good afternoon. israel says its troops in gaza are engaged in face—to—face combat with fighters from hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government. israel says its troops have now completely encircled gaza city, here in the north of the territory. meanwhile, 92 british nationals are on a list which means they could escape the fighting and leave gaza today through the rafah crossing into egypt. jon donnison reports from jerusalem. israel says it's at the height of its battle with hamas. its ground offensive in northern gaza is pushing forward, with the military claiming gaza city is now completely encircled. translation: we discovered — encircled. translation: - discovered today a recording call with a health official in gaza who spoke with our forces and described how hamas controls fuel supplies and a hospital. while supplies are running out, they are stealing from sick patients for terror aims. we will continue to expose to the world the act of hamas and how they are cynically using the population as human shields.— cynically using the population as human shields. hamas has been fiuuhtin human shields. hamas has been fighting back- — human shields. hamas has been fighting back. and _ human shields. hamas has been fighting back. and advancing - human shields. hamas has been| fighting back. and advancing into gaza city with its densely packed, built—up neighbourhoods and tunnel network will be complex and challenging. almost four weeks after hamas's unprecedented cross—border attack, israel's bombardment of gaza shows no sign of relenting. at the rougher crossing into egypt, efforts continue to evacuate the critically injured and foreign nationals. around 100 british citizens are on the list of those hoping to leave today. translation: what the list of those hoping to leave today. translation:— today. translation: what is im ortant today. translation: what is important for— today. translation: what is important for me _ today. translation: what is important for me is _ today. translation: what is important for me is to - today. translation: what is important for me is to leave l today. translation: what is - important for me is to leave gaza, leave the city of death, and then i will think about where to go and what to do. we left our businesses, lives, homes and memories behind. we don't know what happened to those. the american secretary of state landed back in israel this morning and met with the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. with the number of people reported to have been killed in gaza are approaching 10,000, killed in gaza are approaching i0,000, anthony blinken has already urged israel to limit the number of civilian casualties. it is urged israel to limit the number of civilian casualties.— civilian casualties. it is very important _ civilian casualties. it is very important that _ civilian casualties. it is very important that when - civilian casualties. it is very important that when it - civilian casualties. it is very l important that when it comes civilian casualties. it is very - important that when it comes to the protection of civilians, who are caught in the crossfire of hamas's making, that everything be done to protect them. find making, that everything be done to protect them-— protect them. and there are fears this crisis could _ protect them. and there are fears this crisis could spread. _ protect them. and there are fears this crisis could spread. on - protect them. and there are fears this crisis could spread. on its - this crisis could spread. on its northern border, israel has continued to target hezbollah in lebanon. the powerful iranian—backed militia has so far largely ignored hamas's calls to escalate the war on a second front. everyone in the region will be watching the words of his mike's reader, hassan nasrallah, in his speech this afternoon. and in hezbollah israel would face a far more powerful force than hezbollah israel would face a far more powerfulforce than hamas in gaza. in the past few minutes, the leader of hezbollah in lebanon, which is also proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the uk government, has been speaking about the conflict. in a moment we'll speak to our correspondent, anna foster, injerusalem, and our gaza reporter, rushdi abualouf, who's in southern gaza, but first to jon donnison, who's on israel's northern border with lebanon. jon, what's the mood like? there's a lot of fear and concern here. the border with lebanon is less than ten kilometres from where we are now, you can make it out on the hills behind me. and there has been a very heavy troop build—up in this area. many other towns and villages closer to the border have been evacuated. so far, since the start of the war in gaza, hezbollah's response has been relatively moderate. that said, the violence we have seen on this border in the last few weeks has the most significant since the 2006 war between israel and lebanon. there has been cross—border fire just this morning, and any of those incidents we have seen in the last few weeks in the past might have been enough in the past might have been enough in themselves to start another war. hezbollah is a much more powerful force than hamas. it has some 150,000 rockets, some of which are capable of hitting targets all across israel. its fighters are much better trained. many of them have fought in the war in syria. israel has said that hezbollah would be making the mistake of its lifetime if it were to escalate things further. the hope here, with people living here, will be that they are not prepared to take the risk. but until we hear what hassan nasrallah has to say, we just don't know. john, many thanks. among those british nationals who were on the list to leave gaza today were the mother and father—in law of scotland's first minister, humza yousaf. and we've now heard they have managed to cross into egypt this morning, and the first minister has spoken of the family's deep personal relief. however the bbc is aware of at least 19 british people on the list who cannot leave gaza today for safety reasons. 0ur reporter rushdi abualouf is in southern gaza for us. bring us up to date with what is happening there at the rougher crossing. happening there at the rougher crossinu. ., . , happening there at the rougher crossin.. ., . , ., , crossing. yeah, the crossing was reo ened crossing. yeah, the crossing was reopened today _ crossing. yeah, the crossing was reopened today for _ crossing. yeah, the crossing was reopened today for the - crossing. yeah, the crossing was reopened today for the third - crossing. yeah, the crossing was| reopened today for the third day. the published list included 132 british dual nationals and some british dual nationals and some british people. the process of moving people every day, not everybody in the list could move because the capacity of the crossing is about 300 400 people every day. we understand up until now about 200 people have managed to cross. not all of them are british. there are some americans, some other european nationals, but many were allowed in today from the palestinian side into the egyptian side. the crossing is still open for another two hours, and more people will be allowed. not only the dual nationals but also some ambulances carrying people with severe wounds from this recent going on war. some of them left this hospital in khan younis, but we understand the evacuation plan is to evacuate about 7000 people, some of them work for international organisations and some of them are dual nationals. the crossing will be open for 14 days to allow all of them. every day, egypt will take three or 400 people one by one, group by group. three or 400 people one by one, group by snoop-— three or 400 people one by one, group by group. thank you, rushdi abualouf, in _ group by group. thank you, rushdi abualouf, in gaza. _ group by group. thank you, rushdi abualouf, in gaza. live _ group by group. thank you, rushdi abualouf, in gaza. live now- group by group. thank you, rushdi abualouf, in gaza. live now to - group by group. thank you, rushdi abualouf, in gaza. live now to our| abualouf, in gaza. live now to our correspondent anna foster in jerusalem. we've been hearing more details from the israeli military about their ground operations inside gaza. that's right, ben, and they said that they have encircled gaza city, which would be a notable achievement for them. what they have said throughout is that israel's objective in all of this is to remove hamas entirely from gaza, and by cutting off gaza city, very much hamas's stronghold where many of its commanders are based on a lot of its control operation is, and many of those tunnels as well that go underneath gaza are in gaza city. it would mark a significant step forward. that is not to say that we are looking at a quick end to what benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, has already said will be a long and difficult war. but we have heard about hand—to—hand combat by israeli troops in gaza at the moment, and we know they are really closing in on that northern part of the strip. all that happens as the us secretary of state, anthony blinken, has arrived in israel and the last few hours, very much backing israel's right to defend itself, but also begin reminding israel about the civilians in that area and making sure that anything being done by israel is done while considering the safety of the vers and population. while rushdi abualouf was talking there about people being able to gaza into egypt through the rougher crossing, but we have also seen to date gazans or bostock in israel after the attacks on the 7th of october, more than 3000 of them returning today from israel back into gaza. anna, thank you. more than 40 flood warnings are in place after storm ciaran battered the south coast of england and the channel islands yesterday. downpours and strong winds are expected in scotland and parts of northern england. meanwhile, onjersey, the clean—up continues, as dan johnson reports. we've been able to get our aerial camera up this morning, and that's given us a really clear view ofjust exactly how destructive this storm was. you can see where what people are convinced was a tornado has blown in from the sea, through these streets of this estate, taking off the roofs of many of the houses, smashing the windows. people think that might have been caused by some of the huge hailstones that were hammering down here in the middle of the night. and even a day on, there is still lots of work to clear up. and you can see what sort of damage it has done here. people are still really trying to actually get an idea of the scale of this, just how many homes have been affected. we know across the island 120 people have had to be evacuated into hotels or community centres, because this is the sort of damage they are putting up with. look at the state of the houses. just trying to save as much furniture as we can. obviously, nobody has a roof, so the water's starting to leak through the bedrooms, so we are prepared for the ceilings to come down in the next couple of days. and, yeah, we don't really have a plan at the moment. you're going to need a new house. yeah, everyone's going to need a new house. it's going to be a long time before this estate gets back to anything like normal, and there are lots of people who are homeless, at least temporarily, and have got to find somewhere to stay. there is disruption more widely on the island as well. the airport is closed until at least this afternoon. there is some damage there that's got to be repaired before flight connections can resume. and there is no boat service to the island for the next few days because there is a threat of another storm blowing in. now, that is not expected to be anywhere near as destructive as this was, but people are still trying to absorb exactly what happened here, how much damage it did, and what the lasting impact may be. danjohnson, bbc news, injersey. and flooding has wreaked havoc in parts of northern ireland after several days of very heavy rainfall. 0ur ireland correspondent, chris page, is in county down. chris, this isn't connected to storm ciaran. . �* , �* chris, this isn't connected to storm ciaran. ., �* , �* ., ciaran. that's right, ben, we are into the second _ ciaran. that's right, ben, we are into the second full _ ciaran. that's right, ben, we are into the second full day - ciaran. that's right, ben, we are into the second full day of - ciaran. that's right, ben, we are into the second full day of dry i into the second full day of dry weather and sunshine, butjust look weather and sunshine, but just look at weather and sunshine, butjust look at the scale of the flooding still here in downpatrick. this is the main shopping street, and dozens of business are under several feet of water. offices, shops, cafes suffering incredibly severe damage. as you say, this is the result of heavy rainfall earlier in this week. engineers have been preparing to start pumping water away from here but they haven't been able to begin because simply gave nowhere to pump the water. the ground is saturated after what was, according to the met office, the october ever in the history of northern ireland, since records began, and also many rivers have overspill their banks, so they are watching the levels of those rivers and as soon as they are reduced to a certain level, then the pumping here can begin, but it's not certain exactly when that can happen. in the meantime, businesses here say they need urgent help, including financially.— here say they need urgent help, including financially. chris, thank ou. the bbc has been told that the sixth suspect in the racist murder of stephen lawrence more than 30 years ago tried to stab a black security guard in 2015. the victim of the attack said matthew white told him he had killed before and that there'd been no consequences for, as he put it, killing �*stephen'. daniel de simone reports. it's britain's most notorious racist murder. 30 years ago, stephen lawrence was stabbed to death while waiting for a bus, by a gang of young white men in eltham, south london. five prime suspects became infamous. two were finallyjailed in 2012. a lead attacker with fair hair was never identified. but this year, a bbc investigation named matthew white, who died two years ago, as a sixth suspect and exposed the met�*s repeated failure to properly investigate him. i've now found new evidence which poses serious questions for the force. i told him to stop, then he used — i don't want to say — the n—word. bethel ikpeze was racially abused and almost stabbed with a dirty syringe by matthew white. the security officer prevented white from stealing from an eltham supermarket. the next thing i saw was, he sat up with a needle. he wasjust coming. and if he had hit you, what do you think the result would have been? he would kill me. i pull him down. i ask him, "do you want to kill me?" he said, "yes, i will kill you." he says white then made an alarming admission. he said, ok, can i rememberthat they've done it in the bus stop there, to a fellow like me, in the past, but nothing happened. he's still here. i said, "ok, if you have done it before, "i don't know who you did it to." that was when the word — i can remember now — when the word stephen. when the police turned up here, bethel ikpeze says he told them everything, including that matthew white had said about killing before and mentioned the name stephen. he says he never heard from the met again. white pleaded guilty to using threatening words and having a syringe in public. he wasn't charged with trying to stab his victim or with racial abuse. the crown prosecution service says the police's evidence contained no mention of racial abuse. the met says it apologises if the case wasn't investigated as it should have been. matthew white was jailed for four months. he shared a cell with this man, who says he spoke of his link to the stephen lawrence case. what he said was that if i could see the papers about the whole case, if i ever did, that he's referred to quite a lot in the paperwork, that he was the blond—haired figure that's referred to throughout the paperwork, and that he was involved in the incident. we previously revealed matthew white looked like the unidentified suspect sometimes known as the blond attacker. he said that, yeah, that they completely mishandled it and failed, really, to properly investigate him. the met says it's satisfied all relevant inquiries related to white were considered prior to his death. the other remaining suspects for stephen's murder remain free. his parents want fulljustice but have no confidence in the met. daniel de simone, bbc news, eltham. court documents show that an australian woman who's charged with murdering three people at a family lunch is also accused of trying to kill her ex—husband four times. erin patterson denies putting lethal deathcap mushrooms into a dish of beef wellington. simon atkinson reports. a day after erin patterson was arrested and charged, officers were back at her home. a complex case with a long way to go. police searching this house on thursday took away boxes and boxes of evidence. a court has now heard that they expect it will take at least 20 weeks to go through what they uncovered, including computer equipment, as they build the case against erin patterson. but that wasn't the only new revelation in this courtroom. it also emerged that patterson faces four charges of attempting to murder her ex—husband, dating back to 2021. in a case that has gripped australia, she is accused of killing three people — gail and don patterson, the parents of her ex—husband, and gail's sister, heather wilkinson. all fell ill after eating a meal patterson prepared, which it is alleged contained deadly mushrooms. around this close—knit community are reminders of the tragic and seemingly bizarre events of three months ago. and while many don't want to talk publicly, everyone knows about it. there is no real winners in this situation at all, and i feel for the families. people are talking about it, but that's it. like, it's not as if people are going to lock themselves in the house or, you know, lock themselves in the shed or whatever. erin patterson has always maintained her innocence, but her lawyers did not apply for bail and she will be back in court in may. simon atkinson, bbc news, in leongatha, victoria. the time is 1.19. our top story this afternoon: israel says its soldiers have completely encircled gaza city, and its troops are fighting face—to—face battles with hamas. and still to come: the fall of the king of crypto — sam bankman—fried faces years behind bars after being found guilty of fraud. coming up on bbc news: the pressure piles on manchester united boss eric ten hag. after successive defeats at old trafford, attention turns to the lunchtime game at fulham tomorrow, as they hope to arrest their poor form. we will hear what the dutchman has to say. the first woman to run the gchq intelligence agency has been speaking exclusively to the bbc. anne keast—butler has been one of the delegates at a global summit on the challenges of artificial intelligence at bletchley park, home of the world war ii codebreakers. she's been talking to our security correspondent, gordon corera. a summit at bletchley park, home to britain's wartime codebreakers, to deal with the threats coming from artificial intelligence. international leaders and technology heads amongst the attendees and also the head of britain's largest intelligence agency. in herfirst interview, the new director of gchq told me about what she saw as the risks coming from al. the first is that bad people will always want to use the latest technology of whatever label, whatever sort, to pursue their aims. and technology, in the same way that it makes our lives easier, can make their lives easier. and so we're already seeing some of that. and you'll have seen the national crime agency talk about child sexual exploitation and image generation that way. we're seeing it online with people being able to write faster hacks that get in to your data or your information. and then the second concern is the uncertainty. so, there are lots of different views out there on artificial intelligence and whether it's going to end the world or be the best opportunity ever. and the truth is that none of us really know. my experience is, when you don't know, you should plan for the worst, because that way the outcomes are only better. right. so, even at gchq, with all your insight into technology, you don't really know where this is going to lead or how significant the risks might be? no. gchq's mission is to gather intelligence from global communications. it's long used forms of al to sift data, and is currently experimenting with new techniques around translation. but it has also taken many decades for this agency to be led by a woman. it's a huge privilege and one that i'm very much enjoying and going to make sure that people see that there are no glass ceilings and that everything is available. it's also a bit surprising, isn't it, to be in 2023 and to discover that you can still be the first woman to do anything? i mean, 75% of the workforce at bletchley was women. and so some of those really early codebreakers absolutely were women. and so i think there's a bit in the middle where we might have lost women in technology, but they were definitely there at the beginning. from the days of wartime bletchley, the mission may not have changed, but the technology and the people involved have. and as in so many fields, artificial intelligence will be central to the future of spying. gordon corera, bbc news. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, has been setting out his party's position and priorities ahead of next week's king's speech. it comes as two labour council leaders in the north west are calling on him to resign as labour leader over his stance on the israel—gaza war. 0ur deputy political editor, vicki young, is in westminster. what's he been saying? well, he was trying to look ahead to next week, and the government's programme for the next year or so. him saying that there should be a big building project, there should be a relaxation of planning laws, but as you say, it is events in the middle east which are dominating and raising questions for all politicians. for him, of course, it is the angerfrom politicians. for him, of course, it is the anger from many in politicians. for him, of course, it is the angerfrom many in his politicians. for him, of course, it is the anger from many in his own party about his position, the latest being two council leaders, who have accused him of failing to listen to those concerned are people in his party. they say he should resign to allow someone to lead the party who has compassion and speaks out against injustice. listening to sir keir starmer today, against injustice. listening to sir keir starmertoday, it against injustice. listening to sir keir starmer today, it was very clear that he is not going to change his position. to say to a sovereign country, when 200 of its civilians are being held hostage, they must give up their right to self defence is not, for me, the correct position. what we have to do is concentrate on the need, concentrate on those innocent individuals who are caught in this — the children, young people, the civilians in gaza, those in israel who are subject still to being subject to attacks from rockets — we have to see humanitarian pauses to get that aid in and alleviate the situation. what you're suggesting is that people in his party all want the same thing, which is an end to the suffering, there isjust a disagreement about how they get there. he says that should be the focus, ratherthan there. he says that should be the focus, rather than any individual positions. of course he would say that, as an lot of discontent and in some ways it is surprising that there have not yet been any resignations from his shadow team. we will have to see in the coming days whether it stays that way. i think there are broader questions now, some being put to him today, and of course to rishi sunak, which is whether the actions of israel still do, in their view, is whether the actions of israel still do, in theirview, count is whether the actions of israel still do, in their view, count as self defence.— still do, in their view, count as self defence. ., ,, , ., , self defence. vicki, thank you very much. self defence. vicki, thank you very much- vicky _ self defence. vicki, thank you very much. vicky young. _ a man who killed a trainee solicitor as she walked home from a night out in east london last year has won an appeal to reduce the minimum term of his life sentence. jordan mcsweeney was jailed for at least 38 years for murdering and sexually assaulting zara aleena. three appeal courtjudges ruled the term was too long and reduced it to a minimum of 33 years. the former cryptocurrency tycoon, sam bankman—fried, is facing decades in prison after being found guilty of fraud and money—laundering by a court in new york. prosecutors said the 31—year—old stole at least $8 billion in one of the biggest frauds in us history. our new york business correspondent, erin delmore, reports. sam bankman—fried was a towering figure in crypto. a self—made entrepreneur who promised customers worldwide that his ftx crypto exchange was the safe and easy way to get into cryptocurrencies. his businesses brought him great wealth — at one point he was worth $26 billion — and propelled him into an a—list social network of celebrities, some of whom he paid to endorse ftx. with ftx i have everything i need to buy, sell and trade crypto safely. my goal has been to find ways to have positive impact on the world. he charmed washington politicians by calling for greater regulation in the crypto industry and made donations to their campaigns. but it turns out the fortune, the business, the image were built on a lie. the great success story was, in fact, a great fraud. bankman—fried now faces decades in prison. during four weeks of testimony, prosecutors told jurors that the 31—year—old bankman—fried's apparent success belied a pyramid of deceit. they said he used stolen money to prop up the investment fund he founded, and to purchase real estate, and to fund his lavish lifestyle. three of bankman—fried's close friends and business partners, including his ex—girlfriend, pleaded guilty to financial crimes and testified against him. what do you have to say to sam? bankman—fried pleaded not guilty to all charges and took the stand in his own defense to no avail. the government won this case by putting a lot of pressure on cooperators, getting deals with them very early on, and trying this case in a very streamlined way. this extraordinary fall from grace may be more than just personal. sam bankman—fried's guilt could severely damage the reputation of the wider crypto sector worldwide. erin delmore, bbc news, new york. the number ofjellyfish spotted in uk waters and on beaches has increased by more than 30% in the past year, according to the marine conservation society. scientists say it's the result of changing conditions in the world's oceans. a marine heatwave injune saw uk water temperatures rose by about 3 to 4 celsius. tim muffett reports. no brain, no bones, no heart and no eyes. jellyfish are amongst the most mysterious creatures on earth. there's been a big rise in the number ofjellyfish spotted over the past 12 months in uk and irish waters. an increase of almost a third on the previous year. the barreljellyfish, the uk's largest, was the most frequently cited in the marine conservation society's survey. so, at the moment, thejury is out as to why we might be seeing increases in certain jellyfish species. we know that they operate on boom and bust population cycles. so, we might bejust seeing a 20—year boom cycle for barrel jellyfish in uk waters. but at the same time we know that our oceans are changing, we know our seas are getting warmer, and our warmer winters are probably making our oceans much better for our jellyfish. the lion's mane jellyfish was the second most frequently spotted. like manyjellyfish species, its sting can be painful to humans, as can that of the portuguese man o' war. it's not technically a jellyfish, but is also often spotted around our coastline and washed up on beaches. we always say look but don't touch, because if you get stung by a lion's manejellyfish, it will really spoil your day. the increases in the number of portuguese man o' war strandings in the uk could be related to the increased frequency and intensity of these late autumn and winter storms that we're seeing, bringing more of these animals into our waters. not everyone will welcome the thought of more jellyfish around our coastline, but these fascinating creatures have become a more common sight. tim muffett, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's elizabeth rizzini. you don't mind jellyfish. i you don't mind jellyfish. i quite you don't mind “ellyfish. i quite like them. — but i just wanted but ijust wanted to start but i just wanted to start off but ijust wanted to start off by showing you the jet stream at the moment. it is so strong and powerful, it has been standing all of these storms our way. being propelled along on the strength of this winter. in the centre of that deep area of low pressure from stock yesterday is now out in the north sea. the associate weather fronts have been creating problems all over europe, including floods across northern italy. strong gusty winds for france and spain. here is the next deep area of low pressure approaching from the south—west. that has been named by the spanish met service, but it will not be as strong for us as storm ciaran yesterday. forthe strong for us as storm ciaran yesterday. for the rest of the day, it is much calmer than yesterday. we are seeing some rain across central areas of scotland. a north—westerly wind, lighterthan