covid inquiry she would find it hard to pick a day when regulations were followed and, as a summit begins about the safety of artificial intelligence, we hear about al's success in grading a rare form of cancer — doctors say it could benefit thousands. and coming up on bbc news. another century for quinton de kock. he gets his fourth of the world cup as south africa hope to take a further step towards a semifinals against new zealand. good afternoon from jerusalem. the rafah crossing from gaza to egypt has opened, and there are reports that ambulances carrying a small number of seriously injured palestinians have entered egypt. it's the first time people have been able to leave the besieged territory since the current conflict between israel and hamas began. the foreign office says the rafah crossing is expected to open for limited time periods to also allow specific groups of foreign nationals through. it says british nationals will start to be taken out in stages over the coming days. hamas, classed as a terrorist organisation by the uk government, says seven of the civilian hostages it abducted last month were killed in israeli strikes on the jabalia refugee camp yesterday. israel has confirmed the strike — saying it killed a senior hamas commander, though it isn't possible to verify that seven hostages were killed. in a moment we'll bring you all the latest from our gaza correspondent rushdi abualouf, who's at the rafah crossing, and we'll speak to anna foster in southern israel, but first this report from our middle east correspodent yollande knell injerusalem. there are distressing images there are distressing images in her report. the long wait, almost over. this is gaza's main gateway to the world. and this morning, finally, it was opening. several hundred foreign passport holders were hoping to exit. only those with their names on an approved list were able to pass. thisjordanian man was told to come. translation: my family | is in amman and i've been here for nearly a month, each day waiting for death as houses around us are destroyed. from ourfamily, the farra family there are 76 martyrs. and three and a half weeks into this brutal war, ambulances were also bringing out some of the critically injured for treatment. most palestinian patients will be brought to this new field hospital, which egypt has set up close to the rafah crossing. back in gaza, classrooms have become makeshift hospital wards, and every day sees hundreds more killed. old and young. new pictures capture the panic after israel's huge strikes onjabalya refugee camp yesterday. the air thick with dust. children dead and wounded. israel's military says that it killed a hamas commander here and dozens of his men, though hamas denies it. translation: striking him caused the building to collapse _ on the tunnel infrastructure that was under the camp. this caused the collapse of additional structures. this demonstrates, again, that murderous terrorists are cynically using civilians as a human shield. as israel's ground forces push further into gaza, the death toll is rising on both sides. the army says 11 israeli soldiers were killed yesterday, and far to the south, in the red sea, a new naval deployment for what israel sees as a new front in the war after a missile attack from yemen. meanwhile, this afternoon, word in gaza had spread of the opening of rafah crossing. the surge in numbers egypt had feared with palestinians desperate to escape from harm's way. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. let's get the latest from around the region now. in a moment we'll speak to our correspondent, anna foster, who's in southern israel, but first let's speak to our gaza correspondent, rushdi abu alouf, who's at the rafah crossing with egypt. rushdi, tell us what's going on there. iam here i am here here we are 12,000 people we it turned out a list was taken, saying that those people, about 500 people, the only people allowed to cross. in this hall there are about 350 people, 150 were transported in buses, no control, no bus, all is down, only a civilian palestinian officer checking the passports and then allowing who's name, checking then allowing who's name, checking the list and allowing them into the bus, and then from here, straightaway away to the egyptian side where they will have passport control. about 20 metres from here is another gate, designed to go for cars and we have seen about 20, 30 ambulances carrying those who are seriously wounded by the israeli war, from different hospital, including nasser hospital where i was reporting and they were taken to the egyptian side. people were injured and it takes time because they don't have any ids or passports so the egyptian also have to identify them and make sure they are, and identify their identity and then they be transported into a field hospital, outside the, this crossing near 10 kilometres and from there they will be taking to further treatment in egypt, but this is very big significant people, for about 7,000 palestinians, who have dual nationality, they were waiting for this, to have this chance but also for tens of thousands of injured people, including many children and women who are waiting for this gate to be open, so they can be seen for medical treatment. rushdi abu alouf, as always thank you. rushdie speaking about a painfully slow exit for people in much pain. and we can speak now to our correspondent, anna foster, who's in southern israel. said it has ville hit 11,000 hamas targets, so far, in this war now reaching the end of its fourth week, what is your sense of what is going on today? what is your sense of what is going on toda ? ~ . , ., on today? well, what we see and here from this position, _ on today? well, what we see and here from this position, in _ on today? well, what we see and here from this position, in southern - from this position, in southern israel, very close to gaza, is the sound and the sight of that ongoing israeli military operation, which has intensified in the last few days and standing here, we regularly see columns of smoke rising into the sky, black and grey smoke from the gaza skyline and we regularly hear the sound of air strike, of gun battles and we hear the outgoing artillery fire, as you heard just there. all the time it is going from israel, across to gaza, and as rushdie described there, several hundred people able to leave with foreign passports, there are more than two million civilians inside gaza as they bombardment goes on. now we heard yesterday evening that in the man 2 area there were two air strikes on the ground. israel says it killed a ian your hamas commander and a number of cell whence underground tunnels collapsed but we saw a large number of civilians killed too. israel says the military operation is continuing, they say their soldiers, their infantry troops and armoured vehicles are well into guards, working in that area round gaza city where there is so much hamas control and command struck. they are using rockets and seen year hamas leadership, and israel have made it clear their military campaign there, will continue, until hamas has been fully removed from so small glimmer of hope we have been hearing about. gazans starting to get out oft the besieged territory, and a bit more aid starting to get in. but aid agencies keep saying, so much more has to be done to ease the suffering of civilians, and now back to jane in the studio in london for the there are weather warnings in place for many parts of the country, with the met office issuing yellow and amber warnings — indicating potential risks to life and property — forwind and rain. the channel islands are likely to be particularly badly hit — we'll have more from jersey shortly. but first, we go to northern ireland, where heavy rain has caused flooding in counties down, antrim and armagh, and businesses in newry have been badly damaged. our ireland correspondent chris page is there. well, jane, people in this city say it has been the worst flooding here for 50 years, devastating in its impact, the slightly better news is that the downpours we have had for the best part of two days now, seem to have stopped and the floodwater is receding quickly, even this spot i am standing on now would have been under water only about an hour ago but as business owners open up and extent assess the experiment of what happened it could be months before things get back to normal. there is relief here that the worst may be over. but disbelief at the scale of the damage. the area most severely affected is in the city centre between a river and a canal. in this street, offices, shops and restaurants were at one stage under three feet of water. retailers did their best to save stock, much of it new, just bought in for the christmas season. it's a nightmare scenario for us. we put a new floor in three to four weeks ago. so it's in bits. the fixtures are all going to be warped. the heating system will be, you know, out of action. so it'sjust going to be a long haul to get back. dozens of businesses are facing repair bills of thousands of pounds. basements were particularly vulnerable to the rising water levels. this solicitor is drying out documents. he says previous flooding has created more problems this time. well we would like to find out whose fault this is because most of the businesses will be uninsured because of the last flood in 2007. people can't get flood insurance as a consequence of that. so people are left bearing these losses themselves. government officials say the emergency response effort is working well. disruption to transport is easing. in the last 2a hours the motorway between belfast and dublin has even been affected. some railway lines became invisible under the deluge. in newry, most people have never seen flooding as bad as this. the solid ground is reappearing, but a costly clean—up is beginning. well, thousands the of sandbags still out here by the side of this fast flowing river, and they helped prevent the river from fast flowing river, and they helped prevent the riverfrom overspilling, had that happened it would have make the situation more serious and most businesses here keen to say they are still open, and they are going do the best to help their colleagues who are suffered so much. chris, thank you. chris chris page there. conditions on the channel islands are forecast to be the worst for more than 35 years, as storm ciaran moves in. injersey, main coastal roads will be closed from this evening, and schools and the airport will close tomorrow. our correspondent dan johnson is in st helier. people preparing here, jayne jane, the worst not expected to hit until tomorrow morning, when the winds get tomorrow morning, when the winds get to their strongest these sandbags are the sign of the sort of preparation that are being made here, these have been placed along the sea front and businesses have put up flood defences, laying down sandbags, trying to get ready, as well well high winds that have been predicted to reach 80, 90, everyone 100mph, they are talking about really high tides at the same time which could make things so much worse, so the airports will close tomorrow, jersey and guernsey to commercialflight, at tomorrow, jersey and guernsey to commercial flight, at least, tomorrow, jersey and guernsey to commercialflight, at least, there commercial flight, at least, there will commercialflight, at least, there will be disruption to the boat service for the next few days and that has meant we are seen panic buying in the shops because people have been worried about the islands being cut off. it looks picturesque and calm at the moment but it does keep raining, there have been heavy showers in the last half hour and people are braced. they have been warren todd stay indoor, to stay away from the coast, particularly through tonight and tomorrow morning, but there is reassurance although the island authorities say lives could be at risk, and maybe a potential for the islands being lives could be at risk, and maybe a potentialfor the islands being cut off for a short period i think that have things in place to make sure people can be looked after and there will be supplies getting through. danjohnson, thank you very much the time is 13.15. our top story this afternoon. the rafah crossing from southern gaza to egypt has opened for the first time since israel's siege began last month. and still to come the warning that one in 10 county councils could follow birmingham and declare effective bankruptcy. coming up on bbc news. england's david willey announces he will retire from international cricket with great regret after the world cup having been the only player in the squad in india not to be offered a central contract. the country's second most senior civil servant during the pandemic has told the covid inquiry that she would "find it hard to pick one day when the regulations were followed properly" inside number ten. the former deputy cabinet secretary, helen macnamara, suggested rules were being broken on a daily basis just in the conduct of government business. ms macnamara, who was herself fined by the metropolitan police after attending a lockdown party, said ministers were too optimistic about their chances of tackling the virus. ellie price reports from the inquiry. she was the second most senior civil servant in the room when those crucial decisions were made about covid. this morning, helen mcnamara recalled the moment, ten days before lockdown, when she realised government plans were radically in the wrong place. you expressed your view that i have come through here to the prime minister's office to tell you i think we are absolutely expletive. i think this country is heading for disaster. i think we are going to kill thousands of people. i was more alarmed rather than reassured at the end of that meeting. it was a sense of foreboding, i hope nobody sitting in that office ever has that again, actually. it was a very, very scary experience but i felt that it wasn't in any doubt in my mind at that point that we were heading for a total disaster. yesterday the inquiry�*s council read out a whatsapp message from her former colleague, dominic cummings, who described mr mcnamara like this. we cannot keep dealing with this horrific meltdown of the british state while dodging stilettos from that expletive. it came after helen mcnamara authored a review in may 2020 about what she today described as a toxic culture at the top of government, where women felt invisible. it was really, really obvious that not only were there hardly any women there, but when they were there, they had to turn their screens off on the zoom meeting, or they were sitting in the back row, there just weren't any women talking. ms mcnamara told the inquiry officials and politicians had lied about breaking covid rules. i would find it hard to pick one day when the regulations were followed properly inside that building. the hearing continues this afternoon. ellie price, bbc news. our political correspondent, nick eardley, joins us now from outside the inquiry in central london. what do you make of the picture being painted? it is what do you make of the picture being painted?— being painted? it is an almost di in: being painted? it is an almost dizzying list — being painted? it is an almost dizzying list of _ being painted? it is an almost dizzying list of claims - being painted? it is an almost dizzying list of claims and - dizzying list of claims and revelations that we have seen at the inquiry this week. and today they matter even more because helen mcnamara was a senior civil servant and it was herjob to try to keep the government functioning. just the array of complaints she had this morning was really striking. the fact she thought but number ten was toxic, matte and sexist under boris johnson. the fact she thought it was too bullish in the early stages of the pandemic in the uk would just breeze through covid and come out the other end. she accused matt hancock that then health secretary of telling people things that turned out just to be of telling people things that turned outjust to be untrue. she talked about not a single day where the rules were followed in full in number ten. rules were followed in full in numberten. some rules were followed in full in number ten. some of the things that she said this morning we have heard about before. we have heard other pictures built up of some of the chaos that was apparently taking hold in number ten during the early weeks of the pandemic. but so far it is painting a pretty devastating picture of number ten, of the decision—making process, the culture and just the way the whole place was functioning. we will hear from and just the way the whole place was functioning. we will hearfrom boris johnson in the coming weeks. hick johnson in the coming weeks. nick eardle , johnson in the coming weeks. nick eardley, thank _ johnson in the coming weeks. nick eardley, thank you. _ one in ten county councils in england is facing effective bankruptcy. that's the warning from local government leaders, who say its members are under pressure because of inflation and the rising demand for services. it comes after birmingham city council was forced to dramatically cut spending in september after declaring itself effectively bankrupt. here's our political correspondent, alex forsyth. hello? is it kate? i'm alex. come on in. kate has been a foster carer in derbyshire for 20 years, offering her home to some of the most vulnerable children. we've had young people who haven't been to the park or built a sandcastle, and that's very sad. she says the care and support that fostering offers is invaluable. but demand is soaring and places are short. i know as soon as i say the green light, the placement will be in demand again. because just the number of people who need care? because of the number of people that need care. we just need lots of us. and there's not enough out there. what's happening now? how are you feeling? in the offices of the county council's fostering team, the phones rarely stop ringing. there's been issues around school and everything, so just checking to see if you're alright. finding places for children who need care is piling pressure on stretched budgets. we absolutely want to try and do the best for our children really. but there is there a limit to that as well and obviously that needs to come with more funding. so it is sort of, you know, at crisis level at the moment, really. the body that represents county councils, like the one here in derbyshire, says these spiralling costs are pushing some to the brink. one in ten are worried about balancing their budgets this year. other authorities are saying costs of social care and housing are becoming unsustainable. and while councils can't technically go bankrupt, they can reach the point where they can't spend on anything but the services they have to provide by law. that can mean significant cuts elsewhere. it's not all councils, but across england we've spoken to dozens who say while they're not at that point yet, the future looks bleak. hampshire has said its budget is stretched to breaking point. windsor and maidenhead is introducing emergency controls on spending. and coventry says local government stands on the precipice of financial disaster, to name just a few. we need to ask tough questions about governance and about decision making and i think what we're seeing is more and more, quote unquote, well—run councils telling us that they're moving much closer to the edge. if councils fall over, the pressure on the nhs increases massively. the pressure on the police increases massively. these are vital services that people rely on in their day to day life. the government points to more than £5 billion of increased funding available this year and says it monitors pressures on all councils and stands ready to talk to any concerned about their financial position, adding that councils are ultimately responsible for the management of their own finances. back in derbyshire, everything from roadworks to staff overtime is under the microscope, as they try to save millions from their budget. here, they're confident of staying on track, but others are warning they're running out of road to avoid insolvency. alex forsyth, bbc news. leaders of technology companies and representatives of 27 governments have gathered for the first global summit about artificial intelligence. the two day event, being staged at bletchley park, the home of the second world war codebreakers, will focus on minimising some of the risks posed by ai. here's our technology editor zoe kleinman. the secret work carried out in bletchley park once helped britain win world war two. the uk government is hosting a global summit here to address a new kind of threat, posed this time by super fast and super smart computers. our task is as simple as it is profound — to develop artificial intelligence as a force for good. artificial intelligence comes with lots of promises, from creating new medicines to revolutionising the way we work. but it also has the potential to cause harm. the focus of the discussions today will be on cybersecurity, an unstoppable ai generated computer virus, for example, and bioterrorism. could the same tools that can create new medicines also be misused to invent poisons? demis hassabis, founder of google deepmind in london, says those like him building this tech need to develop it with caution. i don't think we should move fast and break things. the typical valley mantra, silicon valley mantra, in this case, i think that that has been extremely successful to build massive companies and provide us with lots of great services and applications. but al's too important a technology, i would say, too transformative a technology to to do it in that way. i think instead, we should be looking at the scientific method and trying to understand each step of the way in a rigorous way. but the money that's pouring in, i mean, surely that makes move fast and break things quite tempting if the resources are there? even though there may be temptations and commercial reasons and opportunities to do that, i think this is much bigger than that. and we've got to get it right. for canadian developer aidan gomes, the big worry is controlling the impact of ai right now. i'm concerned about that bad and misuse. in terms of the broader conversation about existential risk or some sort of doomsday terminator scenario, i think that's kind of sci fi. so the technology is not ready to, for instance, like prescribe drugs to patients. there, an error could cost a human life. right? and so in these sorts of scenarios, it'sjust inappropriate to have humans completely out of the loop. we really need to preserve human presence and oversight of these systems. serial entrepreneur elon musk has joined tech leaders and political figures at the summit. it's all smiles for the camera today, but there's investment flowing and reputations are at stake. there's no sign the booming ai sector will slow down any time soon. zoe kleinman, bbc news. our technology correspondent, marc cieslak, joins us from bletchley park — how significant is this moment? that this summit is happening now? there is a lot being made about significant this event is, it is the first time we've had such a summit pulling together global governments and big tech and folks from the industry itself. earlier today a quick glimpse of elon musk as he arrived sprinkling some celebrity billionaire star dust over the event. there has been some controversy about the extension of invitations to representatives from china but it makes sense to have chinese representatives here because if you have a summit about the future of artificial intelligence you need the biggest players of the game at the table so that would be the united states, china and some would argue the uk at number three. but some industry experts also argue this particular event is a little bit too forward—looking, looking towards more existential risks are not really focusing too much on issues like transparency, issues that present may be more of an urgent risk as a result of this technology being embedded into all kinds of different aspects of our lives. ~ . , kinds of different aspects of our lives. a , . «a there are of course benefits to ai, as well as risks. and new research suggests ai is nearly twice as good at grading the aggressiveness of a rare form of cancer than the current method. doctors say this could help them diagnose the disease more quickly, our medical editor fergus walsh has more. tina mclachlan comes to the royal marsden hospital in london every three months for a ct scan to check she's still cancer free. she was diagnosed with a sarcoma, a soft tissue cancer at the back of her abdomen last year, which was successfully removed. now, a team at the marston and institute of cancer research have developed an ai algorithm, which is nearly twice as accurate as tissue biopsies at assessing these rare cancers. ok, tina, we're going to start that injection of contrast now. ai has already shown itself to be as good as the best doctors in visually reading patient images like mammograms. but this goes much further, producing data which can't be distinguished by the human eye. the artificial intelligence algorithm was used to assess sarcomas from 89 patients in hospitals in europe and the us. ai accurately graded the aggressiveness of tumours 82% of the time, compared with 44% for biopsies. so this is tina's scan before she had her surgery. and you can see there is a big soft tissue mass deep in the back of the abdomen. the royal marsden says the results are incredibly exciting and could lead to better patient outcomes. it's going to incorporate the ai model in the diagnosis of these types of cancers. our ambition is that in future we would be able to offer some patients a virtual biopsy. so that would be ai looking at a ct scan rather than an invasive procedure. some patients have masses that are so deep in the back of the abdomen that they're very difficult to biopsy. so for patients like that, this would be an absolute game changer. tina's cancer was one of those too risky to biopsy, so ai could have told doctors how aggressive her sarcoma was before she had surgery. hopefully it would be a quicker diagnosis. that would be the main thing, i think, because it's the waiting. they didn't tell me at all all through my treatment until i had the histology after, post—op, after my operation. so it would be really useful to know that straightaway. the royal marsden says the ai model could eventually be used throughout the nhs and be adapted to assess other types of cancer. fergus walsh, bbc news. and with the focus on the bletchley park summit this week, it seems appropriate that the collins dictionary has named ai as the word of the year for 2023. time for a look at the weather.