senior hezbollah in lebanon on the day that anthony blinking visits the area. more diplomatic efforts are being made by america's top diplomat to prevent the israel—gaza conflict spreading to the wider middle east region. health officials across the territory say hospitals are unsafe. now three aid groups say they are pulling out of the al—aqsa hospital in central gaza. the bbc uncovers evidence of rape, torture and forced abortions by the founder of one of the world's biggest christian evangelical churches. lift off. the first american spacecraft in more than 50 years is on its way to the moon after a successful launch. oppenheimer! oppenheimer wins big at the golden globe awards in los angeles, taking home five of the night's big prizes. hello, i'm lucy hockings. welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction.

we start in southern lebanon, where the israeli military is reported to have killed a senior hezbollah commander in a drone strike. the individual has not yet been named, but is believed to be from the militant group's elite radwan force. that news comes after dozens of palestinians are reported to have been killed by israeli air strikes in gaza as intense fighting continues across the territory. meanwhile, america's top diplomat, the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is carrying out talks throughout the region. his visits come against a background of escalating conflict, with israeli strikes killing 73 palestinians and injuring a further 510 injured in the past 2a hours, according to the hamas—run gaza health ministry. as part of his tour of the region, mr blinken visited qatar yesterday and warned palestinians must not be pressured into leaving gaza and must be allowed to return to their homes, once conditions allow. his comments came alongside a condemnation of statements by israeli far—right ministers, who have called for

the displacement of palestinians. mr blinken�*s tour continues today, starting in abu dhabi in the united arab emirates, then moving onto saudi arabia to meet crown prince mohammed bin salman. talks have focused on the threat houthi rebels pose to shipping in the red sea as well as discussing us proposals for managing a lasting peace in gaza once the israeli military campaign ends. live now to our correspondent hugo bachega in beirut. what do we know about what happened and the reported death of a senior hezbollah commander? it and the reported death of a senior hezbollah commander?— and the reported death of a senior hezbollah commander? it seems that this was a drone _ hezbollah commander? it seems that this was a drone attack— hezbollah commander? it seems that this was a drone attack that _ hezbollah commander? it seems that this was a drone attack that was - this was a drone attack that was carried out by the israeli military, killing the senior hezbollah commander in southern lebanon. the israeli military said he had carried out a number of attacks —— it had

carried out a number of attacks this morning on positions used by hezbollah in southern lebanon. they said this was in response to attacks carried out by the group. it shows how volatile the situation is along the border between lebanon and israel. anthony blinking is here in the region and one of the messages he is sharing that violence needs to be contained to prevent a regional conflict. one of the points of concern is obviously the situation around the lebanon — israel border. these constant attacks between hezbollah, this powerful iranian—backed organisation based here in lebanon, and the israeli military. so far most of this violence has been contained to areas along the border, but there have been concerns here that these attacks could lead to a major confrontation between hezbollah and israel. last week we heard from the

leader of hezbollah, who warned israel against a full—scale operation against hezbollah, but there have been some senior figures in the israeli government to venting a larger offensive against the group to reduce the threat posed by hezbollah and also to allow the return of thousands of residents who had been evacuated from communities in northern israel because of these constant attacks. again, another major development here amid fears that this could lead to a major confrontation between hezbollah and israel. ., . ~' confrontation between hezbollah and israel. ., ., ~ , ., confrontation between hezbollah and israel. ., . ~' , ., ., confrontation between hezbollah and israel. ., ., ~ ., ., israel. hugo, thank you for “oining us. hugo, thank you forjoining us. a number of medical aid organisations have said they are pulling out from the last functioning hospital in central gaza. three international three international health organisations say they have been forced to cease their activities at the al—aqsa hospital after the israeli military designated areas around facility a conflict zone. in a statement, the medical aid for palestinians and international rescue committee's emergency medical

team says israel's military has dropped leaflets designating the areas surrounding the hospital as a "red zone", adding that given israel's history of attacks on medical staff and facilities in gaza, "the team is unable to return". at the al—aqsa hospital after the israeli military designated areas around facility a conflict zone. in a statement, the medical aid for palestinians and international rescue committee's emergency medical team says israel's military has dropped leaflets designating the areas surrounding the hospital as a "red zone", adding that given israel's history of attacks on medical staff and facilities in gaza, "the team is unable to return". and the world health organization has cancelled another mission to transport medial supplies to northern gaza after failing to be given security guarantees. hamas has called on egypt to open the rafah border crossing to allow the transfer from gaza of 6,000 wounded people for urgent treatment. the group's media office said nearly 60,000 injured palestinians were suffering from infections. live now to rafah in southern gaza where we can speak to gemma connell from the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs or ocha. very good to have you with us. thanks forjoining us at such a difficult time. can you tell us what

the situation is specifically with this al—aqsa hospital, with these three international aid agency saying they are going to pull out, what effect will that have? it saying they are going to pull out, what effect will that have?- what effect will that have? it has massive consequences. - what effect will that have? it has massive consequences. what - what effect will that have? it has massive consequences. what we j what effect will that have? it has - massive consequences. what we are talking about is the single remaining hospital in the middle area of gaza where there is a major event under way. one thing is the withdrawal of these international medical organisations because of the safety concerns, but the other is the withdrawal of the staff from that health centre, the palestinian to have been heroically working around the clock to many of them have not had to be for their own safety and that of their families and the end result is the crippling of the single last remaining trauma centre in the middle of gaza. i have seen reports _ centre in the middle of gaza. i have seen reports that _ centre in the middle of gaza. i have seen reports that 600 _ centre in the middle of gaza. i have seen reports that 600 patients - centre in the middle of gaza. i have seen reports that 600 patients and | seen reports that 600 patients and staff have left the complex, no one actually knows where they have gone. that gives us a sense of how dangerous people feel it is there. if you are in need of medical

assistance and go to al—aqsa at the moment, what would you face? ihell. moment, what would you face? well, the situation — moment, what would you face? well, the situation in _ moment, what would you face? well, the situation in the _ moment, what would you face? well, the situation in the hospital— moment, what would you face? -ii the situation in the hospital is dire. we havejust a single doctor who is working in the emergency room. you have only two surgeons left you are responding to hundreds of needs in that hospital. you have so many casualties coming in every single hour who are in desperate need of life—saving support, so what you see inside of the hospital or at these heroic health workers, and i cannot stress it enough, these are people who have not slept in months, who have to have the same time look forfood who have to have the same time look for food and water for their own families who are also displaced. most of the doctors themselves are displaced many having moved from the north to the south, but there are only a few of them left in this hospital trying to literally stop people from dying here on the brink of death. , ., ., i. of death. does the un have anyone in central as of death. does the un have anyone in central gas at — of death. does the un have anyone in central gas at the _ of death. does the un have anyone in central gas at the moment? -

of death. does the un have anyone in central gas at the moment? yes, - of death. does the un have anyone in central gas at the moment? yes, wel central gas at the moment? yes, we do. we central gas at the moment? yes, we d0- we still— central gas at the moment? yes, we do. we still have _ central gas at the moment? yes, we do. we still have many _ central gas at the moment? yes, we do. we still have many other- central gas at the moment? yes, we do. we still have many other staff i do. we still have many other staff in the area who are moving through to try to deliver desperately needed assistance, but the bigger message years with this reduced offensive here our operations are effectively being shut down. we are still sending supplies into the middle area, butjust a couple of days ago one of the critical united nations facilities in that area was directly head, a staff member was killed and other staff are detained. our ability to operate in the middle area is getting smaller and smaller every single day because of this renewed offensive.— every single day because of this renewed offensive. gemma, good to have ou renewed offensive. gemma, good to have you with _ renewed offensive. gemma, good to have you with us. — renewed offensive. gemma, good to have you with us, thank— renewed offensive. gemma, good to have you with us, thank you - renewed offensive. gemma, good to have you with us, thank you for - have you with us, thank you for joining us. let's return to the us secretary of state's diplomatic tour of the middle east and his talks. live now to abu dhabi where we can speak to mina al—oraibi, the editor in chief of the national newspaper in the uae. thanks forjoining us. what do you think anthony blinking can realistically expect to achieve in his diplomatic tour?—

realistically expect to achieve in his diplomatic tour? what everyone in this region _ his diplomatic tour? what everyone in this region is _ his diplomatic tour? what everyone in this region is hoping _ his diplomatic tour? what everyone in this region is hoping for - his diplomatic tour? what everyone in this region is hoping for is - his diplomatic tour? what everyone in this region is hoping for is a - in this region is hoping for is a move from the us on the issue of a ceasefire. anthony blinking has repeated the same lines that he is repeated the same lines that he is repeated on the three previous trips here, that there needs to be a durable peace at some point and israel must feel safe, however the ussr back in calling for a ceasefire —— a ceasefire, and as long as the bombing continues in gas and the military operation continues, the possibility of this war expanding and further destabilisation of the region continues. what is hoped that ijy region continues. what is hoped that by him coming here is having conversations with the regional leaders is to find a long—term solution, but in reality that solution, but in reality that solution can only work if we have a ceasefire. ., ., , ., , ceasefire. how are people feeling in the gulf as the _ ceasefire. how are people feeling in the gulf as the us _ ceasefire. how are people feeling in the gulf as the us as _ ceasefire. how are people feeling in the gulf as the us as a _ ceasefire. how are people feeling in the gulf as the us as a broker- ceasefire. how are people feeling in the gulf as the us as a broker at - the gulf as the us as a broker at the gulf as the us as a broker at the moment? is there a sense of disappointment that they have not managed even to achieve a pause in

recent weeks?— recent weeks? there is disappointment - recent weeks? there is disappointment but - recent weeks? there is | disappointment but also recent weeks? there is _ disappointment but also frustration about the fact that the us has refused to call for a ceasefire and therefore is seen to be given cover for israel to consider —— continuous military operations that frankly have not been targeted. 90% of gaza's citizens are now displaced, they are notjust numbers, they are people, over22,000 they are notjust numbers, they are people, over 22,000 killed. they are notjust numbers, they are people, over22,000 killed. here in the gulf there is a real concern not only of the humanitarian situation getting out of hand, but also the long—term consequences. you have the military groups in lebanon, the 50s, you have hezbollah getting emboldened when the state actors cant stop the work, non—state actors get emboldened. that will lead to more destabilisation of the region. one of the things he will talk about

is what will happen when the war ends. what are people in the gulf believe the expectation is going to believe the expectation is going to be of them and the funding that they be of them and the funding that they be more —— maybe required to give to rebuild gaza? the be more -- maybe required to give to rebuild gaza?— rebuild gaza? the uae has been clear and made public _ rebuild gaza? the uae has been clear and made public in _ rebuild gaza? the uae has been clear and made public in december- rebuild gaza? the uae has been clear and made public in december that - rebuild gaza? the uae has been clear| and made public in december that any move on reconstruction wanted a commitment to a two state solution by both parties, the palestinians and israelis. the palestinian authority has said it is committed to this, not so much hamas. the israelis have said they are not interested in a two state solution. for the gulf countries it is important there is a durable political solution, then they can help financially that will be inevitable for gaza. in the gulf it is being that there is a need for commitment of no long—term

displacement of the people from gaza. two people in the israeli cabinet spoke about the forced displacement of people from gaza. the gulf countries have been very clear this cannot be accepted. the silver lining has been that the us administration has come out and said that they also are against the displacement of people from gaza and palestinians, there has to be a solution for palestinians in their own country. in the long term, the hopers those two countries can live side by side. the reality is events on the ground make that solution even further away.— on the ground make that solution even further away. when you talk about a durable _ even further away. when you talk about a durable political- even further away. when you talkj about a durable political solution, there is still a belief in the gulf of the two state solution? absolutely, yes. that is notjust the public position of the arab league, but when you speak to officials here behind the scene they

can see a different way out of this. long—term peace for the entire region requires a palestinian state. good to have you with us, thanks for joining us. let's ta ke let's take you a light picture is not of the border. we always look to the skyline to state there is smoke rising to get a sense of the bombardment and what is happening today. we do know that the health minister and gaza says 73 palestinians have been killed and 99 injured by israeli strikes in the past 2a hours. news from lebanon as well that a senior leader of hezbollah has reportedly been killed in an apparent israeli drone strike. we will keep across all the developments here on bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. the environment agency has

warned that more homes could still be hit by flooding despite a cold snap beginning across the uk. more than 1,800 properties have been flooded across central and southern england. there are more than 180 flood warnings in these areas. research commissioned by bbc panorama suggests police forces in england and wales need an extra 18,000 officersjust to keep up with population growth. the home office says officer numbers are at a record high. but the figures, from an independent criminal justice think tank, indicate recruitment has fallen behind the 9% increase in population recorded since 2010. thousands of old green metal street cabinets once used to store broadband and phone cabling are set to be converted into charging points for electric vehicles. bt group is setting up a pilot project which it's hoped will boost the number of charging stations across the country. you're live with bbc news. evidence of rape, torture and forced abortions by the founder of one of the world's biggest christian evangelical churches has been

uncovered by the bbc. tbjoshua was the late founder of the synagogue church of all nations in nigeria and built an evangelical empire that counted dozens of political leaders, celebrities and international footballers among his associates. former church insiders have gone public for the first time, with claims of atrocities that span almost 20 years. peter murimi reports. a warning — you might find some elements upsetting. everyone here in the stadium say, i lovejesus. tbjoshua was one of africa's most famous pastors, drawing presidents, premier league footballers and millions of followers across the globe. he had huge resources, huge amounts of influence, notjust in nigeria, throughout africa, israel, mexico, singapore. tbjoshua performed televised

healings, where members of his congregation claimed to have been cured of aids, cancer and a range of chronic conditions. negative tested for hiv and hiv 2. everybody wanted the privilege to go with, to meet this... ..big giant. tb joshua's closest followers were known as disciples, and lived together for years inside his compound in nigeria. it was a psychological prison. we all thought we were in heaven, but we were in hell, and in hell terrible things happen. dozens of these insiders alleged that the pastor repeatedly assaulted, raped and tortured women behind closed doors, with the most recent incidents in 2019. it became so robotic. i disconnected from my body. i just became like... ..a puppet. rape became like a normal, terrifying thing that he would do. it's like you are an animal

being slaughtered. i was 17 years old. he would be calling girls in one after the other. . i stayed here almost 14 years. they will be in thousands. some women claim they were forced to have abortions inside his compound following the alleged assaults. i had three abortions at synagogue. and from speaking to other women, i'm not the only one. women that he rapes, he forces them into abortion. i never had a choice whether i could keep a potential child or not. people tried to speak up to expose him, but nobody would listen. tbjoshua died in 2021. his wife, evelyn, is now leading the synagogue church of all nations.

good morning, viewers all over the world. the bbc contacted the church with allegations in this report. they did not respond to them, but they said previous claims against tb joshua have been unfounded. today, the church still attracts millions of viewers to its online platforms. some people, they are still living in fear for their lives, in fear for the retribution that will come if they do open their mouths. peter murimi, bbc news. you can watch disciples: the cult of tbjoshua on the bbc africa youtube channel and listen to the new season of world of secrets wherever you get your bbc podcasts. later in the hour i will be speaking tojessica, you stop there. she has

an absolutely remarkable story and i will be talking to her shortly. to the us now where severe weather warnings are in place for millions after multiple storms hit across the country. heavy snow and rain hit the north east of the country over the weekend, with some places got over 30cm of snow whilst power outages and road closures were reported as far south as north carolina and as far west as califoria. for more on this i'm joined by cbs correspondent astrid martinez. just update us on what is happening. lucy, good afternoon. millions of americans are taking out from the first major snowstorm of the season. carter stuck in the snow, power lines are down, after more than a foot of snow fell in some places. we saw some treacherous travel conditions in massachusetts lead to

at least one fatal car accident. in connecticut we are seeing traffic jams and school delays because of the winter storm. in newjersey snowploughs worked away overnight to clear the roads. children enjoyed the first flurries of snow that they have seen in almost two years. here in new york we escaped the brunt of the first snowstorm. we are tracking a second winter storm this week. in california they saw blizzard —like conditions that pointed the sierra nevada is an town in fort lauderdale at tornado caused power outages as a touchdown on saturday. ihla at tornado caused power outages as a touchdown on saturday.— touchdown on saturday. no in'uries were reported. i touchdown on saturday. no in'uries were reported. thank * touchdown on saturday. no in'uries were reported. thank you _ touchdown on saturday. no in'uries were reported. thank you for h touchdown on saturday. no injuries were reported. thank you for the l were reported. thank you for the update. the ukjustice secretary, alex chalk, will meet with the minister responsible for the post office today to discuss how hundreds of branch managers who were wrongly convicted in the horizon it scandal could be cleared. pressure is increasing on the government to take action over what has been described as the most widespread miscarriage ofjustice in british history. here's our business

correspondent marc ashdown. hello, how can i help? 0h, hi, it'sjo hamilton- here from south warnborough. i'm trying to produce this week's cash account. - and what's the problem? jo hamilton's story was central to the recent itv drama — she was falsely accused of stealing £36,000 from the village post office she ran in hampshire. in the meantime, you'll need to make good the loss. i haven't got that money! her conviction has now been quashed, but she's still angry that so many are still waiting forjustice. to know my conviction's quashed and to keep the promise to my parents — who didn't live to see it, sadly — that i would never give up until i overturned my conviction... and, yeah, it's amazing. it also opens doors to compensation, as well, which is life—changing. jo is among more than 700 post office managers convicted over a 16—year period from 1999 — faulty software in the horizon it system was to blame — but to overturn convictions, each and every person

still has to appeal directly to the post office and prove their innocence. well, if you meet the victims and how traumatised and broken they are, you can understand why they don't want to go anywhere near a court. so therefore the government need to come up with a solution which expunges these convictions and restores these people's reputations. one suggestion is to remove the post office from the appeals process, and possibly pass new legislation to exonerate all of the victims as one. rishi sunak said thejustice secretary, alex chalk, is currently weighing up what to do. the group themselves have not been compensated. they've had literally a tiny interim payment or tiny payment at the beginning given to them, and they're having to fight for the rest of it. submit claims, months later they come back. they've extended the deadline now from 6th of august this year to into next year, and by then it'll be heading for year six.

you know, how can it possibly take that long to pay 500 people? a public inquiry is ongoing — the post office said it supports it and is keen to establish what went wrong in the past, and the accountability for it. a police investigation is also under way into whether crimes were committed by some of those prosecuting hundreds of innocent people in what's become known as britain's biggest miscarriage of justice. marc ashdown, bbc news. in the last few hours, a rocket has blasted off from cape canaveral in florida, carrying the first american spacecraft to attempt a moon landing for half a century. lift off. the peregrine mission will carry out experiments on the lunar surface, which will help pave the way for future space exploration. our science correspondent, jon amos, watched the launch.

picture—perfect launch on the space coast. cape canaveral, florida, in the united states this morning, about 7:18 gmt, a little bit earlier in the morning in the us, the rocket, the vulcan, lifted off and after 15 minutes of flight, it ejected this peregrine lander, as it's called. you can see a picture of it here in preparation. it's going to take a few weeks for the lander to arrive at the moon and then it will attempt a soft landing, and i put the emphasis on "soft landing," on the 23rd of february. and it's not since this event happened way back in 1972, the apollo 17 mission. you can see gene cernan, the commander of apollo 17. that was the last mission to touch down gently on the surface of the moon from the united states. they haven't attempted it since. they've had a number of probes that have deliberately crashed into the surface of the moon, but there's been no soft landing attempt. and there is this new big effort now to get america back to the moon.

it's called artemis, as opposed to apollo. and the mission that we saw take off today is part of that process. the big difference is back then it was all nasa, an nasa are going with commercial partners and international partners. and this is a commercial, it's a privately owned, built, operated lander that was on the top of a rocket. it will be that company, pittsburgh—based astrobotic, that will be in charge when the landing comes up on the 23rd february with some nasa's science instruments on board. they've purchased that space. it is a logistics mission service that they have purchased. stay with us here on bbc news. after the relentless rain for the start of 2024, things this week, thankfully,

are looking much quieter and calmer on the weather front. lots of dry weather in store, but certainly colder out there. we've got some frost, some fog and also some icy stretches through this week. a few wintry showers out there today, although most places are avoiding them. it's high pressure that's driving the weather. we're going to see the winds rotating around that area of high pressure, so coming in from an east or north—easterly direction. quite breezy conditions, in fact, over the next few days, particularly towards the south. that east or north—easterly breeze will draw a little bit more cloud to eastern areas of the uk, in particular down towards east anglia, and the south—east and the london region. some wintry showers through the course of today, so you may see a slight dusting of snow at low levels. one or two showers further north, as well, across the north—east of england, but they're tending to fade away. so plenty of sunshine out there. mist and fog fairly slow to clear for some of us into the afternoon, particularly in the north. top temperatures today somewhere between about three to six degrees, so certainly feeling chilly, especially towards the south, where we've got those brisk winds coming in from the east. it's going to feel subzero with the wintry showers and the breeze, as well.

these showers falling as sleet and snow drift their way gradually further westwards across southern parts of england and wales through this evening and overnight. most of us dry with clear spells, but again, like last night, some mist and fog developing, particularly for scotland and for northern ireland. temperatures could be as low as minus seven or minus eight across rural sheltered glens in scotland. through the day tomorrow, after that chilly start, mist and fog gradually clearing from the north. a bit more of a breeze coming in from the east across parts of southern england and wales too, but generally less in the way of cloud and wintry showers compared to today, so a bit more sunshine. it will feel cold again, about three to six degrees, but a little bit chillier in the breeze. not much change into wednesday, but what you will notice is a bit more cloud will drift in across parts of scotland, i think northern england too. probably a bit more sunshine further south. it is looking like a predominantly dry picture on wednesday. thankfully, another dry day, so the flood warnings will start to come down over the next few days. six or seven degrees for most of us,

i think, so it's turning a little bit milder through the middle part of the week. things are mostly dry towards the end of the week, but after a slightly milder spell for some of us, those temperatures could just come down a notch once again through into next weekend and next week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines:

the us secretary of state is due in tel aviv on the same day that reports of a senior hezbollah commander has been killed by an israeli drone strike in lebanon. the bbc uncovers evidence of rape, torture and forced abortions by the founder of one of the world's biggest christian evangelical churches. british actor idris elba calls on the government to ban the sale of so—called "zombie" knives and machetes to stop more young people losing their lives. oppenheimer has success at the golden globe awards in los angeles, taking home five of the night's big prizes. let's get more now on the evidence of rape, torture and forced abortions by the founder of one of the world's biggest christian evangelical churches that has been uncovered by the bbc.

tbjoshua was the late founder