and, prosecutors in the election interference case against donald trump allege that the former president �*resorted to crimes�* to overturn the 2020 election result. hello. i'm sarah campbell. we begin with some breaking news. the uk government says it is going to return caicos islands to mauritius. it claims sovereignty over the islands in the indian ocean, around 500 kilometres south of the maldives, since independence in 1968. the uk, evicted its population of more than 1000 people to make way for a us

military base. disputes continued. at the united nations and the international courts for many years. with me is our correspondent andrew harding, one of the few people that has been to the chagos islands. this is a long—running story. take us through the decision today. it story. take us through the decision today.— decision today. it is an extraordinary - decision today. it is an extraordinary story. i decision today. it is an | extraordinary story. as decision today. it is an - extraordinary story. as you say, it has been in the courts for a long time. a dispute that has rumbled on in the background. most people listening to the stand watching this will never have heard of the chagos islands. that they might have heard of diego garcia, the american military base which is really at the heart of the dispute and this breakthrough today. the mauritian government and the british government are framing it like this, it is about military... in the indian ocean. back when mauritius won its independence, it didn't get full independence because britain kept back the chagos archipelago from mauritius. it had already promised in a secret deal to give diego

garcia at all to the americans for a military base. there has been a campaign to get those islands back, full 70, full independence. the us have taken that very seriously. as britain has, for example brexit, it has begun to lose international... they have come together to campaign on this issue of anti colonialism, to say britain must end its last occupation, its old empire. that has galvanised a lot of internationals. finally, today, we have on both sides agree, they have signed a deal. they still need to sign a treaty that they basically have done a deal on all of the details. they have put it in this very short announcement today. here is the fate of diego garcia which the americans will continue to operate from for

the next 99 years. the britons have granted the americans... those 1000 people you mentioned. they have been forcibly deported from the islands back in the 60s and 70s. they will also now have the right to return there for the right to return there for the first time. and the mauritian government will look into that, the liability of living there. thirdly and finally, this is fundamentally about international law. britain can sense it was losing support at the un, these international bodies. under some pressure, it has come to this extraordinary moment. essentially, this comes on the back of years of increasing international pressure. notably this ruling by the rc]. it got to the point where it became untenable, britain held sovereignty over these islands.

exactly. the icj ruled unanimously. not in charge, never been lawfully own, sovereign of these islands. it was putting more pressure on the british government. the years britain said, you have got your history wrong, mauritius. you never had the right to these islands, history shows this has been in continual of british occupation since the 19th century. mauritius has always disputed that. this test that might be successive british governments has said, once these islands are no longer needed for security purposes, once the americans don't need that base any more, we will hand those over to mauritius. in a sense, they have already acknowledged that mauritius had a claim. now they have honoured that. you have been — they have honoured that. you have been there, _ they have honoured that. you have been there, what is there on this island?— on this island? they are stunning- _ on this island? they are stunning. they - on this island? they are stunning. they are - on this island? they are - stunning. they are tropical, things you read about, almost like a fairy tale. beautiful.

marine protected zone. they are almost exclusively and yachts occasionally hopped on. they are scattered, you can't sell quickly between them. they are far from anywhere else, except for diego garcia which is the one island which has all sorts of very secretive american military installations. there is a very small british presence there as well. fundamentally, a big, american base. refuelling, re—arming, very important part of the american military protection in the indian nation. to american military protection in the indian nation.— the indian nation. to be clear, that will stay. _ the indian nation. to be clear, that will stay. it _ the indian nation. to be clear, that will stay. it has _ the indian nation. to be clear, that will stay. it has now- that will stay. it has now changed and gone back to mauritius.— changed and gone back to mauritius. �* .., mauritius. the american said, ou mauritius. the american said, you know _ mauritius. the american said, you know what, _ mauritius. the american said, you know what, we _ mauritius. the american said, you know what, we would - mauritius. the american said, i you know what, we would prefer to stick with the precious. they have agreed with a lot of help from negotiators over some time, that they can get a deal from the mauritian government that satisfies american�*s long—term strategic interest in

that part of the world. there is a lot of competition from china, india...— is a lot of competition from china, india... you mention the --eole, china, india... you mention the peeple. 1000 — china, india... you mention the people, 1000 people, - china, india... you mention the people, 1000 people, who - china, india... you mention the| people, 1000 people, who were essentially evicted from there. do we now expect those people to move back? are inhabited unhappy to the island is likely to become inhabited? you might possibly bust up that they would be very hard to support there. it is a long way from anywhere. it there. it is a long way from anywhere-— there. it is a long way from anywhere. it is hard to turn these remote _ anywhere. it is hard to turn these remote islands - anywhere. it is hard to turn these remote islands into l these remote islands into habitable places. certainly beyond diego garcia. i think there is a lot of work to be done there. and there is a lot of difference in their opinion, the people who have come now to live in britain from mauritius or the sea shells. they have different attitudes to what the future of these islands should be. future of these islands should be, future of these islands should be. ., ., ., be. some of the reaction and statements _ be. some of the reaction and statements from _ be. some of the reaction and statements from the - be. some of the reaction and statements from the foreign | statements from the foreign secretary david lammy. he said,

this government inherited a situation where the long term secure operation of the diego situation where the long term secure operation of the diego garcia military base was under garcia military base was under threat. consisted ongoing legal threat. consisted ongoing legal challenges, today secures this challenges, today secures this for the future. it will for the future. it will strengthen safeguarding global strengthen safeguarding global security. shut down any security. shut down any possibility of the indian ocean possibility of the indian ocean being used as a dangerous being used as a dangerous migration route to the uk, as migration route to the uk, as well as guaranteeing our well as guaranteeing our long—term relationship with long—term relationship with mauritius. a close commonwealth mauritius. a close commonwealth partner. that statementjust partner. that statementjust shows the level of complexity shows the level of complexity and why these smaller and why these smaller uninhabited islands, thousands uninhabited islands, thousands of miles away, have been so of miles away, have been so important. of miles away, have been so important. of miles away, have been so important-— important-— of miles away, have been so of miles away, have been so important. he focus there on the security- _ important. he focus there on important. he focus there on the security- _ important. he focus there on the security. really, - important. he focus there on the security. really, this - important. he focus there on the security. really, this is l the security. really, this is the security. really, - important. he focus there on the security. really, this - important. he focus there on the security. really, this is l the security. really, this is one of these, what looked like, one of these, what looked like, tidy disputes between two tidy disputes between two friendly countries, britain and friendly countries, britain and mauritius. very close relation, mauritius. very close relation, very good relations. it shows very good relations. it shows how the international system at how the international system at large works and is evolving. large works and is evolving.

britain, more isolated term

global security which garcia... global security which underpins the political agreement today. just a reminder bear that the uk government has announced that it will return the chagos islands to mauritius. let's return to our other top story. we start in the middle east — and isreal�*s military claims to have killed 15 hezbollah members in the south of lebanon. the idf has released a statement saying it struck 200 hezbollah targets overnight. meanwhile at least seven people have been killed in an israeli air strike in the heart of the beiruit. it was on hezbollah—affiliated medical centre in a residential building. our correspondent in beirut says the victims were all medics. here are live pictures — showing smoke filling the skyline of the lebanese capital. in separate attacks in southern lebanon, the idf also released images showing what it calls �*precise strikes' on a building that is used by hezbollah in sourthern lebanon.

in its latest release the idf says hezbollah terrorists were operating in the building, and large quantities of hezbollah weapons were stored there. meanwhile, president biden has said he will not support any attack by israel on iran's nuclear sites in response to tuesday's missile barrage by tehran. the us president has spoken to other world leaders in the g7, and called for any retaliation from the israelis to be �*proportionate'. the iranian president warned if israel retaliated, iran would respond more severely. israel's military says eight of its soldiers were killed in the first two days of its ground invasion of lebanon. hezbollah says it fired guided missiles at their tanks. peter bowes has the latest. more explosions ring out overnight in lebanon. the israeli army says it conducted a precise attack on bachoura in central beirut.

the first raid in the heart of lebanon's capital. lebanese officials say at least five people were killed and 11 injured in this israeli strike on a medicalfacility, a building affiliated with hezbollah. earlier, the lebanese health ministry confirmed at least 46 people have been killed in israeli strikes in the previous 2a hours. and overnight, the us government has confirmed that an american man, 56—year—old kamal ahmad jawad, is among those who died. the israeli military says eight of its soldiers were killed in the opening two days of its ground invasion of lebanon, and this latest strike overnight came hours after a united nations security council meeting where israel warned it would retaliate if attacked. we will defend our people and our response will be swift and decisive. those who attack us will face serious consequences.

iran's unprecedented response, that barrage of missiles fired into israel on tuesday has escalated this crisis just days before the first anniversary of the hamas attacks last year on october the 7th. president biden says g7 leaders are planning to co—ordinate new sanctions and other measures to respond to iran's actions. but he did not support israel striking iran's nuclear sites. the answer is no. and i think there's things we'll be discussing with the israelis, what they're going to do, but all seven of us agree that they have a right to respond, but they should respond proportionatly. the middle east is on edge and tensions could not be higher, with israel expected to launch a significant retaliatory attack on iran any day. the us�*s commitment to israel's security, according to the white house, remains ironclad, but

the overwhelming concern is that conflicts on several fronts could soon erupt into a regional war. peter bowes, bbc news. sally nabil, our correspondent from bbc arabic, is near the location of the strike — and gave me this update. i am right here where an air strike, an israeli air strike has hit a medical centre overnight. the medical centre is in a residential building right behind me. it has been hit really hard. we know that seven medics have lost their lives in the israeli air strikes. there are a number of other medics who are injured. we had been talking to people in the area who told me this residential building is busy and even this area is crowded with people. as soon as the strike hit, which was very loud, everybody in central beirut could hear it, as soon as the strike hit, all the residents were out

and children were screaming, one of the people inside told me, i felt my heart was going to stop, it was pounding very, very loud. so it was and still is a scene of chaos here. they are clearing the rubble behind me which is why it sounds very noisy. we have talked to one of the civil defence members and they told us that it seems the israeli air strike has precisely targeted this medical centre. although everybody inside was civilian as they put it. but usually the israelis say, we target places that are close to hezbollah military infrastructure. although hezbollah denies storing or manufacturing weapons in residential areas. the israelis are saying they are striking as you say specific and precise targets and buildings which have links to hezbollah.

this is true, this is the israeli argument. they say, we usually hit areas that are in one way or another associated with the hezbollah military activities but when you put this argument to the people here, especially the residents of this building, they get really angry and they insist everybody inside the medical centre that was targeted last night were civilians. they say all the people who lost their lives were medics, many of the injured were medics. we could even see masks and gloves on the streets. there are some blankets behind me. it is a scene of fear and chaos. over the past few days in fact, we have been hearing constant bombardment in the beirut southern suburb. but last night the strike was here in the heart of the capital.

you will see on your screen then updated list. now nine people reported dead in that one strike. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

british prime minister sir keir starmer has paid back more than £6,000 pounds, that's 8,000 dollars, —worth of gifts and hospitality received since entering no. 10 after a backlash over donations. the prime minister is covering the costs for six tickets to see taylor swift, tickets for horse races, and clothes rented from a high—end designer for his wife. he has now committed to overhauling hospitality rules for ministers to ensure more transparency. our political correspondent harry farley explained just what the pm has and hasn't been paying back. he is paying back some of the gifts he has received, £3,400 worth of taylor swift tickets in august.

tickets to see the races in doncaster and a clothing rental agreement used by his wife. he is not paying back things like hospitality to see arsenal football club, thousands of pounds of clothing he received before the election. the questions for keir starmer continue and they followed him to brussels yesterday where he gave this response to the question of why he was repaying the money now. we came in as a government of change. we will now bring forward principles for donations because until now politicians have used their best individualjudgment on a case—by—case basis. i think we need some principles of general application so i took the decision that until the principles are in place it was right for me to make those repayments. it is not clear what those principles will be or indeed when they will be in place. those questions as yet unanswered.

keir starmer is far from the only mp to receive gifts and the conservative leadership have themselves declared thousands of pounds worth of donations for their campaigns. but the questions for keir starmer in particular continue. there is no question that those other key members of the government will be paying back their freebies, whatever you want to call it, and also some questions for lord alli who is the name behind all this, the principal donor behind all this. he is under investigation. exactly, he is under investigation by the house of lords standards watchdog. we don't know what that investigation precisely is about but we understand it is over a clerical element of the declarations already made. questions also for labour's cabinet ministers, whether they should and will follow the prime minister's example in paying back some of the gifts they have received since the election in particular.

questions for angela rayner the deputy prime minister, she declared around £800 of hospitality to visit a dj set in ibiza. questions for her and other and other cabinet ministers over the gifts they received. downing street trying to draw a line under this but at the moment the questions and scrutiny continues. harry farley reporting. a charterflight — organised by the uk government to evacuate british nationals from lebanon — has landed at birmingham airport. ministers say a second flight will take off later today, if it safe to do so. let's speak to nick eardley our political correspondent. hello. take us through the latest on this effort to get what, potentially, thousands of uk nationals out of lebanon. could be thousands. the message coming from the uk government is they are going to keep these

chartered flights going for as long as the security situation allows. as you point out, there are about 150 british nationals and their dependents taken out of beirut yesterday on one of these fights. there are probably 100 or thousands more that have registered their presence with the uk government and who are looking to get out as the situation unfolds. the update to give you today is that the foreign office is saying it is going to charter more flights. we don't know exactly when all of those will be but the intention is that they will continue for as long as the situation allows. remember, they are for british nationals but also for partners of british nationals and any children under 18 years old. the process so far has been the people register with the british government, they then get an e—mail saying, here is the way you can register to be

on a flight. and then they get confirmation or otherwise if they are going to be on one. that is going to continue to happen for the next few days. it looks like that at least. the message from the government, david lumb iron —— david lammy, is that the situation in lebanon is extremely volatile and the guys from the british government is for brits to get out, and get out as soon as they can. thank you. let's speak to hanan baba, she was on that flight yesterday from beirut to birmingham. thank you for speaking to us here on bbc news. take us through the last few days, what it was like, where you were and how easy it was to get a place on that flight.— on that flight. joao cancelo. thank you — on that flight. joao cancelo. thank you for _ on that flight. joao cancelo. thank you for having - on that flight. joao cancelo. thank you for having me. i thank you for having me. honestly, my brain is still catching up with everything that has happened. a very

devastating situation to experience first hand. i have been trying to... i was in lebanon for around one month. i have been desperately trying to get out, no flights available. when i first heard the government was releasing a flight, i was very quick to jump flight, i was very quick to jump on that. yesterday —— before yesterday, we were sent an e—mail to register whether we wanted to be on the flight. we paid for that and then we didn't hear anything about it until yesterday morning at 10:30am. we got an e—mail saying that we had been allocated a seat on the flight. i was visiting my father's family in the north of lebanon on, so i had about 30 minutes to pack my stuff and go to get the flight at 3pm. so i quickly rushed and made my way to the airport. i didn't have a lot of time to say goodbye to my family, which was very tough considering i am not sure when i will be able to see them

again. you know, no one knows what is to come. yeah.- what is to come. yeah. very difficult. _ what is to come. yeah. very difficult, having _ what is to come. yeah. very difficult, having to _ what is to come. yeah. very difficult, having to say - difficult, having to say goodbye and knowing that they are staying behind. what were the conditions like? so are staying behind. what were the conditions like?— the conditions like? so my family is — the conditions like? so my family is based _ the conditions like? so my family is based in - the conditions like? so my family is based in the - the conditions like? so my| family is based in the north the conditions like? so my . family is based in the north of lebanon, so we are quite a way from the bombs and stuff happening in the south. we saw a huge amount of people coming up a huge amount of people coming up north, staying, homeless, living on the streets, mattresses. lebanon is still very hot, 30 degrees, seeing people on the streets, kids, families, displaced first it's just heartbreaking to stop on the journey to the airport, similarly, beirut wasjust, it had this airy feeling to it. seeing people on the streets, and the sense of fear that i have never experienced before. very scary stuff. the airport

is around five, ten minutes drive from the areas in beirut that are currently being bombarded quite heavily. so my taxi driver definitely went a bit... maybe break some laws in terms of driving me faster. those areas are just trying to keep it together. i am just trying to keep it together and i was hoping i would get to the airport safely. i cannot imagine what it is like for those people who live nearby those people who live nearby those areas in beirut and what they must be experiencing right now. ., ., . ~ they must be experiencing right now. ., ., ., ., now. you are back now and relieved — now. you are back now and relieved to _ now. you are back now and relieved to be _ now. you are back now and relieved to be back. - now. you are back now and relieved to be back. i- now. you are back now and relieved to be back. i am . relieved to be back. i am really grateful _ relieved to be back. i am really grateful that - relieved to be back. i am really grateful that i - relieved to be back. i am - really grateful that i managed to get back safely to the uk but i think that, i was speaking to people on the flight yesterday, a lot of tears and distress. i think a lot of us who have connections to lebanon feel the same immense sense of guilt. you

know, we feel helpless. we are leaving people behind and i was reflecting on it, for me it feels like you have a younger sibling who is drowning but you can't swim yourself. that is how it feels, you are leaving and obviously you feel grateful for that but you feel absolutely helpless and you feel that you have somehow failed humanity. how things are getting worse by the day and what we are experiencing. it is very mixed emotions.- very mixed emotions. difficult time. very mixed emotions. difficult time- thank — very mixed emotions. difficult time. thank you _ very mixed emotions. difficult time. thank you so _ very mixed emotions. difficult time. thank you so much - very mixed emotions. difficult time. thank you so much for i time. thank you so much for sharing that with us here on bbc news. thank you. you are watching bbc news. hello, again. we've just had the coldest night of this autumn so far. braemarfell to —4.1 celsius. there's been some mist and fog around this morning as well. and for the next few days, we are looking at the days starting on a chilly note

with mist and fog, but most of us will have sunny spells. but there'll be some patchy rain coming in from the west. this afternoon, a lot of dry weather around. fair weather cloud bubbling up. it could produce the odd shower, perhaps in the south—east, maybe one or two in the west, but that will be the exception rather than the rule. but the sunshine turning hazier from the west in the latter part of the afternoon. now, into the evening, the cloud will be accompanied by strengthening winds and rain across northern ireland and western scotland. not particularly heavy rain, though. england and wales seeing some mist and fog patches forming. and here it will be a chilly night. in rural areas, we could even see a touch of frost. but where we've got the cloud and the patchy rain, here, temperatures holding up, and it's courtesy of this weather front, which through the course of tomorrow will slowly drift eastwards. that's a fairly weak feature. so, we start in england and wales with the mist and fog, that lifts, then a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine. the cloud spreading across northern ireland, the isle of man and scotland.

with it, patchy light rain and temperatures 13 to about 17 degrees, north to south. it'll feel quite pleasant, that 17, in the sunshine. then, as we move beyond that, from friday and into the weekend, we say goodbye to this first weather front. but then the next area of low pressure comes in with a more potent weather front during the course of saturday. so, once again, for england and for wales, we start off on a dry note with some sunshine, but heavier rain and stronger winds come in from the west, gusty winds through the irish sea, and that is very slowly pushing eastwards. so, many eastern and central areas and also parts of wales will stay dry during the course of saturday. but overnight saturday and into sunday, what you'll find is the whole lot continues itsjourney, pushing eastwards, taking its cloud and its rain with it. so, later on in the day, it tends to brighten up from the west. but here too we're not immune to one or two showers. temperatures during the course of saturday, 13 in the north to a pleasant 18 as we sweep

down towards the south—east.

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