this is bbc news. the headlines: the israeli prime minister says it appears the man who drove a truck into a appears the man who drove a truck intoa group appears the man who drove a truck into a group of israeli soldiers was a supporter of islamic state. four soldiers were killed. a cold weather snap across europe has killed more than 20 people. the freeze is expected to last well into next week. the former iranian president akbar hashemi rafsa njani week. the former iranian president akbar hashemi rafsanjani has died. he was 82 and one of the country's leading moderates. his death comes four months before iran's presidential elections. iraqi special forces have reached the banks of the river tigris. coming up at ten o'clock, we will be

here with the full round—up of the day's news but first, we look at how tens of thousands of children in ghana have been trafficked into forced labour. she joins ghana have been trafficked into forced labour. shejoins a team of charity workers. ghana's biggest fishing ground, lake volta, holds a dark secret. tens of thousands of children who work on its waters have been trafficked into a life of forced labour. given up by poorfamilies on the promise of a better life. many face violence, and some even die on the job. he's a child, but he's no longer a child. he's been through things us as adults haven't been through. the government has pledged to eradicate this illegal practice.

there's so many children who could be rescued and could be put into this facility, but at the moment there's no—one in here. with the numbers dramatically on the rise, why are so many children still taken and forced to work like slaves? yeji, a small town on the banks of lake volta, in the centre of ghana. around 35,000 people live here and the main source of income is fishing. it's one of ghana's biggest industries, but the trade relies on an army of children — some as young as four or five. dampson was ten when he was brought to work on the lake.

his mother was tricked into giving him up to a trafficker. what were they making you do? there are 21,000 like dampson on lake volta alone, doing dangerous work, like diving to untangle nets, and fishing alone. buying and selling children is big business here. they're trafficked into forced labour — or what charities would describe as slavery. it's early morning here in yeji and we're on our way to the river bank.

we have very little idea what to expect when we get out there. today, i'm joining a rescue team from the charity challenging heights. hello, nice to meet you. they've been notified about some children who are being held. can you talk us through where we're going today? we're rescuing two boys today and one is in this community. the team can only afford two trips to the lake a year, so they target specific children for rescue. they get tip—offs from the community and many parents ask for help to bring their children home. it takes a lot of resources

to rescue a kid. but their task is huge. last year, ghana was put on an international watch list after a dramatic rise in trafficking. we keep seeing these boats, as we're going past, with children in them. we're not quite sure if these kids are with their parents, or they've actually been taken away by the fishermen. it's not uncommon for children to work for their families. even when they're meant to be at school. the team give advice to a passing fisherman. tell me what you're doing here today. how will they help you today? there's little the charity can do

about children like these. they concentrate on the ones who have been taken from their homes and sold to fishermen. after a couple of hours on the lake, we reach our destination. steven goes ahead to track down the man we're looking for. we have a long walk. the fishermen often live miles from any roads. 0k. in that far corner there.

the fisherman has agreed to talk. he says he lives here with his wife and there are several children here. the children we're looking for are here, but the fisherman is reluctant to hand them over. word has spread and more villagers want to get involved. the fisherman has finally given in, but there's an unexpected hitch.

the child doesn't want to go? eventually, the child obeys his master and we're able to leave with both boys. but it's not the triumphant rescue i was expecting. the fisherman is unlikely to face prosecution and the boys seem bewildered. this must be quite nerve wracking and frightening for these children because they don't know who you are. you've just turned up in their homes and then suddenly you're taking them away. after several years in captivity, these boys

are on their way to freedom. but they don't know who to trust. straight after being rescued, the children are taken to the charity's temporary shelter, outside yeji. when i come to visit, i'm pleased to see happy faces here. thank you. good to see you. you too. so we've got all of these kids who were rescued. this is the start of the process of finding their families. do they know where they've come from and what their names are,

who their parents are? while they're here, they'll get smartened up — hair trimmed, nails cut and any injuries treated. hello. i'm not hurting you? he doesn't have a nail. what's happened to your leg? what were you doing when your leg hit the boat? how bad can it get when

they're doing this job? bye. before they can move the children from yeji, the charity needs authorisation from the police. ghana has anti—trafficking legislation for the police to refer to. the authorisation is given to take the children. this really is very strange.

we've told the police we have these children. they've given us approval to take them away. they're clearly aware this goes on in their communities, but they're not doing anything about it. last year, there were no convictions. this place was founded in 2007.

definitely nice to see these children playing. if you look at when they were rescued and compare to now, you can see that freedom has come. the shelter is very close to my heart. for seven years, i worked on that lake as a fisher boy. every time i made a mistake, i was badly beaten. so that was a life of seven cumulative years of slavery. i see myself in the eyes of these children. i see these children in my own eyes. so it means a lot to me. it takes many months to prepare the children for family life again. some have been away

from their homes for years. these are their rooms. do you see something missing here? there's no pillow. there's no pillow, yeah. why is that? deliberately. most of these children, when they go home, they don't even have beds to sleep on. we decided ok, no pillow, so that the experience here is similar to when they go home. ii—year—old boni has been at the shelter for more than six months. his parents are waiting for him to come home. what's his name? i want to know how he feels about returning to his family. do you miss your mum and dad? have you seen them yet? what did you say to your mum and dad? i like the way you dance.

i even took a video of it. let me show you. look. you're the best dancer in the room. boni's parents live in a poor, rural neighbourhood. hello, nice to see you. they have five children. his father was a fisherman until he became too ill to work. his mother couldn't cope on her own. were you given money

initially when he was taken? many poor ghanaians send their children away to richer relatives or people offering to teach them a trade. boni's mother thought she was sending him to a better life with her sister. was it very emotional for you when you saw him for the first time? so what will happen to boni when he comes back? education is free in ghana

up to the age of 15. but many parents still don't send their children, because they can't afford the books and uniforms. we invite one of you to come. dampson was rescued after four years of forced labour on lake volta. he's now back at school. cheering. his classmates call him "soldier" because of what he's been through. he's been given counselling for the trauma he's suffered. after he was rescued,

dampson was taken in by his aunt. his mother had died while he was still in captivity. he wants to show me the room he shared with his mother. but it's too painful

to set foot inside. reintegrating rescued children back into their homes is not always successful. they come from poor families who sometimes can't or won't take them back. ghana has earned international praise for its efforts to fight child labour. but the problem is getting worse, not better. there are two government—run shelters to house trafficked children, but when i visit one, it seems deserted. there are kids here at this shelter, but i'm being told that none of them have been trafficked. there's so many children in yeji who could be rescued and could be put into this facility, but at the moment, there's no—one in here. we need the government

to commit resources into freeing these children. these are not hidden situation. you have an anti—human trafficking unit of ghana police service, which is great. but they don't have resource. they don't even have a boat to rescue children. so why is the government doing so little? hello, how are you? fine, thank you. thanks for having me. you're welcome. you're aware there's this trafficking that goes on in the country, but you don't have any rescue missions or operations to prevent this from taking place. the government is doing a lot. what we do is coordinate, what we do is train our district functionaries to monitor whatever is going on and report. the police are there.

they are doing all that they can to rescue the children. the police are not rescuing the children. they are not? no. the challenge is also the shelters, where to keep the children. they're not well resourced. so, sometimes putting the children in those shelters sometimes even looks worse than if they leave them or give them to ngos. it's left to charities like challenging heights to rescue these children. 14—year—old dampson is doing well. he's no longer living with his aunt and has moved in with his dad. he's a good boy? a good boy. it's still a struggle,

but now dampson has a place he can call home. where do you sleep? is it nice for you to finally be home? dampson has the chance of a bright future, unlike the thousands of children still trapped in slave labour on lake volta.

for now, their only hope lies in the small charities prepared to do battle on their behalf. i want to see a ghana where every child has the capacity to dream about his or her future. i want to see justice for every child that was once enslaved. if you prefer your winter ‘s cold,

there is something heading your way there is something heading your way the end of this week. for the time being, the real cold air is sitting either side of us. we are sitting in mild airat the either side of us. we are sitting in mild air at the moment as the jet wea ke ns mild air at the moment as the jet weakens up, we mild air at the moment as the jet weakens up, we see mild air at the moment as the jet weakens up, we see cold air to start the week, milder weather midweek and then towards the end, we open the doorfor some arctic air. then towards the end, we open the door for some arctic air. it does get calls through monday as this front pushes its way southwards. spread southwards across england and wales. south—westerly winds will continue towards the south—east corner. even with some sunshine, it feels colder through the second half of the day the further north. gales could affect northern scotland to ta ke could affect northern scotland to take us through the night. southern and eastern parts become dry and clear and there could be a touch of frost to take us into tuesday. a

colder start to the day and a colder start to tuesday it self with north—westerly winds in place. high pressure builds across the mid—atlantic. pressure builds across the mid—atla ntic. with did pressure builds across the mid—atlantic. with did receive more cloud spill in, the occasional rain and drizzle. brightest for longest of long eastern parts. in the west we finished tuesday with temperatures back into double figures. a mild end to tuesday. pretty windy night. strongest through the overnight spell will be across northern scotland. cloud on patchy rain elsewhere but eventually after a great start, brightening up but we are back into north—westerly winds. temperatures down to four or 5 degrees and we start to introduce some snow flurries. by the time we finish wednesday, the air flooding

its way southwards. we could see a weather feature push into was the south bringing rain and a bit of sleet but elsewhere, icy winds, frequent snow showers across the north and west. pinpointing those areas very uncertain but further east will see a few flakes of snow at times. but wherever you are, a bitterly cold day in the wind. temperatures made to feel more subzero thence to the strength of the wind and that maintains into friday. severe gales expected down the north sea coast. icy conditions to start the day and further wintry showers in northern and western areas. temperatures struggling to get above freezing. colder in that wind. could be a cold start to the weekend but beyond that, this area of low pressure is set to dominate,

ringing in south—westerly winds and returning us back to grey skies, damp and drizzly weather and those murky conditions across the west. the small chance that high pressure will build across scandinavia and eastern winds could tap into cold air across eastern parts of europe, which means a frosty outlook that this is unlikely. it looks like the milder wins will gradually come back. this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 10pm: four israeli soldiers are killed injerusalem — after a man drives a lorry into them. 15 others are injured. cctv footage shows the lorry approaching. police say the driver was a palestinian who was shot dead at the scene. the prime minister appears to accept that leaving the eu is likely to mean leaving the single market. the former iranian president, akbar hashemi rafsanjani has died. he was seen as an influential moderate voice in iran.

a man has been arrested after four people were held by a gunman in a bookmakers in south tyneside — nobody has been injured during the incident. the queen appears in public for the first time since she was taken ill with a cold before christmas, attending a church service at sandringham.