hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has insisted that the death of the hamas leader, yahya sinwar, does not mean the end of the war in gaza. sinwar is widely believed to be behind the october 7th attacks. israeli forces say the 61—year—old died along with two other hamas members on wednesday during a ground operation in the southern city of rafah. an israeli drone captured pictures of sinwar sitting at the back of a room in a partially destroyed building before the building was brought down. the idf carried out dna testing to confirm his identity. iran's mission to the un describes sinwar as a martyr, saying the manner of his death will strengthen

the "spirit of resistance". the hamas leader's body is in tel aviv, where people have been celebrating on the streets. what it will do is strengthen benjamin netanyahu, particularly in the polls at this point. we have seen since july that things started to turn a corner and we had the israeli prime minister looking like he had been vindicated in taking a more hawkish approach and not giving in to the international pressure and domestic pressure for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, keeping the fighting going in gaza. you had the head of the military wing of hamas who was killed injuly, then when israel turned its attention to has hezbollah in

lebanon, as they had been fighting between them there as well, we had a quick series of what was seen by israel as being military successes, including the assassination of the long—time has polar leader —— has polar leader. this is going to be a time when a lot of attention comes to what's happening next in terms of gaza. it underlines how there isn't a clear plan for what happens next, apart from a continuing israeli military occupation there. it's clear that israel still has not achieved its main war goals, it says it wants to make sure that it defeats hamas, which still remain something of a fighting force. we expect that yahya sinwar will be replaced as

leader, just as his predecessor, who was killed in july, was replaced by him as overall leader. so where do things go from here? our security correspondent, frank gardner, says any hopes of a ceasefire are no closer after the death of yahya sinwar. benjamin netanyahu went against much of public opinion and certainly against advice of the americans in defying calls for a ceasefire which would have probably brought the hostages home. he has pressed on and they feel they have got an advantage at the moment. much now depends on what iran does and the signals coming out of iran are pretty defiant. that does not appear to be much appetite on other side for any kind of a ceasefire because i think you have to ask yourself certain questions here. does the death of yahya sinwar make it easier to bring a ceasefire?

well, if israel feels they have not achieved their goals in gaza — they have not eliminated hamas and brought the hostages home — then a ceasefire is going to be unlikely. does it bring an end to the war in gaza? not immediately, no, which is very depressing for those people who have survived a year of onslaught there in gaza. and also desperately depressing for the hostage families who are still demonstrating. there are placards in tel aviv saying, "now end the sinwar," making a pun out of yahya sinwar�*s name and the sin war, you know, w—a—r. of course, let us not forget there is full—scale war going on between israel and hezbollah in southern lebanon, not evenjust southern lebanon, in beirut and the bekaa valley. that's not going to end either immediately because hezbollah is still firing rockets into israel, still the houthis

in yemen also firing missiles at israel. much depends, as i say, on what happens with iran. remember israel has vowed to retaliate against iran for the october 1st ballistic missile attack when iran launched around 180 missiles at israel in response, it said, for the killing of hassan nasrallah, their big ally in beirut killed on september 27th. so, there is a lot of still moving pieces here in the jigsaw that have not stopped moving yet. so i'm sorry to say that i don't think the middle east generally is a calmer place today than it was 48 hours ago. analysis there from our security correspondence, frank gardner. tributes continue to pour in after the death of liam payne, the former member of the boy band one direction. payne fell from a hotel balcony late on wednesday.

the singer rose to global stardom as part of one direction, selling 70 millions records worldwide. his former bandmates have paid tribute to him, saying "the memories we shared will be treasured forever". azadeh moshiri has more. fans had long called for a one direction reunion, but now liam payne's former band mates are united in grief. in a statement, louis tomlinson, zayn malik, niall horan and harry styles said, "we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother who we love dearly." it's incredible... that sense they were more than bandmates, more than friends was echoed in separate tributes. louis tomlinson thanked liam for being "the kind brother i'd longed all my life for." zayn malik wrote, "i lost a brother when you left us and can't explain to you what i'd give to just give you a hug one last time." and harry styles said he was devastated and wrote, "the years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished

years of my life." fans are still in disbelief. police say he fell from the third floor of the casasur hotel in buenos aires. officials say by the time police arrived, liam payne had died of multiple traumatic injuries. # fly me to the moon... he rose to fame as a teenager in 2010 on the x factor. we're very excited about the album. it's where he met his one direction bandmates. # you don't know you're beautiful! together, they became a global sensation, but after six years, the boyband went on an indefinite hiatus. # you know i love it when the music's loud... liam, who'd already had songwriting credits under his belt, went on to pursue a solo career. but amidst the global stardom, he was open about the impact on his mental health and his struggles with addiction. the former x factorjudge sharon osbourne has now said, "we all let you down.

where was this industry when you needed them?" his friends and family have praised liam payne's talent and his kindness in shock as his career, his life, ended so soon. harry styles�* mother said simply, "he was just a boy." azadeh moshiri, bbc news. king charles and queen camilla have touched down in australia, marking the start of the couple's first visit to the country since he became its reigning monarch. they were last in australia in 2018, when then prince charles opened the commonwealth games on the gold coast. as you can see here, this is the moment when king charles and queen camilla exited the plane. he is only the second reigning british monarch to visit the country. his mother, queen elizabeth ii, became the first 70 years ago. just after they left the plane, the king and queen were greeted by local dignitaries and prime minister anthony albenese. they'll spend six days in sydney and canberra, before travelling to samoa

for three days. this is the scene that greeted the king and queen. this is the sydney opera house. you can see the iconic sales of the opera house, illuminated with images of a young prince charles at the time. the king has visited the time. the king has visited the country several times whilst he was prince of wales. this is now his first visit as king. of course, we will have much more on that story over the coming days during that visit. forjoe biden, the farewell tour is well under way. with only a few months left in his presidency, he's on his last trip to germany before leaving the white house. while he was there,

he received the country's highest order of merit from his german counterpart, frank—walter steinmeier. president biden will go on to hold talks with the german chancellor and other european leaders. topping their agenda — ukraine. the dream of europe, whole and free, remains the work of our time. nowhere is that work more important than in pushing back against putin's vicious attack against putin's vicious attack against ukraine. germany and the united states have stood together to support the brave people of ukraine in their fight forfreedom, for fight for freedom, for democracy, for the fight forfreedom, for democracy, for the very survival. let's speak to the bbc�*s jessica parker, who's in berlin. we were watching that ceremony

there about an hour ago, and you could see president biden was quite emotional during those events. it was quite emotional during those events.— was quite emotional during those events. it was a bit of a love in, wasn't _ those events. it was a bit of a love in, wasn't it? _ those events. it was a bit of a love in, wasn't it? you - those events. it was a bit of a love in, wasn't it? you could. love in, wasn't it? you could see how much president biden has been valued by a large swathe of germany's political establishment during his term in office. you have to remember the relations were strained between germany and the us during donald trump's presidency at times. there was something of a reset, and frank—walter steinmeier, the president... i have some notes on the praise he was offering joe biden. he really didn't hold back, saying it had been an historical stroke of good fortune, joe biden coming to office when he did, especially following the full—scale russian invasion in 2022. they were grateful for restoring hopein were grateful for restoring hope in the transatlantic alliance and saying that he had been a beacon of democracy and

decency, and then both men went on to quote irish poet seamus heaney. joe biden is someone who is very proud of his irish heritage. that is all of the good mood music. it tells us a few things, we know that germany has valued joe biden�*s approach to foreign—policy, particularly in terms of europe and the us support for weapons to ukraine. germany is the number two back to ukraine in that regard. we are approaching the end ofjoe biden�*s premiership. whoever wins the election next, it won't bejoe biden, because he isn't standing. this is something of a farewell tour, and berlin is eyeing the prospect of a potential return of donald trump to the white house with anxiety. relations before could be strained, and donald trump

hinted during the run—up to the presidential election that he could potentially cut aid to kyiv, and he wants to press ahead with some sort of quick peace, which has led to fears that he will call for ukraine to cede territory to russia. berlin fears more weight could be put on its shoulders. but joe biden is here to probably solidify his foreign—policy legacy. olav schultz seems to waver a little bit, seems to hesitate when it comes to supplying weapons to ukraine, although they have proved a major backer. i thinkjoe biden is really trying to make the case for european leaders to continue to step up in that regard. continue to step up in that reaard. . ~' ,, continue to step up in that reaard. ., ~ i. continue to step up in that reaard. ., ~ . ., regard. thank you so much for brinuain regard. thank you so much for bringing us — regard. thank you so much for bringing us up-to-date - regard. thank you so much for bringing us up-to-date on - regard. thank you so much for. bringing us up-to-date on those bringing us up—to—date on those developments there in berlin. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

britain's foreign secretary has begun his first official visit to china — in an attempt to improve relations between the two countries. david lammy has been holding talks with senior officials, including the country's vice premier. mr lammy says he won't hesitate to challenge beijing on issues including china's support for russia in ukraine. the bbc�*s stephen mcdonell is in beijing. david lammy has to walk very carefully when he has his meetings here, especially with his chinese counterpart, wang yi, because on the one hand he has to raise human rights abuses in china, beijing's backing for russia's invasion of ukraine. and on the other, somehow mend relations to improve trade links between the uk and china. how does he intend to do this? well, here is a quote from the foreign office this week to explain the intention. "we will cooperate where we

can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must." now, that will sound very similar to all australians because the almost identical line is like a mantra from the australian government. here is the australian foreign minister, penny wong, soon after labor came to power, "we seek to cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, and we will engage in our national interests." now, why would uk labour study what australian labor has done? because the australian government has been quite successful in terms of rebuilding relations with china, having tariffs on australian goods lifted, coming from a very low point of the relations between the two countries, so i suppose the uk government has seen what canberra has done and thought, "that's not a bad way of moving ahead. also not a bad way of trying to explain things to our own people

about what we are doing." there's been a series of new sexual assault allegations against the former hip hop star p diddy, with seven new lawsuits filed this week. the rapper, whose real name is sean combs, is accused of having drugged, raped and assaulted women and men over more than a decade. he denies all the allegations. now his former publicist has spoken exclusively to the bbc about the power he held. our los angeles correspondent, emma vardy, reports. this is the legendary white party. it's the real white party. an invite from p diddy was once the most sought after in town. now, his so—called white parties are alleged to have had a different side. kids have, like, an hour left. y'all got a go. it's a wrap for y'all. because this thing turns into something that when y'all get older, y'all gonna want to come to. diddy was a moment in new york where everybody wanted to be part of this.

i used to get phone calls from publicists, from a—list celebrities begging to get tickets to this party. this was bigger than the met ball, for a moment. we obtained rarely seen footage from inside the exclusive events. it's now claimed in civil lawsuits that, at his parties, sean combs groped and assaulted male and female victims. well, this is the street in beverly hills where p diddy lived and some of the parties happened at this mansion. and you just get a sense of the kind of lavish world that he could bring people into. for six or seven years, it wasjust parties, parties and parties. speaking privately to us, neighbours described what they saw. we saw girls coming out and sitting down on the street. they didn't know where they were. their underwear was showing and they were just lost. now, records obtained by the bbc show police were dispatched more than a dozen times to parties here. when officers raided

the mansion, they found supplies they allege were used in forced sexual encounters, including drugs and massive quantities of baby oil. when sean combs was arrested, the allegations against him were shocking. combs used force and coercion to cause victims to engage in extended sexual performances with male commercial sex workers, which he called freakouts, and often involved a variety of narcotics, which combs distributed to the victims to keep them obedient and compliant. it's horrific. the guy that i thought i knew, i clearly didn't know. i've seen the imbalance of power. what i haven't seen is what is now alleged, which isjust horrific. now, many alleged victims are finding a voice. why do you think these allegations are coming to light now? when victims find out that they weren't the only one, many of them want to do this, seekjustice, because they hope to help other victims. i always say courage is contagious.

and this brooklyn jail is where the former star is now. sean combs' legal team have tried everything to get him out of the jail cell he's currently sitting in. he's sold one of his mansions, offered millions of dollars for bail. so far, judges have said no, saying there's a risk he could intimidate witnesses. we fed you, we gave you all some drinks, now it's time to... sean combs denies all the allegations against him. his lawyers say he has never sexually assaulted anyone and that the allegations are false and defamatory. but prosecutors claim he did not act alone. you don't get to be diddy and you don't get to keep this secret as long as he kept it unless the people around you were buttoned up. there was nobody around him sloppy. it will not surprise me if others are charged. it's yet to be seen whether the case against sean combs becomes a bigger turning point for the music industry. emma vardy, bbc news. it was the scandal that

rocked the british establishment and now, more than 60 years later, a series of newly unearthed recordings is set to offer another perspective on the profumo affair. at its centre was the model, christine keeler, and her flatmate, mandy rice—davies, whose first—hand account is the feature of a new radio 4 series. our reporter, joe inwood, takes up the story. # do you love me? it was the sex scandal of the �*60s. the profumo affair brought down the secretary of state for war. helped end the macmillan government. marked the end of the age of deference. and at the heart of it all were two young women, christine keeler and mandy rice—davies. they both worked as dancers, enjoying a libertine lifestyle just as �*60s london was getting into its swing. these talented hands belonged to dr stephen ward.

they moved in with dr stephen ward, osteopath to the rich and famous, and an amateur artist. it was a life of promiscuity and partying. one of christine keeler�*s lovers wasjohn profumo, the secretary of state for war. # while i'm not there, don't talk to him. but she was also sleeping with this man, yevgeny ivanov, a russian spy. when profumo lied about the affair in parliament and was then caught in that lie, it was the scandal of the decade. #i... # i who have nothing. it led to dr ward, who had introduced everyone being put on trial for supposedly living off the immoral earnings of the women, something they always denied. in the end, stephen ward killed himself, while mandy rice—davies became famous for the phrase "he

would, wouldn't he?" in response to an aristocrat denying an affair. the discovery of these tapes sheds a whole new light on the profumo affair, and gives mandy rice—davies a voice beyond that famous courtroom retort. joe inwood, bbc news. the "largest and brightest" supermoon of the year lit up the skies last night. hunter's moon is the third of four supermoons so far this year, and was at its peak on thursday afternoon. our reporter, sam harrison, has more. the orange glow of dusk in the uk. but waiting behind the clouds was something spectacular. a full hunter moon, its proximity to earth making it seem 14% brighter and 30% bigger than normal moons. this photo showed the event in all its glory over the dorset coast. and this shot was taken over london, where there were thousands of moon gazers.

i took some pictures and i was like, the moon is so much brighter than i've ever seen it before. i thought it looked really nice. it looks a lot bigger than usual and it looks really bright and clear. usually you can't, - you see part of the moon and it's not as bright. but yeah, today it's... i mean, itooka picture and when you zoom in, | it looks like the sun. around the world, the lunar event was captured. it dazzled these moon gazers in indonesia. meanwhile, in germany, last night's commute home was lit up by the moon's glow. footage from around the world capturing a dazzling moment as the biggest full moon of the year came out on display. sam harrison, bbc news. we will continue to follow developments in the middle east. you can find all of the latest lines on our website. i can't actually show you the live page at the moment. one of

the interesting videos there is the interesting videos there is the drone footage that was released by the idf, and it shows the final moments before yahya sinwar was killed. you can go to the bbc website for much more as we follow developments in gaza and lebanon this morning. hello. the irish weather service have given us our first named storm of the season — storm ashley. it will have impact for us here in the uk, especially later on sunday. widespread gales developing. there could be some damage and travel disruption too, as well as some very rough seas. all the latest weather warnings are on the bbc weather website. more on that in a second. the storm itself is just this clump of cloud out in the west atlantic at the moment, but even before that arrives, this is the cloud which will bring some wet and windy weather to us later today. it is going to be mainly affecting western areas through this afternoon. some outbreaks of rain, but in northern ireland, western scotland that rain will turn heavier and more persistent later. away from that, the early fog clears to some sunny spells and here the winds not

as strong as they will be in the west — we could see winds gusting around 30 to 50mph. temperatures today, after even fresh starts, will be still above normal for october, in the mid if not high teens. into this evening and overnight the first batch of heavy rain will work across the country. some of that could cause minor flooding, given the fact the ground is so saturated at the moment. it turns clearer in the west later on and it's here where temperatures will drop down into single figures, leading to a fresh start to the weekend. milder though, across the east, but it's across central and eastern england where saturday morning will be cloudy, rather wet. it's going to be a struggle to brighten up in parts of east anglia and kent as we go through the day. some of that rain could linger well into the afternoon. elsewhere, not a bad looking day. some sunny spells for the vast majority. one or two showers around in the west. winds lighter than we will see through today and temperatures still a notch above average for this stage in october. then it's through saturday night into sunday that things turn that bit stormier. this is the area of low pressure. it's going to be at its worst out in the atlantic, but could still have some impact.

overall, though, it's a fairly standard autumn storm. it will bring rain to all of us, but as far as the winds are concerned, widespread gales during the day on sunday. it's in the north and west that we could see winds gusting 50 to 60mph, whipping up some rough seas. through the evening and overnight the strongest of the winds will be particularly across parts of scotland and northern ireland, we think, and that could cause the greatest amount of damage and disruption. with it, as i said, outbreaks of rain on sunday sweeping the country, some of which will be heavy and thundery. some sunshine between the downpours, but the wind picks up, as i said, through the evening and overnight and that could have an impact as we go into monday morning's rush hour. stay tuned for further updates.

china's slowdown deepens — the world's second biggest economy grows at its slowest pace in a year and a half. we will explore what is holding it back defying expectations — netflix adds over five million subscribers in the third quarter and expects to double its profits. airbnb crackdown — the boss of the rental platform hits back at accusations that his company is contributing to the housing crisis. welcome to business today. let's start in china,

where the state of the economy continues to cause concern. where the state of the economy the latest gdp figures show that the economy grew by 4.6% in thejuly to september period, versus the same period last year. that is the slowest rate of growth since early 2023. the country's economy is still being held back by a property recession and weak consumption. china's central bank has been holding meetings today with leaders of the financial sector to urge them to do more to support capital markets. in recent weeks beijing has announced a raft of interventions, all aimed at supporting the property market and encouraging people to spend money. let's speak now to rory green, who is chief china economist at global data ts lombard. thank you forjoining us we have talked about the stimulus the government has announced, has not taken any effect? the

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