hello, i'm samantha simmonds, welcome to the daily global — where we'll bring you the top stories from around the world. israel stories from around the world. will press ahead wi1 offensive israel will press ahead with its offensive against hamas in rolfe, despite warnings. in the last hour, benjamin netanyahu said the offensive would happen after civilians were allowed to leave. he said israel would fight until complete victory, and that would include a powerful action in rafah. the un fears more than a million people there are staring death in the face. the palestinian president has called on hamas to quickly reach an agreement on a cease—fire in gaza to avoid what he called further catastrophe. his comments come as palestinians say the israeli army ordered people to evacuate the nasser hospital in the southern city

of khan younis, where hundreds of people have taken refuge. in this video, an announcement is being made on the speaker attached to a drone, telling people to leave. in these images, verified by the bbc, you can see a large crowd of people leaving the hospital. the idf has says democrats at its forces were creating a secure route for civilians to leave the hospital, but it did not attempt to evacuate patients and staff. israel claims hamas uses this hospital and others as cover for its operations, claims strongly denied by staff at the hospital. nick be getting jerusalem and gave me this assessment on the comments made by at bakhmut high. we comments made by at bakhmut high. - know there engaged in talks on going in cairo, the egyptian capital. and i think this is important to point out because there's so much death

and destruction in gaza, so much despair, and yet this process is continuing. we know that there is a framework of a possible deal that the americans have been pushing, they've been working on, egypt and qatar have been looking at. but it seems that work on fundamental issues are still quite far apart, that may be why the palestinian authority has been urging hamas to move. certainly where i am in israel, prime minister benjamin netanyahu has called some of hamas malls or commands delusional, which didn't give a sense of optimism there be a break there anytime soon. and what's the latest on efforts — we've heard from leaders around the world calling on israel not to begin a ground assault on raw rafah in gaza, what's the latest you're hearing there? if gaza, what's the latest you're hearing there?— gaza, what's the latest you're hearing there? gaza, what's the latest you're hearin: there? . , , ,, .,, hearing there? if any pressure has made an effort _ hearing there? if any pressure has made an effort on _ hearing there? if any pressure has made an effort on the _ hearing there? if any pressure has made an effort on the israelis, - made an effort on the israelis, we've not seen any impact for

ourselves, there's been no sign of that. and i think that's because there's been no sign of any imminent military operation. and remember, this is a twofold process because the israelis are saying first of all, they want to move out the people in the city of that would be a huge operation and you would need the un and their various teams to join in that. but once you've done that, there'd be the big military operation that military says has to be carried out, so that remaining hamas fighters are destroyed. in the uk, inflation — the rate at which prices are rising — remained unchanged injanuary at 4%, despite a rise in energy bills. the figures from the office for national statistics show that prices are still going up, but at exactly the same rate as december. but the price of food fell last month for the first time since september 2021. our chief economics correspondent dharshini david reports.

up to the middle, and tap this... from food to shoe repairs, warrington market hosts a range of traders with one thing in common — surviving, rather than thriving, as costs rise. historically, shoe repairs should sort of increase on, you know, times like this, really. but we've just not seen it, i think largely down to it sort of lack of footfall, really. people just don't have the money. instead of buying a pound of cheese, they'll buy three quarters of a pound of cheese. you know, which is fine, you know, but i'd rather have the pound of cheese. for their customers are struggling, and notjust because of a hike in energy bills injanuary. mortgages, bills, food, everything. everything's getting more expensive. just struggling. some things are coming down but on a general basis, it's not really coming down enough. i essentially have to cut my maternity leave early, - just to be able to go back to work | so i can put him in nursery to be|

able to afford things. for many, things are still getting more expensive. well, inflation overall stayed at 4% in january and that was a relief for policymakers, who were concerned that those energy bills would have pushed it up. but those were offset by heavy discounting in clothes and furniture, as retailers slashed prices after some disappointing sales in the run—up to christmas. and food prices, too, slipped between december and january, the first such fall in two years as ingredients became cheaper. and inflation overall should fall below the bank of england's 2% target later in the spring, when the energy price cap falls back. but its other parts of inflation that those interest rate setters watch more closely, those for services such as restaurant meals and hotel stays. that rose injanuary, while wage growth, which the bank also watches, is easing quite slowly. so they don't want to risk reigniting inflation by cutting rates too soon,

leaving more cash in pocket for us to spend. but the bank's also aware the economy isn't blooming. back in warrington, florist elizabeth says customers have been finding creative solutions to afford valentine's day treats. red roses were the bestsellers, and lily bouquets, but the tulip bouquet is most popular so far this year, and they're half the price of what the roses are, and lilies. for some of those customers, the ultimate delivery would be lower interest rates. they may have to wait until the summer. labour has said it will block anyone who is not fit to be an mp, as it responds to the row about comments made by two of its candidates about the israel—gaza war. in the past week, the party has suspended two of its parliamentary candidates over comments they allegedly made at a meeting, which the bbc has been told was attended by labour politicians

and leaders from the local muslim community. live now to westminster and our political correspondent, harry farley. bring us up—to—date on this. bring us up-to-date on this. well 'ust to bring us up-to-date on this. well just to give _ bring us up-to-date on this. well just to give you — bring us up-to-date on this. well just to give you an _ bring us up—to—date on this. -ii just to give you an idea of how dramatic this week has been — campaign leaflets from the labour party were arriving in people's doorsteps in rochdale today featuring azhar ali and promoting his campaign. he is honestly now the former labour candidate for the by election on 29 february later this month — labour have suspended him for anti—semitic remarks he apparently made at a meeting in october, and they've also suspended the former mp and another candidate in another seat in lancashire, grahamjones — he's being suspended for comments he apparently made against israel at that same meeting. in this whole issue has been a huge

labour stomach or headache for labour, seer keir starmer dexter keir starmer... but there are several questions that still remain for him and the labour leadership, questions around due diligence, do they do sufficient checks ahead of they do sufficient checks ahead of the selecting candidates to be mps? who else was in the room when this meeting happened? we know that the labour leader at hein borough town council was spoken to, he's not been suspended. so who else was there, will they face any action? and of course, when mps come back to westminster next week, the scottish national party will call for a vote on calling for a cease—fire immediately in gaza. so it's a conflict that continues to cause deep divisions for labour. find conflict that continues to cause deep divisions for labour. and it's not auoin deep divisions for labour. and it's not going away. — deep divisions for labour. and it's not going away. is _ deep divisions for labour. and it's

not going away, is it? _ deep divisions for labour. and it's not going away, is it? really - deep divisions for labour. and it's| not going away, is it? really dumb by her labour is really under scrutiny now from its own party and credit system from the conservatives over how it handles a stash really, labour is under scrutiny now. keir starmer said _ labour is under scrutiny now. keir starmer said he _ labour is under scrutiny now. ifle: " starmer said he acted decisively wants further information came out about azhar ali's comments, and conservatives mocking that claim of him acting decisively, saying it took him 48 hours until the labour party eventually suspended azhar ali. this is a key pillar of sir keir starmer�*s leadership, as tackling anti—semitism was such a huge pitch for the party. there will be a vote in the house of commons next week with the snp calling for there to be an immediate cease—fire in gaza and really putting pressure on the labour party to back that vote, and i think it'll be very interesting to see what the labour party do on that vote next week. harry, thank you.

in ukraine, the new commander—in—chief — following a visit to two key battle zones — has acknowledged that the situation on parts of the front line is extremely difficult. general syrskyi called the situation "extremely complex and stressful". the comments came just hours after ukraine's military said it destroyed another russian warship, off occupied crimea. these are the pictures released by ukraine's the military — showing the moment the warship was hit. moscow has not commented on the incident — although it did say that its forces had shot down six aerial drones over the black sea, as well as another three over russia. meanwhile, nato defence ministers are meeting in brussels — with ukraine and spending on the agenda. the head of nato says he expects more than half its members — a record number — will meet their defence spending target this year. at the moment, 11 members spend at least 2% of their gdp on defence every year — that includes countries such as the us, uk and poland. the alliance says it expects 18 countries will meet the target by the end of the year, but acknowledged that some countries

still have, a way to go. there's been a huge focus on the issue after comments by donald trump over the weekend, where he suggested he would withdraw support for nato allies, if he was re—elected and they didn't meet their spending commitments. 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'sl say that happened." no, i would not protect you. in fact, i would encourage them i to do whatever the hell they want. you've got to pay, you've got to pay your bills. - let's speak to kurt volker, former us ambassador to nato and former special representative for ukraine. welcome, thank you very much for being with us. what did you make about these comments? first being with us. what did you make about these comments?— being with us. what did you make about these comments? first of all, it's a terrible — about these comments? first of all, it's a terrible statement _ about these comments? first of all, it's a terrible statement to - about these comments? first of all, it's a terrible statement to make. i it's a terrible statement to make. the purpose of nato is to prevent war, and to encourage and adversary

to attack an ally it willjust lead to attack an ally it willjust lead to war. so it is clearly an outrageous something to suggest. he was speaking in the past tense, not saying this is what he would do now, saying this is what he would do now, saying this is what he did when he was president — we don't know if that's true, he was at a political campaign rally, bragging about what he claims to have done. in the purpose was to get countries on the fence, which he said he was successful at. and indeed as we see now, it was our largely because of russian aggression, but many nato countries are spending more. i think it's the wrong approach for american leadership to be threatening allies and playing loosely with this idea of collective defence. it is what has kept peace in europe for over 70 years, and it's important that we continue to try to keep the peace in europe. continue to try to keep the peace in euro e. , �* ,., europe. president biden said his comments _ europe. president biden said his comments were _ europe. president biden said his comments were unhinged, - europe. president biden said his comments were unhinged, are l europe. president biden said his i comments were unhinged, are they dangerous?

comments were unhinged, are they dancerous? ~ comments were unhinged, are they dangerous?— comments were unhinged, are they dancerous? ~ ., �* ~ ., ., dangerous? while you don't know what trump would — dangerous? while you don't know what trump would actually _ dangerous? while you don't know what trump would actually do _ dangerous? while you don't know what trump would actually do if _ dangerous? while you don't know what trump would actually do if he - dangerous? while you don't know what trump would actually do if he was - trump would actually do if he was present again. we don't know if even the story that he's telling is true. when he was president, it was four years, he did have an unnatural unwillingness to criticise vladimir putin — at the same time, his demonstration took very tough steps such as lifting the arms embargo on ukraine so we could supply anti—tank systems, throwing out the russian consulate from san francisco which was really... and increasing sanctions on russia. and really, getting ready to sanction and not quite getting there on nord stream 2, trying to shut that down, which later of course has been done. so we don't really know what we would that he would do as president, but those sorts of remarks don't help. iiiot sorts of remarks don't help. not helful, sorts of remarks don't help. not helpful. but _ sorts of remarks don't help. not helpful, but what will nato's enemies make of that? i take your point that he said he's talking about the past — is that really how

it will be read? i about the past - is that really how it will be read?— it will be read? i think that vladimir — it will be read? i think that vladimir putin _ it will be read? i think that vladimir putin likes - it will be read? i think that l vladimir putin likes anything it will be read? i think that - vladimir putin likes anything that shows disarray within nato divisions among allies, calling into question any method of collective defence, that's all music to his ears. he's embarked on this were in ukraine which has proven to be much more difficult than he expected, but he continues to talk in terms of rebuilding the russian empire and claiming what he calls russian lands — hejust claiming what he calls russian lands — he just had former president medvedev saying that it is unacceptable to have an independent state anywhere on what he considers to be russian lands, which means finland, the baltic states, or other countries. so we don't want to encourage that kind of imperialist aggressive thinking and russia. based on those comments, do you think he's fit to be president again? think he's fit to be president auain? ~ ., ., think he's fit to be president aaain? . ., , ., again? we have a problem - we have two very old — again? we have a problem - we have two very old candidates _ again? we have a problem - we have two very old candidates who are - two very old candidates who are

likely to be the nominees for their respective parties, and i don't think that that is really the best choice for the country at this stage. i think we need a new generation, i think we need to take the threats we face seriously and show more leadership.— the threats we face seriously and show more leadership. thank you very much forjoining _ show more leadership. thank you very much forjoining us. _ around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. tobias ellwood says a demonstration by pro—palestinian campaigners outside his house was too far. no arrests have been made. violence and abuse against shop workers rose to 1,300 incidents a day last year, according to a leading trade body. incidents against staff were up by 50% in the year to september 2023 — up from 870 incidents a day the year before. the british retail consortium criticised the "woefully inadequate" action taken by the government

to address the "crisis". radio two has announced that lisa tarbox will present a special love songs programme to pay tribute to steve wright, who died on monday at the age of 69. the show will be on his usual morning slot at 9am. you're live with bbc news. indonesia's prabowo subianto says he looks to be on track for a first—round win in the country's presidential election. it's billed as the largest and most complex one—day election in the world. more than 200 million people were eligible to vote in the country's 17,000 islands, across three time zones. pollsters are showing that the defence minister, prabowo, has about 58% of the vote. the bbc�*s frances mao explains why this election is a key one to watch. the maps have got it wrong. here is what indonesia looks like.

but it is actually way bigger than it appears. it spans over 5,200 kilometres — longer than europe — and if we were to measure it, that is from england to afghanistan. if we compare it to america, that is from the east coast to the west coast and beyond. and it has got a huge population, about 275 million people, making it the world's fourth biggest country by population, the largest muslim country and the world's third largest democracy. that is why its election today is a pretty big deal. it is only sixth poll that the country has had since it emerged from a military dictatorship in the 90s. and these days, indonesia is a vibrant and modern but somewhat fragile democracy, and its literal position in the world, in a region that is crucial to both the us and china, means its vote is one to watch. for more analysis, i spoke to dan slater, who's the director of the centre for emerging democracies at the university of michigan.

the polls are very accurate, i would say. indonesian posters have a great track record of tracking these results accurately. so i think it's very clear that prabowo subianto will be winning the election on a first round. so with over 50% of the vote, that will avoid a runoff and mean he'll be the president elect in a matter of hours to days. tell mean he'll be the president elect in a matter of hours to days.— a matter of hours to days. tell us more about _ a matter of hours to days. tell us more about him, _ a matter of hours to days. tell us more about him, because - a matter of hours to days. tell us more about him, because he's i a matter of hours to days. tell us more about him, because he's a l more about him, because he's a figure that's been around for a long time. he figure that's been around for a long time. . ., , figure that's been around for a long time. . . , .,, figure that's been around for a long time. . . , ., , time. he certainly has, and the big icture i time. he certainly has, and the big picture i would _ time. he certainly has, and the big picture i would say _ time. he certainly has, and the big picture i would say is _ time. he certainly has, and the big picture i would say is that - time. he certainly has, and the big picture i would say is that nobody i picture i would say is that nobody has done more in the last 25 plus years to work to deny indonesian voters the right to choose their president — and ironically, he will now be chosen as their president. so propose track record with human rights —— propose track record, his track record of playing very cosy with some of the most intolerant islamic groups in indonesia, and more recently denying the election results and even sparking riots in

2014 and 2019 when he lost quite decisively to the incumbent president shows that between denying the democratic integrity and electoral integrity, and given his track record, it's really a dangerous transition period for indonesia right now. supporters of his say he's _ indonesia right now. supporters of his say he's changed, _ indonesia right now. supporters of his say he's changed, even - indonesia right now. supporters of his say he's changed, even if - indonesia right now. supporters of his say he's changed, even if he'sl his say he's changed, even if he's made mistakes in the past — what's making them so popular? made mistakes in the past - what's making them so popular?— made mistakes in the past - what's making them so popular? mostly the current president _ making them so popular? mostly the current president is _ making them so popular? mostly the current president is popular - - current president is popular — prabowo subianto to him twice, he also lost in 2009's vice president for canada. he's had supportive abort 40% of indonesian voters, and he's really ridden the coat—tails of the current president who is really popular and can't run for a third term. so prabowo subianto's popularity rest in this perception he has, he's a popularfigure in indonesian politics, and the fact that he had not a formal endorsement but the very clear backing of the

current president and it finagled things such as the present�*s son could be his running pay as well. if he wins, what changes do you think those 200 million indonesian citizens will see? i those 200 million indonesian citizens will see?— those 200 million indonesian citizens will see? i would worry uuite a citizens will see? i would worry quite a bit _ citizens will see? i would worry quite a bit about _ citizens will see? i would worry quite a bit about what's - citizens will see? i would worry quite a bit about what's been a| quite a bit about what's been a gradual erosion of civil rights, clinical rights in indonesia that have occurred over the last five years. i worry that those trends will accelerate, and i worry that, like previous presidents — he built a large coalition which will allow him to operate without opposition, giving him a free hand. the worry is that he'll treat this election as a mandate for him, rather than for effectively a third jacoby term, bringing back his worst features of his in the past and the presidency. that's the worst case, but we would be naive to not see that.

more warnings on impacts artificial intelligence and deepfakes could have on elections in the us and uk. it said the technology could incite violence, even chaos, and tougher punishments would need to be implemented. gordon carrera reports. making a copy of yourself can take just a few moments, as i learnt in this interactive exhibition. but that means making a copy of someone else. what's often called a deepfake is also getting easier, thanks to artificial intelligence. that's worrying those in charge of security, especially when it comes to a year in which two billion people are expecting to vote in elections around the world. a few weeks ago, voters in america's new hampshire primary election heard this. it's important that you save your vote for the november election. what sounds like president biden telling them not to cast a ballot, but it wasn't real. it was a deepfake.

voting this tuesday only enables the republicans in their quest to elect donald trump again. on a visit to london, one of america's top law enforcement officials told me of the potential dangers of ai. it can have people...cause people to distrust the sources of information that they're getting, to dissuade them or confuse them in terms of exercising their right to vote. to incite violence, certainly, that's something that we're worried about. and to just generally sow distrust and potentially chaos. one fear is al fakes could be used to spark protests like those after the last us presidential election. but us law enforcement is also using al to help in its own work, for instance, in sifting through images of that attack to identify suspects. and now authorities say they plan to tackle the use of ai in crimes with tougher sentences.

our laws recognise that when you use a firearm during the commission of a crime, it makes it more serious. so we're going to be applying that same principle and seeking stiffer sentences. artificial intelligence looks set to test democracy in this coming year, asking difficult questions. in a world of ai generated deepfakes, it's becoming harder to know what's real and what's not, what's truth and what's an illusion. gordon corera, bbc news. ten roman gems, that were stolen from the british museum, will go on display to the public tomorrow. the items are among around 350 recovered after the museum discovered that some of its precious pieces had been stolen and sold on ebay. the thefts came to light last year. katie razzall has the story. tiny engraved gems made of glass,

stolen along with hundreds of others from the storerooms at the british museum. now, ten recover gems, mostly dating back to classical times, are on display as part of a wider exhibition. these are some of the ones that have been recovered recently. sir markjones is the museum's interim director. this one, for example, isjupiter... he was brought in to run this place after the british museum announced last year that items from its collection were missing, stolen or damaged. a member of staff was dismissed. how is the recovery process going? it's complicated and it's lengthy. it's going to take us at least a couple of years. i think we've recovered 356 so far out of 15—1,600 that we believe to have been stolen. and i'm sure we're going to do a great deal better than that. the british museum is trying to build a positive story after the theft. the exhibition is its attempt to signal openness and transparency. but this institution is still grappling with the fallout of what happened. the police investigation is ongoing and many hundreds of items stolen from here remain unaccounted for.

do you feel a sense of shame and embarrassment on the part of the british museum, for having to have this exhibition at all? eeery museum feels a strong sense of responsibility for the objects in its care, and clearly that care was missing. but change, says the british museum, is under way. katie razzall, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. there's been a lot of cloud around today, and it's been quite misty and murky around some hills and coasts. a few lucky places though did manage to see a peep of sunshine coming through that cloud. that was barnsley. and this weatherwatcher picture is in newquay, and both locations reached 13 celsius this afternoon. we had temperatures reaching 15 celsius in herefordshire and norfolk, with a bit of rain and drizzle around too. but it's getting wetter actually this evening and overnight. and that wet weather will drive its way northwards up into scotland. at the same time, southern areas may

turn drier later on. temperatures are going to rise actually in scotland overnight with that wet weather coming in and elsewhere, temperatures really aren't going to drop very much at all. it'll be a very mild start to tomorrow. our air originated actually from the azores, and at the moment we're seeing a southerly breeze coming in, bringing that milder air our way ahead of this weatherfront, which will bring some rain back in from the west. but we've got a wet start in scotland. that rain moves up towards the north and rain clears northern ireland but heads back into scotland. and then we'll see some rain for wales and western england, maybe some heavier bursts later in southwest england and the midlands. but ahead of that, lincolnshire, east anglia, the southeast should stay dry and bright, maybe a bit of sunshine coming through, and these are the temperatures we'd normally get at this time of the year. but this is what we're seeing on thursday, even milder than today — 16, possibly 17 celsius is on the cards across east anglia, in the southeast, if the cloud does break up sufficiently to give us some sunshine. but that's still quite a long way off that february temperature

record set back in 2019. now, there will be some rain pushing eastwards on thursday night. there's more weather fronts queuing up in the atlantic. that one's just going to fade away. this one will bring some rain eastwards during the weekend. but with some rain overnight moving eastwards, we're going to see the last of that clear away from east anglia in the southeast. and then we're all in the same boat. there'll be some sunshine coming through now and again, a fair bit of cloud, the odd shower around, but not very many of those, large parts of the country will be dry. so a drier day on friday, not quite as mild, but still those temperatures above average — 12 in central scotland, 14 in the southeast of england. and we've still got that same sort of mild air in place on saturday. it could be quite a bit of cloud, best of the sunshine in the east and out to the west where we see that weather front that's bringing rain, northern ireland, western scotland and the far southwest of england. and ahead of that, it's about 12 celsius.

this is bbc news, the headlines: israel's prime minister vowed to press ahead into rafah. the un said more than a million people are staring death in the face. scientists have proven apes like to tease each otherjust like humans. are we falling out of love with

valentine's day? we speak to a professional matchmaker who thinks we might be. i professional matchmaker who thinks we might be— we might be. i hope it stops being a thin. thing. i think i am probably the most unromantic relationship science expert in the world. returning to our top story now and ukraine's new commander—in—chief has visited to two key battle zones — and acknowledged that the situation on parts of the front line is extremely difficult. next week it will be two years since russia invaded ukraine — uprooting ten million people from their homes. at the start of the conflict — our special correspondent fergal keane reported from the western city of lviv — as huge numbers of refugees — the largest in europe since world war ii — tried to cram onto trains and escape. fergal has returned to lviv to find out what happened to some of the people he met. they were fleeing europe's biggest refugee crisis since world war ii. people are just crushing all around

me, trying to get