this is bbc news the israeli army says it's killed five people on day two of its major military operation in the occupied west bank and the us national security advisor has met a senior chinese military official, in a "rare" one—on—one meeting during a visit to beijing. restrictions on smoking outdoors are being considered by the uk government. the paralympic games get underway following a spectacular opening ceremony in paris last night. hello.

hamas says six of them were its fighters. masoud naaja said he was injured when he opened the door of his house

to young men asking for water. translation: we felt like something came down on us from the sky - injenin, army vehicles surrounded the city's two main hospitals. ambulances stopped and checked by militaryjeeps. israel's foreign minister has urged his government to use gaza as a model for dealing wth armed groups, here saying that iran almost 600 palestinians have been killed in the west bank by israeli forces since the hamas attacks. but fighters here are still presenting israel there were five people killed in the operation there, including the head of the tulkarem brigades, mohammad jabbar, and he'd been on the israeli hit list for a long time. they tried to kill him several times before. he does now seem to have been killed, and also a palestinian authority police officer here injenin was one of two people we understand to have been killed overnight. and if those those deaths are confirmed, that will bring the total number of people killed so far in this operation to to 18. the rac is warning drivers to expect an increase in fuel duty. this potential increase could affect drivers as well as businesses. when

petrol prices jumped after the pandemic and the russian invasion of ukraine the previous conservative government cut fuel duty by 5p a litre. this was to ease some pressure on drivers and since then it has been at 53 p. that is now growing speculation that the cap could be reversed in the budget. that would push fuel duty back up to 58p. that would raise an extra £2 billion a year. and would help plug the shortfall why the speculation? the prime minister has ruled out raising but refused to rule out raising but refused to rule out raising fugitive. the rac said drivers have not been getting the

full benefit and said it had been overcharged by retailers whose profit margins are raising. the rac is not opposing the tax but says the onusis is not opposing the tax but says the onus is on petrol stations and supermarkets to cut prices and easily burden. the most recent official figures show that shoplifting offences rose by 30 percent across england and wales last year — to more than 440,000 that's the highest level for more than 20 years. but retailers believe only around a third of incidents are reported to police. a bbc investigation has uncovered a worrying new trend — with shopkeepers and traders buying stolen goods from shoplifters and selling them on to customers. 0ur reporterjim connolly reports. perfume. always a staple.

box sets. cosmetics. leather handbags a big box of lego can be £100. this is ross. for decades one of leeds most prolific shoplifters. i'm not allowed in most of the shops around here. is thatjust because you stole so much over the years? yeah. and now i'm banned from. yeah. he says he's been clean from heroin and crack forfive months and hasn't shoplifted in that time. previously, he was stealing £300 worth of stuff every day to fund his addiction. it was just to buy drugs. i know it's in the tens of thousands. it was just to buy drugs. i know it's in the tens of thousands. you've stolen tens of thousands of pounds. yeah. i'm ashamed to say. yeah. experts say 70% of shoplifters are addicts like ross. but there's no escaping the fact he's a criminal. 23 convictions in two decades, including 15 for shoplifting. but he's never been to prison. there was a weight of fear every day walking down the hill from where i live, which you've got to get rid of. if you can't you've just got to bury it. but that's there every day. yeah. because you thought you might get caught. yeah. and i was only ever inches away

from it, and it's only ever temporarily relieved when you get out of each shop and they haven't been caught. was this an area you would shoplifting? yeah. ross says he only targeted larger retailers, believing they could afford the losses, overlooking the obvious cost to consumers. there really isn't such thing as a victimless crime, though, is there? shoplifting costs the country billions of pounds. what do you think about that? people who shoplift are ill, and that's why they're doing it. the law currently treats any theft under £200 or less. seriously, a rule the home secretary has promised to remove this week, adding that she wants to end the shameful neglect of the problem of shoplifting. west yorkshire police said it's aware of the concerns of businesses and regularly reviews offences to put robust plans in place. ross only made money if people were willing to buy stolen goods. whisky, vodka, baileys, tia maria, honey, cheese, washing tablets and liquid. if you can, please mate. messages from a middleman. daily requests to steal, to order and even more surprisingly, his customers also included other

shops all across the city. i'm a bag full of stuff. i'd know which shop to go to to sell it on. and, um, we discuss a price and i'm out of there with the money. it sounds crazy to say that, doesn't it? it is the economics, isn't it? i suppose i was the cheapest wholesaler at the end of the day. most shops, however, are simply the victims. this one targeted so often thieves struck within minutes of us arriving. so we're just getting reports through of a guy who's a potential suspected shoplifter by the sound of it. and we've had another shoplifter in this shop, so you can see just how active it is. can you describe what happened? just had someone come in and managed to steal one of our cat treats. this is the product that she actually ends up stealing. we kind ofjust have to stand there and watch it happen over and over again. what happens if one of those three had a knife? yeah, so that is the risk that we take with approaching them. it's a risk whether we go after them or whether we just let them get away with it essentially.

does that scare you? it does. yeah. those that represent high street stores say freya's fears are all too common among shop workers. they are facing the shoplifting, but also, in so many cases, the violence and abuse that comes with it day in, day out. and it is a real demoralising state of affairs and one that is clearly unacceptable, that needs to be more highly prioritised and addressed. i get sick feeling literally thinking about what i used to do. and yeah, the guilt. ross insists he never used violence. he says he's clean and trying to stay out of trouble. you say that you only targeted big chains, but the people that work in those big chains have told me they're terrified when shoplifters come in. can you understand the fear that you put through people? oh, yeah. please understand that it's just a simple case of survival. it felt like. ifelt like i didn't have a choice. there's always a choice,

but it doesn't feel like you've got one when you you're that desperate. it's that desperation that drives so much of the shoplifting blighting businesses across the country. and it also raises questions about how society tackles the problem. jim connolly, bbc news. you have witnessed first—hand the experience of this on both sides, what can you tell us about the government and police response. that is riuht,... government and police response. that is right-u some _ government and police response. twat is right,... some take issues. what we have heard from the national police chiefs' council and they told us that one of the big problems when it comes to tackling this crime

just knowing where the shoplifting goods is ending up and ultimately they have added it is almost impossible to trace and strike it, they said it is a priority of anyone involved with the smell face the full force of the law but they acknowledge that as a real difficulty tackling the problem because it is very important, difficult when it is going from and to. when ross talked about taking items to sell on it is difficult for the authorities to know which goods are stolen and which are legitimate from a wholesaler. when it comes to the government responsively know the government is saying it is tackling theissue government is saying it is tackling the issue with real force, government is saying it is tackling the issue with realforce, that government is saying it is tackling the issue with real force, that at once to crackdown on this and that is specifically looking at this rule of £200 where many shoplifters know if they steel under that limit the chances are they will not face the

full force of the law and that is a mass of frustration from retailers. thank you. sorry about the tech issues. let's speak to sarah walker — manager of department store, browns of york. i wonder what you have witnessed because this notjust the i wonder what you have witnessed because this not just the financial impact, it is a safety issue. �*igg�*zse impact, it is a safety issue. 100% unfortunately. _ impact, it is a safety issue. 100% unfortunately. we _ impact, it is a safety issue. 10096 unfortunately. we have - impact, it is a safety issue. t::% unfortunately. we have witnessed unbelievable violence and threatening behaviour when a shoplifter has entered a store, we put ourselves at risk notjust as but members of staff and the public that are willing to shop with us. we never know if they are carrying anything, we have been spat at, had things pushed out of the way,

physical abuse, we feel very vulnerable and at risk.- physical abuse, we feel very vulnerable and at risk. what sort of su ort vulnerable and at risk. what sort of support have _ vulnerable and at risk. what sort of support have you — vulnerable and at risk. what sort of support have you received - vulnerable and at risk. what sort of support have you received in - vulnerable and at risk. what sort of support have you received in the i support have you received in the face of that risk? t support have you received in the face of that risk?— face of that risk? i am lucky to work on a _ face of that risk? i am lucky to work on a fantastic _ face of that risk? i am lucky to work on a fantastic company . face of that risk? i am lucky to i work on a fantastic company that supports us with extra security cameras, security guards but it is the police response and i know they get frustrated as well because it is the law that needs changing, the £200 and under the what they can do and what they are entitled to what they think they are entitled to comment and pinch the value. what they think they are entitled to comment and pinch the value. what comment and pinch the value. what does this mean _ comment and pinch the value. what does this mean _ comment and pinch the value. what does this mean in _ comment and pinch the value. what does this mean in terms _ comment and pinch the value. what does this mean in terms of- comment and pinch the value. what comment and pinch the value. what does this mean in _ comment and pinch the value. what does this mean in terms _ comment and pinch the value. what does this mean in terms of- comment and pinch the value. what does this mean in terms of the way you had to change how you run your does this mean in terms of the way you had to change how you run your department store and the precautions department store and the precautions staff have to take.— staff have to take.—

staff have to take. unfortunately when it is all— staff have to take. unfortunately when it is all— staff have to take. unfortunately when it is all profitability - staff have to take. unfortunately when it is all profitability - staff have to take. unfortunately when it is all profitability to - staff have to take. unfortunately when it is all profitability to us, | when it is all profitability to us, if it is stolen it goes against our staff have to take. unfortunately when it is all profitability to - staff have to take. unfortunately when it is all profitability to us, | when it is all profitability to us, if it is stolen it goes against our bottom—line and affects staffing bottom—line and affects staffing levels so it is making sure we make levels so it is making sure we make ourselves safe at all times using ourselves safe at all times using deterrence would become. thank you. deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim. — deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim. what _ deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim, what more _ back to jim. — deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim. what _ deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim, what more _ deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim, what more can _ deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim, what more can you - deterrence would become. thank you. deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim, what more can _ deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim, what more can you - deterrence would become. thank you. back to jim, what more can you tell i back to jim, what more can you tell i back tojim, what more can you tell us about the people behind these back tojim, what more can you tell us about the people behind these sorts of crimes because you are sorts of crimes because you are speaking to someone dealing with speaking to someone dealing with mental health issues and his own mental health issues and his own addiction. it is notjust people addiction. it is notjust people like that, that is organised crime like that, that is organised crime as well. ., , ., , as well. ., , ., , as well. one of the things that is interesting _ as well. one of the things that is interesting is _ as well. one of the things that is as well. one of the things that is interesting _ as well. one of the things that is interesting is _ as well. one of the things that is interesting is spending _ interesting is spending _ as well. one of the things that is interesting is spending time - as well. one of the things that is interesting is spending time with someone like ross gives you a new as well. one of the things that is interesting is spending time - as well. one of the things that is interesting is spending time with someone like ross gives you a new perspective on perspective on regular. i live in leeds but when i walked around with ross i felt like i was viewing the

city through different eyes, what i could see was a city full of people using drugs, buying drugs, suffering the effects of drugs and i could see them more clearly because i was hyper aware of being with someone going through those issues and when it comes to the criminality element thatis it comes to the criminality element that is funding that addiction you can see that every around you because you become hyper aware of it and look for certain signs and on

we have like ross so the insight we have today as so important because he is 70% of the shoplifting crime across the country, people like him exist

in every town and city with the same problems and issues in their lives and same addiction that these funding and that funding often is happening by shoplifting. thank you. clearl this happening by shoplifting. thank you. clearly this is — happening by shoplifting. thank you. clearly this is so _ happening by shoplifting. thank you. clearly this is so prevalent _ happening by shoplifting. thank you. clearly this is so prevalent that - happening by shoplifting. thank you. clearly this is so prevalent that it - clearly this is so prevalent that it is happening in plain sight. the european union's mission in the red sea says there was n0 oil spill near a tanker attacked by houthi fighters — after the pentagon issued a warning about a spill. the mission added that the greek—flagged sounion — which has been on fire off the coast of yemen since last week — was still anchored and not drifting. the ship is carrying more than a hundred and fifty thousand tonnes of crude oil. south korea's constitutional court has ruled that the government has not done enough to say how it plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. in what is asia's first such case — the ruling is a partial victory for more than 250 young climate change activists, who named an embryo as their lead plantiff. the court said the government had

not outlined how it planned to get to carbon neutrality in the two decades from 2030, and ordered it to work on a scheme. in 2021, south korea made a legally binding commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 5.4 percent every year from 2023 — a target they have so far failed to meet. bbc korean reporter yuna ku tells us why it is seen as a partial win. it is explained as that because the court unanimously ruled that the law stipulating greenhouse gas emission goal is unconstitutional, however they only recognised that the fact that the goal does not have plans for the year after 2030 and they did

not recognise that the ratio 35% emission goal is insufficient. tell us about the hundreds of young climate activists who have been fighting for this, the work they have been put in to this point. the first lawsuit was filed four years ago and that have been over 200 climate activists including children and babies participating in this petition and they have been waiting desperately for the constitution court to rule and today i was at the court and some of them were crying and celebrating although it is known as a partial victory they were celebrating the fact that the court finally recognises the relationship between climate change and fundamental rights.

there are hopes that this could have an impact across the region. yes, the climate activists have been mentioning it is the first of its kind not only in south korea but all over asia. recently there have been increasing numbers of similar lawsuits ongoing in asia and the south korean court rule is expected to set a standard for other decisions. a spacex rocket has been grounded following a failed mission — as the federal aviation authority, the faa investigates what went wrong.the falcon 9 rocket, which powers satellite launches as well as trips to orbit for astronauts, experienced a rare failure where its first—stage booster tipped over and exploded while attempting to land after its latest launch. the faa's investigation

will determine when the falcon 9 might return to the launchpad — if out of commission, it could mean rolling setbacks for nasa and spacex ventures. the home office has been accused of �*woeful budgeting' for repeated overspending on asylum support. that's according to the think tank, the institute for fiscal studies, who said the department spent £7.6bn more than forecast over the last three years. a home office spokesperson said it is determined to operate the asylum system "swiftly, fairly, and in the interest of taxpayers." the last few days, we've been covering the ongoing legal issues for the founder and ceo of the messaging app telegram in france. well he's now been charged as part of an investigation into organised crime. the russian—born billionaire was released on bail set at five—and—a half—million dollars, and is not allowed to leave french territory. he faces multiple charges including

failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the app, and being complicit in the distribution of child pornography. his lawyer has described the allegations as "absurd" and says telegram fully complies with european digital regulations. bbc�*s pierre antoine—denis has more. in france, being placed underformal investigation does not imply guilt, but does suggest that there is enough evidence for a further inquiry. but the company, though, is on the offensive and is pushing back. durov�*s lawyer argues that telegram complies with all european digital regulations, and that it is absurd to implicate his client in criminal activities. have a listen. translation: firstly, _ telegram complies in every respect

with european digital regulations and is moderated to the same standards as other social networks. finally, i would like to add that it is totally absurd to think that the head of a social network could be involved in criminal acts that don't concern him, either directly or indirectly. telegram boasts over 900 million users globally, but is currently short of the 45 million active european users threshold that would register telegram as a large scale platform under the new european digital services act. once that is passed, companies need to establish a point of contact for authorities and users, report criminal offences, have user friendly terms and conditions and be transparent. so currently telegram needs to remove hateful content when it is reported, but have no legal obligation to supply information to authorities. the unprecedented nature of this case arresting a tech ceo for their platform's use has sparked a heated debate about freedom of speech and accountability. elon musk, among others, has come to durov�*s defence, calling the situation a blow to freedom, and argued that moderation is just another word for propaganda.

meanwhile, the french authorities stressed that the investigation is not politically motivated. a postcard, which was sent in 1903, recently reached its intended destination — 121 years late. since it was delivered, there's been a search for the relatives of the person who used to live at the address — and now they've been found. 0ur reporter lucy vladev takes up the story. so here it is in all its glory. threads through history, intertwining once more. he could only get this one. i think we have a pair of your relatives here. so i'm nick, ewart�*s grandson. i'm margaret, stanley's granddaughter. - and i'm margaret's sister helen, also stanley's granddaughter. nice to meet you. this group of complete strangers are in the rather novel position of realising they're, in fact, long lost relatives. i'm lydia's great granddaughter. connected through three siblings and a postcard that turned up last week. before this, we never

met each other. this has been quite a magical moment, really, to discover, especially for us that are trying to build our family trees and going into genealogy, this has opened up so much information. a note from a brother to his sister, this postcard, it turns out, set off a century—long chain reaction, now bringing together the grandson of the sender, ewart, great—granddaughter of the recipient, lydia, and the granddaughters of their brother, stanley. it's quite bizarre, seeing the family likenesses, if we look the same. i find it fascinating to look at all these photos and to piece together stories. and we've been trying to find out, you know, what did they do, where did they go, where did they end up? and of course, you kind of you feel like, oh, well, in another hundred years somebody might be doing that with us. so where has it been all this time? well, for that, you need to go back 121 years, when cradock street looked like this, horses were the only way to get around, and no—one knew what a phone was.

reading it, it's rather like a text message, and it's the same sort of idea, it just took a bit longer. clearly the writer, ewart, knows that lydia knows what he's talking about. you've got a few funny little misspellings. it says, "it was unpossible to get the pair of these, i'm so sorry," and so on. "love to all from ewart," at the end there. and there are some clues, aren't there, that this hasn't been sat on the sorting room floor of a post office for the past 100 years, has it? no, there's every indication that it made it there. a few little things. first of all, when you slightly hold it up to the light, it's got uk at the bottom there. well, uk appears to be written in biro and they didn't have biros in those days. secondly, on the top it's got fishguard pem written in pencil and that is not an edwardian hand. so there's every indication to me that it's been dealt with by a dealer at some stage.

but wherever it's been in the meantime, last week it ended up once again on the right street, but at what's now the wrong address — a building society. 0bviously savings and mortgages is my normal day to day stuff, so i thought, "i'll post it on our socials, hopefully there may be someone who may know of lydia, or know of a family member to connect it to lydia in swansea." did you expect it to get this far? no, no, to be able to connect a long—lost family because of a postcard that kind of came to our head office is amazing. meaning so much to so many, the family have decided to donate the postcard to west glamorgan archive service. as for this group, now the chance to do what most families do — get on with a good gossip. so that would be david... after all, there's a lot to catch up on. lucy vladev, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather.

hello again. yesterday we reached 30 celsius in cambridge. today it's more likely to be 23. being our top temperature, it's going to feel fresher and we're looking at a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers. now, most of the showers today will be across northern england, northern ireland and scotland, enhanced by this weather front moving from the west to the east. driven along on quite a brisk breeze come further south. the spacing in the isobars is much wider, not much of a breeze at all. so away from the showers in the north a lot of dry weather, some sunshine, fair—weather cloud bubbling up through the day. there's an outside chance of an isolated shower further south, but the lion's share will be in the north for some of those could be heavy and thundery. temperatures today 14 to about 23 degrees, so quite a drop from what some of us had yesterday. into this evening and overnight a lot of the showers will fade. we'll continue with a brisk breeze and some showers across the far north of scotland and in western areas. in the lighter winds we are looking at some mist and fog patches forming. it's also going to be a cooler night

tonight than last night. 0ur overnight lows — 7 to 11 degrees, so any mist and fog that's formed overnight will lift quite quickly tomorrow. high pressure is firmly in charge. tomorrow is going to be fine and settled. but on saturday we've got a change in the weather forecast. this weather front looks like it's going to produce a bit more cloud. so on friday a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine around, one or two showers coming in in a light breeze across the far north of scotland initially and through the day we'll start to see some sea breezes developing. so if you head towards the coast, temperatures will be that little bit lower. but inland we're looking at 18 in glasgow, 19 in newcastle to 24 in london. so the temperatures climbing a little bit more on saturday. we start off with some mist and fog patches, but we've also got our weather front in the south. now that's going to introduce more cloud than we thought, and also the chance of some light and patchy rain move north of that. it's drier and it's sunnier, but something we're watching is that area of cloud in the north sea. itjust might come onshore across parts of eastern scotland and northeast england through the day.

temperatures 14 to 22 degrees. now, beyond that, it turns a little bit more unsettled on sunday and monday we've got fronts moving northwards and also coming in from the west. they at times will introduce some rain and it could be heavy and thundery.

live from london. this is bbc news. the israeli army says it's killed 5 people on day two of its major military operation in the occupied west bank. live pictures from beijing as the us national security advisor meets china's president xijinping the uk prime minister meets the french president in paris. sir keir starmer says he wants to reset relations with the uk's allies in europe. restrictions on smoking outdoors are being considered by uk ministers as part of a drive to phase out tobacco. the paralympic games are under way following a spectacular opening ceremony in paris last night.

hello. i want to bring some live pictures straightaway from beijing because we are waiting to hear from the national security advisor, jake sullivan. he has been meeting with the chinese president as they discuss us china relations. as soon as he arrives, we will bring in more updates. we start in the middle east, where it's day two of the israeli military raids in the west bank. israel says five palestinian fighters have been killed while hiding in a mosque in the city of tulkarem. earlier, the palestinian armed group, islamichhad, says one of its top commanders is among those who have been