two people shot dead in the belgian capital brussels — the gunman is still at large after the suspected terror attack. and india's supreme court is set to deliver its verdict on whether same—sex marriage should be legal in the world's biggest democracy. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme. diplomatic efforts are continuing to try to open the rafah crossing between egypt and gaza. that will allow the aid as well as the...

the north of the territory has again been heavily bombarded by israeli air strikes. and meanwhile, a video analysed by bbc verify appears to show an air strike at the crossing itself earlier— the extent of the damage is unclear. the video was recorded by cctv footage on the egyptian side of the border and published by egyptian news channel al qahera news. we'll hear more about the conditions inside of gaza, but first a report from our international editor, jeremy bowen, who is in southern israel. another war, of words, has started over who is responsible for the suffering of palestinian civilians in gaza. israel is dropping the bombs. it says blame hamas for killing and kidnapping and, says israel, hiding behind civilians. gazans crowded into un schools after israel told them to move south

towards the egyptian border. they are supposed to be protected by the laws of war. america has felt it necessary to deliver repeated reminders of that to israel, along with military aid. this grandmother blames israel, then speaks of tragedy, hunger, death, fear, horror and destruction. in rafah, at the closed border with egypt, palestinians with foreign passports are hoping to get out, to escape the pressure israel has imposed on civilians, amid reports of another air strike in the area tonight. you cannot ask people to move out of harm's way without assisting them to do it, to go to places of their choice, where they want to be safe and with the humanitarian aid that they need to make that journey safely.

and right now, the movement that has happened has not had those provisions. antony blinken, us secretary of state, returned to israel after a rapid tour of america's arab allies. the us is giving israel all the military aid it wants. but it is trying to stop the war spreading. as for benjamin netanyahu, in parliament today, he is under great pressure. some of his many political enemies say he was so preoccupied with staying prime minister that he neglected israel's security. ehud olmert, prime minister when israel went to war in lebanon in 2006, was scathing about mr neta nyahu's performance. and he did it. therefore he holds the ultimate responsibility for the weakening of our resolve

in dealing with hamas. and it was a military failure, no doubt about it. an intelligence failure of the highest order, no question about it. in tel aviv, tech companies are working with intelligence agencies to try to locate the hostages in gaza. some who've served in the israeli military�*s cyber units don't want to be identified. they have built an algorithm that searches postings from gaza for faces and places. we upload photos of the missing person that we get from mostly the families but other sources as well. and also with collaboration with army units and huge lists of people that we have identified, and we try to understand from day one what happened to them. are they killed, injured, kidnapped in gaza? just trying to get answers for the family. we can see here, this is the same people in

different position, 0k? and we try to find more and more data to understand if they are alive or, as i mentioned, death. they believe the hostage in that image is alive. their information goes to families and to the army. in israel, there is unity about fighting hamas. the argument is about why hamas could break through israel's defences, and how to deliver israelis and palestinians from another generation of bloodshed. jeremy bowen, bbc news, southern israel. well, more on the israeli hostages. hamas has released a video showing one of the people it took hostage during the assault on israel that triggered the war. the video shows a young woman speaking hebrew who identifies herself as 21—year—old mia shem. it includes footage of the same woman receiving treatment for an arm injury. in it, the woman says she is from central israel and appeals for her release. a spokesman for the family

said they agreed these pictures could be shown. well, more on the air strike near the rafah crossing this evening, where thousands of people are waiting, trying to escape into egypt. our correspondent rushdi abu alouf is in the city of khan younis, in the southern area of the gaza strip. he updated us on the damage caused by the strike. the place has been bombed for the third time, according to the local authority here. they show me a footage from the crossing itself, cc camera. the damage is in the external hall and also, most important, the road that leads between the palestinian side of the crossing into the egyptian side of the crossing. i was shown a footage that there is, like, four holes in the road and the road itself is damaged, so it's not easy to move people from this side to the egyptian side.

well, the scale of damage i saw is not a great damage, and the local authority here, they said they can repair it fairly quickly, but they are waiting for egypt to reopen the crossing. i understand from different sources — in doha, in egypt and in other places — that this negotiation is still fruitless and no progress has been made to allow the humanitarian aid which gaza need the most. i'm in khan younis here, in the city where hundreds of thousands of people fled here. the city is overwhelmed by the number of people who are displaced here, which the city is already suffering from a blockade and a lack of fuel, electricity and water. they have to treat and accommodate 1.2 million people.

rushdi abu alouf has also had to relocate with his family from the north to the south of gaza as well. the united nations says israel's total siege of gaza, cutting off fuel, food and electricity supplies is causing a deepening humanitarian crisis. it's warning more help is needed to support the hundreds of thousands of palestinians who've moved from the north of the territory to the south. but there are those who are refusing to leave their homes, saying there's little support and aid for them if they do move. our former gaza correspondent jon donnison has more. much of the north of gaza looks unlivable. this is jabalia. once one of the world's most densely populated neighbourhoods, and where those who've survived are clinging on. not far away, abu jalil is one of them, trying to squeeze the last drops out of gaza city's water system, cut off for days. "we will not leave," he says, "we can't."

"even if they destroy our homes, where will we go, "with a family of five or six?" multiple families are now packed into apartments after their homes were destroyed, but they say it's not safe to move south. "the bombing is happening without warning," says this man, "and if i leave with 50 members of my family, "where are we going to get food and water?" and this is where people are being told to go. amid the destruction in southern gaza, the homeless and the hungry who fled the north in their hundreds of thousands are trying to survive. "we have nothing that we need to live," says this man, who fled south. "we're living in a dump, and if we move, we'll die." amid the detritus, and with too few toilets, many are fearful about the spread of disease. there's food, but not enough.

"all this will feed less than 2,000 people," says amir. just a fraction of those in need. there are long queues to get bread, but it's being rationed. "we've been waiting here since 6.00 in the morning," he tells us, "just to get food to feed the kids." "we will run out of flour," the baker says, "in two days maximum." clean water is also in short supply. and all the while, the hospitals in the south, like in the rest of gaza, are overwhelmed with patients, from the old to the very young. ten days? four days? born amid the chaos less than a week ago, what kind of life lies ahead of her? jon donnison, bbc news.

aid groups are struggling to get necessities into gaza and have been calling for a humanitarian corridor. uk charity christian aid says even before this most recent conflict, 80% of the civilian population relied on humanitarian aid and has so far had no water, fuel and food enter the area for the last eight days. earlier, i spoke tojulie mehigan, programme manager at christian aid for israel and the occupied palestinian territory, who says aid groups need immediate safe access into gaza. we are facing enormous challenges. in a sense, know it has entered gaza, not one drop of water, not one drop of fuel, not what grain of wheat has entered gaza this week, and of course there've also been electricity outages across. some partners are reporting 2a hours without electricity, so

you're really struggling with what appears to be violations of international law. it is not permissible under international humanitarian law to deny medical relief to civilians, and it is important to say at this point as well that the population of gaza is overwhelmingly civilian, and so it is so important that they get the medical relief, humanitarian relief that they so badly need. we are also struggling with communications. internet has been cut off. electricity is a major issue. so we have partners who we have not been to contact for the last couple days, we don't know if their buildings and their offices, which we are familiar with, legal and visit them in, in gaza city, we don't know if they're still standing —— we go and visit them in. and we don't know if those partners themselves are completely out of contact because of the internet issues, the electricity issues or if they have been hit in an air strike

themselves. so we are facing some major issues. like you say, we have a massive appeal out for the wider middle east crisis. this is notjust in gaza, but of course it is the most acute in gaza for now, and we are working with our partners... some of our partners... some of our partners have done the most amazing things, open up their community centres to internally displaced people. of course they are not safe, having moved from the north to the south, but they are at least altogether in committee centres there, where our partners are evil to provide nonfood items and food as well, medical relief —— community centres there, where our partners are able. but of course getting around gazais but of course getting around gaza is incredible difficult and perilous. the israeli army says

it's evacuating 28 towns and villages within around a mile of its northern border with lebanon because of threats of rocket fire from hezbollah, which like hamas is designated a terrorist group by the uk, us and other countries. israel's military spokesman has accused iran, which backs hezbollah, of ordering recent attacks. 0vernight israel carried out more strikes on southern lebanon, targeting infrastructre belonging to hezbollah. 0ur correspondent anna foster is on the israel lebanon border, and a warning, this report contains flash imagery. they sing a family says goodbye to theirfallen soldier, murdered by hamas. inab�*s grief at her nephew's death is still raw. and now, she's packing to leave home, too. it isn't safe here any more. translation: we can't. stay here now, the bangs are very serious. it's really scary. i have to get out of here. i've prepared my suitcases and i'm ready. nearly 30 israeli towns and villages along the lebanese border are being evacuated. even the government doesn't know what lies ahead. mr gantz, bbc. you're concerned enough to move

lots of people from the border, do you think there will be a war with hezbollah here in the north? i hope for them that not, but we do all of preparations needed. thank you very much. most people didn't wait for the order to leave. as the firing intensified, day after day, they fled. you can see how empty it is and that is why communities right along the northern border look like this now. all way from west to east, people are being told they are not safe. that is why they are leaving in such big numbers. well, this is the playground. guy is one of the few that's left. in normal times during this hour, we should be packed, especially on vacation time. it's about lunchtime now isn't it. —— it's about lunchtime now, isn't it? there is nobody here at all. about 80 or 90% of people are left. it's a shame. it's heartbreaking to see this place like — see my place like this.

even as tens of thousands of people are moved away, fierce exchanges of fire continue. and despite words of diplomacy, it's actions that will decide whether this border ignites. anna foster, bbc news, on the israel—lebanon border. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. further school strikes are due to take place in scotland after a union voted to reject the latest pay offer for support staff. unison, the union that represents administrators, catering assistants and janitors, said a rolling programme of strikes in schools and nurseries will take place in the coming weeks, with dates announced within days. parliament's behaviour watchdog has recommended that conservative mp peter bone be suspended for six weeks for bullying and sexual misconduct. it follows a complaint made

by a former member of staff, over behaviour which allegedly happened more than ten years ago. the suspension will have to be voted on by the house of commons to be approved. more foreign prisoners are to be deported to their home countries under plans to tackle overcrowding injails. justice secretary alex chalk is due to set out plans in the commons for reducing the prison population in england and wales. figures show thatjails are approaching full capacity — with the number of inmates at an all—time high. you're live with bbc news. to the developing story we are continuing to track out of belgium. two swedish nationals have been shot dead in brussels in what the prime minister of the country has said is a terror attack. the gunmen is at large, and a football match in the city, between sweden and belgium, has been called off mid—way through. belgium has raised its terror

alert to the highest level. sofia bettiza reports from the scene of the shooting. a gunman opened fire here in central brussels at around 7pm in the evening. he had an assault rifle and he shot dead two people in that street, which has been cordoned off by the police, as you can see. a short while ago, we were sent a video, and in that video, a man is filming himself on a scooter, and he claims to have carried out the attack. he is speaking in arabic and he says that he killed three people in the name of god. the belgian federal prosecutor believes that the man in that video is the gun man. the motive of the attack is unclear, but what a few people are pointing to is that the two victims were wearing sweet and football shirts, so they could have been football fans —— sweden football. there is a match tonight in brussels, sweden

versus belgium, and that has been suspended and fans were asked to stay in the stadium for security reasons. now, the authorities are treating this as a terror attack, and the alert level in brussels has been raised to four, which is the highest level, and it means that a threat could be imminent. on tuesday, india's supreme court is set to give a ruling on petitions seeking to legalise same—sex marriage. the government and religious leaders have strongly opposed same—sex unions, saying they are against indian culture. now, the ruling could potentially give india's tens of millions of lgbtq+ people the right to marry. the petitioners argue not being able to marry violates their constitutional rights. 0ur south asia editor, anbarasan ethirajan, has more on this. about 21 petitioners, mostly from the lgbtq community, they filed this petition in the supreme court, asking the court to give

legality to marriage equality for them because they are facing discrimination and stigma in the vast majority of indian society which is conservative socially and religion—wise. the court held several sittings in april and may, and it was referred to a constitution bench. that means more important cases are listened to by a five—judge group, which listened to these arguments, and then they reserved the verdict, and the people here, the millions of people here in india, especially from the lgbt community, are eagerly waiting for this verdict. what they are argue is according to the constitution, they are being discriminated against, they should be given the right to live together so that they can marry each other. that will open up avenues for them, for example, to open a bank account or to buy a house, or in issues like divorce, inheritance, there are so many legal issues. so that is why they want to legalise same—sex marriage.

however, the religious groups as well as the government... the government particularly argued against it, saying that, first of all, the supreme court should not be hearing this case because this is the job of parliament. and the religious leaders argue that it is against indian cultures, and both sides say it was merely an urban, elitist view, and that's why this is going to be an important verdict for millions of people. it can change the way the society looks at the lgbtq people. there have been some significant milestones as well, where certain sections of indian law had been reversed when it came to laws on homosexuality in india, isn't it? yeah, that was a colonial—era law that was abolished in 2018, that allowed — that legalised — gay sex. until that time, these people were facing a social stigma and it was a taboo even to talk about it, within families, even among friends. people would laugh at them, criticise them, and then the court's historicjudgment changed that, saying that it is not illegal to have gay sex.

moving from that, how they can make the situation permanent, that is why they were trying to get one of the acts within the indian constitution called the special marriages act, where the marriages can become legal, and that was the argument of these petitioners. the russian president vladimir putin is in beijing for talks with his chinese counterpart and to take part in xijinping's pet project — the belt and road forum. with the kremlin ever more isolated on the world stage, the chinese government has offered it significant moral backing, but refused to criticise its invasion of ukraine and said it will boost trade relations with russia. but has trade between the countries really increased that much? 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports. beijing and moscow say trade between their countries is growing, along with

a closer political alliance. the port where russian goods cross the river into the chinese border city of heihe seems to have a lot of activity. translation: i'm carrying | soybeans, wheat and barley, all from russia, and it's busier than before. the truck drivers tell us they're getting plenty of work. translation: i'm transporting sand and coal from russia. - others are moving containers with food. chinese tourists come here for a peek into neighbouring blagoveschchensk, where russian coastguard officers exercise in the autumn sun. you can see how close we are to russia here — you could swim across that river to the blocks of flats where russian people live — and so you would think this would be the obvious place to build trade relations between the two countries. and yet, when you speak to business people on this side of the border, many are saying that, actually, it hasn't been that great. large shopping centres here have either closed or never opened because of a lack of customers.

former stallholders, now operating out of their cars, say trade has been flat for years but even worse recently. translation: after covid, the borders haven't - been open for long. there aren't enough russians coming across. they are poor and they are at war. a woman shows us her hats, which once sold very well. translation: the fur is from russia, - but they're made in china. she says she used to have many chinese and russian customers. translation: just take a look at the streets - empty. - in the past, they were filled with potential buyers. you cannot compare now to the past. elsewhere, the provincial capital harbin was — a century ago — dominated by russian residents and russian culture. and local tourists visiting here seem well—disposed

to the man in charge at the kremlin these days. translation: putin has iron fists, he's tough. i "do you know why he's at war with ukraine?", i ask. translation: ordinary people don't comment on such things. | back near the border, as part of its so—called "no—limits partnership", beijing is helping out an isolated moscow by piping in more russian natural gas. but economic links still have a long way to go for china's trade with russia to match what it has with many other countries. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, heihe. that's all for now. stay with bbc news. hello there. it's been a fine start to the week, thanks to a ridge of high pressure. we've had some sunshine, chilly nights, mind you, with some frost and fairly cool days. tuesday, the last of this settled, chilly weather, because by wednesday onwards,

we start to see low pressure taking over, bringing gales, heavy rain, but also milder air too. now this area of low pressure has been named storm babette by the met office. that's going to continue to push northwards, affects our shores. wednesday, thursday, merges with a larger area of low pressure — and that area of low pressure itself will affect us for the end of the week and into the weekend. so rainfall totals really mounting up across the board, but particularly so across more northern and eastern parts of the country. and we do have some concerns for eastern scotland, which could see heavy and persistent rain throughout this week, which could lead to localised flooding. of course, the ground is pretty saturated here as well. chilly start, there'll be some early mist and fog, plenty of sunshine around. the breeze picking up across southern britain, and we'll start to see this weather front bring some patchy rain to south—west england, south—west wales, then push up towards northern ireland later in the day. and temperatures will be a little bit higher than monday, 12 to 16 degrees. but the winds will continue to pick up through tuesday night. rain will splash its way northwards, into northern ireland and scotland. elsewhere, largely dry, variable cloud,

some clear spells. there will be some further rain pushing into the south—west by the end of the night, but nowhere will see frost. it's going to be a much milder night, 9 to 12 degrees. wednesday, then, we see storm babette start to push up in towards southern britain, bringing gales and heavy rain. initially, we'll start off with that early rain across scotland. that will tend to clear away. much of central and northern britain will have a fine day on wednesday. quite windy, though, those winds picking up through the day from the south—east, and it turns much wetter across south wales, southern england later in the day. some heavy, thundery rain here as storm babette pushes northwards. widespread gales developing as well. but on the mild side, 13 to 17 or 18 degrees in the south. on thursday, storm babette will be affecting the north of the uk, rain piling into eastern scotland, strong and gusty winds here. further south on thursday, something a little bit quieter, but it's going to stay quite windy, with sunny spells, showers or longer spells of rain, and temperatures up to 18 or 19 degrees here, mid—teens further north. but we see further very wet and windy weather on friday, certainly across the south

and the east of the country. that lasts as we head into the weekend as well. see you later.

ten years of belt and road. on the anniversary of china's multinational investment initiative, we look at the the winners and losers of the

massive undertaking. plus, australia has plans to end the exploitation of migrant workers. but the problem could be bigger than it seems. hello, and welcome to asia business report with me, arunoday mukharji. we begin the programme with china's belt and road initiative — because this month marks ten years since beijing kicked off the massive infrastructure project designed to link beijing with asia and the rest of the world, by following the old silk road. these are all the countries that have signed up. it's been a massive undertaking with some winners and losers. our asia business correspondent nick marsh sent this report. the first thing you need to know about the br i is the sheer scale. know about the br i is the sheerscale. in know about the br i is the sheer scale. in the past ten years, more than 145 countries have signed up, three quarters of the world's population, over

half the