the uk's economy grew by 0.1% in november, the first time in three months. sir keir starmer arising ukraine to sign a new 100 year partnership to deepen security ties. and we have lift off, the blue 0rigin�*s new glenn rocket has launched from cape canaveral on its delayed inauguralflight. welcome to the programme. the latest on the ceasefire and hostage release deal between israel and hamas. it has raised hopes of an end to 15 months of war in gaza. israel's cabinet is due to meet later to approve the deal.

the first part will come into effect on sunday. there have been celebrations in gaza, with cheering crowds holding palestinian flags even as israeli air strikes were reported elsewhere in the territory. the un chief said the priority had to be easing the tremendous suffering caused by the conflict. the families of israeli hostages expressed overwhelming joy and relief as well as anxiety that the deal might not be fully implemented. prime minister benjamin netanyahu's office said the final details were still being worked on and he would issue a statement only once they were complete. phase one of the deal is a six—week initial ceasefire when hamas will release 33 israeli hostages made up of women, children and the elderly. some palestinians held in israeli prisons will be freed in return. israeli troops will partially withdraw from gaza, and some displaced palestinians sheltering in southern gaza will be allowed to return to the north. aid trucks will be allowed in. negotiations for the second phase

will begin 16 days into the deal, but should see the remaining hostages released, a full israeli troop withdrawal, and a "sustainable calm". the final phase would see the beginning of gaza's reconstruction and the return of remaining hostages�* bodies. our first report this hour is from our international editor, jeremy bowen. in the streets of khan younis in gaza, overwhelming relief that they are alive, and hope, too, that the nightmare of this war might be over. translation: when they announced that there is a ceasefire, _ we felt happy and relieved. the pain has disappeared a bit, even though the pain is still present. but hopefully, joy will overcome the pain. some weapons, some defiance were on show, but hamas is a shadow of what it was when it attacked israel on the 7th of october, 2023. and in tel aviv it is also a bittersweet moment

for the families and supporters of israeli hostages, living and dead. 33 women, older men, and the sick and wounded, are due for release in the next six weeks in return for hundreds of palestinian detainees and prisoners. but the future of the rest of the hostages depends on more negotiations. i really wait for this very, very needed thing to happen, for the war to stop, for the hostages to come home. in washington, president biden took credit for a diplomatic victory, celebrated america's support for israel, and said the war had transformed the middle east for the better. there's a genuine opportunity for a new future. in lebanon, there is an opportunity for a future free from the grip of hezbollah. in syria, a future free from the tyranny of assad. and for the palestinian people, a credible, a credible pathway, to a state of their own. with gaza in ruins, the president's point, that the palestinians have a path to their own state,

is wishful thinking. israel's government says security depends on military power, not allowing palestinian independence. after 15 months of war in gaza, the conflict, which has lasted more than a century, is as bitter and intractable as ever. with luck, the ceasefire will end this war. it does not end the conflict. the consequences of so much destruction and death will be felt for a generation at least. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. arman mahmoudian is a middle east research fellow at the global and national security institute. like many others, i'm happy because it will reduce the chance of civilian casualties. but i'm not really among the group of people who are optimistic about this ceasefire resulting in peace in the long run, we have to wait and see.

because this ceasefire seems to be an indicator of one of the two issues being resolved, or moving towards being resolved, that's the hostage issue. the other issue that the israeli government right before invading gaza and launching its military operation cited as one of its main agendas is uncertain, which is the question of who will govern gaza in the post—war era. we don't know whether israelis are going to tolerate hamas or not, the statement are that there is no chance that hamas will survive there, it does not seem that hamas shared the same mutual understanding, there are israeli sources yesterday, israeli times for example, reporting that a minister has convinced the minister of national security, who

were both against the ceasefire, to remain in cabinet, as after the release of the hostages, idf will resume the military operation to remove hamas. so i'm going to wait, i'm happy for the hostages as i'm happy to see on both sides civilians getting a break, but i'm not optimistic about the result or end game result or long—running result of this ceasefire until i find out the answer of the question of who will govern gaza in the post—war era. and that is of course what will come in phase two, 16 days after the ceasefire comes in. that's when the negotiations over that begin. and as you say, that could mean that the ceasefire ends if they cannot continue with that negotiation to get an agreement on what happens and as you said who governs gaza. yes, i believe if they cannot make any decision and reach an understanding, hamas wants to stay in power and israel wants to remove hamas, i will not see any option other than israel resuming the military operation.

the only scenario where israel might tolerate the presence of hamas, is if they have a paramilitary presence there, and if there is a buffer zone in the gaza territory between gaza and the israel mainland. in this scenario, israel might have peace of mind as they control the philadelphi corridor, hamas would be finding it difficult to partner with other partners like iran. then if hamas wants to launch another operation, israel would have another operation, israel would have a chance to slow them down inside gaza. this is the only scenario that i could see in which israel can tolerate hamas�*s presence, in gaza, but still

it's not that likely. there are many political pressures within the israeli right that they don't want hamas to remain in gaza and they all want to also i want to point out in this matter as well once the hostages have been released, those forces who are rooting for a ceasefire, will no longer be so active as they are today for a ceasefire because their agenda has been amended, their main concern was the hostages being released, so they might not pressure the israeli government as much. how important is the pressure that president trump is going to put on both sides when he takes over the white house on monday? he is going to be the kingmaker or the game changer in this game. i think president trump has an advantage, and the advantage is that he successfully demonstrated himself as an unpredictable person, he also demonstrated himself as a person at least in the way that he dealt with the nato impasse that he is not shy of making

unorthodox pressure over his allies. i think there is a chance that both israelis and palestinians might be willing to give into his pressure, the israelis definitely don't want to find themselves isolated from the american assistance or seeing american assistance to them being reduced. palestinians don't want to face another military forces or international sanctions. so the president will be a game changer or a kingmaker in this. arman mahmoudian talking to me earlier. 0ur corresondent, jon donnison, is in jerusalem. mr netanyahu says he will not make any statements until the deal is completely confirmed. and as you say, it has got to be approved by the cabinet here in

israel this morning. there are some hardline right—wing ministers within the cabinet who, up to now, have been saying that they would quit the government possibly bringing the coalition down and forcing elections if this deal went ahead. they have been rowing back somewhat, and saying, well, looks, they might be prepared to stay in the government if the war resumed after the initial six week period. so we do expect this to be approved by the cabinet, if mr netanyahu wants it, those ministers can't block it. but as your guest was suggesting, it's a pretty fragile ceasefire even when it comes into force on sunday. and we have to talk about the human emotions, the mixed emotions of the friends and relatives of the hostages themselves. yeah, mixed emotions notjust here in israel but also in gaza.

it's a bittersweet moment given that we have had so much suffering and so many lives lost over the past 15 months. and the fighting has not stopped. we had news of a rocket being fired out of gaza this morning, 20 people killed overnight, since the deal was announced, in gaza. and of course for the families of the hostages who have been pushing for this deal for months now, their loved ones out and in this initial six week phase, phase one, which is really the only phase that seems clear at the moment, we are only going to see 33 of the remaining hostages released. the negotiations for phase two are going to start in 16 days�* time and there will still be around 30 hostages thought to be alive in gaza still being held at the end of phase one. and another 30 or so whose bodies are due to be recovered and are presumed to be dead.

jon donnison, live injerusalem. these are the pictures from jerusalem, a member of the press is taking a picture there, because you can see there are images of israeli flags there, and people holding up pictures of those who were taken hostage during the original attack back in october seventh. you can see that those flags are draped over an image of what would be a coffin, there, just a reminder of the number of hostages who have died in gaza. this all comes ahead of the israeli cabinet, due to meet to approve the ceasefire and hostage release deal in gaza, raising hopes to bring an

end to 15 months of war. you can see pictures of those people who were taken hostage in gaza. and these are the pictures from khan younis, in gaza, which is waking up this morning, you can see people out and about in khan younis. we arejust hearing from the un development head that they are dealing in gaza with what he described as decades of lost development. a0 million tonnes of rubble alone have to be removed according to the un development programme, and they say that that rubble is highly dangerous and toxic and it has unexploded ordinance. so it is going to be a long process, even when this ceasefire deal comes in on sunday. a reminder that we have lots more online including

exactly what is in that hostage deal. you can find all of those details including analysis from our international editorjeremy bowen, on the bbc�*s website and app. sir keir starmer is in ukraine on his first official visit since becoming british prime minister. he's planning to sign what downing street is calling a landmark, hundred—year partnership which formalises and builds on economic and military support for kyiv. sir keir previously visited ukraine when he was leader of the opposition in 2023, and has hosted president zelensky twice at downing street since entering office. 0ur eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford in kyiv. quite a lot of contact between volodymyr zelensky and keir

starmer but this is his first visit as prime minister and it has taken him six months since he became permitted to make it here so not quite rushing like previous british prime ministers have done to ukraine but certainly making clear that he is coming here with something significant to sign. he is calling it a 100 year partnership with ukraine and i think it's meant to underline the long—term commitment for supporting ukraine from britain. for supporting ukraine from britain. of course britain has been at the forefront of efforts to support ukraine up until now, supplying missiles, supplying military training, supplying a lot of economic aid and military aid in kind. so a lot of support is going to carry on going forward. keir starmer will also be visiting a school here to underline those kinds of ties, there is going to be a linkup with a school in britain, he will be visiting a hospital as well. more money is going to be offered today but i think it's also about that symbolic support which is important particularly now because donald trump is about to return to the white house as us president, and as he was running for thatjob, for that role, he was underlining time and again that it was time to scale back american support for ukraine and almost pushing the onus

on to europe to help ukraine and britain is of course a key part of that. what does president zelensky want out of this? i assume the big thing isjoining nato? i think it is security guarantees that he needs. the message from kyiv is if there is a push towards some kind of negotiation with russia at some point, whenever that might come, ukraine was to come from a position of strength and it wants to know that its allies has its back, that means guarantees that will stop russia invading ukraine again in the future. 0bviously number one for ukraine is membership of nato but also president zelensky knows very well that there are key members of nato who are not entirely convinced that that is a good idea, so the other security guarantees that are being discussed right now include deploying european troops, including british troops, to here in ukraine to patrol

what is now the front line but would become a kind of buffer zone between russian and ukrainian territory in the east of this country at some point in the future of the peace negotiations. after the peace negotiations. this is all discussing stuff that will happen at some point in the future but it is critical to ukraine to understand who has its back, who is prepared to help, and when its allies particularly in europe send troops here to protect its territory. i want to update you on a big story in india. doctors are treating an indian film starfor in india. doctors are treating an indian film star for multiple wounds after an intruder broke into his home overnight. the actor saif ali khan is stable but doctors will have

a fuller picture of his condition after they complete his surgery. police are searching for his attacker. saif ali khan lives in a suburb which is a home to many of india's film industry and where residents have called for greater security. he has appeared in more than 70 movies and tv series. more later as we get details from the hospital, but the hospital tells us that it does look like he is out of danger after being stabbed. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

to south korea now. the country's suspended president, yoon suk yeol, has refused to take part in a second day of questioning in a criminal probe into his short—lived attempt to impose martial law. he was arrested on wednesday on charges of insurrection and abuse of power. lawyers for the president said he would not take part in any further questioning due to ill health.

meanwhile the consitutional court is holding a hearing to decide whether to permanently remove him from office or re—instate his powers. yoon suk yeol insists the criminal investigation is illegal. it has been 2a hours of high drama, high—stakes, my emotions, and you it has been 2a hours of high drama, high—stakes, high emotions, and you can make that argument for the past two months here in south korea as this country has descended into what is possibly its worst political crises in its history. the second impeachment hearing is now under way in the constitutional court, earlier we saw teams on both sides, yoon suk yeol�*s legal team making their way inside the building saying they were going to make their arguments about

saying they were going to make their arguments about why why the impeached president decided to declare martial law for a few hours as it happened, in december. but we are also hearing reports that they made the argument that the impeachment was unconstitutional, was also illicitly motivated. we also heard from a representative of the impeachment prosecution team representing the national assembly, who said that had martial law continued to be instated, that would have dragged the country back to days of military dictatorship. separately, he is continuing to be detained, the impeached president, after a dramatic arrest and an end to the standoff which happened at the presidential residence. he was brought to the corruption investigation office, he was questioned for a few hours, and according to the officials, he refused to answer even one single question. today he was summoned for more questioning and he and his legal team refused so as it stands, he is arrested, he is detained, but he continues to be silent. thank you very much. some economic news from here in the uk. the latest monthly growth figures have been released. britain's economic output inched up by a lower—than—expected 0.1% in november compared with

0ctober. chancellor rachel reeves said she will "fight every day to deliver" economic growth. so, up, but very slightly, sally? just a tiny bit but that is going on the right direction, that is the first time in three months we have seen economic growth in the uk on the month on if you look at the annualfigure, up about 1%, which is growth, but compared to our peers around the world, it's not that impressive. rachel reeves the chancellor has been under a huge amounts of pressure about the performance of the economy, she has seen that the cost of borrowing for the uk government, the interest on their borrowing, has also gone up to a multi—year high. but yesterday when we had inflation numbers came through which were slightly lower—than—expected, that helped her as well because that pulled down the

interest rate on uk government debt. the pound also stabilised. the fear on markets has normalised a little bit but today's numbers are disappointing because economists were expecting 0.2% growth. [30 we were expecting 0.2% growth. do we know which areas _ were expecting 0.2% growth. do we know which areas were _ were expecting 0.2% growth. do we know which areas were growing? . were expecting 0.2% growth. do we i know which areas were growing? when ou look at know which areas were growing? when you look at the — know which areas were growing? when you look at the detail, _ know which areas were growing? when you look at the detail, it _ know which areas were growing? when you look at the detail, it is _ know which areas were growing? wren you look at the detail, it is the services sector, which is encouraging. but in particular you have got pubs, hospitality, restaurants who are saying they had a good november and that is the reason why the economy grew. the worry is, will that continue in the months ahead? the companies in particular because they have lots of employees and staff, they are going to really feel the pinch in april when budget changes come into effect which were introduced by the chancellor.— which were introduced by the chancellor. . ., , , chancellor. including tax rises. yes, increases _ chancellor. including tax rises. yes, increases in _ chancellor. including tax rises. yes, increases in national - chancellor. including tax rises. - yes, increases in national insurance payments for employers, and increases in minimum wage. for a pub that has a lot of staff or restaurant with waiters, that is

going to be quite costly for those businesses. that's the worry, that although we are seeing a bit of growth, will we see more? she is promising that she will work everyday as she said to see growth further and faster. but there are a lot of business leaders across the uk at the moment to awarding the budget measures will do the opposite. budget measures will do the o- osite. . ~' ,, budget measures will do the ouosite. . , ., opposite. thank you, sally, you have sta ed on opposite. thank you, sally, you have stayed on extra _ opposite. thank you, sally, you have stayed on extra for— opposite. thank you, sally, you have stayed on extra for us! _ opposite. thank you, sally, you have stayed on extra for us! thank - opposite. thank you, sally, you have stayed on extra for us! thank you, i stayed on extra for us! thank you, sally, you can get more on the business section of the bbc news website and app. in the last hour or so, blue 0rigin, the space company founded by amazon billionairejeff bezos, launched its new glenn rocket for the first time. the rockets, whose inaugural mission had been delayed for several years and which is seen as critical for blue 0rigin�*s efforts to compete

with elon musk�*s spacex, blasted off from cape canaveral in florida. elon musk has posted on x to say congratulations on reaching orbit on the first attempt. so elon musk has congratulated jeff bezos for that launcher. you can get much more analysis on that launch and the rest of the days news on the bbc news website and app. stay with us, back with the headlines after the weather. hello again. we have had some dense fog this morning and it is only slowly lifting, it will take well into the morning before it completely can disappear. for the next few days we are not immune to some fog patches but most of us will be dry and cloudy, but spells of sunshine and windy conditions for the weekend looking colder. that is

in central and eastern parts of england. today high pressure in charge drifting towards the east, the isobars in the north—west telling us that again it's going to be windy here. and an encroaching weather front introducing more cloud across western scotland and northern ireland. when the fog lifts hazy sunshine develops, we will hold onto quite a bit of cloud across south—east england and southern counties of england generally. temperatures down a touch and where they were yesterday, six in birmingham, widely ten, stornoway, glasgow, belfast and plymouth. this evening and overnight, the cloud across the south—east and the south spread is a bit further north, some mist and fog patches forming, and weather front approaches and comes into western scotland and northern ireland introducing some patchy light rain. gales is developing across the north west, here temperatures in stornoway, 10 degrees, falling away to about one in liverpool. tomorrow we start with

high pressure continuing to edge a bit further east, allowing weather fronts to make some inroads but some rain moving forwards across western scotland. we start with gales but the winds will moderate as we go through the day, the rain spreading north. it will be a cloudy start to the day, mist and fog, through the day we could see some brighter spells developing particularly in the north—east, and the northern half of the country which will see the higher temperatures. 11—12. in the higher temperatures. 11—12. in the south, 7—8. as we head through friday and into the weekend, high—pressure drifts away, it will be breezy at times as you can see, and on saturday night into sunday, a weather front comes in from the west. that will introduce some rain, not particularly heavy. as we go to the ensuing period, it will be relatively dry, variable cloud, some sunny spells, but chillier in central and eastern england.

this is bbc news, the headlines. israel's cabinet is due to meet to discuss a hostage ceasefire deal. the agreement has raised hopes of an end to 15 months of war. these

pictures from khan younis and gaza. a six—week truce is expected to begin on sunday. president biden used his farewell address to warn americans against a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ridge people. an investigation has been launched after the convicted murderer of jimmy mizzen has reportedly released violent rap music reference in the crime. hello if you have just hello if you havejustjoined us. let's return to our top story. israel's canada is due to meet today to approve the ceasefire hostage deal with hamas in gaza agreed after months of tense negotiations. the deal has three phases and comes into

effect on sunday, raising hopes of a