in a few hours, republicans hold their next debate — can nicky haley mount a serious challenge to the absent donald trump? and celebrating shakespeare's first folio — the collection that saved his plays, and his language, for us. welcome to the programme. israel's military is claiming that hamas has lost control of the north of the territory, after weeks of relentless israeli bombing. tens of thousands of civilians have been on the move

heading south, away from israeli air strikes. israel says it's targeting hamas, a group designated as a terror organisation by the uk government, and responsible for killing 1,400 people on the 7th of october and seizing more than 200 hostages. jeremy bowen has been embedded with the israel defense forces, inside the territory. while the bbc retained editorial control of the report, the sections featuring the israeli military have been cleared by the idf. like young soldiers in many wars, israeli troops looked excited, not apprehensive, as they made their final preparations to join israel's invasion of the gaza strip. they're moving in as the war approaches a critical point. their colleagues already inside the strip have surrounded gaza city. these men might be part of the next stage, locating hamas tunnels and fighting street by street. israel's prime minister

promised his country a mighty vengeance against hamas. but with so much firepower, one question — is israel following joe biden�*s advice not to be blinded by rage, to defend itself, but also protect the lives of palestinian civilians? we went into gaza with the israeli army on condition we didn't reveal their positions. video shot after they took us through the gap in the fence into gaza — though not this script — had to be submitted to their military censors. we got out of the back of an armoured vehicle and walked into a wasteland. after a month of air strikes and more than a week of tanks and troops, every building i saw was damaged or destroyed. they wanted to show us what they said was a hamas weapons factory, in this wrecked structure. this is their scuba diving equipment that's meant to come from sea, from their land to our land.

and they made drones that drop bombs, he said, in this workshop. places like this, he said, originated the 7th of october attacks. but upstairs was a family apartment. the soldiers said it was more proof that hamas used civilians as human shields, building bombs underneath a bedroom used by children. the officer said hamas — not israel — was responsible for civilian deaths. we know, intelligence. we know what we hit. we know the targets, they're approved by our command. it's not that i wake up and my objective is to ruin the city. i aim for enemy and enemy only, and i use all in my power to hit the enemy only. so judging by the destruction here, the enemy was everywhere, you'd say? yes. israel's strategic equation measures the destruction

and death it's brought to palestinians in gaza — civilians as well as hamas — against the pain of its own people and the importance of making them feel safe again. the overriding impressions i have from being here is, first of all, the level of force that israel has brought to bear on the gaza strip — a vast amount of military power. in addition, the level of destruction, massive destruction, thousands of homes gone. israel says a military necessity, self—defense. this woman's view was different. she said it was because of israel's bombardment, because nowhere was safe, because there was no food or drinking waterfor the children and because israel had bombed the bakeries. israel said 50,000 palestinians moved south after it promised safe passage.

hamas released more videos of its fight against israel in gaza's streets. it claims victories but it is vastly outgunned. hamas cannot win a toe to toe fight with israel but guerilla tactics, hit and run, might drag the war out for months, and force a ceasefire. more israeli tanks were moving forward as we left the gaza strip this evening. israel's western allies support the invasion. but america's reminders about the laws of war and the pressure for humanitarian pauses suggest even israel's closest allies are queasy about this war�*s human catastrophe. jeremy bowen, bbc news, gaza.

the us secretary of state, antony blinken, says there should be no israeli occupation of gaza, when the current conflict comes to an end. speaking after a meeting of g7 foreign ministers injapan, he called for the territory, and the west bank, to be united, under the palestinian authority. it is also clear that israel cannot occupy gaza. now, the reality is that there may be a need for some transition period at the end of the conflict but it is imperative that palestinian people be central to governance in gaza and in the west bank as well. the road to peace between israel and gaza feels further away than ever — but one man says he did all he could to try to stop the seemingly endless conflict between the two sides. for ten years, rami aman has been organising virtual calls between gazans and israelis. he calls it �*skype with your enemy'. the aim was to promote peace. he was arrested several times for this — most recently in 2020,when he was imprisoned by hamas for 6.5 months.

the pictures you see here are of him reuniting with his family. since his release, he has moved to cairo but those �*skype with your enemy�* calls haven't stopped. he responded to the israeli president, saying residents of gaza should've tried to overthrow hamas. we are facing hamas, as i told you, alone since 2007, mr mahmoud abbas left us also. so since 2011, in the beginning, maybe we trusted them because maybe some people voted for hamas, not because they believe in hamas, but because of the corruption of the people before hamas, fatah and then their guys. but for people, after some years after the operation with israel in 2009, 2010, people started to feel like, no, it's not a good government. there is a corruption, it's like fatah. it's just the same faces. and then year after year.

i'm one of the organizers for many protests against hamas and then calling many times. and from here in cairo, just a few months ago, 100,000 people went to the streets calling hamas to go out. but the problem that through the last two years, no media organised the media just over hamas and over abu mazen. you've spent the past decade trying to find a path to peace. assuming you still have friends in gaza, how does this latest war affect the public opinions in gaza, in your view? of course, now in gaza until now, people like they are inside nightmares. now, like 50, 50 dozens were killed in this area just because of nothing. people from 2006 until now, they are between the army and hamas groups. and as i told you, hamas started control of gaza by killed 1000 the were from

fatah and 100 member. it means like 50,000 people with theirfamilies. so i'm here in cairo, one 7th of october. i have friends in both sides. so for me and also i was i'm a journalist, so i'm working from the morning i hear that i there is a partner of peace partner in israel called viviane. she is arrested and she's in gaza. and also, i started to hear that my friends, they started to kill in gaza. right. the army. do you think that there's still path to peace or in your view, is it now totally derailed? no, of course.

of course. we have many chances to peace. i believe and also i see many connections between israelis and palestinians inside gaza. they are caring about each other, understand each other, notjust blame each other. and this is very important that at least under this military situation, we have israelis and palestinians still talking, not just asking each other to condemn, to go out. no, because who is paying the price now? who paying the price in the beginning and then? just the civilians. we are talking of we are talking about 1,500 israelis and now we are talking about 11,000 or 12,000 palestinians. and so, of course, by that attitude, they are likely preparing another generation to make what happened in 7th of october to happen again after ten years, because they are creating many, many, many, many people lose everything. but for me and the majority of gazans. we are people all the time

working, looking for peace. pro—palestinian demonstrators are due to hold a protest in london on saturday, which is also armistice day when there are formal events to mark the anniversary of the end of the first world war. prime minister rishi sunak has described the march as disrespectful. he's met the head of the metropolitan police and asked for assurances that remembrance events will be safeguarded. there will be a protest this weekend. parliament is very clear about that. the law provides no mechanism to ban a gathering, a static protest, a rally, anything like that. there is no mechanism whatsoever to ban such a thing. members of the welsh parliament, the senedd, have voted in support of an immediate ceasefire in gaza. the labour—led administration abstained from the vote, after the first minister, mark drakeford said he favoured "humanitarian pauses"

in the fighting instead. labour backbenchers were given a free vote. donald trump's daughter, ivanka, has been testifying in a court in new york, in the civil fraud case against her father and two of her brothers. she repeatedly said she did not remember the details of various conversations with banks when she worked at the trump 0rganisation. the judge has already ruled that donald trump inflated the value of the firm's assets to secure cheaper loans and better insurance deals. 0ur north america correspondent nada tawfik has been following her testimony. you could really summarize ivanka trump's testimony as, "i don't recall." i mean, prosecutors really wanted to try to nail her down on those specific conversations she had with deutsche bank to secure those favourable loans. we heard the attorney general speak about that, and also what conversations she had with the trump organization about her concerns — about whether her father did have the minimum net worth needed to act as a guarantee for those loans.

but time and again, she said she could not recall. even when presented with her own emails in court, she repeated she could not recall or didn't have the necessary details to offer. and what we're really seeing is she has repeated a lot of the defence that we've seen from her brothers in the past, that some of these claims are just too old. she remarked at one point conversations were happening when she was nine months pregnant with her first child, so just too long ago for her to be able to give specifics. in just one hour's time, the third republican presidential primary debate will kick—off in miami, florida — without donald trump. five candidates will take to the stage. it comes a day after the democrats performed strongly in state and local elections, potentially influencing how the would—be nominees make their pitch. 0ur correspondent helena humphrey who is in miami — where the debate will take place — told us more

about what we can expect. a trimmed down field of candidates, and they'll be looking forward to that, likely because that will mean more airtime for them on the debate stage tonight. they'll be needing that in order to try and have that breakthrough moment, because they are trying to catch up to donald trump, a0 points clear of his next challenger, ron desa ntis. this is largely expected to be a matchup between ron desantis on his home turf and the former south carolina governor, nicky haley, who has been gaining in the polls of late. they'll be quizzed on domestic issues, also on international ones as well. keep in mind, this is the first time they've been together on the debate stage since hamas attacks on israel on the 7th of october and perhaps more aggressive stances, more going on the attack as well, trying to win some ground, trying to close the gap with donald trump. you mentioned nicky haley gaining her support

a bit in recent weeks. can you just tell us why that is? it comes down to a number of factors. she's proven herself to be strong. she's a strong debater on the debate stage. then she has got that foreign policy acumen. right now, she is the former ambassador to the united nations. the big questions facing the united states right now, of course, related to the middle east and ukraine. she's pitching herself as something of a more moderate republican, softening her views on abortion. and we saw that play out well with ohio voters right now. and then also, there have been some issues with the desantis campaign. there's been a high staff turnover of late. some republican strategists would prefer that he pivoted away now from those cultural issues, started speaking about issues that mobilize voters, the economy, for example. and as a result, what we're seeing is nicky haley having a strong showing in those three early state polls as we go into the iowa caucuses injust less than nine weeks now. but i guess donald trump still far and away the leading candidate.

briefly, before we let you go, he's also speaking, isn't he? can you just tell us more about that? he absolutely is. half an hourfrom here, a city called hialeah, 95% latino population. he will be courting that vote. it's a vote that's done well for him in the past. and he said that essentially the rnc should do away with all of these debates, instead coalesce around him as he seeks to take on president biden in 202a. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news... a 15—year—old old boy who died after being stabbed near a school in leeds has been publicly named as alfie lewis. emergency services were called to the incident in horsforth on tuesday. alfie — a former student at horsforth school — later died in hospital and police opened a murder investigation. a teenage boy has been arrested. possession of nitrous oxide —

which is also known as laughing gas for its "psychoactive effects" — has become a criminal offence in the uk. now categorised as a class c drug, it'll carry a sentence of up to two years in prison. the government says the ban will combat anti—social behaviour and reduce damage to users�* health. nestle has confirmed it is discontinuing the popular british sweet, caramac. the company said it was "a difficult decision" to stop production of the caramel bar, but pointed to slower sales in recent years. caramac was launched more than 60 years ago — quickly gaining popularity thanks to its distinctive red and yellow wrapper and caramel flavour. you're live with bbc news. there were more revelations and apologies at the uk's covid inquiry today. lord sedwill — a former head of the civil service — said hejoked that sacking the then health secretary, matt hancock, would save lives. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young reports.

by borisjohnson�*s side, mark sedwill saw first—hand how this group of ministers dealt with a crisis no one seemed to be prepared for. today he admitted he and other officials should have done more before the pandemic hit. there was an assurance that plans were in place to manage it. and in hindsight, it would have, as you suggest... those plans should have been interrogated more carefully by me and at the cabinet level. in the weeks before lockdown in march 2020, scientific advisers felt it was inevitable covid would spread. lord sedwill admitted he suggested chickenpox—style parties. it must have come across that someone in my role was both sort of heartless and thoughtless about this, and i genuinely am neither. but i do understand the distress that must have caused, and i apologise for that. and what about his relationship with the downing street team? in this whatsapp exchange, another senior official,

simon case, wrote... lord sedwill replies... and a diary entry by the chief scientific adviser, sir patrick vallance, included this... "sedwill came back saying this administration is brutal and useless. " did you say those words? i don't doubt sir patrick's memory. it must have been a moment of acute frustration with will something, i don't know what. not for the first time, there were questions about the honesty of matt hancock. mr sedwill revealed he had suggested borisjohnson replace his health secretary. i don't think i would have used the word sack with the prime minister himself, although i acknowledge i said it to mr case. but he would have been under no illusions as to my view about what was best. lord sedwill was critical of the way many decisions about covid were made. next month, senior politicians

will have their say. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... the european commission has recommended there should be formal talks with ukraine concerning its plans tojoin the european union. the step takes the country closer to the eu membership — five months after the 27 member states gave it candidate status. commission chief ursula von der leyen praised its "excellent progress, even as it's fighting an existential war." australia's highest court has ruled that the government's power to hold a person in immigration detention indefinitely is unlawful. the landmark ruling overturns a 20—year—old precedent that has shaped australia's border policies. it could trigger the release of 92 people in immigration detention who cannot return to their home countries. there are reports from pakistan that the government of punjab has announced an environmental and health emergency because of severe air pollution.

the measure will affect the city of lahore and two other areas of the province. india's capital delhi has also seen schools and businesses close. 400 years ago an extraordinary book was published. the first folio contained most of the works of william shakespeare, compiled by several of his friends a few years after his death. without it, many of shakespeare's plays would have been lost. our culture editor katie razzall has been talking to david tennant — who's about to play macbeth on stage in london. but here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we'd jump the life to come. david tenna nt�*s macbeth. but in these cases, we still have judgment here. macbeth wasn't printed in shakespeare's day. around half of his plays would have disappeared after his death without the decision 400 years ago to publish the works together in the first folio. my husband! i have done the deed.

didst thou not hear a noise? i heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. i without the folio, we would have been robbed of renowned performances and timeless words. tomorrow... ..and tomorrow... .and tomorrow... possibly the most famous speech from macbeth, "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day." it'sjust an examination of what it is to... to look at eternity in the face and to feel like you are shelled out, hollowed out, and those words express that in a way that nothing else really does. without the first folio, we would have lost so many of those plays. i'm sitting here at the end of my first day of rehearsals for macbeth. it wouldn't exist. we wouldn't have a copy of it. that's true of antony and cleopatra. that's true of twelfth night. a bunch of the plays wouldn't exist at all. soldiers, break rank! now, the royal shakespeare company has chosen 37 new plays

to celebrate shakespeare's 37. the writer of this history play is just 11 years old. the rsc picked new playwrights to reflect our times, with staged readings here at the new vic theatre in newcastle—under—lyme. blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! this winning entry, called the doris effect, gives a king lear speech a modern twist. until you have drenched our solar panels and drowned the council who put them there! 0h, hello, jerry. it's based on the playwright�*s own experience of how a renewable energy company's plans split his west midlands farming community. it's a sort of microcosm for what has happened in the nation, as it were, happened in our community, which is divisiveness, and divisiveness is everywhere. annie? no! another play, life goes on, is about grief. it's written by an a—level student from northampton.

on this anniversary of the first folio, around 1,700 of the words we still use were invented by shakespeare. it just goes to show that that's probably an even better reason to immerse yourself into shakespearean plays and see what he's written, because he's really impacted not just the words that we speak, he kind ofjust amplifies the importance of the words that we use. to be or not to be, i that is the question. i think what shakespeare managed to do is he managed to capture the human experience, and it feels weirdly modern, actually, that he writes about the moment he was in, which seems to, by dint of his genius, also be the moment we are in. and the moment for a surprise. a replica of the first folio. this is, like, a present?

yes, and this is a present for you from the british library, who own the first folio. wow! how amazing! has he signed it? no, he hasn't! shame. sadly not. katie razzall, bbc news. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello there. wednesday brought us some pretty big weather contrasts across the country. for the southeast of england, we have a persistent band of rain — it was raining for most of the day, bringing these rather grey skies, quite windy as well. most of the uk have actually managed to see something a bit brighter through the afternoon with some sunshine and shower clouds getting in here to northern ireland. and here are the showers on the radar picture from wednesday. the speckled shower clouds extend right out into the atlantic to near greenland. and all of those shower clouds are coming our way. so it is going to be quite an unsettled looking weather picture over the next few days, really. now, over the next few hours,

a bit of rain crosses northern england, a few showers here and there. most of them will be across western areas. these are the kind of temperatures that you'll start off thursday with. so quite a chilly start to the day, cold enough for a bit of frost across northern scotland, mostly eastern scotland, central and eastern england, east wales starting off on a dry and sunny note, the showers across western areas. but as we go through the day, you could see an odd shower just about anywhere. they'll always be most frequent, though, towards wales and south west england where they could merge to give some slightly longer spells of rain. and as well as that, it'll be quite windy around the coast, gusts of around 40, perhaps the low 50s of miles an hour. now, friday is another kind of showery day, but this time the winds are generally coming in from a northwesterly direction. and that means the showers are going to tend to be draped around coastal areas. if you live away from the coast, you've got a much better chance of it being dry and sunny as well. temperatures running quite close to average for the time of year, about 8—11 degrees. now as we head into the weekend, saturday

looks all right. sunday, the big question mark is just how quickly this band of rain comes in off the atlantic. at the moment, saturday, the better of the two days of the weekend, plenty of sunshine around, maybe a few early morning mist and fog patches. but for the vast majority, it's a dry day. perhaps just one or two showers rolling in to the far north east of scotland. temperatures not really changing too much, around 8—11 degrees celsius. the big question mark on sunday is just how quickly this band of rain gathers and moves in from the west. it might be a lot slower coming in. and if that happens, well, sunday could also be a dry day with plenty of sunshine around as well. so there's a bit of a question mark about sunday's forecast in terms of whether we do see that band of rain spreading its way in.

disney delivers — it's earnings beat forecasts with theme parks proving a money winner. and fortescue turns green — how one mining tycoon is re—inventing himself. hello and welcome to asia business report. mariko 0i. we start in the united states

as disney has reported results that beat expectations due to strong attendance at theme parks especially here in asia, which managed to upset some of the decline in ad revenue for the decline in ad revenue for the big test for the returning chief executive. michelle fleury has the latest from new york. it's nearly a year since bob iger made his shock return to disney following his retirement and having restructured its operations. mr iger, who is on his second go round leading the media giant, said disney was now moving to its next phase. while we still have work to do to continue improving results, our progress has allowed us to move beyond this period of fixing and begin building our businesses again. an example of that next month, disney will launch a beta test of an app that combines disney plus its streaming service with hulu and other streaming service. itjust bought the remaining stake in hulu from comcast. this comes as streaming losses shrunk and as disney plus added seven million subscribers. that's nearly double forecasts.

it's also investing money in its theme parks,