a ground offensive will be launched in rafah if hamas does not release all hostages. it is the first time israel has said when its troops might enter gaza's southernmost city — where an estimated 1.3 million civilans are sheltering. earlier, the world health organisation said gaza's nasa hospital has ceased to function following an israeli raid. israel defence force troops entered the hospital on thursday, saying intelligence indicated that hostages taken by hamas were being held there. the who said it hadn't been allowed to enter the site. in a post on x, formerly twitter, the director—general of the world health organization, tedros ghebreyesus, said: "nasser hospital is not functional anymore. "the who team was not permitted to enter the hospital to assess "the conditions of the patients, "despite reaching the hospital compound to deliver fuel "alongside partners." we will have more on the situation at the hospital shortly. but first, we want to bring you the story of a young woman and her disabled brother,

tala and yazeed, and their struggle to escape rafah to egypt. our special correspondent fergal keane has this report. and a warning, you may find it distressing. we came back to no electricity, no food for today. explosion she's been a constant, caring voice from within the siege. and one more day closer to my brother running out of medications and we are still here. tala abu nahla's daily life a relentless struggle, to care for her disabled brother yazeed. three times they tried to escape rafah. like last november, when our cameraman first them at the border. when our cameraman first met them at the border. we are trying to do anything that we can to survive, because we just... i simply don't want to die at 24. they didn't get out of gaza then. drone flies overhead back home, amid the constant noise of drones overhead,

tala tried to comfort yazeed. sirens and then, just a few days ago, we had news from cairo. they'd escaped to the safety of a flat in the egyptian capital. tala described the moment they left. i can't hear drones anymore. and i can't see... i can't... i'm sorry. i won't be hearing any bombings or any air strikes. and that felt really surreal. but normality — even being able to boil a kettle for tea — has brought uncomfortable feelings. this is one of the hardest feelings to talk about. tala carries the memory of the people she left behind.

every time i have food to eat, or i don't have to go running for water. but knowing that everything is available, it makes me feel even guilty to think about everyone in gaza, the 1.2 million people who are displaced in rafah right now. but they had to leave. yazeed's medication had run out, worsening his condition. he would have a seizure every time he heard bombing. and it gets really scary, like, his body and his... his mind is not being able to understand everything that's going on. tala knows a world beyond gaza. she studied in the us, lived with an american family.

she won a fellowship for young leaders funded by the state department. but always coming home to yazeed, here together in 2021. will she return to gaza? i don't know. how long is it going to take? but i would want to be a part of rebuilding it and healing it. i don't think... i think everyone who leaves gaza, gaza still does not leave them. the cairo sky is safe, but it's not the sky of home. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams, is injerusalem and says facilities at nasa hospital are close to collapse. and says facilities at nasser hospital are close to collapse. the situation remains extremely precarious. it's unclear exactly what's going on there. the israeli military has been there since the early hours of

thursday morning. they're arresting members of staff who they believe are connected with hamas. they've discovered some arms that have been hidden away in the hospital. and they're also looking for evidence that hostages may have been held in the hospital at one point or another. they say that, while doing that, they are doing their best to try to keep the hospital functioning, their best to try to keep the hospitalfunctioning, bringing in diesel and oxygen and helping to repair a generator. the head of the who, and gaza's health ministry, have both said that the hospital is essentially not functioning anymore. we've heard reports from inside the hospital suggesting that as many as 11 people may have died as a result of interruption said to power and oxygen. sol result of interruption said to power and oxygen. so i think, at the very least, what we can say is that the situation in nasser hospital is really, really difficult, and perhaps close to collapse. further south, in rafah, a city waits for the expected israeli military operation there. and today, they got a bit of a clue

as to when that might happen, because benny gantz — a member of binyamin netanyahu's war cabinet — said that, if israeli hostages are not released by the beginning of ramadan — that's in precisely three weeks — then the israeli assault on rafah would begin. that's three weeks in which 1.3 million civilians have to be moved out of the way, because the white house has demanded that that should happen before any israeli military assault. and right now, there are no signs of a plan in place for that mass evacuation. meanwhile, israel has condemned brazil's president lula da silva after he accused israel of committing genocide in gaza and compared its actions to the holocaust. he was speaking at the african union summit in addis ababa. translation: what is happening in the gaza strip with the palestinian people has parallel with other historical moments. in fact, it only existed when hitler decided to kill the jews. israel has strongly

criticised his comments. prime minister benjamin netanyahu called them "shameful "and grave," and a little earlier this evening said the israel defense forces were going to lengths to prevent civilian deaths. today, the president of brazil _ by today, the president of brazil — by comparing israel's war in gaza against hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation, to the holocaust, president da silva has demonised thejewish state bike like the most virilous anti—semite. he should be ashamed of himself. meanwhile, there is continuing unrest in the wider region. the pentagon says us forces have carried out strikes against five houthi missile sites in yemen that threatened shipping in the red sea. us central command said a houthi unmanned underwater vessel was among the targets. houthis have in recent weeks targeted shipping in the red sea in response to israel's ongoing offensive in gaza. to russia now, where at least

150 people have been sentenced to shortjail terms after attending commemoration events for alexei navalny. more than 400 mourners have been arrested across russia for paying tribute to president putin's most prominent political opponent, who died suddenly in an arcticjail on friday. navalny�*s team believes the opposition leader was murdered, but that's been rejected by russia's foreign ministry. his family has accused authorities of trying to cover their tracks by refusing to hand over his body. mr navalny�*s death has sparked international condemnation, with memorials and vigils held in a number of countries. the us and british ambassadors to moscow have laid flowers too. our eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford, has this report. ever since the death of alexei navalny, russians have been leaving tributes, pausing to remember a man who dared to stand up to vladimir putin, and who has died in

prison for his politics. this woman describes navalny as a hero. she says he fought for russia to be free, a democracy, she says, not a dictatorship. screaming they are strong words in a country that does this when people come to lay flowers. since alexei navalny died, several hundred people have been arrested across the country. the kremlin doesn't want sorrow turning into anger and into mass protest. so in moscow one memorial has now been fenced off, access restricted. and up in saint petersburg men clear away the flowers so the scale of support for navalny isn't obvious. but each time there are more people and fresh tributes. these are the last known images of navalny on a video link from prison to a court. his cheerfulness is an act of defiance in itself.

he died the next day. we still don't know the cause. his mother travelled to the arctic region to get her son's body and to find answers. so far, she has neither. navalny�*s team are accusing the authorities of hiding something. they have reason for suspicion. three years ago, the politician was poisoned with a nerve agent. the risk of returning to russia after that were always clear. and that is true for others who have spoken out as well, like vladimir kara—murza, also poisoned and then arrested for condemning the war on ukraine. his wife says the death of alexei navalny underlines the immense cost of dissent. i was horrified but not surprised because the use of political assassination as a method of dealing with opponents has been there for, well,

for the entire rule of vladimir putin. navalny was putin's loudest challenger. his sudden death leaves many questions unanswered, and it leaves a family and followers to grieve. this evening, his wife posted a single image, the caption just says, "i love you." around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a major story we are following in the uk: a woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after three children were found dead at a house in bristol. the 42—year—old suspect is in police custody at a hospital. our reporter danjohnson has more. we know the police were called here shortly after midnight by someone who was concerned about the welfare of these children. they found three children dead at a semi—detached property

just further up this quiet residential street. and a 42—year—old woman was arrested. because there had been previous police involvement, we're told within the last few weeks, the independent office for police conduct has been involved. there has been a referral by avon and somerset police, which will now investigate what the level of that interaction was and whether there's anything further to be investigated there. police say the deaths are an isolated incident, and there is no further risk to people in the community. you're live with bbc news. here in the us, republican candidates vying for president are focusing on south carolina in the run—up to a state primary. former us president donald trump is leading the race by a wide margin. he's expected to win the republican nomination despite his mounting legal troubles. and each victory he notches in a state primary brings him

closer to a general election rematch with president joe biden in november. his last rival standing is former south carolina governor nikki haley. she's angling for a win in her home state despite a string of defeats in iowa and new hampshire and, more recently, a stinging loss in nevada. but the former us ambassador to the united nations is not backing down, even as she faces pressure from her own party. according to latest polling averages from the hill, mrtrump is leading by nearly 35 points in south carolina, with haley lagging far behind. but in recent weeks, she's sharpened her attacks on mr trump by questioning his mental fitness and reminding voters of his looming court cases. while answering a question on abc news�* this week about whether she would support mr trump if he became the party's nominee, this is what haley had to say. the last thing on my mind is who i'm gonna support. the only thing on my mind is how we're gonna win this. the only thing on my mind is how we're gonna make sure that we correct

what's happening in america and we bring this country back together, allow her to heal, and move on in a strong way. i'm not thinking about who i'm going to support in an election.— going to support in an election. �* �* ., ., , election. but you've already said it. election. but you've already said it- we _ election. but you've already said it. we are _ election. but you've already said it. we are gonna - election. but you've already said it. we are gonna have. election. but you've already| said it. we are gonna have a female president _ said it. we are gonna have a female president of - said it. we are gonna have a female president of the - said it. we are gonna have a i female president of the united states. it will either be me or it will be kamala harris. and if donald trump is the nominee for the republican party, he will not win. for more on what to expect from the south carolina primary, let's bring in washington post political reporter amber phillips. amber, i remembera moment in the august 2023 republican primary debate where nikki haley and the other candidates were asked if they would nominate donald trump if he became the republican party's nominee for president, even if he was also a convicted criminal, and she raised her hand. so, why is she changing her tune?

yeah, she's changing her tune because she's realising she is a month away — maybe weeks away — from being out of this race. and she is trying a similar strategy to what she's been trying this whole time, which is to not upset donald trump's supporters, but still try to win over people who really don't like donald trump. and of course, as you pointed out very well, she's started leaning more toward the people who don't like donald trump, sharpening her attacks against him — but i've talked to so many republicans here in dc who think it's just way too little, too late. think it's “ust way too little, too late. . . , think it's “ust way too little, too late.— think it's “ust way too little, too late. . ., ., , too late. that was going to be my question _ too late. that was going to be my question to _ too late. that was going to be my question to you _ too late. that was going to be my question to you - - too late. that was going to be my question to you - whetherj my question to you — whether this can be an effective strategy for her to win south carolina voters again in her home state this late in the game. home state this late in the name. ., . ., �* ., game. no. i mean, we don't want to predict — game. no. i mean, we don't want to predict anything _ game. no. i mean, we don't want to predict anything - _ game. no. i mean, we don't want to predict anything - this - game. no. i mean, we don't want to predict anything - this is - to predict anything — this is an especially volatile nomination, even though donald trump's leading — anything could happen to him, with all

his legal troubles and his age, and i think that's why haley's still in the race. but that being said, polls show — as you illustrated — her behind in her home state by 30% or more. if she gets within 5% of donald trump on saturday, it would be a miracle, is what republican strategists tell me. and the problem, as one illustrated to me, is that nikki haleyjust never gave anti—trump voters a home to go to, because she was just kind of wishy—washy about donald trump. she still, to this day, says, "i like him as a person. ivoted this day, says, "i like him as a person. i voted for him twice, but vote for me." so she just really hasn't given any anti—trump voters a home, and now she's trying to — but in the fourth quarter of the football game, if you will. it's too late.— football game, if you will. it's too late. she is the last rival standing, _ it's too late. she is the last rival standing, challenging | rival standing, challenging donald trump. if she can't win in south carolina, can she win anywhere? it

in south carolina, can she win anywhere?— anywhere? it would be very difficult- — anywhere? it would be very difficult. nikki _ anywhere? it would be very difficult. nikki haley - anywhere? it would be very difficult. nikki haley has i anywhere? it would be very. difficult. nikki haley has said that, the day after south carolina, she's getting on a plane and flying to michigan, which is the next primary state. but in early march, we have what's called super tuesday, where more than a dozen states — worth 900 delegates, which is a good chunk of what you need to win the nomination — are up on one day. and as another republican strategist told me, if she doesn't win a state in super tuesday, she's gotta drop out. but at the same time, she fares better in a hypothetical match—up against president biden than president trump does against president biden right now, narrowly. so, can nikki haley position herself as a general election candidate during the primary? you know, ithink during the primary? you know, i think she's been trying that from the very beginning, right? she's not anti—trump — she says on the campaign trail, "i'm not

anti—trump, i'm not fortrump, anti—trump, i'm not for trump, i'm anti—trump, i'm not fortrump, i'm pro—america." and she lumps trump and biden into this group, as she calls them, "grumpy old men". so i think she's been trying that from the very beginning, to say — "here's this fresh face, i'm a conservative," but she's pitched herself even in primary debates as not that conservative. for example, she was the only republican candidate to raise her hand and say, "hey, ithink candidate to raise her hand and say, "hey, i think climate change is real." she's been aligned more lately with democrats on supporting ukraine as russia invades that country. but itjust is not enough, because the path to being a general election candidate — no matter how good you are in the polls against the other guy — is you have to win your primary. and the primary�*s dominated by trump supporters, who see donald trump as this cult of personality, it's been described to me, and she is the last chance in the republican party to try to break through

this. �* , , , ., this. amber philips from the washington _ this. amber philips from the washington post, _ this. amber philips from the washington post, thank - this. amber philips from the washington post, thank you | this. amber philips from the l washington post, thank you so much. now to the remarkable story of conjoined twins, marieme and nay, who were born in senegal and live in cardiff. when they were born, doctors expected them to survive only for a few days. the girls came to london for treatment in 2017 when they were just two years old, and have remained in the uk for the care and medical expertise unavailable for them at home. since then, they have defied all expectations. they are now seven years old, and thought to be the only growing conjoined twins in europe. lucy owen has their story. what is it now? marieme and ndeye, playing with their friends at mount stuart primary in cardiff. their dad always wanted them to go to a mainstream school. it's just a way for me to show they are part of society. they don't have to hide from anybody. they see kids, they play

with them, laugh with them, to make friends, to develop as individuals. they are both so pretty. that's why they're stuck together _ that's why they're stuck together - _ that's why they're stuck together — because - that's why they're stuck| together — because they that's why they're stuck - together — because they really love _ together — because they really love each _ together — because they really love each other. _ that's why they're together, because they really love each other. they may share a body, but the girls are two very different characters. marieme is very quiet, very reserved, introverted personality. it's completely different from ndeye. she's very independent. she wants to be in charge of everything. when they were born, doctors in senegal didn't expect them to live more than a few days. they thought separation was their best hope of survival. but when the girls arrived in the uk, it was discovered that marieme's heart was too weak for the complex surgery and the decision was made not to separate them.

i can't allow myself to choose who will live, who will die now. let the doctor listen to your heart. marieme and ndeye share one pair of legs, one pelvis, and each has a spinal—cord and heart. they have regular check—ups at the children's hospital for wales. what you can clearly see here are two spines. so this is illustrating the approximate place of where they are joined. what does everybody say when you're in the standing frame, girls? oh, you look tall! now, the girls continue to surprise everyone around them. at school, they to spend time in a standing frame to get them used to being upright, in hope that one day they may walk. we're going to live. how long, i don't know, i don't want to know now. i don't want to know. i just concentrate on the present, and celebrating life. a remarkable family.

christopher nolan's film oppenheimer has had a great night at the baftas — it won seven awards including best film, director and leading actor for cillian murphy. poor things took home five awards, with emma stone named best leading actress. our culture editor katie razzel was there. how many movie stars can you fit into a photo opportunity? bafta had the brits and americans embracing and the irish out in force. for one night only, london was a who's who of the movie world, with the president of bafta, the prince of wales, attending his most high—profile royal engagement since his wife's operation and the king's cancer diagnosis. this red carpet is heaving with the kind of star power only the biggest night of the british film calendar can deliver — a night to celebrate talent on screen and behind the camera, here in britain and across the world. it is no exaggeration to say this room has in it

the greatest actors in the world. inside the royal festival hall, master of ceremonies david tennant got down to business. right, let's give out some baftas. a night of laughter but also emotion, particularly when da'vinejoy randolph picked up best supporting actress for playing mary lamb, a bereaved mother and school cook in the holdovers. there have been countless marys throughout history who have never got a chance to wear beautiful gowns and stand on this stage here in london. best actress went to emma stone for poor things. the frankenstein—style fantasy walked away with five awards in all. i reallyjust want to thank my mom. she is the best person i know in the whole world. she inspires me every single day. and stone beat, amongst others, margot robbie — barbie, the biggest—grossing movie of the year, was entirely snubbed at the baftas. bradley cooper's maestro

and martin scorsese's killers of the flower moon also walked away with nothing. the zone of interest. instead, a british film in german about the holocaust triumphed. the zone of interest picked up three awards, including outstanding british film and film not in english. cillian murphy. acclaimed director christopher nolan has never won a bafta. his film about the father of the atomic bomb now has seven. cillian murphy as best actor, robert downeer, best supporting actor, and nolan himself, best director. this is an incredible honour, being back home, getting this from bafta, in the festival hall, where my mum and dad used to drag me to make me have some culture. michaelj fox, diagnosed with parkinson's disease 30 years ago, got a standing ovation. it can change your day, it can change your outlook, sometimes even change your life. in a surprise appearance, he handed out the biggest award, best film. oppenheimer. oppenheimer�*s night to celebrate, a night which may

just be repeated in the oscars in three weeks. katie razzall, bbc news. thank you for watching. hello there. sunday started the day on quite a wet note for large areas of england, but it was tibenham in norfolk that was the wettest place in the country with 31 millimetres of rain. once that cleared, most of the uk had some decent spells of sunshine and it was an exceptionally mild day. the highest temperature, in hampshire's gosport, was 17 celsius. that's eight degrees celsius above average for this time of the year. it'll stay pretty mild as well as we go through the next few hours. a band of rain crosses scotland and northern ireland. the rain heavy for a time, but it won't last very long.

eventually, we'll start to see that rain encroaching in across parts of northern england and wales as we start off monday morning. a mild and frost—free start to the day, temperatures typically around seven or eight degrees. now, through the rest of monday, this band of rain reaches east anglia, southeast england, but very weak. just an odd patch of rain left over and a stripe of cloud. further north—westwards, a ridge of high pressure follows. so for most of the uk, again, we're looking at some fairly lengthy spells of sunshine, a few showers for western scotland. it'll turn a bit cloudier in northern ireland, but i suspect the clouds going to be quite high through the afternoon, so still staying dry and bright. now, for the middle part of the week, we've got further weather systems coming in off the atlantic, so it will be quite wet and windy at times. tuesday, the wettest weather through the morning will be across scotland and northern ireland. again, a weather front here bringing some fairly heavy rain, but again, not lasting too long. the weather front moves its way southwards and eastwards while weakening, with a mixture of sunshine and showers following to scotland and northern ireland through the afternoon, so that's probably why we'll see some of the best of the sunshine. there'll be some bright weather, though, for central and eastern england and it will be another very mild day. it then turns a lot windier

through wednesday, gusts of wind reaching 50 or 60 miles an hour for northern scotland. quite windy for wales and western england, some heavy rain here as well. over the hills of wales and western england, we could see around 50—odd millimetres of rain, and that will be enough to bring some renewed concerns that we could see some further localised surface water flooding. it stays mild again, but the mild weather won't last much longer because we swap those mild southwesterly winds for cooler north—westerly winds through thursday and into friday, and that will really drop the temperatures back close to average for the time of year. so thursday, some wet weather moves its way eastwards. quite a windy day. as the rain clears, we'll see lots of showers moving in, and in the colder air, some of those showers will start to fall as snow across the hills in the north, particularly above 300 metres elevation, although you could see a bit of sleet or hail lower down.

china's economy gets a boost from lunar new year spending which surged past pre—covid levels. and asia's biggest air show returns to singapore this week. we'll look at efforts to make the industry more sustainable. hi there. welcome to asia business report, with me mariko oi. let's start this morning in china and some signs of recovery in the world's secon biggest economy. of recovery in the world's second biggest economy.

tourism spending over this month's lunar new yearjumping by 50% to almost $90 billion, surpassing pre—covid levels according to government data. china's markets have also just reopened for the first time in more than a week. they are trading higher. we also saw the country's central bank keeping a key interest rate on hold over the weekend. jameel ahmad, a chief analyst at online trading brokerage, gtc, gave me his sense of the data. pretty much what we've seen is since the chinese economy did reopen following what was pretty much close to three years of lockdowns, we have seen underwhelming data. this data regarding the increased tourism spendi, yes, it looks like it is hitting the right path as we enter into 2024, but it is just one set of data so far and we need to see more to start getting more optimism about the chinese economy getting back onto the road once again. when it comes to the central bank decision — not so much of a surprise. everybody in the central bank

world and the investor community is really waiting for the fed, which is of course