live from london. this is bbc news. a senior fujitsu boss tells the post office inquiry it was well known there were bugs in the computer system from the start. confirmation that thousands ofjobs will go at tata steel — as the firm closes blast furnaces at britain's biggest steelworks in south wales. gunfire. israeli tanks mount a new assault into southern gaza's main city, khan younis — after intense air strikes and street fighting. the united states — has strongly criticised the israeli prime minister's rejection — of any need for a palestinian state, once the conflict in gaza is over. japan's space agency confirms its unmanned moon probe has landed on the lunar surface, but has lost solar power. and prince harry withdraws his libel claim against the publisher of the mail on sunday.

hello, welcome to the daily global, where we'll bring you the top stories from around the world. the boss of fujitsu's european operations has admitted that although the company knew for �*many, many years�* of bugs and errors in the computer system, details of this were not included in witness statements by fujitsu employees which were used to prosecute subpostmasters. paul patterson told the public inquiry into the scandal that it was �*shameful and appalling�* that details of bugs were not included — and said he�*d seen �*some evidence of editing of witness statements by others�* — although he didn�*t specify who those others were. hundreds of subpostmasters were prosecuted for theft and false accounting because of the faulty horizon system. here�*s our business correspondent, emma simpson. the evidence i shall give... the fujitsu boss answering more questions, but this time under oath. the whole truth...

and nothing but the truth. paul patterson admitted there were problems with the horizon computer system spanning two decades. right from the very start of deployment of this system, there were bugs and errors and defects which were well—known to all parties. but these issues remained hidden from the courts in the post office action against sub—postmasters. i�*m surprised that that detail was not included in the witness statements given by fujitsu staff to the post office, and i have seen some evidence of editing of witness statements by others. no doubt you would regard that as shameful? iwould... yes, that would be one word i would use. what's the other one? shameful, appalling. my understanding of how our laws work in this country, that all of the evidence should have been put in front of the sub—postmaster.

the inquiry heard last month that post office lawyers and investigators had rewritten witness statements. today, they also looked at some of the bugs, one big one, calendar square, created duplicate transactions and it took fujitsu more than five years to fix it. fujitsu was also under contract to provide transaction data to the post office in its legal pursuit of sub—postmasters. the material was supposed to allow brands managers to see if horizon was working properly. but even when this crucial data was provided, the inquiry heard it wasn�*t always accurate or complete. we have clearly let society down and the sub—postmasters down. when we had our obligations to the post office to be at the front of everything that we�*re doing, and that was wrong. lee castleton was bankrupted by the post office. a fujitsu expert witness told thejudge in his case there was nothing wrong with horizon at his branch. so what did he think today?

i�*m sure, you know, he means it, i�*m not saying that he doesn�*t, but it�*s about doing things, it�*s about actions. some of the victims want to meet the fujitsu boss to discuss assistance and support. he said he would be happy to, apologising again for his company�*s part in their suffering. emma simpson, bbc news. we can now cross live to varchas patel, his father vipin patel who was prosecuted by the post office in 2011 after they audited him and alleged 3a,000 pounds was missing in december 2010 — after he had already made up a £44,000 shortfall. those figures are extraordinary. it must be difficult for you hearing what was said today by the man from the fujitsu are you able to describe to us what you were being told via

the post office and fujitsu at the time? the post office and fu'itsu at the time? , ., , ., .,, time? yes to my father. he was alwa s time? yes to my father. he was always told _ time? yes to my father. he was always told he _ time? yes to my father. he was always told he was _ time? yes to my father. he wasj always told he was contractually obliged, he was contractually made to put the shortfalls right. it was his job then. to put the shortfalls right. it was hisjob then. unfortunately to put the shortfalls right. it was his job then. unfortunately over numerous attempts to call the helpline, he was made to feel very, very isolated and as a sub—postmaster he just did not know who to turn to he kept thinking to himself that it was his error. he thought that for a very long time until the errors in the shortfalls started to become more and more profound and i mean in the thousands. there was no support by fujitsu or the post office of being

a sub—postmaster from 1999—, even now i can expect 2015, these sub—postmasters including my father received no assistance whatsoever. what do you make of it hearing that these bugs and defects were and shared with the post office and to even hear things like witness statements had been edited, how do you feel hearing that today? the bi est you feel hearing that today? tue: biggest question you feel hearing that today? tte: biggest question for me is who actually authorised a defective system to be implemented throughout tens of thousands of sub post offices throughout the country. no system is perfect. i know that and i have been working with systems nearly all of my adult life. the fact that it has now emerged that

individuals were editing witness statements, it is even more disastrous within the whole scandal itself. tt�*s disastrous within the whole scandal itself. �* , , ., , disastrous within the whole scandal itself. �* , , . , ~ itself. it's 'ust that they knew it was itself. it's just that they knew it was beyond _ itself. it's just that they knew it was beyond to _ itself. it's just that they knew it was beyond to the _ itself. it's just that they knew it was beyond to the odd - itself. it's just that they knew it was beyond to the odd but - itself. it's just that they knew it was beyond to the odd but that| itself. it's just that they knew it - was beyond to the odd but that you might expect. this a go anyway to help when you hear the apology, the admission that you all were let down, yourfamily and people like you were let down. tia. down, your family and people like you were let down.— you were let down. no. frankly, i think it is— you were let down. no. frankly, i think it is too _ you were let down. no. frankly, i think it is too little, _ you were let down. no. frankly, i think it is too little, too _ you were let down. no. frankly, i think it is too little, too late. - think it is too little, too late. when i compare the catastrophic harm which my father has endured. and literally thousands of other sub—postmasters and mistresses have endured, my father�*s help had just shattered. when i compare to my father and his health and his losses, the deterioration ofjust our family losses, the deterioration ofjust ourfamily in general and when i compare that to trying to protect a defective system and the post office

themselves, ifind it defective system and the post office themselves, i find it literally outrageous. how can someone contemplate that a computer, a defective computer, it�*s much more important than a human life. hundreds of humans lives at that. thousands. i wasjust hundreds of humans lives at that. thousands. i was just going to ask in terms of compensation at what stage are you at on that front. taste stage are you at on that front. we have stage are you at on that front. - have received no official announcement, but quite recently the business minister has told the horizon advisory board, that could be wrong. my father and others were classified by the post office as so public interest cases, the convictions were overturned. in the court of law with no statement or records. the post office, for some

unusual legal technicalities did not offer my father an interim payment but i am hopeful and official announcement will be made for my father and the other public interest cases. that they would be treated fairly just like cases. that they would be treated fairlyjust like everyone else with an overturned conviction.- fairlyjust like everyone else with an overturned conviction. thank you so much for — an overturned conviction. thank you so much for talking _ an overturned conviction. thank you so much for talking to _ an overturned conviction. thank you so much for talking to us _ an overturned conviction. thank you so much for talking to us about - an overturned conviction. thank you so much for talking to us about it i so much for talking to us about it and i really appreciate your time. israeli tanks have mounted a new assault into southern gaza�*s main city, khan younis — after intense air strikes and street fighting. gun fire. concern is growing for the safety of hundreds of thousands of civilians — most of whom were displaced from other parts of the territory. many have fled from the grounds of nasser hospital — which is the biggest of the very few hospitals still functioning in gaza. israeli forces have accused hamas fighters of using it as a base — a claim denied by doctors. the hamas—run health ministry says more than 140

palestinians have been killed over the last 24 hours. our correspondent in jerusalem mark lowen has the latest. the focus of the onslaught very much in khan younis, the largest city in the south of gaza, and where the israeli defense forces believe that some of the most senior hamas leaders are holed up in tunnels, possibly, they say, beneath hospitals, which is i think clearly why there is intense military activity around a couple of hospitals there in the south. the palestinian red crescent are accusing the israelis of firing towards one hospital, al—amal hospital, and say that israeli tanks are also moving towards nasser hospital, which is the largest hospital still functioning in the south. remember, the world health organization says that two thirds of the hospitals in gaza are now no longer functioning and the other 13 are only partly functioning. so the health situation, of course, in the south remains disastrous, but it is still very much the focus

of the intense military activity there, even though the israeli defense minister has said that israel will start moving away from larger operations and more towards smaller scale attacks. but at the moment, we�*re still not yet seeing that in the south of gaza. the assault on khan younis comes as the white house has criticised the israeli prime minister�*s public opposition to the creation of a palestinian state. latest reports say presdent biden has held talks with mr netanyahu. while washington supports israel�*s campaign against hamas in gaza, despite otherwise close ties, the two allies have publicly aired differences again over the way forward. on thursday, benjamin netanyahu dismissed the possibility of palestinian sovereignty — saying israel needed control over all of the west bank and gaza for its security. translation: in any arrangement in the foreseeable future, - with a settlement or without a settlement, israel needs security control over all territory west of the jordan river. this is a necessary condition and it clashes with the idea of palestinian sovereignty. what can you do?

i tell this truth to our american friends and i also stopped the attempts to impose a reality on us that would harm israel�*s security. the prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends, saying no when necessary and saying yes, when possible. responding to mr netanyahu�*s remarks, the official spokesperson for palestinian president mahmud abbas, said that without an independent palestinian state "there will be no security and stability in the region". mr abbas, alongside the us and many other countries have long been proponents of a two—state solution, saying it�*s the best hope for peace in the israeli—palestinian conflict. this is how the territories look at the moment. a future solution would see an independent palestinian state established alongside the existing one of israel — giving both peoples their own territory. it is the official position of the uk, us, the united nations, and until now, israel. so what next and how does this end? earlier i spoke to mark regev, who is the senior adviser to the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. i started by asking him why does

israel feel there is a danger with a palestinian state. we would argue that if the palestinians have total sovereignty over the territory, then that forces israel to relinquish security control. and as we saw on october 7th, we need that security control to protect our country. when israel pulled out, as we did of the gaza strip in 2005, we took down all the settlements. we removed all the settlers. we pulled back behind what the international community calls the recognised frontier. that�*s the 1967 line. from their perspective, that�*s the border. and did we get peace? no. we saw hamas take over and we�*ve seen years of terrorism, years of conflict. and it exemplified itself manifested itself on october 7th in a very brutal, brutal way. well, what would security control by israel look like then? because the prime minister has already ruled out working with the palestinian authority. and how would it not be an occupation? so the formula that mr

netanyahu has advocated is that the palestinians should have all the powers to rule themselves, but none of the powers to threaten israel. and the second part of that formula is indeed obvious after the october 7th massacres. in other words, let the palestinians rule themselves, have all the powers to govern themselves and not the powers to attack israel. ithink ignoring... how do you make that distinction, though, if you�*re in control of security, how does that work? would you work alongside other groups? how would it work? well, once again, in the framework of a peaceful settlement, the palestinians could could run their own affairs, they could govern themselves. but it�*s clear they will not have full sovereignty. israel cannot afford to allow a future palestinian entity to sign treaties, defense pacts with people like iran, or to have hezbollah fighters visit them forjoint exercises and operations. obviously.

the white house national security adviser has been holding a press conference speaking for some time now saying that president biden still believes in the promise and possibility of a two state solution in the middle east he is also said that the president biden has the israeli decision to permit the shipment of flour into gaza. also talking about this phone call that there has been between president biden and benjamin netanyahu. les is listening to little bit more of what he is saying. listening to little bit more of what he is saying-— he is saying. continue discussions with prime _ he is saying. continue discussions with prime minister— he is saying. continue discussions with prime minister netanyahu i he is saying. continue discussionsl with prime minister netanyahu and lower levels of across her teams have had results. seam lower levels of across her teams have had results.— lower levels of across her teams have had results. am i correct to understand _ have had results. am i correct to understand the _ have had results. am i correct to understand the president - have had results. am i correct to l understand the president believes there _ understand the president believes there is— understand the president believes there is booking a room in the prime minister_ there is booking a room in the prime minister bossman position in opposing palestinian statehood what is the _ opposing palestinian statehood what is the president prepared to offer for a _ is the president prepared to offer for a saudi israel normalisation deai— for a saudi israel normalisation deal to— for a saudi israel normalisation deal to convince the premises to accept _ deal to convince the premises to accept the — deal to convince the premises to accept the two state solution. the prime minister _ accept the two state solution. tte: prime minister should speak accept the two state solution. tt9 prime minister should speak to his own headspace in that and of course he is talk publicly about the two

state solution. all i can do is to say but i have said before. the president still believes in the promise of possibility and that he believes it will take hard work and leadership and he�*s willing to put his shoulder to the wheel for that eventual outcome, the same time we have to make sure that they have what they need to defend them selves and we have humanitarian assistance in your second question was? what and we have humanitarian assistance in your second question was? what is he prepared — in your second question was? what is he prepared to _ in your second question was? what is he prepared to offer... _ in your second question was? what is he prepared to offer... we _ in your second question was? what is he prepared to offer... we believe i he prepared to offer... we believe that there and _ keep a listen and bring you the main points as we get it. i spoke to the former foreign affairs minister of the palestinian national authority, nasser al-qudwa, and asked whether he was surprised by the israeli prime minister�*s public opposition to the creation of a palestinian state. no, not that not that much, given the fact that mr netanyahu has repeatedly, strongly opposed any political solution, whether it is the long—term,

the overall political solution, that means the existence of the state of palestine side by side, along with the state of israel, and the mutual recognition between the two. or the particular political solution with regard to gaza and ending the war and achieving the full israeli withdrawal. mr netanyahu is very interested in prolonging the war and keeping his skin, basically, saving himself rather than saving the region and saving his population, his people, and saving maybe the people that that is neighbor to him. well, ijust put that to mark regev and he denied that was the case, didn�*t he? what about the us here? and are you surprised, perhaps that it hasn�*t tried to flex its muscles more? i mean, in terms of their relationship, it does give financial help, doesn�*t it, and weapons to israel. would you have expected to see a bit more pressure put on from the united states in this? i hope so. but let me say first that frankly, i�*m very surprised.

i heard part of mr regev intervention. i�*m very surprised that he is still capable of appearing on bbc and repeating the same lies with a straight face. it�*s unbelievable. i mean, talking about the palestinians can govern themselves and that i don�*t know what. i mean all kind of nonsense. unbelievable nonsense. anyway, back to your back to your point, yes. the united states has huge leverage over israel given given the fact that they provide big financial help, they provide the ammunition, they provide arms, and they provide false political protection. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let�*s look at some other stories making news. the bodies of four people have been found at a house near norwich. norfolk police said officers forced their way into an address in costessey this morning after a call from a member of the public.

detectives leading the case believe it�*s an isolated incident. the met office has named the next storm to hit the uk which is set to bring gusts of up to 80mph over the weekend. storm isha will hit the uk on sunday, with amber weather warnings issued for wind in northern and western england, northern ireland and parts of scotland. people are urged to be cautious. british retailers suffered the biggest drop in sales in almost three years in december — raising the risk that the economy entered a recession in the fourth quarter. official figures reveal a sharp fall in demand for goods, but also food sales, in the run up to christmas by 3.2%. data appeared to show people did their shopping earlier, taking advantage of black friday sales. he has withdrawn his libel claim that the processes had sued after

security arrangements after stepping back after a senior royal in an article on the mail on my website the paper said that the prince had abandoned his case hours before a court deadline. prince harry has withdrawn his high court libel claim against the publisher of the mail on sunday. the duke of sussex had sued associated newspapers over an article about his security arrangements after stepping back as a senior royal. in an article on the daily mail website the paper said the prince had "abandoned his case" hours before a court deadline. a warning our media correspondent, david sillito�*s report contains flashing images from the start. in prince harry�*s ongoing legal war against britain�*s newspapers, this is perhaps a minor battle. but after a series of victories against the mail and the mirror, it is a climb—down. the dispute has its roots in his tussle with the home office over paying for his security arrangements. the piece in question in the mail on sunday was headlined, "how prince harry tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret." a judge said the article does suggest that the duke of sussex was responsible for attempting to mislead and confuse the public as to the true position about when he made the offer to pay. the prince says there was no

deception and that he�*d made the offer to pay in 2020. the mail on sunday argued their article was an honest opinion and didn�*t cause much harm. a full trial was looming, but today the case was dropped. the legal bill will be sizeable, but this is just one of many cases. a much bigger claim accusing the mail of phone hacking and other illegal practices is still going ahead. so, too, another against the publisher of the sun. this is far from the end of prince harry versus the press. david sillito, bbc news. japan�*s space agency has confirmed that its unmanned moon probe has landed successfully on the lunar surface. but it says the device�*s solar generators aren�*t working and it is relying on its onboard batteries — which will supply only a few hours of power. this is a simulation of the "smart lander for investigating moon" — or slim, as it�*s known — beginning its descent. not quite the pictures there but we will get them in the second. there you go there. it was aiming to touch down near the moon�*s equator carrying two

robots to conduct research. so it would appear that japan has become just the fifth nation to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface, after the us, the former soviet union, china and india. i asked the astronomer drjenifer millard whether this mission could still be considered a success. they did everything they wanted with a soft landing and the early indications are that they did do that precision landing — landing within 100 meters of their target, which is a vast improvement over the several kilometers that we typically have. those were the main goals of this mission, and any science was going to be a bonus. so if we run out of time in the sense of we can�*t get the solar panels working and it�*s just battery power, then it�*s not too bad really. they would have loved that extra science bonus, but the two rovers seem to have deployed successfully. so i thinkjapan can really be commended for this mission. because it�*s really hard, isn�*t it? i mean, people a lot of people have tried before and it�*s really tricky. and i should just mention that we are showing one of those little what are they called, the tennis ball—sized machine that is supposed to be

doing the exploration. what�*s that called? it�*s lev—1 and lev—2 the left who is the tennis ball—sized one, which sort of splits in half and then swings one half and then swings the other half forward. that�*s the one we can see right now. yeah, yeah, yeah. it�*s brilliant. so they communicating with the craft and we�*re not sure exactly what they�*re up to yet because asjonathan was saying, the priority is to get the information about that landing so where it�*s landed and then try and get information to get those solar panels working. but maybe we�*ll get some information. the solar panels are about being able to send the information that these little lev one and two have gathered, isn�*t it? that�*s they�*re not it�*s that�*s the way it will go around isn�*t it, that they send the information backwards through the solar panel. yeah. the problem with the solar panels is that they can�*t charge the battery.

so we�*re just running on whatever power it happens to be in the batteries now that�*s what they�*ve got. so the little rovers, they communicate with the craft and then the craft talks to earth because you can�*t send a strong enough signal from these tiny little rovers. they�*re just too small. that�*s why they talk to the craft first. but the solar panels are all about the power over the communication. and when you�*ve got limited power, you�*ve got to prioritise. the priority is confirming that landing location. the metropolitan police are appealing for the mother of a newborn baby girl who was found wrapped in a towel and a shopping bag in east london to get in touch. police say the baby was discovered by a member of the public who kept her warm until paramedics arrived. the baby has been temporarily named elsa and reportedly unharmed and is say. a short while ago the metropolitan police held a press conference with an update on how the baby is. t conference with an update on how the bab is. :, conference with an update on how the bab is. . :, baby is. i am delighted to report that she was _ baby is. i am delighted to report that she was not _ baby is. i am delighted to report that she was not injured - baby is. i am delighted to report that she was not injured in i baby is. i am delighted to report that she was not injured in any l that she was not injured in any way and is safe and well in the care of hospital staff. they have given her a temporary name, elsa. we believe she is a black or mixed race child. i am extremely grateful to the

members of the public who stayed at the scene to speak with officers in medics. your actions contributed to saving elsa�*s life. we believe elsa to be less than one hour old when she was found and we do not yet know how long she had been there when she was found. our thoughts now turn to the baby�*s mother. we are extremely concerned for her welfare as she will have been through a traumatic ordeal. and will be in need of immediate medical attention following the birth. train medics and specialist officers are ready to support her and we urge her to get in touch by phone or walking to the nearest hospital or police station. if you are the baby�*s mother, please know that your daughter is well. no matter what your circumstances, please do seek help by dialling 999. that�*s all for this half—hour. stay

with us on bbc news. hello there, good evening. it�*s all change weather—wise as we head through this weekend. it�*s been cold and wintry through the week, with snow showers in the north. sharp overnight frosts and lots of dry weather, some weak winter sunshine, too, on friday for many. but much milder—feeling conditions over the weekend, it�*s also going to be wet and very windy, with a named storm — stormy isha — on sunday night into monday morning, could cause some disruption from strong winds. why is it happening? well, the high pressure is pulling away towards the east, allowing atlantic fronts to roll in from the west, along with some much milder—feeling airjust streaming in from the southwest — marked in yellow here — displacing that cold, arctic air further northwards and eastwards. and there will be some more rain overnight tonight across western areas of scotland — some snowmelt, too, possibly still a little wintry over the higher ground. icy conditions for the far north of scotland. some more rain edging into western wales and into northwest england. temperatures towards eastern areas of england are likely to dip below freezing for a while, and then, rise again to just above freezing as we head

into the start of the day tomorrow. so, we should be largely frost—free to start off saturday morning. and then, tomorrow, some more outbreaks of rain across western wales, up through the pennines and possibly approaching western scotland by the end of the day. strong, gusty winds for irish sea coasts, gusting perhaps as high as 50—55 mph. lots of dry weather towards eastern areas here — temperatures will struggle to recover through the day, but further west, 9—10 celsius — so back up into double figures with that milder—feeling air. as we head through sunday, this is storm isha rolling in from the west. you can just see the squeeze on the isobars here — very strong, gusty winds, with the worst of them to come on sunday night into the first part of monday morning. but on sunday, the winds will start to pick out from the southwest turning more westerly. there�*ll be outbreaks of heavy rain, too, warnings in force across northwest england and southwest scotland. could be some localised flooding here, maybe. the air is mild — top temperatures between 9—13 celsius. now the whole of the uk is covered by a weather warning for strong winds, but of most concern

are these areas here — they�*ve been upgraded to an amber weather warning. these warnings in force until 9am on monday morning. some gusts of wind could exceed 70—80 mph, particularly for exposed coasts. it�*s all likely to cause disruption if you are travelling on monday morning, so do keep an eye on the forecast. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... a senior fujitsu boss tells the post office inquiry it was well known there were bugs in the computer system from the start. confirmation that thousands ofjobs will go at tata steel, as the firm closes blast furnaces at britain�*s biggest steelworks in south wales. israeli tanks mount a new assault into southern gaza�*s main city, khan younis, after intense air strikes and street fighting. the white house says president biden "still believes" in future palestinian statehood, after benjamin netanyahu publicly rejected a two—state solution. prince harry withdraws his libel claim against the publisher of the mail on sunday — it�*s nearly two years since the case was filed.