they —— their respective authorities will need to take action. i will take you back to when the 737 max was grounded worldwide of years ago, it was actually grounded abroad first, before it was branded by us

president donald trump at the time who had... we may see some developments over the coming days abroad because there is always in concern when something happens in air travel, concern when something happens in airtravel, not least concern when something happens in air travel, not least with the 737 max. the powerful iranian—backed lebanese group, hezbollah, says it's launched a barrage of rockets at northern israel, in response to an explosion in beirut that killed a top hamas official earlier this week. a statement said they hit an air traffic control base in meron with 62 rockets. the israeli military said it had identified about forty launches from lebanon, and that it had responded, without giving details. these are live pictures from the lebanese israel border. we will keep across those and bring you any developments from there over the course of the hour. from beirut, our middle east correspondent hugo bachega has been monitoring hezbollah�*s reaction following the killing of a hamas leader. it is interesting because this is happening a day after the influential leader of hezbollah, hassan nasrallah, gave a speech and he said this attack that happened here in beirut on tuesday,

that killed the deputy hamas leader, would not go unpunished. and this suspected israeli attack killed saleh al—arouri, was a blow for hamas, but it also hit hezbollah because it was an attack that happened in a suburb of beirut that is a stronghold of hezbollah, so yesterday again hassan nasrallah vowing to retaliate and the group saying that these attacks that happened this morning were its initial response, following this attack. what we've seen is that since the beginning of this war between israel and hamas in gaza, hezbollah has been carrying out attacks, targeting israeli positions almost every day, but so far most of this violence has been contained to areas along the lebanon—israel border because israeli authorities have

been warning hezbollah against escalating the situation, saying this could lead to a catastrophic response, not only for hezbollah, which is this powerful organisation supported by iran, but also for lebanon. and here todayjosep borrell, the eu foreign policy chief, is having talks with the lebanese authorities, including the caretaker prime minister, to talk about the situation along the lebanese—israeli border amid fears that the escalation of tensions there could lead to a major confrontation between hezbollah and israel. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil is injerusalem. she gave this update about israel's response to the latest attack from hezbollah. we've heard from the idf that they responded to the rocket attacks on northern israel. in the latest statement from the idf, they said that they responded

to what they described as "a terrorist cell responsible for the launches." they also said that they identified a0 launches coming from lebanon. i also just want to bring you the latest from khan younis in gaza. we've heard from the palestinian red crescent there, saying that artillery and heavy gunfire from drones reported in the vicinity of al—amal hospital in khan younis in the gaza strip, and that's for a third day now. there's been sustained fighting, sustained bombardment in central gaza in those three main refugee camps, al—bureij, al—nuseirat and al—maghazi, people trying to flee further south to deir al balah, deir al balah itself that area that the people were told by israel to go to for safety has also been bombarded. there's been also heavy shelling and heavy artillery, tank artillery in khan younis. and we've heard from both the idf

and our sources on the ground, the idf saying that they have killed numerous hamas militants from ground and from the air and destroyed a number of tunnel shafts and also destroyed a weapons storage facility. what we've heard, the effect of the civilians, the palestinians on the ground in khan younis is that there's been bombardment and strikes in every direction in khan younis, really, artillery and shelling with hundreds of families trying to flee to rafah — that's the southernmost city — as the ground offensive continues. people have been arriving, casualties have been arriving at the european hospital. we also understand that 18 people have been killed in one air raid on a family home and that number includes two displaced people as well in khan younis. let's turn to the diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war in gaza — and the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is beginning a fresh round of talks on the conflict with regional leaders. he's been meeting turkey's president erdogan in istanbul. washington's priorities are to prevent the war from becoming a wider regional conflict

and to secure an increase in humanitarian aid to palestinian civilians. 0ur north america correspondent anthony zurcher is traveling with the secretary of state and sent this update. us secretary of state antony blinken has a number of goals for this, his fourth trip to the mideast since the october 7th attacks. he wants more humanitarian aid to reach civilians in gaza. he wants hamas to release remaining hostages held in gaza. he also wants to try to keep this conflict from spreading throughout the region. that is going to be a challenging task given recent missile attacks from houthi rebels on shipping in the red sea, attacks on us military bases in syria and iraq, as well as the growing conflict between israel and hezbollah in northern israel and southern lebanon. antony blinken also wants to begin a conversation with israel and with the regional powers, arab powers, about what happens after israel winds down its military campaign in gaza. there are some very real differences

between what the united states envisions for palestinian self—rule in gaza, what israeli officials have proposed so far, and what arab partners to the us would be willing to go along with and help with. a senior state department official told me just yesterday that rhetoric coming out of the israeli leadership makes it more difficult for the united states to try to convince arab nations to lend a helping hand, to be part of a multinational coalition to rebuild gaza and help the palestinians. now, anthony blinken�*s meetings start here today in istanbul with turkish president recep erdogan. he continues on tojordan, several gulf states, a potential meeting with mohammed bin salman in saudi arabia, several days in israel and finally a day stop in cairo. it is going to be a frenetic series of days of shuttle diplomacy

for the us secretary of state as he tries to control this conflict and exert american influence in the region. in the uk, the metropolitan police has confirmed it's investigating potentialfraud offences in relation to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub—postmasters by the post office. around 700 people were blamed for accounting mistakes caused by faulty it software, which made it look like money was missing. some were wrongfully imprisoned, in a scandal which was recently dramatised on itv. 0ur reporter, vincent mcaviney, has more details. mr bates vs the post office has brought to light a story for years those in power wouldn't believe. for the post office branch managers across the country over two decades, it's been a nightmare they couldn't escape. i haven't got that money. and i don't know where it's gone. noel thomas, a former sub—postmaster in anglesey, was one of those wrongly sent to prison in 2006.

this week has offered some catharsis after years of torment. the rest of the country knows how the government and the post office have dealt with us over the many, many years. it's been 18 years for me. and, you know, it's been hell for a lot of people. after a long battle, the court of appeal quashed noel and 38 others' convictions. but no—one responsible has been convicted for their role. now, the metropolitan police has confirmed it's investigating potential fraud offences arising out of the prosecutions, relating to monies recovered from sub—postmasters of prosecutions or civil actions. the force is already looking into potential offences of perjury and perverting the course ofjustice. rising out of investigations and prosecutions carried out by the post

office. two people have been interviewed already under caution. but no—one has yet been arrested. as a result of the four—part itv drama, lawyers who act for claimants say that dozens more potential victims have come forward, finally ready to face their trauma. these people have been so heavily damaged psychologically by the post these people have been so heavily damaged psychologically by the post office and their actions, they've been so fearful of coming forward and going through the process again. now, what the drama has done is brought awareness, huge widespread sympathy, to these people. so alongside that, family encouragement, and speaking with other sub—postmasters who have been on this journey, they have finally found the courage to come forward. the post office has once again apologised for the distress this has caused. this drama has brought to attention the greatest miscarriage injustice in uk history. justice delayed might

bejustice denied. for hundreds of postmasters, there's hope it may finally be delivered. the us supreme court has confirmed that it will decide whether donald trump will be kept off the 2024 ballot in colorado and also other states. the colorado state supreme court removed trump from the primary ballot, citing the constitution's 14th amendment to claim he should not be allowed to run because of his role in the january 6 insurrection. michael fanone is a former washington dc police officer who was very badly injured in the capitol riot — suffering from a heart attack and a brain injury. here's his assessment three years on. i would give myself a clean bill of health. unfortunately, ifeel like the same cannot be said for the state of our country. and how do you mark a day like this? you know, i never really go into...or at least i haven't in the past two anniversaries, gone into it with any particular plans. itjust seems to kind of play out

the way that it plays out. tomorrow, i'm doing an early morning interview and then the rest of the day is mine. i'm probablyjust going to go spend time with my family. donald trump, of course, we have to say, maintains his innocence through all of this. the events of january 6th came, those protests on that day, came from a belief i from a lot of people that the election had been somehow stolen, of course, buoyed by the remarks that donald trump was making. he refused to accept the outcome of that election. given we're still a long way from election day, but it would look at this point like it's going to be a rematch between biden and trump, notwithstanding what may happen between now and november. are you concerned that something similar may happen towards the end of this year, should donald trump lose again? should he refuse to accept the outcome of the election? i'm not concerned, and i'll tell you why.

it's because i'm convinced that something is going to happen. in fact, i think even that statement is disingenuous and that we have seen a continuation of politically inspired violence in the aftermath of january 6th, obviously nothing to the same scale that we all witnessed at the capitol that day. but we've seen attacks perpetrated against law enforcement, against the fbi, threats made to elected officials, threats made tojudges, really, anybody that opposes maga. and the former president draws his ire and he knows that simply mentioning them leads to his followers attacking them, threatening them. you know, i wouldn't even call them dog whistles any more. these are overt threats. he knows exactly what he's doing.

so what can be done? do you have hope for the future? i don't know if i would call it hope. i feel as though...the department ofjustice, other institutions that are charged with protecting our democracy are doing theirjob within the confines of their authority. but ultimately, it's every american�*s responsibility to preserve democracy and ensure that it exists for future generations in this country. i think that in a way we've all become complacent to oui’ own success. and we haven't seen our democracy challenged in this way in a very long time. we certainly haven't seen that threat come from within. so i think it's important that every american, especially our newer voters, you know, those who may not have been old enough at the time of the january 6th attack to fully

appreciate what took place. and again, i turn to the president, joe biden, to set the tone and to help educate those americans as to what's really at stake here. a clean—up operation for communities is underway across parts of england this morning after days of heavy rainfall led to more than 1,000 homes and businesses being flooded. more than 200 flood warnings remain in place, mostly in the midlands, east anglia and the south. water levels may have peaked, but as they recede, they reveal a trail of destruction. homes flooded, treasured possessions lost, gardens completely submerged. the water actually started coming through the floor. not through the door coming through the floor. some said it's gone down, but it's going to go back up. some have said it's going down, some have said it is coming up.

so at the end of the day, all i know is i've got, what, five, six centimetres of water in my house? when this resident of gloucestershire, human and canine return, that's when the real work will start. and for thousands, it has already begun. staff and locals pulled together to get this pub in somerset back open. while these neighbours in hampshire tried their best to unblock drains, though, not everyone was so helpful. as they try to recover some kind of normality, many know this will probably happen again. it's the second time this house in hampshire is flooded. the last was in 2007. while angie's home near bridgnorth in shropshire has flooded three times in the last year. it is what it is, and you've just got to wait till it decides to go away. and it's notjust homes. this farm in lincolnshire was completely submerged for the second time in four years when a river burst its banks. for now, all the farmer can do is move his livestock to higher

ground, hoping the land recovers in time for lambing season. the prime minister, rishi sunak, is facing calls from opposition parties to convene an urgent cobra—style task force to protect homes from further damage and to visit areas hit by flooding. he says the environment agency has people on the ground in all the affected areas. meanwhile, many communities are doing their best to help each other. this was in nottinghamshire, where the river trent was at its highest level in a quarter century. with a cold snap predicted next and more rain likely, it's going to be a long, hard winter ahead for many. will batchelor, bbc news. plenty more on that and other stories on our website. stay with us on bbc news. hello there. for many of us, it's been a dry and a fairly quiet start to the weekend. good news, of course,

after the recent heavy rainfall and the storms that we've had, the flooding now should start to subside, but we've had lots of blue skies this morning. this was the scene in south lanarkshire. but you can see from the satellite image here, for many parts of the uk we've had clear skies and that's been extending its way out into the atlantic as well. the reason for that is high pressure, which is building in now across the united kingdom. and what that does is it stops the atlantic weather systems coming in, those rain bearing weather systems moving in. so things are certainly looking more settled for the weekend and into next week. for the rest of today, we've still got quite a bit of cloud across eastern areas. one or two showers here, showers easing across parts of wales, just limited towards western coastal areas, one or two towards cornwall as well. maximum temperatures get into about six to eight degrees celsius. for most of us, it's a lovely afternoon with some dry weather and some sunshine. through this evening and tonight, the cloud across eastern areas may just drift a bit further westward, but there'll be some clear skies across most areas and it's going to be

quite cold, actually. there's going to be some frost, particularly towards the north and the west, temperatures here —1, —2 degrees celsius where you keep some cloud, perhaps frost—free, temperatures staying just above freezing. but as we go through sunday, there could be a few showers coming into northeastern areas of england. the cloud may start off with or tend to lift and break. there'll be some sunny spells across most parts of the uk on sunday afternoon and temperatures about four to six degrees celsius, but a chilly two degrees there in glasgow. as we go into next week, this area of high pressure remains. it doesn't look like it's going to move very far at all really for the next five days, so the outlook is drier. but beneath that area of high pressure, we've got an east or north—easterly wind drawing in that colder air from scandinavia. so the temperatures will be at or below the average for the time of year. on monday morning, some patches of mist and fog they should lift and clear away, some frost around as well. but plenty of dry weather with some sunny spells. temperatures in the face of it,

about three to five degrees celsius. but we have that rather brisk east or northeasterly wind, it's going to feel more like this. so perhaps feeling like freezing across central areas. and then for the rest of the week, it remains largely dry and settled. bye— bye.

who are this is bbc news. the headlines. alaska airlines grounds

boeing 737 max 9 planes after a section of fuselage including a window fell off mid—air, forcing an emergency landing. the iranian—backed lebanese group, hezbollah, says it has launched a barrage of rockets at northern israel, in response to tuesday's beirut explosion that killed a top hamas official. us secretary of state, antony blinken, begins his latest trip to the middle east and the wider region for talks. he's among a number of top western diplomats there hoping to make a push to calm tensions. police in london confirm they're investigating potential fraud offences in relation to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub—post masters by the post office. the uk health security agency issues a week—long cold weather alert, as parts of england still struggle with floods following a week of heavy rain. three arrests over a fire on a bangladesh train after at least four people, including a child, died. it comes ahead of this weekend's election.

let's return to our top story. the us national safety transportation board has launched an investigation, after a boeing 737 max plane, operated by alaska airlines, was forced to make an emergency landing, after part of its fuselage became detached in midair. these pictures show the cabin, with the missing panel. it appears to be one which holds an exit door. the pilots brought the plane back to the airport in portland, and the 177 passengers and crew on board were able to disembark safely. for more on this i spoke to aviation expertjohn strickland. well, it's certainly come as fresh news to me this morning, just prior to the interview. there would have been an element of depressurisation, although the aircraft was at a lower than cruising altitude, apparently it was at about 16,000 feet — that's roughly half of what an airline would be cruising

at during the flight. but nevertheless they needed to get the plane down safely, which fortunately was done with all lives protected. i would stress as well that while we know little apart from the information and the evidence we have seen of this window frame that's come out — or the fuselage section around the window, i should say — this is certainly nothing to do with the reason for the aircraft being grounded for that 18 month period you mentioned. that was to do with software on a flight control system in the cockpit. it was a very major issue which has been fully resolved and now there are hundreds of this aircraft around the world operating safely. but i think it is understandable, looking at the photographic images so far, that alaska is taking a naturally cautious approach by grounding their fleet. we will have to see in the coming hours what happens in terms of whether any more directives or advice is issued by boeing or indeed the us regulatory authority, the faa.

more 110w more now and the dramatic floods in proto— england as a clean—up gets under way after days of heavy rainfall. more than 1,000 homes and businesses have been flooded and more than 200 flood warnings remain in place, mostly in the midlands, east anglia and the south. 0ur correspondent 0li constable gave us this update from newark, in nottinghamshire. well, here in newark, you can see the river trentjust behind me. it's very fast flowing here. and there is a car that's parked in one of the car parks, which is now partially submerged after the river trent overtopped yesterday. while we've been here, the water has receded quite considerably, but it still is a devastating sight for so many people. as we were driving in today on some of the main roads, you looked out left and right into the fields that go alongside the river trent and it'sjust as far as the eye can see, lots and lots of water that has been hitting this area. storm hank, of course, coming after both storm babet and storm ciaran on already very saturated ground. so that water has nowhere to go. —— storm henk.

the rain that we've seen just compounding the problems. so that we've seen in parts the helicopter pictures yesterday that was on the bbc website show parts of nottinghamshire where the river trent was almost a mile wide because of how much water had been here. well, yesterday, nottinghamshire county council declared a major incident — that was after more than 100 homes were evacuated. lots of people spending last night in temporary accommodation. the peak of the river was very high, came close to a record that was set in 2000. lots of people we've been speaking to this morning, they said that it's actually been a lot worse. the impact on homes here has been a lot worse for some parts, in newark especially. we went to go see a marina where much of that area had been washed away. some new shower and toilet blocks that had been put in there had been destroyed after the water came up through the drains and just destroyed one of the shops there as well. so the impact that it's been having

on communities here has been great. the dove and derwent, which are really high rivers that feed into the river trent, they're starting to come down now, which has meant that the river trent has been taking in a lot of that water. so it remains very high. but as i say, the water is starting to recede. a woman just came actually to take some photos of the scene here — she lives nearby — and said that it was three bricks lower than what it was this morning. so to give you an idea, about that much lower in just a few hours. there's been a lot of people coming here actually to take photos. they live nearby and a lot of people have been affected by this. more than 100 homes have been evacuated, according to nottinghamshire county council, which declared that major incident. but there are 217 flood warnings still in place across the country. that includes the midlands, east anglia, as well as the south of england. to put that into some context, this morning, when we were here from about 6:00, there were 244 flood warnings in place. so that has come down considerably.

of course, they're one of the more serious warnings that the environment agency hands out as opposed to the flood alerts, which has got a similar number. flood warnings, meaning that flooding is expected and people should take action. this is the riverside pub, which is very aptly named at the moment. you can see on the sides of the pub there is that black line which shows some of the high water marks that have been here over the last couple of days. well, people have been coming down here taking photos and tourists wanting to come and see what damage has been done. for many people, though, this has been a very difficult time for them. of course, homes that have been flooded as well as businesses. so for many people this has been a very difficult time. but probably the worst is yet to come as homes need to dry out. 0ne councillor yesterday speaking to the bbc saying that it was expected months before people would be able to get back into their homes — those that have been affected. we've seen the national grid as well coming by and making sure that power remains on for people as well as some farmers as well that we know about who live just a little bit further upstream, who say that a lot of their land has

been absolutely decimated by the last few months of wet weather. so here the water is receding and going down and those flood warnings are being lifted. but the clean—up operation is now under way. let's ta ke let's take you straight to beirut, where the top eu diplomat is just about to speak at a news conference. he has been meeting with the lebanese foreign minister in the context of the regional concerns, concerns about the regional escalation of the gaza conflict. i met the minister some weeks ago. we met the minister some weeks ago. we met together and you told me that everything that happened in the middle east resonates in lebanon, has consequences for lebanon, for the better or for the worst.

and you asked me to increase the political engagement, political dialogue, between the european union and 11 on. —— lebanon. and that's why today i am here, after visiting israel and palestine. i am here where we are seeing worry and intensification of fire in the border between lebanon and israel. and i think that the war can be prevented. has to be avoided. and diplomacy can prevail to look for a better solution.

diplomacy can prevail to look for a bettersolution. it diplomacy can prevail to look for a better solution. it is imperative to avoid the regional escalation in the middle east. it is absolutely necessary to avoid lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict. this is the last thing lebanon needs. already now more than 70,000 civilians have already been displaced in lebanon. 2000, hundreds in northern israel. almost 50,000 olive trees have been burned in the border. i am coming from a country

where the olive trees are very much important, so i understand how important, so i understand how important they can be. nobody stands from the original conflict. and i am sending this message to israel too. nobody will win from a regional conflict. i am nobody will win from a regional conflict. iam here nobody will win from a regional conflict. i am here to explore the situation and to contribute to a way out of the crisis. i repeat what you have said, minister. diplomatic channels have to be opened to signal that the war is not the only option. it is the worst option. and to keep working on a diplomatic solution. it

is the whole international community that has to work for a change in the middle east. we cannot continue with the deplorable, awful track record of the last year. 0r the deplorable, awful track record of the last year. or of the last decade. we cannot continue witnessing the suffering of the innocent women, children and other civilians in gaza. and we cannot watch the increasing violence of settlers against civilians in the west bank. we have to move towards

an end to the suffering of civilians in gaza. we need to see the united nations security council resolutions 27, 12, and 2720 implemented. also, here in lebanon, 1701. minister, you know very well, as much as we know, the humanitarian situation in gaza is beyond catastrophic. i am shocked by the suffering of so many innocent civilians. people are not only being bombed, they are now starving. according to the world food programme, 100% of the population in

gazais programme, 100% of the population in gaza is now food insecure. we need a pause that could become a permanent one and to increase our support to gaza. even war has roles. —— laws. and there are international humanitarian laws that need to be respected. as i said many times, one horror does notjustify another. and we have to understand that only peace will bring safety and security to the middle east. we cannot treat

gaza in isolation from the west bank and eastjerusalem. gaza is part of the broader palestine question. gaza is an integral part of the territories from 1967. and gaza will be part of the future palestinian state. the whole community, the whole international community, agrees in the two state solution is the only viable solution that could bring peace and security for israel and palestine. we must redouble our

efforts for a peace process. israel has declared a goal to eradicate hamas. there must be another way to eradicate hamas than one that creates so many innocent people being killed. the only way is the creation of a palestinian state. offering a horizon of hope for the palestinians. that is what 172 palestinians. that is what172 countries have voted in favour of as the un general assembly. that is 90% of all united nations member states.

we will make the two state solution a reality. i will be visiting saudi arabia tomorrow. and i look forward to a substantive discussion of how we can build on ourjoint european union — arab initiative to complete the steps that could galvanise a serious international peace effort. lebanon is on the front line of this conflict. a more stable lebanon will be more able to defend itself and

safeguard its independence. and contribute to regional stability. allow me to point out the support of the european union to the mission. which most of our member states contributed troops and boots on the ground. i also want to pay tribute to the cooperation with the lebanese armed forces. and the remarkable performance of your army, the lebanese armed forces will stop ——.

which handles the traditional lebanese service, professionalism and dedication. all in all, the european union remains ready to support lebanon. because supporting lebanon is a way of contributing to the security and peace in the region. thank you. you have been listening there to the top eu diplomat at a news conference with the lebanese foreign minister. let's listening to some of the questions. let's listening to some of the questions-— let's listening to some of the cuestions. ., ., ., ~ ., ., questions. you are talking about how this war is affecting _ questions. you are talking about how this war is affecting the _ questions. you are talking about how this war is affecting the region - questions. you are talking about how this war is affecting the region and i this war is affecting the region and the escalation— this war is affecting the region and the escalation is— this war is affecting the region and the escalation is going _ this war is affecting the region and the escalation is going to- this war is affecting the region and the escalation is going to affect. this war is affecting the region and the escalation is going to affect iti the escalation is going to affect it negatively — the escalation is going to affect it negatively they— the escalation is going to affect it negatively. they should - the escalation is going to affect it negatively. they should be - the escalation is going to affect it negatively. they should be a - negatively. they should be a solution _ negatively. they should be a solution imposed. _ negatively. they should be a solution imposed. who - negatively. they should be a solution imposed. who is . negatively. they should be a i solution imposed. who is going

negatively. they should be a - solution imposed. who is going to impose _ solution imposed. who is going to impose the — solution imposed. who is going to impose the solution? _ solution imposed. who is going to impose the solution? meanwhile, | solution imposed. who is going to . impose the solution? meanwhile, the security— impose the solution? meanwhile, the security council — impose the solution? meanwhile, the security council tried _ impose the solution? meanwhile, the security council tried a _ impose the solution? meanwhile, the security council tried a couple - impose the solution? meanwhile, the security council tried a couple of - security council tried a couple of times— security council tried a couple of times to — security council tried a couple of times to stop _ security council tried a couple of times to stop this _ security council tried a couple of times to stop this war. - security council tried a couple of times to stop this war. who - security council tried a couple of times to stop this war. who is i security council tried a couple of - times to stop this war. who is going to force _ times to stop this war. who is going to force israel — times to stop this war. who is going to force israel to _ times to stop this war. who is going to force israel to stop _ times to stop this war. who is going to force israel to stop this _ times to stop this war. who is going to force israel to stop this war? - times to stop this war. who is going to force israel to stop this war? it i to force israel to stop this war? [i is to force israel to stop this war? is only the international to force israel to stop this war?- is only the international community that can do it. it is only the international community. there is no other force. international community. there is no otherforce. at international community. there is no other force. at the international community. there is no otherforce. at the european union we are strongly supported by the united nations. allow me to pay tribute to the work done by the secretary general in looking for peace. the majority of nations in the united nations have supported the united nations have supported the people of gaza. the european union, the us, the arab world... everybody who wants to engage in price. this is the one that can build the solution and make it a reality. not like the parties alone, because it is clear that 30 years after, nothing good has happened. a stronger engagement of international communities is absolutely required.

the european union will do that. in a newspaper article the following was written _ a newspaper article the following was written. "only _ a newspaper article the following was written. "only the _ a newspaper article the following was written. "only the eu - a newspaper article the following | was written. "only the eu foreign policy— was written. "only the eu foreign policy chief — was written. "only the eu foreign policy chief elsa _ was written. "only the eu foreign policy chief elsa parel_ was written. "only the eu foreign policy chief elsa parel seems - was written. "only the eu foreign policy chief elsa parel seems to l was written. "only the eu foreign. policy chief elsa parel seems to be setting _ policy chief elsa parel seems to be setting clear — policy chief elsa parel seems to be setting clear goals— policy chief elsa parel seems to be setting clear goals for— policy chief elsa parel seems to be setting clear goals for a _ policy chief elsa parel seems to be setting clear goals for a peace - setting clear goals for a peace settlement _ setting clear goals for a peace settlement. but _ setting clear goals for a peace settlement. but he _ setting clear goals for a peace settlement. but he has - setting clear goals for a peace settlement. but he has no - setting clear goals for a peacel settlement. but he has no real mandate — settlement. but he has no real mandate and _ settlement. but he has no real mandate and little _ settlement. but he has no real mandate and little sway - settlement. but he has no real mandate and little sway over. settlement. but he has no real. mandate and little sway over the settlement. but he has no real- mandate and little sway over the key players _ mandate and little sway over the key players " _ mandate and little sway over the key players. " your— mandate and little sway over the key players. " your comment— mandate and little sway over the key players. " your comment on- mandate and little sway over the key players. " your comment on that, . players. " your comment on that, please? _ players. " your comment on that, please? and _ players. " your comment on that, please? and do— players. " your comment on that, please? and do you _ players. " your comment on that, please? and do you think- players. " your comment on that, please? and do you think that - players. " your comment on that, | please? and do you think that the players. " your comment on that, - please? and do you think that the eu could play— please? and do you think that the eu could play a _ please? and do you think that the eu could play a major— please? and do you think that the eu could play a major role _ please? and do you think that the eu could play a major role in _ could play a major role in escalating _ could play a major role in escalating the _ could play a major role in escalating the israeli— . could play a major role in - escalating the israeli— hamas conflict — escalating the israeli— hamas conflict and _ escalating the israeli— hamas conflict and how? _ escalating the israeli- hamas conflict and how?— escalating the israeli- hamas conflict and how? thank you. this would require _ conflict and how? thank you. this would require a _ conflict and how? thank you. this would require a lecture _ conflict and how? thank you. this would require a lecture to - conflict and how? thank you. this would require a lecture to answer| would require a lecture to answer this question. the european union is not a state. the european union is not a state. the european union is not even a federation. it's a group of 27 member states. each one of them remains sovereign, with respect to security policy. i am in charge

of trying to build a policy, a common policy. what common does not mean unique. common is something that we share. but apart from what we share, it could be differences. and in fact, there are differences. in united nations general assembly, 14 members of the european union voted in favour of a ceasefire. two post. and the others abstained. it is clear there are differences. —— two opposed it. but we are together on one thing, the need to build a two state solution. it is not a little thing. we have always been seeing that. —— saying that. at the moment has come to engage, and come from saying to doing. we have a lot of effort and capacities. we are the strongest reporter of the

palestinian authority, allow me to remember that. we are the biggest funder of the palestinian authority. it is the time to make our idea of a two state solution a reality. otherwise the cycle of violence will continue, generation after generation, funerals after funerals. but you cannot kill an idea. you can kill people but you cannot kill an idea. the only way of killing a bad idea. the only way of killing a bad idea is to bring a good one. and for good one is to make the palestinians and the israelis living together in peace and security sharing the land. if this is a strong commitment that the european union wants to take. and it would be my honour to continue as much as i can in that. you have been watching the eu diplomat, who says it is imperative to avoid an escalation in the middle east. he says there has been a

worrying intensification over the blue line. the border between lebanon and israel. we believe that for a moment and move on other stories. —— we will leave that. downing street documents seen by the bbc suggest that the british prime minister, rishi sunak, had serious doubts about the uk government's rwanda migration policy when he was chancellor of the exchequer. the papers, written in march 2022, indicate that his view then was that it would not stop the channel crossings. a source close to rishi sunak told the bbc, the prime minister was always fully behind the principle of the scheme as a deterrent." the scheme to send some asylum seekers to rwanda for processing and potentially resettlement, in order to deter people from crossing the english channel in small boats, was first announced by then—prime minister borisjohnson in april 2022. our political correspondent charlotte rose, talked us through the contents of the papers seen by the bbc.

this information comes from uk government documents prepared in march 2022. borisjohnson was then the prime minister. rishi sunak the chancellor. it appears he was asking fundamental questions about how the scheme was going to work. i think it tells us three key things. firstly, that he was not convinced the rwanda scheme would act as a deterrent to stop small boat crossing is on the english channel. secondly, he wanted to scale back the scheme because he wasn't convinced it was good value for money. and thirdly, he didn't want to introduce greek style reception centres to hold migrants. instead, he preferred to disperse them around the uk using hotels because he believed that would be cheaper for the taxpayer. i because he believed that would be cheaperfor the taxpayer. i guess he would argue that at the time his job was to think about value for money and taxpayers' money, and therefore it is fundamental that he asked these questions about the operational effectiveness of such a scheme. government sources have told the bbc that the then chancellor,

rishi sunak, did find a scheme and put it as one of his key priorities when he became prime minister. he is now passing the rwanda bill, which he hopes will get flights off the ground to rwanda, and they make the point he is also the first prime minister to see a reduction in small boat crossings because, of course, figures out this week show they have dropped by about a third this year. however, the uk official opposition, the labour party, the shadow home secretary yvette cooper, has said these documents show that the rwanda scheme is an ultra con. she goes on to say that the government is going for gimmicks rather than getting a grip. charlotte rose. plenty more for you on that story and the rest of the news we're covering here on the bbc on our website. to with us. ifor now. —— do stay on our website. to with us. i for now. —— do stay with us goodbye for now. hello there. for many of us, it's been a dry and a fairly quiet start to the weekend. good news, of course,

after the recent heavy rainfall and the storms that we've had, the flooding now should start to subside, but we've had lots of blue skies this morning. this was the scene in south lanarkshire. but you can see from the satellite image here, for many parts of the uk we've had clear skies and that's been extending its way out into the atlantic as well. the reason for that is high pressure, which is building in now across the united kingdom. and what that does is it stops the atlantic weather systems coming in, those rain bearing weather systems moving in. so things are certainly looking more settled for the weekend and into next week. for the rest of today, we've still got quite a bit of cloud across eastern areas. one or two showers here, showers easing across parts of wales, just limited towards western coastal areas, one or two towards cornwall as well. maximum temperatures get into about six to eight degrees celsius. for most of us, it's a lovely afternoon with some dry weather and some sunshine. through this evening and tonight, the cloud across eastern areas may just drift a bit further westward, but there'll be some clear skies across most areas and it's going to be quite cold, actually.

there's going to be some frost, particularly towards the north and the west, temperatures here —1, —2 degrees celsius where you keep some cloud, perhaps frost—free, temperatures staying just above freezing. but as we go through sunday, there could be a few showers coming into northeastern areas of england. the cloud may start off with or tend to lift and break. there'll be some sunny spells across most parts of the uk on sunday afternoon and temperatures about four to six degrees celsius, but a chilly two degrees there in glasgow. as we go into next week, this area of high pressure remains. it doesn't look like it's going to move very far at all really for the next five days, so the outlook is drier. but beneath that area of high pressure, we've got an east or north—easterly wind drawing in that colder air from scandinavia. so the temperatures will be at or below the average for the time of year. on monday morning, some patches of mist and fog they should lift and clear away, some frost around as well. but plenty of dry weather with some sunny spells. temperatures in the face of it,

about three to five degrees celsius. but we have that rather brisk east or northeasterly wind, it's going to feel more like this. so perhaps feeling like freezing across central areas. and then for the rest of the week, it remains largely dry and settled. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news. alaska airlines grounds boeing 737 max 9 planes after a section of fuselage including a window fell off mid—air, forcing an emergency landing.

police in london confirm they're investigating potential fraud offences in relation to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub—post masters by the post office. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, begins his latest trip to the middle east as gaza health officials say 18 palestinians were killed in an overnight israeli attack in khan younis. three arrests over a fire on a bangladesh train after at least four people, including a child, died. it comes ahead of this weekend's election. hello, i'm lauren taylor. we start with drama on an alaskan airlines flight in america which had to make an emergency landing, after a part of the fuselage fell off in mid air. despite the issues, no—one was hurt, and everyone was able to leave the plane safely. these pictures illustrate where the

part of the fuselage went missing — a panel next to a row of seats.