this is bbc world news. our top stories... a picture has been posted on social media which — if authentic — would be the first proof since february that princess latifa of dubai is alive. thousands of palestinians return home as a ceasefire between israel and gaza holds for a second day. hello and welcome to bbc world news. photographs on instagram purport to show princess latifa al—maktoum, the daughter of the ruler of dubai who has not been seen for months. in february, bbc panorama broadcast a secret video testimony from princess latifa where she said

she was being held as a hostage by herfamily and feared for her life. the bbc is unable to verify the images. our reporter nawal al—maghafi has more. the al—maghafi has more. princess who vanished reap; at the princess who vanished reappears. at least that is what the instagram picture suggest. princess latifa, one of the 25 children of sheikh mohammed has been seen or heard from in months. she attempted to escape from dubai in 2018. iam in months. she attempted to escape from dubai in 2018. i am a in months. she attempted to escape from dubai in 2018. iam a hostage and i am injail. in the video the bbc gained access to after she was captured, she alleges she is being held in solitary confinement in a villa in central dubai. but now a photo posted by two of her friends on wednesday shows the princess in a dubai shopping mall. it was uploaded to instagram, which doesn't show the

date and time the photo was taken, as well as a precise location. but what it does show is a cinema billboard advertising the film, demon slayer which was released in the united arab emirates later this month. she isn't the only daughter of sheikh mohammed who attempted to escape. in of sheikh mohammed who attempted to esca -e. z: z: z: of sheikh mohammed who attempted to esca-e. :: z: z: , of sheikh mohammed who attempted to escae. xii: , , , ,, ., escape. in 2000, my sister shamsa, on holiday in — escape. in 2000, my sister shamsa, on holiday in england, _ escape. in 2000, my sister shamsa, on holiday in england, she _ escape. in 2000, my sister shamsa, on holiday in england, she was- escape. in 2000, my sister shamsa, on holiday in england, she was 18 . on holiday in england, she was 18 years old going on 19, she ran away. there has been no comment from the dubai royalfamily. the event there has been no comment from the dubai royal family. the event which has urged the emirates for months to prove that princess latifa is alive, declined to comment on the photograph but has told the bbc it awaits convincing proof of life in the case of princess latifa, which the case of princess latifa, which the uae has said it will provide. egyptian mediators have been holding talks to try to work out the details of the ceasefire between israel and hamas, which is now in its second day. meanwhile the first convoys of humanitarian aid

have arrived in gaza and thousands of palestinians have been returning home to scenes of devastation. officials say reconstruction might take years. nearly 250 people were killed in gaza during the 11—day conflict. 12 people died in israel which came underfire from thousands of missiles. the bbc�*s laura trevelyan is injerusalem. here injerusalem there isn't damage, there is psychological damage becausejews and israelis came into conflict on the streets here. but what happened in gaza is real physical damage. after 11 days there, the united nations estimates 77,000 people fled their homes. the bbc�*s tom bateman was out and about in gaza today with a family who returned and saw the rubble that used to be their house. gaza's homeless wonder if it's even worth rebuilding.

this man loses count of the rounds of conflict he's seen here. this time, the israelis got his home. i go to meet him at the tent he's put up on the wreckage. before the missile struck, his neighbour had a warning call. he and his family ran and then filmed their house being bombed. israel says it targeted the homes of militants. he says his son just works for the police in the enclave, which is governed by the armed group hamas. translation: i am an innocent civilian. i i have nothing to do with politics. my feeling is more hatred towards israel. if i have a weapon now, i will go and fight, because i am not guilty. i have nothing to do with what happened to me.

aid groups say 80,000 people in gaza were displaced in the fighting. some have been leaving schools where they'd sheltered. meanwhile, the first aid convoys have been arriving. this crossing with israel has partially reopened as the truce continues to hold. they're clearing up at the hanadi tower in gaza city. in the final hours of the last major conflict in 2014 it was evacuated, but stayed standing as the war ended. this time, it was struck on the first day of fighting. with a hit on this tower, it's like this conflict picked up where the last one left off. there is a depressing continuity for people here. life becomes reduced to counting the time between wars. israel's leaders claim to have hit hamas' capabilities in an unprecedented way, but people on both sides feel they are just counting down to the next inevitable conflict.

tom bateman, bbc news, gaza. studio: and laura, for diplomats now, for the international communities, such a challenge to secure the ceasefire and think longer term? that's right, fell apart. i was in the gaza strip in 2009 after the first of the now four israeli, hamas conflicts since hamas came to power in the gaza strip. and back then everybody said it was probably the beginning of a new cycle of violence with hamas firing rockets, israel conducting air strikes in the gaza strip, and so it has proved. and so the question now is, can diplomacy find a way out of this vicious cycle into which everybody seems to be trapped? and the israeli defence minister, benny gantz, said today that without a real lasting diplomatic solution this is just the end of one conflict before the start of the next. everyone has seen this movie before so the egyptian mediators who brokered the ceasefire.

remember egypt is the only country that talks to both israel and hamas and is involved in the diplomacy. they were in the gaza strip yesterday, today they were in ramallah talking to palestinian authority. you have the us secretary of state, antony blinken coming to israel and to the palestinian authority on wednesday and thursday of next week, so there is a great flurry of diplomatic activity. everyone is trying to make this ceasefire more durable. mount nyiragongo in eastern democratic republic of congo, one of the world's most active volcanoes, erupted on saturday, sending panicked residents of the nearby city of goma fleeing, although a volcanologist said the city did not appear to be in danger. dario tedesco, a volcanologist based in goma said that the lava appears to be flowing east in the direction of rwanda. drc�*s government spokensman says, they have activated an evacuation

plan for the eastern city of goma. nyiragongo last erupted in 2002, killing 250 people andmaking 120,000 people homeless after lava flowed into goma. let's take a moment to look at the latest developments in the pandemic. more than a million people are now known to have died from covid—19 in latin america and the caribbean. that's around 30% of the global total of fatalities. the worst affected countries have been brazil, mexico, colombia, peru and argentina. in argentina, a doctor in beunos aires told the bbc it was at almost 100% capacity as argentina sees record levels of infection. 39,000 new cases were reported on wednesday. argentina has just started a strict nine—day lockdown. bangladesh has issued an urgent appeal to britain and the united states to provide more doses of the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine. the country says it is in danger of running out of supplies. bangladesh has received around ten million astrazeneca jabs from india in recent months.

india's information technology ministry has written to social media companies asking them to remove content that refers to the �*indian variant�* of coronavirus. it said reports using the term were "completely false". the world health organisation has classified a covid variant, first identified in india, as being of international concern. emergency crews have been battling a wildfire in the upmarket californian town of santa barbara. you can see here how close the flames are to homes — at least one property has been destroyed. firefighters say they've largely brought the blaze under control. investigators say they believe it was started deliberately. the bbc�*s former director general, lord hall, has resigned as chairman of the national gallery in london— following criticism over a bbc interview with princess diana in 1995.

tony hall was the corporation's head of news at the time, when reporter martin bashir, used deception to secure the interview. lord hall led an internal investigation into initial complaints but it was branded "woefully ineffective" this week, by an independent inquiry. here's our home editor, mark easton. former bbc director—general tony hall has not yet appeared publicly to answer questions about his role in the bashir scandal, specifically about what the dyson report called his "woefully inadequate" investigation into martin bashir�*s conduct in 1986. today, though, we learned that lord hall has stepped down from his role as chair of the national gallery. in a statement he said...

tony hall was director of bbc news and current affairs at the time of the panorama interview, and described martin bashir as "an honest and honourable man", even though he knew the reporter had faked documents and lied on a number of occasions. he was director—general and editor—in—chief at the bbc in 2016, when mr bashir was rehired by the corporation as religious affairs correspondent, and lord hall then promoted him to religion editor in 2017 — decisions to be investigated by mps. i have to say, there are lots of questions, and, also, i would want to know, what precisely did he do in hisjob? he wasn't on air a great deal during his time as correspondent or religious editor, and, you know, one would have to ask why was it that he was even promoted while back at the bbc? princess diana's brother, earl spencer, has revealed that he's written to the commissioner of the metropolitan police, asking the force to look again at the circumstances surrounding her bbc panorama interview.

his letter to dame cressida dick claims his sister was the victim of blackmail and fraud. scotland yard has already said it's looking at the dyson investigation to see if there's any significant new evidence to support a criminal investigation. there's already a government review into public broadcasting in britain, but ministers are suggesting the bashir scandal may require specific reform of bbc governance. what really matters for the bbc is they put in place what is needed to ensure that this sort of thing can never happen again. the current bbc director—general, tim davie, has written to staff saying the scandal leaves the corporation with much to reflect on. although there are now significantly stronger processes and governance in place, he says, the bbc must also learn lessons and keep improving. the sunday times has just published an interview with martin bashir,

in which he says he loved princess diana and never meant to harm her — as our correspondent charlotte wright explained. it's clear he feels he did the wronged princess diana. he rejects earl spencer's actions ultimately led to her giving up her security detail and ultimately contributed to her death. he says that is unreasonable and unfair. he has also responded to the duke of cambridge who delivered that statement on thursday evening. the duke of cambridge said the way the interview was obtained fuelled her isolation and paranoia. martin bashir responded saying, i cannot imagine what their family much feel each day, although i know a little of that myself having lost a brother and father prematurely. but he says in the 1990s there were stories and secretly recorded phone calls and he says he wasn't the source of any of that. he goes on in some detail to talk

about the fact they were friends and remained friends? yes, he said they had a very close relationship. he said they first bonded after he made a programme on postnatal depression. she told him about her experience. he said diana talked about her own experience of postnatal depression, she spoke about bulimia and he said she said something about feeling suicidal, although he didn't take notes on that. in fact he said they grew so close that diana came to visit his wife on the day that they had their third child in hospital. he says they were friends, he says she was spectacular. and yet, and yet behind all this, there is the fact from the dyson report that martin bashir used deception to get to diana, however he felt about her, whatever he says about her now, is there an apology? he says he deeply regrets

commissioning the fake bank details, he says he was a young man, 32 at the time. he says since he rejoined the bbc he hopes he has demonstrated high levels of integrity. he was asked by the journalist if he was able to forgive himself. he paused before saying, he hopes people would allow him to show them that he has repented. the queen has been meeting the crew of the royal navy's new flagship — hms queen elizabeth — as the carrier prepares for its first major deployment. the £3 billion warship — carrying eight new stealth fighter jets and other aircraft — is now leaving portsmouth, for asia. from portsmouth, our defence correspondent, jonathan beale, reports. this morning, the longest—serving monarch arrived on britain's largest warship. hms queen elizabeth, stand at ease. two queen elizabeths — her majesty bidding farewell to the crew of the aircraft carrier she named and commissioned, about to sail east halfway round the world.

moored alongside, an american destroyer, one of six warships that'll accompany her to the pacific. the navy says it's the most powerful uk maritime deployment in a generation, and the embodiment of global britain. so, this is a tangible expression of how the country can go out into the world, and so we have a fantastic new capability, and when we deploy, it speaks to our values, our interests, what we stand for. the carrier's already been training with the latest f35s. there are more usjets on board than british ones. the government says that a sign of strength, not weakness. during the seven—month voyage, they're expected to launch their first combat missions over iraq. the government sees this as a symbol notjust of global britain, but of military power. but in sailing east, it insists it's not looking for a confrontation with china. it's more about boosting trade

and diplomatic ties in the region. but does this deployment signify a big shift in foreign policy? a tilt towards asia? i think diplomacy is often about theatre, and this is a great piece of theatre. slow it's a very impressive piece of british engineering, it's a powerful military asset, but making there and back to the indo—pacific is not a strategic shift, it's a gesture. tonight, hms queen elizabeth will set sail on her 26,000—mile voyage. it does mark a new era for the navy, but will it redefine britain's place in the world? jonathan beale, bbc news, portsmouth. most people travelling from the uk will not be allowed to enter germany from tomorrow, because of the rise in cases of the indian variant here. german citizens and residents,

as well as others with an exceptional reason — can still enter, but have to quarantine for two weeks. our correspondent in berlin, damien mcguinness, explains why the german government has taken this decision. the economy is starting to open up over this weekend. people can now start sitting out on terraces, beer gardens are opening up, outside eating's allowed — all sorts of cultural, sporting activities. that's because the infection rates here in germany have really come down. the vaccine roll—out has sped up. now almost 40% of the population have had at least one dose. but the worry is that the indian variant could come over into germany. now, at the moment, about 2% of new infections are of the indian variant — that's what officials here say, in germany, as it has done in parts of england, then that could really stop the progress of fighting the pandemic in germany, and that's why, overnight, german officials announced that travel from britain or from the uk to germany is effectively banned. the only exemption are residents

of germany or german citizens coming back to germany, and they will have to go into two—week isolation period at home. so, a big restriction, and it will cause a lot of problems and make it almost impossible for many people to go from the uk to germany until the indian variant is controlled. i think that's what the german government is really looking for. this is bbc news, the headlines: a picture has been posted on social media which — if authentic — would be the first proof since february that princess latifa of dubai is alive. thousands of palestinians have been returning home as a ceasefire between israel and gaza holds for a second day. more on the gaza ceaeefire — following the 11 day conflict, i spoke to micky aharonson, a fellow at the jerusalem institute for strategy and security and a former advisor to prime minister benjamin netanyahu. i asked her if this ceasefire has secured a calm that will last.

well, i don't know if we can talk about secure for the long run. this will be a long war of attrition for years and we hope to break the equation that says that whenever hamas needs more money to come into gaza, it will start shooting rockets into the state of israel. we hope this time hamas will reconsider before it does it again. hamas would point to the number of civilians, the number of women and children who have been killed by israeli strikes and say that in the court of public opinion, globally, israel's been diminished. oh, but hamas doesn't point this attack, that about a quarter of the missiles it shot towards israel fell in the territory of gaza while killing its own people, which provides good pictures for hamas. but, again, i think that the major reason hamas started shooting was not about israel at all.

it was about the palestinian authority and the wish to portray itself as more powerful vis—vis the palestinian authorities. so these calculations, again, they have nothing to do with israel — it was very instrumental to hamas to shoot into israel. again, understanding the price it would have to pay and i would like to stress that whenever israel chose to operate against hamas, against military, as it took hamas, it tried of course to minimise in the most accurate way possible any collateral damage. we have practices here that are unprecedented or unseen in the world, like trying to warn citizens to stay away from places which israel was about to bomb because hamas placed weapons inside, in between civilian population, which was a war crime in itself. here in england, a project which analyses sewage water for early signs of coronavirus

outbreaks, has been expanded to cover two—thirds of the country's population. it's hoped it could serve as an early warning of new outbreaks. here's our science correspondent, victoria gill. early in the pandemic, scientists confirmed that waste water could be tested for genetic fragments of sars—covi—2 virus. since then, the government set out to take samples from sewage treatment plants across england. that sewage sampling, which scientists say can pick up the virus earlier than testing in a population, has now been ramped up. and researchers say that 500 locations are being monitored for coronavirus — many of them sampled at least four days a week. it's a sewage—based coronavirus tracking project that was developed from scratch over the last year. the health secretary said earlier this week that the approach was being used to monitor the indian variant and track its spread. waste water testing has been described as an additional detection system for covid—19, helping health officials to spot early signals of localised outbreaks and variants of concern, as the country tentatively

emerges from restrictions. and the system could continue post covid, enabling the use of waste water to track diseases like flu. scientists who helped set up sewage testing programme say it could be one public health silver lining of the pandemic. victoria gill, bbc news. if you've been missing your fix of high—energy pop, fabulous costumes and a certain kitsch charm — worry no more. the eurovision song contest is back, and is under way now. for more on this, we can go to our correspondent, steve holden, in rotterdam. what has been your highlight so far? the show has just finished, 26 countries took part. the highlight, san marino, one of the smallest countries in the world and they had

invested flo ryder. iceland wasn't allowed to perform live in the arena because one of the bandmembers tested positive for covid—19 early in the week so the safety protocols kicked in and they were not allowed to perform here. they are in a hotel watching the old rehearsal footage being beamed to the well. we are now waiting for the long results to come through. we are waiting for them in the next five minutes. you through. we are waiting for them in the next five minutes.— the next five minutes. you are waitin: the next five minutes. you are waiting for— the next five minutes. you are waiting for the _ the next five minutes. you are waiting for the results - the next five minutes. you are waiting for the results and - the next five minutes. you are waiting for the results and we | the next five minutes. you are - waiting for the results and we know they can be political as well as purely musical?— they can be political as well as purely musical? they can be political as well as urel musical? , . , purely musical? this argument gets brou:ht u- purely musical? this argument gets brought up every — purely musical? this argument gets brought up every year. _ purely musical? this argument gets brought up every year. it _ purely musical? this argument gets brought up every year. it is - purely musical? this argument gets brought up every year. it is hard - purely musical? this argument gets brought up every year. it is hard to| brought up every year. it is hard to tell how much is political. i would say that what we have is a song contest. if you look at the recent winners including portugal, the netherlands and sweden, it normally goes on what the best song is. it is

normally the pre—contest favourite and what connects with the audience. yes, there are country lines and people voting for their neighbours and their friends people voting for their neighbours and theirfriends and people voting for their neighbours and their friends and not their enemies, so to speak. but at the end of the day, eurovision always say the emphasis is on the song at the performance. usually the one that most people are talking about comes out on top. most people are talking about comes out on to -. ., most people are talking about comes out on to -. . ., ., ., out on top. there are a lot of british fans _ out on top. there are a lot of british fans of _ out on top. there are a lot of british fans of the _ out on top. there are a lot of british fans of the eurovision| out on top. there are a lot of - british fans of the eurovision song contest. it is often the case that the british entry doesn't win, they just have to be in it for the spirit of the contest? the just have to be in it for the spirit of the contest?— just have to be in it for the spirit of the contest? the uk hasn't won since 1997, _ of the contest? the uk hasn't won since 1997, but _ of the contest? the uk hasn't won since 1997, but it _ of the contest? the uk hasn't won since 1997, but it remains, - of the contest? the uk hasn't won since 1997, but it remains, as - of the contest? the uk hasn't won since 1997, but it remains, as he l since 1997, but it remains, as he said, hugely popular. this year we had a guy called james newman enter with a song called embers. a record company got involved and james himself, who is a brit award winning songwriter with really good

credentials, he has embraced the contest. i have interviewed him a lot over the last couple of months, he knows how important it is. he has said he has full enthusiasm for the uk in this contest. i imagine the uk will win again one day, just might take a more years. we will win again one day, 'ust might take a more years.— will win again one day, 'ust might take a more years. we have en'oyed our take a more years. we have en'oyed your enthusiasm i take a more years. we have en'oyed your enthusiasm this i take a more years. we have en'oyed your enthusiasm this evening _ take a more years. we have enjoyed your enthusiasm this evening as - take a more years. we have enjoyed| your enthusiasm this evening as well and i will let you turn to the results coming in. thank you. now it is time to take a look at the weather. the morning is not looking bad across most of the uk but it is not going to last. we are expecting rain and gales especially across western part of the uk. you can see this swell across the atlantic, another big low pressure and the weather front is already approaching ireland. you can see the low pressure, rather autumnal looking and that will be sweeping across us

over the next couple of days. it is pushed by a strong jet stream, 30,000 feet. the forecast for the early hours shows the rain pushing into ireland. but many parts of the uk are clear and calm. we are expecting a touch of frost in the glens of scotland and even cities further south than birmingham, about three degrees in the morning. the forecast, from the morning onwards the weather front sweeps into western part of the uk, gale force winds develop around western coasts and for a time, the rain could be quite heavy, particularly around south—western england, wales and the south west of scotland. notice that at this stage, from norwich to aberdeen, the weather is dry and the rain may not reach you and a lot later on in the day and probably during the evening hours. then out towards the west, the weather should calm down. this is monday, a low pressure sitting on top of the uk and when we are in the centre of the low pressure, we get big shower clouds, so it is a day of storm

clouds, so it is a day of storm clouds building, perhaps thunder and lightning across some parts of wales and england. however northern and eastern scotland are likely to be quite wet on monday as this weather front wraps around into the centre of this low pressure. 0n front wraps around into the centre of this low pressure. on tuesday, the low pressure is moving towards the low pressure is moving towards the east butjust in the wake of it, further showers are expected from scotland and also along the eastern side of the country. 0ut towards the west, the weather should start to improve. all in all, the rest of the weekend and into next week, looking fairly unsettled. but this is the good news as we head towards the end of the week ahead, there are signs that the weather finally will be settling down. something to look forward to.