close to a deal to release some of the hostages being held in gaza. here in the uk, the chancellor insists he will be responsible when it came to any future tax cuts ahead of a key fiscal update later this week. and airline passengers are facing hours of delays at heathrow airport after air traffic control imposes restrictions on how many planes can land or take—off. hello, i'm rich preston. a warm welcome to the programme. the world health organization has described the al shifa hospital in gaza as a "death zone" after a visit by a un team. international doctors spent an hour at the site, and reported evidence

of shelling and gunfire. they say there is a mass grave at the entrance. the palestinian red crescent has evacuated 31 premature babies by ambulance from the hospital, in coordination with un agencies. they were transported south across the gaza strap and entered egypt through the rafah crossing. the head of the world health organization posted this picture of the babies on x, who he called �*very sick�*. they are now being treatment in intensive care. the israeli military entered the complex last week and remains inside. israel says there is a hamas command centre underneath the hospital. that's been denied by hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by many western governments. on saturday, hundreds of people — including some patients — left the hospital on foot. but 20 health workers and about 300 critically ill patients remain at al shifa. meanwhile, the prime minister of qatar has said only minor obstacles remain in the way of reaching a deal on releasing some of the hostages taken by hamas in its attack on israel on october 7th. his comments came after the washington post said that israel, hamas and the united states were close to an agreement on the release of women and children.

mark lowen has this report. gaza is running out of energy to grieve. food, water, family. what is left to lose? childhood innocence? it's already gone. khan younis is in southern gaza, where they were told to head for safety. hundreds of thousands have, but israel is striking here too and they don't know where else to flee. but thousands more are on the move from al shifa hospital, no longer a place of healing but of horror. as the israelis comb the site looking for the hamas nerve centre they claimed, those sheltering say they were forced out. israel says the hospital requested evacuation. the wounded are in very

bad conditions there, says this dr radwan, with a lack of staff in medicine, bacteria are growing in their wounds. it's a miserable situation. the more than 30 premature babies left without vital incubators have now been moved too, fleeing war into which they been born. and in gaza city, the battle is still fair. this footage released by the israelis shows them advancing on the ground, from the air and at sea. one of the middle east's most powerful armies held back by a force far inferior in numbers but still capable of resistance. israelis too have been on the move, but in protest, pressuring the government to prioritise the release of hostages, almost 240 still in high mask activity. they walked from tel aviv tojerusalem, their own and their nation's trauma deepening with each step. qatar is among those mediating the hostage deal that could see dozens released from both sides, and

today its foreign minister sounded hopeful. the sticking points honestly at this stage are more practical, logistical, not really the core of the deal. for how long can this continue before some deal, any deal is reached? 32 members of the same family were killed in this strike. a nightmare seen in constant loop. for gazans, it's their everyday. mark lowen, bbc news, jerusalem. qatar's prime minister has spoken to reporters in doha about the prospect of a deal to release some hostages. it's not really about a specific thing that i can comment yes or no about it. but the challenges that remain in the negotiations are very minor compared to the bigger challenges.

they are more logistical, they are more practical, and i believe that with the willingness of both parties to engage and to have this deal moving, we can reach a deal. we have been focused in the past four or five weeks now in these negotiations, we have tried every way, all possible ways, in order to ensure that civilians are released. and we treat all human beings all the same. civilians are civilians, whether they are from the israeli side or the palestinian side. as we mentioned in several occasions, ourfocus is to make sure that the release is happening safely and there are also the humanitarian issues of the gaza strip to be addressed in that deal. that was qatar's prime minister.

i'm joined now by our middle east analyst sebastian usher. tell us more about what has been said about a potential hostage deal. what we were hearing from the qatari prime minister who also served as foreign minister is more upbeat than we have heard for several days in public at least about what is going on, he is saying the challenges that remain about trying to get this deal done and this is only a partial deal, this is not a dealfor the full number of hostages to released, but they are now logistical and practical details, they are very minor. in such a sensitive deal as this, even logistical and practical details i would suggest could still be a major block. what he is saying, i think also the timing of it is interesting, we had a washington post article just in the past 2a hours suggesting that the deal is almost done the way that it will be managed will be 50 hostages, women

and children, will be released, and in return israel would provide a five day ceasefire. in previous leaks we have had about what the deal might be, with the qatari mediation with several parts involved, had been for a less amount of time for the ceasefire, three days was the previous command also hamas had been demanding that there would be an exchange of prisoners that israel has as well, palestinian women and children. that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment. he didn't say that it is imminent. he didn't say that it is imminent. he didn't say expect news of this in the next day or two, but i think this all looks, the choreography looks, even after a white house denial saying there is no deal that has been done yet but they are working towards it, and the israeli prime minister netanyahu also in essence talking it down. i think we are inevitably moving towards this. i think everything kind of is emerging to make this seem the likeliest option within the next

days or weeks.— likeliest option within the next da 5 or weeks. ,, , ., , days or weeks. 0k, sebastian usher, thank ou days or weeks. 0k, sebastian usher, thank you very _ days or weeks. 0k, sebastian usher, thank you very much. _ the british chancellorjeremy hunt says any tax cuts in this week's autumn statement to parliament will be done in a �*responsible way�* that won�*t risk fuelling inflation. mr hunt wouldn�*t comment on speculation he may cut inheritance tax but said there would be changes to the benefits system — with extra support for those with health issues who are looking for work, but tougher sanctions for those who turn down jobs. with inflation now falling, our political correspondent hannah miller looks at his options. mortgage rates have hit their highest level for 15 years... we have had months and months of record hikes. rising food costs and soaring energy bills... all those price rises are now slowing down and as the economy turns a corner, could the chancellor do it, too?

he�*s said he wants to set a path to cutting taxes in his autumn statement, but it is far from clear which ones, or when. i will only do so in a responsible way. i�*m not going to sacrifice the progress we�*ve made bringing down inflation. translate that, it means no income tax cuts this week. you will have to wait, and you are very experienced, you know i will not give you any indication of my measures. i note you always used to say i won�*t cut income tax because it might fuel inflation. our viewers can hear you clearly hinting that means no income tax cut. what i can tell you is the approach i will take on tax, which is that we will be responsible. he would normally be expected to put up benefits in line with september�*s inflation figure of 6.7% but the chancellor is thought to be considering saving money by putting them up less and this morning he refused to commit. can you confirm you will follow the tradition and raise benefits at the rate of inflation in september?

you know i�*m not going to say this morning what i�*m going to announce to parliament on wednesday and it�*s right i should announce it to parliament first. but let me tell you what i�*ve been saying about our welfare system, we are going to give support, to more than a million people, to help them get well enough to work, and, yes, there will be people who are not sick or don�*t have a disability, have been out of work for a long time, we say if you�*re not engaging with the process, if you don�*t engage for six months, then we are going to close your case and stop your benefits. labour say they would put up benefits in the conventional way. in government, i will use the inflation rate that is traditional, - the september inflation, to uprate benefits. so whatever happens, it always is connected to the september... that is the right thing to do. if you pick and choose from year to year which inflation number. is the cheapest thing to do, - then what he see is the gradual

erosion of people's incomes. and as the chancellor works out what to do to keep within his budget, over the coming year his decisions will have a huge impact on how much we all have to spend. hannah miller, bbc news. the bbc understands air traffic control restrictions have been put in place at heathrow airport, limiting the number of flights that can take off and land. with more on this let�*s talk to our business reporter peter ruddick. what are we hearing? when news of this first broke, _ what are we hearing? when news of this first broke, there _ what are we hearing? when news of this first broke, there were - what are we hearing? when news of this first broke, there were some . this first broke, there were some suggestions this could be down to staff shortage at air traffic control, or perhaps due to high winds at heathrow. we now know the answer appears to be both. within the past hour or so, nats, which operates a traffic control at heathrow airport, telling us due to short notice staff absence in the tower and strong winds at heathrow, temporary air traffic control restrictions are currently in place. they do say we expect the situation to improve this afternoon. they are

also saying they�*re working hard to minimise disruption and the restrictions like this are only ever applied to ensure safety. we know british airways, the largest airline operating out of heathrow, of course, has had to make minor changes to its short—haul schedule. they tell me this amounts to a handful of delays and cancellations. to put this into a bit of context, ba generally operates around 175 short haul flights into ba generally operates around 175 short haulflights into heathrow today. we know of one flight that was due to land at heathrow couldn�*t, it had to divert to stansted, refueland couldn�*t, it had to divert to stansted, refuel and then head to heathrow, so obviously a significant delay for passengers on that flight. we have also seen reports of passengers in other airports, gibraltar, manchester, quite a few others, essentially waiting on board to take off because of the delays at heathrow. the advice from ba and nats is to check before you travel. but as i say, some hope that things

may ease this afternoon.— may ease this afternoon. peter, we alwa s may ease this afternoon. peter, we always give — may ease this afternoon. peter, we always give that — may ease this afternoon. peter, we always give that advice, _ may ease this afternoon. peter, we always give that advice, check - always give that advice, check before you travel, it�*s often not very helpful, how big a problem could this be? yeah remember back in september, nats imposed caps on the number of flights at gatwick because of staffing issues so it may well sound familiar to people. that time there was 100 or so flights cancelled over the course of a week. early days, it doesn�*t yet appear to be on that scale, certainly nowhere near the scale of during the summer when we had the nats data issue. my understanding is the situation is being assessed on an hourly basis by nats. they are hopeful that things will improve later. another big headache, though, for the air traffic control operator, and of course a massive headache if you are a passenger, those delays, diversions sometimes missed connections as well. peter ruddick, a business reporter in the newsroom, thank you. let�*s go to south america now.

voting is under way in the second round of argentina�*s presidential elections. the poll has been dominated by an escalating economic crisis, with inflation running at more than 140%. polls suggest it will be a tight race between the left—wing economy minister, sergio massa, and a far—right outsider, javier milei. mr massa won the first round with 36.7%, ahead of mr milei with 30%. earlier we heard from natalio cosoy an argentinian journalist who is at one of the polling stations. the economy in argentina is in severe crisis and it�*s been like this for months and months and some people may doubt, years. inflation is above 1a0% annually, there is more than 40% of people living in poverty and these are the main issues informing the voters to decide who they�*d prefer. but that�*s not the only key issue. security is another big issue and there are other democratic principles being discussed

in argentina currently. mainly because mr milei and his partners�* positions regarding democracy in argentina and their relationship to democracy and how they see the institutions of argentina. remember that he said he wants to close down the central bank, he wants to review the law that allows women to have abortions. so all these discussions around certain liberties and rights might make some people decide towards one or the other side. it�*s a very polarised election, though. mr massa, who is peronist from the peronist party, he�*s more of a centre peronista than a left—wing one, but he�*s in a more left—wing government currently as minister for the economy. he�*s seen as a continuation by some of the current government that has this severe crisis ongoing. some others see milei as a very risky bet because he hasn�*t got experience as a politician. he hasn�*t got experience running

the country or a municipality or a province in argentina and that brings huge questions towards how able he will be to govern the country should he win the election. we have an update coming in on the potential for a we have an update coming in on the potentialfor a deal to we have an update coming in on the potential for a deal to release hospitals take —— hostages taken in the attack of october seven. this is coming in from the reuters news agency saying the israeli ambassador to the us, michael hertzog, has said israel is hopeful that a significant number of hostages could be freed in the coming days. as i said, that�*s coming into us from the reuters news agency following a report in the washington post within the last 2a hours saying that a deal between the us, israeland hours saying that a deal between the us, israel and officials in qatar could be imminent to secure the release of some women and children taken by hamas and being held in

gaza. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has somewhat downplayed those remarks, saying nothing is imminent. but as i say, this is coming into us from the reuters news agency with the israeli ambassador to the us saying he is hopeful a significant number of hostages could be freed in the coming days. we will bring you much more on this when we have it. now it�*s time for a look at today�*s sport with chetan. rich, thank you. we start with a thrilling cricket final in india, where the hosts are currently trying to stop australia from winning a sixth world cup and for the 130,000 fans in the stadium in ahmedabad and the billions watching, it is a roller—coaster. india were put into bat earlier and made 240 from their 50 overs. rohit sharma hit 47 off 31 balls — dismissed by glenn maxwell short of a half century. virat kohli entered the fray when india were three wickets down, he steadied things with a half century before being bowled by pat cummins. mitchell starc

was the pick of the aussie bowlers though with 3—55 including the wicket of kl rahul, india�*s top scorer with 66. the tail offered little so australia have been left with a target of 241 to win. and they are 101—3 after 19 overs. india�*s pace attack doing its job to the delight of the indian supporters watching underneath those lights in ahmedabad. mohammed shami took the first wicket, david warner gone for seven, after a costly first over was removed. mitchell marsh and steve smith to ensure the momentum is with india. but a shout out for travis head, real dogged resistance from him, doing really well with the bat, trying to close in on a half—century and causing india some problems. so very much in the balance at the moment. you can follow it all on the bbc sport website.

and after all the hype — the las vegas grand prix lived up to it�*s billing — with the lead changing seven times, before champion max verstappen took the honours. ferrari�*s charles leclerc started from pole, but there was chaos at the first corner as verstappen pushed him wide taking the lead and earning him a five second penalty. two drivers failed to finish, the most dramatic exit was that of britain�*s lando norris, he was taken to hospital as a precaution. he was released thankfully afterwards. further crashes cost british drivers lewis hamilton and george russell any hope of a podium finish. verstappen�*s time penalty saw him drop to eleventh place after his first pit stop, but he fought back to win for the 18th time this season. hamilton seventh, george russell eighth. novak djokovic says he�*ll do everything he can to try and win a record seventh title when he plays the final of the atp finals in turin later. he delivered a master—class to carlos alcaraz on saturday, winning in straight sets. awaiting him will be the home favourite jannik sinner. he�*s the first italian to make the season—ending final and djokovic believes the 22—year—old has a big future in the sport. italy has a great tennis tradition and deserves to have a player like

jannik sinner, who is very young, and he has a very bright future, no doubt, ahead of him. he has had the best year of his career, and i�*m sure that we can expect him to fight for big grand slam trophies in the years to come. in the nba shai gilgeous—alexander�*s oklahoma city thunder handed the golden state warriors their sixth straight loss with a 130—123 overtime victory. oklahoma city rookie chet holmgren scored to send the game to overtime, and after the game was full of praise for his teammate shai. man, that�*s huge. when one of the best offensive players is one of your best defensive players, it�*s huge. he really ignites us at both ends with his energy. especially in the overtime period. a huge stop that ended up leading to two points and breaking the game out so it�*s huge, doing what he�*s doing and we really feed off that.

britain�*s elfyn evans ended his season on a high by winning rallyjapan to claim second place in the world rally championship. he sealed his eighth career victory after finishing more than a minute ahead of french part—time driver sebastien ogier. kalle rovanpera completed a podium clean sweep for the toyota team. the finn had clinched the drivers�* title last month. and that�*s all the sport for now. i will have more for you later. for now, back to you, rich. let�*s stick with support for the time being. more now on the men�*s cricket world cup final — taking place in ahmedabad. and australia have been set a target of 241 runs to beat the hosts — india, who�*ve gone into today�*s final without having lost a match in the entire tournament. we are joined now by south asia correspondent — samira hussain, who is in delhi. what has been happening and what is the atmosphere like? the atmosphere, the atmosphere like? the atmosphere, the fans here — the atmosphere like? the atmosphere, the fans here have _ the atmosphere like? the atmosphere, the fans here have an _ the atmosphere like? the atmosphere, the fans here have an incredible - the fans here have an incredible amount of enthusiasm, an incredible amount of enthusiasm, an incredible

amount of enthusiasm, an incredible amount of hope for their team. now theyjust need india to be able to deliver that championship win. as you mentioned, we know that india is coming into this final an undefeated team, undefeated on home soil. that�*s a lot of pressure. they are playing to an almost uniquely indian fan base, 130,000 people cheering for india. there have been a lot of quiet moments and that has to do with the fact that australia has been playing quite a strong game. so if people were looking for a solid matchup i think that�*s what they have got. matchup i think that's what they have not. w . matchup i think that's what they have a ct. ,,., ., , ,., matchup i think that's what they haveuot. ., ., ~ matchup i think that's what they have at, ., ., ~' have got. samira hussain, thank you very much- — a hat worn by napoleon bonaparte when he ruled the french empire in the 19th century is being auctioned in paris today.

the hat became a central part of napoleon�*s image, with the military commander famously wearing his headgear sideways to make him recognisable on the battlefield. the auction house expects the hat to fetch upwards of $650,000. tom brada has the details. napoleon bonaparte is one of very few people in history who is identifiable just by their silhouette, and that is thanks in no small part to his fondness for the bicorne hat. now, bicorne literally means two—cornered, and napoleon was supposedly so fond of the hat that he had around 120 in that style over his lifetime, although just 20 of them are thought to have survived to this day. an early master of personal branding, experts say that napoleon knew exactly how these hats would help him stand out from the crowd. the way he was wearing the hat was very different from the other person in this period, so it didn�*t wear it in that way. so he didn�*t wear it in that way. he wore it in that way so everybody can recognise napoleon in battlefields, any place at 500 metres from, "this is napoleon." auctioneers say this particular hat made out of beaver fur, no less,

comes with impeccable provenance, remaining throughout the 19th century with the same family of someone who worked in the emperor�*s palace. and there is a precedent for napoleon�*s hats selling for eye—watering prices. back in 2014, one of his bicorne hats sold for around 1.9 million euros. and part of the reason why his souvenirs go for so much money is because of his compelling and captivating character. and he has returned to the headlines recently with a new film about his life. and its director, sir ridley scott, explained what makes him such a captivating character. he is so fascinating, revered, hated, loved, and more famous probably than any man, or leader, or politician in history. more than 200 years since napoleon died, he continues to command an enormous level of fascination. and as a result, people are willing to pay enormous prices for the chance to own a small part

of his legend. tom brada. before we go i want to remind you of the latest news lines coming in from the reuters news agency about a possible hostage agreement between israel, qatar and the united states to free the hostages taken by hamas on october seven and the israeli ambassador to the us, michael hertzog, has said in an interview with the us news network abc, that a significant number of hostages could be released by hamas in coming days. we will bring you much more on this story of course as and when we have it. do stick with us. in the meantime, hello there. we�*ve had some more rain around today but after today and perhaps tomorrow, the rest of the week is looking pretty dry. at the moment, we�*ve got the rain because we�*ve got low pressure sitting very close to the uk.

that�*s brought some heavy rain earlier on in wales and across northern england. that rain moving away from wales but we�*ll keep the rain going into the night across northern england, perhaps southern scotland. some rain comes back into northern ireland and then we get this curl of rain sweeping eastwards across southern parts of england and wales. so a bit of a messy night. we will find some clearer spells developing through the midlands and lowest temperatures will be around 5—6 degrees, so a little bit chillier than it was last night. that rain in the south—east soon moves away and then, broadly speaking, it�*s going to be quite cloudy. there will be some showers around, maybe some sunshine, though, for a good part of the day across east anglia and the south—east. it will get windy, though, across northern ireland and across these western coastal areas. it will be a chillier wind as well, and on the whole, temperatures will be a little bit lower than we�*ve seen over the weekend. but after monday, then, there may not be a great deal of sunshine but there probably won�*t be an awful lot of rain through the rest of the week, either. we�*re going to find this area of high pressure tending to build towards the uk.

a northerly wind, though, is bringing in some chillier air as we head into tuesday. it may well bring in more cloud again and a few showers across england and wales — those should tend to move away. some sunshine for a while for scotland and northern ireland before it clouds over here, a little rain in the far north of scotland. those temperatures continuing to just slip away a little bit. so typically around 9 or 10 degrees. and it could be quite chilly overnight across england and wales. it may be the coldest night over the week ahead. things start to turn milder though across scotland and northern ireland, because the wind direction changes. there�*s that colder air, but this is the air we�*re going to get into through the rest of the week. it�*s a milder air coming around the top of an area of high pressure and it�*s broadly a westerly wind. it will bring in a lot of cloud across northern parts of the uk and some rain into northern and western areas of scotland. further south, a lot of dry weather. a bit of sunshine coming through now and again but as you can see, there will be a lot of cloud around. you can see how the temperatures are changing, back up to 14 degrees across many parts of scotland. that�*s wednesday. into thursday, still the high

pressure to the south, still that westerly wind and most of the rain will be in the far north of the uk.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the world health organization says 31 premature babies have been evacuated from al shifa hospital in gaza. they are now believed to have crossed into egypt for treatment. the prime minister of qatar suggests israel and hamas

could be close to a deal to release some of the hostages being held in gaza. here in the uk, the chancellor insists he will be responsible when it came to any future tax cuts ahead of a key fiscal update later this week. and airline passengers are facing hours of delays at heathrow airport after air traffic control imposes restrictions on how many planes can land or take—off. and at the cricket world cup, australia are chasing a victory target of 241 runs to beat india in the final in ahmedabad — with a live stadium audience of 100,000. those are our latest headlines. it has just it hasjust gone it has just gone have two, good afternoon. now on bbc news, the arts interview — ridley scott.