a deal months in the making. donald trump's team says some of his cabinet picks have been targeted with bomb threats. a warm welcome. the ceasefire agreement between israel and hezbollah appears to be holding into a second day. thousands of lebanese civilians are returning to their destroyed homes, authorities saying they are focusing on recovery and reconstruction after being pummelled by israeli strikes. the lebanese army and a unifil, the un peacekeeping mission that operates on the countries, so they will monitor violations and support the implementation of the deal.

the israeli defence force says its withdrawal in southern lebanon will be gradual. a spokesman added that any violation of the ceasefire terms would be answered with fire. in its first statements since the agreement, hezbollah claimed victory over israel, adding it will continue resisting and stand along palestinian fighters. it is not clear 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 amidst the darkness of the last few months. i received it in portugal and it was the agreement to cease fire in relation to lebanon and a moment of great importance, especially for civilians.

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. around 60,000 israelis were moved from their homes in the north during months of hezbollah attacks. many expressed their own unease about the ceasefire, concerned the armed group will continue its campaign. from northern israel, lucy williamson sent this report. from the burnt—out windows of kibbutz manara, it didn't sound like a new beginning. israel's army, firing a suspects spotted in the lebanese village of mais al—jabal,

just across the border. one of several similar encounters, the army said, with four people arrested. inside the kibbutz, the ceasefire drew people home. it was the first time that meital and her daughter gefen had dared to see it. this is unbelievable. it's like a, it's like a nightmare. it's yourfirst time back in a year? after one year and two months, yeah. we left in the 8th of october �*23. you've heard the small arms fire outside? yeah. do you trust the ceasefire? not so much. three quarters of the buildings here have been damaged during the war. anti—tank missiles punched straight through their walls. the entrance point

is over there. for the rocket, the missile? yeah, one of them. in the dining room, 0rna shows me the hole left by a rocket. she's lived through two previous wars here, but says this ceasefire is different. it won't be the same. 0ur forces will not — will not leave these villages and will not allow terrorists to come back here. and you can — you can hear it yourself while you're here. whenever someone will try to come back, they will be shot. the ceasefire is triggering the first discussions of what it would take for residents to return. this family home was burnt out after a missile came through the living room wall. with the ceasefire in place, people are coming back to see what's happened to their border communities. damage like this isn'tjust

a practical challenge, it's also a reminder of what hezbollah weapons can do. rebuilding this will take months, but rebuilding a sense of security could take much longer. through the living room window, the shattered houses of their lebanese neighbours. as close as ever but the distance between them has changed. gunfire lucy williamson, bbc news, manara. us special envoy amos hochstein helped secure the truce, telling the bbc he hopes the deal could help unlock a ceasefire in gaza. i think there is a moment in time where we have 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 ceasefire went

to effect and understand they are alone, the rest of the region is abandoning them. it is time for them, asjoe 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 of the conflict, that is within our grasp, we can do everything we can lead by president biden to bring the hostages home and bring this to a close. i think the ceasefire with lebanon can be a spark or a key to unlocking them. more on this. i am joined by a middle east expert and senior research fellow at the national university of singapore. many thanks for coming in to the studio. why do you think the stakeholders managed to get the ceasefire over the line at this stage?

ceasefire over the line at this sta . e? . ' stage? there are different reasons first _ stage? there are different reasons first the _ stage? there are different reasons first the most - stage? there are different - reasons first the most obvious one is hezbollah has been severely weakened by the months of the israeli operations. hezbollah in a way needs the ceasefire at least to regroup. to a certain extent it is the same for the idf, on the israeli side, and netanyahu made no secret that it needs to regroup and to rearm because the idf has been involved in two fronts, gaza and lebanon on for more than a year, there is also i would say some kind of exhaustion and fatigue on the side of the idf. also may be the big difference in the reason why lebanon on ceasefire did not happen in gaza you had may be more effective diplomatic involvement from the us, france and the lebanese government as well. this also probably explains why we have the ceasefire at the moment. 50

the ceasefire at the moment. so much to unpack there. the senior leadership of hezbollah has been killed. we had the page attacks, what do we know about the status of the group at the moment?— about the status of the group at the moment? what we know is the leadership — at the moment? what we know is the leadership has _ at the moment? what we know is the leadership has been - the leadership has been severely disrupted in terms of its political leadership even in the military channel of command as well. on the ground we saw there was still significant resistance from hezbollah fighters in the south, i would hezbollah fighters in the south, iwould not hezbollah fighters in the south, i would not say they completely disappeared. but when it comes to the arsenal, the missiles and rockets, what we saw is that the firepower of hezbollah threatened to use against israel in the past years, was not in full display. i assume the idf was able in the airstrikes, to destroy much of it. in terms of leadership and in terms of firepower hezbollah is nowhere near where

it was before october seven last year. it was before october seven last year-— last year. where does this leave gaza _ last year. where does this leave gaza and _ last year. where does this leave gaza and hopes - last year. where does this leave gaza and hopes for. last year. where does this| leave gaza and hopes for a potential ceasefire there? that is the big question. _ potential ceasefire there? twat is the big question. does the ceasefire in lebanon on lead to the same for gaza. unfortunately so far we do not have a clear indication that this could be the next step. the big question mark is — does the government in israel except a ceasefire in gaza, so far we do not see that happening because of the far right member for that coalition behind netanyahu. those far right members had no problem or at least did not threaten to leave the government in case of a ceasefire in lebanon on. that is more difficult in gaza because there is an element of ideology, you hear more and more elements of the far right in the israel suggesting resettlement in the north of

gaza. unfortunately we do not have at the moment any indicator that the next step could be a real ceasefire in gaza. �* , �* gaza. briefly, we're getting some reports _ gaza. briefly, we're getting some reports that - gaza. briefly, we're getting some reports that the - gaza. briefly, we're getting l some reports that the syrian rebel army have made some gains, it's a very complicated aspect of all of this, can you walk us through where we are with the syrian war which has affected lebanon on so much? basically what you see here is a reminder that the syrian war was not over, that this was a frozen conflict in some sense. that for several years, we and away accepted some kind of status quo, where the regime of basha sz status quo, where the regime of basha s2 was controlling i would say the major part of the country but not the entire country. so what happens in the north as a reminder that you still have some resistance, and that asada is not able on his own to defeat them, that he is

still heavily relying on russia still heavily relying on russia still heavily relying on russia still heavily relies on iran and around back militias. going to be interesting and probably and around back militias. going to be interesting and probably crucial to follow in the coming crucial to follow in the coming days, the development of that days, the development of that offensive, to see if assad is offensive, to see if assad is able to retaliate against the able to retaliate against the rebels, and if the rebels rebels, and if the rebels actually can lead to another actually can lead to another breakthrough, which would mean breakthrough, which would mean you have another let's say you have another let's say wave, another round in the wave, another round in the conflict. forsure conflict. forsure wave, another round in the conflict. for sure it tells us wave, another round in the conflict. for sure it tells us this is nowhere near the end of this is nowhere near the end of a conflict in syria.— a conflict in syria.— a conflict in syria. thank you so much _ a conflict in syria. thank you so much for _ a conflict in syria. thank you so much for breaking - a conflict in syria. thank you so much _ a conflict in syria. thank you so much for _ a conflict in syria. thank you so much for breaking - a conflict in syria. thank you so much for breaking it - a conflict in syria. thank you| so much for breaking it down a conflict in syria. thank you i so much for breaking it down to a conflict in syria. thank you so much for breaking it - a conflict in syria. thank you| so much for breaking it down a conflict in syria. thank you i so much for breaking it down to us. john lucas a man from the us. john lucas a man from the national university of national university of singapore. singapore. around the world and across the around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. uk, this is bbc news.

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 xijinping at the apec summit in peru. john kamm who is the executive director of the dui hui foundation, a human rights group that pushes for the release of those detained in china. he says the timing of the release is important. 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 not just of americans, by the way, there are many including europeans, japanese, hong kong people, and so on. uyghurs, tibetans, the list goes on. let's speak to our china correspondent in beijing, stephen mcdonald. good to see, china is getting one its citizens back, what else is in upper china to stick to the deal? ~ ., . ., ,

deal? well, of course, the obvious — deal? well, of course, the obvious thing _ deal? well, of course, the obvious thing is _ deal? well, of course, the obvious thing is when - deal? well, of course, the obvious thing is when you | deal? well, of course, the i obvious thing is when you are part of a prisoner swap you get your own people back, you give the other side some of the people they want and you get some of yours back. if reports are correct, the prisoner being returned to china as a senior spy returned to china as a senior spy who had been newer to belgium and caught by the api and a sting operation. quite a valuable person for china to get back. but really what this is all about is showing that china is prepared to do deals with the us. and part of this deal, was the us easing up its travel warning, for china. it had been a precondition from the us side, that it would only ease of that travel warning if these prisoners are being released and these are people the us says have been detained without proper cause. so now

the new travel warning which was updated almost immediately has gone from level three, reconsider travelling to china to level two, exercise caution and going there. it might sound like not very much but for china, country that wants to attract tourists from the us, track business people from the us, it is a step in the right direction. and beijing is able to say to the us and to the world, see, we are prepared to do deals and with the trump administration coming in, and remember, this is an incoming leader that many senior people in the communist party believe, he can essentially be bought deals like this. because donald trump takes about doing deals so they think they can cobble together soon arrangements that look —— make donald trump look good he will do things that beijing wants him to do. you can kind of see the pattern

here. how this is emerging. 0ne here. how this is emerging. one of the more troubling things according to human rights groups is the increased move towards taking people who essentially are captives and then returned to other countries to get political results. but i guess that's the way it is. results. but i guess that's the wa it is. . , results. but i guess that's the wa it is. ., ., results. but i guess that's the way it is-— way it is. clearly a lot going on behind _ way it is. clearly a lot going on behind the _ way it is. clearly a lot going on behind the scenes, - way it is. clearly a lot going on behind the scenes, a - way it is. clearly a lot going | on behind the scenes, a very crucial time. on behind the scenes, a very crucialtime. stephen on behind the scenes, a very crucial time. stephen mcdonald in beijing many thanks. several of the donald trump cabinet nominees have received bomb threats in what appears to be a hoax. the fbi says it is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents. a tactic when police are called to someone's home under false pretenses. the agency says it is working with law enforcement partners. they usually are targeting incoming nominees and appointees.

let's cross out to north america correspondent peter bowman. we know there are at least ten nominees for president trump's administration who have seemingly received these threats, either bomb threats or threats of swatting which is when someone will call the police and say perhaps there has been a violent incident in the hope of prompting a major response from the authorities, perhaps a swat team will go to the home of the person who was targeted in the commotion, which will be frightening and quite dangerous for anyone in that particular property, so we have people like elise stefanik, the us ambassador for the united nations nominee who said that she had received a threat for herfamily home, lee zeldin will be head of the environmental protection agency who said he had received a bomb threat at his home but also a message that was a pro—palestinian themed message, and the list goes on. more than ten people.

we heard from the white house, president biden has been informed and is keeping in touch, also heard from the trump transition team, a spokesman who said this are violent un—american threats to trump appointees and also added that dangerous acts of intimidation and violence would not deter them. stay with us because there are other developments in the us i want to ask you about. in a post in his social media sites, truth social, trump has claimed that mexico's leader has agreed to stop migration during a conversation between the pair. he says it would effectively mean closing the border between their countries. what more can you tell us about that? this is seemingly quite an unusual interpretation of a phone call between the president—elect and the mexican president.

donald trump initially saying in social media that the mexican leader had agreed with immediate effect, at least his interpretation, to stop migration between mexico and the us. of course you remember earlier this week donald trump threatened to impose tariffs to the extent of 25% on mexican goods coming into the us if mexico did not do something to stop the movement of migrants and also illicit drugs into the us. well, we have since had a response from the mexican leader, which somewhat disputes the trump account, and she says in a social media message, in a conversation with president trump i explained to him the comprehensive strategy that mexico has followed to address the migration phenomenon. respecting human rights. thanks to this, she says, migrants are assisted before

they reach the border and this is the key line, we reiterate that mexico is position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between people, so she does seem quite directly to challenge donald trump's assertion that essentially the border will be closed immediately. a police investigation has been wanted to more than five people who may have facilitated mohamed al fayed in his alleged sexual abuse of dozens of women and girls. the new investigation comes after 90 alleged new victims came forward following a bbc documentary that reveal the extent of the billionaire's alleged predatory behaviour. john donnison has more. harrods put out a statement this evening and say, "we are aware of and wholeheartedly "support the police 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 the met police and we welcome the investigation "and we support survivors in their wider pursuit "of justice." there has been heavy snow around the south korean capital for the second day with a0 centimetres found in the capital city. on wednesday the city saw the heaviest snowfall since modern observations began in 1907. it coincided with the first snow of the season for the city. it cut power grounded 200 flights and lead to road closures through the south korean capital. at least two people were killed in road accidents and more snow is expected through the rest of the week. 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. squash, apples and spice, and a smoked turkey. it will 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 6 months longer then they had planned after technical issues forced their starliner to return to earth unmanned. they are now set to return home in february. a very happy thanksgiving to those celebrating. thanks for watching. hello. there are still plenty of flood warnings in force, especially across central and southern england, but thankfully there is now a window of dry weather, at least through thursday. colder conditions, too. storm connell that brought yesterday's rain is well out towards the east now. we've got another weather system you can see on the satellite image approaching from the west, but we're between systems

at the moment and under those clear skies, it's meant a chilly start to thursday. some early frost and some fog patches, but it is looking like a much drier day for many of us — not everywhere. so fog thursday morning is going to be particularly extensive across parts of northern ireland, also wales, western britain. some low cloud, mist and murk across east anglia, too. through the morning that should gradually clear away for most places. we've got a bit more cloud working in from the southwest of england — one or two showers, some rain for northern ireland too, but much of scotland, northern, central and eastern england stays dry all day. not particularly warm — a—7 for most of us, up to ten for the likes of belfast, perhaps 11 there in plymouth. so milder air working in from the west along with the cloud, the strengthening winds in the west as well later on thursday. 0vernight, the rain pushes in across parts of northern scotland. dry again for much of england and wales and there'll be some mist and some fog patches reforming, but it won't be quite as cold as we start friday morning. we've got that milder air moving in, so most of usjust about frost—free first thing friday. another largely dry day for friday for much

of england and wales too. there'll be some rain for northern ireland, northern and western scotland at times. again, quite windy through some of these irish sea coasts. best of the sunshine holding on longest towards the east. temperatures here 8—9 degrees, but with that milder air in the west, the southerly wind developing, up to around 13 celsius. so this weather front makes its way eastwards across all areas as we head through friday night and on into saturday. saturday itself fairly settled, but the next weather system is lining up in the atlantic, so that means saturday is set to be a bit of a cloudier sort of day. some breaks in the cloud, particularly anywhere towards the east of higher ground. many of us staying dry for a good part of the day, but quite breezy again in the west, but a different feeling day with that milder air in place. so most of us up to about 13—15 degrees on saturday. then as we head through the course of the weekend, then, it stays mild but unsettled. next couple of days, though, dry for many of us. it will feel pretty chilly, though — some rain across the north and north—west of the uk. bye— bye.

translation: no we're not using cotton from xinjiang. l actually, it gets too political if i say anymore. the boss of uniqlo tells the bbc the chain does not use cotton from china's xinjiang region. plus, australia moves one step closer to banning children

from social media. hello and welcome to business today. uniqlo has become a brand that is recognised internationally and its boss has directly addressed being in the news around the controversy around cotton from xinjiang. forthe controversy around cotton from xinjiang. for the first time the boss of the company told the boss of the company told the bbc xinjiang cotton is not used in its products. the bbc�*s mariko 0i sat down with mr yanai in a wide—ranging conversation. i am at one of uniqlo's latest stores at the heart of tokyo. this year fast retailing has achieved its goal of generating annual revenue of y3 trillion. to become the world's biggest retailer, it needs to at least double that. but the boss even has a bigger target, a revenue of y10 trillion. can he achieve that

as the company's president before passing the button to his successor?