news. survivors of this concentration and extermination camp arejoined by concentration and extermination camp are joined by world leaders and royalty to mark the anniversary liberation. 80 years ago on what is holocaust memorial day.— memorial day. there is much work still _ memorial day. there is much work still to _ memorial day. there is much work still to be _ memorial day. there is much work still to be done. - memorial day. there is much work still to be done. if- memorial day. there is much work still to be done. if we i work still to be done. if we are notjust to remember the past but to use it to inspire us to build a kinder and more compassionate world. hundreds of thousands of displaced palestinians are returning to their homes in northern gaza as part of a ceasefire deal involving the return of israeli hostages. these are live pictures from the gaza strip. donald trump has reversed his plan to impose sanctions and tariffs on colombia, after it agreed to accept deported migrants from the us. sir keir starmer and donald trump have agreed to meet soon after the prime minister praised the us president for his role in securing the gaza ceasefire deal.

this is bbc news, and geeta guru—murthy. 80 years ago today, on the 27th of january, 1945, allied troops came to discover the horrors of the auschwitz—birkenau concentration and extermination camp. 1.1 million men, women and children were killed. during the second world war, more than six million people were murdered in what is known as the holocaust. today is holocaust memorial day, — commemorating those victims, the vast majority of whom were jews. events will take place around the world but the main focus is at auschwitz in south—western poland. earlier today, around 50 survivors, aged in their 80s or more, supported by their friends and relatives, laid wreaths at what is known as the black wall, or the death wall, which stands between two blocks of the former concentration camp. for some, it could be the last

time they are able to visit in memory of those who did not survive. poland's president duda also laid a wreath. he said it was the job of his country to preserve the memory of auschwitz, in order to never let it happen again. he's just one of many world leaders who will attend the commemorations today. before his arrival in auschwitz, volodymyr zelensky comemorated the victims of the holocaust in kyiv, saying the world must unite against evil. zelensky warned the that memory of the holocaust is growing weaker and said some countries are still trying to destroy entire nations. amongst those attending the commemorations is king charles. in the last hour, he made a speech at thejewish community centre in the polish city of krakow. to be in poland on international holocaust remembrance day as we commemorate 80 years since the liberation of auschwitz is both a sombre and indeed a sacred moment. it is a moment where we

recall the 6 millionjews, old and young who were systematically murdered, together with sinti, roma, disabled people, members of the lgbt community, political prisoners, and so many others upon whom the nazis inflicted their violence and hatred. it is a moment when we recall the depths to which humanity can sink, when evil is allowed to flourish, ignored for too long by the world. and it is a moment when we recall the powerful testimony of survivors such as lily abbott who sadly passed away in october and who collectively taught us to cherish our freedom to challenge prejudice cherish ourfreedom to challenge prejudice and cherish our freedom to challenge prejudice and never to be a bystander in the face of violence and hate. and in a

world that remains full of turmoil and strife and has witnessed the dangerous re—emergence of anti—semitism, there can be no more important message, especially as the united kingdom holds the presidency of the international holocaust remembrance alliance. as the number of holocaust survivors regrettably diminishes with the passage of time, the responsibility of remembrance rests far heavier on our shoulders and on those of generations yet unborn. the act of remembering the evils of the past remains a vital task and in so doing will inform our present and shape our future.

here in krakow from the ashes of the holocaust, thejewish community has been reborn, and there is no greater symbol of this rebirth than thejewish community centre in which we are gathered here today. standing on the steps of this wonderful, wonderfully vibrant centre some 70 years ago, having encouraged its construction and taken immense pride in opening it, i was filled with a sense of hope and optimism at the life and energy that coursed throughout this building. so returning today, along with world jewish relief, which i extremely proud to be patron, that sense of hope and optimism has only grown. with their support, together with other generous benefactors,

this centre has blossomed from the blood of an idea into an essential hub for the community. —— the hub of an idea. projects such as this centre are how we recover this faith in humanity. they also show us there is much work still to be done if we are not just to remember the past but to use it to inspire us to build a kinder and more compassionate world for future generations. a world of which we can be truly proud, and this remains the sacred task of us all. 0ur senior royal correspondent daniella relph explained a little earlier to my colleague lucy hockings how the late queen elizabeth had never visited auschwitz, making the visit of her son, king charles, all the more poignant.

this is no ordinary royal engagement for him. as you say, the king is currently in krakow at the jewish the king is currently in krakow at thejewish community the king is currently in krakow at the jewish community centre there, meeting some of those who use the centre and he was involved in the creation of that said to himself. he came to krakow in 2002, met some of the localjewish community and they told him they didn't have a place to go to socially connect and he helped to drive forward the creation of that centre that was opened in 2008. he has a personal connection to where he is now in krakow. when we talked to his team at buckingham palace in recent days, what struck me is just how personal the language they are using about this was. they are using about this was. they are saying the king views this as a deeply personal pilgrimage, that it is a profound and poignant moment for him to be here on the ground at auschwitz, the first british monarch to visit here and here the testimony of survivors who were here in this camp suffering during the second world war with what happened here. and he wanted to be here to hear the testimony

on the ground from where the brutality happened.— on the ground from where the brutality happened. there was lots of emotion _ brutality happened. there was lots of emotion in _ brutality happened. there was lots of emotion in his - brutality happened. there was lots of emotion in his voice . lots of emotion in his voice when he spoke. queen elizabeth didn't come here? she when he spoke. queen elizabeth didn't come here?— didn't come here? she never came to _ didn't come here? she never came to auschwitz _ didn't come here? she never came to auschwitz during - didn't come here? she never| came to auschwitz during her reign. royalvisits came to auschwitz during her reign. royal visits are often done on the advice of the british government and for some reason auschwitz was never on the agenda for the queen. she did go to belsen but didn't come to auschwitz. it added power to the fact that the king is the first british monarch to step foot in this camp as he will later this afternoon. as you say, that speech he gave at the jewish you say, that speech he gave at thejewish community centre was incredibly powerful, but that collective duty that we all have to remember and carry the stories forward. at the end of events today, the king will lay a light of remembrance and he has wanted to do that here because he feels that that is a very public vow on his part in front of holocaust survivors to say that i will carry your story forward and keep telling it. it story forward and keep telling it. , ., , , it. it is not 'ust carrying the sto it. it is notjust carrying the story forward, _ it. it is notjust carrying the story forward, i've - it. it is notjust carrying the i story forward, i've interviewed

so many people already today since i've been here who want to say we need to talk about anti—semitism and combating anti—semitism and combating anti—semitism and combating anti—semitism and the rise of hate speech. it's quite a big symbolic thing for the king to do in reference to that, too. absolutely commit to something the king spoke about in recent weeks, as has queen camilla just at an event last week at buckingham palace. she talked about the evil of anti—semitism and wider prejudice as well. they are not shying away from that at all. they both believe, i think, that if you don't learn the lesson from history you can't prevent it happening. i know a lot of people say that but they are acutely aware of the power of remembrance to make change and i think that's why the king wanted to be here today. why the king wanted to be here toda . ., , why the king wanted to be here toda . . , �* , today. daniela relph. let's seak today. daniela relph. let's speak to — today. daniela relph. let's speak to jessica _ today. daniela relph. let's speak to jessica parker, i today. daniela relph. let's| speak to jessica parker, our speak tojessica parker, our europe correspondent, in birkenau. this is a huge day. world leaders gathering there. although not president putin, jess. . �* , , jess. that's right, president putin not — jess. that's right, president putin not here, _ jess. that's right, president putin not here, not - jess. that's right, president i putin not here, not welcome, certainly in the wake of

russian aggression in ukraine. and his mischaracterisation of what he called a neo—nazi regime in ukraine, used in part tojustify his invasion. so no, president putin is not here today. but of course, there is the element, the obvious reason why the russians in different times would have been here because it was soviet soldiers that arrived at this camp at the barbed wire, at the gates on this day 80 years ago and liberated this as they were moving west as the nazis were retreating. so it is certainly a noted absence. but as i said my reasons behind that. but it was 80 years ago as i say soviet soldiers arrived here and i've been reading some of the accounts of that day from soldiers who were here. and they talk about how there was nervousness, caution approaching the gates of the

camp because they were not sure what it was. they feared potentially a nazi ambush. they had been fighting and around 230 soviet soldiers had died, red army soldiers, during fighting in the approach to the camp. but as they went in, i was reading one account of a soldier describing how they could certainly see some figures beyond at the camp, but they were not nazi soldiers, instead they were actually of course prisoners. 7000 prisoners were still here by the time they arrived. tens of thousands had been forced on what were called death marches out of the camp as the nazis had tried to cover up what they had tried to cover up what they had done here and moved the prisoners further back into territory they were still controlling. pa, territory they were still controlling.— controlling. a lot of commemorations i controlling. a lot of| commemorations of controlling. a lot of - commemorations of course controlling. a lot of _ commemorations of course right around the world. take us through what more to expect from auschwitz—birkenau itself. yes, so, birkenau is going to host the main event, and this

is not birkenau is the site about three kilometres from what is known as the main camp, auschwitz i, it is a sprawling site the nazis built and expanded during the course of the war, and they did that to build the barix. you can see that behind me. it also gas chambers as they carried out their plans for mass murder. and what will happen here later on is they have constructed just on is they have constructed