to evacuate civilians from rafah, in southern gaza, ahead of an expanded offensive against hamas. police in london are to begin searching the river thames for the body of a chemical attack suspect. and coming up — why taylor swift is dominating all the super bowl headlines. hello. i'm nicky schiller. we start this hour in pakistan. supporters of rival parties in the country's general election have been celebrating, after their leaders claimed victory, even though the final results have yet to be announced. the jailed former prime minister, imran khan, used an ai—generated message to reject a declaration of victory by his opponent, nawaz sharif. mr khan was barred from standing, but independents linked to his pti party have emerged as the largest group. mr sharif, who's been prime minister three times,

called on others tojoin him in a unity government. from lahore, our pakistan correspondent caroline davies reports. celebrations on the streets of lahore. release imran khan! imran khan's candidates have won more seats than anyone else this election so far. but his supporters think they should have won more. accusing the other side of vote—rigging, which they deny. there are complications. because the election commission doesn't recognise khan's party, all of his candidates ran as an independent, and other parties are already talking about trying to absorb them. if, in a few weeks�* time, we suddenly hear that you have left the independence group and you're part of a party, what should we think? it would be the last day of my life. i mean, i cannot even think of, conceive of such a thing.

if i have said that all these votes, they have not been casted for me, they have casted for imran khan. celebrations on the other side, too. nawaz sharif�*s party were thought favoured by pakistan's powerful military establishment. normally, that would mean they won. this gathering has political speeches, there's been music, there's even been fireworks. it feels like a victory parade, but the election results aren't finalised. sharif�*s party have fewer seats than khan. they need alliances. translation: as we don't have a majority to form - a government on our own, we are going to invite allies to come and join us and form a coalition government. not to be outdone, an ai version ofjailed imran khan was released by his team, claiming victory.

wranglings and deals are still to be done. pakistan has voted — who will rule is still far from clear. caroline davies, bbc news, lahore. to the us next. vice president kamala harris has hit out at an official report that described president biden as an elderly man with a poor memory. she accused special counsel robert hur of making a gratuitous and politically motivated attack. mr hur, who is a republican, said the 81—year—old president struggled during interviews about his handling of classified documents at his home to recall key life events. here is what the vice president had to say. so the way that the president's demeanour in that report was characterised could not be more wrong on the facts, and clearly politically motivated. gratuitous. and so i will say

that when it comes to the role and responsibility of a prosecutor in a situation like that, we should expect that there will be a higher level of integrity than what we saw. with the us presidential election just nine months away, our north america correspondent john sudworth has been finding out what voters in washington think about mr biden�*s age. a warm welcome for the german chancellor at the white house today, but the questions were all about his host's health. thank you all very much. reporters shout. the president smiled them away. tv host: overnight, the president defended his handling of classified information and his memory. but for the us news networks, the mental capacity of the commander—in—chief is now the story... but took devastating aim at his mental competence, labelling him an "elderly man with memory problems". ..putting front and centre stage the concerns that have long lingered.

and i don't want to, i don't want to... i'll maybe choose my words. ..over moments like this. even in america's most democrat—leaning city, in places where the president's record on jobs and the economy ought to be resonating, the question is on voters�* minds. we all have concerns about, you know, our leader having all of the facilities and so on to do his or herjob, but actually, what i found over the years is it's also about who the president surrounds themselves with. does it worry you? yes, it does. i've been listening to the people on the news and they are concerned he is getting up in age, and should he or will he or can he continue to make the right choices for the world? you know what i mean? underlining just how big a problem this now is, president biden was forced to react. my memory is fine.

my memory... take a look at what i've done since i became president. but in an impromptu press conference, meant to prove his fitness to govern, there was another misstep. as you know, initially the president of mexico, sisi... al—sisi is president of egypt, not mexico. this report providing legal exoneration for president biden over his handling of classified documents ought to have been a win, but the concerns raised about his memory are a political nightmare, seeming to confirm suspicions that voters already had, and if it is on people's minds in heartland constituencies, well, the real worry must be what it will mean in the margins, where this election will be won or lost. his opponent senses opportunity, while democrats complain the report was written by a republican—leaning lawyer. but fair or not, mr biden — all but certain to be the candidate — may find himself fighting on his powers of recall as much

as his record. john sudworth, bbc news, washington israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he has told the military to develop a plan to get civilians out of rafah in southern gaza to defeat hamas, designated a terrrorist organisation by the uk government. more than 100 israeli hostages are still held in gaza after hamas attacked israel on 7 october and killed around 1,200 people. the humanitarian situation in gaza continues to worsen, and president biden has said israel's actions are over the top. two million people live in gaza and more than 80% are now displaced, with most heading to the city of rafah, near the egyptian border. the palestinian authorities say that two years ago rafah�*s population was about 260,000, but since the war it has shot up toi.4 million. this report by our international editor

jeremy bowen has some distressing images from the start. israel bombed rafah again. a family ran to get medical aid for a child who was already dead. around 1.2 million palestinian civilians have crammed into rafa h. this man said thousands more would be killed, if the israelis moved their troops in. "the kids can't sleep," he said. "they are terrified and so are adults." hunger and illness are spreading in makeshift camps flooded with pools of sewage. the lines of plastic tents go on for miles. the aid operation is led by unwra, the beleaguered un agency for palestinian refugees. it says an israeli offensive into rafah would have terrible consequences. such a military operation would add an additional apocalyptic layer in the gaza strip. apocalyptic? that is a very strong word.

it's a strong word, but if you talk about already 5% of the population having been either killed or injured and then you conduct a military operation in this place, you can only add an additional disastrous layer of tragedy, and this needs absolutely to be avoided. unrwa has sacked a dozen employees israel says took part in the october 7 attacks. after four months of war, the stresses are very evident. there are the very serious allegations hanging over this agency, unrwa, who are the main provider of humanitarian aid to the people of gaza, and there is israel's seeming determination to extend the military offensive into the town of rafah, despite the opposition of its most important ally, the us, who say that innocent civilians have suffered enough.

those comments will only deepen the suspicions of unrwa among government supporters, like this retired general, the former deputy head of the armed forces. unrwa is a terrorist organisation. we will find a way with our civil administration to give the people medicine, food, etc. so that is an occupation. the other possibility is to give it back to the hamas and unrwa, and to face again another october 7. we will never agree to it. he went off to join protesters, mostly religious nationalists, whose views on gaza are shared by many, if not most israelis. urging the government to ignore its critics, including the world court, which is investigating plausible accusations it says of genocide in gaza, as well asjoe biden.

one of the placards said "it's simple — "them or us". jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. it has emerged that some israeli soldiers have been posting content online showing palestinian detainees, which legal experts say could be in breach of international law. bbc verify�*s merlyn thomas has more. since israel's military response to the october 7 attacks, our investigation has found several videos on social media sites like tiktok and youtube all leading to the accounts of israeli soldiers. this isn't a beach party. this is the front line of israel's war with gaza. solders have been documenting their time in an active war zone, posting content on social media. some of those videos show palestinian detainees. we've identified several of the soldiers uploading these videos and the locations they were posted from in gaza. this is one of the videos we've analysed.

it was uploaded onto youtube by an idf soldier. detainees stripped to their underwear in a sports stadium in northern gaza. some kneeling and blindfolded. one of the soldiers in the video is a lieutenant colonel, which we identified by the insignia on his uniform, suggesting he is aware that filming is taking place. he also uploaded another video where a soldier is seen interrogating a man stripped to his underwear and bleeding. he is then walked through the streets of gaza barefoot. the idf said the soldier who posted the video has been fired, and that the detainee has been released. we've shown this footage to human rights experts, who say the filming of detainees and publication of such videos may breach international law. warfare in the information age gives us unique access to the front line. but for some, this conflict is simply a backdrop for their social media content. we asked the israel defence force for its comment

about each of these incidents, but it hasn't come back to us yet. merlyn thomas reporting there. with me is mohamed taha from bbc arabic. thank you forjoining us. the palestinian red crescent says israeli forces have made a number of arrests during a raid on a hospital in khan younis in southern gaza. what more do we know about that? indeed, israel now is targeting the hospital in khan younis. it started a couple of weeks ago. they are trying to approach the hospital. they are claiming that hamas is using the hospital as a base. the same story that happened with al—shifa hospital and the indonesian hospital in northern gaza, and when that happened, we didn't see much evidence that hamas were using these hospitals. so this hospital could be out of service soon. another hospital also in khan younis could be out of use, and

the millions of people in khan younis and rougher need this hospital. —— rafah it is impossible as the international agencies are saying, impossible to protect the civilians in rafah if israel would carry on a land military invasion into rafah, there are 1.4 million people living in rafah, it is an all tent town, it is bordering egypt. unless there is an agreement with egypt that we do not know that these people will be displaced in egypt, this situation in rafah will be absolutely disastrous. the israeli army say they will move the civilians somewhere else. we don't know where these people are going to be. last

week, people are going to be. last week. we — people are going to be. last week, we were _ people are going to be. last week, we were talking - people are going to be. last week, we were talking about the possibility of a truce. that completely seems to have gone out the window now. absolutely out the window now. absolutely out of the _ out the window now. absolutely out of the window. _ out the window now. absolutely out of the window. there - out the window now. absolutely out of the window. there is - out of the window. there is already a hamas delegation in egypt. israeland already a hamas delegation in egypt. israel and benjamin netanyahu said yesterday that they do not accept hamas. it is out of the table.— out of the table. thank you for “oininu out of the table. thank you for joining us- _ let's speak more about all of this with eyal mayroz, a senior lecturer in peace and conflict studies at the university of sydney. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. i want to start off with rafah. what you think the strategy is for mr netanyahu and will this morning is that we have heard about from the us, the un and the european union make any difference his thinking? it union make any difference his thinkin: ? , , union make any difference his thinkinu? , , ' . thinking? it is very difficult to know — thinking? it is very difficult to know. israel— thinking? it is very difficult to know. israel is- thinking? it is very difficult to know. israel isjust - thinking? it is very difficult| to know. israel isjust about to know. israel is just about two weeks from having to file a report to the international

court of justice and report to the international court ofjustice and how it is trying to stop or prevent genocide from happening in gaza, and this certainly will not add to the israeli ability to file that report. but even more seriously for israel, the americans seem to draw a line on the sand about whether they will abide or agreed to an israeli incursion into rafah, and i don't think israel's idea of the continuation of the operation involves breaking ground breaking all its relationship of the agreement with the us because i don't see that it's happening now at the moment. ., . , , , ., moment. how much pressure do ou think moment. how much pressure do you think the _ moment. how much pressure do you think the americans, - you think the americans, president biden, are putting on israel at the moment over that

planned operation in rafah? i think the americans are now guided by the campaign for the presidency, so it is difficult to know how theyjuggle the support for israel in the us and the anti—israeli sentiments in the democratic party. but certainly it looks like biden is losing his patients, and so i don't see how the americans will be able to i guess to withhold the anger in the us or among the us public if another mass casualties are going to come as a result of the israeli incursion into rafah. as the previous speaker said, how do you evacuate 1.4 million palestinians from rafah, the only place available at the moment is a very, very small

strip in the south of gaza, which cannot handle even one tenth of that. so a very difficult situation for the israelis now.— israelis now. are you optimistic _ israelis now. are you optimistic at - israelis now. are you optimistic at all - israelis now. are you optimistic at all that| israelis now. are you i optimistic at all that we israelis now. are you - optimistic at all that we could get any form of truce going forward? fist get any form of truce going forward?— forward? at this point, it doesn't _ forward? at this point, it doesn't look _ forward? at this point, it doesn't look very - forward? at this point, it. doesn't look very optimistic. israel's government is desperately trying to present to the israeli public a picture of victory that would involve a lot more than what they have achieved there at the moment. the americans have said that israel doesn't seem to be able to destroy hamas, which was the intention in the first place. so it doesn't look like anything like the israelis would be able to present at this time, and so the hostages spot will be the only thing left for them, but the radical

elements in the netanyahu government are farfrom agreeing to anything like that that would involve the release of thousands of palestinian prisoners, something they are willing to make the government fall over. , ., willing to make the government fall over. ,, ., willing to make the government fall over. ., ., fall over. eyal mayroz from the university _ fall over. eyal mayroz from the university of — fall over. eyal mayroz from the university of sydney, - fall over. eyal mayroz from the university of sydney, thank - fall over. eyal mayroz from the | university of sydney, thank you forjoining us. police in london are expected to start searching the river thames this morning for the body of the man they believe carried out a chemical attack on a mother and her two children. officers have been searching for abdul shokoor ezedi for nearly ten days and say they now believe he went into the river shortly after the incident, as sean dilley reports. chelsea bridge at 11:30pm, wednesday night. this is the last known sighting of abdul shokoor ezedi. police believe that shortly after he entered the thames and died. now they say they will direct resources

to confirm their theory. specialist police personnel are expected to start their search later at low tide but strong currents and winds could make their search lengthy. aililur their search lengthy. our marine support - their search lengthy. our marine support unit - their search lengthy. oi" marine support unit will be carrying out some searches of the thames, but, as you can imagine, at this time of year, the thames is very fast flowing. it may be some time if someone has gone in the water at this time of the year for a person to surface.— person to surface. dead or alive, detectives _ person to surface. dead or alive, detectives say - person to surface. dead or alive, detectives say theyl alive, detectives say they believe ezedi was responsible for launching a concentrated corrosive substance at a 31—year—old woman and her two daughters before throwing a three—year—old to the ground in clapham on 31st of january. since then, officers have tracked the convicted six offender's movements across london. police followed ezedi's suspected final hours here close to the river. water below are rapid and cold. officers believe this is where he met his end say could take a month for his body to show up, if it

ever does. it is feared that ezedi's 31—year—old victim could lose the sight in one of her eyes. police say she is unwell and has not been able to talk to them, but detectives will only be able to close this investigation when they can be suspected offender is no longer alive and cannot face justice in court. sean dillie, bbc news, at chelsea bridge. it's one of the world's biggest sporting events — we are, of course, talking about the super bowl. american football's biggest game of the year takes place on sunday. but this year the usual excitement about the game and the half—time performance is being overshadowed by a celebrity superstar — taylor swift. here is our north america correspondent nomia iqbal to tell us why. it's one of the most watched sporting events in the world. more than 1.5 million people tune in to the super bowl every year. but the person dominating the headlines isn't

in the football line—up, or even performing at half—time. the romance of pop icon taylor swift and football superstar travis kelsey means it might as well be renamed the taylor swift bowl. if you think she was dominating the grammys, wait till next sunday. betting on the game, i'd say, of course, bet on taylor swift. in kansas city it is the perfect collision of the two things they love, taylor and football, for this family. four—year—old ella is a dedicated swiftie. tell me about what you want to be when you grow up. i want to be taylor. you want to be taylor? yeah. ijust think she is wholesome and she really does seem like a genuine person and that she just loves her fans a lot as well. she has always been this huge star,

but then i think, you know, by her being in kansas city and going to the chiefs games, it made her a more relatable human. the taylor swift effect is in full force, notjust in kansas city but across the country. i love it. her current music tour is already boosting the us economy by billions, and some believe she is getting new fans interested in the nfl. you know, we were able to double sales from last year, and it was bigger than any time the chiefs won the super bowl. but the swift effect doesn't stop at music and football — one of the words most prestigious universities is analysing her impact. we've got an announcement. we've come to harvard, to find out why students think she is worth studying alongside some of english literature's greatest writers. we should offer courses organised around songwriting as an art form. and so as a part of the goal of this course is to recognise taylor as a major songwriter and see why the songs work as they do, but another part is to say, "hey, this is connected to wordsworth."

it's just such a great opportunity to not only study her songwriting but her media influence and how she has had such a great impact on our generation and the generation she grew up with. but with all that power there are questions of whether the pop star can politically enthuse the country. she hasn't endorsed anyone for the us election — yet. # you need to calm down # but at the moment for most people it is really just about the music. oh, and the football. nomia iqbal, bbc news, kansas city. if you fancy jazzing up your wardrobe — or indeed your car, or your art collection — then here's some good news for you. sir eltonjohn is having a clear—out. the singer is selling the contents of his former home in atlanta,in the united states. the 950 items up for grabs include some of his outfits, his platform heels, his piano, a banksy painting and even his bentley car. it's all going on display at christie's auction house in new york, before being sold later this month. experts say the collection is likely to fetch at least

$10 million. finally this half—hour, celebrations are taking place around the world to mark the start of the lunar new year. hundreds of people made their wishes for the year of the dragon by placing sticks of incense at a temple in hong kong. vietnam celebrated with a colourful firework display in the skies above hanoi. worshippers flocked to temples across taiwan to light incense and pray for prosperity in the new year. and the chinese community in peru celebrated the year of the dragon in style, with dragons leading the festivites through the streets of lima's chinatown. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, there. there's still plenty of standing water from the heavy rain on thursday coupled with the snow melt, of course.

here's a flooded park in warwickshire as captured by one of our weather watchers. bright skies, but lots of water on the ground, and there is still a number of flood warnings in place across england and wales. the good news is it should be a much drier weekend of weather, but with low pressure still close by, we're still likely to see some showers and indeed some longer spells of rain here and there at times. now, you can see on the pressure chart here that warm front just pushing northwards across the north of scotland. this is where the colder air is being displaced to, but still some snow falling on the tops of the hills towards the far north of scotland as we head through the rest of the night. we'll still see temperatures here dip below freezing. but this is generally how we're starting off on saturday morning. it's a colder, drier start to the day across the south of england and wales. some patches of mist and fog here, some hill fog further north where we'll keep all of that low cloud in that now milder—feeling air. so still some strong, gusty winds across the far north of scotland. elsewhere, the winds are lighter, still some wintriness for caithness and sutherland. but further south, there'll be lots of cloud for northern ireland, though, northern england, much of england and wales. in fact, there will be some

sunshine developing — watch out for some showers towards the west, maybe. and these will be the temperatures to end the afternoon. it's turned a lot milder now across scotland, 12 celsius in the south of england. low pressure approaches the far southwest, the winds will pick up here, some showers and some longer spells of rain just creeping into the south—east of england and east anglia, as we head towards the end of the day on saturday. that area of low pressure is set to spin its way further northwards towards parts of eastern scotland as we head through the day on sunday. so it's always going to be cloudier towards eastern coastal areas with, again, some outbreaks of rain at times, a good scattering of showers further west, but also some brighter skies. the winds picking up and temperatures a little lower for many towards the south, but, of course, higher, further north. now, as we head into monday, we're back to more northwesterly winds. the air is going to feel colder, and some of these showers could turn out to be a little wintry, particularly over the higher ground towards the north and the west, feeling a little chillier for most with a bit of added wind chill to factor in as well. but by the time we get to tuesday and wednesday,

those temperatures will be picking up again with some milder air, an atlantic influence, and there will be some more showers in the forecast at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines: leaders of rival parties in pakistan claim victory after the general election. the jailed former pakistani prime minister imran khan

called on his supporters to celebrate. independent candidates linked to him have won most seats so far, with the majority of seats declared. but another ex—pm, nawaz sharif, says his party has emerged the largest and urges others to join him in coalition. the israeli prime minister has ordered the military to prepare to evacuate civilians from rafah in southern gaza ahead of an expanded offensive against hamas. the us has warned israel an invasion of rafah would be a "disaster", while the eu and the un both expressed concern. aid groups say it is not possible to evacuate everyone from the city. police in london are to begin searching for the body of the chemical attack suspect in the river thames. detectives believe the 35—year—old went into the water near chelsea bridge in west london now on bbc news — unspun world withjohn simpson.