hello, i'm carl nasman. the first full day of the ceasefire agreement between israel and hezbollah appears to be holding. the deal came into effect early wednesday. it comes after the united states and france brokered the 60—day agreement to end 13 months of conflict. president biden says it was designed to be permanent. thousands of lebanese civilians are returning to their destroyed homes. lebanese authorities say they are focusing on recovery and reconstruction efforts after being pummelled by israeli strikes. the lebanese army and unifil, the un peacekeeping mission that operates on the border between the two countries say it will monitor violations and support the implementation of the deal. the idf says its withdrawal in southern lebanon will be gradual. a spokesman added that any violation of the ceasefire terms would be answered

with fire. however, in its first statement since the agreement, hezbollah proclaimed victory over israel. the group added it will continue resistance and stand along palestinian fighters. it is unclear what this means for the agreement. un secretary—general antonio guterres welcomed the agreement, saying it was �*the first ray of hope�* in the region since the conflict began. translation: | received - an auspicious sign yesterday, i would say the first ray of hope i received regarding the peace admits the darkness of the last few months. i received it in portugal and it was the agreement to ceasefire in relation to lebanon and a moment of great importance, especially for civilians. our correspondent hugo bachega has been travelling from beirut to tyre in southern lebanon. he sent this report alongside those making their way home. early in the morning, they grabbed what they could and headed south.

forced to flee because of the war, they didn't wait to see if the ceasefire would hold. they were already driving back home. this was a moment of celebration. there were hezbollah flags, and posters remembering the group's late leader, hassan nasrallah. this is the main road between beirut and the south of the country. and for hours, thousands of people have been trying to go back to their homes. they say they haven't been defeated in this war and that this is a sign of victory. translation: what i happened is very good. this is a victory for the resistance. the resistance is our honour and pride. without its existence, there would be no homeland, no south, nothing. translation: it doesn't matter if the house - is still standing or not.

the important thing is that we're returning, thanks to the blood of our martyr nasrallah. five hours later, we arrived in tyre — a journey that usually takes only one hour. this is the city centre of tyre, the largest city in the south of the country, and i remember being here before this conflict. it was a vibrant place. now there's widespread destruction and it's completely empty. this family was visiting their flat for the first time. an israeli air strike destroyed a building nearby. the attack was so powerful, it damaged almost everything here. i am so sad. i am so sad here because my building is so damaged. i don't like this. recovery for this country will be long and difficult. for lebanon, it means that this crisis isn't over.

hugo bachega, bbc news, southern lebanon. us special envoy amos hochstein helped secure the truce, ending one of the deadliest conflicts in lebanon in decades. he told me about what it took to get the deal done. thank you forjoining us, just take us inside the negotiations. the us has been working on a cease—fire deal there for some time now, what was the breakthrough moment, why now? firstly, i think that over the last many months changes on the ground have occurred, as has below it was degraded, on the ground have occurred, as hezbollah it was degraded, its abilities degraded, leadership removed from the battlefield, at some point there comes a time that you have to translate battlefield gains into political gains come into an actual deal. that's what guarantees its security. so several weeks ago,

five or six weeks ago, president biden and i had discussed that this is the right moment to put the pressure to see if we can see if the parties can reach an agreement. and both parties understood that this was the right moment moment and in fact it was the last moment. it was now or we would have to wait for several more months. why is that? at some point you get to a transition and you have a new administration coming in, they will take some time to learn the file and come in, it was either going to be now or in february or march or something like that. obviously you are intimately involved in those negotiations, what makes you confident that the cease—fire deal will hold, that it will be durable? i don't know if i would say confident, i am very hopeful. we tried to learn from the lessons, learn the right lessons from the failure of the previous deal that was done in 2006. where no implementation mechanism was created beyond the un which doesn't really work for this case.

and the international community kind of left the scene at the last minute, as far as, as soon as the agreement was reached. we were determined to change that and to have a mechanism established where we can make sure that we are watching everything that's happening on the ground, and that's a big difference here between last time and this time. it's not about unifil, it's about getting the lebanese military to deploy. the other lebanese security services to deploy and an authorisation by the government which just passed the government earlier today, as part of the agreement, authorising the lebanese army to do it. but there's another element that is different from 06. that is different from �*06. the end of the battle in 2006 has below was at peak the end of the battle in 2006 hezbollah was at peak strengths, it is not there now. i think this is a moment where lebanon has an opportunity and a chance to redefine

itself, reestablish itself and the first thing it starts with — asserting sovereignty over the country. 0bviously they will be in the white house, they are behind you. how much have you been in contact with them, what extent you're been coordinating with the next administration? we have been coordinating, not involved in the negotiations. after the election i thought the process was getting close, i did have conversations with senior advisers to the trump, incoming team of president trump, to make sure that they knew what the deal was, give them a heads up and also too, its only fair if we are making commitments after an election that the incoming administration should know what those are and express their support which they have. so you think the next administration, this is a deal they will support? i don't see any reason why not, this is in israel's best interest, lebanon's best interests and the region's best interests and the united states' best entrance.

united states' best interest. to what extent do you think the cease—fire deal could help pave a way for a truce in gaza with hamas? i think it very well can be. i think there is a moment here in time where we've changed something, the dynamic has changed, the linkage between lebanon and gaza has been broken and hamas has to wake up this morning at 4am when the cease—fire went into effect and understand they are alone. the rest of the region is abandoning them. it's time for them, as president biden said yesterday from the white house, they have not come to the negotiating table in good faith for several months. if they are willing to release the hostages which will help bring about an end to the conflict, that is within our grasp. we will do everything we can with this administration led by president biden to bring us hostages home and bring this conflict to a close. i think the cease—fire with lebanon can be a spark or a key to unlocking that.

you mentioned the lebanese military there, the un peacekeeping mission obviously the lebanese military not as strong as hezbollah, we've seen some clashes between unifil and the idf, to what extent do you think those groups will be able to keep the peace in that region over the next 60 days and beyond?— and beyond? first of all, let me be very _ and beyond? first of all, let me be very clear. _ and beyond? first of all, let me be very clear. the - and beyond? first of all, let i me be very clear. the israelis did have some incidents where they had misfires, but hezbollah have targeted unifil positions in the last few weeks of this work, and fired rockets from hezbollah to unifil forces, i don't want this to be one sided story. unifil is not equipped to fight them, it's not their mandate and unfortunately during the last 18 years, a lot of terrorist infrastructure was built up in violation of the un security council resolutions, that was not addressed by unifil. so therefore we have to have something, you can't repeat the same action twice and expecting a different result. i think the lebanese army can be stronger,

the difference is over the last 18 years it was never given the mandate or the responsibility and the authority and instruction by the government of lebanon to go and do something. they have now. second, they may not be strong enough to do the job at the moment. i think that can be, we are committed, the united states and france, the uk is doing a lot of work, to try to upgrade the capabilities of the lebanese army and i would say that his—brother—word—mack�*s strength today is not what it was back in 2006. —— hezbollah. this is about hezbollah adhering to the agreement that lebanonjust made, that adhering to the agreement that lebanon just made, that they will move back north of the southern river look county area and everything remaining should be dismantled. that is the agreement and it should be implemented. and if it is implemented. and if it is implemented we can have, not going to have peace between the

two countries but we can have stability and security and we can allow people to live in their home safely and worry instead of if a bomb is going to hit my kids school, rather they can think about how to live a more prosperous life regardless which side of the blue line you live on. several of donald trump's cabinet nominees have received bomb threats in what appears to be a hoax. the fbi says it's aware of "numerous bomb threats and "swatting" incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees. "it says it is "working with law enforcement partners". mr trump himself was not a target, according to us media reports. 0urjessica parker has more. this appears to have been quite widespread. among them, at least a phonic, she is the pic to be the us ambassador to the united nations, howard led nick for commerce secretary, and the

environmental protection agency pick. he has said that a pipe bomb threat was sent to his home with a pro—palestinian themed message. there are several other names emerging, we don't have a final tally but with the fbi, the law enforcement agency is saying, is that numerous officials were targeted with bomb threats were swatting incidents. now, swatting incidents. now, swatting is where a hoax caller calls up law enforcement, alleges may be a violent incident of some kind in order to try and get a heavily armed team or swat team to target and address. us lawmakers, public officials have been targeted in this way before, it can be incredibly dangerous. we know that the presidentjoe biden has been briefed according to a white house spokesperson, mr biden condemned threats of political violence and donald trump's team say that dangerous

acts of intimidation will determine —— deter them. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the former boss of the hospital where the serial killer lucy letby worked has told an inquiry that he and his fellow board members "simply didn't see" what was behind the rising death rate amongst babies on the neonatal unit. tony chambers, who was the chief executive at the countess of chester hospital, apologised for the pain to families that may have been prolonged by his actions. the conservative leader, kemi badenoch, has said her party "got it wrong" on immigration. speaking at the think—tank, the centre for policy studies she called for a new approach, saying the tories would impose a "strict" cap on the number of migrants, with visas issued only to those who would "make a clear contribution". five more people were found alive thursday, two days after a tourist yacht capsized off the red sea coast. a total of 33 people have been rescued so far, but seven are still missing — including two britons. the yacht was on a multi—day diving trip when it was hit

by a large wave near in southeastern egypt. you're live with bbc news. let us bring you a breaking news from the uk, where police have launched an investigation into more than five people who they believe may have "facilitated" former harrods boss mohamed al fayed in his alleged sexual abuse of dozens of women and girls. 0ur correspondentjon donnison is in london, i spoke to him earlier about this latest investigation. this news hasjust come through in the last half an hour or so and as you say, police say they are now investigating at least five individuals who may have

assisted the former harrods boss mohammed al fayed in his alleged abuse of dozens of young women and girls. we have a statement from steve clayman who has leading the investigation saying this investigation is about giving survivors a voice despite the fact that mohammed al fayed is no longer live to face prosecution alive to face prosecution and we are now pursuing individuals suspected to have been complicit in his alleged offending. do we have a sense of why this investigation is taking place now, several years, even decades obviously, after this alleged activity to place? well, mr al fayed died last year at the age of 94 and since he died, there was a bbc documentary that made initial allegations from over 20 women alleging they had been abused by mr al fayed while he was the boss at harrods. since that documentary came out, it's obviously received huge publicity,

this case, in the uk. mohammed al fayed was a very well—known figure not only here in the uk but around the world. since then it's thought a further 90 women's have come a further 90 women have come forward to say they were abused between 1977 and 2014, and it is very much an ongoing investigation and this is just the latest stage of it, which we've heard about as i say in the last hour or so. and how is harrods reacting to this? well, harrods have put out a statement this evening, they say, "we are aware of and wholeheartedly support the met police's investigation, we have an open, direct and ongoing line of communication with the met police and the benefit of the survivors. "we continue to encourage all survivors to engage with them police and we welcome the investigation and we are supporting the survivors in their wider pursuit of justice." three americans detained in china were released

in a prisoner swap. their names are kai li, john leung, and mark swidan. swidan was behind bars since 2012 — the longest of the three. a businessman from texas, he was facing the death penalty for a narcotics conviction. 0n the other side, the new york times reports the us released a chinese national who was facing 20 years after being convicted of espionage. the prisoner swap was the result of years of diplomacy. most recently, president biden raised the issue of americans detained in china directly with president xijingping at the apec summit in peru. i've been speaking tojohn kamm — executive director of dui hua foundation, a human rights group that pushes for the release of those detained in china. what's your reaction to this deal? three americans freed in exchange for one chinese citizen. this is good news, coming as it does on the eve of thanksgiving. the families are

naturally delighted. i do not know about the chinese citizen who was released, i've seen reports but those reports suggest that that citizen was a spy in the united states and the chinese have never raised that with me. i have not raised it with them. but as far as these americans are concerned, yes, i have raised their names on many occasions in many meetings and on many lists. what more can you tell us, then, having worked potentially alongside or with the families, the reaction that their loved ones might have of this news? i'm sure they are happy. you know, for mark swidan,

he has been in prison since 2012, he went into prison the same month as barack 0bama was reelected president and the same month as xi jinping became the leader of the chinese communist party. that gives you an idea of how long he's been in prison. and he has been through hell, absolute hell. does the timing of this deal stand up to you at all? of course, we are just a few weeks away from donald trump stepping back into the white house. i think it's a message. first of all, it's thanks and farewell tojoe biden. but it's also a message to donald trump. and the message is that, ok, if you play your cards right, we can make some compromise, make some concessions in an area where we can do so. china is holding thousands of political prisoners

of course notjust americans, but many. and, you know, i hope that this is the start of many more releases and notjust of americans, by the way, there are many including europeans, japanese, hong kong people, and so on. uyghurs, tibetans, the list goes on. since war erupted in sudan in april last year, millions of people have been displaced and around 25 million people are in severe need of aid. but now the new united nations humanitarian chief says he's made progress on getting some help to them. on his first trip to sudan, tom fletcher has managed to establish new supply hubs and to use three new airports. the bbc�*s chief international correspondent lyse doucet is travelling with him. the only the only building block in this child's life, the only stability.

this orphanage in eastern sudan. we're not filming their faces for their safety. even the littlest, even those unable to walk, were forced to flee when sudan's army and a paramilitary force turned their guns on each other last year in the capital, khartoum. the orphanage was trapped. mahmoud was displaced twice, abandoned twice. his wish — a home. translation: my wish | is to be a state governor. i want to solve all the problems in my country. if i get the chance, i will rebuild all the destroyed houses. a house, a safe house for women in the north of sudan, built by the woman they call mama nur. she too, started life as an orphan at makoma. in this merciless war, sexual violence is also a weapon

deployed on a staggering scale. even mama noor is starting to break. you can't understand what happened for us. all the sudanese people have died. children, women, girls, old people. what i can say? the invisible war, that's what it's called. a dreadful war. destroying lives of a people not getting much of the world's attention or aid. we are very happy to see you here. that's why the un's new relief chief came to sudan first. what do you most need? uh, the need is very high. as the conflict is ongoing. and also the displacement

is every time. it's a continuous. so the need of the humanitarian is a very huge it is very difficult. nowhere in the world are so many people on the run, so many children fleeing for their lives, so many people starving. this is the invisible crisis, and we can't let it be invisible. it's not invisible to me and my team. but we can't do this alone. this is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world right now. 25 million people needing support today. another stop, another displaced camp. they turn up to hear what the un has to say. so, we have to do better. we must do better. you are not alone. the people living through the world's worst humanitarian crisis, suffering all of the horrors of war and wondering why no—one can stop it. and today, hoping against hope that these words are notjust words. they sing their own stories to try to ease their pain and to try to make their own voices heard. lyse doucet, bbc

news, port sudan. let's turn to some other important news around the world. frenchjudges presiding over a trial of marine le pen will deliver a verdict on march 31st next year. the leader of france's far—right national rally party is facing charges for allegedly misusing public funds. prosecutors have presented evidence showing that ms le pen, alongside 26 other members of her party, illegally used eu funds to pay for their party expenses. spanish prime minister pedro sanchez has announced plans to approve an additional 2.3 billion euros in aid after deadly flooding in the city of valencia last month. mr sanchez continues to defend his government after widespread protests and criticism from the regional government that national authorities did not give enough warning before heavy rains triggered the country's worst floods in decades. and before we go — the us astronauts on the

international space station say they are ready to celebrate thanksgiving with their own twist on the classic turkey dinner. brussels sprouts, butternut squash, _ brussels sprouts, butternut squash, apples and spice. smoked _ squash, apples and spice. smoked turkey.— squash, apples and spice. smoked turkey. and smoked turke , smoked turkey. and smoked turkey. it's _ smoked turkey. and smoked turkey, it's going _ smoked turkey. and smoked turkey, it's going to - smoked turkey. and smoked turkey, it's going to be - turkey, it's going to be delicious. it's a little bit busier on the space station than usual this year — with astronauts suni williams and butch wilmore still stuck on board six months longer then they had planned after technical issues forced their starliner to return to earth unmanned. thank you for watching, more coming up at the top of the hour on bbc news. hello. for many parts of the uk, wednesday was a bright and sunny day, but it was cold

for many of us — some sparkling visibility here in scotland. but it is looking like a much drier day for many of us, but not everywhere. fog thursday morning is going to be particularly extensive across parts of northern ireland, wales, western britain, low cloud mist and merck across the east anglia, too. that you gradually clear way through the morning, a little more cloud working in, one ortwo morning, a little more cloud working in, one or two showers and the rain and more northern ireland, too. northern and central, eastern england stays right through the day, up to ten for the likes of belfast, perhaps 11 there in plymouth. milder working in from the west along with the cloud, strengthening wins in the west later on thursday. 0vernight the rain pushes in parts of northern scotland, dragon for much of england and wales, some mist and fog patches reforming, but it might not be as cold on friday morning, while they are moving in. most of us just

about frost free first thing friday. another largely day trip dry day friday for england and wales, northern and western scotland at times, quite windy through some of these irish sea coasts. best of the centre and holding on longest towards the east, temperatures are eight or 9 degrees, but milder air in the west, southerly when developing up to amount 13 degrees celsius. across all areas as we had through friday night into saturday, saturday it's a fairly subtle but the next weather system is running up next weather system is running up at the atlanta, saturday is set to be a bit of a cloudier sort of day, breaks in the club particularly toward the east of higher ground, any of us staying dry through the day, breezy again in the west but a different feeling date with what milder air in place, most of us at 213—15 c on thursday. through the course of the weekend it stays mild but unsettled, next couple of days dry for many of us, it will feel pretty chilly, though some

rain across the north and northwest. bye—bye.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme.

hello, welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. the uk parliament is considering legalising assisted dying in england and wales. it would've approved establish the right for some terminally ill to choose a medically assistant death. several nations and a number of states have already gone down this road — much to the consternation of my guest today, the actor and disability rights campaigner liz carr. it is the focus on a good death distracting from the right to a good life. ?