to meet its financial obligations to the alliance. final results from pakistan's election show independent candidates allied to imran khan have won the most seats in parliament despite suffering a major crackdown. and a vigil held in memory of brianna ghey, a year after the teenager was stabbed to death in a park near warrington. and we'll talk american football — the half time show, and taylor swift, as the super bowl hits vegas. hello and welcome to our viewers in the uk around the world with me, frankie mccamley. israel's prime minister has insisted he will press ahead with an offensive in rafah, where more than half of gaza's population has taken shelter.

in an interview with abc news, benjamin netanyahu said... israel will give civilians safe passage to areas they've cleared north of rafah. the army has continued to target rafah with air strikes, which medical workers say killed more than a0 people in the last day. mr netanyahu claims israel's army has killed one hamas fighter for every civilian. he also says he believes "enough" of the 132 remaining israeli hostages held in gaza are alive to justify israel continuing its offensive. the armed wing of hamas says israeli strikes have killed two of those hostages in the last four days, and seriously injured eight others. a senior hamas official has threatened to halt hostage exchange negotiations if israel goes ahead with the assault on rafah. barbara plett—usher reports from jerusalem. the aftermath of an israeli air strike in rafah —

on a home sheltering people who'd fled the war. they were told they would be safe here in the south. eight people were killed, including children. this is ines—amah. "i'm looking for my niece," she says. "she was two months old." so even here, there's dangerfrom the air, but it could get worse. israel's planning to send in troops to carry on its fight against hamas. victory is within reach. we're going to do it, we're going to get the remaining hamas terrorist battalions in rafah, which is the last bastion, but we're going to do it — and on this, i agree with the americans — we're going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population, so they can leave. and there's nowhere left to run. they're crammed up against the egyptian border, living under plastic, food and water in short supply. more than a million people have crowded into rafah in the last four months,

but israel says it can't win the war without defeating hamas here. the united nations is unconvinced that an evacuation plan could work. that was the assessment of the un's humanitarian coordinator after a visit to gaza this week. it's very difficult to respond right now, where people are static. and people have come there because they're looking for safety. it's the last... it's the last resort for many people that have come. do you have a contingency plan if there is, if the combat operations are extended? well, we had a contingency plan for them to arrive in rafah. that was the contingency plan we had. but now we're looking for another contingency plan, but we're struggling right now to address this contingency plan. and if there was to be an incursion into rafah, which is a massively over—populated city, it's got five times the population there was before the conflict. so everything is under pressure, we're under pressure, and the population themselves have nowhere to go. israel says people can move back north, where soldiers are winding up their offensive, but this is what they will find. this crisis keeps

building and building. barbara plett usher, bbc news, jerusalem. and barbara has been explaining more about the situation in rafah, and the israeli plans for displaced people from there. well, at the moment what we have is an order from the israeli prime minister to the military asking them to draw up a plan for evacuation alongside plans to extend the ground offensive into rafah. that seems to be a fairly direct response to the american administration, which said it would not support an incursion into rafah unless there is a proper plan for the safety of civilians. so now president netanyahu has said they would draw up the plan. there is no sense of right now of a timeline for either an incursion or evacuation, you just have this space for people voicing alarm what this could mean, that evacuating more than i million

people who are in a fragile state would be very difficult to do, as you are hearing there, questions about where they would go. the israelis have responded in general terms, mr netanyahu said they could go to the north where israelis have cleared things out. but those are areas that have obviously been damaged quite a lot, there's a question about supplies, setting up a whole new arrangement with tents, and there's a shortage of humanitarian supplies at the moment. also rafah is the main delivery point for those supplies so what would happen if it was turned into a war zone? all of those questions are surrounding this order which the israeli prime minister has made in response to the concerns expressed. jon b alterman is the senior vice president and middle east program director at the centre for strategic and international studies. i asked him why benjamin netanyahu was not listening to international concerns over a possible

offensive in rafah. he is responding to israeli politics, which are committed to destroying hamas. partly, i think he feels, as many israelis do, that the world isn't going to take care of israel, the world isn't going to take care of threats to israel. this is something israel has to do for itself. and once hamas has been destroyed, as israelis believe they can do, then they will work with others or leave it to others to rebuild gaza. but right now, they are fighting a war and their intent to do it with one hand tied behind their backs. and we're hearing more and more in the recent days, i mean, a lot from the us over the last week, but in recent days, more and more israeli allies speaking up and speaking so publicly, warning mr netanyahu not to go into rafah. why do you think we're hearing from these countries?

has quiet diplomacy failed? i'm not sure it's failed, but the israelis, as i say, are remained fixated on militarily destroying hamas. israelis believe it is both possible and necessary to do so. and while netanyahu is overwhelmingly unpopular in israel, he has about 15% support, there is popularity for being militarily tough, for ensuring that israeli hostages are released from hamas custody. and i think his political calculation is that, in israel, he has to either stand tough or he will no longer be in office. and it's very important for him, for a whole host of reasons, to remain in office. and certainly what we've seen not only from netanyahu but from the larger government around him is a determination to continue to push,

despite, as you say, a lot of concern from some of israel's closest allies around the world. nato has insisted it remains ready and able to defend all allies, after donald trump said he would encourage russia to attack any member of the alliance that didn't invest enough in its military. nato's secretary general, jens stoltenberg, said any attack on nato would be met with a united and forceful response. nato countries are supposed to spend 2% of their gdp on defence, but not all do. at a campaign rally in south carolina, mr trump said he wouldn't defend nato members who don't meet their financial obligations to the alliance. nato was busted until i came along. i said, everybody�*s got to pay. they said, if we don't pay, are you still going to protect us? i said absolutely not. they couldn't believe the answer. they asked me that question, one of the presidents of a big

country stood up and said, "well, sir, if we don't pay and we are attacked by russia, will you protect us?" i said, "you didn't pay, you're delinquent?" he said, "yes, let's say that happened." "no, i would not protect you." in fact, i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. you've got to pay. you've got to pay your bills. so how many nato allies routinely hit their 2% obligation? aside from the us, with their huge 860 billion dollar military budget, only 11 out of 30 members of nato achieved the 2% spending commitment. they include the uk, greece, and poland, which commits a record 4% of its gdp to defence, as well as a number of other central and eastern european states. but many long—time nato members, including some of its founders, such as france, germany, spain and italy, do not currently meet the 2% threshold, causing concern on the other

side of the atlantic. earlier i spoke to robert pszczel, a senior fellow at the center for eastern studies. he's a former nato official, who led the organisation's information office in moscow until 2015. i started by asking how worried should be the european countries about these trump's comments. certainly when it comes to frontier states, poland and baltic countries, bulgaria and romania and also finland and sweden, who havejustjoined nato, all those countries are spending... poland spending 4%. it's a very serious issue because we are notjust talking about president trump... he knows how nato works, but it relies on credibility of its collective defence.

for the frontier states and others, there is unity in nato right now. we are facing a predator state of russia which needs to be confronted with a united action and there have been various decisions taken, and that is the reason we have new plans, essentially the presence of the military on the eastern and southern flank, but we need to work on other issues and it's true that defence spending is still not high enough, particularly in a number of g7 countries such as germany, canada and italy. so yes, perhaps pressure should be spent on them, but this is a different matter that trump puts in doubt the collective defence. that's why the secretary general has reacted how he has. some really provoking comments, some saying this could just be another throwaway comment by trump.

but how do you think russia will view these comments? we haven't heard from putin on this, but obviously him and trump do have a close relationship, a decent relationship. the shortest answer to your question i think, it's not rocket science to guess they are reacting with delight. they are attacking and killing people in ukraine right now and that famous interview putin gave to mr carson, he gave no sign that he wants to stop. russia wants to essentially do everything possible to divide nato and the eu and the whole democratic community because his goals are for a predator, disruptive state. they enjoy this kind of comments, and perhaps one of the reasons why

putin started his barbaric war against ukraine was because somehow he felt that the west would not be united in its response. i think he was surprised, that's the good part. but the bad part, he is already quite far from reality in his strange world and brain, as you can see in the interview, and this sort of talk that somehow puts doubt on article five from the leading ally of course may encourage moscow to start thinking on even more aggressive and reckless behaviour, and then of course that concerns the whole international community, including the us. and if russia did decide to be more aggressive, countries in nato, eastern europe, do they have time and resources to build up their security

and protect themselves without the us — is that possible? everything is possible and nothing is eternal but we are all working together, major effort has been made to improve the capacity of nato, but anybody who suggests that in a few months or years, europeans would be able to essentially ensure the same level of security, without the us... that's a bit of cuckoo land. the truth is this a win—win situation, they need to step up in a number of ways, all true, but at the same time the bedrock and foundation of all this... the validity of the alliance. the rhetoric is not helpful.

pakistan's second and third largest political blocs have agreed to cooperate following elections in which supporters of the jailed former prime minister, imran khan, won the most seats. the parties, led by nawaz sharif and bilawal bhutto zardari, issued a statement saying they planned to work together to bring political stability. if they do form a government, the move is likely to anger mr khan's followers. his pti party was barred from taking part in the election, so most of its candidates stood as independents, winning the largest number of seats. i'm nowjoined by mosharraf zaidi. he's a senior fellow at think tank at tabad—lab and a former principal advisor to the pakistan foreign ministry. it's good to have you on the programmes. first of all, your reaction to the two blocs deciding they will work together. that's not

going to go down well with mr khan's supporters, is it? find going to go down well with mr khan's suworters. is it?— supporters, is it? and it shouldn't. mr khan's party. — supporters, is it? and it shouldn't. mr khan's party, despite _ supporters, is it? and it shouldn't. mr khan's party, despite him - supporters, is it? and it shouldn't. | mr khan's party, despite him being injail and despite incredible in jail and despite incredible barriers injail and despite incredible barriers and obstacles constructed to prevent pti from being successful in this election, mr khan's supporters have performed beyond admirably. young people, an extra 21 million voters added between the previous election in 2018, and now, and they came out in significant numbers to express their distaste for anything but mr khan. so the fact the pti party will not have the first party will not have their steps at forming government i think should be an issue notjust for the supporters but any democratic institutes. —— will not have the first option at forming government. allegations of vote rigging, and the

courts seem to be full, with many saying this was not a free and fair election. . �* , , saying this was not a free and fair election. . �*, , ., ., election. that's why i said, a great da but election. that's why i said, a great day but not _ election. that's why i said, a great day but not a _ election. that's why i said, a great day but not a great _ election. that's why i said, a great day but not a great process. - election. that's why i said, a great day but not a great process. as . election. that's why i said, a great day but not a great process. as i l day but not a great process. as i said before, a lot of manipulation before the polls to try and prevent mr khan from performing well during the election. and after the closing of polling, there were inordinate and inexplicable delays in the announcement of results, clearly some of those delays were used to manipulate the results of some constituencies. so again, those complaining about the fairness of the process are not wrong. despite that unfairness, pti supporters have delivered an historic sort of mandate. it's not an overwhelming majority per se, but it is clear because it's by far the largest single party in parliament now. speaking to people in the country over the last week, so many hoped

that this election would bring stability, but now we are seeing protests, tear gas being used. if anything, has this done completely the opposite? i anything, has this done completely the opposite?— the opposite? i think the thing that has had a negative _ the opposite? i think the thing that has had a negative effect _ the opposite? i think the thing that has had a negative effect is - the opposite? i think the thing that has had a negative effect is the - has had a negative effect is the delay in the announcing the results. more than 48 hours after the election closed, and 48 hours after all results should have been announced, still missing the result of at least one constituency. but the fact of the matter is, when people conduct themselves in a really exemplary way, despite the fact their party was not allocated a symbol, and it was difficult for them to vote for their party, when that mandate, it seems like it is slipping away, there will be protests. there will be pushed back. one hopes that is restricted to peaceful protest, but we have had recently, as recently as last may, a

really unfortunate series of incidents in which military installations were attacked. it's very important how the political leadership, including imran khan and his party, move things forward. what his party, move things forward. what does happen — his party, move things forward. what does happen next? _ his party, move things forward. what does happen next? we have legal challenges, weeks of political wrangling. i challenges, weeks of political wran . lint. ~ challenges, weeks of political wrangling-— challenges, weeks of political wranualin. ~ ., wrangling. i think some of the constituency _ wrangling. i think some of the constituency battles _ wrangling. i think some of the constituency battles that - wrangling. i think some of the constituency battles that havej constituency battles that have already emerged, they can be resolved relatively quickly. the judiciary has had a negative role in the run—up to the election, notjust in terms of announcing, in some cases quite unfair pronouncements. in mr khan's chases. but more generally in denying that pti its electoral symbol. they can make up for that with a quick response to some of these complaints and addressing those. the pti are the

most popular party and i think they have a responsibility to forge a path forward that leads to stability. exploring the potential for a coalition with the ppp would be the firstjob for a coalition with the ppp would be the first job for the for a coalition with the ppp would be the firstjob for the pti. so vaughan —— so far no indication that they are willing to sit together. the single largest party should be engaged in governance moving forward. indie engaged in governance moving forward. ~ ~ , ., . , ., forward. we will keep a close eye on that. it's forward. we will keep a close eye on that- it's good _ forward. we will keep a close eye on that. it's good to _ forward. we will keep a close eye on that. it's good to have _ forward. we will keep a close eye on that. it's good to have you _ forward. we will keep a close eye on that. it's good to have you on - forward. we will keep a close eye on that. it's good to have you on bbc. that. it's good to have you on bbc news. here in the uk, the family of murdered teenager brianna ghey have attended a vigil to mark the first anniversary of her death. the 16—year—old was killed after being stabbed by two other teenagers last february. her mother, esther ghey, spoke at the event a short time ago. i really didn't think that i was going to be able to come on stage today. but after seeing all of brianna's really brave, lovely friends come out and do that for her, i thought i'd better push myself as well. so as you've all heard, brianna was an amazing,

unique and joyful teenager. i will be forever thankful that i was lucky enough to spend 16 years with her. she taught me so much and gave me so much happiness and love. if there's one piece of advice that i can give to any parent, it would be to hug your children tight and never stop telling them that you love them. i want to thank you all for coming here today to pay respect to brianna. i hope that wherever she is now, that she can feel the love that we've created by joining together today. thank you to the golden square and to all involved making this vigil happen, thank you. applause. our reporterjessica lane was at the vigil, and filed this update. hundreds of people turned

up and they came today because they all wanted to remember brianna and pay tribute to her. a vigil was held here at the same shopping centre a week after she was killed. the one today was organised by the piece in mind campaign set up by esther ghey, brianna's mum, and the local paper. this is trying to fundraise for coaches to help children's mental health, and give children an outlet for any negative and difficult emotions and feelings they are having in the hopes that another case like this doesn't happen. you can see behind me, people have brought down pink balloons, teddy bears and flowers and many people were wearing pink. some of brianna's school friends also spoke on stage. some read letters for her,

talking about things they could have done over the last year and at the end there was a two minutes' silence. i'm sure many people remember the details of the case and what happened to her. she was stabbed 28 times by scarletjenkinson and eddie ratcliffe, who were both 15 years old at the time. it happened in the parkjust north of warrington. jenkinson was sentenced to 22 years in prison and ratcliffe 20. brianna ghey was transgender, and the judge who sentenced them said she belives whilejenkinson was motivated by a deep desire to kill, ratcliffe's motivation was in part hostility to brianna's transgender identity. the organisers of the vigil and everyone who came here today said they hope what happened to brianna and the way she was killed can now start to fade away and people will instead be able to remember the fun, lively, bubbly brianna ghey they spoke of here today.

two huge sporting events are taking place tonight — have more on shortly, and the superbowl — and the superbowl, where the kansas city chiefs take on the san francisco 49ers. las vegas is hosting one of the world's biggest sporting events for the first time, and fans have been arriving in droves. r'n'b star usher is performing the famous half—time show. but it's another musician stealing all the pre—game headlines. behind the umbrellas here is taylor swift, who raced back from her tokyo concert to watch her boyfriend, chiefs star travis kelce, play in the big game. also tonight, the final of the africa cup of nations, where hosts ivory coast will take on fellow former champions nigeria. the super eagles are aiming for a fourth afcon crown,

while the ivorians are looking to add to their triumphs in 1992 and 2015. in saturday's third place play—off final, south africa beat the democratic republic of congo 6—5 on penalties. we will have much more of that on our sports bulletins or go to the bbc news sports pages to catch up and see how those teams are doing. the headlines coming up, stay with bbc news. hello there. very pleased to say it's been a quieter weekend of weather for most of us, but there's still a lot of waterlogged fields and pavements out there, as you can see by this weather watcher picture sent in from hull a little earlier on. now, as we go through the week

ahead, we might start off quite optimistic with some sunny spells around, but it will turn increasingly unsettled with the showers turning to longer spells of rain, breezy at times, but it will be mild, particularly through the middle part of the week. this has been the story today. we've had some nuisance rainjust clinging onto the far east coast of scotland and northeast england. some brighter spells and a few scattered showers out to the west. now, those showers will continue to feed in across west—facing coasts overnight. but with some clearer skies, temperatures are likely to fall away. it's going to be a chilly start to our monday morning. low single figures for many, perhaps in rural parts of scotland, below freezing, a touch of ice not out of the question where we've got those lingering showers. low pressure dominates the scene as we move into monday, the wind direction coming from a northwesterly, slightly fresher source and that's going to continue to drive in plenty of showers closest to that area of low. so northern ireland, scotland, perhaps northwest england as well. and some of the showers to the tops of the mountains once again in could be wintry in nature.

but there will be some sunshine elsewhere and those temperatures are likely to peak between six and ten degrees. as we go through monday evening and into tuesday, we've got this little ridge of high pressure keeping things quiet. but all the time this weather front is approaching from the southwest, that is going to gradually spill in more cloud ahead of it. so after a bright start, clouding over. a few scattered showers in the far northwest, more persistent showery rain develops across the channel islands, south west england, wales and eventually into the midlands, north west england and northern ireland by the end of the afternoon. 7 to 11, our overall highs. so as we move out of tuesday into wednesday, it's here where the showers potentially could merge to longer spells of rain as it stays pretty unsettled. the wind direction there coming from a south—westerly, so a very mild direction and that is going to just push that milder air further north across the country. so it does mean that we could see temperatures perhaps into the mid—teens as we go through the middle part of the week. but it stays pretty unsettled for many of us.

take care.

live from london. this is bbc news. israel's prime minister insists he will press ahead with an offensive in rafah, where around one and a half million palestinians are sheltering. he says enough of the hostages are alive to justify it. nato hits back at remarks by donald trump — that he would encourage russia

to attack any nato ally that fails to meet its financial obligations to the alliance. and the housing secretary michael gove promises that no—fault evictions will be banned by the uk's next general election. hello, i'm frankie mccamley. let's start with uk politics. the housing secretary michael gove has vowed that the section 21 practice of landlords evicting tenants for no real reason will be banned by the time of the general election. he was speaking on the laura kuenssberg show, where he was grilled on his party's 2019 manifesto pledge. you are explicitly saying this morning that practice will be banned, it will not be allowed to happen before the next general election? that is what it says in the bill.

the bill ends section 21. previously you have said the courts might not be able to cope, so we might bring in the new law, but it might actually still happen because the courts aren't ready. i ask you again, just to be really explicit, will this practice have ended by the time of the next general election? we will have outlawed it and we will put money into the courts in order to ensure that they can enforce that. laura kuenssberg also spoke to labour's campaign chief pat mcfadden and challenged him on the party's announcement this week that it's scrapping its pledge to spend 28 billion pounds on green investment. this is a decision taken by keir starmer and taken for good reasons. when this policy was announced a couple of years ago, interest rates were 0.1%. they are now at 5.25%. anyone viewing this programme with a mortgage will know what that has meant for their finances.

now the parallel between household finances and of the country's finances doesn't always hold. but when you look at the country's public finances, what that change in interest rates has meant is it is costing £70 billion more now to service our national debt than when the policy was first announced. king charles has thanked everyone who has sent him messages of support after his cancer diagnosis — saying the kind thoughts have been a great comfort. king charles arrived at sandringham earlier, for his first church service since his diagnosis was announced. he's withdrawn from public duties to undergo regular treatment for the unspecified cancer. our correspondent louisa pilbeam sent this update from sandringham. we saw king charles walk into the church with his wife queen camilla and a crowd had gathered of around 100 people. they were hoping they might be able

to speak to the king and give their warm wishes, but the king went straight up to the vicar and then into the church. and on the way out i was speaking to people who had gathered and they were really hoping he might come over to speak to them because actually security opened the gates, which is rare, and then people were able to have a better view. they were hoping the king would come and speak to them, but on the way out he waved a couple of times and then he went back to the private sandringham estate, which is closed here actually to the public until easter time. it is only the surrounding area where we are, in the parkland, which is now open. and so people were not able to speak to him directly today but perhaps the king felt he had given his heartfelt message because last night he did release a statement saying of his gratitude to the public about their kind wishes to him and that he was grateful for all their support.

bosses at the technology company, fujitsu, paid its top executives more than £26 million in the 25 years since the controversial horizon contract with the post office started — that's an average of more than1 million pounds a year. the company has apologised for its role and says it will make a contribution to compensation for those who were wrongly accused of theft and fraud. here's our business correspondent, ben king. fujitsu was the company that built horizon and it has admitted there were bugs in the system from the very start. finally, 555 of us now, ready to tell our stories to a court. more than 900 sub—postmasters have been convicted using evidence from that flawed system, while the bosses of fujitsu made millions. fujitsu's uk accounts don't tell us how much each individual board member made. they just tell us what the highest—paid director made in total. and at most companies that would be the chief executive. i swear by almighty god... that the evidence i shall give.

...that the evidence i shall give... keith todd was boss of icl, as it was called then, when horizon was switched on in 1999. he left the following year, and icl paid 4.4 million as compensation for loss of office. in 2008, the top director, presumably chief executive david courtley, earned up to £2.3 million. four years later duncan tait took over. in 2019 highest—paid director earned £2.4 million. fujitsu apologises and is sorry for our part in this appalling miscarriage of justice. the current boss is paul patterson, who appeared in front of mps last month. he earned up to £408,000 last year. since 1999, top bosses have made a total of £26 million. alison hall ran a post office in west yorkshire. she was wrongly convicted of false accounting because of horizon errors. that was overturned three years ago.

any bonuses what's being paid to any of them, and even post office limited, they should all be handed back. all of them. every single one of them. they shouldn't get a penny, none of them. they don't deserve it. the former sub—postmaster kevinjones has campaigned for years, and now sits on the board overseeing compensation. there were quite clearly being paid millions of pounds for failure. but that failure had consequences. it ended up in people's lives being ruined, but also individuals being sent to prison. and that, i think, is something which fujitsu need to explain. paul patterson, david courtley and keith todd declined to comment. duncan tait said he was sorry for the damage done and any role fujitsu played. fujitsu has offered its deepest apologies and says it will make a contribution to compensation for the victims based on the findings of the inquiry. ben king, bbc news. cillian murphy is considered one of the most talented — and versatile — actors around.

he's been nominated for an oscar and a bafta for his starring role in christopher nolan's film "oppenheimer" — about the physicist behind the atomic bomb. and ahead of a busy awards season — he's been speaking to the bbc�*s katie razzall. hello? from dodging the undead in 28 days later... hello. to a murderous gangster in peaky blinders that made him and his hair cut a household name. i know what it means. and now the father of the atomic bomb. if the nazis have a bomb. i think oppenheimer�*s story is the story of the 20th century. i think it has to be entertaining, primarily, but if it is provocative and makes you think about what is happening in the world today, that is a really good bonus. cillian murphy, very many congratulations on all of your accolades that are coming from this film,

including of course, the oscars, as well as the baftas. i just wonder whether awards matter to you. i know everyone says, you never go into making a film thinking about awards, that is not what we do, it is impossible to make a film that way. but when a film connects with audiences like this particular one has in a way that none of us could have anticipated, you know, people come up to me in the street and say, they have seen the film, four or five times, which is phenomenal and very flattering. that's a lot of hours as well. it is a big investment. when it has been celebrated in this way, it is hugely flattering and humbling and it is lovely to see that. it is also lovely when you get to spend time with other film—makers and other actors and producers. it has been a very strong year in cinema, so that has been the real bonus for me,

spending time with those people and just chatting. most people looking at it would think, you are the front runner and i wonder whether that is an uncomfortable place to be when it comes to the oscars or indeed the baftas? i genuinely don't think about that. it is wasted energy. i feel so thrilled and humbled to be in the same breath as all those wonderful actors. can you explain quantum mechanics to me. seems baffling. yes, it is. well, this glass. this drink. this countertop. our bodies. all of it. it's mostly empty space. and it is a film, as many people now know, it is a film about theoretical physics. did you ever worry that it would be appreciated? it has been this incredible juggernaut success. did you at any point think, it's a film about theoretical physics, will people get it?

again, in the actual making of the film those aren't my concerns really. my concerns at the time are to play the character as honestly as i can and to give chris all the raw materials he needs to go and cut the film, make the film that he wants. i did feel, you know, when we had done it and i'd left it behind, before i'd seen the film, i was reflecting on it and this is actually a very human story. when you think about the dilemmas they were wrestling with at the time, the biggest, most profound, most paradoxical, most important kind of moral dilemmas that we still are wrestling with as a race. we detonated an atomic device. we might start a chain reaction that destroys the world. i feel that when you present those in a hugely entertaining way like chris does, on a huge canvas, his movies become events. there is no one else that does it like that.

for some reason, itjust clicks. people started going. it gained this momentum. we were all on strike at the time so we were just texting each other, just watching this thing happening. i suppose to answer your question, we never anticipated it but i think it is down to the quality of the film—making by chris. clearly, also back at that time, it was the barbenheimer phenomenon. i just wonder whether you thought that one helped the other. did it help there was this, whatever it was, it wasn't really a competition in your sense, but did it help, do you think, to have that? people were saying, we are going to see both. and many did. yes, they did. it is a great moment for cinema. i think they're both great films, they couldn't be more different. i think it is wonderful. it wasn't any amazingly designed marketing strategy by the studio, it was people. it was the internet and people who decided, who made up this barbenheimer thing.

it was a wonderful moment for cinema. did you do it? it wasn't me. no, i mean, did you do both? did i see both movies? or did i start the whole...? i don't think you started the whole thing, maybe you did. no, i can't take the credit for that. of course, i went to see oppenheimer and then i went to see barbie. but not back to back? no, no. i slipped into see barbie and really enjoyed it. are we saying there is a chance that when we push that button, we destroy the world? nothing in our research supports that conclusion. except that it is the most remote possibility. how remote? chances are near zero. nearzero? what do you want from theory alone? zero would be nice. it takes a while from when you make a film to when it comes out. and right now, we have in this world of people talking about world war iii, talking about really serious things that perhaps a few years ago were less on the agenda.

i wonder when you are making it, did it feel like very timely film? do you feel it timely now? like, russia had just invaded ukraine just before we started shooting this so of course it was on everyone's mind. what happened with the trinity tests, that all changed, we are all living in a nuclear world because of what happened in 1945 because of oppenheimer. i think it seems to ebb and flow, the level of threat. it is always there, it is like the sword of damocles, people choose to think about it or not. i think we can't walk around with that in our head all the time. i think this film, good writing is always prescient.

oppenheimer�*s story is a story of the 20th century. it has to be entertaining, primarily, but if it is provocative and makes you think about what is happening in the world today, that is a good bonus. you said plotting his moraljourney was one of the trickiest things, talk to me about that, how you approach the character like that and how you perceive him? it was tricky. i remember at the beginning, i read something about oppenheimer that said he was more riddled than answer. i thought that was interesting because conventional protagonists start here on a graph and something happens and the change and they end up here and they are a different person and that is conventional writing and film. with oppenheimer, he was shifting all the time and it was very interesting what he was doing in terms of being able to exist as a human

being as well as a scientist, he became this international icon and this sort of semantics of how he would talk about it and the rationalisations that would go on and how he differentiated between guilt and responsibility, i thought it was really, really interesting. and how his position shifted quite significantly. all of that was very interesting to play and very unique for me. also because he lived, first—hand accounts, we had the trial at the end, you can read the transcripts of that. it was all there. but it was very, very interesting to play and probably the biggest challenge of my career, playing something like that. they will fear it until they understand it and they won't understand it until they view to. that is about acting, if you were a concert violinist, you can practice,

a footballer can practice, but as an actor, how do you know when christopher came to and said i want you to play the physical physicist —— how do you do it? i need to not know. if i know instantly, i can do that, i generally don't take the part because it doesn't represent any kind of challenge. this happens as you get older and you have done a body of work and you want to keep pushing to make interesting work. it was a tome of the script, so dense and you never fully know you've got it. it's neverfinished, the process. i had six months of preparation and they went deep into it, but i could have done that for another 18 months. it isn't at one point you go,

we are ready, you just need to get on and we shot it in 57 days, which was fast. which helped, i wasn't dwelling on it, i was in it, the train had left the station and i was on it. you're talking about turning theory into a practical weapon system faster than the nazis. when you watch yourself back, did you think, everyone else thinks he is amazing, did you then, i got it but think you could have done this a bit better or change that? everyone feels that about work. but therefore it is not wise to look at it too much and i avoid looking at enough. did you do maths and physics at school, did you understand the equations on the board? no, i talked to kip thorne, a nobel prize—winning physicist who advised and he was lectured by oppenheimer when he was a young

student. myjob was to mind the humanity of the character, the people that understand quantum mechanics devote their lives to it, they are the most intelligent people on the planet and i was never going to grasp it. i can conceptually understand what they were after but writing those equations became very soothing. it was almost like... i don't know, you get into a rhythm. i spoke to matt damon when he did good will hunting, he said it becomes a very soothing process just learning them. i want to define the humanity of the man, that was myjob. christopher nolan, you've now done six films with him and when i interviewed him he was talking about you being one of the greatest talents of your generation, he has compared it to al pacino, which is pretty fabulous! but you have this incredible alchemy with him, watching the beginning of the film feels like such an alchemy between

you and him, writer—director. why do you think you do work so well together, what it is about him and you? i suppose it is time, it is a 20—year and we met when we were both much younger men i suppose it is time, it is a 20—year relationship and we met when we were both much younger men starting out in the business. he was a lot further ahead than i was and i have huge respect for him. i have always loved the types of films that he makes. they are the sorts of films i go to the cinema to see. but we have developed over the years, the shorthand and above all, trust. i really like being pushed as an actor and he really, really pushes me, in the best way possible. he really, really pushed me on oppenheim and i responded very well to that. there's places you can go with chris because of that relationship, because of that trust but i don't think i could go with

any other director. we for safe and secure and we share a lot of values. he said alchemy, maybe you can't define it, itjust works. he laughed and said he doesn't sit down so other people feel guilty about sitting? it is also the pace at which he works, there is a much time to sit down. which is great, and a lot of film sets you are waiting around. but on a chris nolan film set, he uses every minute that is given to him. we have seen a lot of success coming out of ireland, writers, actors so why now? part of it is coincidence. i think part of it is we are kind of... irish people tell stories very well, i think. just in the pub to each other,

we are good at it, we have a long history and we are comfortable with the story, comfortable with territory, second nature to us. it is kinda phenomenal, the level of talent the country has produced for 5 million people, it is extraordinary. there is a wonderful irish writer you are taking to the screen, again, just tell me about your next film? my next project is a film called small things like these an adaptation of a writer called claire keegan. it is very exciting and it is adapted by end of walsh, my good pal and directed by tim mailings. it is very exciting and it is adapted by enda walsh, my good pal and directed by tim mailings. it is a very special piece of writing. we are looking forward to showing it to the world. i did read there was one person you would like to work with potentially and that is meryl streep. i trying to work out whether there would be, talking of alchemy, she said,

you are hot on music and fabulously talented at music. she said she will do mama mia three. perhaps cillian murphy, meryl streep in mamma mia three. any actor in the world and want to work with meryl streep, she is one of the greatest. i have never done a musical. i've never been approached, may this will change everything. come on! cillian murphy, thank you so much. tens of thousands of people have turned out across the uk to see colourful dancing dragons and celebrate the chinese new year. in london they were treated to a blaze of red and gold, with elaborate costumes, performers, food stalls and chinese arts and crafts, as chinatown hosted a day of family—friendly activities. here's tolu adeoye with this report.

off with a bang, london's chinese new year parade as the lunar calendar goes from the year of the rabbit to the year of the dragon. there was a clear favourite draw to those who came to watch. what do you like? the dragons. they have been pretty awesome. the dragons at the front where they come up to i your face. the dragon. this is thought to be the largest chinese new year celebration outside of asia. it takes about eight months to plan, it is a very big party. there are different groups of dancers and dragon dancers but they are normal, working people. they do this in their spare time as a hobby. this had travelled from china and it is made by the ladies in the village and they have lent us their costumes. it is my first time doing this. will you be coming back next year? i would love to come back. it drew hundreds of thousands

of people into london's chinatown. it is nice to celebrate things in london, especially as it is free. i like to get the children to experience new cultures other than our own. it is nice. we are so lucky we get to immerse in so many cultures in the city of london. the last day of the chinese and of year is marked by the festival of lanterns. that is not for another couple of weeks so there is time to come down to enjoy this extra special time of year here in london's chinatown. really proud and really great to be here and all the people and i wish everyone good luck and fortune for the year of the dragon. before we go, let's bring you some new lines on our top story. you're looking at live pictures coming to us from kuwaiti hospital in gaza's rafah, after israel's prime minister has insisted he will press ahead

with an offensive in the city which borders egypt. we've now heard from the egyptian foreign ministry, which has warned of what it calls �*dire consequences' if that offensive goes ahead. egypt has now called for all efforts to take place to prevent the targeting of rafah. that coming in from the egyptian foreign ministry. find out more on the story on our website where our correspondence across the world are updating. that is it for me. see you soon. hello there. very pleased to say it's been a quieter weekend of weather for most of us, but there's still a lot of waterlogged fields and pavements out there, as you can see by this weather watcher picture sent in from hull a little earlier on. now, as we go through the week

ahead, we might start off quite optimistic with some sunny spells around, but it will turn increasingly unsettled with the showers turning to longer spells of rain, breezy at times, but it will be mild, particularly through the middle part of the week. this has been the story today. we've had some nuisance rainjust clinging onto the far east coast of scotland and northeast england. some brighter spells and a few scattered showers out to the west. now, those showers will continue to feed in across west—facing coasts overnight. but with some clearer skies, temperatures are likely to fall away. it's going to be a chilly start to our monday morning. low single figures for many, perhaps in rural parts of scotland, below freezing, a touch of ice not out of the question where we've got those lingering showers. low pressure dominates the scene as we move into monday, the wind direction coming from a northwesterly, slightly fresher source and that's going to continue to drive in plenty of showers closest to that area of low. so northern ireland, scotland, perhaps northwest england as well. and some of the showers to the tops

of the mountains once again could be wintry in nature. but there will be some sunshine elsewhere and those temperatures are likely to peak between six and ten degrees. as we go through monday evening and into tuesday, we've got this little ridge of high pressure keeping things quiet. but all the time this weather front is approaching from the southwest, that is going to gradually spill in more cloud ahead of it. so after a bright start, clouding over. a few scattered showers in the far northwest, more persistent showery rain develops across the channel islands, south west england, wales and eventually into the midlands, north west england and northern ireland by the end of the afternoon. 7 to 11, our overall highs. so as we move out of tuesday into wednesday, it's here where the showers potentially could merge to longer spells of rain as it stays pretty unsettled. the wind direction there coming from a south—westerly, so a very mild direction and that is going to just push that milder air further north across the country. so it does mean that we could see temperatures perhaps into the mid—teens as we go through the middle part of the week. but it stays pretty unsettled for many of us. take care.

live from london. this is bbc news. israel's prime minister insists he will press ahead with an offensive in rafah, with the 1.5 million palestinians sheltering there given safe passage to areas north of the city. the only thing that will get the

hostages released is the thing that will defeat hamas, a sustained military effort. nato hits back at remarks by donald trump that he would encourage russia to attack any nato ally that fails to meet its financial obligations to the alliance. the political blocs which came second and third in pakistan's election say they'll work together to try to form a government. and hosts ivory coast prepare to take on former champions nigeria in the final of the africa cup of nations. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri, welcome to the programme. we begin with israel's planned offensive in rafah. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has insisted it will go ahead, despite the fact that more than half of gaza's population has taken shelter there. in an interview with abc news, he said israel will give civilians safe passage to areas they've cleared north of rafah. the army has continued to target the city with air strikes,

which medical workers say killed more than 40 people