an air strike on the syrian capital kills four members of iran's revolutionary guards — two of them high—ranking military advisers. iran blames israel. a un human rights official accuses israel of beating and stripping palestinians detained in gaza. they describe being beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill treatment and to what may amount to torture. police urge the mother of a newborn baby found in a shopping bag in east london to come forward. in uganda — government critics are targeted by a network of fake social media accounts. we have more in a bbc verify investigation. hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones.

welcome to the programme, we start middle east. —— welcome to the programme, we start in the middle east. a suspected israeli air strike has hit a residential building in the syrian capital, damascus. iranian state media says four members of iran's revolutionary guards were among those killed. they include two high—ranking military advisers — one of whom is reported to be the head of the force's information unit in syria. iran is blaming israel for the strike. iranian advisers have played a key role in keeping president assad in power during the civil war in syria. with me is issam ikirmawi, who is a correspondent with bbc arabic. good to see you. just talk us through at the moment what we know what we think we know that what is happening. we what we think we know that what is ha eninu. ~ ~ ., ., what we think we know that what is ha--enin~.~ ~' ., ., ., happening. we know from syrian forces that _ happening. we know from syrian forces that an _ happening. we know from syrian forces that an error _ happening. we know from syrian forces that an error rate - happening. we know from syrian forces that an error rate hit - happening. we know from syrian forces that an error rate hit a - forces that an error rate hit a building in damascus —— a air raid

hita building in building in damascus —— a air raid hit a building in damascus, the building came down. according to a spokesperson, they had one fatality and three injured people including a woman that has been brought into the hospital. the civil service is looking for survivors and so far this is what we know about this target, iranian news agency spoke about two members of the revolution in damascus that appear to be part of this attack.— of this attack. reminders of the relationship _ of this attack. reminders of the relationship you _ of this attack. reminders of the relationship you between - of this attack. reminders of the relationship you between syria | of this attack. reminders of the i relationship you between syria and iran.

—— remind us of the relationship here between syria and iran. they have been very dependent since the uprising in syria in 2011 and according to some sources, iran has helped president assad stay in power and also called on live and on so there is a strong organic relationship but iran is a superior part of this wildly syrian president is a week apart. —— while the syrian president is a week —— weaker part. they have only quoted syrian sources and reuters saying they claim israel is behind it but there is no official claim or

admission of responsibility by israel. ~ ., ., admission of responsibility by israel. ~ . ., ., israel. what are some of the theories about _ israel. what are some of the theories about why - israel. what are some of the theories about why this - israel. what are some of the | theories about why this strike israel. what are some of the - theories about why this strike may have been carried out?— have been carried out? there is a rox have been carried out? there is a proxy war — have been carried out? there is a proxy war in _ have been carried out? there is a proxy war in the _ have been carried out? there is a proxy war in the release - have been carried out? there is a proxy war in the release going . have been carried out? there is a proxy war in the release going onj proxy war in the release going on and we've seen that with hezbollah and we've seen that with hezbollah and in south lebanon and also an attack on the capital of kurdistan which iran said was israeli defence agency. which iran said was israeli defence auen . ., ~' which iran said was israeli defence auen . ., . which iran said was israeli defence auen. . . ., ., agency. thank you so much for that. just bringing — agency. thank you so much for that. just bringing you _ agency. thank you so much for that. just bringing you some _ agency. thank you so much for that. just bringing you some breaking - agency. thank you so much for that. | just bringing you some breaking news from the region, this from the reuters news agency coming into this year, an israeli strike on southern lebanon on saturday has killed two

members of the palestinian militant group hamas as they were travelling in a car. this is from the reuters news agency you quote three security sources in lebanon telling them that. israel has been carrying out air strikes southern lebanon on a base that is there as well as on hezbollah which is a separate powerful armed group but that news coming in via the reuters news agency that an israeli strike on southern lebanon on saturday killed two members of the palestinian militant group hamas as they were travelling in a car. more on the region now ducked back well to discuss this further, i'm nowjoined by dr rim turkmani. by dr rim turkmani. —— well to discuss this further,

i'm nowjoined by dr rim turkmani. she is a syrian academic at the london school of economics. we've had some more about what sources in syria and iran are reporting what it might be useful to go a bit wider he also tells the context and history of syria and what is happening in the country that means they have this relationship with iran. syria's relationship _ relationship with iran. syria's relationship with _ relationship with iran. syria's relationship with iran - relationship with iran. syria's relationship with iran is - relationship with iran. syria's relationship with iran is not l relationship with iran. syria's relationship with iran is not a secret but right now with the right context to focus on as a regional one and notjust the syrian one, we need to see this attack on the attack just need to see this attack on the attackjust reported from lebanon in the context of an increased number of such strikes and attacks in syria and the regions since its over the seventh and although this attack now comes as part of an israeli war in syria, iraq lebanon, but look at what is happening since its over seven, attacks on american targets in syria coming from iraq and the christmas day attack on iranian targets in syria and we have these

daily clashes with what is going on in gaza, the red sea, all of this, and the cauldron is bubbling in the region in a very dangerous way. we are sleepwalking into a major middle east conflict. that is the right context to focus on right now. the fears of this _ context to focus on right now. the fears of this conflict spreading to become a regional one and they have been quoted ever since its over seven. do attacks like this in your estimation seriously increase any potential threat?— estimation seriously increase any potential threat? they are certainly more of an indicator _ potential threat? they are certainly more of an indicator that _ potential threat? they are certainly more of an indicator that this - potential threat? they are certainly more of an indicator that this is - more of an indicator that this is spreading and is becoming something and more importantly players in the region like the israeli government do not mind risking a middle east major conflict. they are not reserving themselves. the question here is the uk and the us, i'm sure

they do not want this but why are they do not want this but why are they being so complacent? why are they being so complacent? why are they not calling for a major ceasefire that would prevent such attacks and prevent attacks in the red sea, that is the question. what red sea, that is the question. what is our red sea, that is the question. what is your answer? — red sea, that is the question. what is your answer? i _ red sea, that is the question. what is your answer? i think _ red sea, that is the question. what is your answer? i think whatever i red sea, that is the question. whatl is your answer? i think whatever the reasons are. — is your answer? i think whatever the reasons are, they _ is your answer? i think whatever the reasons are, they have _ is your answer? i think whatever the reasons are, they have to _ is your answer? i think whatever the reasons are, they have to just - reasons are, they have to just wake up reasons are, they have to just wake up to what is happening, don't see each attack in its own very narrow context, just look at the region and ask themselves if they will be able to contain this. this has been triggered by what is happening in palestine and a continuous streaming of horrific massacres we are seeing unfolding live every day and this is the major trigger. we do not support the major trigger. we do not support the houthis or hamas but that is not the houthis or hamas but that is not the question right now. you need to stop it with a strong position very clear that is something which would lead to a ceasefire and followed

immediately by political talks to lead to a more sustainable solution and the palestinian state. without this i think we are really sleepwalking into a major conflict which i do not think the us nor the uk would be able to contain. thank ou. a un human rights official has accused israel of beating, blindfolding and stripping palestinians detained during its military operation in gaza. ajith sunghay — the head of the un human rights 0ffice in 0ccupied palestinian territories — said some of the former detainees he met during a visit to the territory had been held for nearly two months, in often cramped conditions. during my time here, i managed to meet a number of police detainees. these are men who were detained by the israeli security forces in unknown locations for between 30 to 55 days. they described being beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill treatment and to what may amount to torture. they reported being blindfolded

for long periods, some of them for several consecutive days. one man said he had access to a shower only once during his 55 days in detention. there are reports of men who were subsequently released, but only in diapers without any adequate clothing in this cold weather. what they told me was consistent with reports our office has been gathering of the detention of palestinians on a broad scale, including many civilians held in secrecy, often subject to ill treatment with no access to theirfamilies, lawyers or effective judicial protection. 0ur middle east correspondent mark lowen told me more about the allegations. the allegations have been flatly denied by the israeli defence forces who say they treat detainees in accordance with international law and that when detainees are forced to remove their clothes it is to check whether or not they have explosive devices. but the allegations made by the un

are very much in line with others' and other accusations that have been made by human rights groups for example against how the israeli defence forces are treating local prisoners of war. israel maintains that it is continuing to target terror areas. for example, moving its tanks towards medical facilities around khan younis in southern gaza that they say have been used as launch sites for attacks against israeli forces. thejordanian government has accused israel of directly firing against a jordanian field hospital in southern gaza overnight and say that benjamin netanyahu is, in the words of thejordanian government, bringing doom to this region. the fighting very much continues in southern gaza. that is the part of the strip to which israel encouraged people to flee when the fighting was in the north. but now the fighting is particularly

intense in the south and that's why some of the idf feel some hamas leaders are holed up. the president of the democratic republic of congo — felix tshisekedi — is due to be sworn in for his second term. these are live pictures from the ceremony in the capital kinshasa. mr tshisekedi won last month's election — though the result was disputed. during his campaign, he vowed to tackle the violence in the country's east where dozens of armed groups are battling for control of land and minerals.

president biden has sought to play down differences with israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, over the prospects of the creation of a palestinian state. the two men spoke on friday for the first time in nearly a month. mr biden told reporters in washington he believed it was possible to work something out. he denied that the israeli leader has ruled out the idea of a two—state solution once the fighting in gaza is over. on thursday, mr netanyahu said israel must have security control of all territory west of the jordan river for the foreseeable future, even though that conflicts with the idea of palestinian sovereignty. the us says israel has agreed to allow shipments of flour through a portjust north of the gaza strip — reducing the time it takes for aid to reach the territory.

the un had accused israel's military of restricting aid deliveries to northern gaza. the un humanitarian agency says less than a quarter of its planned missions have been allowed so far in january. just last month, israel agreed the temporary delivery of aid into gaza via its southern border crossing, opening a new route for supplies after weeks of pressure. let's get some of the day's other news now. the us military says it has carried out further strikes against houthi targets in yemen, destroying three anti—ship missiles. the houthis have staged dozens of attacks on shipping in the red sea region. a fire at a school dormitory in central china has killed 13 people. the managers of the school in a village in henan province have been detained while the cause of the fire is investigated. a huge blaze at a rubbish dump outside panama city has shrouded

the capital in toxic smoke and forced the evacuation of nearby homes. the metropolitan police says it's concerned for the welfare of a mother whose newborn baby was found in a shopping bag by the side of a road in east london. officers say the girl, who has been given the temporary name elsa, is in good health, despite the freezing temperatures. nickjohnson reports. less than an hour after she was born, baby elsa, as she's been named, was found inside a shopping bag at the entrance to this open space on the side of a busy road. despite the subzero temperatures on thursday night, police say the little girl is unharmed and safe. the met�*s focus now rests upon finding the newborn'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. 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. the force has also asked anyone who thinks they might know baby elsa's mother to contact them. officers say the newborn's survival on thursday night was largely due to the actions of the dog walker who found her. thinking fast, that person kept the baby girl warm until london ambulance service paramedics arrived and checked her over before taking her to hospital. the police say others also stayed on the scene and the measures they took contributed to saving the baby's life. 0ur reporter nickjohnson gave us this update from east london. well, lewis, police have said they made a point of saying their primary concern is the health and well—being of the baby's mother. they say that specialist medics and police staff are on hand to provide support and have urged her to come and make contact. as you heard in that report we know that little baby elsa was less than an hour old when she was found

inside that shopping bag right here on the pavement between this busy road and the entrance to this open space. the location of that shopping bag, the traffic, the busyness of the road, there is a dual carriageway just behind the camera, you really get a sense of how inconspicuous a tiny baby would have been in that shopping bag. police say they believe the dog walker that discovered her was alerted by the cries coming from that bag. it is cold here this morning but it's not as cold as thursday night when the little baby was found. it was below freezing and all she was covered in was a towel. but despite all that, police say she is doing well in hospital, she is safe, she is unharmed, but you get the sense that if someone had found her a few moments later it might have been a very different story. indeed. nick, we heard a little from the police there. what have they been saying and what have they been urging people to do?

as i said, their main concern now is tracing the mother. they have asked people who use this park for walking their dogs, we have seen lots of people walking their dogs, riding their bikes and running this morning, so anyone who may frequent this route on a daily basis, to get in touch with them, especially if they have any idea who the mum might be. when baby elsa was left here it would have been on thursday evening. there would have been a lot of traffic along this road. this is a busy road so perhaps a lot of opportunity for other people to have seen something that went on. but really, police now saying that now the child is safe and appears to be doing well in hospital, their main concern now is finding the baby's mother and getting her the medical attention she will clearly need. thanks to nick for that. in the uk, a committee of mps has asked the treasury, the royal mint and other public bodies to reveal details of any contracts awarded to fujitsu in the past five years. the company has apologised for its

role in the post office it scandal — in which hundreds of branch managers were wrongly convicted of fraud or theft because of its faulty horizon computer system. fujitsu has said it won't bid for more government contracts while the inquiry is continuing. a bbc verify investigation has uncovered a network of nearly 200 fake social media accounts operating in uganda. using false identities, those behind them have been pushing messages praising the government and targeting its critics — sometimes with threats. i've been speaking to the bbc�*s marco silva, who has been looking into this story for us. he explained what stood out about these accounts. i came across this network of fake social media accounts. there were a few giveaways that made these accounts suspicious. one of them is the fact that they use as profile pictures photos from social media stolen from the accounts of models, actresses, influencers. these accounts also appear to be laser focused, focused on one thing and one thing alone.

that was ugandan politics. and as well, they often post it in tandem. at the same time, the same content, using the same language. another giveaway, perhaps, is the fact that many of these accounts were all created in the same day. now, this makes it look like, while they may look like they were separate accounts independent from each other, all these different giveaways show us that they're very, very likely to have been working together to achieve two different things. 0n the one hand, to push a pro—government agenda, and on the other hand to attack critics and opposition figures both at home, including ugandan climate activist, called hillary taylor that i interviewed as part of my investigation, but also critics abroad, including a member of the european parliament. and marco, do we have any idea then

who's behind this network? it's important to say that this, when you investigate this sort of network, it's incredibly difficult to find out who really is behind them. and that is because often the evidence that you would need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that a particular individual is behind it is evidence that is often held by the social media companies themselves. now, in this case, i did approach x, one of the social networks where these accounts were found, i approached them. i told them about the accounts that i had that i had identified. they didn't respond to any of my requests for comment, and they didn't take any action against the accounts that i identified. meta, facebook�*s parent company, on the other hand, did remove most of the accounts that i identified, and they also believe that several of the accounts we identified were run, were linked to individuals linked to a ugandan government agency,

called the government citizen interaction centre. now, what facebook is saying here is that they believe that several of the accounts we identified were run by these individuals. now, we have not seen the evidence that meta says it has on this. so we can't independently verify it. the gcic, the ugandan agency in question, denies this allegation flatly, and yet it wouldn't be the first time that they face accusations of running influence operations — back in 2021, right before the ugandan presidential election, they, too, meta at the time also took down hundreds of facebook and instagram accounts, which it said at the time were linked to this ugandan agency. the ugandan government at the time was dumbfounded, was angry at this accusation, and as a result, authorities ended up banning facebook from the country, a ban that is still in place as we speak.

for more on this story, listen to bbc trending: crude fakes in uganda, on bbc sounds. lawyers for the actor alec baldwin say he's looking forward to his day in court — after he was charged with involuntary manslaughter over the death of a cinematographer, who was shot two years ago on the set of the film �*rust�*. previous charges against the actor were dropped. emma vardy reports. you were... you were in the room when that lady... i was the one holding the gun, yeah. 0k. a rehearsal that went terribly wrong. alec baldwin had been getting ready for a scene during filming

for the western movie rust in new mexico when a pistol he was holding went off, killing 42—year—old cinematographer halyna hutchins and wounding the director, joel souza. mr baldwin has always claimed he was not responsible for her death, saying he was told the gun did not contain any live rounds. i would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. never, never. that was the training that i had. you don't point a gun at a man and pull the trigger. he was first charged over a year ago, but the charges were dismissed when new evidence emerged that the gun may have been able to be fired without the trigger being pulled. but following a new forensic report, a grand jury has now concluded he should face trial, accused of involuntary manslaughter. the movie's armourer, hannah gutierrez—reed is also facing the same charge. the film rust was completed in halyna hutchins' memory following her death. her family have welcomed the prospect of criminal trials, saying they've always wanted the truth about what happened that day. if convicted, alec baldwin could face up to 18 months in prison.

before we go, let's just show you this — a murmuration of starlings caught on camera in northwest england. it took place at a reserve at leighton moss, near morecambe in lancashire. the phenomenon happens at dusk, just before the birds roost for the night — drawing large crowds of birdwatchers. just to remind you of a breaking news in the past our sense of god on air, getting details through from the israel— 11 on —— israel— lebanon border saying a israeli strike has killed two members of the militant group hamas in lebanon as they were travelling in a car and that is three security sources in lebanon telling reuters that information so an israeli strike on southern lebanon killing two. that's it, i'm

lewis vaughanjones, this is bbc news. hello. we've got some pretty stormy weather on the way later tomorrow. latest named storm, storm isha, named by the uk met office, will roll its way in and barrel across the country, particularly sunday night and into monday morning, with severe gales expected quite widely. there will be disruption into monday morning rush hour. more on that in just a second, because even before that arrives, the winds already up today, it's much milder. we've got rid of the cold air and it's rain rather than snow. this is storm isha on the charts. it's out towards the west atlantic at the moment, that massive cloud. but even before then, we've still got this cloud across the uk and that is producing some rain. the rain's been pretty relentless so far through northwest england and parts of western wales, at least off a little bit through the rest of today. for a while at least, that's the brightness far northeast of scotland and some hazy sunshine, the channel islands and the far south east of england, six or seven degrees across some eastern areas and the west, ten, 11 celsius where the wind picks up even further later and the rain becomes heavier and more persistent.

so quite a wet evening and first part of the night across the western half of the uk. that rain pushes its way erratically eastwards, clearing for most into dawn. so a few showers in the west, but in the clear skies, temperatures will take a bit of a dip tonight. so another cool night, nowhere near as cold as it has been. any frost limited to some sheltered glens in scotland. so a frost free start to sunday and the morning will be the quietest part of the day. parts of east wales, central southern england, but a sunshine same to across northern scotland. showers replaced by longer spells of rain, northern england, central southern scotland, northern ireland and western parts of wales. that rain and the totals totting up combined with snowmelt could lead to some flooding. but temperatures will be on the rise as the winds pick up. those winds really become a feature sunday night, and that's the storm passes to the north or broad area of strong winds. many parts will be affected. the met office have issued amber weather warnings quite widely through sunday night and into monday morning. could see winds gusting 70, 80 miles an hour, maybe even a little bit more. there will be some large waves, some damage, some disruption

to power and also travel, which could linger into the morning, monday morning rush hour. so be prepared for some problems on monday morning weather—wise. still windy but not as windy as that have been through the night. frequent showers, particularly across the north and the west. best of the sunshine to the south and the east, that's looking. all the warnings are online. take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines... an air strike on the syrian capital kills four members of iran's revolutionary guards — two of them high—ranking military advisers. iran blames israel. a un human rights official accuses israel of beating and stripping palestinians detained in gaza. police urge the mother of a newborn baby found in a shopping bag in east london to come forward. tata steel defends its decision to cut thousands ofjobs in south wales — saying it needs to go greener. a un human rights official has accused israel of beating, blindfolding and stripping palestinians detained during its military operation in gaza. ajith sunghay — the head of the un human rights 0ffice

in 0ccupied palestinian territories — said some of the former detainees he met during a visit to the territory had been held for nearly two months in often cramped conditions. during my time here, i managed to meet a number of police detainees. these are men who were detained by the israeli security forces in unknown locations for between 30 to 55 days. they described being beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill treatment and to what may amount to torture. israel has said it treats all those detained in accordance with international law. in a statement to the bbc, the israeli military said terror suspects often had to hand over their clothes to ensure they were not concealing weapons or explosives. despite international warnings, the israel—gaza war is dragging in more and more regional players. our analysis editor, ros atkins, has been looking at who is now involved

and why pakistan was caught up in it this week. ever since the israel gaza war started, there's been a fear the conflict could spread. and that's happening. across the middle east we're seeing airstrikes, bombings, assassinations and border raids. the most high profile escalation involves houthi rebels in yemen attacking shipping in the red sea. they say in solidarity with palestinians. in response, the us and the uk have attacked houthi positions, most recently with us strikes on wednesday night, and a day before america began attacking the houthis, the us secretary of state said this... we were focused on making sure that the conflict ongoing now in gaza doesn't spread to other places. that's been our focus since since october 7th, and it remains our focus today. but as america's own actions show, stopping the spread is proving difficult. as the new york times puts it...

the regional war no one wanted is here. and it asks, how wide will it get? because already, along with the israel—gaza war and the exchanges in the red sea and yemen, there have been other incidents in iran, syria, iraq and lebanon. and all of these different escalations connect both to the israel—gaza war and to longer term tensions, too. what you have here really are two sets of conflicts overlapping — one israel v hamas and the ramifications of that. but of course behind that the much longer running and wider conflict between a low level conflict, if you like, between iran and its various allies in the region, and western interests more generally, and the united states in particular. we're seeing this overlap play out across the region. following october 7th, there's been an increase in border clashes between the israeli military and the hezbollah group in lebanon. hezbollah is backed by iran, as is hamas. then in earlyjanuary, there was an assassination in lebanon of a senior hamas leader.

it's assumed israel was responsible. the same is true of the assassination of a senior iranian commander in syria in december. syria is an ally of iran. israel is trying to disrupt iran's regional network located in these places, what iran calls its "axis of resistance". iran uses its allies, non—state actors, allies, in order to show solidarity with the palestinians, in order to increase the costs of war in gaza for israel and the united states, and also to divert some of israel's military assets from gaza to the northern fronts with lebanon. last november, iran's foreign minister said... and recently, iran has shown it is willing to take military action. two weeks ago, in an iranian city called kerman, the islamic state group carried out the biggest bomb attack in iran in decades,

and iran retaliated with strikes in syria aimed at what it claimed were islamic state positions. there were also missile strikes in iraq targeting what iran claimed was an israeli spy base. iran also claims that israel and the us were in part responsible for the kerman attack. iran's provided no evidence for either allegation. iran is relevant to other escalations in iraq too. in recent weeks, there's been an increase in attacks by shia militias on us forces in iraq. those militias are backed by iran. then this week, another layer of complexity was added. on tuesday, iran launched a missile and drone attack in neighboring pakistan. it said the target was an iranian militant group. in response, pakistan launched retaliatory strikes at targets inside iran. these developments don't directly connect to gaza, but they do connect to iran's broader efforts to establish its military strength in the region.

they're more evidence of how fluid the security situation is and faced with that situation each country, each military group, has choices to make. for now, the houthis keep attacking shipping in the red sea, and the us has redesignated the houthis as global terrorists. it continues its military action too — the americans argue this is the way to stop disruption in the red sea. but not everyone takes that position. translation: france decided not i to join a coalition that sought i to carry out or had carried out preemptive strikes against the houthis on their soil. why? precisely because we have a stance that seeks to avoid any escalation. but escalation is what's happening. and this week, iran had this message. translation: if the genocide in gaza stops, then it will lead _ to the end of other crises and attacks in the region. israel denies carrying out genocide and an end to hostilities

in gaza will certainly. in gaza will certainly not end the long standing tensions in the region. but while we are some distance from a full scale regional war, there's no doubt the israel—gaza war continues to pour fuel onto fires that were already burning. more than half of all buildings in gaza have been damaged or destroyed by israeli strikes, including more than a hundred historically important sites, as the war continues. the bbc's yasmin khatun dewan has been looking at some of the sites damaged over the last three months. significant buildings damaged or destroyed in gaza include libraries, religious sites and places of ancient historical importance. you can see gaza city's al—hussein mosque behind me here. this image was taken on the 6th of january this year. but let's contrast that with an image from january 2021 prior to the recent conflict. here's an image from more than ten years ago.

it's ramadan 2013, and the man seen here is in the great 0mari mosque, the largest and oldest in gaza. the mosque opened in the seventh century on the site of a byzantine church. named after 0mar, islam's second caliph, its library was once filled with rare manuscripts, including old copies of the koran. the mosque has been damaged numerous times in the past, losing many ancient documents, but the remaining physical copies are now thought to have been lost. much of the great 0mari mosque appears to be reduced to rubble, with only its minaret still intact. this image here is from the 5th of january. last year, in partnership with the british library endangered archives programme, some of the manuscripts were digitalized, the british library said the library of the great 0mari mosque is one of the most important and oldest national library and archive centers

in palestine, adding the project will help in protecting manuscripts through digitalizing them and providing suitable storage conditions. in its case against israel, south africa asked the icj to protect against further severe and irreparable harm, including that to heritage sites, the palestinian people under the genocide convention. israel has accused hamas of using mosques, schools and other civilian infrastructure to hide its fighters. tata steel has defended its decision to cut thousands ofjobs at its port talbot site in south wales, saying changes are necessary to make production much greener. two blast furnaces will be replaced with an electric alternative. unions say industrial action is likely. plaid cymru says the uk government should consider nationalising the port talbot steelworks,

to allow for a "phased transition" to greener steel production. the changes will see the loss of up to 2,800 jobs, plus others in firms which supply the plant with goods and services. here's david rees, a member of the welsh parliament for aberavon — where port talbot is located. i think the first thing we must remember is the, as you say, the challenges now facing those workers. and it's notjust the 2,800. it's all supply chain, the contractors and the small businesses that will suffer as a consequence of this decision. we're talking about many more thousands than directly employed staff. and i think, you know, the question really is how do we transition from the carbon intensive steel production to a less carbon intensive, more green steel production? and that's where the politicians should be looking at exactly how do we do that transition with minimal damage to the economy and to the workforce?

but shouldn't those things have been worked out before now, before tata announces redundancies? it should have been, and i would have hoped the uk government, when it announced its investment, would have put some conditions on that investment and would have ensured that a transition would be smooth and not a cliff edge transition that we've seen. but was there no contingency organised by yourself, by the labour party there in wales that what if tata suddenly announces redundancies and speeds up the process? there must have been a plan. well, the unfortunate thing is that the main levers and the investment available are from the uk government. welsh government has limited resources available to support the investment that is required for the transition to steal the labour party itself, uk wide has committed itself to £3 billion of greenstone investment and we would hope that the next labour government coming in might be able to talk to tata to reverse the closure of the second blast furnace to ensure that we can continue steel—making whilst we transition to embed approach on steel—making.

the prime minister, rishi sunak, said government has provided £500 million to support tata. i want to nowjust bring up that idea of nationalisation calling for that. do you support that? well, nationalization, ithink, is a red herring. the reality is investment and we want to ensure the investment comes from the government. now, the government could look at how can we make sure, like the labour party has indicated that the large amount of money required for green steel making in the uk will take place. let's be honest about this. the uk government has now decided that there will be no longer primary steel—making in the uk. they have taken the decision that the only g20 country that will not be making its own steel from raw materials. we will be recycling steel effectively on electric arc furnaces. the only g20. and we're giving up sovereignty. and our steel is such a crucial element in our economy across the uk. talbot, we'll suffer the hardships, but the whole of the uk is going to lose its steel—making powers.

and the unions warning thatjust in relation to these current announcements, there could be strikes. do you support them? the unions are reflecting the anger that in the workforce, we are seeing people now being told that within nine months they won't have a job and there's no opportunities here for them at the moment, no plans for the transition. the plans for the freeport are years down the line. the electric arc furnace won't be here for four years because they haven't even started a planning application process, so it's going to be many. do you support strike then? would you support them going on strike then? i would be supporting the workforce and whatever they decide to do because i know the challenges and hardships they'll be facing in the months and years ahead of us. sometimes explosive whatsapp conversations gave a revealing insight into how some senior government ministers in england made key decisions during the covid pandemic. but that won't be the case for scotland's former first minister nicola sturgeon. the uk—wide covid inquiry, which is currently sitting in edinburgh, has heard that all ms sturgeon's whatsapp messages

relating to the pandemic appear to have been deleted. david henderson has more on this. stay at home. the order to lock down brought much of scotland to a standstill. with a pandemic sweeping the country, government had to act. but how were decisions made when lives were at stake? this inquiry wants answers and it's asked to see whatsapp messages which went to and fro between nicola sturgeon and herteam. but documents we saw show many have been lost. what that tends to suggest is that at the time a request was made, nicola sturgeon, the former first minister of scotland, had retained no messages whatsoever in connection with her management of the pandemic. is that correct? that's what that indicates to me. the inquiry was told those whatsapps were deleted when inboxes were routinely tidied up

and when phones were changed. the former deputy first minister's position appears to be that he had messages set up on an auto delete function. was that something that was permitted? the use of whatsapp was permitted on scottish government devices. . how ministers and private offices - chose to manage that on a day—to—day basis would be a matter for them. so is this at odds with what nicola sturgeon seemed to promise back in august 2021? can you guarantee to the bereaved families that you will disclose emails, whatsapps, private emails if you've been using them, whatever, that nothing will be off limits in this inquiry? i think if you understand statutory public inquiries, you would know that even if i wasn't prepared to give that assurance, which for the avoidance of doubt i am. some whatsapp exchanges survive

and former civil servant ken thomson was asked about his. in them, colleagues are told to clear chat, as their discussions could be made public in future. that was in fact the instruction that we were given in the corporate policy, having transferred any salient points to the corporate record. in one message, the national clinical director, jason leitch writes — "whatsapp deletion is a pre—bed ritual." he's due to give evidence to the inquiry in the coming days. as recently as 2017, the world health organization declared that measles had been eliminated in the uk. now the disease is back, with cases rising sharply, particularly in birmingham, where a "national incident" has been declared. ellie roscoe caught measles six years ago and said she wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy. she's been talking to michele paduano. i literally felt like i'd been hit by a bus. it was horrendous. i'd got a thumping headache. temperature was just making me feel awful. and my skin was — ifelt like i'd

been burned, the sensation. ellie roscoe already had serious illnesses — lupus and angioedema. but when she developed a high temperature and delirium, she was worried but didn't realise how life changing it would be. i ended up with measles into my lungs, so i had to go onto oxygen because it affected my saturations. it was similar to pneumonia that i ended up with and ended up with viral hepatitis. she now requires a feeding tube, which may or may not be due to the measles. the nhs were fantastic. heartlands hospital, i can't praise enough. without them she wouldn't be sitting here today. that's the reality of it. urgent efforts are being made to encourage vaccination, across the west midlands, particularly among ethnic minority communities where vaccination rates are low. an outbreak which started in south and central birmingham is now spreading. horrible disease, really horrible. the vaccine is very good. it's about 95% effective. safe, just been put on.

there is an alternative - for those who don't want one with the pork products. again, that's a matter- for individual choice and that's the case of discussing it with your gp. _ we can get the alternatives. measles is one of the most infectious diseases. one person can infect 16 others. if you compare covid to measles, it made covid look like a mild cold. measles was an unreal illness and i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, personally. now is the time that something desperately needs to be done. it's got to be done to save the lives of these people, children and adults, and people need to be aware of the consequences. every day, ellie faces the aftermath of having had measles. she wants people to make their decisions, knowing what it means for her. michele paduano, bbc news. here in the uk, hundreds of people who were scammed out of their pensions are now facing large tax bills on money they no longer have.

a group of mps says hmrc is making them victims "twice over", as dan whitworth explains. hundreds, possibly thousands, of people have been impacted by this. 0ften public servants like nurses, firemen and women, and police officers who say their only mistake has been to trust so—called financial experts, and they say they've been victimised twice — first by scammers who in many cases ran off with much of their pension money, and secondly by hmrc, which is now chasing them for huge tax bills, for taking money out of their pension pots early before they turned 55. sue flood and her husband lost £230,000 of their retirement savings. and now, on top of that, say they face the prospect of a tax bill running into six figures. there's never any real closure for you. it's the last thing you think about when you go to bed at night, and it's the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning, and when you receive

the bill from hmrc, that brown envelope lands, it's harrowing. it's not stress you feel. it's absolute sheer terror. and that's gone on for 12 years. a campaign group launched in parliament to support victims has the backing of senior mps and barristers, as well as leading pension experts. what i would like to see is immediately hmrc put a moratorium on the assessments that are happening. stop sending out letters to people and stop adding interestjust until we can get this sorted and get a breathing space. maybe six months. allow compensation for losses due to fraud by a third party, and change the tax law to account for circumstances where people are being scammed. hmrc says it doesn't tax pensions lost to fraud and it has a responsibility to collect the tax people legally owe to maintain a fair system for all. also that it takes the well—being

of all taxpayers seriously and that it does everything it can for those who engage with them to get their tax affairs in order. dan whitworth, bbc news. with tracks like chasing rainbows and going for gold, shed seven were part of the britpop movement which — for many music fans — was the sound of the �*90s. unlike other bands of that era — however — shed seven stayed together and kept making new music. now, 30 years after their chart debut, they've just landed their first number one album. amy garcia went to meet the lead singer rick witter. # i'm just chasing rainbows all the time.# congratulations. number one, you must be so chuffed. it's been a long time coming, isn't it?

it's amazing. i mean, 30 years, which seems to have flown by, to be honest with you. 30 years. but yes, incredible scenes in shed world, to finally get number one after all this time is pretty amazing. # are you going for gold?# not only have you got a number one, but you've also made the history books for the band to have the biggest gap between debut and number one album. yeah, which makes me feel really old. but if there's any records to be broken, i'll try my hardest to do it. we found out that we outsold the entire top ten last week on physical product, which is amazing. so much has changed since the �*90s, especially in the music industry, but people are still buying physical copies, aren't they?

what do you think that's down to? it's old school. it's what we grew up doing. you'd cycle to red rhino records in york and you'd sift through the 12 inch singles, you know, looking for what you've come for and discover other things that you might never have heard of. i think the younger generation are kind of getting their head around that now, and long may that continue because just to hold something in your hands is a very special thing. so we spent a couple of weeks traveling around, visiting record stores, playing some acoustic performances in a small record store, queues around the block for people waiting to come and get this signed, which has been incredible, and it'sjust nice to be involved rather than just being at home. but it is very tiring because we're not getting any younger. you were partying all day and night like the �*90s? well, i tried. and after about day three, i gave up. what have been your favourite moments from past three decades?

well, i think at the beginning it was all really exciting because it was so new. and we're young kids and we're suddenly being told, yes, you can go on top of the pops and then you suddenly remembering hearing yourself being played on radio 1 for the first time. so they were always really buzz moments for us. i think we just take pride in the fact that we've not veered off course. we're still the same band we ever were. we're just a little bit older and a little bit wiser. a lot of things, exciting things happening this year, which will roll on into next year and the year after. so i guess if you're a fan of shed seven, then buckle up, and if you're not particularly a fan of us, hide behind a big rock. how do you celebrate a number one after 30 years? i don't know. i'll have to come back to you on that because i've never done it before. so i will find ways of celebrating. i've not really got around to being able to do it as yet. i'm hoping it's in �*90 style. if it's in �*90 style, i won't remember it. enjoy the moment. congratulations, rick. thank you very much.

i want to bring you up—to—date with the top story. unexpected is really air strike has hit a building in the syrian capital damascus. iranians state media say four members of the guards were killed, including two high—ranking military advisers, one of whom is reported to be the head of whom is reported to be the head of the forces's information unit in syria. iran is blaming israel for the strike, reigning advisers have played a key role in keeping the president in power during the civil war in syria. plenty more on the website, and to remember to download the bbc news app. i will be back in a couple of minutes with all the latest on all the developing stories from right around the world. this is bbc news.

hello. we've got some pretty stormy weather on the way later tomorrow. latest named storm, storm isha, named by the uk met office, will roll its way in and barrel across the country, particularly sunday night and into monday morning, with severe gales expected quite widely. there will be disruption into monday morning rush hour. more on that in just a second, because even before that arrives, the winds already up today, it's much milder. we've got rid of the cold air and it's rain rather than snow. this is storm isha on the charts. it's out towards the west atlantic at the moment, that massive cloud. but even before then, we've still got this cloud across the uk and that is producing some rain. the rain's been pretty relentless so far through northwest england and parts of western wales, at least off a little bit through the rest of today. for a while at least, that's the brightness far northeast of scotland and some hazy sunshine, the channel islands and the far south east of england, six or seven degrees across some eastern areas and the west, ten,

11 celsius where the wind picks up even further later and the rain becomes heavier and more persistent. so quite a wet evening and first part of the night across the western half of the uk. that rain pushes its way erratically eastwards, clearing for most into dawn. so a few showers in the west, but in the clear skies, temperatures will take a bit of a dip tonight. so another cool night, nowhere near as cold as it has been. any frost limited to some sheltered glens in scotland. so a frost free start to sunday and the morning will be the quietest part of the day. parts of east wales, central southern england, but a sunshine same to across northern scotland. showers replaced by longer spells of rain, northern england, central southern scotland, northern ireland and western parts of wales. that rain and the totals totting up combined with snowmelt could lead to some flooding. but temperatures will be on the rise as the winds pick up. those winds really become a feature sunday night, and that's the storm passes to the north or broad area of strong winds. many parts will be affected. the met office have issued amber weather warnings quite widely through sunday night and into monday morning. could see winds gusting 70, 80 miles an hour, maybe even a little bit more.

there will be some large waves, some damage, some disruption to power and also travel, which could linger into the morning, monday morning rush hour. so be prepared for some problems on monday morning weather—wise. still windy but not as windy as that have been through the night. frequent showers, particularly across the north and the west. best of the sunshine to the south and the east, that's looking. all the warnings are online. take care.

live from london. this is bbc news. an air strike on the syrian capital kills four members of iran's revolutionary guards — two of them high—ranking military advisers. iran blames israel. a un human rights official accuses israel of beating and stripping palestinians detained in gaza. they describe being beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill treatment and to what may amount to torture. and police urge the mother of a newborn baby found in a shopping bag in east london to come forward. hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. a suspected israeli air strike on a residential building in the syrian capital, damascus, is believed to have killed several people. damascus, is believed to have killed iranian state media says four members of iran's revolutionary guards were among those killed. they include two high—ranking

military advisers — one of whom is reported to be the head of the force's