this is bbc news, the headlines. israel's prime minister vows to press ahead with the offensive in rafah in defiance to us calls for restraint. it's revealed that the nhs continued to give patients blood contaminated with hepatitis—c even after screening was introduced in the early 1990s. this is neom. the new futuristsic saudi city, where the bbc uncovers evidence lethal force has been used to clear villages. and prince harry and meghan are set to begin their three—day visit to nigeria — as part of publicity

around the invictus games. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri. prince harry and meghan, the duke and duchess of sussex, are beginning a three—day visit to nigeria — as part of publicity around the invictus games. last year, nigeria became the first african country to take part in the invictus games. the games were founded by prince harry ten years ago. that follows also an announcement by meghan that she is �*a3% nigerian�* after she did a genealogy test. prince harry returned to the uk this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the invictus games. during a charity event in central london, the bbc�*s royal correspondent, daniela relph, was given exclusive access to the duke of sussex as hejoined a children's party. go! it's a side of prince harry we've not seen so much of lately.

fun, informal, engaging, as he mucked in for this very special children's party. every child in this room has lost a parent, who served in the military. the charity, scotty's little soldiers, supports them. three, two, one, go! yesterday afternoon, they had a party for the families in london...with a surprise guest. prince harry's come to play games with you. is that 0k? it was a low—key arrival from prince harry, but that didn't last long. here we go. we spent around an hour with prince harry yesterday afternoon. since he left the uk for california, seeing him up close in this context has been rare. very nice to meet you. nice to have you back. how is it being here? it's great. perfect timing. it's great. it's amazing. what scotty's is doing with these kids is absolutely incredible

and very needed as well. the more...the more opportunity we get to do these kind of events, the more that families and kids up and down the country actually know that scotty's exists, which is really the most important thing. is it nice to be back in the uk? it's great. nice to see you. these visits back to the uk are not straightforward, for prince harry or the royalfamily. relationships remain broken and there was no fix to be had this week. but for those in the room with harry here, especially the children who, like him, had experienced the death of a parent, it was a reminder of what he brings to the party. it's insane to think about, like... you always see these people on tv. like, i've seen... saw prince harry's wedding, but it's, like, meeting them in real life is, like, a whole other experience. and sitting down with him, he truly understood what we felt. with the loss of his mum. he... even if it's not through military connections, he understands

that pain and he understands what we went through and are still going through. to be placed in your mouth. harry's competitive streak was on full show. this was the race to eat the strawberry laces the quickest. the prince found himself on the winning side. it's looking good. and the roll the chocolate down the tape measure game was also a crowd pleaser, with not a bit of food going to waste. how many maltesers did you eat off the floor? er, you guys probably know better than i do but at least three. i think, at that point, it started getting a little bit weird. i could have never imagined i was rolling a malteser down a tape measure with prince harry, but it was definitely lovely to see kind of those barriers being taken down with him and to see him asjust him. because obviously you can see him on the screens and you can see the kind of face that he puts up to the public eye but to see him kind of being himself around us was definitely a very heartwarming feeling. in recent years, harry's support

for scotty's little soldiers has largely been through letters and jokey video messages. merry christmas. did anyone actually feel... 7 yeah. the family fallout and the move to california has drastically reduced what he's been able to do for the organisations he supports in the uk. this party was the first event he'd been able to attend in person with the charity. you forget that every single child in there has experienced the death of a parent, who served for our country, and that i would imagine that prince harry got so much from that room and had so much fun and joy that i wouldn't mind betting that he's probably thinking about these children right now because it does that to you. like, it really makes you think these children are incredible. like, all good children's parties, there were some goodies to go home with... i thought you were joking! ..including a lego figure of...prince harry. all of this is now personal

rather than royal duty. while family ties remain fractured, prince harry's charity work is an important link to the place that was once home. daniela relph, bbc news, central london. let's speak to nikki scott, founder of scotty's little soldiers — prince harry is the charity's global ambassador and he visited them yesterday. and we saw her in that report. thank you so much forjoining us. could you so much forjoining us. could you tell us and share your own personal story and why you felt it was so important to found this specific charity? {iii was so important to found this specific charity?— was so important to found this specific charity? of course. my husband corporal— specific charity? of course. my husband corporal lee - specific charity? of course. my husband corporal lee scott - specific charity? of course. my - husband corporal lee scott served in the royal tank regiment and when he went off to do his tour of afghanistan he was killed in action. this was injuly 2009. just

witnessing the impact that death had on our two young children, one of our kids was five and the other was seven months old, watching them in the early days and as they have grown up, seeing the pain and everything you have to deal with when you are a bereaved young child made me realise there's some amazing uk charities but there is very limited support for bereaved british forces children who have experienced the death of a parent who served it was realising something needed to be done to make sure these children never feel alone and have the very best support. we never feel alone and have the very best summ— best support. we can see some of that support _ best support. we can see some of that support in — best support. we can see some of that support in the _ best support. we can see some of that support in the report - best support. we can see some of that support in the report we - best support. we can see some of that support in the report we saw| that support in the report we saw and i wandered from the perspective having witnessed it, what kind of impact does having someone like prince harry involved in the charity have on children?— prince harry involved in the charity have on children? massive, more than he will ever — have on children? massive, more than he will ever realise. _ have on children? massive, more than he will ever realise. and _ have on children? massive, more than he will ever realise. and it's _ have on children? massive, more than he will ever realise. and it's the - he will ever realise. and it's the fact you saw brooke and tuscany they

are talking about the fact they see him on the screen and everyone knows who he is but when you meet him in person and there was some really great, amazing, personal conversations that happened between prince harry and some of the young people, it resonates with them because they can relate to him, the fact he was bereaved as a child and he understands how they are feeling and he served in the military and when these children meet someone from the military there is an incredible bond. he understands the community these children have been part of, he has given time out and he is so interested in them, give them so much time. i hope it is something they remember forever and i think a lot of them feel now he is a friend, they relate to him so it was incredible.— a friend, they relate to him so it was incredible. . ., ., was incredible. learning more about the charity and _ was incredible. learning more about the charity and some _ was incredible. learning more about the charity and some of _ was incredible. learning more about the charity and some of the - was incredible. learning more about the charity and some of the work - the charity and some of the work prince harry has done with the children and discussions he has hand, a lot of it was about coping

mechanisms, to go through the experience your own family has. could you tell us what coping mechanisms and work is important? he: really shared what he has learned along the way and i think it's important to remember every single bereaved child is unique and will experience different events and one coping mechanism will not work with everyone, one size does not fit everyone, one size does not fit everyone and so we have to work individually with the children to make sure we meet their personal needs and we make sure everyone finds their unique way of coping because we cannot take the pain away, we cannot change what has happened and make it better but if we can help each other and help young people develop the mechanisms which is what prince harry was talking about, for some it might be having something in their pocket so they can squeeze it when they are nervous, for others it might be

going to the gym, it's about coping with bereavement and talking and finding other people who understand so you have that community and peer support and a lot of what we do is we offer bereavement support to teach them coping mechanisms but we offer experience is exactly like yesterday, they can come together and make friends and they go off and keepin and make friends and they go off and keep in contact with those friends and that is a massive coping mechanism.— and that is a massive coping mechanism. ., ~ , ., . and that is a massive coping mechanism. ., ~ . ., mechanism. thank you so much for our time mechanism. thank you so much for your time and _ mechanism. thank you so much for your time and for _ mechanism. thank you so much for your time and for sharing _ mechanism. thank you so much for your time and for sharing your- your time and for sharing your story. your time and for sharing your sto . ., ~ your time and for sharing your sto . ., ,, , ., new evidence, seen by the bbc, shows that contaminated blood continued to be given to nhs patients even after screening for hepatitis—c was introduced in september 1991. now there are calls for the compensation cut—off date to be extended — to include patients who were infected after that date — as our health editor hugh pym reports. remembering those who've died after being given blood contaminated

with potentially fatal hepatitis c during surgery. for some living with the virus, there's been financial support, but only if infected before september 1991. caz challis was given a blood transfusion during cancer treatment in 1992 and was infected with hep c. she's received no support. it's the stress when you're fighting for every crumb on benefits and you're not recognised and you're not considered worth... it's the feeling of being told you're not worth it. that's what's hit me the hardest. on september 1st, 1991, the uk officially started screening all new blood that was donated, but no formal system to check blood collected before then was ever introduced. we have more than one client who was infected by way of a blood transfusion with hepatitis c after september 1991. there was no such cutoff date for people that were infected with hiv, and so we can't see any reason

for there being such a cutoff date for people that were infected with hepatitis c. during hearings at the infected blood inquiry, doctors confirmed that untested blood did remain within the nhs blood supply even after screening began. i did remember at the time feeling a little bit nervous about the possibility of hcv emerging among some of our recipients. these are the individual scans. the test system itself, according to one expert, was not as reliable as it is now. it was based then on testing for antibodies. the test for the virus itself, what we call an rna test, took a little longer to develop than the antibody test. and there is that potential situation whereby somebody newly infected with the virus may have the virus circulating in their bloodstream but have not yet produced the antibodies. we now screen all blood products for the virus itself rather than the antibodies, but the initial screening was purely with antibodies,

so that possibility did exist. the government says it will set up a new compensation scheme, but crucially, whether all support should extend beyond 1991 is likely to be addressed by the inquiry�*s final report. hugh pym, bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

the city of neom is a futuristic development planned for the saudi desert. it'll cost 500 billion us dollars, and is being built by dozens of western companies. but the uk foreign secretary, lord cameron, says he'll be looking into allegations the saudi government is using lethal force to clear ground to build the new city. it comes after bbc verify and a bbc eye investigation, found the authorities encouraged the use of violence, to evict villagers. here's merlyn thomas.

promo video: this is neom. neom — saudi arabia's grand plan to transform the country and its image. a project almost the size of belgium, built by companies from all over the world, including more than a dozen from the uk. at its heart — the line. a city carved from the desert, envisaged to be 100 mile straight line, but only 1.5 miles will reportedly be built by 2030. neom's driving force is the country's leader, mohammed bin salman. so since we have empty place and we want to have a place for 10 million people, then let's think from scratch. but it wasn't empty. near the line, thousands of people lived in these three villages. for years, they objected to being moved, but still the project went on. these satellite images show one of the villages where they lived.

homes, schools, hospitals, have been wiped off the map. this former saudi intelligence officer has been living in fear since he went into exile in the uk last year. he told us he was ordered to clear one of the villages near neom in 2020 and that security forces were permitted to kill those who refused eviction. translation: the order said whoever continues l to resist should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever stayed in their home. he says he dodged the mission, which went ahead without him. this is the aftermath — walls littered with bullet holes. this man, abdul rahim al—huwaiti, refused to leave his home. saudi forces shot him dead. the saudi government says he was an armed terrorist who opened fire on security forces, but the un and human rights groups say he was killed for refusing eviction.

neom's grand plan also includes trojena, a ski resort built in the desert. andy wirth became ceo shortly after the shooting. he repeatedly asked about the killing of abdul rahim al—huwaiti. he resigned after less than a year. it was clearly unnecessary. it was clearly murder. you don't accelerate human progress at the detriment of other humans. you don't step on their throats with your boot heels so you can advance. that's not human progress. the saudi government and neom both declined to comment, but critics say the project has cost some saudis their freedom and their lives. merlyn thomas, bbc news. taylor swift has kicked off the european leg of her record—breaking eras tour in france. the star debuted several new outfits and revamped her setlist. she cut several songs to make space

for hits from her newest album, the tortured poets department. the concert lasted over three hours with swift performing 45 songs from across her 18—year career. let's speak to savannah delullo, a content creator and taylor fan who was at the gig last night. it's good to have you here. a lot of fans go to several concerts, not just one. if a fan were to go to one of these on the next leg, what would be different? it’s of these on the next leg, what would be different?— be different? it's really different from what we've _ be different? it's really different from what we've all _ be different? it's really different from what we've all seen - be different? it's really different from what we've all seen before | be different? it's really different l from what we've all seen before in the first leg of the tour. she switched the order of a lot of the eras, we didn't know what was going on but she has all new costumes, she added songs from her new album, a lot of new surprises so there's lots of fun things for people who haven't seen it yet. of fun things for people who haven't

seen it et. ~ of fun things for people who haven't seen it yet-— seen it yet. when it comes to those new songs. — seen it yet. when it comes to those new songs. what — seen it yet. when it comes to those new songs, what do _ seen it yet. when it comes to those new songs, what do you _ seen it yet. when it comes to those new songs, what do you think - seen it yet. when it comes to those | new songs, what do you think about it because there have been glowing reviews but some critics did wonder about how many songs she released at once? i about how many songs she released at once? , . , ~' about how many songs she released at once? , ., , ,, ., once? i personally think taylor swift should _ once? i personally think taylor swift should release _ once? i personally think taylor swift should release as - once? i personally think taylor swift should release as many l once? i personally think taylor - swift should release as many songs as possible and i will love all of them! i love the album so much, it's incredible. 31 songs had been on repeat for me and i think the songs are lyrically beautiful and i'm just loving being able to listen to the album and see it on stage last night. album and see it on stage last niuht. ~ , ., album and see it on stage last nirht.~ , album and see it on stage last nirht.~ night. when you say the songs are l ricall night. when you say the songs are lyrically beautiful, _ night. when you say the songs are lyrically beautiful, what _ night. when you say the songs are lyrically beautiful, what is - night. when you say the songs are lyrically beautiful, what is it - lyrically beautiful, what is it about four taylor swift shares in her songs that really has fans loving her and notjust the songs? what has made her so love for her entire career is how personal her songwriting is but how it feels it's like something you could have said,

it feels personal and connected to you. kind of like diary entries but definitely elevated in a way that is just pure poetry. definitely elevated in a way that is just pure poetry-— definitely elevated in a way that is just pure poetry. pure poetry, thank ou so just pure poetry. pure poetry, thank you so much — just pure poetry. pure poetry, thank you so much for— just pure poetry. pure poetry, thank you so much for your _ just pure poetry. pure poetry, thank you so much for your time _ just pure poetry. pure poetry, thank you so much for your time and - just pure poetry. pure poetry, thank you so much for your time and i'm l you so much for your time and i'm glad you managed to get a ticket! yes. thank you.— glad you managed to get a ticket! yes. thank you. lets 'oin some live ictures yes. thank you. lets 'oin some live pictures in — yes. thank you. lets 'oin some live pictures in nigeria, — yes. thank you. lets 'oin some live pictures in nigeria, a— yes. thank you. lets join some live pictures in nigeria, a performance. pictures in nigeria, a performance there for harry and meghan, a reminder they have arrived in nigeria on a private visit, being hosted by the ministry of defence for the country. this has to do with a publicity tour for the for the country. this has to do with a publicity tourfor the invictus games. 0verthe a publicity tourfor the invictus games. over the next three days they are tearing several cities in let's listen. cheering.

you are watching bbc news. pictures there of harry and meghan on their music to nigeria. lots of music and lots of dancing. a three day trip. part of a publicity tour for the invictus games. they are going to visit a school to launch a mental health summit and they will then travel to a rehabilitation centre for wounded military personnel. of course, a really important because for prince harry. this is the couples first time in nigeria and as we were saying earlier in the programme, it could have quite a bit of meaning for megan as she revealed she is actually 43% nigerian. she

learned that after having taken a genealogy test. and last year, you listen to the music now, let's listen to the music now, let's listen to the music now, let's listen to some of the singing. cheering. they have really put on a fantastic show for the couple. nigeria became the first african country to participate in the invictus games. just as a reminder, the sporting event is for injured servicemembers and veterans, co—founded by prince harry ten years ago. some officials say they aspire to one day host the event themselves. let's take a quick

listen. wanting to be a doctor. this is a family— wanting to be a doctor. this is a family foundation. _ all right, we will have plenty more coverage of their trip, again that is part of their publicity trip the invictus games. moving on to some of the other stories today. there's a fresh warning today against throwing away old electrical equipment such as phones and tablets, because their batteries could catch fire — or explode. fire services say they're dealing with an increasing number of fires caused by items that weren't disposed of properly. 0ur reporter harriet bradshaw has the latest.

this is a test to show what can happen when you crush or penetrate a large lithium ion battery. even smaller batteries than this one can cause huge fires if they're thrown into the general waste instead of properly being recycled. the results can be ferocious. this waste transfer site fire at herne hill in london took days to put out. the cause, the fire service concluded most likely a lithium ion battery setting alight, and not suspicious. it was a really scary experience for all of us. the sky was yellow. you could smell this horrible, horrible smell of burning chemicals and plastic. we had to close our windows during a heatwave. we were stuck in our homes and eventually we decided to leave our home because our two—year—old daughter was coughing and her cough was getting worse. we didn't know if it was caused by the smoke from this hideous fire. now, imperial college london's

new research has found there was a significant spike in air pollution during this fire. so this is just another example of where air pollution is being affected negatively. and it's something that we don't need. we need to be reducing the release of pollution into the air, not increasing it. and the problem is growing, according to the national fire chiefs council, which says fire services are dealing with increasing incidents involving incorrectly disposed of batteries which can alight in bin lorries and rubbish and recycling centres. and they're a really big challenge to the fire and rescue service. they cause really unpredictable, really prolonged, protracted fires and the results can be really catastrophic with the types of toxic gases that go into the atmosphere, the types of water runoff that will go into the water systems and of course, the smoke that can affect our local communities. so it's something that's a real focus for the national

fire chiefs council. and i'd really urge households, families to really think hard about how they recycle those electrical items. we conducted some market research, nationally representative research that scales up what we think the challenge is. and basically that revealed that 1.6 billion batteries were being thrown away a year. that's 3,000 a minute. over a billion of them were hidden batteries inside portable tech. so people are putting batteries in the bin, but they might not realise they are. what are we talking about? what you've got is sort of the obvious batteries that we all recognise, the portable batteries in remote controls, but actually increasingly there's a number of hidden batteries inside electrical portable technology because we need that for it to be powered when we're on the move. so you've got the infamous vape here with a lithium ion battery inside it but other items too. so even in this earphone set, you've got three different lithium ion batteries and even things such as electric toothbrushes, power banks, remote control speakers and shavers, too. all of this is powered by battery technology.

scott butler admits it's not just down to the public, but retailers and manufacturers also have a responsibility. but the advice for customers is to recycle electricals responsibly to avoid the ferocious risks of these waste fires. harriet bradshaw, bbc news. time for a look at the weather with chris. hello there. 0ur weather is going to stay warm, sunny and dry for the next couple of days. yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 24.6 celsius at st james's park in london. that figure is going to be beaten later on today, when we could see temperatures hit 26 and the hot spots. 27 is possible. this very warm weather is here for another few days just yet. the only real exception to the theme of the dry, sunny and warm weather is shetland, where we have some thick cloud, a bit of morning rain here.

should be of a bit drier and brighter in the afternoon. sunshine a little hazy for scotland and northern ireland. there will be a bit of cloud bubbling up across england and wales into the afternoon. but it will be warm. temperatures widely 20 or 2a celsius. a hot spot could hit 26 degrees later on. 0vernight, there is a low cloud and the north sea that is going to move into the coastal areas of lincolnshire and india part of east anglia. could even see an odd spit of drizzle from that. otherwise, it is dry with clear spells, temperatures holding on for many of us into double figures. low cloud to start the day, mist patches will burn back to the coast pretty quickly. then we are looking at another fine day with lots and lots of sunshine. the wind staying light, the temperature is getting a little bit higher. through the afternoon, we should see highs reaching around 21—23 degrees for scotland and northern ireland. the hottest spots across england probably reaching about 27 celsius. then we see something of a change as we get into sunday.

we are going to see some showers and thunderstorms breaking out on sunday, they will begin to move in from the south—west. so, fairly heavy downpours are possible here during the course of sunday. with more cloud pushing in as well, those temperatures are going to be lower across western areas. however, for eastern areas of england and eastern areas of scotland, there will still be some pockets of warmth and we could still see temperatures up at around 26, 27 degrees. that is just about possible. 0n into next week, it is all change. the message is to make the most of the warm sunshine while we have it, because we are not going to have it on monday. low pressure is moving in and it is going to be wet, and even as the low pressure eases, there will be plenty showers around and a much cooler look to the weather deeper into week. bye for now.

live from london, this is bbc news. israel's prime minister vows to press ahead keir starmer is about to set out his party's plans keir starmer is about to set out his pa rty�*s plans to keir starmer is about to set out his party's plans to deal with people setting to arriving across the english channel in small boats. the uk is out of recession after figures showed that the economy is growing again. the duke and duchess of sussex arrive in nigeria for a three—day visit to the country. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. let's ta ke let's take you straight to abuja in nigeria. prince harry is speaking.