this is bbc news, the headlines. businesses, schools and transport across israel are hit by a nationwide strike. unions are demanding a deal with hamas to secure the release of hostages. germany's main political parties will continue their boycott of the far—right afd, despite its regional election success. and rusting away on the ocean floor — exclusive video reveals the titanic�*s slow decay. hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy. thank you for being with us. more now on our top story, trade unions and groups representing the families of israeli hostages are holding a general strike — to press the government to reach a deal to free those still held by hamas.

it's affecting some flights at ben gurion airport in tel aviv — and business, schools, and other forms of transport have also been hit. the stoppage is a day after the israeli army said it had recovered the bodies of six hostages who were taken during the attacks of 7th october. alastair burt is a former conservative mp who served as minister of state for the middle east. he gave me his reaction to developments. the scale of protests is certainly unprecedented. there has been thousands of people demonstrating regularly against prime minister netanyahu firstly for internal political reasons, then post october the 7th lately in terms of his handling of the crisis, but the scale of the protest and the sense that the prime minister's strategy after october the 7th of seeking total victory of the elimination of hamas and the recovery of the hostages has proved to be a failure because it was impossible.

he was advised that you couldn't do both and that advice has been borne out by experience and the circumstances of the murders of the six hostages that have been reported have just increased the anguish of many of the population of israel. that's what we have seen. whether it will change prime minister netanyahu's policy is difficult to estimate because he is trapped by some in his cabinet who do not want him to make a deal with hamas, the extreme right—wing ministers, and he himself has set on a course where he can only succeed by delivering what he has already promised even if it's impossible so it's very hard to say what the immediate impact on the politics will be. and even if he was to be swayed by these protests, when activists say they want a hamas hostage deal, have they spelt out exactly what they are prepared

to concede for that? hostage families and friends in israel that i have spoken to and many people have said theyjust want the hostages back. the terms of the deal are of less consequence at present than physically returning those hostages that are still alive and sadly the remains of those who are not, and the desperation that was evident on the faces and the comments of the families over the weekend. the assumption is it will be a deal for the return of palestinian prisoners being held by israelis both on the west bank and elsewhere, but the actual terms of the deal seem to matter less to people protesting than just the desperation to get the hostages back. and they feel strongly that the priority that should be allocated to getting the hostages back has not been the priority of prime minister netanyahu and the government, hence

the vehemence of the demonstrations and the anger of the defense minister of the way in which the coalition is handling the crisis at present. it's obvious as to why families and friends of the hostages will prioritise that, but the government also has to balance the future security of israel as it sees it. that's right. everything since october the 6th has changed. it would appear the security of the state of israel had predicated on dividing the palestinian leadership community. it is supporting hamas covertly in gaza, preventing the establishment of a palestinian state has fallen apart, and the anger in israel is directed at the failure of that overall political policy as well as the atrocity that took place on october the 7th for which hamas bears complete responsibility. so the wider security of israel is indeed in question now, and that calls for a different political solution which will require israel to think

of an overall settlement which will involve the west bank, eastjerusalem as well as gaza, and it will require the abandonment of those who believe that the extinction of the state of israel is still possible. so a lot of political change is necessary in order to secure the peace and security of israel to which it is entitled as well as the self—determination of the palestinian people and justice for them. it's not impossible and discussions have always faltered when they have got difficult, but if there was ever a time to press the case, it's now. just to let you know, one of the bodies of the hostages that was found, a cousin of the deceased has given an online news conference and he said the scale of the protests, he said the scale of the protests, he hoped the death of his cousin would not be in vain. he said i hope

this is a turning point and it would mean for the israeli public that we cannot have this any more stuff we cannot have this any more stuff we cannot bring back the ones we love but we can bring back and gain back the lives of people who are still alive. that is the voice of one of the family is speaking out as those protests go on in israel today. let's get more on the announcement that one or two—word ofsted inspection grades for england's schools are being scrapped with immediate effect. last year, an inquest found an ofsted inspection had contributed to the suicide of primary headteacher ruth perry, leading to widespread calls for change. let's speak to sir michael wilshaw, former chief inspector of schools and head of ofsted. thank you for being with us. what is your reaction to what is being announced today? i your reaction to what is being announced today?— your reaction to what is being announced toda ? . , , ., , announced today? i am very pleased. the secretary — announced today? i am very pleased. the secretary of _ announced today? i am very pleased. the secretary of state _ announced today? i am very pleased. the secretary of state for _ announced today? i am very pleased. the secretary of state for education | the secretary of state for education made it clear before she was

selected and this government came in that she was minded to change this and she announced to the teachers associations and i am pleased. after all, the education select committee came out with this recommendation and the coroner in the case of ruth perry said change was necessary and two thirds of head teachers are great the present system is not fit for purpose. ofsted can only work effectively when it has the support of head teachers.— effectively when it has the support of head teachers. what does it mean for arents of head teachers. what does it mean for parents who _ of head teachers. what does it mean for parents who are _ of head teachers. what does it mean for parents who are trying _ of head teachers. what does it mean for parents who are trying to - of head teachers. what does it mean for parents who are trying to assess | for parents who are trying to assess schools going forward? in for parents who are trying to assess schools going forward?— schools going forward? in my experience — schools going forward? in my experience and _ schools going forward? in my experience and i _ schools going forward? in my experience and i speak - schools going forward? in my experience and i speak not i schools going forward? in my i experience and i speak notjust schools going forward? in my - experience and i speak notjust as an inspector but as a head teacher, it is really important that parents get the full picture of what is happening in a school. and if they do not get the full picture, if it is not detailed and not comprehensive enough, it does not really reflect what is going on in the school, they are being sold short and you have seen what is

happening at the moment because schools are complex organisations under so much to put together, when you go into a school, inspectors find it really difficult to come up and cram everything into one word. so for example they could find that the curriculum is pretty good but the curriculum is pretty good but the outcomes at the end of it or not very good. for benchmark outcomes. and they can find that the teaching is pretty good but ruined by bad behaviour in the school so getting all of the evidence together and trying to cram it into one word, leads to all sorts of problems. and i do not blame inspectors and i know lots of them would agree with me on this, in saying changes necessary because at the end of the day, when they go into a school, they air on they go into a school, they air on the side of generosity, they take everything in the round and give a

school a good even though it may not be fair to be touched good so that's what we had this ridiculous figure of 90% of schools being judged good in the country, 90%, nearly 90%. we know there is huge variation in standards across the country. we know disadvantaged children or falling further behind and the attainment gap is much wider than it has ever been. we know behaviour is a big issue as well as attendance, how can 90% of schools be judged good? and this is what is happening when inspectors are forced to cram conflicting judgments into one word so i think change necessary, it receives the support of head teachers and for ofsted to continue to be a powerfulforce teachers and for ofsted to continue to be a powerful force for good teachers and for ofsted to continue to be a powerfulforce for good in the country must have that support. of course the conservatives have criticised the changes saying that the one word summary was helpful for

parents. i the one word summary was helpful for arents. ., �* ., ., parents. i don't agree with that. because as _ parents. i don't agree with that. because as i _ parents. i don't agree with that. because as i said _ parents. i don't agree with that. because as i said going - parents. i don't agree with that. because as i said going back- parents. i don't agree with that. because as i said going back to | parents. i don't agree with that. i because as i said going back to my previous comments, when parents get that, ofsted said its good, everything must be fine, when it patently is not so and then parents do not have the opportunity to challenge the school in those areas of weakness is that it needs to know about and similarly head teachers getting a good judgment when they do not deserve it can sit back and wait for another five years and not tackle the weaknesses that are more comprehensive report card would highlight. comprehensive report card would hiuuhliht. ., ., , comprehensive report card would hiuuhliht. ., . , ,. ., comprehensive report card would hiuuhliht. ., . , ,. highlight. how many schools do you believe are really _ highlight. how many schools do you believe are really not _ highlight. how many schools do you believe are really not good - highlight. how many schools do you j believe are really not good enough? what proportion of the schools being... what proportion of the schools bein: . .. �* , what proportion of the schools beinu... v m what proportion of the schools beinu... h m ., what proportion of the schools beinu... v m what proportion of the schools beinu... h m ., ., being... it's difficult to say after bein: out being. .. it's difficult to say after being out of— being... it's difficult to say after being out of the _ being... it's difficult to say after being out of the loop _ being... it's difficult to say after being out of the loop for - being... it's difficult to say after being out of the loop for eight l being out of the loop for eight years but when i was at ofsted it was in the region of 60—65% judged

good or better, now it is nearly 90%. so i think things have gone wrong with the inspection system. and it has lost the confidence of the people who really matter in schools, the leader is responsible for raising standards. the schools, the leader is responsible for raising standards.— schools, the leader is responsible for raising standards. the gcse and a-level results _ for raising standards. the gcse and a-level results have _ for raising standards. the gcse and a-level results have come - for raising standards. the gcse and a-level results have come out, - for raising standards. the gcse and | a-level results have come out, isn't a—level results have come out, isn't it still a sign of failure of the education system if one third of people who take gcse maths or english do not reach the pass mark? globally that is not good enough, is it? �* ., ,., globally that is not good enough, is it? ,, it? and it also emphasises the point i have been — it? and it also emphasises the point i have been making. _ it? and it also emphasises the point i have been making. how— it? and it also emphasises the point i have been making. how can - it? and it also emphasises the point i have been making. how can that l it? and it also emphasises the point| i have been making. how can that be the case with 90% of schools being judged good? you were quite right to highlight the issue. one third of our children aren't getting the basics in english and maths. and also it points to the fact that a much larger number of children and particularly disadvantaged children are doing well in london but not

elsewhere. look at the north—east of england. the outcomes for children there are far worse than they are in london, the same goes for the east midlands. so we've got to tackle regional inequality and i think the new secretary of state bridget philipson is absolutely right to worry about this and she is right to set up i think she is calling them regional monitoring boards which will look at the performances of schools in particular regions across the country and she has also said, i think rightly, the curriculum will be reviewed for those youngsters for whom a broadly academic approach could solve the problem. sir michael, _ could solve the problem. sir michael, we are out of time but thank you forjoining us. the uk's mps return to parliament from their summer recess today. on the agenda this week is a vote on legislation to nationalise railways — and sir keir starmer�*s first prime minister's questions

since the government scrapped winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners. and the conservatives will start the election process for their next party leader. our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman, explains the fiscal problems the government is dealing with. in the house of commons chamber, big votes on big labour party priorities, on the railways, the fiscal law, designed to give more independent oversight to the gp energy company but lurking in the background is the perilous politics of the difficult fiscal picture that keir starmer and principally has chancellor rachel reeves are facing. just before parliament broke up the summer they announced they would means test the winter fuel allowance for the first time. over the summer labour mps have been hearing from anxious constituents about that and that means as they return to parliament today, there is genuine detectable unease about the consequences of that decision

amongst the party. ii consequences of that decision amongst the party.— amongst the party. if they're potentially — amongst the party. if they're potentially more _ amongst the party. if they're potentially more of - amongst the party. if they're potentially more of that - amongst the party. if they're potentially more of that to l amongst the party. if they're - potentially more of that to come and if so, if there are cuts i determined by the government will they be put to votes by this huge number of mps, many of them new in parliament?— parliament? there is certainly more difficult and — parliament? there is certainly more difficult and unpleasant _ parliament? there is certainly more difficult and unpleasant as - parliament? there is certainly more difficult and unpleasant as labour. difficult and unpleasant as labour mps we perceive it, to come, most likely on increasing taxes but also on cutting spending. bear in mind that keir starmer and rachel reeves bring these decisions is the response to what they claim is a £22 billion black hole they were left by their conservative predecessors that they did not know about but in terms of recouping that, winter fuel allowance barely touches the science. there will have to be an awful lot more and there will have to be an awful lot more and there's two months of lobbying internally in whitehall and westminster before that budget that rachel reeves presents. so there is more of that to come but in terms of votes in the winter fuel allowance, does not to come but in terms of votes in the winterfuel allowance, does not have to be a vote. the conservatives and

the liberal democrats will try and push for one but under arcane rules it is ultimately within the gift of the government to grant a vote if they wish to but i suspect they will not because that would open a political pain and the possibility of labour mps voting against them, they will not want that. a lot of controversial decisions will come in the budget, there will be a vote on that, that is how that operates but it's a nuclear measure for a labour mp to vote against their unbeaten so this is a reminder that keir starmer sitting on an astronomical majority. —— vote against their budget. it is a question of politically whether he is storing up trouble for much further down the track. there's lots of speculation _ further down the track. there's lots of speculation about _ further down the track. there's lots of speculation about the _ further down the track. there's lots of speculation about the taxes - further down the track. there's lots of speculation about the taxes that| of speculation about the taxes that will go up, broadly described as wealth taxes, who will be hit the hardest and all of this while the conservatives have yet to choose a leader? ., . ., , ., ,

leader? that comes after the budget? that's right. — leader? that comes after the budget? that's right. yet _ leader? that comes after the budget? that's right, yet to _ leader? that comes after the budget? that's right, yet to choose _ leader? that comes after the budget? that's right, yet to choose a _ leader? that comes after the budget? that's right, yet to choose a leader. that's right, yet to choose a leader but it's still two months away from that. at the moment there are six candidates, most of them were declared at the start of the summer and most of them have taken decisions on how they want to engage over the summer but one of the contenders kemi badenoch, is campaigning this morning. we will hearfrom james cleverly campaigning this morning. we will hear from james cleverly home secretary and foreign secretary, he has campaigned a bit over the summer but this wednesday six candidates will become five, conservatives will vote on wallowing that field, and next week five candidates will become four, and the final four will address the conservative party conference, and then the candidates will become too and only then will there be a vote amongst party members so you can see the elongated

timeframe and within the party, there are two schools of thought. some said they have lost very badly and need to take time to work out what they stand for, others say there is new labour government is doing a lot of controversial things and bite still deciding at great length to their leader should be, the conservatives are effectively leaving the pitch clear for keir starmer to define what he wants to do but also the legacy he inherited from his conservative predecessors. finally, in terms of potential measures and tax rises or spending cuts, what are you hearing as parliament returns?— cuts, what are you hearing as parliament returns? rachel reeves the chancellor _ parliament returns? rachel reeves the chancellor is _ parliament returns? rachel reeves the chancellor is adamant - parliament returns? rachel reeves the chancellor is adamant that - parliament returns? rachel reeves the chancellor is adamant that she | the chancellor is adamant that she sticks to what she said during the general election campaign and that means no increases in the rate of vat, income tax or national insurance. though i think she will stick with the threshold freezes that the conservatives had which means in practice, more people will be dragged into paying more taxes, the so—called fiscal drag but i

think there will have to be more tax rises under the rules as defined in the choices made by the labour government about how to approach fiscal policy and i think there will be tax increases. i think increasingly people think they could fall on property, you could see increases in property tax, inheritance tax, you can see changes to how pensions are taxed but i think they will avoid those main taxes, if you will but that does not mean there will not be significant tax increases more generally across the board. . . , tax increases more generally across the board. ., ., , ., tax increases more generally across the board. ., ., . the board. that was a chief olitical the board. that was a chief political correspondent - the board. that was a chief political correspondent and the board. that was a chief. political correspondent and we the board. that was a chief- political correspondent and we will bring you coverage of the conservative leadership pitches, kemi badenoch is set to speak in around ten minutes or so at the top of the hour. and later todayjames cleverly also making his pitch. ahead of the first round of voting by tory mps on wednesday. and henry said that will see one person knocked out and tomorrow we expect

tom dickens at to launch his campaign along with dame priti patel, mel stride, robertjenrick who have also been making speeches in recent days. we will bring you full coverage of the tory campaign this week and as it rolls on for the next couple of months. let me bring you some breaking news. the advertising standards authority says it has had hundreds of complaints about ticketmaster adverts for oasis tickets. over the weekend fans criticised the "dynamic pricing" of tickets which saw standing ticket pricing raised from £135 to £355. the asa says that the a50 complaints argue the ads for what tickets would cost and how many were available were misleading. "we're carefully assessing these complaints and, as such, can't comment any further at this time — to emphasise, we are not currently

investigating these ads." they are looking at the complaints at the moment. the wreck of the titanic was found 39 years ago — more than 70 years after it sank on its maiden voyage. but the latest expedition to the wreck—site has revealed the liner�*s slow decay — with the famous bow now changed forever. the expedition involved underwater robots — and our science editor, rebecca morelle, was given exclusive access to the video they brought back. instantly recognisable, the bow of titanic looming out of the darkness of the depths of the atlantic. this footage was recorded in 2010 and you can see the railing on the deck is rusting but still intact. but a new expedition has discovered a large section is now missing. our view of titanic has changed forever.

with all the anticipation coming up on the bow, we were so excited. and then there's a moment of wait a minute, something's not right, and we could see that whole section of railing on the port side was gone. it's just iconic to see the bow of titanic. that's what you think of when you think of the shipwreck. um, and it doesn't look like that any more. i'm flying! the story of titanic has been told many times, but this famous scene in the 1997 film fixed this part of the ship in all of our minds. titanic was on her maiden voyage from southampton to new york in 1912, when she hit an iceberg and sank. 1,500 people lost their lives. after more than 100 years at the bottom of the ocean, the liner is gradually being lost to the sea. microbes are eating away at the ship, creating stalactites of rust, and sea life is colonising the wreck. the team used laser scans to study the bow. the section of railing that's gone is about a.5m long, and it was lost at some point in the last two years. it's now lying next to the ship

on the sea floor where it fell. the expedition spent 20 days in the north atlantic using two underwater robots to image the wreck site. they focused on the debris field where items from the ship spilt out as the liner split in two. and this is one remarkable discovery found amongst they focused on the debris field where items from the ship spilt out as the liner split in two. and this is one remarkable discovery found amongst the thousands of artefacts. a bronze statue called the diana of versailles that once adorned the first class lounge. the centrepiece of that room was this bronze statue. unfortunately for diana, when titanic split in two, the lounge got ripped open. and in the chaos and the destruction, um, diana got ripped off her mantle and she landed in the darkness by herself in the debris field. and the odds of finding it are just truly unbelievable. these latest pictures are a reminder

that the wreck is decaying. titanic is slowly returning to nature. rebecca morelle, bbc news. from today, in england, working parents of children aged nine months and older can access 15 hours of free childcare for the first time. the education secretary has warned the plan comes with significant challenges and getting a nursery place will not be plain sailing for some parents. our education reporter vanessa clarke has more on this. at this baby sensory session in wolverhampton, the cost of childcare is never far from parents�* minds. but from this week many here will see a difference in their weekly nursery fee. lauren will save £400 a month. works out at about £100 a week which is a huge amount. it covers like a family day out. it's a meal out, it's a mortgage. so, yeah, it's a massive amount. my wife told me it was going to be about £1,500 a month. i almost choked on my cereal. jonathan is grateful for any help with the cost of childcare, but was keen to secure a spot early.

in the west midlands there are fewer places available than in some parts of england. a couple of months before she was born, we were round looking at nurseries. people were saying you might not get one. there's a lot of placements going, the 15 hours, 30 hours coming in, so you may struggle to get those places. by the time the scheme fully rolls out next september, 40,000 more staff will be needed. but nurseries are finding it hard to recruit. nurseries may have the space but boils down to the staffing and especially with the nine months old, um, because the ratio, it's one to three for ratio, whereas with the three year olds it's one to eight. if we've, say, got seven children, that's three staff already that we need. over the last few years, the number of childcare places in england hasn't really changed. but in order for the expansion plans to succeed, they need to start growing. so schools are a key part of the government's

solution to do that. the government plans to turn unused classrooms in primary schools into school based nurseries as the number of pupils is falling. but many would like to see the detail of how exactly this will work. schools are about education. i wouldn't be expanding, we haven't got the room here, nor have we got the staffing structure to do that. and i think that's a very different type of care rather than education. ministers say they are aware of the scale of the challenge ahead. they say they are working flat out to be able to secure the final phase next september, when the hours being offered will increase again. vanessa clarke, bbc news. before we go let me show you a couple of ongoing events in israel. the protest continuing, activists blocking roads during a general strike, many families of the

hostages: for those people to be released. there's been disruption at the airport in tel aviv, businesses and schools are also closed. and a call on the prime minister to do what is necessary to release the hostages. a cousin of one of the hostages. a cousin of one of the hostages whose bodies were recovered at the weekend has said in a news conference today that he hoped the scale of the protest has given him hope that her death will not be in vain. and he called on the prime minister to bring back the hostages and gain the lives of the people who are still alive, those who were taken by hamas in october. almost one year ago now. and let me show you events in westminster. you can see that slogan, this is the launch pitch for kemi badenoch. one of the six contenders making their pitch

ahead of the first round of voting by tory mps on wednesday which will see one person knocked out, all of them launching their pitch to be the next conservative leader. and that speech is set to start in the next few minutes and we will bring it to you live or parts of it at least here on bbc news. let's get the weather with matt taylor. it was a pretty murky weekend, temperatures peaking in the south—east corner. low pressure to the south—west of us, bringing in low pressure from the continent, high—pressure replacing that and over the next few days we see the atlantic air bringing much fresher conditions and of course a drop in temperature by wednesday. mid to high teens or the low 20s, closer to where we should be. quite humid out there and there could be heavy and thundery downpours during the rest of today

as the low pressure moves across the north—east. more persistent rain focused around the centre of the low pressure this afternoon across northern england, parts of scotland so the western area sees persistent rain so rain drifting towards the northern ireland and there could be thundery showers in wales and the south—west. some of the morning murk breaks to sunny spells, 25 degrees, 26 in east anglia, temperatures dropping to the north and west. this evening, rain in central and northern scotland pushing overnight to the north, bands of cloud across the country producing showers, clear skies in northern ireland and the west of scotland could drop down here. in the south—east the humid air holds on. it will be on the shift, this approaching weather system means there will be a split and in between the two, western scotland and western england and wales will start sunday, pushing eastwards, taking away the cloud and patchy rain. in the west we see increasing plant

and a scattering of showers, the breeze picking up in western scotland. already feeling fresher for many, 14—22 . going through until wednesday, a ridge of high pressure building in, introducing the atlantic flow, certainly more widely and we will see sunny spells for the vast majority to start with on wednesday, cloud amount increasing in the west, showers and blustery winds in the north of scotland. the rain pushes in but how quickly, that is the question at the moment. but we start the week feeling fresher.

live from london. this is bbc news.